Don't rely on "Drill, Baby, Drill" to answer USA Energy Needs

'This is an unbelievable crowd for this kind of weather,' Obama told the nearly 9,000 supporters who showed up donning hoods and carrying umbrellas in Chester.

Barak Obama IS the Change We Need !


Solar Paneled Roof.

The NEW BREED Oil Tycoons have had their worst nightmare dealt to them, "THE PRICE OF OIL HAS DROPPED."

The oil gluts in the world no longer exist. We are at the end of our oil supplies globally. Gas for the internal combustion engine is no longer 30 cents a gallon. As gas and oil prices have gone up over the decades so has the general cost of living. We have witnessed this past year how energy prices, when relying on oil and gas, drive up not only the price of personal transportation, but, the cost of food, clothing and most consumer items.

And explore this 'concept' with me. The cost of USA labor is directly related to the energy sector and the cost of oil as well. How? Easy. When the 'cost of living goes up' for Americans they demand higher wages 'on the job.' What does that do to the 'best labor force in the world?' It prices it out of the market for many consumer goods and hence 'outsourcing.'

When the USA has a lousy energy policy is resonates throughout the infrastructure of the USA. When Barak 'gives back' our country to us and places the replacement of our infrastructure as the top priority to the American agenda, he is not only increasing the tax base with new jobs, he is increasing the buying power of the American consumer when this new infrastructure begins to provide energy WITHOUT unpredictable costs.

A solar panel doesn't have wide fluctuations. Now, does it? How much will 'consistent' energy and transportation costs STABILIZE the cost of American Labor and return the USA (nearly overnight) back to 'the best labor market for the money?'

Think about it !

Inflationary trends have been true the entire time oil and gas have been the primary fuel sources. It is just that in the year 2008, at the end of oil availability, we are 'feeling' it more in our budgets because the price is exorbitant.

Previous to 2008, the prices would go up but were still within reach of American's budgets. How many households now can't afford their energy costs, yet alone their mortgages?


The very sad reality is that as oil demands fall because of anticipated and actual changes from fossil fuels to alternative "Earth Friendly" energy, the possibility of continued exploitation of the Earth's natural resources for oil and gas will become less and less desirable an investment.

If Americans are to believe that "...ending their dependance on foreign oil..." is a matter of simply drilling offshore; they need to think again. Offshore drilling is no longer a viable investment, nor is it an environmentally safe one regardless of whether one is looking at CO2 emissions or pollution free oceans.

The Republicans have no viable energy plan if they are seeking oil and gas as an integral part of providing energy needs for Americans. Get over it. Oil is an immoral and hideous choice for future energy needs, besides robbing our children of their entitlements to a healthy and viable Earth.

...With oil at $60 per barrel, some deepwater projects in Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa are looking uneconomic in a market when drilling rig and offshore vessel rates are at record levels, so something has to give, said Matthew Simmons, chairman of investment group Simmons & Co.
“Oil sands and gas shales in North America and deepwater projects do not work at $60 oil. The problems are oilfield service costs are too high and we need to change this for projects to go ahead,” Mr Simmons told Lloyd’s List at the Oil & Money Conference in London on Tuesday.
“Rig costs are so high and we cannot get enough spare capacity to lower costs. Even if more rigs are built, it is hard to recruit people, so crew costs are high.”
Deepwater-capable drilling rigs are being hired out at $600,000 per day and oil companies are willing to pay more than $130,000 per day for subsea support vessels and $300,000 day rates for rig towing anchor handlers.
The price of subsea equipment such as the flowlines and wellheads needed for deepwater projects have also soared, but equipment and service prices will soon come under pressure.
“When oil prices increase everything goes higher including oil services and when oil prices fall service costs will decrease, so at $65 per barrel we expect costs will also go down as well,” said Paolo Scaroni, chief executive of Italian oil firm Eni.
The oil price fall and tight financial markets have prevented companies from finding credit to undertake their oil and gas field development plans.
Brazil has already acknowledged that the lower oil price is delaying its plans to develop the deepwater pre-salt discoveries, which would require new fleets of offshore vessels, drilling rigs and oil producing ships.
Qatar Energy Minister Abdulla Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah said no banks were offering finance for energy projects any more, whereas even four months ago they were jumping over one another to give out their cash....

Offshore Oil is UNDEPENDABLE source of energy as Climate Change continues to progress. These oil rigs have been offline for a month and a half. "Ike" dissipated on September 14, 2008. We don't need it. Our military doesn't need it either, they have been looking at domestically produced fuels and some of the alternative fuels for over a decade. The military has jets that fly on fuel produced without oil or gas. THAT is another complete series of entries. Another time maybe.

