How endearing, the FOX 5000 militia made a New Year's Resolution.

Such great Americans.

January 3, 2016

A group of militiamen (click here) on Saturday occupied the headquarters of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon in support of two brothers who are slated to report to prison on Monday on arson charges, the Oregonian newspaper reported.
"We're planning on staying here for years, absolutely," Ammon Bundy, one of the occupiers, told the newspaper via telephone.
Militia members at the refuge claimed to have as many as 150 supporters with them. The Malheur National Wildlife refuge building, federal property managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was closed for the holiday weekend.
Bundy said that while the occupiers, who included his brother Ryan Bundy, were not looking to hurt anyone, they would not rule out violence if police tried to remove them, the Oregonian reported.
The occupation came shortly after a few hundred marchers paraded through Burns, Oregon, about 50 miles (80 km) away, to protest at the prosecution of father and son Harney County ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond, who were ordered returned to prison by a federal court which ruled their original sentences were insufficient.

The Hammonds had served time after being convicted in 2012 of setting fires on public land to protect their property from wildfires....

There is a larger picture, too. Oppression has been an increasing strategy between the USA government and the American people since September 11, 2001.

...There are five ways that an "architecture of oppression" (click here) has already grown publicly and been normalized since September 11, 2001.

1. The Patriot Act
The big daddy of reactionary power grabs, (click here) the Patriot Act was put before Congress on a rare fast-track by Attorney General John Ashcroft just nine days after September 11. It was passed in a whirlwind of jingoistic fervor with only two hearings in the House and none by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) was the only senator who voted against it.
The Patriot Act made a variety of significant changes to law. It defined or redefined terrorism, domestic terrorism, cyberterrorism, and established or modified existing laws that indict those crimes. The powers of the US Attorney General and the Secret Service were expanded to eliminate barriers to investigating terrorism. Surveillance abilities were enhanced including weakening restrictions on wiretapping and other stored communications like voicemail. The power of the Treasury Department to regulate financial transactions and importantly foreign corporate or personal transactions was also broadened in an effort to crack down on financing terrorism....

The climate crisis matters.

January 1, 2016

...Human-Caused Climate Change (click here)

For a lot of people on this mountain, California's historic drought has been a glimpse of what skiing might be like with climate change.

Extreme snowboarders like Jeremy Jones began noticing the changes here as early as 2003.

A few years later, he founded a group called "Protect Our Winters," where by professional skiers and riders like him lobby Congress on climate policy and try to raise public awareness about human-caused climate change.

"If we do get to a point where we can't operate a ski area, the least of our problems is gonna be us skiers and snowboarders riding down these mountains," Jones says....

No racing here: A grassy, snowless, competition slope in Levi, Finland, in late November, when it is normally covered in snow.

25 November 2015
By Daily Mail Reporter
 
This year Scandinavia (click here) is not its frozen self, with unusually warm weather delaying the onset of winter in northern areas normally decked in white. 
 
The lack of snow has been bad news for winter sports — World Cup ski races have been dropped, or held on artificial snow, and mountain ski resorts are unable to open.
There are even reports of bird song and blooming gardens in some places typically entering the winter freeze at this time of year.

'Some flowers, like roses, have actually begun to blossom for a second time,' said Mats Rosenberg, a biologist in Orebro, south-central Sweden. 
 

Weather experts say this autumn is on track to become one of the warmest on record in northern Scandinavia, where the start of winter has been delayed by more than a month in certain locations....

"Black Lives Matter" successfully let the malpractice of a prosecutor be known.

Protesters gather to demand that Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty not be relected in March. Photograph: Afi Scruggs for the Guardian 

January 1, 2016

Anger over the decision (click here) not to charge the police officers involved in the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland has reached the neighborhood of the prosecutor who handled the case.
Holding pictures of Tamir and wearing signs declaring “Fire McGinty”, about 100 protesters marked New Year’s Day by marching to the home of Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty. Once there, they lay prostrate on the sidewalk for four minutes: the time the boy lay unattended after he was shot on 23 November 2014.
The message was clear: McGinty must not be re-elected.
“It’s very important for the community to understand that we are doing a rally cry, and vote McGinty out of office,” said Latonya Goldsby, Tamir’s cousin and the spokesman for his family....

