I hope there is some rain in store for Burkina Faso and not just clouds.

 

April 2, 2007

0028 gmt

African - Europe Satellite

There is the larger picture of the Spaniard's Vortex. It starts a half a globe away. Two separate hemispheres. Unreal !

ECOWAS Ministers Agree on Biotechnology Plan for Region

By voanews

Ministers from the Economic Community of West African States have agreed to use biotechnology to increase food production in their region. The agreement was reached at the third ECOWAS ministerial meeting on biotechnology and bio-safety, held in Accra, Ghana. Efam Dovi reports for VOA from Accra.

For four days, experts and ECOWAS ministers of agriculture, environment, science and technology discussed the issues surrounding the use of biotechnology in farming. Though it has been shown to increase agricultural production, some fear it could harm the environment. It is also costly, requiring expensive research.

There is another typhoon headed for Madagascar

 

Tbere is also a huge supercell forming over Spain. It's orgins begin in South Amrerica at the equator extending across the Atlantic and organizing into a rotation system over the Mediterrainian.

Rain to spoil record Easter exodus

But Met Office forecasters are predicting downpours in top resorts across the Mediterranean this week.

Ironically, some of the best weather will be in Britain with temperatures of up to 18°C (64°F).

Met Office forecaster Andrew Sibley said: 'It will be around 16C (61F) in Britain today and as high as 18°C in London.

'For most of the rest of the week, it will be about 14 or 15°C. There will be sunny spells and it will feel pleasant at times.'

He said the situation in the Mediterranean this week would be one of heavy showers with temperatures on the cool side – especially compared with what people would expect at this time of year.

He added: 'There will be long spells of rain in the South of France, the east coast of Italy, southern Spain, Portugal, Corsica and Sardinia. On Thursday the cool air will get down towards Turkey.'

THERE COULD BE A CHANCE IT MIGHT BE MORE THAN THIS AS WELL. POSSIBLY TORNADIC WEATHER NOT EXPECTED NORMALLY.

Cameroon might be getting some relief from their drought, however, flooding can be as bad if not worse sometimes.

Gloomy cocoa forecast as bad weather hits supply

Similarly pessimistic forecasts have been noted elsewhere with investment bank Fortis forced to increase its 2006/07 cocoa deficit figure from 131,000 tonnes to 215,000 last month due to unfavourable weather in West Africa.

Unseasonably dry weather in the area has raised fears that crops will be damaged and production from the major growing region will fall.

With supplies dipping and factors such as weather, disease and civil unrest having an increasing impact on the production chain, many companies and government bodies are becoming involved in helping cocoa farmers at grass roots levels.

This week, the Netherlands donated 655 million CFA francs to Cameroon cocoa farmers to improve the co-operative structures throughout the farming communities and improve their marketing position.

And members of the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) teamed up recently to extend their five-year plan to help 150,000 cocoa farming families in Ghana through programmes related to education, health and labour conditions.

The ICCO bulletin examines factors affecting the industry and comments on crop and demand prospects for leading countries as well as giving a review of statistics on price, exports, imports and consumption


GET OUT THE RAIN BARRELS IN NIGERIA !

Nigeria: 'Water Scarcity Remains an Issue'

March 27, 2007
Posted to the web March 28, 2007

Achim Steiner
Lagos

Water scarcity is both a natural and a human-made phenomenon. There is enough freshwater on the planet for six billion people but it is shared unevenly and too much of it is wasted, polluted and unsustainably managed.

The reality of climate change compels the world to pay even greater attention to water scarcity given the predicted variability and more extreme weather events likely over the coming years and decades.


The text book planning of a dam on the basis of a one in 100 flow is becoming a hydrological lottery of receding certainty.

Glaciers, water stores and water sources for millions of people alongside wildlife and economically productive ecosystems, are melting three times faster than in the 1980s and could disappear in the decades to come.

A Brazilian study indicates that temperatures in the Amazon could rise as high as 8 degrees C dramatically altering the flows of one of the world's most important freshwater systems. So if we want to avoid "Water Scarcity" as the permanent theme for the 21st century, a big part of the solution is cuts in greenhouse gas emissions of 60 to 80 per cent.