Gulf of Mexico energy production slowly being restored (click here)
by The Times-Picayune
Tuesday October 28, 2008, 1:15 PM
Energy producers in the Gulf of Mexico are slowly restoring production after hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
More than 27 percent of all Gulf of Mexico oil production remains shut down in the aftermath of last month's storms, the Minerals Management Service reported this afternoon. Roughly 33 percent of the Gulf's gas production also remains shuttered. Roughly 10 percent of the platforms in the Gulf remain evacuated because of the storms, but all of the drilling rigs have been fully restaffed. Platforms are the offshore structures from which oil and natural gas are produced. Rigs are offshore drilling facilities.

Hillary Clinton to N.H.: Ignore the polls

The Lady loves her country !

Buying spree sees US stocks soar

It's interesting. I am not impressed. The ? recovery ? is still a little soft globally. Some of the markets only recovered in single digits or less while others had this enormous bounce. It tells me that prudent investing is still a good idea and a less volitile market would be better.

Realizing 'the bottom' is at 8500 on the DOW, the current level of 9065.12 should bring about confidence that investors know where they stand in regard to any 'faux' fall in the markets. This is far from over. As monetary stability becomes reliable, the markets will start to stabilize and then perhaps move forward.

We're getting there. It's been interesting.

NOTED: Bailout money is still in the global treasuries.

There can't be any 'definitive' confidence yet. We don't know where exactly the currencies of countries will stabilize and until that is known the level of debtedness compared to value and the country's ability to pay that debt is still very much in play.

Sorry to say the 'markets' have little to do with things right now.

The 'stability' of anything economic depends on governments doing nothing more to dump monies into the global coffers while blostering their infrastructure to enhance their ability to build their tax base and pay off their debts. So, while stockbrokers like to have control; at this point it isn't possible and their 'fate' is still within the calibrations of debt load and a country's ablility to pay it as their currencies return to an equilibrium.

Things are looking better. It is a little to early to tell where the USA dollar falls into this yet.

...The rand strengthened as much as 4.9 percent to 11.4487 per dollar, the strongest level since Oct. 21. It traded at 10.7200 by 12:47 p.m. in Johannesburg, from 10.9900 yesterday, when it fell as low as 11.4737. It also climbed versus 14 of the 16 most-actively traded currencies monitored by Bloomberg, appreciating 2.5 percent against the euro to 13.3868....

Sea levels 'to rise a metre this century'

27/10/2008 3:25:00 PM
...Those restrictions call for halving greenhouse emissions by 2050 and eliminating CO2 emissions entirely by the end of the century. But the German researchers said the resulting limited increase in temperature is predicated on strict adherence to those restrictions without exception, and even then there are many variables which could thwart the goals.
Schnellnhuber, who is official adviser to German Chancellor Angela Merkel on climate-change issues, said the new findings employed data unavailable to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for its most recent global warming report.
The two experts said the IPCC report had been based on data up to 2005 only, but since then ice loss in the Arctic had doubled or tripled. Schnellhuber charged that 20 per cent of the loss of the ice sheet on Greenland could be directly linked to the added carbon dioxide emissions from new Chinese coal-fired power stations.
The new sea level predictions, according to Schellnhuber, are based on studies of melting Himalaya glaciers and the shrinking Greenland ice cap....


This is the satellite view of the 'melt ponds' which can be seen in the center left of picture. The ice is breaking up and flowing into sea on a regular basis. Noted the broken ice sheets in the Greenland Sea, above.


Melt Ponds, Northeastern Greenland (click here)
...Melt ponds have played a role in the breakup of the Larsen Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, where dense pools of water sliced through sections of the shelf like a wedge. In Greenland, melt ponds ultimately find their way into crevasses or moulins—chutes that carry melt water through the ice sheet. Many glaciologists suspect that the melt water finds its way to the bottom of the ice sheet where it lubricates the base of the ice, reducing friction between the ice and the underlying rock, and speeding glacier flow. As the glacier accelerates, it pushes ice into the ocean. This introduction of additional ice into the ocean can raise sea level, just as dropping extra ice cubes into a glass raises the level of a drink.


Ducky Science (click here)
When a science probe failed to return data about melting glacial ice, a researcher from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory labeled 90 rubber ducks with an email address and the words "science experiment" and "reward" written in English, Danish and the native Inuit language, then set the toys loose in the glacier. The idea was that fisherman would find the ducks and notify him where they were found.



