Cocky. No Stimulus? Only another woman. He's proud of himself. How Southern is that? He's not getting older, he's getting better.

It is his wife getting older after all. She has had four children and shows it, you know? I am sure he's in for a promotion somewhere, even if it is Argentina.

So, no stimulus, just sparks.

There is this incredible phenomena in the South. It is called, "Why get married?"

Percentage of population married in South Carolina :: 59% (down from 62% in 1990, 72% in 1970)

Percentage of population in South Carolina never married :: 24%

Percentage of marriages with a rotating door in South Carolina :: 10% (up from 8% in 1990, 6% in 1980)

Percentage of people who have ever been married by the age of 25: Males: 32%; Females: 50%

Number of unmarried couples living together :: 5.5 million

Percentage of unmarried couples living together that are heterosexual :: 89%

The Percentage of people in South Carolina BELOW the poverty line :: 15.7% (10th in the nation)

But.

No Stimulus Dollars. No government health care. No state social programs. But, hey, get your thrills with a good roll in the hay with anyone deserving of the cod piece. This is a Red State. The Governor is an example of how a man 'takes care' of himself.

Four members of the Rarest species of Turtle have been stolen.

A male Plowshare tortoise, or 'angonoka' (Astrochelys yniphora) lives in Madagascar and is considered "Critically Endangered" by the IUCN (click here). The article at the title to this entry is translated below, thank you:

Four were stolen from a rare turtle in Madagascar 2009.
May 29 10:57

The world's rarest species of four land tortoise stolen from a breeding program in Madagascar hosting site,

The turtles csőrösmellű - Astrochelys yniphora - The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust raised, making an attempt to reinforce the wild population. The species is so rare that the researchers of less than 500 individuals living in the wild.

The environmentalists magánkollekciók of the animals stolen in Europe, America or Asia. The theft occurred in May sixth. The thieves, the legislation Bay National Park in a fenced area of the animals are raised. Eight turtles were held in quarantine before being returned to them in the open air. Such areas are in a secret place, and visitors are not available

All four individuals have been stolen was nearly mature animals that are sacrificed, years felnevelésére organized. The turtles of the group included 44 individuals, which are free to want to allow. Csőrösmellű The turtle lives in north-west Madagascar, and the turtles are the largest on the island. The adults reach a length of 45 cm. The entire wild population of the legislation Bay National Park area. The species is a critical risk in the World of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

The threat to species survival, the bushfires in the river and pigs, as well as the illegal állatkereskedelem (poaching - these turtles are killed for their shell and used by artisans for sale elsewhere to the public. There meat is also consumed.). Because of the rarity of turtles in each of thousands of dollars a share farmer. The local authorities have kept the theft secret while the investigation continued. Since then, a number of people arrested who are associated with the offense, but the missing animals have not yet been found.

It is stated by the IUCN there is also an illegal 'pet' trade. Anyone in possession of such a species should contact the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and add it to the population to return the species to a larger number.

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust’s mission is to save species from extinction, and it has a proven track record of doing just that. (click here)

Species that have been pulled back from the brink include the Assam pygmy hog, St Lucia whiptail lizard, Mallorcan midwife toad, as well as helping to save more species of birds then any other conservation organisation on the planet. The Trust’s dedicated expert conservationists are hard at work in threatened habitats around the world continuing the battle to protect and conserve many more.
Durrell uses hands-on conservation expertise to help endangered species recover and survive in the long-term, working with animals in the wild; in protected environments overseas and at its international headquarters at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Jersey.
Over the course of the last 50 years, the Trust has built up a worldwide reputation for its pioneering conservation techniques, developed under the leadership of its founder, the late renowned author and naturalist Gerald Durrell....

Obama to meet Pope on July 10: Vatican source

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he leaves at the end of his general audience is Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican June 24, 2009.

Wed Jun 24, 2009 9:07am EDT
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will meet Pope Benedict for the first time on July 10 during a visit to Italy to attend a G8 heads of state meeting, a Vatican source said Wednesday.
Obama has angered many American Catholics with his support for abortion rights for women and his decision to lift restrictions on stem cell research.
The Vatican source said Obama would hold a brief audience with the Pope in the afternoon, after the conclusion of the July 8-10 summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations.
A Vatican spokesman declined to confirm or deny the timing of the meeting.
The Vatican and Italian Church leaders condemned Obama's decision in March to lift restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research put in place by his predecessor George W. Bush.
His subsequent invitation to speak at Notre Dame, a premier U.S. Catholic university, sparked criticism last month. While some heckled Obama during his speech, his appeal for a "fair-minded" discussion on abortion was received with several standing ovations. The G8 summit is due to discuss a response to the ongoing international economic crisis and global warming. It will take place in the central Italian city of L'Aquila, which bore the brunt of an earthquake in April that killed nearly 300 people.
(Editing by Lin Noueihed)



Author: Don Margolis Source: The Repair Stem Cell Institute
Adult Stem Cells Help Dilated Cardiomyopathy (click here)
Stem Cell Research continues to show that Adult Stem Cells can help Dilated Cardiomyopathy patients. Before Adult Stem Cell treatment, there really was no treatment for cardiomyopathy, just a drug regimen to minimize the symptoms of the dreaded heart disease eventually resulting in congestive heart failure and then a heart transplant or death....

How can moral people be Pro-Choice?