Fortunately, World Water Day 2007 comes in a year of unprecedented momentum on climate change both scientifically and politically. Let us hope that the tide of political opinion is genuinely changing in favour of a meaningful, fair and equitable emissions-reduction regime for when the Kyoto Protocol treaty expires in five short-years time.

Tsunami Hits Soloman Islands After Powerful Quake

April 2, 2007

0011 gmt

Western Pacific Global Satellite

That is an incredible supercell. Holy smokes !

Three dead after Pacific Ocean earthquake
Reuters
April 01, 2007
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's NHK television said on Monday that at least three people were reported to have died in the Solomon Islands following a powerful earthquake.
NHK quoted a local official, who, speaking by telephone in Gizo, said the 8.1 magnitude quake in the Pacific Ocean caused tidal waves and many houses were destroyed on the coast of Gizo. Three people were found dead in different locations there, he said.
A tsunami warning had been issued for the region.

THESE FOLKS ARE GOING TO NEED HELP. THE UNITED NATIONS NEEDS TO TAKE NOTE !

Typhoon warning issued for Guam, Pacific islands

Stars and Stripes Pacific edition,

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Guam and its neighboring islands began bracing for a wet, windy Monday and Tuesday as the first storm of the northwest Pacific’s tropical cyclone season, Kong-rey, began churning rapidly west-northwest toward the Marianas Islands.
National Weather Service officials said the island chain could expect winds of up to 70 mph and rainfall of up to eight inches starting Monday evening. Guam Gov. Felix Camacho issued Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 3 for the island at 2 p.m. Sunday, and U.S. Naval Forces Marianas and Andersen Air Force Base followed suit at 3 p.m.
The National Weather Service issued a Typhoon Warning at 8 p.m. Sunday for Guam, Rota, Tinian and Saipan.
Department of Defense Education Activity schools were to be closed Monday and Tuesday, according to a Sunday press release from Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Marianas.
Kong-rey spawned over the weekend well to the east of Chu’uk and just south of Pohn’pei and began tracking west-northwest Sunday at 13 mph. At 7 p.m. Guam time on Sunday, Kong-rey was 550 miles east-southeast of Guam, packing sustained 52 mph winds and 63 mph gusts at its center.
If it remains on its Joint Typhoon Warning Center track, Kong-rey is forecast to make a direct hit on Rota around 4 a.m. Tuesday. It’s expected to graze Andersen Air Force Base 37 miles to its north, with sustained winds of 86 mph and gusts of up to 104 mph at its center.
Winds of between 40 and 50 mph were expected to begin lashing Guam on Monday evening, with possible maximum winds of between 60 and 70 mph early Tuesday morning, according to meteorologist Genny Miller of the National Weather Service on Guam.
Miller said islands directly in Kong-rey’s path could expect between 6 and 8 inches of rain, and anything on the storm’s periphery, outside of 100 miles, could get between 4 and 6 inches.
Kong-rey then is forecast to rumble northwest of Guam before curving northeast and slowly dying out just past the northernmost Marianas Islands and well to the southeast of Iwo Jima in Japan.
The northwest Pacific region’s tropical cyclone season generally runs from June to December, but storms in early spring or late fall are not uncommon for Guam and its neighbors.
JTWC archives show the most destructive storms in Guam’s history to be super typhoons Paka (December 1997) and Pongsona (December 2002) and Typhoon Karen (November 1962), each occurring late in the calendar year. Super Typhoon Pamela leveled the island early in the season, in mid-May 1976.
On average, the northwest Pacific receives about 28 tropical cyclones per season. The JTWC recorded 26 tropical storms last year, 25 in 2005 and 32 in 2004.
Kong-rey is a Cambodian word with two meanings: Pretty girl in Khmer legend, or the name of a mountain.

I'll close with this...

...there is one other letter that is not with this file whereby Ms. Granberry advises me to call Adult Protective Services of Guildford County.

Those folks have a case load to chock a horse. They defer any decisions about people with current Guardians to the Guardian. They don't want to hear from me.

Ms. Granberry and the State Attorney General of North Carolina play a very dangerous game of 'pass the buck' when they know full well what is waiting at the other end of such lackadaisical attitudes.