The Jakobshavn Glacier (click here)
The retreat of the Jakobshavn Glacier, pictured here, has been recorded since 1850. It is one of the fastest-moving glaciers on Earth, and over the last decade scientists have reported that it is speeding up, sometimes sliding dozens of feet per day toward the Ilulissat Fjord....

The Ozone Hole of 2008

Ozone Hole Reaches Record Size (2006 click here, thank you)
“From September 21 to 30, [2006], the average area of the ozone hole was the largest ever observed, at 10.6 million square miles,” said Paul Newman, atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Newman was joined by other scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in reporting that the ozone hole over the polar region of the Southern Hemisphere broke records for both area and depth in 2006....


On September 12, 2008, the Antarctic ozone hole reached its maximum size for the year. (see below) Represented by blues and purples in this image from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA’s Aura satellite, the ozone hole covered about 27 million square kilometers, making it larger than North America, which is about 25 million square kilometers. Though larger than it was in 2007, the 2008 ozone hole was still smaller than the record set in 2006....







June 29, 2006
SCIENTISTS FIND ANTARCTIC OZONE HOLE TO RECOVER LATER THAN EXPECTED (click here)
Scientists from NASA and other agencies have concluded that the ozone hole over the Antarctic will recover around 2068, nearly 20 years later than previously believed.
Researchers from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have developed a new tool, a math-based computer model, to predict the timing of ozone hole recovery. Their findings will be published tomorrow in Geophysical Research Letters.
The Antarctic ozone hole is a massive loss of ozone that occurs each spring in the Southern Hemisphere. The ozone hole is caused by chlorine and bromine gases in the stratosphere, an upper layer of the atmosphere, that destroy ozone in an annually recurring process that takes place in the unique meteorological conditions of the Antarctic stratosphere. Those gases come from human-produced chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons....

McCain demands Stevens to step down, but, ethics violations are okay.

From a McCain statement issued Tuesday:
It is clear that Sen. Stevens has broken his trust with the people and that he should now step down. I hope that my colleagues in the Senate will be spurred by these events to redouble their efforts to end this kind of corruption once and for all.



One has to wonder whom Stevens' cell mate might be, perhaps Abramoff.

Typical of Republican Mavericks, they only call for 'culling the Republican herd' when facing jail or a sex scandal. The most outrageous is all too obvious. McCain's Vice Presidential candidate is GUILTY of Alaskan Ethics Violations.

No jail. Just personal and governmental lawsuits as well as impeachment from the Governorship.

Is John McCain actually assessing his circumstances for what they are?

Republican 'denial' of 'the truth' also known as SURVIVING THE DAY.



Franken's Race (click here)...Meantime, an Allstate/National Journal poll of 402 registered voters, conducted Oct. 16-20, shows Franken with 36 percent, Coleman with 35 percent and Barkley, with 18 percent. The survey has a 5-point error margin. Both Franken and Coleman have seen their poll numbers fluctuate between the mid-30s and low 40s....


October 27, 2008 6:01
Here is our latest update on Senate races around the country. (click here)
New Hampshire: Shaheen 49, Sununu 38. (WMUR/UNH)
North Carolina: Hagan 48, Dole 45, Cole 4. (Public Policy Polling)
Oregon: Merkley 49, Smith 42, Brownlow 5. (SurveyUSA)
Alaska: Democrat Mark Begich, the mayor of Anchorage, is statistically tied with Republican Ted Stevens 46 percent to 45 percent in an Ivan Moore poll Oct. 17-19. Begich's favorable to unfavorable ratio is 55 percent to 31 percent, a negative swing of 7 points since early October. Stevens' favorable to unfavorable ratio is 49 percent to 41 percent, slipping 2 points. Moore says, "Stevens' rating has been very stable over the last six weeks, despite both his ongoing trial in Washington DC and being a target of a barrage of negative media funded by the DSCC... Given the closeness of the race, it appears that Alaskans are giving Stevens the benefit of the doubt for now, and are reserving judgment until a verdict is read in his trial."
Colorado: Democrat Mark Udall is leading Republican Rep. Bob Schaffer 51 percent to 44 percent with 2 percent preferring "other" and 3 percent undecided in a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Oct. 16. The margin of error is 4 points. Udall's favorable to unfavorable ratio is 53 percent to 44 percent while Schaffer is seen unfavorably by 48 percent and favorably by 47 percent. The candidates run closely among men but Udall leads by 9 points among women and 25 points among unaffiliated voters. a Quinnipiac University/Wall Street Journal/Washington Post poll conducted Oct. 8-12 had Udall ahead 54 percent to 40 percent with 1 percent preferring someone else and 6 percent undecided.
Georgia: First term Republican Saxby Chambliss is statistically-tied with Democrat Jim Martin , an Atlanta attorney and former legislator, leading him 46 percent to 45 percent with 5 percent for Libertarian Allen Buckley and 5 percent undecided in a Strategic Vision poll conducted Oct. 20-22. The margin of error is 3 percent.
Kentucky: Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell's is leading Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford), a Louisville businessman, 47 percent to 43 percent with 10 percent undecided in a Lexington Herald Leader/WKYT-TV poll conducted Oct. 19-21. The margin of error is 4 points.
Louisiana: Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu, seeking a third term, opened a 54 percent to 41 percent lead over Republican challenger John Kennedy in a Rasmussen Reports pollconducted Sept. 25. Two percent chose "other" and 3 percent were undecided. The margin of error is 4.5 percent
Mississippi: Roger Wicker, appointed to fill out the term of retired Sen. Trent Lott, is statistically-tied with former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, leading him 47 percent to 46 percent with 7 percent undecided in a Research 2000 poll conducted Oct. 14-15. The margin of error is 4.5 percent.
Oregon: Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley, the speaker of the state House, is leading two-term Republican Gordon Smith 49 percent to 42 percent with 5 percent for Constitution Party candidate Dave Brownlow and 4 percent undecided in a SurveyUSA poll conducted Oct. 25-26. The margin of error is 3.8 percent.

