Thunderstorms, hail may hit this evening

June 18, 2008
0030z
UNISYS Enhanced Infrared GOES East Satellite (12 hour loop click here)

There is also a 'hot spot' off the east coast of North Carolina.


June 17, 2008
0015z
UNISYS Infrared Satellite of Northeast (12 hour loop click here)

The rotation system over the Great Lakes extends to the Eastern Seaboard.


June 16, 2008
Canton, Massachusetts
Photographer states :: boston costline as the storm comes in

June 16, 2008 12:55 PM
By Globe Staff
A cold front rumbling east may bring violent thunderstorms to metropolitan Boston early this evening, creating the potential for large hail and winds that could reach 25 to 35 miles per hour.
A hazardous weather outlook is in effect for all of Southern New England, with the greatest likelihood for thunderstorms in Western and Central Massachusetts. There is the potential that some intense, scattered storms may produce large hail and down tree limbs after 4 p.m. in Lawrence, Fall River, and Boston. However, the low clouds and fog over the coast may take some of the bite out of the storm, reducing the threat of thunder and lighting to simple rain.
"The rest of the week we are going to have this unsettled, showery kind of pattern," said Charlie Foley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton.
The long-term forecast shows a chance of rain and thunderstorms every day this week.


County weathers outages, flooding (click here)
By Amy Carr, Berkshire Eagle Staff
Article Last Updated: 06/17/2008 08:01:51 AM EDT
Tuesday, June 17A severe thunderstorm barreled across the county yesterday, causing power outages and flooding, and toppling trees.
An estimated 1,000 residents in Lenox lost power for a brief period as the storm caused a small fire on the top of a utility pole on East Street, according to National Grid spokeswoman Amy Atwood. The fire was quickly put out, and power was restored in under five minutes.
Outages were reported throughout the county by Western Massachusetts Electric Co. As of press time, according to the WMECO Web site, the following number of customers were without power: Becket, 1; Dalton, 48; Hinsdale, 3; Lanesborough, 45; Lee, 3; Otis, 30; Pittsfield, 53; and Windsor, 1.
According to the National Weather Service in Albany, the thunderstorm brought periods of large hail, high wind gusts and rain totaling 1 to 2 inches.
More than 2,500 customers were without electricity after severe thunderstorms rolled through eastern New York, knocking down trees and power lines and pelting some areas with popcorn-size hail. Hail fell in the Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse areas as well as the Hudson Valley.
Pittsfield Police reported downed wires and trees resulting from the storm. Wires fell at 356 Wahconah St., but the scene was quickly cleared by police. The wind toppled trees at the intersection of Peck's Road and Dan Casey Memorial Drive, on Cheshire Road and at Oak Hills Apartments on Crane Avenue....

Does anyone recognize this facility? One might notice the river nearby. (Note facility at end of entry.)

What would happen if Katrina arrived over Iowa?

June 15, 2008
Alexandria, Missouri
Photographer states :: From the bridge at the IA/MO state line it does not look like much is left.

This picture below was very interesting to me.
This cloud formation is not unusual to me.
It is obviously a 'rotation system.'
However, it is remarkably similar to that of a hurricane.
Those periphery clouds are similar to those that have arrived previous to any hurricane over Wrightsville Beach, NC. The clouds are frequently larger and longer, but, very similar in formation.
Considering the high winds and the high rain events, the 'lack' of Atlantic storms there might be a climate change. What literally might be occurring are 'land based hurricanes.' High temperature along with high moisture content where Arctic and Equatorial air meet could conceivably spawn the dynamics on a 'mini-scale' of what is normally found over warm Atlantic Ocean waters.
After all, hurricanes occur over surface waters, not deep ocean currents. Where those dynamics can be mimicked over land, why shouldn't there be the manifestation of similar content?


June 15, 2008
Anderson, Indiana
Photographer states :: This was a wind event that knocked out our power for about 3 hours.


Floods in Iowa (click here). Previous to the flooding, the land was somewhat parched. Within the last year, Iowa was impacted by drought (click here). However, with the floods, the lack of drought means little as the 'agricultural' planting season is ending. Some of the most productive agricultural land in the USA is in Iowa, Indiana and Illinois.


