I'm going to call it a day

THINK


BALI !!!!

I'll be back tomorrow with brief reviews for the week.

...until then... peace...

The Antarctica Ice Chime

The deep freeze isn't a part of Antarctica's balance. Loop for 24 hours here. Missing 9 PM and 12 AM

December 8, 2007
0600 PM
Antarctica Wind Satellite (click here)


The winds are high across most of the ice continent. Starting as 12 mph / 18 km/h for about one third and still another third starting at 20 mph / 32 km/h with a maximum of 52 mph / 83 km/h. The 'on shore' heat is coming over East Antarctica, circulating and exiting over WAIS.

December 8, 2007

0600 gmt

Antarctica Jet Stream Satellite (Animation for week long loop)

Those are all arriving vortices.

December 8, 2007
0600 PM
Antarctica Temperature Satellite


December 8, 2008
0300 AM
Antarctica Temperature Satellite



December 8, 2007
0103 gmt
Antarctica/South Pole Satellite


The warmest reporting stations of Antarctica:


University Wi Id 8984

Possession Island, Antarctica

1:20 AM GMT (12.07.07)

Elevation :: 98 ft / 30 m

Temperature :: 37 °F / 3 °C

Wind :: 4 mph / 6 km/h from the North

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: 28.71 in / 972 hPa



Palmer Station, Antarctica

3:00 PM CLST (12.08.07)

Elevation :: 26 ft / 8 m

Temperature :: 36 °F / 2 °C

Humidity :: 50%

Dew Point :: 24 °F / -4 °C

Wind :: 4 mph / 7 km/h from the South

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: 28.57 in / 967 hPa (Rising)

Visibility :: 9.0 miles / 14.0 kilometers



Base Orcadas, Antarctica

4:00 PM GST

Elevation :: 20 ft / 6 m

Temperature :: 36 °F / 2 °C

Conditions :: Partly Cloudy

Humidity :: 70%

Dew Point :: 30 °F / -1 °C

Wind :: 23 mph / 37 km/h from the North

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: 28.84 in / 977 hPa (Rising)

Visibility ::
6.0 miles / 10.0 kilometers
Clouds:
Scattered Clouds 984 ft / 300 m
Scattered Clouds 9843 ft / 3000 m
(Above Ground Level)




Base Esperanza, Antarctica

3:00 AM GMT (12.0.07)

Elevation :: 43 ft / 13 m

Temperature :: 33 °F / 0 °C

Conditions :: Overcast

Humidity :: 73%

Dew Point: :: 28 °F / -2 °C

Wind :: 38 mph / 61 km/h from the SW

Wind Gust: :: -

Pressure :: 28.47 in / 964 hPa (Rising)

Visibility :: 3.0 miles / 5.0 kilometers

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds:
Mostly Cloudy 984 ft / 300 m
(Above Ground Level)


The coldest reporting stations of Antarctica ain't that cold:

Vostok, Antarctica

6:00 AM VOST (12.7.07)

Elevation :: 11220 ft / 3420 m

Temperature :: -34 °F / -37 °C

Humidity :: 50%

Dew Point: :: -41 °F / -41 °C

Wind :: 21 mph / 33 km/h from the SSW

Wind Gust: :: -

Pressure :: in / hPa (Rising)

Visibility :: 12.0 miles / 20.0 kilometers



Vostok, Antarctica

12:00 AM VOST (12.8.07)

Elevation :: 11220 ft / 3420 m

Temperature :: -33 °F / -36 °C

Humidity :: 51%

Dew Point :: -40 °F / -40 °C

Wind :: 18 mph / 30 km/h from the SSW

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure:
in / hPa (Falling)
Visibility:
1.0 miles / 2.0 kilometers



University Wi Id 8924 Nico, Antarctica

1:20 AM GMT (12.7.07)

Elevation :: 9629 ft / 2935 m

Temperature :: -25 °F / -32 °C

Wind :: 10 mph / 17 km/h from the West

Wind Gust: :: -

Pressure :: in / hPa



University Wi Id 8904, Antarctica

5:50 PM GMT (12.8.07)

Elevation :: 10761 ft / 3280 m

Temperature :: -36 °F / -38 °C

Wind :: 12 mph / 18 km/h from the SSW

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: in / hPa (Falling)

Bali: Lack of progress worries top UN official

With less than 5% of the Earth's population, the USA uses 25% of it's energy resources.




Press Trust of India
Saturday, December 8, 2007 (Bali)
A top UN official on Saturday expressed his worry that differences among the 187 countries gathered for the climate change summit had not been narrowed down sufficiently, and ''too many issues will slip into the high-level segment'' that starts December 12 with the arrival of ministers from these countries.
On the main point of difference, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said, ''Some countries are calling for legally binding targets'' for developing countries after 2012 for reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) that are leading to climate change, while ''some other countries are asking for reductions by developing countries if they were helped with technological and financial resources''.
Asked to name the countries that had called for legally binding targets for developing countries, de Boer replied: ''Canada and Japan''.
He hoped the debate on this issue would come at 2009 - when the negotiations for a post-2012 agreement were supposed to end and not now, when the negotiations were supposed to start.
Asked to indicate the response of developing countries to this development, de Boer referred to the commitments already made by China in its national action plan and said: ''China has indicated that it could move further with international cooperation....

