"Find Out Who Your Friends Are" by Tracy Lawrence (click here for website)

Run your car off the side of the road
Get stuck in a ditch way out in the middle of nowhere
Or get yourself in a bind lose the shirt off your back
Need a floor, need a couch, need a bus fare

This is where the rubber meets the road
This is where the cream is gonna rise
This is what you really didn't know
This is where the truth don't lie

You find out who your friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are

Everybody wants to slap your back
wants to shake your hand
when you're up on top of that mountain
But let one of those rocks give way then you slide back down look up 
and see who's around then

This ain't where the road comes to an end
This ain't where the bandwagon stops
This is just one of those times when
A lot of folks jump off

You find out who your friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are

When the water's high
When the weather's not so fair
When the well runs dry
Who's gonna be there?

You find out who your friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are

You find out who your friends are
(yeah, yeah)
You find out who your friends are

Run your car off the side of the road
Get stuck in a ditch way out in the middle of nowhere
(Well man, I've been there)
Or get yourself in a bind lose the shirt off your back
Need a floor, need a couch, need a bus fare
(Man, I've been there)

Man, I've been there
Oooh yeah.

According to the Ms. Blackburn women don't need help securing their pay rate.

Evidently, women believe they don't only need to have their incomes assured to them by the federal government, but, the state government as well. Marsha Blackburn is rhetorical. She has nothing to say. She takes up space in the US House and empty minutes on talk shows.

Lilly Ledbetter Act Passes Senate (click here)

Wednesday, May 22 2013

For a decade, Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, has been trying to pass a bill in Texas that would give women an opportunity to file an equal-pay lawsuit.

On the last night that the Texas Senate could hear House bills, House Bill 950, the Lilly Ledbetter Act, passed narrowly with a 17-14 vote.

“It’s like going into labor and the doctor says, ‘It’s time to make this delivery,’” said Thompson after her bill passed late Wednesday. “Women are always the last persons to get rights that other people have had for ages.”

If Gov. Rick Perry signs the bill, Texas will be one of 43 states to pass the act, which brings states into accordance with a United States Supreme Court decision that determines that the statute of limitations for filing an equal-pay lawsuit begins at the date that the pay was agreed upon....

The Democrats did themselves proud and now there are 43 states currently as enthusiastic as they were that first day.

The GOP has no ideas. Marsha Blackburn makes the same statements and have been making the same statements since President Obama has been elected. It is the same ole', same ole' because they have no ideas.

The nation reaffirmed their confidence in President Obama in 2012, yet she voted along with all the other House Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It's ridiculous. They have no ideas, they simply stand on the same nonsense since time began.

WASHINGTON — The online sales tax issue (click here) has not only divided Tennessee Republicans, but in at least one case, it also has put a lawmaker and her campaign contributors on opposite sides.

Sen. Lamar Alexander and Rep. Marsha Blackburn, both Republicans, offer the best example....

...For her 2014 re-election, Black has already received $6,000 from the PAC of Wal-Mart, which not only supports the bill but is one of the corporations most vocal in doing so.

Those that support the measure and gave to her 2012 race include Kroger ($2,000), Lowe’s ($3,500), The Home Depot ($7,500) and Wal-Mart ($6,000).

Black, who Friday remained undecided, could face other pressures as well. She was part of the tea party freshman class of 2011, and one of the most vocal lobbying groups associated with the tea party, Freedom Works, strongly opposes the Marketplace Fairness Act.

“An online sales tax would amount to nothing more than a bailout of brick-and-mortar stores. America has had enough bailouts,” the group says....

Oops. We need to put back three and add at least one more. It is just the latest form of obstructionism. It is all Bull-(m)oney

The Bears like to make the investment. Bulls like to take the money and run. Plenty of room for political investment to make it happen.

Bought and paid for, to hell with the citizen.
May 30, 2013
By JOE PATRICE
The appellate court (click here) facing the most complex workload in the country is also tiny and overworked. Only the First Circuit has fewer active slots, and with three vacancies, the D.C. Circuit has fewer judges than its sibling courts with 11 active judges.