June 17, 2008
2230z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of North and West Hemisphere (click here for 12 hour loop)


June 17, 2008
2230z
Water Vapor Satellite of USA and Southern Canada (click here)


Floods in Indiana, Illinois (click here) - the change from May 28, 2008 and June 10, 2008 in satellite images from NASA.

One might ask, "What happened to all the tornadoes?"

Well, the rains were an equivalent to 'cooling.' The weather pattern has 'calmed down' a bit because Mid-Continent is currently cooler than before. Once the surface waters 'run off' and 'burn off;' the storms and tornadoes could begin again.

The 'interim' coolness provides a wider 'band' of area between Arctic cold air and Equatorial hot air. There is however a forming vortex forming at the USA - Canada border near the Great Lakes which illustrates still a disparity in 'stable' tropospheric conditions.


Above is the map illustrating all the guages of the USA.
143 Locations in Flood (click here)
Of concern is the current record at Morgan City, Louisiana which is currently recording 4.88 feet above flood stage (click here).


The Cresting Waters of the Mississippi River System (click here)

NRC Monitoring Unusual Event at Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant (click here)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region III office in Lisle, Illinois, has activated its Incident Response Center to monitor an Unusual Event declared at the Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant triggered by the loss of three major sources of telecommunications at the station due to rising floodwaters. The plant, operated by FPL Energy, is located in Palo, Iowa.
The plant is in a stable condition at 100 percent power. There have been no unplanned radioactive releases. State and local officials have been informed.
The commercial telephone lines, the federal telephone system and the microwave communication system were lost due to flooding in the area of the plant. Communications with the NRC and other local, state and federal agencies are currently maintained though the use of satellite phones and cellular phones....


Duane Arnold Nuclear Power Facility (click here).
From every indication I can see, this is a matter of a minor chance of flooding disaffecting the facility. It is a 'zero' elevation above the river. There is no flood protections for the facility.

When the Federal Government states 'There is no such thing as Global Warming and Carbon Dixoide could never be a toxic gas,' this is the type of LACK OF PREPAREDNESS the nation faces due to lack of funding and realistic research to PROVIDE the USA with a workable HOMELAND SECURITY for it's NATIONAL DEFENSE !

Recognizing National Emergencies BEFORE they happen is key to a strong National Defense. Hello? Disregarding science is NOT an option so much as a 'theology.'


Flooding around the state (click title to entry - thank you)

...PALO: A small army of volunteers filled sandbags here Tuesday as they braced for record flooding on the Cedar River that threatens to engulf about four-fifths of this Linn County town of 900. Levels are expected to exceed 1993 flooding.

Jo Ellen Marconi, a single mother of twins, feverishly worked until 5 a.m. Tuesday trying to move her computer and other property from the lower level of her three-level home.

"Everybody here is concerned. They say it is the worst in 50 years. I don't know what to expect," Marconi said.

The Duane Arnold Nuclear Energy Center, Iowa's only nuclear power plant, is located in Palo, about nine miles northwest of Cedar Rapids. Linn County Sheriff Donald Zeller said the nuclear plant is not in danger of being flooded and the plant has made preparations to ensure there will be sufficient workers to safely operate the facility....

Mike has got a great message today. The future President Obama is seeking to revitalize the auto industry. Nice.

..."Not only is it impossible to turn back the tide of globalization, but efforts to do so can make us worse off," the Illinois senator told a crowd of more than 1,000 at Kettering University in Flint that cheered loudly when he talked of his plans for universal health insurance, grants for students to attend college and more support for research and development....

Obama: Auto industry must look to fuel-efficient vehicles (click here)
May 7, 2007
BY COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press
DETROIT -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Monday that U.S. energy policy must change in order to help domestic automakers answer the rising global demand for fuel-efficient vehicles.
''For years, while foreign competitors were investing in more fuel-efficient technology for their vehicles, American automakers were spending their time investing in bigger, faster cars,'' the Illinois senator told Detroit business and political leaders.
Obama said his plan encourages domestic automakers to make fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles by giving them health care assistance for retirees. Federal financial assistance would cover 10 percent -- up to $7 billion -- of automakers' annual legacy health care costs through 2017, under Obama's plan, which would require automakers to invest at least half of their health care savings into technology to produce fuel-efficient cars.
As a second choice, Obama's plan would provide $3 billion to automakers over 10 years to help retool plants to make fuel-efficient cars and trucks....