Because it is non-judgemental. It has nothing to do with personal religious or spiritual belief. It is allowing others to carry out their experience with life uninterrupted, realizing everyone's life EXPERIENCE (not strategy) is as different as their fingerprints. It is the BEST methodology for government anywhere on Earth. Morality that addresses the 'needs' of 'life' rather than passing judgement on 'the allowance' of life insures Earth has a balance that belongs exclusively to it, not human domination that causes life threatening issues such as Human Induced Global Warming.

Morality of 'tolerance' also doesn't break the law or inflict emotional or psychological pain:

Police: Warren Hern's Boulder Abortion Clinic threatened (click here)
Doctor under federal protection
BOULDER, Colo. — Boulder police said Tuesday they have learned of a threat against a prominent Boulder abortion clinic and have sent the information to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Dr. Warren Hern and his Boulder Abortion Clinic, 1130 Alpine Ave., have been under the protection of the Marshals Service since Dr. George Tiller, of Wichita, Kan., was gunned down in May. U.S. Attorney Eric Holder ordered the protection of a "number of individuals and facilities" after Tiller's death.
Hern is one of a few doctors in the U.S. still providing late-term abortions. Tiller also was providing them before his death, and his slaying has increased concern for Hern and his office.
Boulder police wouldn't comment on the credibility or severity of the threat Tuesday because the investigation was being conducted by the Marshals Service. Police also didn't say how frequently they learn of threats against Hern and his office.
Calls to the federal agency's office in Denver were not returned Tuesday night.
Hern was not in office Tuesday afternoon and was unavailable for comment.

Absence from service is an oppressive victory for the violent Religious Right.

Abortion and the Bible (click here)
June 23, 1:53 PM
NOWHERE in the bible does it say that abortion is wrong. Priests, pastors, rabbis and other religious leaders interpret the bible to suit their own agendas. They spread them like a plague to their ignorant constituents to lazy to think for themselves and research in their bible if what they are being told is truth. Believers follow blindly, spewing their opinions as if it's based on some written biblical text, which it is not.
Christians are the most vocal leaders of the anti-abortion movement. The fact is, most don't even know the misinterpreted passages out of their bible from which they preach their anti-abortionist point of view. They quote their religious leader’s rhetoric—warped biblical interpretation like this:
(Genesis 1:27): "God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them."
Priests and pastors conjured this to mean their bible teaches that human life is different from other types of life, because human beings are made in the very image of their god, therefore the deliberate destruction of a child in the womb is wrong. Of course, this text does NOT say any of this. Nor does it even infer abortion is sinful....

Here we go again. The next generation of right wing violent extremists. The more they believe they are successful, the more violent and determined they become.

Suspect predicts more antiabortion violence (click here)
Scott Roeder, charged with murder in the shooting death of Dr. George Tiller, said from his jail cell that similar attacks were planned around the nation for as long as abortion remains legal.
Associated Press

Wichita, Kan. -- The man charged in the slaying of a high-profile abortion doctor claimed from his jail cell Sunday that similar violence was planned around the nation for as long as the procedure remained legal, a threat that comes days after a federal investigation was launched into his possible accomplices.A Justice Department spokesman said that the threat was being taken seriously and that additional protection had been ordered for abortion clinics last week.
But a leader of the antiabortion movement derided the accused shooter as "a fruit and a lunatic."...

We have heard these words before. James W. von Brunn was stated by Liz Cheney as a psychotic. The Right Wing emulates these views yet their answer when violence occurs is they are crazy people. Well, those 'crazies' belong to 'crazy organizations' that vote for you. Do something !

Suspect Too Ill to Be in Court, Prosecutors Say (click here)
By Del Quentin Wilber

Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The 88-year-old white supremacist charged with murder in the killing of a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum this month was discharged from George Washington University Hospital last week but is too ill to appear in court, federal prosecutors said yesterday....

The Republicans can try this on for size as a position on Abortion and White Supremists. "We believe the government should reflect the views of the MAJORITY of Americans and to hell with the rest of them. At least, as a party, we get all the votes we need."

Just in case one doesn't 'get it.' That is not governing, that is oppression. Sorry for the fine print.

Why did the turtle cross the road? To get to the other side. Why do Republicans ALWAYS call conservation projects pork?

Because Republicans can't get out of their own way !


That is a heck of perspective on life. He looks like some kind of Geico commercial or something. Maybe a good Wall Street icon instead of bulls.

Don't laugh, some of these babies live longer than you.

Look, these species are hard wired. They only know what their internal compass tells them and that is either feeding or nesting or mating grounds are this way. They don't discern that humans are ? smart ? enough to put a road in their path. The least a human being can do when impinging on a natural habitat because of ? progress ? is accommodate the species they are destroying. Get real. The turtles have a right to life and need a safe passage.

It is called morality. Different from 'Republican Life Strategy.' Get your mind around it.

Turtle deaths soar on Cape May County roads (click here)
by The Associated Press
Tuesday June 23, 2009, 9:25 AM
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP -- Researchers are trying to figure out why the number of diamondback terrapins killed on Cape May County roads has soared during the past two years.
The Wetlands Institute said turtle deaths jumped by 51 percent from 2007 to last year. The deaths are on pace this year to match the 2008 total of 575....

According to the "IUCN Red List," (click title to entry - thank you) Malaclemys terrapin is considered near threatened.

While there might be an increase in turtle births of the Diamondback Terripins, that is no reason to ignore or be ignorant of the fact these are considered a "Near Threatened" species.

The birth rate is not necessarily known to have increased in relation to deaths either. It could be the traffic on the road increased as more people were threatened with a poor economy and the danger to the turtles therefore increased. Republicans are antiquated in their approach to any subject and obsolete in a majority of their values.

Oh, wait.