DEMOCRATS taking Senate Seats after November 4th :: Virginia, South Dakota, New Mexico, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Michigan, Iowa and Colorado.

REPUBLICANS taking up Senate Seats after November 4th :: Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.

Bush hopes to destroy The Endangered Species Act while his abuse of power is still intact.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration said yesterday that changes it wants to make to endangered species rules before the president leaves office will have no significant environmental consequences.
That's the conclusion of a draft assessment released by the Interior Department that represents one of the last remaining hurdles for the regulations to become final before Jan. 20.
The administration in August proposed letting federal agencies approve power plants, dams, and other projects without consulting government wildlife specialists in some cases.
Current regulations require government biologists to be consulted in all cases - even when a project is unlikely to harm threatened wildlife or the places they live.
The administration acknowledges the change will reduce the number of consultations required under the 35-year-old law.
But in its evaluation, it concludes that the new regulations will focus government expertise on cases where it is most needed and result in no harm to species or habitats protected by the statute.
Environmentalists, however, say the review - which was completed by lawyers and political appointees rather than scientists - failed to consider all of the environmental repercussions.

The Top Ten Reasons Conservatives Should Vote For Obama

...9. Less debt. Yes, Obama will raise taxes on those earning over a quarter of a million. And he will spend on healthcare, Iraq, Afghanistan and the environment. But so will McCain. He plans more spending on health, the environment and won't touch defense of entitlements. And his refusal to touch taxes means an extra $4 trillion in debt over the massive increase presided over by Bush. And the CBO estimates that McCain's plans will add more to the debt over four years than Obama's. Fiscal conservatives have a clear choice....

...1. The War Against Islamist terror. The strategy deployed by Bush and Cheney has failed. It has failed to destroy al Qaeda, except in a country, Iraq, where their presence was minimal before the US invasion. It has failed to bring any of the terrorists to justice, instead creating the excrescence of Gitmo, torture, secret sites, and the collapse of America's reputation abroad. It has empowered Iran, allowed al Qaeda to regroup in Pakistan, made the next vast generation of Muslims loathe America, and imperiled our alliances. We need smarter leadership of the war: balancing force with diplomacy, hard power with better p.r., deploying strategy rather than mere tactics, and self-confidence rather than a bunker mentality.

Those conservatives who remain convinced, as I do, that Islamist terror remains the greatest threat to the West cannot risk a perpetuation of the failed Manichean worldview of the past eight years, and cannot risk the possibility of McCain making rash decisions in the middle of a potentially catastrophic global conflict. If you are serious about the war on terror and believe it is a war we have to win, the only serious candidate is Barack Obama.

Military wife ponders her vote for next president

By ELISABETH KADLEC
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Until a few years ago, I am almost embarrassed to say, I never voted. Then I became the wife of an Army officer. For me, choosing a candidate is not based on which party I tend to side with, but which candidate will make the best choices for the armed forces and my family....
...On Nov. 4, my vote will be counted along with all military families. Not all military families’ political beliefs are the same as mine. However, I believe that we can all agree on the following: We miss our spouses. We want our soldiers to be safe. We want smart decisions to be made. Does that mean that Obama or McCain is the right choice? I have chosen to vote for Obama.
• Elisabeth Kadlec, a mother of two, lives in Fayetteville.