...and the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer...Was McCain a member of Cheney's Energy Committee? Just curious.

McCain: Lift the ban on offshore oil drilling (click here)

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Sen. John McCain said Monday the federal moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling should be lifted, and individual states given the right to pursue energy exploration in waters near their own coasts.
With gasoline prices rising and the United States chronically dependent on foreign oil, the Republican presidential contender said his proposal would "be very helpful in the short term resolving our energy crisis."
McCain also suggested giving the states incentives, including a greater share of royalties paid by companies that drill for oil, as an incentive to permit exploration.
Asked how far offshore states should be given control of drilling rights, he said that was a matter for negotiation....

"Alaskans want to drill for oil..."

But.

McCain, the "Federalist" opposes drilling in the Arctic. However, McCain will say States have the right to determine whether they drill or not.

How does a Federalist that oppose drilling in the Arctic CONTROL 'one state' that is Alaska from drilling in the Arctic?

It isn't possible. If all bans are removed from drilling offshore, there is no discriminating between states. McCain does not have good policies so much as good politics.

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Cyrstal Wind Chime) is warmer and warmer by the day:

Bush and British PM focus on Iraq (click here for video). Let's hope they continue to focus on issues of The Middle East and promoting PEACE rather than inflammatory international conditions that 'aid terrorists' while destabilizing international infrastructure.

BP's Russian partnership turns sour (click here)
BP's reputation in Russia came under withering attack yesterday when the billionaire oligarch at the centre of a row over the company's troubled Russian joint venture accused BP of "arrogance" and Nazi-style behaviour.
Mikhail Fridman said the oil venture TNK-BP had performed "dismally" since BP took a 50% stake in the company in 2003. Fridman owns half of the venture with three other oligarchs.
He also implicitly compared BP's chairman Peter Sutherland to Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda chief. Sutherland last week suggested that Fridman and the other Russian shareholders were trying to grab control of TNK-BP, in a 1990s style corporate raid. Asked whether he planned to usurp BP, Fridman told the business daily Vedomosti: "That's in the best tradition of Goebbels propaganda." Fridman insisted he was not a "typical cash-grabbing oligarch"....

ANOTHER OIL WAR IN THE MAKING !!!

BP accuses Russian tycoons of corporate raid attempt on TNK-BP (click here)
MOSCOW, June 12 (RIA Novosti) - British oil major BP said on Thursday that the Russian tycoons owning half of oil venture TNK-BP are attempting a corporate raid on the company, and that the Kremlin is failing to stop them.
Earlier in the day the Russian shareholders in TNK-BP, Russia's third-largest oil company, said they would start legal proceedings against BP, reportedly over management and strategy issues.
BP Chairman Peter Sutherland told reporters in Stockholm: "It is unfortunately a much simpler dispute over control, and perhaps ultimately ownership of the company."
"This is just a return to the corporate raiding activities that were prevalent in Russia in the 1990s." ...


Dark Green - Ratified
Light Green - Signed, but not yet ratified
Grat - Did not sign

Ratifying the "Law of the Sea" by the USA would eliminate any confrontation. It is a treaty. The USA plays with being responsible by signing the treaty, no different than Kyoto, but simply doesn't have the 'backbone' to ratify treaties, just 'in case' the Neocons can instigate still another crony war. That's Republicans for you.


The Trouble Makers of the USA are arrogant (click title to entry) and 'enforce' the idea that 'any conflict will do.' Those are the Neocons for you.

...Last month at the Arctic Ocean Conference (AOC) in Ilulissat, Greenland, high-level diplomats from the United States and the other four nations that border the Arctic region--Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Russia--met to discuss territorial claims regarding the Arctic Circle. At the conclusion of the meeting, the five countries issued a joint statement declaring that, "[b]y virtue of their sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in large areas of the Arctic Ocean," each nation was in a unique position to address the exploitation of natural resources in the Arctic....

Russian Strategic Bombers Fly Routine Patrol Over The Arctic (click here)

..."Two Tu-95 bombers have started a regular patrol flight over remote areas of the Arctic," Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik said. "The aircraft will perform a variety of tasks, including midair refueling from two Il-78 aerial tankers based at the Dyagilevo airbase [also in central Russia]."...