Values?

I forgot, they only value a theocarcy. I guess they are consistent then. Does that mean Republicans are 'Near Threatened' species as well? Doesn't matter, there are always the Nixon tapes and library.

The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is troubled:

Reported in The Boston Globe. One of my favorite newspapers. They are always 'perfect' in their reporting, always consumer oriented and believes in the strength of the 'personage' of the USA. It makes sense that such a fine newspaper is threatened by the hostile fiscal times of the ages we live in. The Boston Globe doesn't compromise 'the truth.' They aren't power brokers. No one in this world is ever rewarded for telling the truth. Now. Are they?

I believe in the mission of The Boston Globe. Not just that. I love the mission of The Bostoon Globe.

Go, Boston, Go !!!

A blow by blow of world wind potential (Please click title to entry - thank you)
Posted by bdaley June 23, 2009 06:55 AM

Will the turbines replace the coal plants? (AP photo)

...Reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the researchers, led by Michael McElroy, examined global wind resources and determined that a super-connected network of 2.5 megawatt wind turbines could meet global electricity demands – even if they only operated at 20 percent capacity....

The entire reference PDF (click here)





June 23, 2009
1800 GMT
Antarctica Vortex (48 hour loop)

There is an interesting phenomena occurring in the upper troposphere with the Antarctica vortex (jet stream). It is very disrupted, rather than some of the nearly stalled meandering of the summer time vortex. However, in the 48 loop it is noted the 'area' of WAIS with the coldest air mass according to the temperature map below, there is the most disruption to the vortex with the arrival of a heat transfer system. It is as though the heat transfer system arrival disrupts the air mass over Antarctica enough to cause the movement of denser, colder air to be displaced to 'meet' the heat arrival.

In this phenomena it is to be realized there is 'profound' loss of 'ice calories' to counter the heat transfer. What does that mean? It means that the 'anticipated' discovery of more sea ice might not occur as the movement of frigid air is negated with the arriving heat. So, to say the discovery of additional sea ice in East Antarctica is an improvement does not 'account' for the entire condition of the 'climate' of the continent.


June 23, 2009
9:00 PM UTC
Antarctica Surface Wind Map (click here for 24 hour loop)

It is easily discerned in the 24 hour loop, the winds are carrying the air primarily from east to west over the continent. There are high intermittent winds over the coastal area of East Antarctica.


June 23, 2009
12:00 AM UTC (GMT)
Antarctica Temperature Map (click here for 24 hour loop)

Noted in the temperature map above there is more 'frigid' air over WAIS (West Antarctica Ice Sheet) than any other area of the continent. It is a good estimate to realize there will be an increase in sea ice over those seas in the East Wind Drift if this trend sustains, no different than it was off East Antarctica last year when the same phenomena occurred due to high winds and dynamics of the arrival of heat transfer systems.


June 23, 2009
1931 GMT
Antarctica

With the arrival of the Summer Solstice on June 21st at 5:45 GMT. The difference in the frigid air mass with the arrival of winter in Antarctica is notable. Even with arriving 'heat transfer systems' the build up of 'cold' is in a greater mass on June 23rd.


June 21, 2009
1931 GMT
Antarctica

The coldest reporting stations in Antarctica:

Nico, Antarctica

Local Time: 10:54 PM GMT (GMT +00)

Lat/Lon: 89.0° S 90.1° E

Temperature :: -76 °F

Wind :: 14 mph from the

Wind Gust: :: -

Pressure :: in (Rising)

Elevation :: 9629 ft



Clean Air, Antarctica

Local Time: 10:57 PM GMT (GMT +00)

Lat/Lon: 89.9° S 0.0° W

Temperature :: -69 °F

Conditions :: Ice Crystals Blowing Snow

Wind :: 15 mph from the ESE

Pressure :: 29.07 in (Rising)

Visibility :: 1.0 miles

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds :: Few 6000 ft
(Above Ground Level)

Elevation :: 9285 ft


The warmest reporting stations :

Casey 66.28S 110.52E, Antarctica

Local Time: 7:04 AM WST on June 24, 2009 (GMT +08)

Lat/Lon: 66.3° S 110.5° E

Temperature :: 23 °F

Conditions :: Overcast

Humidity :: 91%

Dew Point :: 21 °F

Wind :: 50 mph from the East

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: 29.13 in (Rising)

UV :: 0 out of 16

Elevation :: 131 ft


Palmer Station, Antarctica

Local Time: 7:05 PM CLT (GMT -04)

Lat/Lon: 64.8° S 64.1° W

Temperature :: 17 °F

Humidity :: 45%

Dew Point :: 5 °F

Wind :: 13 mph from the ESE

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: 29.00 in (Rising)

Elevation :: 26 ft

When I heard of the tragedy, my first thought was "Where is Vice President Biden?" Then. I thought how avoidable this could have been.

Two trains on the same track going in opposite directions is virtually impossible on magnetic rail.


District of Columbia fire and emergency workers at the site of a rush-hour collision between two Metro transit trains in northeast Washington, D.C. on Monday.

My sympathies to the survivors, families and friends of the deceased.

The resolve of the Iranian Vote is not over. The leaders are committed to fairness.

There is a reporting today in The New York Times that the Iranian leadership is finding a disparity in the accuracy of the voting. I find this interesting and somewhat trustworthy to realize they have not dismissed the protestors.

When they ask to have the protests stopped, they are seeking safety for their citizens from the vigilantes that murdered people. They are carrying through with their promise to the Iranian people. I don't believe the protests are 'causing' them to carry through with their promise.