Bali draft says all nations must join climate fight

Artifical Snow Makers might not save Resorts (click at title)
...Many lower and medium-altitude Swiss ski resorts are already using snowmaking machines to boost the snow cover. But the institute warns that there is a downside to the practice.

It says that if temperatures continue to rise because of global warming, snow at below 1,500 metres will melt rapidly, threatening the livelihood of lower and medium-altitude resorts.

But rising temperatures also make it harder to compensate for the lack of natural snowfall. Snow cannon can only work effectively at low temperatures.

By 2050, temperatures in the Alps are expected to be 1.8 degrees Celsius higher than in 1990.

This means the snowline will not only climb higher, but the use of artificial snow facilities will also be limited....


Bali draft says all nations must join climate fight (click here)

By Alister Doyle and Gerard Wynn

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - All nations must do more to fight climate change, and rich countries must make deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst impacts, a draft proposal at United Nations talks said on Saturday.

The four-page draft, written by delegates from Indonesia, Australia and South Africa as an unofficial guide for delegates from 190 nations at the December 3-14 talks, said developing nations should at least brake rising emissions as part of a new pact.

It said there was "unequivocal scientific evidence" that "preventing the worst impacts of climate change will require (developed nations) to reduce emissions in a range of 25-40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020."

The draft is the first outline of the possible goals of talks on a new global deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which binds just 36 developed nations to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.

"Current efforts ... will not deliver the required emissions reductions," according to the text, obtained by Reuters, that lays out a plan for averting ever more droughts, floods, heatwaves and rising seas.

"The challenge of climate change calls for effective participation by all countries," it said. The United States is outside the Kyoto pact and developing nations led by China and India have no 2012 goals for limiting emissions.

Echoing conclusions this year by the U.N. climate panel, it said global emissions of greenhouse gases would have to "peak in the next 10 to 15 years and be reduced to very low levels, well below half of levels in 2000 by 2050."...

Storm not done yet, officials warn

December 8, 2007

Chowchilla, California

Mandatory evacuations are lifted in Orange County as mudslide fears ease, but more rain is expected. Power outages affect more than 15,000 residents.
By Susannah Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer December 8, 2007
More showers for the region were forecast for this afternoon, with the possibility of thunderstorms and small hail over the weekend, meteorologists said today."We're not completely out of the woods," said Steve Vanderburg of the National Weather Service in San Diego. "Don't let the breaks in the weather fool you."...

Iran is NOT a threat to regional security. This is still ANOTHER lead up to expansionist warring by the Bush White House

Gates has been 'stumping' for a power base to insure oil contracts. He literally has told Afghanistan they are on their own and Iraq continues to be occupied for the reasons of USA oppression of Iraqi will. The revolt by the Iraqi legislature is against the continued interference of their free will by the USA and the only way it will be releaved is to have the USA leave. Literally, other countries have to be allowed into Iraq to assess the USA genocide and the sooner the better.

The last week is clearly a 'campaign' to continue a lead up to a pre-emptive strike against Iran. Someone has to stop them, they are killers, just that simple. Someone needs to move against the USA at the United Nations. This is hideous. Iran and Iraq are no more a threat to the USA or the region than the man in the moon. Any escalation of war outside Iraq's borders will cause complete collapse of civilizations and the entire region will become unstable. If Bush is stating Iran is a threat to the region, shouldn't that come from the leaders of the region to the United Nations for a plan to stop Iran? I don't hear an outcry by any King or Prince or President. I find the entire approach of the issue an insult by the Bush White House to the integrity of the international community and an afront to the National Intelligence Estimate of the USA intelligence service.

Iraq

Female suicide bomber kills 16 in Iraq
1 hour ago
BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) — A female suicide bomber attacked the office of a local front against Al-Qaeda in Iraq's restive Diyala province on Friday, killing at least 16 people and wounding 27, security officials said.
The powerful explosion shook the town of Muqdadiyah, 100 kilometres (60 mile) north of Baghdad, near the provincial capital Baquba at around 10 am (0700 GMT), they said.
"The explosion was caused when a female suicide bomber detonated her vest in the office of the local Awakening group," said Baquba police official Lieutenant Colonen Najim al-Soumaidaie, referring to a group of local Sunni Arabs who have taken up arms against Al-Qaeda in central Diyala province.
Dr Hussein Abdullah of the Baquba hospital said 16 bodies and 27 wounded people had been brought to the facility.
"Of those killed 10 were from this (Awakening) group and five others were civilians," a security official in Baghdad said.
The wounded included 15 from the Awakening group, he added.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g5E-BOscLE3ufG3agVbFH33RDRuA