An F-15C Eagle from the 12th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base flies next to a Russian Tu-95 Bear Bomber during a Russian exercise Sept. 28, which brought the Bear near the west coast of Alaska. The Eagle took off as part of North American Aerospace Defense Command’s reaction to this training opportunity provided by the Russian 137th Air Army.



Elevation :: 33 ft / 10 m

Local Time: 12:56 PM AKDT

Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Temperature :: 57 °F / 14 °C

Conditions :: Overcast

Humidity :: 67%

Dew Point: :: 46 °F / 8 °C

Wind :: 4 mph / 6 km/h / 1.5 m/s from the NW

Pressure :: 30.06 in / 1018 hPa (Rising)

Visibility :: 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV :: 3 out of 16

Clouds:
Mostly Cloudy 3000 ft / 914 m
Mostly Cloudy 3500 ft / 1066 m
Overcast 5000 ft / 1524 m
(Above Ground Level)

Sympathies to the Russert Family. He was special. He obviously loved people more than politics. This is really a lousy deal.

NBC needs to 'retire' the title of Meet the Press. The program belonged to him. It is like retiring a Journalists Number. He'll be missed.

Bye, Tim.

American military death toll in Iraq is 4096. It only seems like 5000.

...May I correct that statement? I advocated The Surge Policy BEFORE President Bush....I said the 'past strategy was going to fail (With ear to ear smile).

...now that the Surge is working (according to Neocon Estimates) when can the troops come home from Iraq?

McCain: "No, but, that is Not Too Important. What is important is the casualties in Iraq...." According to McCain we are engaged in a forever war and it is irrelivant when the war ends and the troops return so long as the troops come home with honor and in victory. So, it would seem as though according to Senator McCain, that The Surge worked and is working, but, there is no CLEAR AND CONCISE VICTORY and no honor.

I see. His view of the world is flawed due to Republican rhetoric that blind sides him. He is another propagandist, no different than Cheney and Bush.

We all know the 'reason' The Surge APPEARs to be working is because the organized militias that have been protecting the Shi'ites in Southern Iraq from the time of invasion by Bush, have declared a 'Cease Fire.' Why is it that no one asks McCain what he thinks of the 'Sustained Cease Fire?' I guess it isn't a 'politically enhancing Republican question. Lord knows that the Republican view of Iraq is one of control, not civility. Consistently from the beginnings of the invasion, the 'security' was directed to the oil fields, not the people of Iraq. The people of Iraq were left in anarchy and left to turn to the only means of security the Shia ever had and that was the militias of Southern Iraq.

According to McCain, the war in Iraq is a necessity to instill the desired Western values. Hm. A democratically 'free' society is supposed to reflect the majority choices of that society, NOT, the occupying society. Where McCain loses this argument is when he mixes 'apples with oranges.' He consistently has bought into The Bush Propaganda that McClellan clearly states now are all lies. McCain still believes 'occupying' Iraq will lead to Middle East security when in fact the lies that Bush and Cheney told do nothing but escalate tensions among minority Shia, including Iran thus continuing the 'brinkmanship' of Cheney for an invasion into Iran.

McCain's 'view of the world' is eschewed. It is based in KNOWN lies. The Iraq War is a faux front to cronyism. We all know that. McCain is consistently backing a faux war whereby Iraq was never a threat to the USA and continues NOT to be a threat to the USA, while the 'real war' in Afghanistan is consistently growing in proportion and chaos.

McCain is not presidential material. He can't see the forest for the trees. He believes in 'the war principles of a soldier' and not International Stability. He's wrong. Just plain wrong. He believes in escalating an unnecessary war. He believes in the crony war of Bush/Cheney.

Iraq is a forever war that is supposed to deliver Western Democracy to a country that wants to divide into Provincial authority to prevent more deaths of Shia and Kurds. The Iraqis want provincial control, not the return of a central government that can be turned against them as has been demonstrated by Maliki when using American and British military force to invade Basra and kill innocent people already engaged in a ceasefire.



