Winnipeg zoo euthanizes world's oldest polar bear

Debby arrived in Winnipeg as a cub back in 1967, and more than 18 million visitors have come to see her.

Updated Mon. Nov. 17 2008 8:48 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Winnipeg zoo officials euthanized the oldest living polar bear on Monday, after a clinical exam found Debby was suffering from multiple organ failure.
At 42 years old, Debby doubled the life expectancy of the average polar bear. Officials said her health had been declining for several months.
They said she spent her last moments surrounded by caring zoo-keepers and veterinarians.
Born in the Russian Arctic in 1966, and arriving at the Assiniboine Park Zoo as an orphaned cub in 1967, Debby spent most of her life with her mate Skipper. The pair produced six surviving offspring.
When she turned 41, Debby was entered into the 2008 Guinness Book of Records as the oldest living polar bear. At 42 she was within the top three longevity record-holders for all eight species of bears
"Debby played a dominant role in the Winnipeg Zoo's animal family for over four decades, generating great public appeal and important contributions to the Zoo's interpretive programs," said the zoo in a press release. "She epitomized what one orphaned animal can achieve in promoting the conservation of her species and other wildlife in light of mounting ecological and environmental challenges like global warming."
Dr. Gordon Glover, Assiniboine Park Zoo's coordinator, recalled Debby's ability to "strike magnificent and charming poses," which resulted in her being featured in many photos and films. "She will be missed by millions of Zoo visitors," said Glover.
The zoo is inviting the public to celebrate Debby's life at a ceremony at the zoo's Animal Tracks Café from Noon to 1:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, Nov. 22.

Franken asks board to count absentee ballots before recount

By MIKE KASZUBA, Star Tribune
Last update: November 17, 2008 - 5:58 PM
...At one of the news conferences, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said that Sen. Norm Coleman’s lead over Franken, which stands at 206 votes, is expected to grow to 215 as a result of a post-election review of results that involved a statewide sampling of about 210 precincts....



Local Time: 4:04 PM AKST on November 17, 2008

Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Conditions :: Clear

Temperature :: 32 °F / 0 °C

Windchill :: 32 °F / 0 °C

Humidity :: 80%

Dew Point :: 27 °F / -3 °C

Wind :: Calm

Pressure :: 29.76 in / 1008 hPa (Steady)

Visibility :: 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds :: Clear -
(Above Ground Level)

Elevation :: 33 ft / 10 m

...most devastating to hit Los Angeles in nearly half a century...

That is NOT a fire.

This is an inferno.

This is NOT normal.

The years of fire that California has suffered does not LEAVE that much FUEL on the ground. These are fires due to extremely dry conditions, literally burning up anything that is made of timber, and I am not talking trees.

Why such events 'seem like a minimal circumstance' that passes and then people come back to rebuild their lives, is because its like a hurricane tidal surge. Once it passes over you it is over. Then all there is left to do is pick up the pieces. 'The Faithful' are real good at recuperating while being grateful for being alive.

This mess HAS to stop. Its not going to as long as we ignore our responsibility to Earth. For the faithful; God didn't provide a paradise as a void in space to provide for his likeness only to have it destroyed by neglect and self-righteous indignation leading to wealth.

THIS HAS TO STOP. California can't make its budget. It isn't because of banks, either !

The Oakridge mobile home park, which had 600-800 homes, in Sylmar, California, is engulfed in fire. (click at title to entry, thank you)

Photo: AFP

November 16, 2008
More than 500 mobile homes were destroyed and 10,000 people fled as a wildfire described as the most devastating to hit Los Angeles in nearly half a century ripped through a city suburb on Saturday, officials said.One day after an inferno laid waste to more than 100 mansions in the celebrity enclave of Montecito, 160 kilometres up the coast, California's fire scourge struck in the densely populated district of Sylmar on the northern fringe of Los Angeles.The wildfire - fuelled by seasonal winds of up to 100kmh - erupted late on Friday and swept through 2600 hectares, turning everything in its path to charred ruins, authorities said....

Again? Well, it is so good to see that Bush and Cheney have global terrorism under control, isn't it?

Do you see the size of this thing? How in God's name do you hijack it? (click here)

You want to know something, as far as I am concerned, I couldn't care less. The pirates need to let the hostages leave the ship and they can have it and the oil. They need to let the crew leave.

Do you suppose they are taking the oil to Mullah Omar?

Somali pirates suspected of hijacking giant oil tanker
The crew of 25 on the Sirius Star is kidnapped in the bold attack on the Arabian Sea. U.S. military officials say this represents a 'fundamental' change in the way pirates are operating.
By Borzou Daragahi
7:07 AM PST, November 17, 2008
Reporting from Beirut -- In a dramatic and unprecedented show of prowess, suspected Somali pirates seized an oil tanker three times the size of a U.S. aircraft carrier deep in open seas, the U.S. military in the Middle East announced today.The Liberian-flagged Sirius Star oil tanker was hijacked and its multinational crew of 25 kidnapped by pirates in the Arabian Sea on Saturday more than 450 nautical miles from Mombasa, Kenya, the Bahrain-based U.S. 5th Fleet said.
Typically, pirates attack within 200 miles of the shoreline and go after smaller prey, said U.S. Navy Lt. Nathan Christensen, adding that the pirates were "changing the way they're doing business" in the region."What this represents is a fundamental ability of pirates to be able to operate off the coast to an extent we have not seen before," Christensen said in a phone conversation from Manama, Bahrain, home to the 5th Fleet. "It's the largest ship we've seen attacked."The giant oil tanker is owned by Saudi Arabia-based Saudi Aramco. Crew members include citizens of Britain, Poland, Croatia, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines, the Navy said. Christensen said the pirates have not made any demands yet.
The Sirius Star, manufactured in South Korea by Dubai-based Vela International Marine Ltd., is classified as a "very large crude-oil carrier," which typically cost about $120 million and can transport up to 2 million barrels of oil....

