The southern hemisphere is expected to experience their hottest summer yet.

The continent usually on fire is Australia. I think this is somewhat new for New Zealand. I have been reading about New Zealand for decades. I don't recall such danger in the lives of Kiwis before.

December 14, 2016

Residents near Matakana (click here) are being evacuated as a pine forest blaze rages out of control.

More than 70 firefighters, 17 appliances and two helicopters are responding to the fire which is believed to be a burnoff that is out of control in Wright Rd.

A house was evacuated earlier and now residents on Quiet Rise are also being evacuated.

The Fire Service said on Twitter that the blaze was "a major vegetation fire" which is "out of control in Matakana"....

There is also good news out of New Zealand. The good news is the resiliency of their young people.

December 14, 2016

Researchers (click here) who conducted a major study to examine the effects of the Canterbury earthquakes on school leavers have been left scratching their heads after they "unexpectedly" found no negative trends.

The absence of negative effects on teenagers leaving high school when the 2010 and 2011 quake sequence struck has been put down to a word that many politicians now infamously associate with Cantabrians: "resilient".

There has been widespread research on the negative effects of natural disasters on mental health, including the increased rates of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

However, four researchers from the department of psychological medicine at the University of Otago said little research has to date been done into how disasters affect school leavers - at a time of increasing independence, often away from family....

Hottest night in 150 years in . There was a reason why I never read this type of issue before. 150 years. I haven't lived that long. Yet. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

December 14, 2016
By Debra Killalea

Sydney sweltered through its hottest December night (click here) in almost 150 years as the mercury refused to budge to acceptable levels.

Fans and air conditioners copped a workout and hundreds hit the beach last night as the mercury dipped to between 22C -28C across much of Sydney.

At midnight the temperature was still a warm 27C at Observatory Hill while Penrith in Sydney's west reached a slightly cooler 27C.

The last time it was anywhere near this hot was in December 1972 when the mercury hit 26.3C overnight.

At 6am this morning the temperature at Sydney Harbour was already 29C....

Now, admittedly, 29 Celsius is 84.2 Fahrenheit. So, what is the big deal? The very big deal is that these are NIGHT TIME temperatures. It isn't cooling off when the sun goes down. As a matter of fact, as the sun rose the next day it was already warmer than any hour at night.

This is a troubling reality.

December 14, 2016
By Peter Hannam

Possums, bird calls and a midnight surge (click here) in the mercury in some coastal regions served as impromptu alarm clocks as overnight temperature records tumbled.

Sydney posted its highest minimum for December since 1868 at 27.1 degrees, and the second highest for any month....

...Coastal regions, such as Albion Park near Wollongong, reported remarkable temperature movements. That site recorded a 10-degree jump in an hour soon after midnight - including 5 degrees in just three minutes....

The temperature increase on the coast jumped 10 degrees Celcius in an hour.

AN HOUR.

There were three minutes when the temperature jumped 5 degrees Celcius. The media is giving lessons in survival of heat exhaustion.

The temperature image (click here) to the right is from the Australian satellite of the "Weather Zone" at 1434 edt. 

The map is Australia and lows and highs temperature.

Australia, Sydney in particular, is receiving air from the Equator off Indonesia. Everywhere in Australia where the temperatures are unkind there is air movement from the Equator.

13 December 2016
1630 utc
Infrared (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)

There is also three very low pressure systems south of Australia realized in the image below. They are 959 and 972 and 977 millibars. Those are very low pressures.

Below is a clear understanding of at least two of those low pressure areas. 

There is still yet another image two hours before that show some degree of understanding of the three low pressure systems, but, the systems are not as well defined as in the one at 2300 utc.

My computer screen is not the size at NOAA and NASA, but, I think these are the two low pressure systems to the left in this water vapor composite of Antarctica.

13 December 2016
2300 utc

There is one definitely (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you) off New Zealand and the other is further west. 