US military reports 2 troop deaths in Iraq
14 hours ago
BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. military says an American soldier has been killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad and a Marine has died in a non-combat related incident elsewhere in Iraq.
The military says the Multi-National Division — Baghdad soldier has died of wounds in the blast that occurred about 3:30 p.m. Thursday in a western section of the capital.
A separate statement says a Multi-National Force — West Marine died as the result of a non-combat related incident on Wednesday. The incident is under investigation.
The troops' names have not been released pending notification of relatives.

The Cedar River has passed flood stage.

The Pleistocene Glacier Advance. Tell me this isn't where record floods are finding their headwaters?

There is major government infrastructure under water in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. All this could have been prevented with the heeding of warnings for five decades now. And this isn't the worst of it. This is your governments at work. Congratulations America, you DON'T pay attention ! A simple question is all anyone needed to ask. "What are we doing to stem human induced global warming?" Simple question with simple answers, "Stop using fossil fuels and seek alternatives in transporation and energy." Simple. So simple.

One aspect to all this that no one points to is the 'long view history' of this region. It was at one time covered by glaciers. I have consistently stated for some time now, that Earth is trying to 'recap' itself but can't because of the warming due to carbon dioxide. If all this percipitation that the mid-continent is receiving was frozen, it would be under a growing glacier by now.

Glacial Landmarks Trail: Iowa's Heritage of Ice (click here)


The Cedar Rapids Public Library (center right), Ground Transportation Center (left) and the Cedar Rapids Science Station (bottom left) in downtown Cedar Rapids as seen from the air on Thursday, June 12, 2008.

A confluence of unlikely weather events has created a Cedar River flood crest that defies historical records.
The predicted 32-foot crest expected to arrive Friday exceeds by nearly 12 feet the previous record — 20 feet, set in 1929.It all started with record and near-record snowfall last winter across the watershed of the Cedar River, said Steve Kuhl, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities.
The melting snowpack combined with spring rains sent the Cedar to a 17.1-foot crest in Cedar Rapids on April 27, Kuhl said."All that water saturated the soil and primed the river for more flooding," he said.
Then in May a consistent southwest-to-northeast upper air flow enabled storms moving through the Midwest to tap abundant moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in frequent heavy rains across Eastern Iowa, including those on Thursday, Kuhl said.
As of Thursday, Cedar Rapids had recorded 24.09 inches of rain for the year — more than 10 inches above normal — and other parts of Eastern Iowa within the Cedar watershed recorded from 15 to 20 inches of rain between May 10 and June 10, he said.
Heavy rains accompanying the May 25 storm that spawned killer tornadoes in Parkersburg and New Hartford raised river levels throughout Eastern Iowa and saturated already sodden soils.
When more heavy rain fell Sunday across the Cedar watershed, "all the smaller creeks and tributaries draining into the Cedar contributed to its historic levels," Kuhl said.
Swollen by record flows on the Winnebago and Shell Rock rivers and Beaver Creek, the Cedar smashed flood records in Cedar Falls, Waterloo and Vinton en route to its record Cedar Rapids crest.

The 'system' resulting in severe storms has remained the same. A Mid-latitude vortex pulling hot moisture off the Equator into Arctic air.

June 13, 2008
0930z
Water Vapor Satellite of the North and West Hemisphere

There is the 'usual' and what is becoming 'standard/static' weather pattern in the center of North America from latitude 36 N to 49 N and longitude 104 W to 80 W.

There is also the beginning of the next 'set' of tropical storms. The Atlantic tropical depression has been consistent for over 8 hours now and that is near Barbados. Barbados has been receiving rain for the entire time since the tropical depression manifested.

The next Pacific tropical storm has been manifesting for approximately the last ten hours north west of Bahia de Charaquez, Equador at about latitude 6 N and longitude of about 92 W.

I told you and I told you and I told you and I'm not playing around anymore !

Tornado Kills Four At Iowa Boy Scout Camp (click here)
The deadly twister was one of more than 30 that roared through four U.S. Midwestern states on Wednesday....
...The tornado was one of more than 30 reported late Wednesday moving across eastern Kansas into Nebraska, Iowa and into Minnesota, according to Storm Prediction Center.
The tornadoes were accompanied by baseball-sized hail and vicious winds, and came in addition to rampant flooding that has forced hundreds from their homes in Iowa....