Prosecutor and Judges should not be elected. They should be confirmed by state legislatures after being nominated by Governors. Malpractice is a reason for impeachment. Malpractice can be litigated by the federal government.

Injustice should not be possible due to a prosecutor favoring a particular outcome. 

The prosecutors are scared of increasing crime if police officers are successfully brought to justice. That is enforcing oppression as a method of law enforcement which increases victimization. USA law enforcement is using oppression as a strategy? That is astounding and has to be addressed.

So, let me get this right. It is necessary, once in awhile, to kill a black man as an example of effective law enforcement. That is the equivalent of a hanging in the public square. 

IF THERE IS AN INCREASE in crime after a police officer is successfully prosecuted, then the law enforcement police never had an effective method in the first place.

If oppression is the only method for law enforcement to decrease crime statistics, then our democracy is lost. To realize law enforcement is defending oppression as a method creates the opportunity for corruption.

The "Black Lives Matter" movement need to organize with more sophisticated messages. I understand the outrage of injustice at the deaths of innocent black men, however, the messages by an organized minority movement has to be sophisticated and concise. Sorry, if that seems racist in itself, but, a nation of people have to hear a clear message to end this violence against innocent black men. In particular, Tamir was a child. 

What is the possibility a Caucasian or Hispanic child could be a victim? Tamir was the victim. He and his family are entitled to victim rights. The death of this child cannot be ignored as a profound problem with law enforcement.

One other thing. The DEFINITION Law enforcement statistics should be standardized and reported regularly. In Chicago, we witnessed manipulation of statistics through a shifting baseline of definitions. So, in the USA there is every reason to believe crime statistics are grossly inaccurate and prove nothing. The people of the USA have no idea of what crime actually looks like.

I would think inaccurate police statistics would relax the demand of citizens for more guns in their hands. Very odd. That hasn't happened. The increase of demand for guns in the USA provides a very clear picture of a real disconnect between the reporting of any reduction in crime rates and demand for guns. 

It seems to me the groups seeking responsible policies and laws for guns, need to have a resource regarding accurate crime statistics and a campaign to the TEACH the American people they are far safer than ever realized before. Even realizing the gun statistics in the USA are manipulated for political purposes does not negate the view that there is a real disconnect between crime statistics and guns. 

In examining 'the surge' for gun and ammunition purchases after mass shootings is bizarre to the reality of such crimes. If we are to believe the survivor of the WDBJ murders, Vicki Gardner, in that response to such attacks disabled by the surprise of the violence; then the increase of sales of guns after such attacks is meaningless. "The response" comes after the realization of the gun and it will always be late. There will always be deaths. The 'surprise' of the presence of the gun is the enemy. 

Currently, the only response that works is assaulting the murderer between changing of the gun clips. That can be documented. The idea a victim would no longer be a victim if they were concealed carry is a myth to mass shootings. The only effective way to minimize and end gun violence is control the opportunity to access of a gun.

Realizing the facts about mass murders and concealed carry is a myth, the messaging of the gun groups has been propaganda for sale and endangers lives. People are dying in gun violence in the USA for gun profits due to the fear generated by propaganda.

It is treason. Saudi Arabia has been experiencing the Arab Spring. It is war.

January 2, 2016
by Alastair Jamieson and Charlene Gubash

The Middle East (click here) was braced for sectarian violence Saturday after Saudi Arabia said it had executed 47 prisoners, including a prominent Shia cleric who had organized anti-government protests.
There were warnings of a backlash against the ruling Al Saud family after Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was named on list of prisoners carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
Al-Nimr was a central figure in protests that erupted in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring, and his execution may spark new unrest among the oil powerhouse's Shia minority.
Scores marched through Nimr's home district of Qatif shouting "down with the Al Saud" and, in the neighboring country of Bahrain, police fired tear gas at several dozen people who gathered to protest the news, the Associated Press reported. 

The King has every right protect the country. Below is a video showing the clash between a well armed Saudi Arabia and the Houthis rebels. It is wrong for Iran to continue to support violence. Iranian shipments of munitions have been intercepted. 

