He didn't listen and destroyed the forest he sought to understand.

Kurtis Alexander 
Updated 5:42 pm, Thursday, September 5, 2013 

A hunter who lost control of an illegal campfire (click here) ignited the massive blaze on the west edge of Yosemite National Park, authorities said Thursday.
The announcement, after a two-week investigation by the U.S. Forest Service, puts the devastating Rim Fire among a long list of California wildfires blamed on human actions that were - if perhaps ill-considered, untimely or reckless - purely accidental.
The fate of the latest alleged fire-starter, though, remains unknown. Officials declined to release the name of the person, who has not been charged, or detail exactly what happened, saying the investigation is continuing.
They said the hunter started a campfire while traveling in remote wilderness within the Stanislaus National Forest, about 3 miles east of the Sierra foothill town of Groveland.
Campfires are prohibited in the summer months in the forest because of high fire danger....

September 10, 2013
0130:19
UNYSIS Water Vapor Satellite of North and East Hemisphere (click here for 12 hour loop-thank you)

It has been static at 80% contained for at least two days now. The water vapor diminished during that time. Ain't over 'til it is over. I thought there was a chance there for awhile a Baja tropical storm would head north, but, it didn't.

Fire Information Report for Rim (click here)
Wildland Fire Incident
Report Date: 09-SEP-13

---

Burnt Area:	253,332 Acres
Location:	Tuolumne County, CA (NW, N, NE, and East of the community of Buck Meadows)
Cause:	Under Investigation
Incident Team Type:	IMT Type 1
Team Leader:	McGowan
Containment Status:	80% contained
Expected Containment:	20-SEP-13
Fuels:	Pine, fir, and open conifer stands, mixed with patches of brush and open grasses. Extreme 96200000.00 6416OUTB The water vapor really made a difference across the region, but, there is a new one today. "Angora" started today, 100 acres. That is a sign the progress gained over the few days could be compromised. I think the water vapor will move back. That high pressure system off Southern California never resolves. Oh, well.

Happy 5th Birthday. It is a great news hour. It's uniqueness with a woman at the helm keeps me coming back.

The Navy deployment isn't all that either regardless of what the USA media states.

The Sixth Fleet is stationed in Italy. The Sixth Fleet is there because of Israel. It is there to discourage any exchange with any other nation and Israel. There are guided-missile destroyers in the Mediterranean all the time. So, now they get to actually be needed. Yeah, I guess they are always ready to respond. It is a deterrent.

MEDITERRAINEAN SEA (Sept. 5, 2013) A rigid-hull inflatable boat from the USS Ramage (DDG 61) heads toward the guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52). Barry, homeported in Nofolk, Va., is currently on theater security operations and maritime security operations in the 6th Fleet area of operation. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Christopher B. Stoltz)

By: USNI News Editor 
Friday, August 30, 2013

The U.S. Navy is moving a fifth Arleigh Burke-class (click here) guided missile destroyer closer to Syria, according to information from the U.S. Navy to USNI News.
 
USS Stout (DDG-55) departed from Naval Station Norfolk, Va. on Aug. 18 on a regular deployment and will join four other destroyers in the region.

USS Mahan (DDG-72) was slated to leave the region and be replaced by USS Ramage (DDG-61) for a ballistic missile defense (BMD) patrol in the U.S. 6^th Fleet area of responsibility.

Now both ships, along with USS Barry (DDG-52) and USS Gravely (DDG-107) will remain in the region.

All five destroyers are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles as well as launching land attack missiles.

In addition to the DDGs there are likely a unknown submarines capable of firing Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM). Press reports have indicated at least one U.K. Royal Navy submarine in the region. U.S. Navy Los Angeles-class (SSN-688) and Virginia-class (SSN-744) are capable of firing TLAMS.

It is also unknown is any of the service’s guided missile submarines (SSGN) are in the region. The SSGNs are capable of fielding 154 TLAMs.

The U.S. preliminary assessment of an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack holds the regime of Bashar al-Assad responsible for the deaths of 1,429 people.
“The United States says it has ‘intelligence that leads us to assess that Syrian chemical weapons personnel … were preparing chemical weapons munitions prior to’ what Washington believes was a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs on August 21,” according to a Friday repot from CNN.

“ ‘In the three days prior to the attack, we collected streams of human, signals and geospatial intelligence that reveal regime activities that we assess were associated with preparations for a chemical weapons attack,’ the U.S. government said in its assessment released Friday.”

I'd like to know when the nation starts to feel like fools over this entire issue?