Troops Deployed Abroad Give 6:1 to Obama (click here)

Palin palling around with corruption (click here for video)

Palin & Stevens talk about each other
A look at the relationship between Gov. Sarah Palin & Sen. Ted Stevens.
Author : Kyle Hopkins
Date taken : July 2, 2008

Stevens and Palin were very cozy. He endorsed her candidacy for Governor and made a commercial for her. This was well after the particulars of VECO was well known. Click on title. It's an interesting video. Watch it to the end. Thank you.

Monegan at AFN (click here)
Gov. Sarah Palin's former public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, talks to reporters at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention. Topics include: The Troopergate investigation, and what's next for both Monegan & Palin.
Author : Alaska Politics
Date taken : Oct. 23, 2008

October 23, 2008 on Earth.

There is substantial heat intrusions across the continent. Noted in the above satellite is arrival of 'heat transfer systems' from the equator.


October 28, 2008
1200 AM
Temperature Satellite of Antarctica (click here for 24 hour loop)


To add dimension, the 'spots/dots' on the iceberg are penguins.


Huge Icebergs off Antarctica on February 4, 2008. Once icebergs break off the continent they enter the East Wind Drift and adds to the waters of the oceans.

Except for the rainforests and jungles of Earth, especially Indonesia; there was dearly little water vapor and Antarctica was hot.

194 Precious Hours. No time to stop now ! We are almost there !

It isn't JUST 'the man' we are electing. It is our country we are reclaiming !

“In one week, you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election,” Mr. Obama told a crowd of more than 4,000 in Canton, Ohio. “In one week, at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change we need.”

...The Obama folks are doing that. They're going door to door, they're getting people to vote early, they're making phone calls from their homes, they're doing it all with enthusiasm and excitement and dragging people with them along the way.... (click here)

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska (Crystal Wind Chime) is melting.

October 27, 2008
Tasiilaq, Greenland
Photographer states :: Lonely Iceberg. View from my veranda...Ammassalik Fjord..Kuummiut, Greenland...
http://kuummiut.com

Arctic air temperatures climb to record levels (click title to entry, thank you)
Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:01pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fall air temperatures have climbed to record levels in the Arctic due to major losses of sea ice as the region suffers more effects from a warming trend dating back decades, a report released on Thursday showed.
The annual report issued by researchers at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other experts is the latest to paint a dire picture of the impact of climate change in the Arctic.
It found that fall air temperatures are at a record 9 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees C) above normal in the Arctic because of the major loss of sea ice in recent years that allows more solar heating of the ocean....

An undated handout photo from the Center for Northern Studies shows the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf disintegrating.
REUTERS/Denis Sarrazin/Center for Northern Studies/Handout

Local Time: 4:26 PM AKDT on October 27, 2008

Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Temperature :: 46 °F / 8 °C

Conditions :: Overcast

Windchill :: 42 F/ 6 C

Humidity :: 71%

Dew Point :: 37 F/ 3C

Wind :: 9 mph / 15 km/h / 4.1 m/s from the SE

Pressure :: 30.00 in/ 1016 hPa (Steady)

Visibility :: 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds :: Overcast 5500 ft/ 1676 m
(Above ground level)

Elevation :: 33ft / 10 m

The many faces of Ted Stevens.

Sen. Stevens guilty on all counts, career in peril (click on title to entry, thank you)
By MATT APUZZO and JESSE J. HOLLAND – 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted of seven corruption charges Monday in a trial that threatened to end the 40-year career of Alaska's political patriarch in disgrace. The verdict, coming barely a week before Election Day, increased Stevens' difficulty in winning what already was a difficult race against Democratic challenger Mark Begich. Democrats hope to seize the once reliably Republican seat as part of their bid for a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate....

...Stevens faces up to five years in prison on each count when he is sentenced, but under federal guidelines he is likely to receive much less prison time, if any. The judge originally scheduled sentencing for Jan. 26 but then changed his mind and did not immediately set a date....

"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord..."

I'll be darn. Thank you, Junior. Welcome home !


This is Junior Johnson in 1985, when he wasn't driving his NASCAR race car. Junior Johnson is one of the all time great NASCAR drivers. He has been named one of the fifty greatest NASCAR drivers and inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990 at its inaugural (click here).

I used to be a huge NASCAR Fan. I watched NASCAR when far younger with my Dad, back in the day when "Stock cars were stocked cars." Mario Andre, Bill Elliot and the boys from Dawson, Georgia. Boy, is this a throw back.