I sincerely believe they are concerned about the people of their nation and the choices in their government. I do not believe the Iranian leadership is being sinister. A Holy Man is a Holy Man and there are higher powers they answer to in all instances. I believe patience is still paramount to the outcome.

...The warning, on the Guards’ Web site, was issued despite an admission by Iran’s most senior panel of election monitors that the number of votes cast in 50 cities exceeded the actual number of voters, according to a state television report two days after the country’s supreme leader pronounced the ballot to be fair....


Iran's former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, in Tehran in April.

Former President Rafsanjani is an interesting character. He openly states he is also concerned. That cannot be dismissed either. I believe there are people involved in this 'post-election' review that will see this effort through. I am concerned for everyone's safety. They are all very brave people to confront such a volitile issue, but, the more transparency there is, the safer it is for all the people of Iran, including their leadership on both sides of the voting validation problem. I am somewhat heartened by the progess taking place in Iran.

President Obama has my praises on his comments on Iran.

The inflammatory Republicans are 'at it' again. They want to rant and rave while they know nothing about what they are speaking.

There cannot be any endorsement of one party over another in Iran if the USA is to be considered serious in their negotiations or otherwise regarding nuclear proliferation. Those making statements supporting meetings with Mr. Mousavi are irrelevant to the reality of the circumstances. It would be an inflammatory directive and one that undermines any 'intent' of the USA. We are interested in peace without nuclear threat, the truth regarding the Jewish Holocaust and Non-proliferation, NOT, over throwing and destabilizing governments.

Mousavi is basically an unknown commodity when dealing with Nuclear Proliferation. While a Moderate politically, there is no telling what would occur with the nuclear proliferation within Iran even if he were elected.

I praise the Iranian people for believing so deeply in their commitment to free speech and progressive views. I look forward to a peaceful world and one that lives with 'the truth,' regardless of the status of Mr. Ahmadenajad.

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park is (Crystal Wind Chime) warm and cloudy, which hods the heat next to Earth:

Local Time: 3:48 AM AKDT (GMT -08)

Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Elevation :: 33 feet

Temperature :: 46 F

Conditions :: Overcast

Windchill :: 46 F

Humidity :: 93%

Dew Point :: 45 F

Wind :: Calm

Pressure :: 29.00 inches and rising

Visibility :: 10.0 miles

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds :: Overcast 8000 feet
(Above ground level)

It is Sunday Night

Morning Papers - Its Origins

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

The Pakistan Military is succeeding. The people are supportive of the effort.

Pakistani protesters seen at a demonstration against the Taliban, in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, June 19, 2009. Dozens of protesters gathered at a rally against Taliban militants who are fighting against Pakistan's security forces in Pakistan. (AP Photo/K.M.Chaudary) (K.m.chaudary - AP)


Officials: 50 militants dead in Pakistan fighting (click title to entry - thank you)
Pakistani protesters seen at a demonstration against the Taliban, in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, June 19, 2009. Dozens of protesters gathered at a rally against Taliban militants who are fighting against Pakistan's security forces in Pakistan.
By ROHAN SULLIVAN
The Associated Press Saturday, June 20, 2009; 6:12 AM
CHUPRIAL, Pakistan -- Pakistani troops backed by jet fighters and artillery have killed about 50 militants in a volatile northwestern tribal region near Afghanistan where the country's top Taliban leader is believed to be entrenched with thousands of his fighters, officials said Saturday.
They were the first known militant casualties in South Waziristan - where Pakistan Taliban head Baitullah Mehsud and al-Qaida figures are believed to be hiding - since the military started pounding the area with artillery about a week ago. Mehsud is blamed for a series of suicide attacks that have killed more than 100 people since late May....


Pakistan: Swat fighting almost over (click here)
Published: June 20, 2009 at 1:49 AM
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 20 (UPI) -- Pakistani officials announced the military campaign against the Taliban in the Swat Valley is almost finished and said residents may begin coming home Saturday.
The fighting is believed to have displaced about 2 million people, The Daily Telegraph reported. The Guardian said about 10 percent of the population remained in Swat throughout the fighting and is now short of vital supplies, especially food.
The top Taliban leaders in the Swat Valley have not been found and may have escaped to Afghanistan, the report said.
Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar said the military focus is shifting from Swat to South Waziristan, the base of Baitullah Mehsud, the top Taliban leader in the country. The Pakistani military bombed the area Friday, preparing for a military offensive there.


Emerging Threats
Al-Qaida leaders hit by Pakistani forces (click here)
Published: June 17, 2009 at 12:13 PM
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 17 (UPI) -- A senior al-Qaida military commander was allegedly killed in Pakistani operations along the volatile border with Afghanistan, intelligence reports say.
Qari Zia Rahman was reportedly killed by Pakistani forces in anti-Taliban operations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, various Asian news services report.
Rahman was allegedly a commander of a brigade of the so-called Shadow Army of al-Qaida operating in the Bajour district of FATA, the online Long War Journal reports, citing U.S. intelligence officials.
The Shadow Army contains members from several regional terrorist outfits operating in coordination with al-Qaida to take on U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Tahir Yuldashev, the commander of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an al-Qaida-backed group, was reported wounded during clashes with Pakistani troops in the tribal regions.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan operates in the Fergana Valley, which includes portions of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Following an Uzbek government crackdown in the 1990s, its members and sympathizers scattered across the region, including parts of Afghanistan.
These insurgents inevitably formed relationships with Taliban and al-Qaida militants prior to the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, surfacing today in the volatile Swat Valley in Pakistan.
The Pakistani military has ramped up its efforts to tackle a growing Taliban insurgency in the volatile tribal areas following the collapse of a cease-fire agreement reached in March.