So it should come as no surprise that some senators are actively trying to shrink the D.C. Circuit.

The crux of their beef is that actually filling the three vacancies on the court would constitute court packing, because no one on the Hill has bothered to pick up an AP U.S. History textbook and figure out what “court packing” means.

But when you strip away the partisan stupidity and actually look at the numbers, there’s a really good argument in favor of “court packing” because this Circuit could use an extra judge or two…

Bear cubs are nurtured by their mothers for at least a year and a half with a strong sense of family before striking out on their own. Momma bear's focus for her young is safety and education while providing a territory with ample food, including during lean times where one can find nuts and berries. The female territory is usually close to home within a 2 miles radius, while the male roams up to a range of 100 miles. Hard to believe these adults started out as an 8 ounce newborn deserving of survival.

November 22, 2011 - There is something to this 'tree thing.'

Iran fines British embassy for 'environmental vandalism' in Tehran compound (click here)

Riots by students occurred about a week later.

The Tree Symbol in Islam (click here)
by
Noble Ross Reat

Source: Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 19, No. 3. (Summer, 1975). © World Wisdom, Inc. www.studiesincomparativereligion.com

...Immovable yet supple, the tree became a model for human architecture and a model of divine architecture. In constructing his hut, his miniature cosmos, man relied heavily on the structural lesson of the tree....

My best wishes for a peaceful resolve to the indifference of cultural trauma.

It would be best for Secretary Kerry to urge the Turkist authorities to stop threatening trees and issue an apology.

Can't USAID find a way to save the park, it's trees and provide better plans for the city? It can't be that difficult.

I happen to agree with Secretary Kerry in regard to the Russian missiles. It is adding a larger dynamic to the Syrian government that should it fall or fail will be added danger to the region. In the bigger picture, the missiles don't really stabilize the region. 

June 02, 2013 - Updated 34 PKT 
From Web Edition

ISTANBUL: Violent anti-government protests (click here) that have engulfed Istanbul were triggered by plans to redevelop iconic Taksim Square in the heart of the city, a project that will involve razing some 600 trees in an adjoining park.

The plan includes building a replica of military barracks from the Ottoman Empire to house a cultural centre, but residents fear the area will in fact become a shopping district.

The Istanbul municipality, controlled by the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) that has ruled Turkey since 2002, embarked on the ambitious project in November.

The plan aims to create a pedestrian zone around Taksim square, a traditional venue for rallies and protests as well as a popular tourist spot.

Work is under way to divert traffic leading to the busy central square from several directions into a tunnel, which officials say will beautify the tourist zone and keep the exhaust and noise of the city's traffic congestion underground....

I don't know what goes on at NPR sometimes, but, this is irresponsible.

There are universal standards that actually save lives. It demands people seek safe haven underground. Now, just because the governments in Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri are not compliant with that demand in ZONING ORDINANCES, doesn't mean there aren't standards that work.

The VILLAIN is not the standard, it is the irresponsible government that doesn't value human life enough.

June 1, 2013

...For Morning Edition (click here) the day after the powerful tornado on May 20, NPR's Wade Goodwyn spoke with Molly Edwards, who was covered in pink insulation and standing on the rubble of her home with her family.

Just before the tornado slammed into her neighborhood, she and her husband had rushed to pick up their children from Plaza Towers Elementary School. Seven third-graders later died at the school after suffocating under fallen debris....

The people of Oklahoma are caught in a meat grinder because they live in a very dangerous area of the country and their ELECTED government never put them first so much as gave into SUBSTANDARD building codes to favor profits.

Now, if the Press wants to make these criticisms, they should put it all out there, stop hedging their bets and actually save people's lives by discussing what can actually save lives. Currently, running from the tornadoes is a viable option ONLY BECAUSE the governments of these states undercut public safety for profits of corporations. Truth. There is no soil in Oklahoma that is so impenetrable there aren't underground shelters and/or basements. That is hideous.