These outbreaks of war across the middle east only provides opportunity for Daesh. Iran's support of the Houthis provides for destabilizing in the region. Iran has an interest in ending the opportunity for Daesh. Iran is just as susceptible to instability as any other country. 

Iran should be seeking peace initiatives to bring not just stability, but, survival of the Shia. Iran has a purpose for it's sovereignty. In that sovereignty lies a far greater purpose to end the violence and save the lives of the Shia.

If I recall, don't USA tanks usually fight in a column and not as a single unit in conflict with a handful of rebels? It looks as though Saudi Arabia could use some advice. It is swatting at flies by allowing single tanks to attempt to end scattered rebel groups. The rebels would be forced to fight as a unit if the tanks were together and carrying out successful movement across the region. Minimizing the scattering of rebels provides for a real front that can end any idea of guerrilla attacks. The rebels cannot conduct a real war, so much as an opportunistic war. End the opportunities for violence.

With a war front, the Yemeni military (if there is such a thing) can come from behind to isolate the rebels along that front.

 

Homelessness in China is legal. Chinese citizens have protection from the police.

December 31, 2015
By Javier C. Hernandez

Beijing — He woke (click here) to the cry of the morning janitor. “Put your shoes on!” she said. “Put your shoes on!” She rattled a chair. “This isn’t your house! Sit up!"

Ding Xinfeng’s eyes blinked open. Dawn had yet to break, but inside a 24-hour McDonald’s restaurant in central Beijing, more than a dozen homeless people had begun their daily routines.

Mr. Ding lifted his head, revealing a mess of food stains and decorative slogans on the table in front of him. “Wake up every morning with the thought that something wonderful is about to happen,” one read.

Mr. Ding could not read the English, but he said he liked the warmth of this table, in this corner, in the peace of McDonald’s, the place he had called home for several years....

In the USA, Homeless people are arrested for lingering to long. In some cities like Albuquerque, New Mexico; the homeless human beings are litigated to be dangerous and requiring the SWAT squad.

China is a communist country. I am a little surprised there are homeless in their cities. But, that aside, the COMPASSION of a communist country screams superiority over democracies.

In the USA, the homeless are automatically derelict the very moment they find themselves on the street. The people, including children, are not just derelict, but, disturbed and dangerous. That is the difference between a communist country and one dominated by Wall Street's plutocrats.

James Boyd never had a chance. He was lied to as he knew he was a dead man. The police lied that they would allow him to come out in the open and proceed out of his resting place. They lied to him. It is completely obvious he was going to be murdered right from the beginning.

This murder was not the ONLY killing. Demonstrators had finally succeeded to get their message out and the federal government began their investigation. At the point James Boyd was murdered there were more than 20 people that had come to the same outcome. If Albuquerque, New Mexico built shelters and provided meals with the decriminalizing of homelessness it would have saved over twenty lives and provided a far more moral profile of the city.

Cenk Uygur "...that is not what we are suppose to do to each other."

The talking head generals are out in full strength today. Every hour there is propaganda pumped out of absolutely nothing. They PRETEND to know what is going on in any activity questionably construed as "...a terrorist attack..." We haven't got details from news conferences within these countries, BUT, of course the talking heads are omnipotent.

I saw a rather revealing interview by Bryce Williams regarding guns. He interviewed the SURVIVOR of the attack at WDBJ. She described exactly why these attacks have a degree of success. Basically, we are a people that carry a peace at our core. The gunman(s) have the advantage and it is surprise. Today, in Israel the gunman, one person, (lone wolf) was hiding behind a curtain waiting for the exact moment he could kill innocent people.

Vicki Gardner (click here) graphically described a violent scene whereby two dear journalists were killed for absolutely no reason at all. The gunman was troubled and carried out retribution of people not responsible for the change in direction of his life. It was senseless.

The interview reveals a great deal about how completely vulnerable Americans are in these attacks. The attacks are so abrupt there isn't time to react. Even if these people were armed they would not have the 'presence of mind' to reach for a weapon.

The only real way of protecting people from violence is to limit the access to military style guns, prevent and make illegal modification kits that turn legal guns into automatic weapons, require small ammo clips (we know for a fact gunmen are stopped when changing their clips) and require strong background checks. The turn around time for the background check has to be three WORKING DAYS or more.