The region contains the issue of harboring al Qaeda. If Russia will kindly recall, the attacks on the school in Beslan were primarily Uzbeks (post mortem revealed that reality). They were reasonably well funded and one cannot conclude they were independantly funded so much achieving monies from al Qaeda.

Subject: Terrorists Attack Russian School - Hold 400 Hostage Including 200 Children (click here)
Roman
9/1/2004 4:00:57 AM
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Armed attackers have seized a school in a town in southern Russia, and Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency says about 400 people, including 200 children, are being held. The Interfax news agency, citing Ismel Shaov, a regional spokesman for the Federal Security Service, said there were 17 attackers, both male and female, and the gang included some who were wearing explosive belts. Wednesday's seizure took place on the first day of the Russian school year, in the town of Beslan in North Ossetia, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said....

The Pakistan People are bravely taking on the issues of occupation by networks of global criminals, with their own agenda for human life on Earth. Those people are the key to the conclusion of instability in the region. If unrest in Pakistan can be displaced forever and a quality of life returned to the people there it would set an example of possiblity for the entire region.

They have backed their government during a very difficult time. Quite unexpectedly. In their hearts of hearts they wanted to rid their country of this menace.

I believe the people of Islam (in the many forms that takes) want to be progressive while advancing their societies.

We are seeing the same unrest manifest in different ways in Iran as well.

That level of discontent is proving difficult for their authorities to contain.

An oppressed people definitively reach a point of no return.

Perhaps.

The attacks of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent rise of oppressive government has brought about the need for the people of these countries to replace hatred of The West with peace within their own desires for it. At no point in time, excluding some of the Hamas leadership, have I ever heard people of Islam justify the acts against the USA on that day.

Kashmir shuts down over deaths (click here)
A shutdown in protest against the alleged rape and murder of two young women has once again disrupted life in parts of Indian-administered Kashmir.
Separatists have called for a march to the northern town of Baramullah. Security forces have sealed off the town and suspended traffic.
Businesses in most towns across the valley are closed.
Protests over the deaths have raged in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley since the bodies were found on 30 May.
The town of Shopian, where the bodies of the two women were found, remained shut for the twelfth consecutive day.
The bodies of the two young women were found in a canal in the town of Shopian on 30 May. They had gone missing the previous evening.
The police is treating the deaths as rape and murder. The state government has announced a judicial inquiry into the incident.
At least two people protesting against the deaths have died in clashes with the security forces.
The BBC's Altaf Husain in Srinagar says the incident has put a big question mark on the credibility and ability of the state chief minister, Omar Abdullah.
Mr Abdullah told reporters days after the incident that initial investigations indicated there were no rape and murder.



US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 634 (click here)
The Associated Press Saturday, June 20, 2009
Of those, the military reports 468 were killed by hostile action.
Outside the Afghan region, the Defense Department reports 67 more members of the U.S. military died in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Of those, three were the result of hostile action. The military lists these other locations as Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Jordan; Kenya; Kyrgyzstan; Philippines; Seychelles; Sudan; Tajikistan; Turkey; and Yemen.
There were also four CIA officer deaths and one military civilian death.
The latest deaths reported by the military:
— No new deaths reported.
The latest identifications reported by the military:
— No new identifications reported.
On the Net:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/


2 US troops killed in southern Afghanistan (click here)
By NOOR KHAN – 17 hours ago
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — A roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan killed two U.S. troops Friday, the U.S. military said.
The explosion occurred in Kandahar province, the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban. No other information, including the victims' names or which branch of the military they served in, was released.
U.S. military officials have said they expect a 50 percent rise in the number of roadside or suicide bomb attacks this year. At least 76 U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan so far in 2009, a record pace.
Elsewhere in the Afghan south, international and Afghan forces killed 16 Taliban militants in a gunbattle, police said Friday. One police officer also died in the fighting, they said.
NATO forces confirmed there was a clash in Uruzgan province on Thursday, but spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Hall said they only had reports of five dead, all of them militants.
Uruzgan Deputy Police Chief Mohammad Nabi said the NATO and Afghan forces also arrested one armed insurgent in the battle waged through most of Thursday, and captured a handful of guns and four motorbikes.
Asked about the lower death toll given by NATO, Nabi said he had confirmed reports from the ground of the 17 dead.
Meanwhile, a university student in the capital of neighboring Kandahar province was found dead with his throat cut Friday morning in a side room of a mosque where he had gone to study.
Sadullah Khan, a police official in Kandahar City, said they were investigating the death of the third-year medical student, but did not yet have any information on who might have been responsible for the killing.


US says Afghan strikes broke rules, orders retraining (click here)
Sat Jun 20, 2009 4:18am EDT
...The bombings took place while Defense Secretary Robert Gates was on his way to Afghanistan to inform the commander of U.S. forces that he would be replaced. The new commander, General Stanley McChrystal, has said he will take new steps to reduce civilian casualties, which threaten Afghan support for the war.The report faulted the public response, saying U.S. forces "must develop a more effective method" of communications....