Has Cruise ever starred in a film where he failed to be a hero? Click here for trailer.

Tom Cruise plays the role of the failed Hitler assassin Col. Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg in the film "Valkyrie."

"What makes you think you are stronger than the very momemtum of history?"

...“Valkyrie,” (click here) directed by Bryan Singer, with an original script by Christopher McQuarrie, was conceived about 20 months ago as a dramatic showcase for Mr. Cruise. It was also a high-profile effort to kick-start United Artists, the MGM unit of which he and his producing partner, Paula Wagner, had become part owners....

The Obama Agenda moves forward with the enthusiasm of Turkey's diplomatic corp. Thank you.

The issues besetting the Obama Administration in regard to Iran primarily focus on the denial of productive relations regarding Israel.

Currently, the President of Iran has leveled words of Anti-Semetic rhetoric that denies the existance of Israel, while, benefitting his political ambitions. He is also politically engaged in Southern Lebanon with entities that have opposed the existance of Israel.

While Egypt and Jordan has sought diligently a peace between Israel and Palestine, it is being undermined by Iran's purpose of disruption as a means to their national security. Peace in the Middle East, in any measure, will not be possible unless Iran is a part of it.

The issues are many and the path forward is mired with land mines, but, to simply threaten war with Iran is unrealistic and counter-productive to any peace for the Middle East.

In contrast to the demands upon Iran to stop its nuclear enrichment program and return to productive relations with The West the USA has to reflect on its aggressive posture. Insuring the safety of the Iranian people includes the cessation of the political rhetoric and laying the ground work of mutual trust and expectations.

Iran's denial of the world as it exists rather than as its president wants it, lies in the 'void' the issue in fact that the USA, under Bush, has walked away from the Non-Proliferation Treaty as well as the ABM Treaty with Russia.

When a Free World country acts in aggression, it endangers its own freedom, populous, democracy, the well being of other people and discards any progress made in peace to a world safe for all peoples. The USA in alliance with other great nations have a strong defense of its populous and principles, however, to become an aggressor nation as it has under the Bush/Cheney War Machine is to lose far more than it can ever gain. The reality of today speaks loud and clear to that TRUTH !

Office of the SpokesmanWashington, DC
May 2, 2007
U.S. Participates in 2007 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee Meeting in Vienna (click here)
States Party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) will convene April 30 to May 11 in Vienna, Austria, for the first session of a review process that will discuss the operation of the Treaty and how best to fulfill its purpose. The NPT includes close to 190 member states and is second only to the United Nations in membership size. This meeting of the NPT Preparatory Committee is the first of three meetings that will precede, on an annual basis, an NPT Review Conference in 2010 that is the core of the review process....




President George W. Bush (R) leads Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan into the G20 Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy at the National Building Museum in Washington, November 15, 2008.
REUTERS/Jim Young

Iran says won't hinder Turkish mediation with U.S. (click here)
Mon Nov 17, 2008 4:22am EST
By Hossein Jaseb
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday it would not hinder any Turkish bid to mediate between the Islamic Republic and the new U.S. administration but cautioned that its differences with Washington were deep-rooted....
...Relations with Iran will be one of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's main foreign policy challenges when he takes office in January. He has said he would harden sanctions but has also held out the possibility of direct talks.
Iranian officials have reacted cautiously to Obama's election, saying it reflects the American people's desire for fundamental change in U.S. policies at home and abroad but that it remains to be seen whether he will live up to expectations.
Asked about Erdogan's remarks to the New York Times that Obama's election opened new opportunities for a shift in Iran- U.S. relations and that Ankara would be ready to mediate, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said:
"We think the comments ... stem from Turkish goodwill and good and growing neighborly ties between Iran and Turkey, so we will certainly not raise any obstacles."
"But the reality is that the issue and problems between Iran and the United states go beyond the usual political problems between two countries," he told a news conference.
"SLOGANS"
The United States severed ties with Iran shortly after its 1979 Islamic revolution and is now spearheading efforts to isolate the country over sensitive nuclear work the West suspects is aimed at making bombs, a charge Tehran denies.
"Around 30 years after the ... revolution the Americans have had negative performance toward us," Qashqavi said. "Mr Obama has come forward with slogans and now we will have to see whether the change in orientation is serious or not."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Obama after his November 4 victory, but other officials in Tehran later criticized the U.S. president-elect's call for an international effort to stop Iran developing a nuclear bomb.
Iran, the world's fourth-largest crude oil producer, says its nuclear programme is aimed at generating electricity....

64 Days Until Inauguration - Can the Congress make an exception and to it today?

November 16, 2008, 7:40 pm

Updated: 9:04 pm
Obama Mixes the Personal and Political on ‘60 Minutes’ (click here)
By Michael Falcone

...Mr. Obama acknowledged the parallels between the current economic crisis and the problems of the Great Depression, but said that he supported solutions that are “true to our times.”
“For us to simply recreate what existed back in the 30s in the 21st century — I think would be missing the boat,” Mr. Obama said in the interview. “I think the basic principle that government has a role to play in kick-starting an economy that has ground to a halt is sound. I think our basic principle that this is a free market system and that that has worked for us, that it creates innovation and risk taking, I think that’s a principle that we’ve got to hold to as well.”...