The last time I saw such low pressure systems was 2003, I believe. It was a hurricane that came from New Zealand's region traveling westward. It's final destination was WAIS. Right on the peninsula where a huge amount of ice melted. The melt reached to depth. NASA has the picture.

13 December 2016
2100 utc

Looking at this it is my sincerest hope the low pressure systems will resolve, even if that means loss of Antarctica ice. When that occurs the movement of hot air across Australia will move west off the continent's west coast where it usually has been.

The heat is so specific that it can be avoided if people move out from under it. The sticky point here is of course the fact Sydney is a very large city and needs to function. The idea people can move in mass out from under a heat flow seems silly, but, in the USA we do abandon cities when huge hurricanes are going to land over populations of people causing death and injury.

When realizing the temperatures moved quickly upward makes sense now looking at the air movement from the equator. It is very unexpected and shocking and it can be scary for people. This is NOT NORMAL. This is a heat transfer from the equator to the ice continent. I sincerely look forward to some resolve to this air pattern so the good people of Sydney can return to a more normal life.

No more liability for oil companies in the USA.

I am sure every American remembers this tragedy. Of course, BP didn't say it was a tragedy, but, the families and friends of the Americans that died that day would call it a tragedy.

Yes, this is the BP Deepwater Horizon. And to think the company blamed the USA Coast Guard for the entire issue with the ruptured well head. Amazing the gall these men have.

See, when this occurred, BP was automatically responsible for the FINANCIAL aspect of the clean up. It is written into the contract oil companies sign when they lease the mineral rights of American land.

When the Trump administration gets finished with the regulations that govern responsibility to the American people, the people will be paying for the clean up and the oil companies will be exempt from ANY responsibilities, even lawsuits to the families of the dead.

That is corruption.

That is pay to play for very interesting profitable reasons.

I mean every American knows they are going to be fleeced by the CEOs that line the Trump cabinet. Right? Everyone knows that, right? Because the American people will find their land polluted and their lives far more dangerous when these men and women get done with our government.

There is not one oil company, hence CEO, in the world that have not committed human rights violations.

July 8, 2011
By Bill Mears

Washington (CNN) -- Global energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (click here) will be forced to face a lawsuit over alleged murder and torture committed by company agents in remote Indonesia, after a federal appeals court said Friday that corporations cannot claim immunity from liability.

A divided 2-1 panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reinstated a massive lawsuit filed by 15 Indonesian villagers from the oil-rich province of Aceh. They claim government security forces working for Exxon Mobil committed brutal oppression while guarding a natural gas facility in 2000-01....

Common. The CEOs pretend they had nothing to do with deaths. They always are involved. The deaths didn't exist before the oil companies move in and demand atrocities to be committed to obtain their expected wealth.

...At issue is whether foreign nationals can go into U.S. courts to press civil claims stemming from actions overseas by non-American citizens in a time of martial law. The decision will have widespread implications for multinational corporations doing business in other countries....

This is not difficult to understand. Most Americans understand outsourcing and why that happens with CEOs. The CEOs are looking for cheap labor. Well, when American oil companies drill in foreign countries, they are bringing their own labor, HOWEVER, the countries where the drills are built and run HAVE NO REGULATIONS that protect their citizens from health atrocities. In many countries, the leader of the country may not even know the oil will cause cancers. They have no experience in that venue of human health.

BUT, the CEOs are fully aware of the dangers of irresponsible oil drilling. They just don't want anything to get in the way of profits. That's all. American CEOs can kill at will by bending the arm of a country's leadership.

June 21, 2015
By Shasshank Bengali and Mohiuddin Kadar

Two years after a garment factory building collapsed, (click here) killing more than 1,100 people and drawing worldwide attention to dangerous conditions in Bangladesh’s apparel business, authorities Monday charged 42 people with murder in the country’s deadliest industrial disaster....

So, the same greed that drives CEOs to find cheap labor and allow them to look past the deaths while producing their products is the same need for greed that looks for oil where there are no laws to prevent cancer.