The reason yesterday's storms were so heinously dangerous was because there was a lot of heat energy within them. They were so volatile it was difficult for the vortex to simply form one funnel. If one examines some of the You Tube videos, it is easy to see the touchdowns and return to elevation as repeated over and over by the same circulation center. It is also easy to note the velocity of the circulation was too fast to set down just one funnel. There are reasons why these things happen. They are not mysterious. It is physics and it is measurable. There will be reports to follow from the US Weather Center after all the measurements are examined and conclusions made. There is no MYSTERY in the details and certainly no reason to allow citizens to believe they don't have to change a thing in their lives.

The ONLY mystery surrounding any of these tornado events is how government has gotten away with this level of neglect for so long.

Large clouds are seen as a tornado passes south of El Reno, Oklahoma May 31, 2013.(Reuters / Bill Waugh) 
June 1, 2013

Multiple twisters (click here) have ripped through Oklahoma City and metropolitan area during rush hour on Friday evening, killing nine people, including 2 children. One tornado repeated the route of the Moore twister which killed 23 just 12 days ago.

The Oklahoma office of the Chief Medical Examiner said that 7 adults and 2 children are confirmed dead, including a mother and her child.  

Five of the deceased met the fate in their cars. Among the victims were a mother and a baby, found near a car on Interstate 40 west of Oklahoma City. Reportedly, the tornado threw them out of their vehicle.

The number of hospitalized exceeds 50, with five of them in a critical condition, hospital officials report, while the number of injured is growing....

The flooding is a separate danger and does not always provide for flooding of underground shelters and certainly not at the time of the tornadoes. Underground shelters don't have to sustain life for months and years on end, they simply have to protect from the tornado for as long as it lasts.

A semi tractor-trailer is seen damaged along Interstate-40 Westbound after a tornado hit the area just east of El Reno, Oklahoma May 31, 2013.(Reuters / Bill Waugh)

It is ridiculous to think roads are the safest METHOD for protecting life when tornadoes are inevitable. It would take one accident or one pile of debris to block a highway and all the people behind the accident are then at high risk for injury and/or death. Debris from these tornadoes are found miles and miles from the tornado itself. Traveling during tornadoes is a very sad component to the lives of the people in these states today. I am sure it is a crime, but, I don't see any governments being held responsible for allowing this level of danger in citizen lives.

This is ridiculous. This is irresponsible government and the Press that panders to it.

6:02 AM, May 17, 2013

LANSING — A top adviser to Gov. Rick Snyder (click here) set up one-on-one phone conferences for members of Michigan’s Emergency Loan Board to interview Kevyn Orr for the Detroit emergency manager job three days before the board interviewed him in public, an e-mail released by the state shows.

Union activist Robert Davis, who is suing to overturn Orr’s appointment, says the e-mail is a “smoking gun” that shows state officials violated the Open Meetings Act in recruiting and selecting Orr.

But a spokesman for the Treasury Department said Thursday that the one-one-one interviews proposed by Snyder adviser Rich Baird never took place....

...The Baird e-mail and a second e-mail sent by Treasurer Andy Dillon were turned over to Davis on Wednesday, one day after Ingham County Circuit Judge William Collette scheduled a June 5 hearing at which Snyder, Dillon and Orr were to show why they should not be found in contempt of court for failing to provide records to Davis....

How to be Governor without being elected!

on May 31, 2013 at 2:57 PM, updated May 31, 2013 at 3:06 PM

...Rich Baird (click here) is known within the Snyder administration as the “transformation manager” – acting as a talent recruiter, adviser and facilitator for the Republican governor and his team. Baird has been involved in key administration hires, the Education Achievement Authority and many other initiatives since Snyder became governor by winning the 2010 election.

Baird is paid with private funds through a Snyder nonprofit – not taxpayer dollars. He may not make any policy decisions within the Snyder administration, but he often is a key player in gathering the information that leads to those decisions....