The gunman at Mother Emanuel was armed with a weapon he purchased legally, but, he timed his purchase to take place on days that were not WORKING DAYS and under the wire. He had recently fallen into circumstances that would have denied him the right to purchase. I believe he decided to carry out his killing promise, to at least himself, because he was worried about being detected and approached by police.

If the background checks were to take place on WORKING DAYS ONLY the current standard would be improved. It is easy to see how gun manufacturers and their lobbyists work to EXCLUDE safety margins for people. They put the availability of guns first rather than admitting that background checks that count the weekend and holidays as valid times to qualify is nothing CORRUPTION. The entire concept completely puts the public at risk and the gun lobbyists didn't care about that for one minute. Lives were to be sacrificed for profits. The profits of the gun industry and their lobbyist organizations have placed Americans in direct fire of people unable or unwilling to give up their hatred.

Background Checks can only be done on WORKING DAYS, not weekends or holidays. Thank the gun industry for the deaths by madman in the USA. They are directly responsible.

Happy New Year to everyone in the world. New Years is an event that is global. It is essentially the same as Earth Hour. It happens to all of us. 

Happy New Year, Germany!

I love that the government was able to keep everyone safe. That was the best New Years' celebration I've ever heard.

The California drought will be stubborn for the reasons the article states.

The ground will soak up the snowpack as it melts before there will be runoff. It all is a very easy to understand concept.Would droughted land simply repel water or first soak it up? That is physics. Okay? We are all on the same page with this? 

December 30, 2015

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. (KCRA) —Results (click here) from Wednesday's first snowpack survey of the season provided some good news for Californians during the ongoing drought.

The California Department of Water Resources said the measurement put the Sierra snowpack at Phillips Station in El Dorado County, which is at 6,800 feet, at 136 percent of average for this time of year. The water content is at 16.3 inches and snow depth is just under 5 feet.

"This location this time of year we’re at 136 percent, which is encouraging but obviously not where we’d like to be," Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program. "This is clearly much better than it was last year at this time."

However statewide, the snowpack stands at 105 percent of average.

"A good part of this snowpack is going to essentially soak into the ground before we start to see it as runoff," Gehrke said. "The problem we’ve had in the last couple of years – we might start off ok and then it justs shuts off - literally shuts off."...

Thank you for this. Sincerely appreciated. The truth is more valuable than politics. This is about all of us, not politicians. This should never have been made into a political dialogue.

Clockwise from top left: Flooding in Straiton, Scotland, on Wednesday; haze in Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, in October; flooding in Horry County, S.C., in October; drought in South Australia in November. 
Credit Danny Lawson/Press Association, via AP; Haris Sadikin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images; Janet Blackmon Morgan/The Sun News, via AP; David Gray/Reuters

December 30, 2015
By Justin Gillis

...But that natural pattern of variability is not the whole story. (click here) This El Niño, one of the strongest on record, comes atop a long-term heating of the planet caused by mankind’s emissions of greenhouse gases. A large body of scientific evidence says those emissions are making certain kinds of extremes, such as heavy rainstorms and intense heat waves, more frequent.

Coincidence or not, every kind of trouble that the experts have been warning about for years seems to be occurring at once.

“As scientists, it’s a little humbling that we’ve kind of been saying this for 20 years now, and it’s not until people notice daffodils coming out in December that they start to say, ‘Maybe they’re right,’ ” said Myles R. Allen, a climate scientist at Oxford University in Britain.

Dr. Allen’s group, in collaboration with American and Dutch researchers, recently completed a report calculating that extreme rainstorms in the British Isles in December had become about 40 percent more likely as a consequence of human emissions. That document — inspired by a storm in early December that dumped stupendous rains, including 13 inches on one town in 24 hours — was barely finished when the skies opened up again....

Let me get this right.

December 30, 2015
By WSJ "Spy v Spy"

When President Obama's national security team (click here) signaled after his 2008 election that they wanted the NSA to keep giving the White House intelligence on foreign "leadership intentions," that included the fruits of electronic surveillance of Israeli leaders along with the heads of other U.S. allies. When Obama curtailed the use of eavesdropping on friendly leaders in 2013 after NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed this closely guarded program, Obama decided to keep on closely monitoring the communications of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing "interviews with more than two dozen current and former U.S. intelligence and administration officials."...

