Bay beaches reopen; birds cleaned of oil to be released

Chris Giorni watches a group of 38 birds return to the ocean. Chronicle photo by Michael Macor


38 birds are returned to the wild near Pillar Point. Chronicle photo by Michael Macor

Tom Rusert takes a bird down to the shore. Chronicle photo by Michael Macor

(11-16) 16:15 PST San Francisco - --
Coast Guard officials, saying there is no more oil from the Nov. 7 San Francisco Bay spill to clean from the surface, ended skimming operations on the bay and the Pacific Ocean this morning and said cleanup efforts will focus on sensitive areas such as tidal marshes and rocky shorelines....

...But Angel Island is of particular concern, according to Barry McFarland of the O'Brien's Group, the firm hired for the cleanup by the owner of the Cosco Busan, the ship that hit the base of a Bay Bridge tower last week, unleashing 58,000 gallons of fuel oil into the bay.
Officials said the island's rocky shoreline makes it difficult to clean up because of all the dips and crevasses on the shore....

US Senate Fails to Approve Funding Bill for Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan

In the face of a majority demand by Americans, the USA Senate cannot get out of the way to the will of the people. They are waiting for a new Republican President to continue and escalate war. Bush, the dictator is stating it's the Senate's fault they don't have funding for 'his' wars. He's right, but, it isn't the Democrats that aren't providing for the needs of the soldiers. It is Bush's demand for a global war that is stopping the funding. He has only his Republican collegues to blame for a military budget shortfall. The Democrats don't recognize a "Temper Tandrum" President, they submit what the American people believe is right.

...White House spokesman Tony Fratto criticized the Democratic-led Senate for not approving President Bush's $196 billion request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan before lawmakers left on a two-week recess, and he urged them to act when they return:
"Our troops deserve this funding, they need it, and we call on Congress to deliver it as soon as possible," he said.
Republicans blocked a $50 billion spending bill backed by Democrats, because it also included a plan for withdrawing all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by December of next year. The vote was 53 to 45, seven votes short of the 60 needed to pass under Senate rules....

Tell it to the Republicans for sinking the vote to fund, not the Democrats !! Idiots !!

An undate on the approach of World War III - Michael Powell is still posting junk mail at The New York Times (click here)

And some morons in Congress are lining up to declare war on Russia...


Russian Troops Leave Georgia (click here)
MOSCOW (AP) - A top Russian general said early Thursday that Russia has completed its withdrawal of troops that had been based in Georgia since the Soviet collapse, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.
The presence of Russian troops in the ex-Soviet republic was one of the longtime irritants between Georgia and its giant neighbor.
"There are no more Russian troops in Georgia, there remain only peacekeepers... in Abkhazia and those that are part of the combined forces in South Ossetia with the participation of Georgia," the news agency quoted Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Troops Gen. Alexei Maslov as saying....
...In August, the Georgian government claimed that a Russian warplane barged into the country's airspace after flying over South Ossetia and dropped a missile. The missile did not explode and no injuries were reported, but the incident sparked concern in Georgia and the West that Russia was trying to intimidate Georgia....


Bill on sanctions against Russian cos. submitted to U.S. Congress (click here)
22:31
14/ 11/ 2007
WASHINGTON, November 14 (RIA Novosti) - A bill demanding sanctions against Russian companies and organizations supplying armaments to Iran and Syria has been submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Five congressmen said the companies violate U.S. laws banning arms deliveries to Tehran and Damascus.
Russia has said all its arms deliveries to the two Mideast nations are in line with international laws, but U.S. authorities have repeatedly called on Russia to stop arms deliveries to countries Washington considers a threat.
President Vladimir Putin said in October that Russia will not allow other countries to put restrictions on its arms exports.
Speaking at a session of Russia's military-technical cooperation commission, the president said Moscow would not take into consideration attempts to impose restrictions "based on unilateral and politicized assessments".
Putin also said deliveries of Russian weapons are aimed exclusively at increasing the defense capability of the countries receiving them, and at maintaining their stability.
Russia and Iran concluded a contract in late 2005 for deliveries of Tor-M1s. Tor-M1 is a high-precision missile system designed to destroy manned or unmanned aircraft, as well as cruise missiles flying at an altitude of up to 10 kilometers (6 miles). Russia subsequently supplied 29 Tor systems to Iran for $700 million.
Syria, a long-time client of Russia's defense industry, accounts for up to 4% of Russia's annual arms sales, which totaled a record $6.1 billion last year.