The Germans always know more than American intelligence. Atta. Germany found Atta.

I suppose this didn't turn up on the NSA's Metadata, huh? Just by chance, while the NSA was spying in Germany they missed this one. 

By Matthew Schofield

McClatchy Foreign Staff 

BERLIN -- Syrian President Bashar Assad (click here) has repeatedly rejected requests from his field commanders for approval to use chemical weapons, according to a report this weekend in a German newspaper.

The report in Bild am Sonntag, which is a widely read and influential national Sunday newspaper, reported that the head of the German Foreign Intelligence agency, Gerhard Schindler, last week told a select group of German lawmakers that intercepted communications had convinced German intelligence officials that Assad did not order or approve what is believed to be a sarin gas attack on Aug. 21 that killed hundreds of people in Damascus’ eastern suburbs.

The Obama administration has blamed the attack on Assad. The evidence against Assad was described over the weekend as common sense by White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on CNN’s "State of the Union." 

“The material was used in the eastern suburbs of Damascus that have been controlled by the opposition for some time,” he said. “It was delivered by rockets, rockets that we know the Assad regime has, and we have no indication that the opposition has.”...

If Assad was a master at control, he would never have consented to an interview.

This is ridiculous. The entire Middle East is in flux. The USA's rhetoric such as "Assad is a master at control," is a threat to increase regional instability. This is some of the most hideous governance I have ever heard. I don't like dictators, but, why with a nation surrounded by allies of the West does governance in the USA demand more instability? North Africa isn't enough?

This ranting about Assad is insane. It just is. I don't know where the ideology is coming from, but, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iraq does not need another Egypt or worse Libya as a neighbor. This is nuts.

The USA is engaged in war mongering. Syria would be a really interesting country to destabilize if the entire region were to follow. This is crazy. Russia needs to remove the chemical weapons from Syria and secure the region while peace talks take place.  

When chemical weapons are removed from Syria the refugees will return and the stress in the region will be relieved.

There are no consequences to diplomacy. There are absolutely no consequences to Russia seeking removal of the chemical weapons.

Anyone who states a strike into Syria is the end of the threat of chemical weapons and it wipes them off the face of Earth as polio is a liar.

"Assad is a master of control?" - Uh, it won't seem to be the case.

Assad is correct. This is not a threat, it is an answer to a question.

By FRANCE 24

...President Bashar al-Assad (click here) has warned Washington it “should expect everything” if the US carries out military strikes against his war-torn country, in an interview with American television in which he repeatedly denied using chemical weapons on civilians.

“You're going to pay the price if you're not wise. There are going to be repercussions,” Assad told CBS television in an interview recorded in Damascus and broadcast on Monday. “It's an area where everything is on the brink of explosion. You have to expect everything.”

“The government's not the only player in this region. You have different parties, different factions, different ideologies. You have everything in this decision now,” Assad said, adding repercussions “may take different forms,” including “direct and indirect.”

The White House and other Western powers have accused Assad of using lethal sarin nerve gas near the capital of Damascus on August 21, killing more than 1,400 people, and have threatened to target the Syrian government with strikes in retaliation....

The White House likes to tie everything in a nice package with a bow, but, a strike against Syria will open Pandora's box in some ways, including that of Israel.

The USA will not be making friends. Any affront to Syria will trigger extremist elements within the Shi'ite community and sympathetic networks. Assad should know what he is dealing with already. 

I congratulate Charlie Rose on this interview. It is amazing. He acted remarkably in securing the space and time to bring this information to the USA. 

How many years? How many years did I say this? Maybe now that it is documented it might register as the truth.

The phytoplankton that supplied Earth's breathable oxygen lives in the upper ocean where it changes temperatures quickly and absorbs the sun's heat first. There is little to no migration of ocean temperatures to the deep ocean. The deep ocean is too dark for the phytoplankton to live.

The echogram (click here) shows plankton at the surface in blue/green, fish near the bottom as red/brown spots, and the ocean floor as a red/brown line.

...Marine phytoplankton (click here) are responsible for ~50% of the CO₂ that is fixed annually worldwide, and contribute massively to other biogeochemical cycles in the oceans

Thus, at higher temperatures, eukaryotic phytoplankton seem to require a lower density of ribosomes to produce the required amounts of cellular protein. The reduction of phosphate-rich ribosomes² in warmer oceans will tend to produce higher organismal nitrogen (N) to phosphate (P) ratios, in turn increasing demand for N with consequences for the marine carbon cycle due to shifts towards N-limitation. Our integrative approach suggests that temperature plays a previously unrecognized, critical role in resource allocation and marine phytoplankton stoichiometry, with implications for the biogeochemical cycles that they drive....