The USA is holding high level diplomatic talks with allies and foreign powers in China and Russia and the USA is suppose to allow Israel to spy on them?

I don't think so. 

The paranoia within the Netanyahu administration is ridiculous. President Obama has afforded Israel every aspect of military munitions and hardware it wanted in anticipation of talks with Iran. He wanted to make a gesture to Israel, its security was most important to the USA and no talks with Iran will compromise that. Even with all those reassurances, Netanyahu kicked sand in the face of the President by grand standing his political agenda on the floor of a joint meeting of the US Congress. 

This isn't the first time Israel has spied on the USA. (click here)

The United States is reportedly close to agreeing to release an American named Jonathan Pollard, who was convicted of spying for Israel in 1987. If he is released, it would be part of an effort to breathe life into the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and would likely be accompanied by Israel releasing prisoners of its own and agreeing to stop building some settlements in the West Bank. Pollard was paid in cash for the American documents he gave Israel in the ‘80s, which were said to have compromised national security and exposed intelligence methods....

Perhaps it was wrong to allow Israel to believe it has a friend in President Obama and Jonathan Pollard should still be in prison?

The argument the political right wing is making regarding Israel is that the NSA didn't stop collecting information on Israel after Edward Snowden released information that indicted the NSA collecting meta data of every American. 

Excuse me? Since when is Edward Snowden a friend of the political right wing of the USA or Israel? The political right wing of both countries wants to try Edward Snowden for treason. Hello? Edward? Come home, the USA right wing is the only group that wants you tried for treason and no surprise here, it is for politics. This proves when it is convenient for the political right wing to embrace Edward Snowden they'll do it. I think in political standards it is called a 'flip-flop.'

No, no, Israel is not getting away with this. I want a full investigation to the leaks that could have compromised the safety of the high level diplomats of all parties. A very successful treaty with Iran was garnered in the face of those that hate and embrace war. 

Here we go again. Netanyahu is as extreme as they come. He has victimized school girls and wants to exile Israeli Arabs.

31 December 2015
By AP in Jerusalem

Israeli police (click here) have questioned the wife of the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, over her alleged inflated household spending – the latest in a string of accusations that have led critics to portray the first couple as a petty pair who improperly use state funds to subsidise an excessive lifestyle.
The questions are expected to focus on whether Sara Netanyahu used state funds to finance maintenance work and new furniture for the couple’s private home in the exclusive coastal city of Caesarea. She may also be asked whether she or the state paid for the nursing care of her late father.
Israeli media reported the questioning, and cameras posted outside the police station showed her car arriving. Police declined to comment.
The investigation follows a report by the official watchdog that detailed large sums of public money the couple spent. Last week, Israeli media reported that the Netanyahus asked for public funds to cover the cost of food for a dog they adopted, called Kaiya, which bit two guests at the PM’s Hanukkah party earlier in December....

It is an easily recognized pattern. The same thing happened to Olmert. When Israel's Prime Minister acts as a dictator rather than a representative of the Israel people, it won't be tolerated. 

The USA needs to investigate the leaks involved in the Iran Non-Proliferation Agreement. The NSA hasn't ended it's program yet and Americans are still compromised. We are compromised and still the victims of violence that is suppose to be prevented because of the NSA program.

The USA has had enough of the extremist Republican agenda.

US Rep. Ron DeSantis of Florida (click here), a member of the FOX Neil Cavuto Team, states it doesn't matter what the standard was when Secretary Clinton typed the emails. He stated he is going to ask the FBI to read through every email and decide if it should have been classified at the time Secretary Clinton wrote them. DeSantis never read the 5000 plus emails, but, the FBI should.

It doesn't matter what the progression was to classified status, Secretary Clinton should have worn her clairvoyant hat when she was writing her emails. 

This is a hideous standard for a US Congressman. He is playing politics with the FBI. It isn't enough the State Department went through a great deal of SERVICE to the country to read the emails and determine whether or not there is CURRENTLY a known standard to classify the emails.

