Temperature reaches record high, forcing temporary closure of Wrightsville Beach bridge

By Ana Ribeiro

Staff Writer
Published: Saturday, June 7, 2008 at 11:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, June 7, 2008 at 11:09 p.m.

Ninety-eight-degree temperatures scorched Wilmington on Saturday.
As far as the National Weather Service knows, it's never been this hot in Wilmington on June 7; and the aging Wrightsville Beach drawbridge took a hit from it.
"The bridge just got so hot because of the heat today that the metal expanded and the bridge wouldn't open or close," said Officer Matt Holland with the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department.

The issue started at around 2 p.m., and an N.C. Department of Transportation official went to the fire department two hours later asking for help, Holland said. The bridge's position allowed for car traffic, and no one was trapped or hurt, said Holland.
But firefighters had to stop traffic for 30 minutes, between around 4:15 and 4:45 p.m., while they sprayed water on the bridge from a truck, he said; after that, the bridge cooled down and resumed functioning.
Holland said the DOT told him it would try Saturday night to come up with answers as to what happened....

Weather at Khartoum, Sudan (Airport)

This video frame grab image taken from Sudan TV via AP Television News shows a plane that burst into flames after apparently veering off a runway at an airport in Khartoum, Sudan, Tuesday June 10, 2008. (AP / Sudan TV via APTN)

..."One of the (plane's) engines exploded and the plane caught fire," Ibrahim said. He said bad weather did not cause the crash, which he blamed on a technical problem.
The Sudanese ambassador to Washington called the weather "very bad" and said the runway was drenched by rain.
The head of Sudanese police, Mohammad Najib, said bad weather "caused the plane to crash land, split into two and catch fire."
"We believe that most of the passengers were able to make it out and escape with their lives," said Najib, without disclosing further details on how they escaped.
But he stressed that officials could not say for sure how many were killed.
The airport was experiencing a thunderstorm and winds about 20 mph at the time of the crash, said Elaine Yang, a meterologist with the San Francisco-based Weather Underground, a private weather service.
Raqeeb Abdel-Latif, head of the Sudan Airways office in Damascus, Syria, said the plane had joined the Sudanese national carrier fleet seven months ago.
It took off from Damascus with 203 passengers on board, mostly Africans and a few non-Sudanese nationals and 14 crew members. It stopped in Amman, where 34 additional passengers came on board.
Due to inclement weather, the aircraft stopped at Port Sudan Airport along the Red Sea picking up 35 passengers and refueling before heading back, Sudanese Ambassador John Ukec Lueth Ukec said in Washington.
Upon arrival the weather was "still very bad," said Ukec. "There was a lot of water on the runway and they still tried to land."...

Khartoum, Sudan (Airport)

June 10, 2008

Time :: 2:00 PM EST

Lat/Lon: 15.6° N 32.5° E

Elevation :: 1253 ft / 382 m

Temperatures :: 95 °F / 35 °C

Conditions :: Light Rain

Humidity :: 34%

Dew Point :: 70 °F / 21 °C

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

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: 29.76 in / 1008 hPa

Visibility :: 12.0 miles / 19.0 kilometers

Former Presidential Candidate, Representative Dennis Kucinich, brings Articles of Impeachment to the House Floor. Support your House Representative !

Kucinich presents Bush impeachment articles (Video of Motion - click title of entry. Thank you.)
David Edwards and Mike Sheehan

