The Weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Ice Chime) isn't as cold as it is in North Dakota...

Erik Wigert, the owner of Wigert's Bonsai Nursery in North Fort Myers sprayed his trees with water to try to save them from the freezing temperatures Monday. He remains hopeful that the trees did not receive catastrophic damage. (Andrew West/news-press.com)

..., but, the rest of the country is getting warmer. The heat from the west coast hasn't quite made it to the northeast yet.

Local Time: 7:40 AM AKST (GMT -09)

Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Updated: 7:16 AM AKST on January 11, 2010

Temperature :: 30 °F

Conditions :: Overcast

Windchill :: 22 °F

Humidity :: 86%

Dew Point :: 27 °F

Wind :: 9 mph from the North

Pressure :: 29:15 inches (Rising)

Visibility :: 2.5 Miles

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds :: Scattered Clouds 1400 ft.

Mostly Cloudy 2000 ft.

Overcast 4400 ft.

(Above Ground Level)

Elevation :: 33 ft.

South Florida cold snap both good and bad for business (click here)

Posted on Monday, 01.11.10

BY DIANE C. LADE crline Sun Sentinel

The cold giveth, the cold taketh away.

Business is booming for stores selling space heaters and companies that repair HVAC systems, as South Florida temperatures remained low throughout the week.

But for South Floridians whose livelihoods depend on a tropical climate, the unseasonable cold snap has meant fewer tourists and damaged crops.

The extended frosty spell has been a double whammy for some businesses that finished the year with less profits due to the economy. Paul Roydhouse, who operates the Fishing Headquarters charter business in Fort Lauderdale, was counting on the tourists who flock to the beach in deep winter to help him rebound from a slow fall....

Florida Gas again issues shipper alert due to cold (click here)

...Alerts, also called critical days, require natural gas shippers to adhere carefully to scheduled quantities. An overage alert signals that taking excess quantities offline would be harmful.

Florida Gas regularly issues shipper alerts as temperatures in the state vary extremely from normal, boosting gas and power demand as customers crank up heaters in the winter and air conditioners in warmer months.

Forecaster DTN Meteorlogix said temperatures in South Florida would range nearly 30 degrees below normal early this week, with highs topping out in the 50s Fahrenheit and lows dipping into the 30s F.

New York-based forecaster Weather 2000 Inc said South Florida weather broke an 83-year-old daily minimum temperature record as the freezing line entered the Everglades....

The Cheney Observer - "Where are they now?"

These are answers to questions on The State of the Union with John King from Homeland Security Senate Chairman, Joe Lieberman.

LIEBERMAN: (click title to entry - thank you) ...So, as in any war, when the enemy breaks through your lines, you have got to regroup, you've got to strengthen your defenses. Because the truth is, in this war, we cannot set any goal less than 100 percent success. And that means we have got to close the gaps....

Oh, I sincerely agree. Absolutely.

...I think some people have to be held accountable for the mistakes,...

Is that right, Joe?

... the human errors that the president acknowledged that were made, that enabled that Nigerian terrorist to get on that plane to Detroit, and we've got to change some things in the system.

LIEBERMAN: There should be better screening and a proper watch list.

Is that right, Joe?

LIEBERMAN: No, no -- well, I think the investigation will show that. But the point is that it seems to me clear that, beginning with the Department of State when the father came into our embassy in Nigeria, not only should that name have been sent to the National Counterterrorism Center, but somebody should have checked the visa list and immediately pulled that terrorist's visa, so he never got on that plane....

Is that right, Joe?

...Secondly, at the National Counter terrorism Center, something went wrong....

Is that right, Joe?

...That's the place we created after 9/11....

Is that right, Joe? And in what way has it served us well?

...It served us very well, but it did not in this case. So if human errors were made, I think some of the humans who made those errors have to be disciplined so that they never happen again....

Ya, know, Joe. In this case I think you could not be more correct. So, when are you resigning?

The Cheney Observer - "Where are they now?" - continued...

Michael Steele, his focus is money and power. No surprise there, but, he lies about most of the elections under his gaze. Those elections were mostly decided before he arrived. He also omits Sarah Palin from his book as noted by Chris Matthews on Hardball. The question Matthews never asked, "Was it reverse discrimination, embarrassment of simply a disregard of a woman that ran as Vice President?" (click here for the 'index' of the letter "P" in his book) Very odd.

In his book tour he touted the lack of optimism for the Republicans. He down played their chances in 2010. It was a strategic move to remove focus on his failing party in hopes to stall any vigorous campaign or get out the vote drive by the Democrats. The real 'chance' for the Republicans in 2010 is for Democrats to stay cozy and warm in their homes on election day.

CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
Jan. 10, 2010 – 12:39 p.m.

Steele Revises Prediction on 2010 (click here)

By John Stanton, CQ-Roll Call

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Sunday he believes the GOP will “absolutely” win back the House in November — an abrupt about-face from his poisiton last week when he said he doubted Republicans could take control....

Newt Gingrich already has his plans set for his electronic health care business and he doesn't want any chance that the GOP will undo his profits.

Gingrich Advises GOP: Say You'd 'Replace' Not 'Repeal' Health Care (click here)

Christina Bellantoni | January 8, 2010, 12:30PM

Newt Gingrich is revising his advice to Republicans for their fall campaign lines to be that they would vote to "repeal" the health care bill, saying now they should use the world "replace."

We've been reporting on that campaign line, which Gingrich has been championing for several weeks.