This is nonsense. This is politics and it should not be rewarded. The US State Department stated in the most recent batch of emails released none were classified at the time of Secretary Clinton's SERVICE to the country. 

The Florida Representative is also complaining the State Department has taken far too long to release them regardless of the volume. Whatever the volume of emails there should have been dedicated state department staff to carry out the demands of the Republican extremists.

FOX's "The Five" state "Black Lives Matter" is a political movement. ??? Yes, it's political because black men are dying that are suppose to die. The African American committee is working to change that reality. The methods of "Black Lives Matter" is political, but, their reality is starkly real. Stating "It's political," as if that is the only character the movement has is wrong.

"The Five" will play black artists as among their favorites, but, they won't have those same artists on their shows to discuss "Black Lives Matter." That is the solution of propagandists such as FOX News; there definition of involvement with the community is completely superficial. But, in all fairness to them; they are superficial about most things.

I don't know how Juan Williams does it. He is something like the third or fourth staff member with left leanings to hold that seat to make "The Five" a correct title rather than "The Four."

Happy New Year, everyone.

2015 was not a good year for Earth.

December 18, 2015

Global temperatures (click here) have already smashed records this year, and now meteorologists are warning 2016 will be even hotter.
The annual global temperature forecast from the Met Office suggests 2016 will be between 0.72C and 0.95C above the long-term average of 14°C.
Man-made global warming, along with a smaller effect from the natural El Niño phenomenon in the Pacific, are expected to push temperatures towards record levels next year.
Professor Chris Folland, from the UK's Met Office, said: "2015 is on track to be the warmest year on record, and this forecast suggests 2016 is likely to be as warm, if not warmer."

\

See what happens when he gets out of the White House and among the people?

January 1, 2016
By Megan Cassella

Washington: US President Barack Obama (click here) is expected to announce executive actions expanding background checks on gun sales, media outlets reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with White House proposals and planning.
The changes, which could come as soon as next week, would include requiring more small-scale gun sellers to be licensed and to conduct a background check whenever selling a weapon, Politico reported....

Happy New Year, President Obama.

That is a farm at the base of the tornado. Luckily the tornado landed a short distance from the farm and not on top of it.

James' winning photo of the rare cyclone in Colorado earlier this year. Photo: James Young

December 31, 2015

By Ebony Bowden

A Melbourne man (click here) who picked up a camera just five years ago has won the National Geographic 2015 photo contest.
James Smart, from Balwyn, beat more than 13,000 entries to take out the prestigious competition with his photo of a tornado in Colorado.

The 30-year-old said he entered the competition not even knowing what the prize was – a handsome $US10,000 and a trip to National Geographic's headquarters in Washington.

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Smart, a freelance satellite operator, picked up a camera just five years ago while on holiday in Europe and said he couldn't believe he had won.
"I was surprised, that's for sure. I didn't think I'd win at all to be honest. I didn't even know what the prize was," he said....

Congratulations to James Smart and his brave resolve to photograph this rare phenomena. Interesting though, there is a great deal of rare and record setting events now that Earth is hotter than it ever should be.

This event was well documented. This picture of the storm appeared in The Washington Post.

This phenomenal storm, with two tornadoes spinning simultaneously, was photographed late last week near Simla, Colo. (Kelly DeLay)


June 8, 2015
By Angela Fritz

...Many different photos (click here) and videos of this storm have been shared, and it does seem that one of the tornadoes was rotating anticyclonically — or clockwise — which is a pretty rare occurrence. Just like mid-latitude cyclones and hurricanes, tornadoes in the Northern Hemisphere tend to rotate counter-clockwise, along with their parent thunderstorms, because of the rotation of the Earth and the Coriolis effect.

But every once in a while, a tornado will buck that rule, according to leading tornado researcher and director of the Center for Severe Weather Research Josh Wurman. “Anticyclonic tornadoes can form if a supercell contains an anticyclonic mesocyclone,” said Wurman. “Or, a pair of tornadoes, one cyclonic, one anticyclonic, can form. Both of these are rare.”...


The picture Mr. Smart took was of a tornado that exhibited it's unique characteristics for a very brief time.