Every place where Snyder has exploitative and/or anti-citizen policy, there is Rich Baird. So really sits in the Governor seat? No chance the name Rich Baird appears on signed legislation. I mean they even look alike. Rich - Rick; Baird - Snyder.

MAY 18, 2013 AT 1:00 AM

Lansing — Gov. Rick Snyder's administration (click here) has claimed the once-secret "skunk works" education reform project was not a government-sanctioned work group, but newly obtained administration correspondence suggests otherwise.

Emails obtained by The Detroit News through the Freedom of Information Act show at least three top Snyder aides were aware that a Department of Technology, Management and Budget official was forming the work group, just as the Republican governor was eyeing major changes to Michigan's public education system.

Records show the group was born during a mid-September lunch meeting between state Chief Information Officer David Behen, Snyder adviser Rich Baird and Richard McLellan, a GOP attorney who was separately studying ways to rewrite school funding laws at Snyder's behest....

Ah, how sweet Snyder's' best buddy needed another job playing with other people's money. I am sure no one else would be as qualified.

Snyder appoints member to Great Lakes Protection Fund Board of Directors (click here)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 6, 2011

Contact: Sara Wurfel
Office: 517-335-6397
Email: wurfels@michigan.gov 

LANSING, Mich. - Gov. Rick Snyder today announced the appointment of Rich Baird to the Great Lakes Protection Fund Board of Directors.

The Great Lakes Protection Fund is a private, nonprofit corporation formed in 1989 by the governors of the Great Lakes States. It is a permanent environmental endowment that supports collaborative actions to improve the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem.

"Rich's tremendous insight and experience make him well positioned to serve on this Board as we continue to safeguard our greatest natural resource, the Great Lakes," Snyder said.

Baird, of Bath, is the CEO of MI Partners, LLC, an organizational change consulting firm....

You would think MI Partners, LLC would be a Michigan company. Now, when I remember back to why I opposed Rick Snyder for Governor it was because he robbed the Michigan Brain Trust, gift wrapped it for Wall Street and exported jobs and revenue. I don't call that someone interested in Michigan. Michigan didn't need another draconian Wall Street bozo to sap the life out of it. I  am just funny that way.

I looked and looked to find such a wonderful organization named after the great state of Michigan. This is all I found. Go figure.

MI Partner, LLC (click here)
8109 Linksview Drive
McKinny, Texas 75070
Phone (972) 529-3776

To the right is the street view.

The relationship Snyder has with Baird might be a threat to their marriages, but, to me it is more like the relationship Cheney had with Bush when Bush said, "Dick why don't you be Vice President. I have to be at the tee in 15 minutes."

Oklahoma City has a half a million people. This is a high energy system with tornado outbreaks.

May 31, 2013
2140z
UNISYS Enhanced Infrared Southern Plains Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop) 

This system has a high water vapor content. There is a lot of energy within it.

Two hours ago the current system began to form.

The current satellite is below, kindly note the forming intense system south of Texas - Mexico Border.

May 31, 2013
2340z
UNISYS Enhanced Infrared Southern Plains Satellite 

Below is a water vapor satellite from four hours ago. There is little density in the area of Oklahoma and Texas, however, the larger vortex system has peripheral flow that became saturated with heat and sun rays which are about 15 degrees from direct.

It would be good if there were hurricanes, but, currently there is no evidence of any.

May 31, 2013
1230z
UNISYS Water Vapor US Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)


The point is when "Tornado Watch" is in effect, people need to move to a ready status to take shelter UNDERGROUND. It is never prudent to believe any tornado will be a minor tornado. It is far too hot within the troposphere to expect anything less than the worst. A reaction of alarm to move to shelter is prudent. It is necessary.

May 31, 2013
2330z
UNISYS Water Vapor US Satellite

No one alive can out guess these storms. There is no reason to understand anything except a dire emergency when the word tornado is spoken.

It is the HEAT.


This system has been dropping vortices for 90 minutes now.

