Oh, good. Another Neocon heard from; Bob Gates the man that brought the USA the F-35 Strike Fighter.

United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited Lockheed Martin final assembly operation for the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter today, conveying optimism for the programfuture and emphasizing the F-35importance to global security.

So, let me get this right. The F-35 was an answer along with the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. And he has the nerve to complain about a President that never voted for the war in Iraq? Who the hell does he think he is?

U.S. Defense Secretary Underscores F-35 Importance During Lockheed Martin Visit (click here)

Published August 31, 2009

By Marcel van Leeuwen

...The visit was Gates first to Lockheed Martin Fort Worth plant, which also has served as the final assembly point for the B-24 Liberator, B-36 Peacemaker, B-58 Hustler, F-111 Aardvark and F-16 Fighting Falcon....

Precision, my ass !

...More than 20,000 individual (click here) components all come together to produce the F-35 Lightning II at Lockheed Martin's mile-long factory in Fort Worth, Texas....

It is good to know that President Obama isn't a puppet to a military willing to fight any war Neocons find NECESSARY.

DEFECTIONS HAVE BEGUN: Canada Rejects The Pricey F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (click here)

Robert Johnson
Dec. 7, 2012

Following public outrage and a lengthy political battle, Canadians have finally said thanks but no thanks to America's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The 5th-generation plane had become a source of controversy after costs soared far beyond the initial estimate from Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon.

Then last spring Auditor General Michael Ferguson called out a bunch of party conservatives who'd been low-balling the jets costs....

One other thing...

...these phenomena are called "Polar Vortexes" because they over the POLES of the planet or at least they should be. It has nothing to do with cold. It is a geographical reference. 

90 degrees latitude. 

The Poles of Earth. That is where these air masses belong and are no longer!

It just happens that the air masses at 90 degrees latitude are frigid. The description of Polar Vortex as nothing to do with temperature. It is LATITUDE that determines the name of this DISPLACEMENT.

"The Polar Vortex" is weakened due to far less ice of the Arctic Ocean.

This is global warming. This is not the usual "Mid-Latitude Vortex." That is NOT at all a Mid-Latitude Vortex. Don't tell me meterologists and climatologists are that confused about this EVENT. This is a breakdown in the climate of Earth.

The FRIGID AIR of the ARCTIC OCEAN no longer exists in quantities enough to support the stability of the polar vortex. IT IS THE ARCTIC ICE that is gone in large amounts.

Just because the Polar Vortex may recede in coming days, doesn't mean this isn't a huge concern for our Earth. All that means is there was significant enough HEAT EXCHANGE to resolve the imbalance between the Arctic and the Lower Latitudes.

This is a breakdown of Earth's climate. This is not a minor weather event.

This EVENT is a HEAT TRANSFER EVENT.

And all Wall Street and the GOP can talk about is "Drill, Babe, Drill." You've got to be joking. When these events occur all that means is there is another march toward a hot planet. Believe me you won't need carbon fuels when the final stages arrive.

The GOP has a lot more to worry about than the declassification of the Polar Bear.

This is NOT new to the Climate Scientists. This was KNOWN. It is the governments that have ignored the facts. I was studying this at UNCW back in ????????? 2000 something. I don't remember the exact year. This was KNOWN to happen.

Tree huggers ain't huggin' trees for no reason! Money before human life. 

1996 and 1994 were post warning about Greenhouse Gases. Try again!


Warm Arctic, Cold Continents (click here)

Changes in the Arctic Are Hitting Closer to Home

...“When the Polar Vortex — a ring of winds circling the Arctic — breaks down, this allows cold air to spill south, affecting the eastern United States and other regions,” says Dr. Overland. “This can result in a warmer-than-average Arctic region and colder temperatures that may include severe winter weather events on the North American and European continents.”...

How many more of the Homeless are actually a "Missing Person?"

It is a delicate balance in identifying the Homeless. If they get the idea they are being tracked and have irrational fears, they might not come in from the cold and endanger their own lives. Just the same, finding Missing Persons is an outreach the country should indulge to link families to their Homeless.

...Family members (click here) also reached out to AP photographer Jacquelyn Martin, who captured the image.

Communication between Simmons' family, DiBlasio, Martin, and the Greece Police Department helped the Washington Metropolitan Police track down Simmons.