Next 18 Months Critical in Afghanistan, McChrystal Says (click here)
Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs
Story by Jim Garamone
Date: 06.19.2009
Posted: 06.19.2009 02:28
..."I think that the next 18 months are probably a period in which this effort will be decided," Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal told Tom Bowman in a National Public Radio interview. "I don't think it will be over. But I think that not only the American people, I think the Afghan people are looking and deciding which way this will go." McChrystal took command of coalition and U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, June 15. His job is to carry out the new strategy for the region. The general said the conflict should not be viewed solely as a military struggle. It is not a question of whether the United States is winning, he said, but whether the Afghan people are winning. The Afghan government is the ultimate deciding factor, and while the government is not winning the war on extremists, "I don't say they're losing," McChrystal said. "That's an old axiom in counterinsurgency: If you're not winning, you're losing," he said. "And the danger there is that that is true. So we see it as very, very important, probably over about the next 12 to 24 months, that we absolutely get a trend where we are clearly winning." McChrystal has spent much of his career in special operations, hunting down and killing or capturing terrorists. "What I learned is that much of the terrorism we fought years ago was very small groups that were finite. They were fanatical, and they could be attacked that way," he said. "Nowadays, we have to fight the cause of terrorism, because terror is a tactic. You win by taking away from the enemy the one thing the insurgent absolutely has to have, and that's access to the population."...

Troops in Afghanistan would get new uniforms (click here)
By Rick Maze - Staff writerPosted : Thursday Jun 18, 2009 12:49:51 EDT
Congress is about to order new combat uniforms for troops in Afghanistan after hearing complaints that camouflage that was fine in Iraq doesn’t work so well in a mountainous and often muddy environment.
“Soldiers deployed to Afghanistan have serious concerns about the current combat uniform which they indicated provides ineffective camouflage given the environment in Afghanistan,” lawmakers say in the report accompanying HR 2346, the 2009 supplemental appropriations act.
The bill passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday, 226-202. It heads to the Senate for approval.

Iraq capable of its own security

While there are still attacks that occur within Iraq, there is the reality that some of those attacks are sparked by the presence of USA troops.


Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari speaks during a news conference at the National Press Club in Tokyo June 19, 2009. (REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon)


..."The Iraqi government, about the security forces, are confident (they) are capable of taking over its full responsibility after the withdrawal of American forces" from cities, Zebari told a news conference on a visit to Tokyo.
"We are confident about the ability of our security forces. They've become more mature, more efficient," he said.
U.S. combat troops, who invaded Iraq in 2003, are scheduled to leave urban centers by June 30 and redeploy to bases outside to hand control back to Iraqi security forces, according to a security pact that took effect in January....


US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,316 (click here)
By The Associated Press – 8 hours ago
As of Friday, June 19, 2009, at least 4,316 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The figure includes nine military civilians killed in action. At least 3,454 military personnel died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is two fewer than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.
The British military has reported 179 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia and Georgia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand and Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan and South Korea, one death each.
The latest deaths reported by the military:
_ A soldier died Friday as the result of a non-combat related incident.
The latest identifications reported by the military:
_ Army Sgt. Joshua W. Soto, 25, San Angelo, Texas, died Tuesday in Iraq of wounds suffered when an explosive device detonated near his vehicle; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.
On the Net:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/


Emerging Threats
U.S. envoy to Iraq calls for talks (click here)
Published: June 19, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Baghdad - June 19 (UPI) -- There are political solutions to the outstanding issues in Iraq despite a modest rise in the level of sectarian violence, the U.S. envoy to Iraq said.
Iraq has seen a rise in sectarian violence in recent months as U.S. military forces prepare to pull out of cities and villages by June 30 under the provisions of a bilateral security pact.
Christopher Hill, the U.S. envoy to Iraq, said there was no evidence to support claims that insurgent militias were on the rise, adding there was a marked increase in political negotiations to resolve many of the problems facing Iraq.
"We work very hard to make sure that there is dialogue among the various political interlocutors in the country," he said. "We continue to do what we can to help people get together."...


US Congress approves money for IMF, Afghanistan, Iraq (click here)
June 19th, 2009 - 8:11 am ICT by IANS
Washington, June 19 (DPA) The US Congress has approved a $106-billion spending bill that includes money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a loan to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).The wide-ranging legislation includes money for foreign aid, preventing a flu pandemic and a “cash-for-clunkers” initiative that encourages consumers to trade in older, less efficient cars to help revive the auto industry.
The Senate passed the measure in a 91-5 vote Thursday. The lower House of Representatives approved the same bill 226-202 Tuesday, largely along partisan lines amid complaints from Republicans over the addition of items unrelated to the wars.
The legislation, which now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature, includes about $80 billion for the ongoing war efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq....

I think 'bankrupt' is a good word for the GOP. Remarkably correct in all venues. The article below speaks to the visceral politics of the Republicans. Where their politics depart from 'the truth' they call it 'Counter Intuitive.' Hello. Does the USA really need leadership that counts on 'intuition' most of the time? I don't think so.

The Republicans have no 'insight' they simply count on electorate 'instinct' and that is why their Culture of Fear works so well. It has nothing to do with reality, or the science of possiblity, it has to do with 'that feel good feeling.'

In regard to education? Why the Republicans rely heavily on 'the trades and sameness' in regard to higher education? Why educate an electorate that will only 'think' rather than 'react?' Republican politicians like to predict the reaction of their electorate to every word they utter. It is why they are so rhetorical in the face of reality, "Heck of a job, Brownie."