Governments have been so stupid in not listening to scientists. The research that this requires does not occur overnight. If the research happened that quickly, scientists would not have to come forward, now would they?

The significant change in water temperature is no joke. This was a "Whiting Event" in Lake Ontario caught by NASA.

acquired August 24, 2013
...caused by changes in water temperature, (click here) which allows fine particles of calcium carbonate to form in the water column. Increased photosynthesis by phytoplankton and other microscopic marine life can also reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the water column, changing the acidity and allowing calcium carbonate to form....

This thing is this; at the same time this Whiting Event occurred in Lake Ontario there were blooms of Blue-Green algae all across the USA. The Blue-Green algae was everywhere. It is known for neurotoxins.

This article is just an example of what occurred after the blooms were experienced.

By  Dave Golowenski 

For The Columbus Dispatch 

Sunday September 8, 2013 5:51 AM

The lime-colored and potentially toxic gumbo (click here) whose main ingredient — blue-green algae — inflicts the summer waters of Lake Erie usually at its fish-filled western end is a problem made by hand.
Blooms of the algae, also known as cyanobacteria, produce toxins that can harm fish, wildlife and people. Additionally, as the massive blooms die and decay, they create so-called “dead zones,” in which oxygen levels in the water are low enough to kill many types of life.
Dead zones famously plagued Lake Erie decades ago, then all but vanished during an environmental tsunami that forced governments and businesses to address pollution both from factories and that which was bypassing city water-treatment systems. The old problem, however, has come back, albeit with a different cause....

I don't consider Blue-Green Algae beneficial. It causes dead zones in water and wipes out fish populations, but, with this higher water temperature, it does seem to be the only algae able to thrive.

This is not a good thing. I mean, you talk about Plant of Weeds. Holy cow what a mess every ecosystem on Earth has become.

I don't see why Russia could not move forward with plans to dismantle the chemical facilities.

Russia has long been an ally of Syria. There is no reason why Russia could not move forward to secure the weapons and facilities. They are the most knowledgeable of them besides President Assad.

I believe it was a wise decision for President Assad to make a public appearance in the USA national media. The appearance personalized him. The truth can never hurt. Scary as it might seem. Nations unfamiliar to The West never expect reasonable actions come from dialogue. There is reason for that considering the USA's incredibly stupid attack into Iraq. Saddam did not lie about not possessing chemical weapons and nuclear capacity. Did he? It is understandable small nations in the Middle East shun a dialogue they perceive as a threat or one disregarded or one misconstrued to make guilt out of the truth.

09 September 2013 | Issue 5209

...Lavrov said that if such a move would help avert a possible U.S. strike on Syria, (click here) Russia would start work "immediately" to persuade Syria to relinquish control over its chemical arsenals.

He told reporters that Russia would urge Syria to concentrate its chemical weapons in certain areas under international oversight and then dismantle them.

At a news conference Monday, the Russian and Syrian foreign ministers strongly pushed for the return of United Nations inspectors to Syria to continue their probe into the use of chemical weapons and again warned Washington against launching an attack....

The West likes to call it transparency. In a time in our history when so many small regimes known as networks claim their own borderless sovereignty, the global impact of a single mistake can take on deadly actions. 

Foreign Minister Lavrov is an interesting man. He was one of the first Foreign Ministers to actually understand physics (a scientific mind with structured logic), but, actually studied in Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Until Lavrov much of Russia's Foreign Ministry was far less structured and relied on military intervention more than diplomacy. Foreign Minister Lavrov transformed that and none too soon.

I would hope he would seek the UN Security Council as soon as possible to provide a legal recognition of this willingness of President Assad to remove the danger of chemical weapons from his nation. A nation engaged in a civil war with uncertain outcomes at this point.

I congratulate Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov that this should be the end of misunderstandings and a greater hope for peace. This is a good step for President Assad. It could and should carry great brevity when other nations view his circumstances.

Russia is quite used to peacekeepers and the dismantling of chemical weapons in Syria can be viewed as same with a limited engagement. Russia is fully capable of removing these weapons and disposing of them properly.