Obama On Economic Crisis, Transition (click here)
Also Discusses National Security, Iraq, And His Cabinet In 60 Minutes Interview
Nov. 16, 2008

The USA isn't going to be there that long !!!!!!!!

In this image released by the Iraqi government, Iraq's Cabinet votes to approve a security pact with the United States during a session in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008. Iraq's Cabinet on Sunday approved a security pact with the United States that will allow American forces to stay in Iraq for three years after their U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year, the government said. The decision followed months of difficult negotiations and, pending parliamentary approval, will remove a major point of contention between the two allies. (AP Photo/Iraqi Government, HO)

Well done, Rummy and every Republican between here and Dorothy's Kansas !

Karzai Offers Passage to Taliban Leader for Talks
Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, said Sunday that he would guarantee the safety of the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar if Mr. Omar agreed to negotiate for a peaceful settlement of the worsening conflict in the country.
Mr. Omar, a fugitive with a $10 million American bounty on his head, has been in hiding since the Taliban were toppled from power in 2001, and is believed by Western intelligence agencies to be living somewhere in the region of Quetta in western Pakistan....

Americans had to wait all this time to displace the liars?

Why?

The Bush/Cheney Executive Branch and the majority Republicans LOST the War against Global Terrorism. Do you know how this is going to resonate across the globe? Every nation's leaders needs to 'batten down the hatches.' Without a doubt in my mind ! Border security and strong alliances, NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Portraits of Grief (click here)


It was the day when the unreal became the unimaginable. Sept. 11, 2001, the crystalline morning when planes dropped from the skies and toppled the World Trade Center and punctured a hole in the Pentagon, was a demarcation point that shattered the security of the country and introduced a nebulous and virulent enemy previously unfamiliar to most citizens. Nearly 3,000 people died that morning, the vast majority of them in the gnarled rubble of the Lower Manhattan towers, others at the Pentagon and in a rural Pennsylvania field. A numbed country with red-rimmed eyes came to understand the ugly menace of terrorism....



...The echoes of that horrific day have radiated outward in myriad directions, indelibly altering peoples’ concept of what it means to feel safe in the modern world. Investigations were undertaken into how something of such magnitude could have happened, and conspiracy theorists trotted out diverging notions. A war on terror was set in motion that gravitated from the battlefields of Afghanistan to the deserts of Iraq. The long-running and problematic Iraq war has opened fissures in the nation and abroad, and advanced to the forefront of political dialogue.


Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama (click here), left, and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi walk after a lunch meeting in Dharamsala, India, Friday, March 21, 2008. Pelosi, called on the world community Friday to denounce China in the wake of its crackdown in Tibet, calling the crisis "a challenge to the conscience of the world." (AP Photo/Gurinder Osan)





Buddhist bishop spoke against injustice (click here)
Robert Davila
Sacramento Bee
Article Launched: 11/14/2008 08:12:25 AM PST
The Rev. Newton Ishiura, a former bishop of the Buddhist Church of Canada who retired at the Buddhist Church of Florin, has died at age 90.
He died Nov. 6 from complications of pneumonia, said his daughter Asoka Ishiura-Lluch.
The Rev. Ishiura's lifelong ministry followed a tradition of Buddhist priests in his family dating as far back as ninth-century Japan. He was born in 1918 in Kilauea, Hawaii, where his father ministered at a sugar plantation, and moved with his family to Japan in 1935.
He studied Buddhism at Ryukoku University in Kyoto and graduated and was ordained in 1941. He returned to the United States to serve in the Los Angeles area, where he was arrested under World War II internment orders and sent to the Gila River Relocation Center in Arizona.
He went to Yale University in 1943 to teach Japanese to Army soldiers and served as a minister at the New York Buddhist Church. He ministered in Hawaii after the war and campaigned to allow the Buddhist wheel of life symbol to be placed on the headstones of Buddhist veterans....






Ram Bahadur Bamjan, 16, (click here) meditates under a peepal tree in the remote village of Ratanapuri village on March 8, 2006 in Bara district Nepal. Pilgrims and followers have been visiting the boy after word spread that he has been meditating without drinking water for nine months and that he will carry on for another six years until he gains enlightenment. Pilgrims from as far as Korea and Japan worship him as the reincarnation of the Buddha. Relatives and neighbours said Bamjan undertook meditation when he returned from a tour of Lumbini, where Buddha was born, and monasteries in Pokhara in Nepal and Dehradun in India. (Ami Vitale/Getty Images)

Burma, Myanmar: Young Female Journalist Jailed For 2 Years (click here)
By Ashin Mettacara A young female journalist from Econ Vision Wewkly Journal has been sentenced to 2 years in jail for covering Nargis cyclone news. Ma Eint Khaing Oo, 24, was sentenced today by a court in Rangon's Tar Mwe, said a witness. She was arrested in front of the head office of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Yangon on June 10....




August 2000: "It's nothing to do with ideology... It's about the culture and history of the country... We're not opposed to this exhibition in principle because the exhibits are part of our history. And everything which happens in the country becomes part of the country and the government is obliged to preserve it." - Naqibullah Ahmad Yarn, Taliban president of the National Museum of Afghanistan


February 2001: "It has been decided to break down all statues/idols present in different parts of the country. This is because these idols have been gods of the infidels, who worshipped them, and these are respected even now and perhaps may be turned into gods again. The real God is only Allah, and all other false gods should be removed." - Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar

Palin actually expects to have a career in politics with an entire planet melting down while pumping oil out of the Arctic Tundra? I don't think so.