The people of North Carolina are on their own to survive. The law serves the purpose of the government and not the best interest of those it should serve. My sister is going to die a premature death because her parents don't care about her survival beyond what she herself determines in her incompetency. This is gross malpractice of the law and places the public in harms' way of such disinterest of the trust placed in elected authority.

I'll find the final letter and post it here.

Thank you for your kind interest.

I coined this as Pat's cry for help. I guess I was wrong.

I sent this because it indicated Patricia's continued ability and quality of life and self determination.

This is Patricia's signature. She filled this out by herself when she sent permission to share records between Janet Bay and her physician/surgeons at Wake Forest/Baptist Medical Center. The 'incompetency' is noted in the address to Dr. Janet Bay. I had given her the information for this form over the phone after finding Dr. Bay 'on the net' after twenty years. It wasn't Bayside it was Riverside and Dr. Wilson's secretary needed a more specific addresss. His secretary accepted the information from me and forwarded years of records to Dr. Bay.

Dr. Janet Bay was Patricia's most successful neurosurgeon in the early years when Dr. Bay was at The Cleveland Clinic. Patricia was looking for an opinion that would differ from that regarding Gamma Knife Treatment. Instead, Janet Bay confirmed the need for it. Patricia retreated into fear once again and refused to follow through on the advise of her most trusted friend in Ohio.

Patricia once named me as her Power of Attorney. I couldn't find the original documents because in her absent mindedness...

... am homeless man form the shelter stole her lockbox from her apartment when she returned to reclaim her belongs. Why I ever deferred to my father is a regretable moment. It was out of love and understanding that he wanted to care for his daughter in his waning years. Boy, was I ever conned.

I sent this to the State Attorney General to have an understanding of the level of trust Patricia had in my judgement. It never mattered.

The documents above from here are those sent in support of my advocacy to The State of North Carolina Attorney General.

Presented with last page above.

Pat likes Billy Joel. In some ways it was like our credo.

Scenes From An Italian Restaurant

A bottle of white, a bottle of red
Perhaps a bottle of rose instead
We'll get a table near the street
In our old familiar place
You and I,face to face

A bottle of red, a bottle of white
It all depends upon your appetite
I'll meet you any time you want
In our Italian Restaurant.

Things are okay with me these days
Got a good job, got a good office
Got a new wife, got a new life
And the family's fine
We lost touch long ago
You lost weight I did not know
You could ever look so good after
So much time.

I remember those days hanging out
At the village green
Engineer boots, leather jackets
And tight blue jeans
Drop a dime in the box play the
Song about New Orleans
Cold beer, hot lights
My sweet romantic teenage nights

Brenda and Eddie were the
Popular steadys
And the king and the queen
Of the prom
Riding around with the car top
Down and the radio on.
Nobody looked any finer
Or was more of a hit at the
Parkway Diner
We never knew we could want more
Than that out of life
Surely Brenda and Eddie would
Always know how to survive.

Brenda and Eddy were still going
Steady in the summer of '75
when they decided the marriage would
Be at the end of July
Everyone said they were crazy"
Brenda you know you're much too lazy
Eddie could never afford to live that
Kind of life."
But there we were wavin'
Brenda andEddie goodbye.

They got an apartment with deep
Pile carpet
And a couple of paintings from Sears
A big waterbed that they bought
With the bread
They had saved for a couple
Of years
They started to fight when the
Money got tight
And they just didn't count on
The tears.

They lived for a while in a
Very nice style
But it's always the same in the end
They got a divorce as a matter
Of course
And they parted the closest
Of friends
Then the king and the queen went
Back to the green
But you can never go back
There again.

Brenda and Eddie had had it
Already by the summer of '75
Fromhe high to the low to
The end of the show
For the rest of their lives
They couldn't go back to
The greasers
The best they could do was
Pick up the pieces
We always knew they would both
Find a way to get by
That's all I heard about
Brenda and Eddie
Can't tell you more than I
Told you already
And here we are wavin' Brenda
And Eddie goodbye.

A bottle of red, aa bottle of white
Whatever kind of mood you're in tonight
I'll meet you anytime you want
In our Italian Restaurant.

Having 'control' over the money has it's benefits. Over the years, there were items we all would buy for Patricia and transportation we would provide. But, that was just being family. However, so long as Mom and Dad could have their hand in the till why not get compensated for receipts they accumulated over the years. I wasn't that clever. I never thought love as expressed in caring relationships required receipts. Shows you what I know.