Nine killed in attack on Iraq checkpoint-police
Thu Dec 6, 2007 11:14am EST
BAGHDAD, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Nine policemen were killed in an attack by suspected al Qaeda gunmen on a checkpoint outside a town in Iraq's volatile Diyala province on Thursday, police said.
Another seven were wounded in the attack outside Qarah Tappah, 130 km (80 miles) north of the capital Baghdad. The gunmen attacked the checkpoint using two vehicles but few other details were immediately available.
Al Qaeda and other Sunni Islamist insurgents have moved into Diyala and other areas north of Baghdad after being driven out of western Anbar province and many areas of the capital during a security crackdown this year. (Baghdad newsroom; editing by Sami Aboudi)

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL06388124



U.S. toll in Iraq
Friday, December 7, 2007
PrAs of Thursday, at least 3,886 members of the U.S. military had died in Iraq since the beginning of the war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The latest deaths reported by the military:
Hernandez, Eric J., 26, Army Sgt., Waldwick, N.J.
White, Dewayne L., 27, Army Pvt., Country Club Hills, Ill.
Snyder, Adam P., 26, Army Capt., Fort Pierce, Fla.
For a list of all U.S. troops who have died in Iraq, see sfgate.com/ZCQ.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/07/MNGI5TQ5PC.DTL


New rules for Iraq security firms

Private security firms have been the subject of complaints from Iraqis
The US Pentagon and state department have agreed on procedures which they say will improve oversight of private security contractors operating in Iraq.
The move gives US military commanders a greater role in co-ordinating the movements of private security staff guarding US diplomats and the military.
The deal also sets new standards for inquiries into alleged rule breaches.
It comes in response to an incident in September involving the Blackwater firm in which 17 Iraqis were killed.
Contractors will still have the right to use deadly force to defend themselves and others if they believe they face serious harm.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7130147.stm



Iraqi bombing kills at least 12 in revenge attack
By LEILA FADEL
McClatchy Newspapers
A woman bent on avenging the deaths of her sons strapped explosives to her chest Friday and blew herself up outside a meeting of Sunni Muslims who'd turned against the militant group al-Qaida in Iraq, killing at least 12 and wounding at least 17.
The explosion in Muqdadiyah was one of three violent acts Friday in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, that left at least 24 people dead and 21 wounded. The attack came days before the U.S. military is scheduled to withdraw one of the five combat brigades that were ordered to Iraq as part of the American troop buildup. The withdrawal will lower the number of U.S. troops in Iraq by 5,000.
U.S. and Iraqi officials differed on the number of dead and injured in Muqdadiyah. Iraqi police said 16 people died and 28 were wounded. The American military put the number at 12 and 17, respectively.
A second attack occurred just north of Muqdadiyah, killing six Iraqi soldiers and five members of another Sunni group that had turned against the Islamic extremists. Again, American and Iraqi accounts differed, with the U.S. saying the deaths were caused by men armed with AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Iraqi police said the fatalities were due to a car bomb that targeted a checkpoint manned by the Sunni group and the Iraqi army.
The third attack came in the village of Mansuriyah, west of Muqdadiyah, where a homemade bomb killed a police officer and wounded four other people.

http://www.kansascity.com/451/story/394476.html



Murdochracy, Rudd Labor And Australian complicity In Iraqi Genocide
By Dr Gideon Polya
08 December, 2007
Countercurrents.org
Permitted by king-maker media mogul Rupert Murdoch but not supported by his newspapers in Australia, the new Rudd Labor Australian Government (sworn in on Monday 3 December 2007) will only PARTLY remove Australian forces from Iraq, making Rudd Labor clearly and unequivocally complicit in the continuing Iraqi Genocide (post-invasion excess deaths 1.5-2 million). Rudd Labor is thus renewing Australian complicity in the Iraqi Genocide and going against the wishes of an overwhelming majority of Australians who oppose Australia’s participation in the Iraq War.
As reported by the UK Guardian newspaper (1 December, 2007: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2220119,00.html ), even before he was sworn in as PM, Australia’s new leader Kevin Rudd had stated “"The combat force in Iraq we would have home by around about the middle of next year". However that means committing Australian forces to over 6 months more in Occupied Iraq and will leave hundreds of Australian defence personnel indefinitely in Occupied Iraq and the Gulf.

http://www.countercurrents.org/polya081207.htm



IRAQ REPORT At a glance
The latest news in the Iraq war:
Bombing: A woman bent on avenging the deaths of her sons strapped explosives to her chest Friday and blew herself up outside a meeting of Sunni Muslims in Muqdadiyah, killing at least 12 and wounding at least 17. It was one of three violent events in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.
Blackwater prosecutions: U.S. prosecutors investigating the Sept. 16 shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians have narrowed their focus to as few as three Blackwater Worldwide bodyguards and have given others immunity for cooperating, The Associated Press reported.
Audit: Pentagon auditors said they could not account for millions of dollars worth of rocket-propelled grenades, armored vehicles, ammunition, and other supplies and equipment that were to be used to train and equip Iraqi security forces.
Resignation: State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard, who has been accused of improperly interfering with investigations of private security contractor Blackwater USA and with other investigations, resigned Friday.

http://www.star-telegram.com/279/story/348720.html