Post election of 2008 is a perfect time to reflect on the past eight years of Bush propaganda and a completely failed USA strategy against terrorist networks that did NOTHING but facilitate exploitation of the USA Treasury by complete incompetents !

..."The main economic argument McCain made during this campaign was earmarks," Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana told the Republican Governors Association. "We've got real ideas. We can't just be the party of 'no,' " he continued in a later interview.... (click here)

One might pay attention to 'the chronic campaigning' of the Republican Party. During this week FOX News is presenting 'an exclusive' on "The Palin's in Alaska." Maybe FOX didn't get the word, the Palins aren't 'The First Family,' except maybe of comedy.


The Republicans ONLY hope for 2012 and beyond is if President Elect Obama completely falls on his face. It ain't going to happen. The Demcrats is where the talent is and always has been. The Republicans having NOTHING going for them, nor have they. Even Reagan had 'no ideas' all he had was a huge biotic content of the USA to deregulate and rake in the profits.

...LIKE A COMET racing across the political sky, Sarah Palin's moment on the national stage was both bright and brief....

The Chronic Campaigning of the Republican Party WAS the reason for all the problems both the USA and the Global Community face. They left the 'real' war in Afghanistan for an Oil War in Iraq, while using images and rhetoric the entire time to brainwash a nation and demoralize every ally. Do they actually think they are going to get away with this? Some kind of 'tolerance' to the 'insanity' of the past eight years. It was more than just politics. It was treason for profit !


Let me put this into perspective for Dear, Sweet Sarah.

OBAMA IN 2012 !!!

I mean 'GET REAL.'

Palin puts 'brutal' 2008 behind her, looks to 2012 (click here)
By ANN SANNERThe Associated Press Tuesday, November 11, 2008; 10:14 PM
WASHINGTON -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has put the "brutal" 2008 campaign behind her and has the next presidential race in her sights. John McCain gave her a hearty thumbs-up, saying Palin didn't damage his own White House bid.
Palin is stepping out with a flurry of national television interviews and a high-profile appearance at the Republican Governors Association meeting this week. It is a marked departure for a vice presidential candidate who was held to tightly controlled appearances for much of the fall campaign....

Research without death: $6m whale plan

Gathering data ... a Japanese whaling ship with a subject for research.
Photo: Reuters

Stephanie PeatlingNovember 17, 2008
THE Federal Government will spend $6 million on a whale research program which it hopes will debunk Japan's claims that whales need to be killed in order to be studied.
"Modern-day research uses genetic and molecular techniques, as well as satellite tags, acoustic methods and aerial surveys, rather than grenade-tipped harpoons," the Minister for the Environment, Peter Garrett, said.
The money will be announced today as part of the preparation for Australia's participation in the next round of International Whaling Commission talks, to be held next month.
The program will be called the Southern Ocean Research Partnership and be Australia's attempt to bring together anti-whaling countries under the banner of research....
..."The investment is about debunking once and for all the need to kill whales in the name of science and providing capacity to support non-lethal research partnerships, as well as promoting the economic value of whale-watching," Mr Garrett said....
...Last week, the respected Japanese newspaper, Asahi Shimbun, reported that the Antarctic minke whale quota would be reduced from 850 to 700 this summer, the first reduction in more than 20 years.
Opponents of Japanese whaling cited the figures as evidence that the struggling industry is in retreat.

Severe storm - Destructive wind gusts and Large Hail : Ipswich Australia October 21 2008 (Video toward end of entry. thank you)

Cartoon: It was a dark and stormy night...from The New Zealand Herald

This is a high tropospheric distrubance over Antartica that has completely displaced the Arctic Air Mass over the Blue Ice.
The coastal areas of Antarctica have faired well, the warmest on the coastal (low altitude/elevations) is Base Orcadas at 0 Centigrade / 33 Fahrenheit.
The lower elevations/altitudes have faired well because that is where the frigid air mass located. Considering the massive amount of frigid air that left the Blue Ice at elevation of 3 miles, the coastal plains are still quite warm.

Data Source: GMS-5 data from Japan Meteorological Agency(JMA) (click here)
GOES-9 data from NOAA and JMA
via Bureau of Meteorology, Australia

Degrees Celsius Colour
-68 Very pale orange (off-white)
-61 Pale orange
-55 Orange
-47 BRIGHT BRICK-RED
-40 Dull reddish-green
-33 Dull green (red tinge)
-27 Dull green (slightly reddish)
-20 BRIGHT LIGHT GREEN
-12 Medium green (bluish)
-6 Dark Green (blue/green)
+1 Light Blue
+8 Medium Blue
+15 Dark Blue
+22 Dark grey/blue
>22 Black

New Zealand Satellite picture Sunday 16 Nov 09:00PM
Auckland
Issued at10:39 AM

17 Nov 2008 NZDT
Area Description

Manukau and Waitemata Harbours, Hauraki Gulf and Bream Head to Cape Colville

Situation

A front is moving eastwards across the North Island today, followed by an unsettled west to southwest flow over the area through to Thursday. Northerlies developing over the region on Friday as a large trough aproaches New Zealand from the west.