June 12, 2008
0430z
Water Vapor Satellite of North and West Hemisphere of Earth ( 12 hour loop click here)


June 12,2008
0430z
Enhanced Infrared USA


June 11, 2008
0431z on 06.12.08 (1130 PM CDT)
Enhanced Infrared Satellite of Central Plains

INDEED, gas prices are just the beginning. The responsiblity for widespread tropospheric demise of life and property has to be assigned and I can't think of better people to assign it to.

Protesters Gather Outside Exxon Mobile Shareholders Meeting (click here)
POSTED: 6:49 pm CDT May 28, 2008
DALLAS -- High gasoline prices was just one of the reasons protesters lined up Wednesday outside of the Exxon shareholders meeting in Dallas, NBC 5 reported.
While record profits for Exxon Mobil do not sit well with drivers with gas is nearing $4 a gallon, the protesters said gas prices were just the beginning...



Earning a "Wilderness Survival" Badge was never defined as staring down a tornado !

Yesterday under a THICK 'cloud' of Carbon Dioxide still another tornado was spawned. In Iowa which is suffering, along with Wisconson, some of the most devastating biotic effects of a hostile troposphere due to the lack of "Global Warming" policy of the USA. Bush, Cheney, their administration, including Kempthorne along with the Republicans of the House and Senate may as well have killed those young men, because a tornado was their proxy !

Four boy scouts killed in Iowa tornado identified (click title to entry)

The Gazette
DES MOINES - Iowa authorities today identified the four teenaged Boy Scouts who were killed last night when a tornado ripped through the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in western Iowa.

The victims were Aaron Eilerts, 14, of Eagle Grove, Iowa; and Josh Fennen, 13, Sam Thomsen, 13, and Ben Petrzilka, 14, all of Omaha, Neb.

Iowa public safety commissioner Eugene Meyer told a press briefing today that another 35 people were transported to hospitals in western Iowa and Omaha for treatment of injuries – including three individuals with serious skull, pelvis and spinal injuries. More than 20 of the injured victims were treated for injuries and released.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver called the deadly incident “a blow right to the gut,” while Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman called the scene at the 1,800-acre Boy Scout ranch “total devastation” after tour the damage....

Last night on CNN, for as good a weather forecast it could have been, I witnessed some of the most ludicrous reporting in my entire life. Chad the Weather Man was covering up 'The Truth' by stating all the tornado activity was due to El Nino. Do you know LONG this news netework has been saying that Human Induced Global Warming Troposphere is actually El Nino? How about the ENTIRE time George Walker Bush has been in office?

Last night I heard about young men cut down in the wilderness of Iowa in a place where tornadoes should NEVER have occurred and certainly not been on the ground for 20 minutes.

During every hour of reporting of dead children what was interlaced with the broadcast were 'PR' plugs for the OIL INDUSTRY !!!!! We were supposed to be grateful for excellant returns on our investment strategies at our place of work, at least for the people who still work and still have investment portfolios in their 401Ks. We were told we needed to be grateful to the investment managers that they included oil stocks among the choices they made !

Fear tactics were laid out well in advance of the impending disaster for people that might have to spend a lot of money on oil for heating this winter and how we, as a nation, HAVE TO drill for domestic oil including places like ANWR. Did I hear how people that STILL heat their homes with oil should be converting to ALTERNATIVE methods? No. Did I hear an apology from George Walker Bush or Richard Cheney for artifically inflating the price of oil by maintaining hideously high levels of 'Reserve' for the nation? No.

What I did hear was how a retired man should 'learn to cope' and GET A JOB and stop his whining over the fact that he is on a fixed income, with higher and higher costs for fuel for his car, utility payments and food costs. That is an answer? That might be a John McCain answer, but, it is NOT the answer to the dilemmas the people of the USA face !

Deepest sympathies to all the victims of 'so called' natural disasters. It's time to have a government that sincerely cares about the people of the USA reflected in policy and in that policy expresses compassion to a global community attempting to 'Tame the Troposphere' alone, in the face of ever escalating USA emissions of CO2.

Temperature reaches record high, forcing temporary closure of Wrightsville Beach bridge

By Ana Ribeiro

Staff Writer
Published: Saturday, June 7, 2008 at 11:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, June 7, 2008 at 11:09 p.m.