19:38 09/09/2013

MOSCOW, September 9 (Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press) – In a surprise move, (click here) Russia promised Monday to push its ally Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control and then dismantle them quickly to avert US strikes.
The announcement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov came a few hours after US Secretary of State John Kerry said that Syrian President Bashar Assad could resolve the crisis surrounding the alleged use of chemical weapons by his forces by surrendering control of "every single bit" of his arsenal to the international community by the end of the week.
Kerry added that he thought Assad "isn't about to do it," but Lavrov, who just wrapped up a round of talks in Moscow with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem, said Moscow would try to convince the Syrians....

Tulsi, who?

Sep. 9, 2013 - 10:18AM 

Iraq War veteran (click here) and freshman lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard announced Monday she opposes a U.S. military strike against Syria.

The Hawaii Democrat says that would be a “serious mistake.”

“Even after the many hearings and classified briefings I have attended, I am unconvinced that this military strike would eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons or prevent them from being used again,” Gabbard said.

An attack might hurt more than help, she said. “The risk may increase, due to the possibility these weapons could fall into the hands of Syrian opposition group factions such as al-Qaida, who we can be confident would use them without hesitation....

The strongest of stomachs cannot tolerate the mischief of drone wars.

Sep. 9, 2013 - 09:11AM

...Along with the attrition rate, (click here) the Air Force is facing a projected shortfall of incoming rated officers for both manned and unmanned aircraft, said Lt. Col. Stuart Rubio, chief of rated force policy. By October, the service expects to be short 227 rated accessions, including pilots, combat systems officers and air battle managers.
“This is much more than an RPA issue and, whether or not it is an anomaly or the beginning of a trend, we are actively addressing it with the creation of the Accessions Strategy Working Group,” Rubio said in an email.
Hoagland also points out that fewer unmanned aircraft pilots are promoted to major than fighter, bomber and mobility pilots, but Rubio said the Air Force has begun to address the disparity by opening 49 slots at Squadron Officer School to unmanned aircraft pilots....

When rescue missions are the focus the American military does a remarkable job. They should be congratulated for being an asset to the firefighters on the ground. Waiting for water vapor to arrive proved to be one of the most daunting missions for everyone. Thank you.

Sep. 6, 2013 - 06:00AM
...Since being activated on June 11,(click here) MAFFS crews have flown 572 missions and made 535 drops with a total of 1,375,981 gallons of fire retardant on fires in Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, California and Nevada, according to U.S. Northern Command.
Most recently, five C-130s — two from the Reserve’s 302nd Airlift Wing, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.; one from the North Carolina’s 145th Airlift Wing and two from the California Air National Guard’s 146th Airlift Wing — had been fighting the rim fire. As of Sept. 5, the Rim Fire had burned almost 240,000 acres and was about 80 percent contained.
The C-130s joined a firefighting force of more than 5,100 firefighters, along with helicopters and modified DC-10 airliners....

Myopic

I have never heard such a diluted assessment of what the USA military does in the world.

The USA sells huge amounts of munitions ever day. EVERY DAY. These munitions go out across the world to operations to destabilize governments ALL THE TIME. The CIA is one of the most toxic entities to global stability in the world. When a journalist FINALLY steps in THE REAL WORLD and all that a political figure does is Mind Speak the issue, it shows in gigantic ways.

Politics is not reality and when people die due to the sale of American munitions while it is under the radar from the American people the LEAST that can be done is an accounting by some degree of intelligence in people that actually care more than political strategies.

Yes, there are 100,000 people, at least 100,000 people including children dead in Syria. They were NOT all killed by Assad and YES, the USA has a huge role in providing the munitions that assisted in the killing in Syria. 

So Mr. Robert Gibbs needs to educate himself to what the real world is all about and not "The World According to Obama Politics." 

"Are you implying the USA killed 100,000 people?"

Good question. 

Hillary Clinton is the old regime, too. She is a hawk and backs wars by the USA that are wars of convenience. I doubt she has much to say that won't be anything but the same stupid assessment we have been hearing the entire time. 

Wars should never be easy and certainly not this easy. There is absolutely no reason the USA has to have a 'holster ready' military cocked with the safety off. It is a hideous priority and there is no reason for Congress to legislate any action by the USA military now because it can be completed in the blink of an eye. Wars never should be taken lightly and that is exactly the problem here. 

The idea the USA needs a DOD that is ONE FIFTH the USA national budget is the most grotesque image this country should have and to realize the USA fuels conflict globally is an outrage. 

Americans are no longer interested in 'living the lie." We know all to intimately how that translates. The answer is NO.

"Good Night, Moon"

The Waxing Crescent

3.6 days old

14.1 percent lit