Russia doesn't want to be the bad guy in everyone's sites alone. They are willing to allow most countries to squirm at the thought of USA military domination of their country to insure they understand what true alliances are, it would seem. In recent weeks, Russia had offered to place a nuclear enrichment facility in the Middle East. By backing off it's willingness to protect other countries from "Iraq like" attack by the USA, it will escalate countries in the Middle East to consider their own nuclear facitilies and munitions.

Military chief says Russia not obliged to protect world from U.S. (click here)
12:29
13/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 13 (RIA Novosti) - Yury Baluyevsky, the chief of Russia's general staff, said in an interview with the Russia Today TV channel on Tuesday that the Russian Armed Forces were under no obligation to protect the world from the U.S.
Answering a question as to whether or not the world could count on Russia to defend it from "insidious American plans," Baluyevsky replied, "Today, there is no need to be afraid of the Russian Armed Forces. However, I do not believe that the Russian military is obliged to defend the world from the evil Americans".
Gen. Yury Baluyevsky is flying to Brussels later today to discuss with NATO chiefs of staff, among other things, Russia's suspension of its Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty obligations.
Baluyevsky said last Thursday that Russia would no longer be bound by current weapons and equipment limitations after its moratorium on the CFE Treaty comes into force.
The State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, voted on November 7 in favor of President Putin's bill to impose a moratorium on the CFE Treaty.
The moratorium is set to come into effect on December 12, after final approval by the upper house of parliament, expected to vote on the issue on November 16, and President Vladimir Putin.
The chief of Russia's military general staff also told the Russia Today TV channel that the CFE Treaty put Russia at a disadvantage.
"It was an onerous treaty for Russia. It was a treaty that Russia alone honored," he said.
Asked why Russia had signed the document in the first place, Baluyevsky said that at the time, in 1990, the goal was to avert a war, and the treaty effectively served its purpose.
He also said Russia's Armed Forces, like all militaries in the world, would be putting an emphasis on quality, not quantity.
"It will be a leaner but meaner, well trained and equipped, and professional force," the general said.

The USA State Department is worthless, by design. Condi Rice is supposed to be an expert on Russia. In that, she should be able to find diplomacy with Russia in abundance. Instead all she does is provoke more and more confrontation. Isn't the instability in Pakistan evidence enough and now Russia is preparing for World War III. Bush and Cheney want it more than they wanted Iraq.

Russian parliament votes for Putin's moratorium on CFE Treaty - 2 (click here)
15:18
07/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's lower house of parliament has voted in favor of President Putin's bill to impose a moratorium on the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty.
The moratorium on the arms reduction pact will take effect on the night of December 12-13, after final approval by the upper house of parliament, which is expected to vote on the issue on November 16, and President Vladimir Putin.
Putin signed a decree to suspend the 1990 CFE Treaty in mid-July, citing national security concerns. However, the proposal has been widely seen in the West as a Kremlin move to prevent the U.S. from deploying a missile shield in Central Europe.
The amended version of the Soviet-era treaty was signed in 1999, and has not been ratified by any NATO countries.
Meanwhile, Moscow considers the original CFE Treaty to be outdated since it does not reflect the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the breakup of the Soviet Union, or recent NATO expansion. NATO countries have insisted on Russia's withdrawal from Transdnestr and other breakaway post-Soviet regions as a condition for their ratification of the CFE Treaty.
The moratorium does not stipulate that Russia will permanently pull out of the CFE Treaty, although it temporarily "freezes" its implementation by Russia and serves as a warning that the country will protect its national interests with determination, an explanatory note to the document says.
During Wednesday's parliamentary hearings, senior Russian military commanders reiterated the importance of the CFE Treaty revision and again called on NATO members to ratify its amended version.
Russia's Defense Ministry said it might reinforce its troops near its western borders if parliament supported the president's proposed moratorium on a key arms reduction treaty in Europe.
"We are carrying out work as regards the issue," said First Deputy Defense Minister, Gen. Alexander Kolmakov, but added that no final decision had been made so far.
The ministry earlier said that over the last decade, NATO has substantially exceeded armament levels permitted by the CFE for NATO members - by 6,000 tanks, some 10,000 armored vehicles, over 5,000 artillery items and some 1,500 combat planes.
Russia's chief of the General Staff, General of the Army Yuri Baluyevsky said Russia must abolish a Flank limitations clause in the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty if the document is to be amended.
Russia's so-called flank zone includes both the Leningrad Military District in the north and the North Caucasus Military District in the south.
"If the treaty is to be adapted, it must be adapted with the elimination of the flank regime, because the current amended version still includes these flank limitations," Baluyevsky said.
The general said the current treaty favored the U.S. and NATO because it allowed them to implement an "eastward expansion" strategy and monitor Russian troops in the European part of Russia.
He said the treaty was discriminatory and any possible future dismantling of it would not affect Russia as much as it would affect Europe.
"Russia has a sufficient arsenal of forces, means, and resources to ensure its security and national interests," Baluyevsky said.