Warning

Wind warning in force for the Hauraki Gulf and for Bream Head to Cape Colville

Forecast

For the Manukau and Waitemata Harbours: Today: Northerly 20 knots gusting 30 knots, change southwest this afternoon. Sea moderate. Poor visibility in rain, easing to fair in showers this evening. Tomorrow: Southwest 20 knots gusting 30 knots, easing to 15 knots at night. Moderate sea becoming slight at night. Fine and cloudy periods, with a few showers. For the Hauraki Gulf and for Bream Head to Cape Colville: Today: Northerly 25 knots gusting 35 knots, changing southwest 20 knots gusting 30 knots late afternoon. Rough sea easing to moderate late afternoon. Poor visibility in rain, easing to fair in showers this evening. Tomorrow: Southwest 20 knots gusting 30 knots. Sea moderate. Fine and cloudy periods, with a few showers. OutlookOutlook until midnight Friday: Wednesday: Southwest 20 knots. A few showers. Thursday: Southwest 15 knots, easing to 10 knots later. Fine and cloudy periods. Friday: Northeast 10 knots rising to northerly 20 knots later. Cloudy periods. SwellSwell forecast to midnight Friday: East Coast: Easterly half a metre or less. West Coast: Southwest rising to 2 metres today and to 3 metres for a time Tuesday and early Wednesday, easing to 1 metre Friday.

Source: Image from Japan Meteorological Agency satellite MTSAT-1R via Bureau of Meteorology.
Captured: Monday 17 November 2008 00:30 UTC
UTC is equivalent* to: 17 November 11:30 EDT
17 November 11:00 CDT
17 November 09:30 WDT


Relationship between the continents of Australia and Antarctica today/now (11/16/2008 @ 7:32 PM EST - 1232 GMT.


Nature's wrath ... wild storms have caused death and destruction in Queensland.
A TEENAGER was killed and tens of thousands of homes remain without power after the worst storms in Queensland in over 10 years.
In yesterday's storm tragedy, police said the 19-year-old victim and a 20-year-old friend were taking photographs in a drain behind the Westfield Chermside shopping centre in Brisbane's inner north when they were overwhelmed by flash flooding....
...More than 230,000 homes and businesses lost power and State Emergency Service volunteers have fielded hundreds of calls for assistance, while firefighters worked to save those trapped in floodwaters.
A couple trapped in their vehicle on Chaprowe Road, The Gap, were saved after firefighters discovered live power lines across the vehicle.
And the Keperra Sanctuary Nursing Home was partially evacuated after significant structural damage.
Energex workers were this morning still working to restore power to more than 103,000 homes and businesses, but the supply might not be reconnected until the afternoon due to the extent of the damage.
Energex spokesman Danny Donald said the storm was one of the worst seen in Brisbane for more than 20 years. "It's the worst storm we've recorded on the network in at least a decade, if not back to 1985," Mr Donald said.
"More than 650 power lines equivalent to 33km of wire were ripped from poles by trees and tree branches being carried by high winds.
Some areas in the northwestern Brisbane suburbs of Albany Creek, Ferny Grove and The Gap were described as looking like a "war zone" after roofing iron was torn from homes and thrown into the 33,000-volt network.
Further south, the ferocious storm marched in from the west about 2.30pm, delivering the hardest blows to Wonglepong near Beaudesert, Mt Tamborine and Wongawallen.
About 70mm of rain deluged Mt Tamborine in 30 minutes.
"There's carnage from one side of the mountain to the other," one fire officer said.

Above Current Image of Antarctica via Google Earth.


November 16, 2008
12:00 PM
Antarctica (click here for 24 hour loop) - huge amount of air mass movement off the top ice/ Blue Ice.


November 16, 2008
1927 gmt
Antarctica - has lost its frigid air mass !


Vostok is at an all time high of -42 Centigrade and -52 Fahrenheit.


November 16, 2008
12:00 PM
Antarctica - (click for 24 hour loop) or what is left of it now that it is unrelentingly HOT !
That video was three weeks ago. This article with video is TODAY !


Storm cuts power to 145,000 homes, brings death and destruction (click here)
Michael Wray, David Earley and Greg Stolz
November 17, 2008 06:30am
UPDATE: TENS of thousands of homes remain without power and commuters face delays after the worst storms in 20 years, in which a man drowned.
In yesterday's storm tragedy, police said the 19-year-old victim and a 20-year-old friend were taking photographs in a drain behind the Westfield Chermside shopping centre when they were overwhelmed by flash flooding....
Another Video of today's storms.
100,000 homes left without power after storm hits Queensland

http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/Weather/tabid/316/articleID/80162/cat/61/Default.aspx#video

65 Days until Inauguration

Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, this is a direct result of Human Induced Global Warming. The high winds are resultant from huge 'heat transfer systems' off the Equator.

The culmination of decades of neglect to the biotic balance of Earth has 'come home to roost.' The only hope for any of this is evacuation, which means the interior of the USA has to be able to absorb all those people along with a 'wish for rain' and an abatement of the winds. Not likely to happen soon.

What will begin to happen is that these fires usually cause their own storms to accumulate and will eventually be extinguished by those storms. The soot delivered to the troposphere begins to accumulate water vapor at higher altitudes and then a huge rain storm results. Because of the chronic logistics of the soot the rain results over the source. The source of the soot is the densest concentration of 'condensation nuclei.'

The Senate Bill and subsequent House Bill that will return biotic balance to Earth by reducing Carbon Dioxide and treating as a New Source Review component gas is urgent and necessary. In that bill should include issues with fires and fire fighting and how people are facilitated into areas of the country away from same fires for purpose of survival.

This fire is scary. Scarier than many of the past. It has enormous fuel opportunities and the wind simply is out running all attempts to contain it.

We have problems in the USA. Huge problems. It would behooze the International Community to work together to not only stop terrorist networks, but, to reverse the deadly tend of Human Induced Global Warming and return economic viability to their countries WHILE focusing on economies with 'environmentally correct and benevolent' priorities. This global economic collapse may very well be a 'gift to humanity' that few are appreciating for 'the opportunity' to start 'anew' with a 'planet friendly agenda.'