In a brief stop in Atlanta this week, Gingrich said Republicans have ideas on health care, and that at least "400" pages of the nearly 4,000 pages in the Democrats' health care bill "have to be good."

Still, the line should be scrap it, Gingrich said.

"I think every Republican candidate in the country is going to say that they want to replace the bill with something better," Gingrich said, according to The Georgia Report (sub. req.). "I don't think they use the word 'repeal,' they use the word 'replace.'"...

From the media rag that bought you the Obamas in a terrorist motif, comes 'Shock and Awe." Your joking, right? It was a shock that Michael Steele called for Harry Reid's resignation. Heck doesn't that happen at least once a week?

Harry Reid is an incumbent. He has an election to win in 2010. Nothing Harry Reid said wasn't generational NOR thought by other people. He didn't lie. He spoke his mind and he didn't think that Grandma was going to have the plug pulled under the new Health Care Reform Bill. Currently, Harry Reid is expected to win his Senate election by 10 points. Wish it was more.

Given the fact Michael Steele could not find it fit to include a white woman in his book, he has no room to talk. That's for starters. And there was nothing, and I mean NOTHING more bigoted than the cover of The New Yorker when the current President Obama ran his campaign for the elections of 2008. Double standard maybe, huh?

The fact of the matter is there is now a Black Man in the White House and we are tickled he is there. I wish I could say the same for Republicans and their eagerness for bipartisanship. Especially, when one considers all those Republican 'darkies' in the Senate.

I understand there is a book about the 2008 Elections coming on the market this week that openly ridicules the Democrats through reports from folks affiliated with the campaigns. First question and probably the only necessary question is how much were those folks paid? But, in all honesty, I hope this book does not inhibit the expression of frustration and ego by any s within their inner circles of home field where they normally left off steam. Complaining is healthy. I am glad they can do it. It is a shame in this vicious political environment they can't do it safely.

The only point that needs to be made about this book coming on the market is that most of the candidates for President it ridicules are now in power WITH President Obama. I guess we can assume all is forgiven. I am not going to take 'behind the scene comments' seriously. I just won't. I already know Harry Reid regrets saying it, but, he is allowed to do it within the privacy of a campaign headquarters.

Quite frankly, the comment sounds like a reassuring statement from an experienced political figure. It sounds to me as though he was not only reassuring himself about the win of Barak Hussein Obama, but, those around him. The reality is the 2008 Presidential Elections were so critical for the nation that Democrats were scared to their toes something would go "W"rong. A lot of concern for the young candidate came from everywhere and to realize he is now our President with the love for this country and its citizens he exudes is more than we can stand some days.

But, enough of all that mushy stuff, I am sure the portraits this so-called book paints will have some impact, but, in all honesty it is after all 'the truth' that is most important in this day of lies and false agendas that continues within our political culture. I would say to any Democrat that is ridiculed or exposed in this hideous book, to speak openly as they did at the time they made the comments and allow 'the truth' to be known about the pressures they experienced during the campaign. 2008 was a tough year to be a candidate, but, they all did it well.

Michael Steele Shocks the World by Calling for Harry Reid to Step Down (click here)

1/10/10 at 12:00 PM
Michael Steele told Fox News Sunday today that he thinks Harry Reid should step down for his 2008 comments in which he used offensive words to praise Barack Obama, comparing Reid's statement to Trent Lott's assertion that the country would be better if it were still racially segregated. Steele was in the news recently for using the phrase "Honest Injun" to describe the Republican party....



What is the attraction of Sarah Palin? She is basically a 'nice' person. She appears to be competent, but, Sarah isn't ready to govern and she never really was. She is a pretty woman and she held a seat of authority. She rose to national potential as a woman very quickly as a Hillary Wannabe. Every person that ever wanted to be President of the USA, but, always saw themselves unqualified or was 'out of reach' of the possibility like Sarah Palin. She represents 'potential' and that is why she attracts so many to her side and why she is able to survive in a political arena.

She entered the political 'game' in 1992 for the reason of taxes. Not the repeal of them, but, whether or not the Wasilla City Council would spend a new tax wisely. See, nice women that go to church know how to spend taxes wisely and with the same concern as most citizens. She made a clean sweep of the towns department heads as if they were the issue in corruption and appeared to be a powerful person to the people that elected her. I don't know how so many people could be corrupt in one little town, but, I guess anything is possible in Alaska. That says more about the people of that state than anyone really wants to speculate about.

It is the 'morality' persona that Sarah enjoys. It was the same 'persona', the good neighbor identity ("I can see Russia from my house."), that got her elected to Governor when she promised to rid the state of its expensive jet plane (The trappings of wealth.) She is a people pleaser and maybe the best illustration of that is how she picked a name of a Wasilla citizen out of a jar once a week to call and ask how things were going. In Alaska that is possible, in California that is not. Alaska doesn't have budget problems, it has oil, or at least it did. So, being a Governor to a state with a small populous and natural beauty was relatively easy.

That 'persona' is fine for PR purposes, but, as a Vice President or even a prospective Presidential candidate it is a worry. She isn't willing to admit she still has a lot to learn, personal deficits in experience and education that would complicate her duties at the higher levels of Government. That is Sarah's short fall. She is good propaganda material for the sake of winning the 'soft vote,' but, she is dangerously "W"rong for a place in government where calls to neighbors isn't going to enhance her performance in the Oval Office, or in a position of power reasonably close to it.

But, she can sell books, oh yes she can. Her cirriculum vitea is rather needy though and when compared to that of her 'idol' Hillary Clinton lacks in large measure.

continued...