The last race I attended was in 1995 at Martinsville Raceway. Martin won that race, but, he always won all the short track races.

I objected to NASCAR after a time because I objected to the 'persona' the Francis' were putting forward in their drivers. They were macho men with little representation of the environment, conscience of change to their fans promoting healthy living and quite frankly standing on the side of war, even in Iraq by allowing some of their teams to display affiliations with The National Guard, etc. The 'introduction' of the military institutions under this administration to the race car scene was an enticement that should have been regarded as inappropriate. The military is government and to have million dollar race teams involved in NASCAR and IROC was simply wrong. NASCAR is a private enterprise and it should have remained that way. Perhaps they'll think this through differently in the future.

NO, NASCAR isn't going to get off easy here. I don't mind having a military, but, there is a right and a wrong to things as they existed under Bush and NASCAR simply looked the other way and kept raking in the bucks. I do believe there needs to be a cultural awakening to some of these 'beloved' American institutions. Perhaps NASCAR can find a way to run the concept of THE GREEN MACHINES on their tracks and invite sponsors like Chevy's VOLT to symbolize the progress that needs to made in the way of personal transportation. After all, those race cars were never intended to be family cars, but, they certainly symbolized a lot of glamour to any owner.

I am so very glad to see Junior Johnson make a public decision to stand with Barak Obama and Joe Biden and the Democrats for change. He's right, there is a right side and a wrong side to life and conducting 'Robocalls' is simply wrong.

It does my heart good to have him come forward. Thank you so much. So very, very much.

Let's see now, I think Junior hales from Wilkes County, North Carolina if I remember right.

10,000 acres burn in Valley; thousands of people flee their homes

October 22, 2008
Los Angeles, California
Photographer states :: A Los Angeles City FD helicopter makes water drop at night on flames from a 100 acre brush fire that burned through the Sepulveda Pass early Thursday morning. The flames briefly threatened Brentwood.

An accounting of what occurred. Most fires currently contained.

Sesnon Fire: 13,285 acres burned;
Marek Fire: 4,824 acres burned;
Mugu Fire: 10 acres burned;
2 fatalities;
62 structures, 47 outbuildings destroyed;

Original Mountain Marathon

Lake Runners All Accounted For (click here)
All the runners feared missing after a marathon race across the Lake District was scrapped because of storms and flooding have been accounted for.
Around 2,500 people began the arduous event.
Police and the RAF confirmed that all missing competitors were located after hundreds had been left stranded in the Honister Pass area.
Many were forced to camp overnight in poor conditions after Britain's toughest endurance event, the Original Mountain Marathon, was abandoned yesterday due to dismal weather....

Fell running on a better day.

Mountain marathon: case studies (click here)
Veterans of this year's Original Mountain Marathon tell their stories.
By Paul Stokes
Last Updated: 9:39PM GMT 26 Oct 2008
...They encountered problems as the storms moved in about three quarters of an hour into the run after setting of at 9.25am.
Miss Creaser said: "Up to higher heights it was getting horrendous. It was blown off my feet three times.
"I have never experienced such consistently bad weather, it was unrelenting. But I don't think for the people doing it it was desperately dangerous."
They climbed down off a ridge to a lower level and, five hours after starting, achieved their objective of reaching the overnight camp at Garthgate.
Mr Porter said: "We have all the gear, including a mountain tent designed for the weather, and could have bivouacked overnight on the tops. We had been sent a notice last week warning of the conditions."
They made their way to a café, which became a muster point after the event was called off, before being taken to the Honiston slate mine museum where they stayed overnight with other competitors.
Miss Creaser said: "The WRVS were there with food for us. I feel a bit guilty at taking this food and shelter because we had come prepared."...



...For the uninitiated (click here) the Original Mountain Marathon (click title of entry for link, thank you) is a two day fell running event in the Lake District, due to the appalling weather conditions, the race has been called off, the first time in 40 years,...

Tropical Storm Three, Gulf of Aden

The construction of buildings in this area of the world is very different. The lack of preparedness by Yemen to these storms is similar to the issues France faced when over 10,000 people died inside their homes due to high heats. These country's are experiencing severe and 'rapid' climate change and have no clue how to survive it.

A general view shows damaged houses following a tropical storm in Hadramout.