Ninety-eight-degree temperatures scorched Wilmington on Saturday.
As far as the National Weather Service knows, it's never been this hot in Wilmington on June 7; and the aging Wrightsville Beach drawbridge took a hit from it.
"The bridge just got so hot because of the heat today that the metal expanded and the bridge wouldn't open or close," said Officer Matt Holland with the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department.

The issue started at around 2 p.m., and an N.C. Department of Transportation official went to the fire department two hours later asking for help, Holland said. The bridge's position allowed for car traffic, and no one was trapped or hurt, said Holland.
But firefighters had to stop traffic for 30 minutes, between around 4:15 and 4:45 p.m., while they sprayed water on the bridge from a truck, he said; after that, the bridge cooled down and resumed functioning.
Holland said the DOT told him it would try Saturday night to come up with answers as to what happened....

Weather at Khartoum, Sudan (Airport)

This video frame grab image taken from Sudan TV via AP Television News shows a plane that burst into flames after apparently veering off a runway at an airport in Khartoum, Sudan, Tuesday June 10, 2008. (AP / Sudan TV via APTN)

..."One of the (plane's) engines exploded and the plane caught fire," Ibrahim said. He said bad weather did not cause the crash, which he blamed on a technical problem.
The Sudanese ambassador to Washington called the weather "very bad" and said the runway was drenched by rain.
The head of Sudanese police, Mohammad Najib, said bad weather "caused the plane to crash land, split into two and catch fire."
"We believe that most of the passengers were able to make it out and escape with their lives," said Najib, without disclosing further details on how they escaped.
But he stressed that officials could not say for sure how many were killed.
The airport was experiencing a thunderstorm and winds about 20 mph at the time of the crash, said Elaine Yang, a meterologist with the San Francisco-based Weather Underground, a private weather service.
Raqeeb Abdel-Latif, head of the Sudan Airways office in Damascus, Syria, said the plane had joined the Sudanese national carrier fleet seven months ago.
It took off from Damascus with 203 passengers on board, mostly Africans and a few non-Sudanese nationals and 14 crew members. It stopped in Amman, where 34 additional passengers came on board.
Due to inclement weather, the aircraft stopped at Port Sudan Airport along the Red Sea picking up 35 passengers and refueling before heading back, Sudanese Ambassador John Ukec Lueth Ukec said in Washington.
Upon arrival the weather was "still very bad," said Ukec. "There was a lot of water on the runway and they still tried to land."...

Khartoum, Sudan (Airport)

June 10, 2008

Time :: 2:00 PM EST

Lat/Lon: 15.6° N 32.5° E

Elevation :: 1253 ft / 382 m

Temperatures :: 95 °F / 35 °C

Conditions :: Light Rain

Humidity :: 34%

Dew Point :: 70 °F / 21 °C

Wind :: 21 mph / 33 km/h / from the South

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: 29.76 in / 1008 hPa

Visibility :: 12.0 miles / 19.0 kilometers

Former Presidential Candidate, Representative Dennis Kucinich, brings Articles of Impeachment to the House Floor. Support your House Representative !

Kucinich presents Bush impeachment articles (Video of Motion - click title of entry. Thank you.)
David Edwards and Mike Sheehan

Published: Monday June 9, 2008

An Ohio Democratic lawmaker and former presidential candidate has presented articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush to Congress.
Thirty-five articles were presented by Rep. Dennis Kucinich to the House of Representatives late Monday evening, airing live on C-SPAN.
"The House is not in order," said Kucinich to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), upon which Pelosi pounded her gavel.
"Resolved," Kucinich then began, "that President George W. Bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate. ...
"In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and to the best of his ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed the following abuses of power..."
The first article Kucinich presented, and many that followed, regarded the war in Iraq: "Article 1 - Creating a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false case for war against Iraq."
On several occasions, Kucinich referenced RAW STORY and its noted investigative news chief, Larisa Alexandrovna, as source material for the articles. Two of the RAW STORY pieces Kucinich mentioned are viewable here and here.
Kucinich, a 2004 and 2008 Democratic candidate for the White House, abandoned a prior attempt to begin impeachment proceedings against Bush in January of this year.
In April of 2007, Kucinich presented impeachment articles against Vice President Dick Cheney, but the effort went nowhere. Kucinich exclaimed that "impeachment may well be the only remedy which remains to stop a war of aggression against Iran."
Before leaving office in January 2007, then-Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney--currently a Green Party presidential candidate--introduced articles of impeachment against President Bush as her last act in Congress, but that effort also was fruitless.
This video is from C-SPAN, broadcast June 9, 2008.