Published: Monday June 9, 2008

An Ohio Democratic lawmaker and former presidential candidate has presented articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush to Congress.
Thirty-five articles were presented by Rep. Dennis Kucinich to the House of Representatives late Monday evening, airing live on C-SPAN.
"The House is not in order," said Kucinich to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), upon which Pelosi pounded her gavel.
"Resolved," Kucinich then began, "that President George W. Bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate. ...
"In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and to the best of his ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed the following abuses of power..."
The first article Kucinich presented, and many that followed, regarded the war in Iraq: "Article 1 - Creating a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false case for war against Iraq."
On several occasions, Kucinich referenced RAW STORY and its noted investigative news chief, Larisa Alexandrovna, as source material for the articles. Two of the RAW STORY pieces Kucinich mentioned are viewable here and here.
Kucinich, a 2004 and 2008 Democratic candidate for the White House, abandoned a prior attempt to begin impeachment proceedings against Bush in January of this year.
In April of 2007, Kucinich presented impeachment articles against Vice President Dick Cheney, but the effort went nowhere. Kucinich exclaimed that "impeachment may well be the only remedy which remains to stop a war of aggression against Iran."
Before leaving office in January 2007, then-Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney--currently a Green Party presidential candidate--introduced articles of impeachment against President Bush as her last act in Congress, but that effort also was fruitless.
This video is from C-SPAN, broadcast June 9, 2008.

Scientists study sea-level rise in the Arctic

REFLECTIONS
By Fr. Shay Cullen
How to feed a hungry world (click here)
...Last week Irish fishermen staged a public protest in Dublin and gave away fish and threw more into the river Liffy to highlight their protest at the strict European Union restrictions on the number of boats allowed to put to sea and the tonnage of fish they are allowed to catch. The price of fish is soaring along with everything else....

Interview with Barry Scott Zellen: Arctic Lessons (click here)
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/5/2008
Barry Scott Zellen is the Deputy Editor of "Strategic Insights", and Research Editor of the Arctic Security Project at the Center for Contemporary Conflict.Q. In your book "Breaking the Ice: From Land Claims to Tribal Sovereignty in the Arctic" (Lexington Books, 2008) you describe the long and, ultimately, fruitful quest by the native tribes of the Arctic to regain a modicum of sovereignty over their ancient lands. Can you give us a capsule history of this process?...

The USA's response to the DEMISE of the Arctic Ocean is to attempt to raise the question of whether or not the rising sea levels change the continental borders enough to bring more sovereignty to the American claim.

While Russia is preparing for what Pravada is calling WW III (click here).


Russian strategic bombers fly routine patrol over the Arctic (click here).
MOSCOW, June 9 (RIA Novosti) - A pair of Russian Tu-95 Bear strategic bombers took off Monday from the Engels airbase in central Russia on a routine patrol flight over the Arctic Ocean, an Air Force spokesman said.
Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans last August, following an order signed by then president Vladimir Putin.
"Two Tu-95 bombers have started a regular patrol flight over remote areas of the Arctic," Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik said. "The aircraft will perform a variety of tasks, including midair refueling from two Il-78 aerial tankers based at the Dyagilevo airbase [also in central Russia]."
Drik said that all flights by Russian aircraft were performed by skilled pilots in strict compliance with international laws on the use of air space over neutral waters, without violating the borders of other states....

But, Canada is the best prepared along with Russia to claim the Lion's share of the Arctic and for that the United Nations "Law of the Sea" should prove to be a very valuable guide post to assist in the protections for this region of the world and its role as a 'Sustainability Stabilizer' to reverse the trend in Human Induced Global Warming.

A map showing the newly granted Australian seabed territory. The purple is the new stuff equalling 2.5 million square kilometres, slightly smaller than Canada's proposed gains in the Arctic and North Atlantic.Photograph by : Handout/Government of Australia

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (crystal wind chime) is melting STILL :

Elevation :: 33 ft / 10 m

Local Time: 12:47 AM AKDT

Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Temperature :: 43 °F / 6 °C

Conditons :: Overcast

Windchill :: 43 °F / 6 °C

Humidity :: 93%

Dew Point :: 41 °F / 5 °C

Wind :: Calm

Pressure :: 30.15 in / 1021 hPa (Rising)

Visibility :: 7.0 miles / 11.3 kilometers

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds:
Few 4300 ft / 1310 m
Overcast 7000 ft / 2133 m
(Above Ground Level)