Yemen tropical storm leaves trail of destruction (click here)
AP
Published: October 26, 2008, 20:16
Shibam, Yemen: Ahmad Salem's family screamed on Saturday as their traditional Yemeni mud brick house disintegrated in rushing flood waters from a deadly tropical storm that has killed 61 people in southern Yemen.
Hamid Al Kharashi, a police chief in the southern province of Hadramout, is warning that the death toll could rise further, since scores of people are still missing and hundreds of families are homeless or trapped by the flood waters.
Rain was continuing to fall yesterday, although only lightly in Hadramout. Getting relief supplies to those affected in the remote and rugged Yemeni hinterlands has been difficult, as most roads are washed out.


October 27, 2008
0038 gmt
Indian Ocean

There are repeated storms to the region and with each new storm there is more saturation of the land and increased flooding. The storms are coming off a very hot Indian Ocean.



Death toll mounts in Yemen tropical storm (click here)
AgenciesLast updated: October 26, 2008, 16:41
Sayoun: The Yemeni government on Sunday said 61 people have been killed by floods that swept through the south in the wake of a massive tropical storm.
Hamid Al Kharashi, a police chief in Hadramout, said the death toll could rise further since scores of people are still missing and hundreds of families are homeless or trapped by the flood waters.The Interior Ministry earlier said 58 people were killed by fierce flooding, while another six were killed in lightning strikes during two days of storms.

Obama will unite the USA - "Obama for President"

Musgrave is poster child of "bigotry" in Rolling Stone article
By Jeremy Pelzer, PolitickerCO.com Reporter
U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Fort Morgan) is the subject -- and the target -- of an article in this week's Rolling Stone about how Musgrave's electoral troubles are a sign that "the politics of bigotry" are withering away.
"If Musgrave is ousted in November, as polls suggest she'll be, it's worth asking just what exactly is going on," correspondent Matt Tabbi writes. "Has there been a sea change in the electorate? Is there a place on the American map where you can actually see the country outgrowing the politics of bigotry?"

http://www.politickerco.com/jeremypelzer/2640/musgrave-poster-child-bigotry-rolling-stone-article


…That strategy has worked for a long time — but now, suddenly, things are different in places like the 4th District. Not only does the torch-bearing evangelical Colorado of Ted Haggard and James Dobson appear poised to turn its nine electoral votes blue for a nonwhite presidential candidate, but the congressional seat belonging to one of America's most celebrated gay-bashers in this once-impregnable Republican stronghold is also up for grabs. If Musgrave is ousted in November, as polls suggest she'll be, it's worth asking just what exactly is going on. Has there been a sea change in the electorate? Is there a place on the American map where you can actually see the country outgrowing the politics of bigotry?...

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/23638607/the_death_of_a_red_state

Prop 8: California gay marriage fight divides LDS faithful
The church's effort against gay marriage is its most vigorous since 1970s
By Peggy Fletcher Stack

The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 10/26/2008 10:25:04 AM MDT
The thought of going to church in her southern California LDS ward makes Carol Oldham cry. She can't face one more sermon against same-sex marriage. She can't tolerate the glares at the rainbow pin on her lapel. Oldham, a lifelong Mormon, is troubled by her church's zeal in supporting a California ballot initiative that would define marriage as between one man and one woman. She feels the church is bringing politics into her sanctuary. "It has tainted everything for me," Oldham said, choking up during a telephone interview. "I am afraid to go there and hear people say mean things about gay people. I am in mourning. I don't...

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_10797630



…I told her it's a lie that Obama does not say the Pledge of Allegiance and it's a lie that he refuses because of his religion.
And then I had to explain why a simple statement like ''Obama won't say the Pledge of Allegiance because of his religion'' is steeped in bigotry and narrow-mindedness.
The same small-minded people who are spreading this lie are trying to convince voters in this country that Obama, an African-American, is a Muslim and friends with terrorists.
My daughter and I watched Colin Powell appear on Meet the Press with Tom Brokaw on YouTube.
I wanted her to hear the retired U.S. Army general and former U.S. secretary of state explain why he was disappointed in the approach taken by Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his campaign in recent weeks….

http://www.ohio.com/news/willard/33321609.html

The truly incredible aspect to all this is that anyone running for public office should not have to defend their faith in order to participate. What difference does it make if Barak is a Christian or not? Come people. This is not US.