This storm in the far North Atlantic is the same storm that caused two tornado outbreaks and widespread flooding in the United States. Photo / earth.nullschool.net

December 31, 2015

A powerful winter cyclone (click here) - the same storm that lead to two tornado outbreaks in the United States and disastrous river flooding - has driven the North Pole to the freezing point this week, 50 degrees above average for this time of year.
From Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning, a mind-boggling pressure drop was recorded in Iceland: 54 millibars in just 18 hours. This triples the criteria for "bomb" cyclogenesis, which meteorologists use to describe a rapidly intensifying mid-latitude storm. A "bomb" cyclone is defined as dropping one millibar per hour for 24 hours.
NOAA's Ocean Prediction Center said the storm's minimum pressure dropped to 928 millibars around 1 a.m. Eastern time, which likely places it in the top five strongest storms on record in this region.
"According to the center's records, the all-time strongest storm in this area occurred on Dec. 15, 1986, and that had a minimum central pressure of 900 millibars," Mashable's Andrew Freedman reported on Tuesday....
 

If the artic ocean rises in temperature enough it could release what is now frozen methane.

December 1, 2015
The rate of ice growth  (click here) for the first half of November 2015 was quite rapid, but the pace of ice growth slowed during the second half of the month, only to increase again at the end of the month. Throughout the month, sea ice extent remained within two standard deviations of the 1981 to 2010 average....

Growth in sea ice is more attributed to warmer temperatures at work with resultant formations less than solid ice. The variations in November 2015 may be connected to waxing and waning temperature events over the North American and Northern Asia continents. There were extended frigid temperatures in Siberia. The release of frigid temperatures from the Arctic Ocean due to warmer ocean waters explains the decrease in air masses temperatures that descended to lower latitudes.

December 30, 2015
By Roginson Meyer

The sun (click here) has not risen above the North Pole since mid-September. The sea ice — flat, landlike, windswept, and stretching as far as the eye can see—has been bathed in darkness for months.
But later this week, something extraordinary will happen: Air temperatures at the Earth’s most northernly region, in the middle of winter, will rise above freezing for only the second time on record.
On Wednesday, the same storm system that last week spun up deadly tornadoes in the American southeast will burst into the far north, centering over Iceland. It will bring strong winds and pressure as low as is typically seen during hurricanes.
That low pressure will suck air out of the planet’s middle latitudes and send it rushing to the Arctic. And so on Wednesday, the North Pole will likely see temperatures of about 35 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2 degrees Celsius. That’s 50 degrees hotter than average: It’s usually 20 degrees Fahrenheit below zero there at this time of year....

Solargraphs or solargraphics or solarigraphics are photographs people had never seen before.

December 23, 2015
Photographer states, "Looking towards Dunball wharf, the wharf is mainly used to deliver sand dredged from the Bristol Channel, Pinhole size 0.5mm.

The photographer states "Solargraphy: (click here) 5 months."

With all the renewed discussion of an arctic methane blast, I though this might be interesting.

Below is the River Parrett on a good day in 2013.

Published on Jul 1, 2013

Paul Hamilton visits the River Parrett, Thorney, Somerset (tel: 01935 824337, SAT NAV: TA12 6AE) for the Angler's Mail Where To Fish section. Fees have now risen to £15 for the year.

I take it the Missouri Governor aleady called out the National Guard.

It isn't as though the floods are a maybe because the storm arrived. We know the Mississippi River is going to flood beyond anyone's imagination. The states down stream need to issue emergency declarations and harness readiness with their National Guard.

December 29, 2015
Missouri River floods at St. Charles riverfront.

By Reuters

Dec 30 (Reuters) - Rain-swollen rivers (click here) rose across Missouri on Wednesday with widespread flooding forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people, closing parts of a major interstate highway and threatening to wash out scores of structures.
At least 13 people have died in Missouri since the weekend, when days of downpours from a massive winter storm system triggered the state's worst flooding in two decades, Governor Jay Nixon said.
Nixon called the flooding "very historic and dangerous" and urged motorists not to drive into movie water. A dozen of the deaths in Missouri were due to people driving into flooded areas, Nixon told CNN on Wednesday.
Several major rivers, including the Mississippi, and tributaries in Missouri and Illinois were poised to crest at record levels, the National Weather Service said, but parts of the region already are inundated....