Now he's reunited with his family, police said.

Washington Metro Police Officer Araz Alali said he's considered a "missing person returned."

On the Facebook page, his mother Michelle Simmons said she was stunned.

"We are going to get him home safe, and this is by far the greatest example of God's love and divine intervention I have ever experienced," she wrote, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.

"I am beyond able to put into words how I am feeling." ...       

English.news.cn   2014-01-07 11:26:55

BEIJING, Jan. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The trapped Chinese icebreaker Xuelong, (click here) or Snow Dragon, warmed up its engine and widened a path through the ice on Monday, preparing to break out of frozen floes in Antarctica, as weather conditions may turn favorable before Wednesday.

"The path is up to 80 meters wide and 1 kilometer long, which will help the vessel in breaking free," Qu Tanzhou, director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration under the State Oceanic Administration, said on Monday.

Although the southeast wind did not turn into a favorable west wind as expected on Monday, the heavy snow of the past few days turned to sleet, which melted parts of the ice floes, Qu said.

"It's good news!"...

"Snow Dragon" by Linda Trude Jansson

Try an outhouse!

Reddit (click here)

Published time: January 07, 2014 10:35

Disgruntled with NSA spying on US citizens, (click here) two senators from opposing parties have introduced a bill banning companies in California from providing essential utility services to the agency – including cutting off its computer-cooling water supply.

The NSA is a very resource-hungry organization which could stand to lose a lot from this. The initiative by activists and other organizations, apparently seeks to incapacitate the agency in return for its rights violations.

The news comes just as elsewhere, in Maryland, the agency made a deal to pay $2 million a year for the region’s treated sewage water.

But California has not been so kind. Hitting back at the federal government after a mountain of recent allegations of outright violations of its citizens’ rights, senators Ted Lieu (D) and Joel Anderson (R) formally introduced Senate Bill 828 on Monday....

New McCarthyism: Fear of science and the war on rationality

Posted on September 7, 2009
By citybrights_pgleick@sfgate.com (Peter Gleick)

As more and more of the world looks to knowledge, education, and science (click here) as the routes out of poverty and conflict, parts of America seems to be slipping back toward the Dark Ages, when fear of knowledge and science led to an impoverishment of civilization that had lasting effects for centuries.

I’ve recently returned from two weeks in northern Europe and a series of scientific water meetings and discussions with people from over 130 countries. They read the news from the United States with incredulity. America is still seen as the place to come for aspiring students and scientists around the world. Our public universities, despite assaults on budgets, independence, and knowledge, still struggle to maintain their excellence. But my friends and colleagues from overseas are increasingly shocked, as are many of us in the U.S., by the expanding efforts of home-grown extremists to undermine rational discourse, eliminate the use of fact and science in policymaking, and shut down public debate over the vital issues of our times through hate, vitriol, and ad hominem attacks.

Looking through the eyes of my overseas colleagues, what do we see?...

The Syrian government must be represented at the peace conference.

By AFP | 7 Jan, 2014, 11.01AM IST 

TOKYO: A UN-hosted peace conference on Syria must work to remove President Bashar al-Assad from power because of his culpability for tens of thousands of deaths, Turkey's Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Tokyo on Tuesday.

"In Geneva 2, we must make sure that... all the measures will not fail...so that we can (bring) in an era without Bashar al-Assad," he said, referring to peace talks planned later this month in Switzerland.

The Syrian conflict is estimated to have....

Currently there are no indictments of Assad. It would be very short sighted for those involved with the Peace Conference to believe it will be successful without representation of the current government. The Assad government has been cooperative in disarming from chemical weapons and there is no reason to believe that will continue without his authority present.

...The 30 countries invited to the Geneva talks include Saudi Arabia, a major backer of the Syrian opposition, as well as the five UN Security Council permanent members -- and Syria's neighbours Turkey, Iraq and Jordan.

Japan's foreign minister Fumio Kishida is also expected to attend. "In the Geneva 1 there were several issues that were taken up and in the Geneva 2 we will make sure that these will not fail.... It is very important that Japan takes part in this," Erdogan said....

For as difficult as it is to accept, Syria's Assad had a right to have chemical weapons previous to signing the Chemical Weapons' Convention. So, to assume President Assad will be indicted on any kind of international crime and against international law is an error.