Picture not available

The other clown in this circus is my sister, Judith Schmitinger. She works as a quasi-judge in a traffic division of the North Carolina Justice Department.

Judith is the fair haired child that has never done anything wrong either legally or morally.

She had a DUI, but, who would notice that? And so what if she was three months pregnant at her wedding, it's seems so irrelivant in realizing how perfect she is. Neither Patricia, the second daughter or I the first ever had issues with Drinking while under the influence or pregnancy before marriage. We are so flawed compared to the perfect child Judith is, we pale in comparison.

Getting the feeling this is only slightly dsyfunctional?

Ah, yeah.

This is dear old Dad. Man of pride. Served his country during the Korean War and left with an honorable discharge as a sargent of somekind. The plague with all his citations and ribbons are on the wall in a spare bedroom.

He is currently patriarch of the family. Me is proud of his wife whom serves as Eucharistic Minister right next to the Deacon of the church some days.

Thomas knows every decision about Patricia is a tough one. Torn between paying off his mortage with a complaining wife or saving his daughter's life. So long as Patricia seeks to defer her longevity it fits well into his plans. Of course he is known to cry from time to time but only out of self pitty should his lack of morality even be known to his Pastor and god. That was god with a small G.

This is dear old mom. She is her husband's woman. She knows her place and is happily empty headed within it. By choice of course. I just hate roll players, don't you. Nauseating. She states her morgage at her age is still unpaid. Empty-headed Mommy is about seventy-two as of January.

A model citizen, she has been Volunteer of the Month and Year by the Governor of the State of North Carolina many times for her work at Maryfield Nursing Home. She appeared on the local news station not long ago to acclaim the emotional (She is such an emotional creature, you know. You should see her angry.) satisfaction of volunteerism in the grand State of North Carolina.

Give. Me. A. Break !

Letters of Appointment Limited General Guardian

This is the document that lends to the understanding of Patricia's continued quality of life. For the most part, the Xs in the left hand column indicate her ability for autonomy. It is significant. She is able to still conduct herself socially within the understanding of competent. She has self will and self interest in all she does. The one X in the right hand column, fourth X from the top of the list clearly states "Assist in decisions regarding health treatment. " In making this decision the judge clearly recognized Patricia's inability to discern what is best for her health, yet, the guardian that is her/our father defers to her every time and allows her to remain outside of prudent treatment as perscribed by her physicians and surgeons. The guardian in this case is CLEARLY in violation of the intent of the judges wishes. Did it matter to The State Attorney General? Heck no !

Dear Old Dad never such such figures in any one place at the same time. I guess it overwhelmed him.

These were the accounts that were completely depleted when Patricia found herself homeless. She had taken good care of herself to that point. She had a layer of protections that paid her bills monthly. I don't believe her spending ever changed so much as monthly check from her former spouse stopped after five years and that lead to the depletion of fund otherwise. At one time these accounts were well over $50,000.

Patricia was once an accountant for AT&T International in their Morristown, New Jersey office. She contributed to the wealth of the marriaage as did her spouse. When she left the marriage in pity of herself and the fear of being unable to fulfill a marriage vow of children, she left with mostly her own assets although the courts in New Hampshire felt it was only correct that her actively employed spouse support her for a while until she was able to adjust.

George Mayernik was an example of love and devotion to the end and never fought one word or will of the court. He is now happily remarried but he took the divorce very hard. He was bitter for awhile and didn't remarry for years. He still doesn't have a family other than his new Catholic wife and lives a very challenging career in Tewksbury, Massachusetts at Raytheon Corporation.

I'll simply post the documents as they presented themselves in the file at the courthouse from front to back. This is the final page of the documents I asked to be copied. If I find a comment helpful, I'll post it below the image.

This is the receipt from the Guilford County Courthouse. I sent with other public documents to prove the length I had to go to in realizing the legal proceedings of Patricia's 'disposal.'

Mind you now, the original proceedings were in 2005 after my sister became homeless. I was pursued by the lawyer of the case, Cathline somebody or other, to contribute in testimony to the dire straights the family found themselves in protecting Patricia from herself.