May 31, 2013
The Weather Channel Temperature Map

The angle of the sun changes as Earth turns and it diffuses through the atmosphere differently. It is a combination of the surface heat building up through the day time hours and the concentration setting sun light rays that define an eruption such as this. But, the real culprit is the water vapor which absorbs the heat and retains it. This particular storm is exhibiting rain wrapped tornadoes and again it has a water vapor source off the Equator.

May 31, 2013
2330z
UNISYS Water Vapor north and west hemisphere satellite (click here)

There is a large tropospheric vortex off shore eastern seaborder USA. That system is carrying water vapor off the Equator into it's central circulation. The circulation north of that offshore vortex center is also connected to the current system effecting the US Southern Plains. It is all that connectedness that is supplying the higher water vapor content fueling the storms.

There are similar temperatures in Southern California and Arizona, however, the water vapor is primarily absent.

It is my opinion, the National Guard from surrounding states need to be 'at the ready.' This is wicked. My best wishes to all.

The Fatal Moore Tornado. A Tornado Watch means prepare for taking shelter. A Tornado Warning means now is the time to take shelter.

On May 20, 2013, (click here) a supercell thunderstorm in central Oklahoma spawned a destructive tornado that passed just south of Oklahoma City. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aquasatellite acquired this natural-color image of the storm system at 2:40 p.m. Central Daylight Time (19:40 Universal Time), just minutes before the devastating twister began.

The red line on the image depicts the tornado’s track. It touched down west of Newcastle at 2:56 p.m. and moved northeast toward Moore, where it caused dozens of deaths, hundreds of injuries, and widespread destruction to property and public buildings. The tornado had dissipated by 3:36 p.m., after traveling approximately 17 to 20 miles (27 to 32 kilometers)....

There is no special clue a tornado is about to strike. The USA decided a long time ago it was best to invest in a warning system to keep people alive. No citizen has the capacity to outwit the warning system the USA developed. It is not possible to know more than the warning system. There is no reason for human death due to tornadoes in the USA. They are a fact of life. People should be prepared to act in their best interest when the warning system sounds.

Some tornado facts to keep in mind: (click here)

• Tornadoes usually accompany thunderstorms, but not always.
• Sometimes the air is calm before a tornado hits, while in other cases it is preceded by strong, gusty winds.
• A tornado may follow sunshine or be shrouded in heavy rain and large, dark, low-lying clouds.
• The sound of a tornado has been compared to a freight train or a jet engine, but you may or may not hear such a noise before a tornado strikes.

The good news is that Mars has a history of having water. The bad news is human can't survive the journey.

I am not sure it is only water that can achieve that either. I realize there is evidence of EROSION, but, is it only water that has accomplished that erosion. Other gases can be liquid and flow at different temperatures. What does chemical analysis of ancient soils and rocks show. Does Curiosity have the capacity to carry out in depth analysis on Mars?
By Jonathan AmosScience correspondent, BBC News
The valleys, channels and deltas (click here) viewed from orbit have long been thought to be the work of water erosion, but it is Nasa's latest rover, Curiosity, that has provided the "ground truth".
Researchers report its observations of rounded pebbles on the floor of the Red planet's 150km-wide Gale Crater.
Their smooth appearance is identical to gravels found in rivers on Earth.
Rock fragments that bounce along the bottom of a stream of water will have their edges knocked off, and when these pebbles finally come to rest they will often align in a characteristic overlapping fashion.
Curiosity has pictured these features in a number of rock outcrops at the base of Gale Crater....
Deep space travel involves high levels of unshielded radiation. For as long as I can remember Goddard scientists have lectured the same message; radiation. Any lecture I have been to have stated the same thing, humans can make contraptions that can travel to the end of our solar system and probably traverse the universe, but, the solar winds and unshielded radiation will be too daunting to facilitate human space travel.
Russia's perspective is to make travel time shorter and faster to reduce EXPOSURE. That is an interesting idea, but, the reality is somewhat odd. The travel distance might be shorted and the exposure reduced, however, once the destination is reached there is the return travel AND the exposure allowed by Mars itself.
I suppose if humans are to live beyond infinity and realizing Sol will eventually nova there is reason to seek a new home far beyond our solar system, but, that requires a lot more research than any nation is conducting now. What was the name of that deep space probe? 