Obama's faith is widely mistaken in Kentucky
By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com
FRANKFORT — Public misconception is widespread in Kentucky about Barack Obama's faith, a Herald-Leader/WKYT Kentucky Poll shows.
Despite heavy national media attention about Obama's faith, more than half of likely Republican voters — 54 percent — and one of every four Democrats in the state do not know that the Democratic presidential nominee is a Christian, the poll found.
The poll showed that 14 percent of likely Kentucky voters — 28 percent of Republicans, 4 percent of Democrats and 11 percent of independents — think Obama adheres to the Muslim faith.

http://www.kentucky.com/329/story/567532.html

St Johnstone’s big plan to show racism the red card
Oct 24 2008

by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire
Advertiser Friday
ST Johnstone and Show Racism the Red Card are joining forces for the Annual Day of Action today.
Saints supporters attending the home match against Partick Thistle will be given a Saints squad poster.
The Show Racism the Red Card posters have been jointly sponsored by the local branch of UNISON and the Community Safety Partnership.
They will also be made available to young participants at the coaching school in the morning and to young Super J fans at their pre-match club.
The Day of Action is part of Show Racism the Red Card’s Annual Fortnight of Action, which involves all professional clubs and aims to tackle anti-racism through football.
Councillor Willie Robertson, chairman of Perth and Kinross Community Safety Partnership, said: “We are delighted to be able to join with UNISON to sponsor the St Johnstone ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ squad posters. It is important to deliver the message that any form of racism or discrimination is unacceptable.”

http://www.perthshireadvertiser.co.uk/perthshire-sport/2008/10/24/st-johnstone-s-big-plan-to-show-racism-the-red-card-73103-22104885/

Racism and prejudice linger in Hawaii, says chief justice
Justice Moon reminds lawyers of racism's shadow in state
Hawaii still faces issues of bigotry and racism, says state Chief Justice Ronald Moon, who urged lawyers to help eliminate negative stereotypes of minorities. In a speech yesterday to the Young Lawyers Division of the Hawaii State Bar Association, Moon urged attorneys to review the racial, ethnic and gender makeup of their firms and establish higher recruitment standards which embrace diversity. Moon cited several recent incidents of bigotry, including: » A teenager who yelled "f haole" during the beating of a Caucasian couple in Waikele. » The Hawaii Tourism Authority chief executive who e-mailed racist jokes.
By Ken Kobayashi

http://www.starbulletin.com/news/hawaiinews/20081025_Racism_and_prejudice_linger_in_Hawaii_says_chief_justice.html

The GOP's racism problem
The president of a Republican club in San Bernadino County, Calif., resigned yesterday after insulting members of her own party with an anti-Obama newsletter.
The mailing contained a cartoonish picture of presidential candidate Barack Obama's head on a donkey on a $10 food stamp called "Obama bucks," surrounded by pictures of Kentucky Fried Chicken, ribs, watermelon and Kool-Aid.The hapa Obama and his hapa sister, Maya. (Democratic Party of Hawaii photo)
Petty insults with racist and classist undertones have run rampant in this campaign, as many predicted. But as the name-calling and threats become more pervasive, particularly in local jurisdictions, it's the Republicans themselves who are beginning to cry.
"This is what keeps African-Americans from joining the Republican Party," Sheila Raines, one of the black members of the San Bernadino club, told The Press-Enterprise in inland Southern California. "I'm really hurt. I cried for 45 minutes."

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/152331.asp?from=blog_last3

Forum on racism is Saturday

By Jennifer CalhounStaff writer
When rasicms exists, everyone suffers. No one is excluded.
That’s the message Nancy Shakir wants people to take home from the Anti-racism and Economics Forum on Saturday at Fayetteville State University.
The forum, co-sponsored by Fayetteville State University and Cumberland County Progressives, will feature panel discussions on institutional racism, privilege, the economics of racism and how oppression affects all people.
Shakir, a member of Cumberland County Progressives, defines racism as “prejudice plus power.”
“It’s not just prejudice,” she said. “It’s not just bias.”
Shakir and other forum leaders hope through understanding, social systems like the justice system can be improved, she said.
“We’re reaching out to people who may not understand or see the institutional racism in the system,” she said. “It doesn’t only deal with issues of race for people of color, but what (racism) does to white people, as well. Both sides are losers.”

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=308345

Police tackle city centre racism
Tackling racial hate crimes is the focus of a police operation in Aberdeen this weekend.
Grampian Police said more than half of all recorded racist offences in the force area happen in the city centre.
Officers will be working with door staff at pubs and clubs, as well as fast food outlets.
A spokesman said: "This type of conduct is extremely upsetting and insulting for victims and will not to be tolerated."
Possible offenders have been warned they face being held in custody and appearing in court.
The spokesman said: "The effect on a victim can be devastating.
"Ultimately, a conviction for a racist offence could seriously affect you, your friends, family and employment and leave you with a life-long racist conviction.
"Such behaviour in this day and age is unacceptable."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/7689247.stm