I am fairly confident the leaders of Jordan and Saudi Arabia have been in contact with President Assad during these times and have been instrumental in encouraging him to disarm from his chemical stockpiles. All the nations invited to the peace conference should have a say to the presence of President Assad.

In changing the topic, Saudi Arabia would be aware of the circumstances in Iraq regarding Al Anbar and the Sunnis attempting to rebuild their province. I would not underestimate Saudi Arabia's influence with the Al Anbar Province. It is completely wrong for Baghdad to start a civil war with their own people in the face of an international community able to establish stability.

Why are our troops still in Afghanistan? Troops out now.

January 7, 2014 - 12:20PM

The Afghan government (click here) says it will release 88 prisoners seen as posing a security threat by the US, ignoring warnings from Washington ahead of a planned pullout of international forces from the country later this year.

The head of a government-appointed panel reviewing the prisoners' cases says they found no evidence to show they were involved in terrorist activities and have freed them.

The government made the announcement last week when it released some 650 prisoners.

The decision has angered US officials, who say the 88 prisoners are Taliban fighters involved in attacks that killed at least 60 American soldiers and more than 50 civilians.

FACING THE POLAR VORTEX AND HOMELESS IN CHICAGO (click here)

Homeless man Clifton Johnson tells US correspondent Nick O'Malley how he plans to survive temperatures below -20 degrees Centigrade on the streets of Chicago.

If I were a good friend of the young North Korean leader, ...

...I would encourage him to put emphasis on better health care services to the people. Even his closest relatives are dying at a far younger age than most their age in the rest of the world. I am sure he feels sorrow for those lost. He has young children and he is still very young, it would be best if he concentrated some of his resources on a better health care system, that might include better food quality including fishing and agriculture.

It was an accomplishment his father was unable to achieve.

Zee Media Bureau 

Pyongyang: North Korean leader (click here) Kim Jong Un's aunt and Jang Song Thaek's wife, Kim Kyong Hui, has died, a report said on Tuesday. 

Notably, Kim had reportedly executed his uncle Jang Song Thaek last month. Chosun Ilbo, a major newspaper, has quoted a source in the South Korean government as saying that Kim Kyong Hui, 67, has either "committed suicide or died from a heart attack". South Korean intelligence sources have yet to confirm the news....

...The last time she was seen in the public was on September 10, when she attended a musical performance with Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju. However, she did not attend the ceremony commemorating the second anniversary of the death of her late brother, Kim Jong Il, on December 17. 

"It would not come as a surprise if she is indeed dead," Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Tokyo's Waseda University and an authority on North Korean affairs, told The Daily Telegraph. "She is not well, she has been treated for cancer, and the alcoholism dates back about 30 years." 

Ron the Bison, at the Chicago Zoo, found the weather enjoyable.

INDIANAPOLIS — Frigid air (click here) that snapped decades-old records will make venturing outside dangerous for a second straight day, this time spreading to southern and eastern parts of the U.S. and keeping many schools and businesses shuttered. Meanwhile, residents driven from their homes by power outages in the Midwest worried about burst pipes.

Monday’s subzero temperatures broke records in Chicago, which set a record for the date at minus 16, and Fort Wayne, Ind., where the mercury fell to 13 below. Records also fell in Oklahoma and Texas, and wind chills across the region were 40 below and colder. Officials in states like Indiana already struggling with high winds and more than a foot of snow urged residents to stay home if they could.

“The cold is the real killer here,” Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said Monday as he asked schools and businesses to remain closed another day. “In 10 minutes you could be dead without the proper clothes.”...

Thank you, Mayor Ballard. Many people I have met these past two days are saying, "I am seriously considering being a Snowbird."

What legal procedure puts a decision by the Supreme Court ahead of the Appellate Court? "Statute Opps?"

Or is this one of those, "Likely to win at the Supreme Court?"
Tribune wire report

1:37 p.m. CST, January 6, 2014

...Gay couples in Utah (click here) were thrown into legal limbo Monday as the U.S. Supreme Court put a halt to same-sex marriages in the state, turning jubilation to doubt just weeks after a judge's ruling sent more than a thousand couples rushing to get married.