Bush and Cheney have now spawned nuclear power in the Western Hemisphere. Here we go again !


Venezuela set to launch peaceful nuclear program - Chavez (click here)
20:58
15/ 11/ 2007
MOSCOW, November 15 (RIA Novosti) - Venezuela will pursue a peaceful nuclear program, the country's president said on Thursday.
"Venezuela will start developing a nuclear power sector for peaceful purposes," Hugo Chavez said in an interview with the French TV channel France 24, citing Brazil and Argentina as examples.
He said many other states would be compelled to do the same, since it was crucial to avert an energy crisis which is threatening the world as energy resources decline and oil prices soar.
Chavez also said he backed Iran's nuclear program.
"We support Iran, and I do not think that Iran is building a nuclear bomb," he said.

Bad weather shuts down ports, strands passengers

A poisoned and oil covered bird lies dying in front of local volunteers removing oil pollution from the Black Sea shore in the port Kavkaz, November 13, 2007. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images)

Russian Oil Spill Devastates Black Sea Ecology (click here)
By Ivan Velinov
Epoch Times San Francisco Staff
Nov 14, 2007
Strong winds and waves battered more than 10 cargo ships last Sunday in the Kerch Strait waters of the Black Sea between Russia and the Ukraine. Four ships sank, one split in two, and another ran aground spilling thousands of tons of oil and sulfur in what could be Russia's worst environmental disaster in the last decade, say experts.
The fierce storm raged in the small waterway between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Surging waves as high as 16 feet smashed apart the Russian oil tanker "Volganeft–139" and spilled into the sea nearly half of the cargo of the freight ship laden with 4,800 tons (1.3 million gallons) of oil. Three other freight ships loaded with sulfur containers also sank, sending about 7,000 tons of sulfur into the sea....

Oil slick endangers birds in Black Sea - 2 (click here)
20:22
16/ 11/ 2007
(Adds details in paras 8-9)
MOSCOW, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - Birds are continuing to die in southern Russia following an oil spill in the strait that links the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, a bird protection organization said on Friday.
At least 2,000 metric tons of fuel oil spilled into the Kerch Strait when a tanker split open and four freighters sank in a storm on November 11, also causing the death of at least six sailors.
"In the region around the Chushka Promontory, for every 30-40 dead birds, only one can be found alive, although with no chance of survival," the Russian Bird Conservation Union said.
The conservation organization said the stricken area included an important area for 50,000 migrating birds, and that up to 10 species of endangered birds could be spotted there at different times of the year.
Earlier reports said some 30,000 birds had been killed by the fuel oil. Tests of water samples showed that contamination by oil products was 2.5 milligrams per liter, 50 times above acceptable levels.
The four dry-cargo vessels that sank during Sunday's storm had about 7,000 metric tons of sulfur on board. The sulfur is currently sealed in containers, however.
A local fisheries department said the costs of damage from the spill could exceed 300 billion rubles ($12 billion) and warned that the use of chemicals to clean up the area would only double the environmental damage, as it assists the spread of oil products.
A Greenpeace coordinator, Yegor Timofeyev, said fuel oil collected by volunteers on the shores of the Kerch Strait is being washed into the sea in some places due to a lack of equipment to load it into trucks.
The total area of spilled oil products in the Black Sea's Kerch Strait after Sunday's oil tanker disaster is over 100 square km, a representative of the Scanex space monitoring center said on Friday.

November 16, 2007
Kalamata, Greece
Photographer states :: This road is the main road from our village to Kalamata. While we don't often get cut off by snow drifts it does have interesting weather hazards of its own. The beach is normally a good four feet below the road and the shore at least ten feet away (on a calm day). While the waves have convinced me not to venture to Kalamata today it is the rocks that they hurl up at you that are the main problem.


The Associated Press
Published: November 10, 2007
ATHENS, Greece: Gale-force winds whipped across Greece on Saturday, shutting down ferry operations across the country and stranding weekend passengers.
Winds up to 100 kilometers an hour (60 miles an hour) lashed the country's long coastline, sending three-meter (10 foot) waves crashing into island breakwaters and boats tied up in port. Streets in some cities were flooded.
No major problems were reported, but one soccer match in Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, was postponed because of high winds after a fan outside the stadium was injured by flying debris.
Torrential rains hit many parts of the country, especially in the north. The season's first snow fell in the central and northern mountains.