Good Job Brownie! KBR Katrina Work Blasted by the Pentagon. Millions Squandered (click here)


On Iran, GOP leadership bankrupt (click here)
Friday June 19, 2009
Categories: Iran
Daniel Larison speaks truth:
One reason why Cantor and Pence have been demanding that the President take a stronger public line in support of the protesters in Iran is that supporting Mousavi's voters openly is the emotionally satisfying, easy, almost mindless thing to do, so it is very appealing for opposition figures who have no ideas. But there is more to it than that. All of this comes back to the problem of Republican denial about why they lost power. They are supremely confident about their views on national security and foreign policy, and they cannot conceive that a majority of the country would reject them because of the policies they advocated and enacted. Worse still, they remain wedded to the hectoring, moralistic and aggressive approach of the last administration, in which sanctions and condemnation are the only "soft" tools they understand. They are so wedded to this approach that that they think this is not only the best kind of foreign policy, but that anything other than this is fecklessness and surrender.
This impulsively Romantic habit of mind that many (most?) conservatives have is deeply irritating, and deeply irresponsible. I remember arguing with a Republican friend about democracy in Iraq. Every prudent objection I'd make about the difficulty, even the folly, of trying to impose liberal democracy on a country with no history of it was met with some version of, "So you don't think Iraqis are good enough for democracy?" The simplistic point was that to draw prudent, realistic conclusions about the possibilities of what might be accomplished in Iraq was to reveal one's moral cowardice, and even one's racism. This kind of emotionalism makes a rational debate about policy difficult, and even impossible. It's the equivalent of shouting "Racism!" to shut down a debate about affirmative action....

You mean the mad man really won, again? Bummer. Everyone still alive? Yeah? That's a good thing.

The opposition is said to be trying to become more organised

The world is going to need your help.

"...The crisis over the Iranian election has developed with such dizzying speed it is hard to take in the implications...."

I need something from the people of Iran. I need for them to keep the 'spirit' of the 2009 Election alive. It was so very wonderful to witness the high spirits and devotion to values that I just need to feel as though those wonderful people will never stop. They will continue to organize and enjoy politics, develop new policies and ideas and express them through a developing venue within Iran. I look forward to the future and the fervor of the Iranian people.

You were all so very wonderful, don't stop.

Iran is not falling apart. Quite the contrary. Why does The West always get it "W"rong.

I don't want another Tianamen Square. Why is the media hoping there is. The limitations by the Iranian government of the communication media is completely understandable. People have died. They don't want anymore.

The Iranian authorities have already promised to recount the votes in question. They won't abandon that directive. And kindly 'get it right,' the opposition party is a political party NOT an anti-government movement.

The Iranian government is attempting to quell the 'hype' surrounding this election. They don't want any more deaths. They want reasonable 'behavior.' Unfortunately, due to the 'quickness' of the reporting of the vote, some of the people feel as though the Iranian government is 'cheating' them out of their democratic directive. The quick reporting was a mistake and there may be a tainted vote. There should be an investigation to discern why 'the Iranian election process' was interrupted. There needs to be a full and transparent recount of the vote, however, there needs not to be an 'uprising.' The people will not win some kind of 'idea' of another revolution. They will have either elected a new President or not.

I think this election in Iran has been wonderfully spectacular and motivated into the direction of democracy. I am sincerely hoping there will be no more violence, but, just a peaceful and truthful reporting of the election outcome. The Iranian government is attempting to protect its people from any more confrontation, that is why they are closing down the media. It is a matter of 'lawlessness' that is motivating the tightening of Iranian media. I can't say they are wrong. The election is over. The counting of the vote is in question.

If the government is over reaching in providing fraud into the 'process' it will be most unfortunate. It will compromise the legitmacy of the Iranian government and will foster more suspicion and mistrust. I think Iran has an opportunity to legitmately provide valid election results and uphold the integrity of its people. If that doesn't happen it will be unfortunate.

I hope there are human rights organizations on the ground in Iran. There should be, but, its dangerous. I am concerned for the Iranian people. They have become very passionate about a new dynamic in their country and I am happy for them, but, in the same instance they have lost their perspective in some ways and are allowing to much fervor to taint their judgement in regard to their own safety from and with their government. They need to calm down and prepare to receive the results of the election. The outcome will be discussed for a long time regardless the person that actually won the election.

This election is not about over throwing the government, it is about establishing an election process that is truthful and worthy of the integrity of the Iranian people. The West is 'not' supposed to be a cheerleading section with aspirations of disrupting the governmet. It is supposed to be a 'model' for free and honest elections.

The issues regarding nuclear proliferation have to be addressed in other venues, not by attempting to direct the Iranian people into an irrational expectation of their election process. Displacing authority into the populous of the Iranian people will cost them their lives. We should have no part of that in any way.

John McCain can go straight to hell ! He is advocating hatred that could cause people their lives. It is idiotic. It is Neocon. It is more evident every day that goes by why he and Palin lost the election. "Bring it on." Right, John. That approach is idiotic. It is like Bush yelling across half the circumference of Earth at the people of Iraq. It is stupid. It endangers people's lives.


John McCain: President Obama not showing 'leadership' (click here)
By ANDY BARR
6/17/09 5:30 PM

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) criticized President Barack Obama Wednesday for failing to take a strong leadership role in voicing opposition to the election results in Iran.
“I do not believe that the president is taking the leadership that is incumbent upon an American president, which we have throughout modern history, and that is to advocate for human rights and freedom, and free elections are one of those fundamentals,” McCain said during an interview on CNN.
McCain said the president “obviously doesn’t agree” that Iranians have the right to protest the election results as a “fundamental principle.”
“We are seeking, as we have throughout the world, a free and fair election. This is obviously one that is corrupted,” the Republican senator said....

The American Medical Association says "Show me the money." For What?

The American populous is either uninsured, underinsured, poorly insured or in government. What does the AMA think they are talking about. The statistics when one clicks on the title to this entry is from 2007, before the Bush/Paulson global economic collapse. Imagine what it is today.