The justices did not rule on the merits of the case or on same-sex marriage bans in general, leaving both sides confident they'll ultimately win. The decision stays in effect while the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considers the long-term question of whether gay couples have a right to wed in Utah.

For those couples who just got married — or were planning their nuptials — the latest twist in the legal battle clouds what was seen as a cause for celebration.

"It feels like we are second-class citizens during the stay," said Moudi Sbeity, who is waiting to get married until the legal process plays out. "There's also the fear of the unknown of what might come next."

Sbeity and partner Derek Kitchen are among three couples who brought the Utah lawsuit that led to the surprise Dec. 20 ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby, who said the state's ban on same-sex marriage violated gay and lesbian couples' constitutional rights....

State officials praised Monday's decision to put a hold on things, saying it should have come earlier. Two previous courts turned down their request for a stay.

That is a drone? That is a missle drone. Drones take off on wheels.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation INCLUDES drones, too.

Published time: January 06, 2014 17:11

A US Navy battleship (click here) suffered $30 million in damages after a drone accidentally crashed into it during a military exercise and injured two sailors.

The incident occurred last November near Point Mugu, California, but the website USNI just recently reported the Navy will need about six months to fully repair the USS Chancellorsville.

According to the original Navy Times report on the accident, a malfunctioning Northrop Grumman BQM-74 crashed into the port side of the Chancellorsville during a training exercise that involved a routine radar test. The ship “was heavily damaged by the impact of a test target,” while the 13-foot drone itself “crippled a key computer center integral to the ship's cutting-edge combat systems.”

The Chancellorsville had about 300 crewmen onboard at the time of the collision. Two were treated for minor burns, though the Navy did not say how the individuals were injured. Sailors had only a four-second warning once drone operators realized they lost control over the BQM-74.

“There was just a breakdown in communications … and the ship had no time to react,” an unnamed crewman told the Navy Times....

Oh, what joy, the USA Navy doesn't have control over their Missile Drones right there off the coast of the USA. 

The US EPA needs to investigate a claim by a citizen there is 500 times acceptable radiation rates on a California Beach and disputed by the state government.

Published time: January 06, 2014 17:22

...The Half Moon Bay Review reported on Friday that government officials conducted tests along California’s Pacific Coast after word of the video began to spread online, but found no indication that radiation levels had reached a hazardous point.

“It’s not something that we feel is an immediate public health concern,” Dean Peterson, the county environmental health director, told the Review. “We’re not even close to the point of saying that any of this is from Fukushima.”...

That is correct. It is not an immediate danger, but, in 20 years time the cancer victims can sue the State of California.

Here is something about the Iraq Government no one will hear from the USA media or the Neocons.

The Iraqi Government in Baghdad may be the enemy after all.

A protester stands next to the wreckage of a police vehicle in Ramadi on December 30, 2013.

January 4, 2014

(Baghdad) – Iraqi authorities (click here) should immediately order a transparent and impartial investigation into violence between security forces and antigovernment protesters in the western city of Ramadi. The fighting on December 30, 2013, left 17 people dead.

The investigation should also look into the apparently related killings of the brother and five bodyguards of a member of parliament, Ahmed al-Alwany, during his arrest on December 28.  The authorities should ensure that all those responsible for unlawful killings and other misuse of force are brought to justice....

Why would an illegal and immoral war actually result in a benevolent government?

The USA is completely wrong in supporting the Baghdad government. The Baghdad government was placed there by nation building. That is the same old world strategy to PROTECT AMERICAN INTERESTS. The reason there is an Arab Spring is because of this EXACT strategy.

...In the early hours of December 30, hundreds of security force personnel descended on the Ramadi protest camp, where 300 to 400 Sunnis were protesting Iraq’s Shia-led government’s alleged use of abusive counterterrorism measures. Two witnesses told Human Rights Watch that at around 6:30 a.m., army and special police (SWAT) forces with at least 30 Humvee military vehicles, 20 pickup trucks, and 18 armored vehicles surrounded the Ezz and Karama square.

Witness accounts differ as to who began the shooting, but an exchange of fire between the security forces and armed tribesmen outside the square resulted in six deaths and ten wounded....