Voyager. It's still out there (click here)
The twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft (click here) continue exploring where nothing from Earth has flown before. In the 34th year after their 1977 launches, they each are much farther away from Earth and the Sun than Pluto. Voyager 1 and 2 are now in the "Heliosheath" - the outermost layer of the heliosphere where the solar wind is slowed by the pressure of interstellar gas. Both spacecraft are still sending scientific information about their surroundings through the Deep Space Network (DSN)....
Voyager has been one of the most prolific projects the USA has ever launched. It literally is the gift that keeps on giving beyond any anticipated life assigned to it.
Voyager is so loved by space fanatics there was a Star Trek feature film made about it. Space is a void. It doesn't stop the radio transmissions, so until the Voyagers collide with something and are destroyed I suppose they will continue to influence the way humans think about space. 
It isn't like the human venture into deep space is a completely hideous idea, but, it certainly is extreme. Perhaps the greatest gift Goddard has ever given to me was a more sincere and deeper appreciation of Earth and the gift we all have been given.
May 30, 2013

NASA’s Curiosity program (click here) has confirmed that interplanetary manned missions at speeds attainable today is not possible due to lethal space radiation. However, Russians are preparing to speed up space travel 20-fold to get to Mars and beyond.

Once again it has been confirmed, this time empirically, that space radiation would seriously endanger cosmonauts’ lives on their trip to Mars.

The Curiosity rover mission has been collecting valuable data not only after arrival to the Mars surface. Through the eight-and-a-half month cruise to Mars the probe’s sensors were collecting information about space, including radiation levels....

All I say this point is that Star Trek Transporter Rooms were well researched to include in the TV shows and movies. Transporters are about the only way humans can actually achieve deep space travel. That is fantasy and fantasy can be a place where ideas begin, however, I love a green Earth to pass on to my children.

That loyalty is not just about feeling good about the future of my children either, it is based in what will become of Earth?

One of the reasons Earth is so hot is due to it's gaseous imbalance. Some of it is pretty scary to me. There is diffusion of gas concentrations between the layers of atmosphere as the heat changes the component of our air. The question is if the Greenhouse Gas content comes down will the diffusion of any gases to upper atmospheres return to the lower atmosphere. I think that is debatable. There is significant reasons for gases to diffuse into the upper atmospheres, but, there is no real reason in physics for them to return to lower atmospheres. The Troposphere is where most gases of Earth are produced, so the diffusion upward makes sense, there is less concentration there, but, for any gases to come back to the lower atmospheres is not a given to any reason of physics.

Carbon (click here) is involved in the structure, biochemistry and nutrition of all living cells. Over the history of the planet, carbon has been naturally exchanged between the atmosphere, the ocean and terrestrial reserves. The burning of fossil fuels over the last 200 years has altered this carbon cycling, raising carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and perturbing the climate system. Could climate change, in turn, affect the ocean’s ability to store most of the Earth’s carbon? Recent research suggests that the biological uptake of carbon over large parts of the oceans is sensitive to the winds and transfer of dust....

The oceans are so hot, polluted and dense with carbon dioxide all that has to diffuse out before the atmospheric CO2 will show any movement back to normal. We just reached 400 ppm in the Troposphere. We need to stop producing greenhouse gases. Seriously.

The gaseous content of Earth I am most concerned about is WATER. H2O. If the Troposphere loses it's water content to the upper atmospheres there will be serious threats to life greater than already exists.

Video: The Post’s Juliet Eilperin talks with Kris Holderied, director of the the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Kasitsna Bay Laboratory, about the pH levels of Kachemak Bay in Alaska.

Ocean acidification is due to higher levels of CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the water. All this was predicted. This isn't a matter of discovery and "Oh, my gosh, we have real problems." This was all foretold by scientists decades ago. It was avoidable. Those in political spheres refusing to accept that reality don't care about human survival. I would think that would be obvious.