66 Days Until Inauguration

An Israeli tank drives along the Israel-Gaza Border following clashes between the army and Palestinian gunmen, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008. Israeli troops and Palestinian militants fought with missiles and mortars along the Gaza-Israel border on Wednesday, raising new concerns that an increasingly shaky five-month-old truce might collapse. Four Hamas militants were killed in the exchange. (Ariel Schalit/AP Photo)

Hamas unleashes powerful rockets at major southern city deep inside Israel
By BEN HUBBARD Associated Press Writer
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip November 14, 2008 (AP)
Hamas militants bombarded a major southern Israeli city with rocket fire Friday, unleashing their most powerful weapons yet in a week of tit-for-tat fighting that threatens to destroy a five-month-old cease-fire.
Both Israel and Gaza's Islamic militant Hamas rulers held out hope the calm would be restored, and Israeli leaders decided against any immediate major military action in retaliation. But the sides also vowed to strike hard at each other if violence persisted.
"If you want to leave the truce, we are ready. And if you want to continue it, then abide by it," Hamas strongman Mahmoud Zahar said in a Friday sermon....

UN runs out of Gaza food (video - click here)

UN relief chief says the situation in the besieged Gaza Strip is 'desperate' as an Israeli blockade forces the world body to suspend food to 750,000 Palestinians.Israel has sealed off the Hamas-run enclave since November 5th following a flare-up of cross-border violence, which threatens to end a five month ceasefire. Israel says it will only reopen the border crossing into Gaza when Palestinian militants stop firing rockets at southern Israel. But on the 11th day of exchanges, Hamas Islamists fired their longest-range rockets at a southern Israeli city in reprisal for an Israeli air force attack on their Gaza stronghold. There were no Israeli casualties but the fresh exchanges were another sign of the deteriorating situation in Gaza.

MIDEAST: ISRAELI HELICOPTERS ATTACK GAZA, PEOPLE WOUNDED (click here)

(AGI) - Gaza, Nov 14 - At least two Palestinian extremist militiamen were wounded in a new air attack by Israel on the Gaza Strip at dawn Friday. Air-to-ground missiles launched by gunships hit two members of the al-Quds Brigades, the armed branch of Hamas, the radical group in controll of the Stip. The raid, reported by eyewitnesses and confirmed by local hospital sources, was in reprisal for a new rocket and mortar attack yesterday against south Israel. In return all border points into the Strip were closed down and haven't yet been reopened. As a result some 30 trucks carrying UN humanitarian aid for Palestianian civilians, suffering from the embargo in force since november 5, were stopped. Israli border authorities also interrupted the flow of fuel supply organized for Gaza by the European Union. As a result, the single power station in the Strip was forced to close down by the lack of fuel.

67 Days Until Inauguration

Let's see if I get this right. Bin Laden is the greatest threat to the USA. Got it. He is also faced with his daily survival. Okay. And the lastest in regard to the daily survival of this 'World Class Terrorist' is that although he is 'disconnected' from his network and fighting for his daily survival the network that 'bin' spawned is now spreading into Africa and the Middle East.

IS THAT RIGHT ??

Let's do some post election FACT CHECKS on that.


Bin Laden 'cut off from al-Qaeda' (click title to entry, thank you)
The CIA says Osama Bin Laden is isolated from the day-to-day operations of al-Qaeda, but that the organisation is still the greatest threat to the US.
CIA director Michael Hayden said the Saudi militant was probably hiding in the tribal area of north-west Pakistan.
Mr Hayden said Bin Laden was "putting a lot of energy into his own survival" and that his capture remained the US government's top priority.
But he warned that al-Qaeda was still spreading in Africa and the Mid-East.
In a speech to the Atlantic Council on Thursday, Mr Hayden said: "[Bin Laden] is putting a lot of energy into his own survival, a lot of energy into his own security."...

The question is "Has al Qaeda now spread into Africa ?" It's difficult to answer that question except to say, "Does the CIA have records any more recently than 1998?"

...Kenya is widely remembered as the site of the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing that killed over 200 people and cast al-Qaeda into international prominence. (click here) The attack was followed by a 2002 suicide car bombing that targeted a hotel popular with Israelis near Mombassa and the attempted destruction of an Israeli airliner. In both incidents, the vast majority of victims were Kenyans. There is, however, a great difference in the perception of the ongoing terrorist threat in Nairobi and Washington. Over Kenyan opposition the U.S. has issued a new terrorist warning for Kenya, damaging the important Kenyan tourism industry. Kenyan officials claim their country is largely free from terrorist threat and is unfairly blamed for its unavoidable proximity to lawless Somalia....

Okay? It would seem as though al Qaeda has NEVER LEFT Africa. Right? Algiers has been a long time occupation area for al Qaeda right along with Somalia. The most recent Bush Doctrine Report links increased levels of violence to terrorist networks.

JOKING !

A North African terrorist ring with deep connections to al Qaeda could pose a threat to Western Europe, (click here) the head of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) said.
Ernst Uhrlau said al Qaeda in Islamic North Africa was attempting to expand its sphere of influence beyond its established power base in Algeria.
Al Qaeda in Islamic North Africa, which is also known as the Al Qaeda Organization in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb, claimed responsibility for attacks last December in Algiers, targeting the UN headquarters there and the Algerian Constitutional Court. The bombings killed at least 70 people.
The terror group has also been at the heart of a string of attacks this year, including a strike east of Algiers on Sept. 28 which killed three people and wounded six others....