Those are not Iraqi Humvees. They didn't discover the method to manufacture them. They bought them OR more the truth given them by the USA Military Industrial Complex with the USA paying the freight.  The USA is providing a Shi'ite based Baghdad leader with weapons to use against Sunnis. That is a pure and unadulterated ethnic war.

If John Kerry wants to back an ethnic war then he needs to realize their is a world court waiting for him!

Cruelty is not an answer to any American problem.

Republicans are bullies and call Americans names and victimize them as an enemy of the government. That is not governing. That isn't even politics. It is rude!

To unemployment they say, "Gee that is too bad."

To health care they say, "Gee that is too bad."

To the working Poor, I'll quote "W", "You work three jobs? … Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that." —to a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005.

To hunger they say, "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat."

Their policy is dictated by theology? What ever happened to Luke 3:11? "If you have two coats, give one away," he said. "Do the same with your food."

Congratulations to Ms. Janet Yellen. I am very happy for her.

Jacquelyn Martin, File/Associated Press - FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2013 file photo, Janet Yellen, of California, smiles as she is introduced as being the first female to be nominated as Federal Reserve Board chair, prior to testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington. Yellen was approved by the Senate on Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, as the first woman to head the Federal Reserve in its 100-year history.

By Associated Press
Monday, January 6, 2014

WASHINGTON — The Senate (click here) confirmed Janet Yellen on Monday as the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve, elevating an advocate of fighting unemployment and a backer of the central bank’s efforts to spur the economy with low interest rates and massive bond purchases.

Yellen, 67, will replace Ben Bernanke, who is stepping down after serving as chairman for eight years dominated by the Great Recession and the Fed’s efforts to combat it....

We are at a very turbulent time in history. The USA is upside down. It has enormous amount of people in poverty and a large class of people called "The Working Poor." In response to dangerous trends with health care insurance we have new laws that seek out those uninsured to be sure they are covered and to prevent harsh and dangerous policies of the insurance industry. There is a large American debt and the global currencies are basically unstable. Then there is that 'no nation' currency called "Bitcoin" which brings an entirely new potential to further instability of global currency.

Where is the wisdom in allowing so many people to be poorly paid, in poverty and trusting a currency without a sovereign nation attached to it? There are many problems facing nations globally. Chairwoman Yellin has a full plate when she enters her office on her first day.

January 6, 2014

...Zynga (click here) is among the first widely known companies to accept Bitcoin, which has yet to become a viable form of payment with major retailers such as Amazon.com....

Zynga Inc

NASDAQ: ZNGA - Jan 6 6:10 PM ET

4.04+0.07 (1.76%)

After Hours: 4.05

All Republicans do is rant on and on without substance to their arguments.

By Jennifer Rubin 
January 6, 2014 

...If you recall he previously (click here) said that extending unemployment benefits would be a “disservice“ to the unemployed. You can debate that proposition (Does the availability of minimal benefits cause people to slow down their job search?), but it ostensibly was based on the desire to attend to the needs of the jobless. But no more of that, Rand Paul now says. It’s simply a matter of money — taxpayer money. He’s decided that if we “pay for it” (i.e. cut elsewhere) we can extend the benefits. Won’t the jobless then be disserved — or was his previous opposition based on phony sentiments about what is good for the poor?

If he is really concerned about the cost of unemployment benefits (about $25 billion for three months), then he’s fighting over nickels in the couch. The debt is over $17 trillion. (This is akin to his obsession over foreign aid spending, which is about 1 percent of federal spending.) It is hard to know whether Rand Paul is an opportunist, uniformed or both....

Senator Paul and Rubio need to introduce policy based in FACT and not simply steam. Where are the studies that PROVE the unemployed in the year 2014 are lazy and willing to slow down job seeking to opt for receiving a government check? Where is the study saying that?

Senator Rubio wants a war on poverty. Fine. Based on what? Where are the studies he is calling to construct policies that will reduce income inequality.

It is typical of Republicans and not just Paul and Rubio to make grandstanding statements without any substance. Americans aren't listening to 'mottos' anymore. There is too much on the line; the future of the Middle Class, the American Economy, the American Dream and the ability to enjoy sunset years. Where are the plans based in solid research and 'known to work' facts to carry out a PROGRAM to end poverty or return all Americans back to work and regain their integrity? No one is listening to the empty ranting that simply comes down to politics. 