What the AMA doesn't stop to realize is that when Americans are fully insured the income to the health care system will skyrocket, and the hospitals they practic in will be fiscally sound. There is an exponential curve that accompanies, not just health care, improving both the ability to administer care, but, the economy that will finally be floating its health care system to avoid personal bankruptcy.

Personal bankruptcy, except for the Paulson escalation, is primarily due to health care costs. The AMA is blind to the fact, Americans lose their homes and equity on a regular basis because of them. They'll be compassionate and attend fund raisers and offer help to those unable to pay, but, they don't give a hoot or a holler about the house that was just repossessed because the owner received health care.

I think enough is enough. The AMA can take their belly aching elsewhere. The American people have priorities. We are tired of the Health Care Economic Bigotry.

The Weather at Scott Base, Ross Island, Antarctica is:

The first day of winter is coming soon to the Southern Hemisphere. It doesn't look like it, yet. In a recent report stating there is more sea ice off the coast of East Antarctica, it is proof the added coldness to the east coastal region is due to significant melting and runoff from the Blue Ice.

The West Antarctica Ice Sheet is still degrading with the latest collapse at Wilkens.

Wilkins ice shelf collapse continues (click here)

Cross-posted from The Great Beyond
Following the collapse on April 4 of a narrow ice bridge that had connected the Wilkins ice shelf with a small island off the Antarctic Peninsula, the northern ice front of the ice sheet is beginning to disintegrate.
A high-resolution radar image taken on April 20 by the German TerraSAR-X satellite shows large icebergs being released from a rift zone near Latady Island. Scientists expect up to 3,400 square kilometretres of the Wilkins Ice Sheet to break into icebergs before a new stable ice front will form.
Quirin Schiermeier

There is a gross disparity in that reality.

While some point to the added sea ice off East Antarctica as good news, it is not. It simply proves what this blog has documented frequently, that the top of the 3 miles Blue Ice was having chronic 'insults' to the integrity of the frigid air mass. That frigid air mass was noted on multiple occassions to have literally fallen like a water fall into the waters off East Antarctica.


New climate report says global warming ‘human-induced’ (click title to entry - thank you)
01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, June 17, 2009
...And unlike many positions taken during the Bush administration, it pulls no punches on what scientists believe is happening with the climate, and why.
“Observations show that warming of the climate is unequivocal,” says the report’s summary. The warming “is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat trapping gases.”
Most of the emissions come from the burning of coal, gas and oil, the report says, and important contributions come from the clearing of forests, agricultural practices and other activities.
Focusing on New England, the report says that if warming continues throughout this century, people in New Hampshire will experience summers similar to what occurs today in North Carolina....

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:

The Pacific Fisheries have been crashing from some time now.

Eric Hall, of Taylor Shellfish Farms, counts the seeds that have settled on a shell. (click title to entry - thank you)

Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Temperature :: 54 °F

Conditions :: Overcast

Humidity :: 88%

Dew Point :: 50 °F

Wind :: 7 mph from the NW

Pressure :: 29.84 in (Steady)

Visibility :: 10.0 miles

UV :: 2 out of 16

Clouds:
Overcast 6500 ft
(Above Ground Level)

Elevation :: 33 ft

Go get 'em, Leon. The Bush/Cheney Administration didn't do anything for the monies they scammed from the US Treasury.

Speaking truth to power was never something George and Dick were good at receiving, this is just another occurrence.

Richard Cheney wants to save his own 'hide' and that of his party from political and legal demise. For seven years after September 11, 2001, the people of the USA trusted the 'powers that be' to protect them. How many times did I hear the propaganda? How many times did we believe the 'systems' within the mechancisms of the USA were safe. Dear God, they couldn't even perfect the issuance of USA Passports while they demanded information they had no right to have and raised the cost of application.

When does it stop, Dick? You are out of power, have compromised this country by running a war for Halliburton and you continue to endanger us by running your mouth? When does it stop?

I think Dick needs a job after the global fiscal collapse. Why don't we give him a job at the US - Mexican Border. He can stop all the potential terrorists he wants !!



...The Central Intelligence Agency typically fights distant enemies, but on May 21st its leaders were preoccupied with a local opponent. A few miles from the agency’s headquarters, which are in Langley, Virginia, former Vice-President Dick Cheney delivered an extraordinary attack on the Obama Administration’s emerging national-security policies. Cheney, speaking at the American Enterprise Institute, accused the new Administration of making “the American people less safe” by banning brutal C.I.A. interrogations of terrorism suspects that had been sanctioned by the Bush Administration. Ruling out such interrogations “is unwise in the extreme,” Cheney charged. “It is recklessness cloaked in righteousness.”
Leon Panetta, the C.I.A.’s new director—and the man who bears much of the responsibility for keeping the country safe—learned the details of Cheney’s speech when he arrived in his office, on the seventh floor of the agency’s headquarters. An hour earlier, he had been standing at the side of President Barack Obama, who was giving a speech at the National Archives, in which he argued that America could “fight terrorism while abiding by the rule of law.” In January, the Obama Administration banned the “enhanced” techniques that the Bush Administration had approved for the agency, including waterboarding and depriving prisoners of sleep for up to eleven days. Panetta, pouring a cup of coffee, responded to Cheney’s speech with surprising candor. “I think he smells some blood in the water on the national-security issue,” he told me. “It’s almost, a little bit, gallows politics. When you read behind it, it’s almost as if he’s wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point. I think that’s dangerous politics.”...