Then there is THAT reality al Qaeda is ALREADY a well established global terrorist network. You know the 'thing' that gets me is that the attacks in the USA were seven years ago. And what does the USA say after STILL YET ANOTHER attack on The West? "Oh, well, this is London's 911." As if they really needed a 911 to understand the pain. Additionally, the al Qaeda recruitment members that carried out these bombings did so after receiving all the paraphernalia from Pakistan. Go figure, huh?

Full text: 'Al-Qaeda' Madrid claim (click here)
This is a transcript of the videotaped message claiming al-Qaeda carried out the Madrid train bombings, as translated by the Associated Press.
We declare our responsibility for what happened in Madrid exactly two-and-a-half years after the attacks on New York and Washington.
It is a response to your collaboration with the criminals Bush and his allies.
This is a response to the crimes that you have caused in the world, and specifically in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there will be more, if God wills it....

At the rate the USA intelligence and military are moving to completely disband al Qaeda, Bin Laden will have died an death by natural causes !

Seven years ago, people. Seven years since the attacks of September 11th and we have seen allies of this country attacked when IN FACT bin Laden could have been captured and killed.

What is "W"rong with this picture?

SEVEN YEARS !!!!

Are we any safer? You know, I still have my Duct Tape, don't you?

68 Days Until Inauguration

The Coleman-Franken Recount: See you in court sooner – and later (click here)
By Jay Weiner
Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008
First, we had "Joe the Plumber." You know how ubiquitous he became. With the Al Franken-Norm Coleman recount saga entering a deeper stage of intrigue and high stakes, we now have another election icon.Call her "Jane the Voter."She is 84, lives in a nursing home near Bemidji and has suffered a stroke since registering to vote years ago. As Franken's recount lawyer Marc Elias put it today, she is "an honest hard-working" woman, "who did everything right … played by the rules," but her absentee ballot wasn't counted on Nov. 4....

Don't make a big deal out of nothing. The day started at about 8300 and ended at 8800 that is a difference of 500 points. The average brings it back to about 8500 where we have been for WEEKS !


8,835.25
+552.59
+6.67%


Refitting loan for auto bailout gains steam (click title to entry, thank you)
By TODD SPANGLER
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF
November 13, 2008
Reluctance in the nation’s capital to back a $25-billion bailout of the auto industry is coalescing behind a strategy of insisting that retooling loans for that same amount – targeted to refit plants to make fuel-efficient cars of the future – be used instead....

This is an outrage. Every living Baleen whale is endangered and the US Navy can't manage to do better ? Ridiculous !!!

The truth is the Marine Mammal Protection Act needs to be bolstered to protect these MAMMALS. The Baleen whales at one time assisted in removing carbon dioxide from Earth's troposphere when Earth's oceans were teaming with them. They feed on plankton and algae. They are filter feeders that remove 'primary producers' from the oceans and convert microscopic 'carbon based' plants into whale biomass.

Why is that important? Because for every whale that exists on Earth, also exists a carbon based unit that converts gaseous CO2 into living carbon through the ingestion of primary ocean producers, such as algae.

If Earth's oceans were teaming again with Baleen whales, the CO2 content on Earth would be far less. When whales die, unlike a tree, the carbon does not leak back to the atmosphere is small proportion. When a whale dies, the carbon sinks to the bottom of a very deep ocean where it takes millenium to return the potential of being brought back to Earth's surface through carbon deposits called oil.

According to the US Navy, the ONLY place for a Blue Whale is in a museum.



...About the Blue Whale (click here)
The blue whale is the biggest animal ever to have lived on earth – bigger than any dinosaur.
It is longer than two 40-foot long school buses parked one behind the other.
A blue whale’s heart is the size of a car, and the arteries connected to the heart are large enough for a human baby to crawl through.
The blue whale is also the loudest animal. At 190 decibels, a blue whale’s call is louder than a jet (140 decibels), and much louder than a person can shout (70 decibels). A sound clip is available on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration web site.
Blue whales inhabit every ocean on the planet, and travel from frigid polar waters, where they feed, to warm tropical waters, where they give birth to their calves. In spite of their great size and range, we know very little about these gentle giants.
The blue whale is listed as an endangered species under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. It is also on the IUCN (The World Conservation Union) Red List of endangered species. There are estimated to be 4,500 blue whales left in the world, down from 350,000 before whaling activities began. ...



The International Whaling Commission needs to begin a process to stop 'dangerous' naval sonars by all countries.

The venues available would be The United Nations, The Hague, the WTO and possibly the G8. Recently Iceland lost its economy because of the lack of fiscal responsibility in the USA. The country has four whaling vessels. At one time, Iceland used those vessels to help feed their populous.

How is the International Whaling Commission (click here) ever suppose to see the recovery of the number of whales with all this hideous 'war machine superiority' tug of war. It's STUPID already.

Whales are going to be extinct because the USA can't get out of its own way !

The Whaling nations of the International Whaling Commission need to approach a global authority to stop this slaughter. It is NOT necessary. The ONLY enemy of any nation in the year 2008 are terrorist networks, NOT each other.


Humpback Whale in California Waters

...The Natural Resources Defense Council sued the Navy in U.S. District Court after the Navy failed to file an environmental-impact statement for their sonar exercises under the national Environmental Protection Act. Earlier this year, a District Court judge ruled for the plaintiffs and prohibited the Navy from any further....