Where is the substance that ACTUALLY has a proven track record. Not the liars and deceivers at the Heritage Foundation that through credentials behind some 'idea' or another. Where are the policies that actually have a proven track record? And to simply say "Reaganominics." NOT! There was record high homeless in the USA during his Presidency. And believe or not, the homeless are poor.

Whew ! Welcome to global warming. It's dangerous, isn't it? A planet is nothing to play with.

A whirlpool of frigid, dense air known as a "polar vortex" descended Monday into much of the U.S. causing temps to plummet 30 to 50 degrees below the average for this time of year.

Thank you "Time" magazine!. Now is an excellent time to stop denying the dangers of a warming planet.

Climate change skeptics are pointing to the record cold weather as evidence that the globe isn't warming. But it could be that melting Arctic ice is making sudden cold snaps more likely—not less

By Brian Walsh @brayanwalsh

January 6, 2014

...But not only does the cold spell not disprove climate change, (click here) it may well be that global warming could be making the occasional bout of extreme cold weather in the U.S. even more likely. Right now much of the U.S. is in the grip of a polar vortex, which is pretty much what it sounds like: a whirlwind of extremely cold, extremely dense air that forms near the poles. Usually the fast winds in the vortex—which can top 100 mph (161 k/h)—keep that cold air locked up in the Arctic. But when the winds weaken, the vortex can begin to wobble like a drunk on his fourth martini, and the Arctic air can escape and spill southward, bringing Arctic weather with it. In this case, nearly the entire polar vortex has tumbled southward, leading to record-breaking cold, as you can see in this weatherbell.com graphic:...

I am in the frigid area of the country. It is bitter cold. I wear layers when I go outside; at least four, sometimes five. Long thermal underwear, usually pullover with long sleeves, then a sweater on top of that, then a zip up sweater, then a navy blue sweat jacket and finally a bright pink snow jacket with a hood. I wear leather gloves over my hands and then thermally lined knitted gloves over them. Two pair of insulated sox and hiking boots that lace up so the snow can't go into the bottom of my boot and rob my body heat. 

Don't try this at home. 

I took one glove off and exposed by bare hand to the air and within 3 minutes it became cold and within another 60 seconds it started to tingle. I was standing right outside the door to my home when I did this. It is incredibly dangerous for anything living. I put seed out for the birds and a loaf of bread for any wildlife that lives in the ground. So, if there is anything alive and hunkering down they'll be able for find some carbohydrates to burn for body heat. 

The snow is blowing and there are white out conditions. I went into town to get supplies and when a truck traveling in the other direction passed me, I could not see an inch in front of my vehicle. When that occurs, I move slightly to the right and slow down until my visual field is clear again.

Being out in this weather is something you don't want to do. Children belong at home.

Minneapolis is calling this a deadly cold. It is. Make no doubt about this. It is a deadly cold. If anyone gets lost while traveling, don't continue. Find a local resource, gas station, police station, hospital and find out where you are. Don't think your way out of this. It is not possible.

When seeking shelter don't be afraid to say, "I am very scared of this weather, I need to come in from the cold." Any emergency worker or police would understand that. But, use the language. Don't pretend and don't be a hero.

Lake Michigan will probably freeze across completely again this year. The shoreline of the bays are already freezing. There are some waves slapping against the ice at the shoreline, but, for the wind, the waves are not that high. Similar wind occurred during the summer and governments had to put up small craft warnings and close beaches because the waves were so strong and tall.

The last time Lake Superior froze was 2003.

Lake Superior (click here) is almost completely frozen over this winter—a rare occurrence. This recent Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from March 12, 2003, shows the lake’s icy blanket.

The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS’ maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters.

This is what frozen waves look like

Ice — to infinity and beyond. Lake Michigan was frozen from shore to shore in February 1963. This photo was shot in January 1963, while there was still what appears to be a seam of open water on the horizon.







...Ice cover on Lake Erie (click here) is not uncommon, since it is the shallowest of all the lakes, but the big lakes—Superior and Huron—rarely freeze completely over; the big freeze has interrupted shipping and ferry lanes in the region. Ice experts from the Canadian Ice Service were quoted in media reports as saying it may be April before the ice thaws completely....


Don't leave the homeless out there. They've never experienced this amount of cold.

A steam grate in Washington.