Just like the Bangladesh tragedy. Not one CEO was held for murder. Not one. Yet, the profits to the companies allowing their products to be produced in impoverishment were still pouring in.

November 20, 2001
...Results - The RR of all cancer sites (click here) combined was significantly elevated in both men and women in exposed counties. Significantly elevated RR were observed for cancers of the stomach, rectum, skin melanoma, soft tissue and kidney in men and for cancers of the cervix and lymph nodes in women. An increase in haematopoietic cancers was also observed in the population under 10 years in the exposed counties in both males and females.
Conclusion Study results are compatible with a relationship between cancer incidence and living in proximity to oil fields. An environmental monitoring and cancer surveillance system in the area is recommended....

Yes, indeed. I am just one of those hideous bleeding heart liberals that want nothing to do with a corrupt government currently being organized under Trump.

All Trump's nominations are quid pro quo. They are all pay to play.

There is a reason why presidents don't reach into their donor pool for members of the cabinet.

There is absolutely no room for any Democrat in the Senate to pass these nominations through. The confirmation would be as unethical and very potentially illegal as the nomination itself.

Every one of Trump's nominations stand to gain in personal wealth by the power of their cabinet position. 

What is going on with Kay Hagan. I heard 48 hours ago she was seriously ill. What happened?

11 December 2016
by Associated Press

Former US Sen. Kay Hagan, (click here) a Democrat who represented North Carolina, has been hospitalized after falling seriously ill, her family said.

Hagan was rushed to a Washington, D.C., hospital Thursday and was being treated in an intensive care unit.

The ex-senator's brother, Joe Ruthven, said Hagan didn't have a heart attack and isn't in a coma.

He wouldn't give any further details.

'We don't want any miscommunication or overreaction,' Ruthventold The Lakeland Ledger....

The American people don't deserve a good woman as a leader, they deserve one that wins at any cost.

I did some post election canvasing today. The Trump vote was not the Trump vote, but, the anti-Hillary vote. It all comes back to the 'perfect woman' sexism of the Republican party. Sexism defeated Hillary Clinton.

When the judgement of sexism was placed before them, they stated, "I am not going to vote for a woman because she is a woman." "I think women should have every opportunity of any man."

When mentioned there was a very sexist candidate in Donald Trump, the reply was "Boys will be boys."

The people justified their votes. They were willing to explain away the horrible sexism of Donald Trump, but, was not willing to admit Hillary Clinton was a great Secretary of State, even if there were perceived flaws. (Even when I pointed to the fact as Secretary of State she had extremely high ratings.)

When there was enough patience with me, I asked was there any time you forgave Hillary Clinton for flaws, such as not being a computer expert with emails; the answer was, "No, I didn't forgive her, she knew what she was doing and she was and still is hiding the truth."

Amazing. Trump is correct, he could murder Americans in the streets and he would be forgiven for the misunderstanding of either "Black lives matter" or "the illegals that come to kill Americans."

It was not scientific.

Opinion: When women run for office and they are faced with attacks. LIE! Lie as well as men. The confusion works.

Don't be afraid to attack the opponent personally. Make it so people laugh when the insult is delivered. So, exactly what it takes to be elected as men.

Stating Trump towers will be the focus of terrorist attacks might actually work to get him to read PDBs everyday. "Carrot and stick" Good one.

Other governments are under no obligation to protect the Trump towers in the world. No different than any other building in the world. The governments have an obligation to secure EMBASSIES in the world and nothing more.

Rick Perry knows nothing about the federal energy department. He is going to rely on others far more qualified then he for information about energies such as nu-lear. The nuclear plants in Texas have been found to have cracks in their base as of a few years ago because of substandard materials and lousy engineers.

These guys are at least as funny as Bush.

"Good job, Brownie."

Trump is "W" and Cheney on steroids. We had CEOs in the White House before. It doesn't work.

There is some reporting there is an assault against local governments planned for Michigan. That should not be a surprise since Flint was under an emergency manager along with most other minority cities. But, this is suppose to be a full front assault against mayors and councils throughout the state.