Yet.

When I approached, dear, smart and talented Cathline about the NOW injustice that had become Patricia's terminal destiny, she stated she could have me put in jail for elder abuse for the difference of opinion I held regarding the well being of my sister. The ? opinion ? I held was widely held by three of the top neurosurgeons in the country if not the world.

It was the greed that Tom held close to his heart and the empowerment of his attorney that was wrong and immoral which is leading to Patricia's premature death. The threats by Tom's attorney were an attempt to shut me up !

It didn't work !

The documents presented here are those sent to the State Attorney General of the State of North Carolina. They each spoke to the issue in their own way. I'll give a narrative as they proceed to be published here. This is a tribute to Patricia in her self determination due to fear of a lower functioning mind.

April Fool's Day, Pat. The joke is on us, sister.

 

It's Sunday Afternoon

My sister, Patricia, was always a good Catholic girl. I didn't find Catholicism interesting. Like most Catholic girls (my mother was/is Catholic) we were never talked to about sexuality or our sexual identity. We were left on our own to define that aspect of our life. We did well and enjoyed every minute of it.

Patricia and I were confidants. We didn't appreciate virginity. It was a false sense of self. We were destined to be career women and to that end had complete and absolute autonomy of our lives in that 'we didn't need a man' to get by.

Contrary to popular belief, we weren't loose women. We didn't seek to 'get laid.' We enjoyed, however, the company of men. We valued relationships.

We never found, as we tried on occassion, 'withholding' ourselves from sex powerful. Quite the contrary. 'Withdrawing' from a relationship brought us enduring love with an appreciation for whom we were as a woman.

Within relationships we would find 'plateaus' and within that restlessness a desire for more. To put it bluntly, the relationship was 'going nowhere.' We ended relationships based on our satiation within them and as a result found the men responded with flowers, gifts, diamond engagement rings and planned wedding dates. Never did 'withholding' sexual pleasure in a relationship 'get us anywhere' so much as 'leaving' received applause of self determination and appreciation from our partners.

Patricia, when she married, was very well and successfully married. The marriage was out of love and devotion and not abitrary guidelines based in religious dogma. Our bonding as sisters was around whom we became as women and THAT relationship endures beyond any man.

Only the Good Die Young by Billy Joel

Come out Virginia, don't let me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
aw
But sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well be the one

well, They showed you a statue, told you to pray
They built you a temple and locked you away
Aw, but they never told you the price that you pay
For things that you might have done.....
Only the good die young
thats what i said
only the good die young x2

You might have heard I run with a dangerous crowd
We ain't too pretty we ain't too proud
We might be laughing a bit too loud
aw But that never hurt no one

So come on Virginia show me a sign
Send up a signal I'll throw you the line
The stained-glass curtain you're hiding behind
Never lets in the sun
Darlin' only the good die young
(woah x5 )
i tell ya
only the good die young x2

You got a nice white dress and a party on your confirmation
You got a brand new soul
mmmm, And a cross of gold
But Virginia they didn't give you quite enough information
You didn't count on me
When you were counting on your rosary
(oh woah woah)

They say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
the Sinners are much more fun...

you know that only the good die young
oh woah baby
i tell ya
only the good die young, X2


You say your mother told you all that I could give you was a reputation
Aww She never cared for me
But did she ever say a prayer for me? oh woah woah

Come out come out come out virgina dont let me wait,
You catholic girls start much too late
Sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well be the one,
You know that only the good die young

I'm telling you baby
You know that only the good die young
Only the good die young
Only the gooooooooooooooood
Only the good die young
Only the gooooooooooooooood
Only the good die young
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooo oooooooooo...

Only the good die young
Only the gooooooooooooooood
Only the good die young
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Okay. Let's get this mess out here so people know exactly how lame the south is when it comes to human rights.

 

This is the last letter I received from the State Attorney General's Office of North Carolina. I had left two voice mails with Ms. Granberry. One preceeding this letter and one after. The one preceeding this letter simply stated she could not be more wrong in her decision to ignore the brevity of my sister's condition and it's life saving outcome. The second voice simply stated, "You'll have to live with your own conscience of which I was confident meant absolutely nothing to her." With that I'll begin.

 

Enlarged image of the letter above.