69 Day Until Inauguration - But, are Lobbyists Change that We Can Live With ?

This is THE Book. (click title to entry, thank you)




Obama transition team will face ethics rules (click here)
By Mike Dorning Washington Bureau
November 12, 2008
WASHINGTON—After Barack Obama campaigned on a pledge to fight lobbyist influence in Washington, aides announced Tuesday that his transition team will include Washington lobbyists but ban them from working on policy areas on which they have lobbied for the past year.
The ethics rules for the transition offer the first public test of how Obama as president will balance the populist goal of curtailing a Washington influence industry that helps well-heeled special interests against the practical need to staff a White House with experienced Washington hands. Experienced players in the capital often are drawn to the rich rewards of lobbying.
The oft-criticized "revolving door" between government service and lobbying has proved a durable feature of the capital's culture....

70 Days until Inauguration

Tammy Duckworth is only one of the many veterans that have attempted to be elected to public office.

...In 2002, the voters of Georgia elected Saxby Chambliss over veteran war hero Max Cleland (click here), and in Tuesday's election, the people of the 6th Congressional District of Illinois elected Peter Roskam over veteran war hero, Tammy Duckworth. Sadly, the voters who made these choices lacked the necessary understanding to appreciate the significance of this Day....



Obama, Tammy Duckworth honor Veteran's Day with visit to Bronze Soldiers Memorial at Soldier Field in Chicago (please click title to entry, thank you)





...Obama issued the following statement:


"As we mark Veterans Day, all Americans are united in honoring the extraordinary service and selfless sacrifice of our nation's veterans. Our veterans are part of an unbroken line of heroes who have defended the American people and stood up for American values - from the beaches of Normandy to the battles in East Asia; from the deserts of Kuwait to the skies above Kosovo; from the cities of Iraq to the mountains of Afghanistan. Since 9/11, a new generation of American heroes has borne a heavy load in facing down the threats of the 21st century, and their families have been asked to bear the painful absence of a loved one. These Americans are the best and bravest among us, and they are all in our thoughts and prayers.


"On this Veterans Day, let us rededicate ourselves to keep a sacred trust with all who have worn the uniform of the United States of America: that America will serve you as well as you have served your country. As your next Commander-in-Chief, I promise to work every single day to keep that sacred trust with all who have served. May God bless our veterans, and may God bless the United States of America," said President-elect Barack Obama."

There is every reason to leave Iraq.

There is something very "W"rong with this picture. On one hand it is stated and EXAMPLED of the 'functionality' of this Iraqi town after quelled anarchy and elevated violence.

YET.

The Iraqi government is UNWILLING to allow an agreement with 'time tables' less than 2012. Of course, 2012 also coincides with the next USA elections.

We need to leave Iraq to the Iraqis. There is FAR TOO much 'fire power' in the region. Afghanistan and Pakistan need the USA military more.




Sheik Abdul-Amerr al-Wajid, left, speaks with U.S. Army Capt. Mike Penney, center, and Lt. Col. Michael Getchell, right, with the help of an interpreter, second from right, as he hosts the soldiers for dinner at his home in Iskandariyah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Baghdad, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008. Barely a year ago, Iskandariyah was a stronghold of Shiite and Sunni militants, and residents say sectarian violence was so ferocious that hardly anyone showed up for work at the city's industrial complex and streets emptied by early afternoon. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Iraq spokesman says US security offer not enough (click here)
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA – 18 hours ago
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's government spokesman says the U.S. offers of changes in the draft security agreement were "not enough."
Ali al-Dabbagh also is asking Washington to offer new amendments if it wants the pact to win parliamentary approval.
Al-Dabbagh's comments on Monday were the first public statements by the Iraqis to last week's U.S. response to an Iraqi request for changes in the draft agreement.
The pact would keep U.S. troops in Iraq until 2012 and give Iraq a greater role in the management of the U.S. mission.
He says the "American answer is not enough" for the government to accept it in its current form.
Al-Dabbagh says the government is inviting the U.S. "to give answers that are suitable to the Iraqis."






Iraqi civilians inspect a blood splattered damaged bus after bombs exploded in Baghdad, Iraq on Monday, Nov. 10, 2008. A suicide bomber struck in a crowd that had gathered where an explosion went off moments earlier, with both blasts killing at least 28 people and wounding 68 others, officials said. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)


The Awakening groups are said to be one of the main reasons for the reduction in violence in Iraq [AFP]

There are very real reasons why the Shi'ites are demanding the USA leave Iraq. The Petraeus 'Sunni empowerment' has also caused a great deal of alarm and death in at least one Shi'ite region outside the Sunni Triangle.

Iraq's Sunni fighters leave U.S. payroll (click here)
The Sons of Iraq are now employed by the Iraqi army. Ruling Shiites still view the fighters with suspicion, and the feeling is mutual. In Baghdad, a bombing kills 31.
By Ned Parker and Tina Susman November 11, 2008
Reporting from Baghdad -- The young man stamped his foot, the customary salute to higher officers, handed over his torn identification card and signed his name in a ledger. He pressed a thumbprint in blue ink next to it, and an Iraqi military officer handed him a fat roll of pink-and-green dinar notes.He counted the money and handed back the change....


US-Iraq security agreement forging ahead (click here)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 10:43 GMT
Is the US-Iraq security agreement heading towards finalization? The answer awaits last minute developments that have let out an optimistic perception from both parties. Iraqi Prime Minister’s media advisor Yassin Majid said the cabinet has prepared its response to the final US draft declining to elaborate on the response in fear of leaks before passing it to the Presidency Council for approval and then to the Parliament. It seems that it is going ahead as head of Bader Organization said.
“There is an understanding that we may go forward with the pact,” said Hadi Al Ameri, head of the powerful Badr organization. He added that Obama's victory had helped convince his followers that the United States would fulfill the commitment to withdraw its troops according to the schedule in the pact....