Ocean acidification emerges as a new climate threat (click here)

By Juliet Eilperin, Published: September 30, 2012

HOMER, Alaska — Kris Holderied, who directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Kasitsna Bay Laboratory, says the ocean’s increasing acidity is “the reason fishermen stop me in the grocery store.”

“They say, ‘You’re with the NOAA lab, what are you doing on ocean acidification?’ ” Holderied said. “This is a coastal town that depends on this ocean, and this bay.”...

Where is Earth's water going? Up! 

These concepts are complicated. This phenomena is not related to the sun (Sol). The ability to MEASURE the atmospheric changes are possible because of sun activity. The change that is being measured is due to greenhouse gas emissions.

One of the primary reasons, without getting into too much detail, the polar regions lend themselves to study of Earth is because it's atmosphere is shallower. The change in atmospheric layers change in less distance from Earth's surface at the polar regions. The reason for that is because of the profound cold and the effect of that cold on the gases of the atmosphere. There are other reasons, but, why get into it? It is just easier for scientists to access accurate information in these regions of Earth. We should all be grateful these scientists can find a way to do what they do.

acquired July 15, 2010

After the Sun sets on a summer evening (click here) and the sky fades to black, you may be lucky enough to see thin, wavy clouds illuminating the night, such as these seen over Billund, Denmark, on July 15, 2010. Noctilucent or polar mesospheric clouds, form at very high altitudes—between 80 and 85 kilometers (50–53 miles)—which positions them to reflect light long after the Sun has dropped below the horizon. These “night-shining” clouds are rare—rare enough that Matthew DeLand, who has been studying them for 11 years, has only seen them once in person. But the chances of seeing these elusive clouds are increasing.

DeLand, an atmospheric scientist with Science Systems and Applications Inc. and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, has found that polar mesospheric clouds are forming more frequently and becoming brighter. He has been observing the clouds in data from Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet instruments that have been flown on satellites since 1978. The graph above shows how the brightness of the clouds has changed in the Northern Hemisphere. For reasons no one fully understands, the brightness wiggles up and down in step with solar activity, with fewer clouds forming when the Sun is most active. The biggest variability is in the far north. Underlying the changes caused by the Sun, however, is a trend toward brighter clouds. The upward trend in brightness, says DeLand, reveals subtle changes in the atmosphere that may be linked to greenhouse gases....

While the Mesopheric clouds are beautiful when they are lit by the sun. While their measure is a huge achievement by Earth scientists. The fact this is happening is not a good thing. The increased migration of water to upper layers of Earth's atmosphere is a great worry. Sincerely. I would never pretend to state this was not a concern for humanity on Earth. I have dedicated too much time of my life to make light of anything that might be frivilous. None of this is frivilous. I don't lie and I love my sons and grandchildren deeply.

All this information collected and studied by these scientists IS undisputable PROOF of a dangerously warming trend of Earth effected by human activity and consumerism. Amazing humans can do this to a planet, but, there are a lot of us and growing in number everyday; what we are doing to Earth's gaseous layers matters. Greenhouse gas emissions has to stop. There is dearly no other answer.

My, my, my they want to run again.

Ann go back to the Olympics. Doesn't your horse dance in the winter or something?

May 30, 2013

Romney (click here) was viewed as an integral part of the 2012 campaign, helping to soften her husband's edges and delivering a key speech on his behalf at the Republican National Convention last summer in Tampa. Those efforts, however, did not sway women voters, who overwhelmingly chose Obama over Romney. The 20-point gender gap was the largest measured by Gallup since 1952.

Romney blamed the gender gap on the way her husband was portrayed as a "ruthless businessman" and on the "negative nature of the campaign."

"Mitt and I did everything we could," she said....

Looking ahead to the 2016 presidential race, Romney said she and her husband are "very, very partial" to his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, and hope the Wisconsin congressman makes his own White House bid.