Scientists study sea-level rise in the Arctic

REFLECTIONS
By Fr. Shay Cullen
How to feed a hungry world (click here)
...Last week Irish fishermen staged a public protest in Dublin and gave away fish and threw more into the river Liffy to highlight their protest at the strict European Union restrictions on the number of boats allowed to put to sea and the tonnage of fish they are allowed to catch. The price of fish is soaring along with everything else....

Interview with Barry Scott Zellen: Arctic Lessons (click here)
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/5/2008
Barry Scott Zellen is the Deputy Editor of "Strategic Insights", and Research Editor of the Arctic Security Project at the Center for Contemporary Conflict.Q. In your book "Breaking the Ice: From Land Claims to Tribal Sovereignty in the Arctic" (Lexington Books, 2008) you describe the long and, ultimately, fruitful quest by the native tribes of the Arctic to regain a modicum of sovereignty over their ancient lands. Can you give us a capsule history of this process?...

The USA's response to the DEMISE of the Arctic Ocean is to attempt to raise the question of whether or not the rising sea levels change the continental borders enough to bring more sovereignty to the American claim.

While Russia is preparing for what Pravada is calling WW III (click here).


Russian strategic bombers fly routine patrol over the Arctic (click here).
MOSCOW, June 9 (RIA Novosti) - A pair of Russian Tu-95 Bear strategic bombers took off Monday from the Engels airbase in central Russia on a routine patrol flight over the Arctic Ocean, an Air Force spokesman said.
Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans last August, following an order signed by then president Vladimir Putin.
"Two Tu-95 bombers have started a regular patrol flight over remote areas of the Arctic," Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik said. "The aircraft will perform a variety of tasks, including midair refueling from two Il-78 aerial tankers based at the Dyagilevo airbase [also in central Russia]."
Drik said that all flights by Russian aircraft were performed by skilled pilots in strict compliance with international laws on the use of air space over neutral waters, without violating the borders of other states....

But, Canada is the best prepared along with Russia to claim the Lion's share of the Arctic and for that the United Nations "Law of the Sea" should prove to be a very valuable guide post to assist in the protections for this region of the world and its role as a 'Sustainability Stabilizer' to reverse the trend in Human Induced Global Warming.

A map showing the newly granted Australian seabed territory. The purple is the new stuff equalling 2.5 million square kilometres, slightly smaller than Canada's proposed gains in the Arctic and North Atlantic.Photograph by : Handout/Government of Australia

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (crystal wind chime) is melting STILL :

Elevation :: 33 ft / 10 m

Local Time: 12:47 AM AKDT

Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Temperature :: 43 °F / 6 °C

Conditons :: Overcast

Windchill :: 43 °F / 6 °C

Humidity :: 93%

Dew Point :: 41 °F / 5 °C

Wind :: Calm

Pressure :: 30.15 in / 1021 hPa (Rising)

Visibility :: 7.0 miles / 11.3 kilometers

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds:
Few 4300 ft / 1310 m
Overcast 7000 ft / 2133 m
(Above Ground Level)

Water washes away homes, forces evacuations in Wisconsin

June 8, 2008
Photographer states :: Supercell moving through Racine, WI.

I don't care how strong a swimmer anyone is, they are not going to live through that current.

No swimmer, no rescue worker can survive that current.

There is a whirlpool right there in the picture and two levels of water. The left side of the photo has a higher level of water than the right and there is a ripple to prove it. The current here is strong and unpredictable. This isn't just a 'flooded street,' it is now part of the river with obstacles adding to the unpredictable nature of the water movement.

When that house breaks loose from its foundation violently or pieces of it start to float away, that will add to the danger.

June 8, 2009
Mason City, Iowa
Photographer states :: I am standing on the north side of the No Carolina Ave bridge and this was a house on the east or right side of the street that was directly in the path of the heavy currents coming across the road.


June 9, 2008
Mason City, Iowa
Photographer :: On Sunday June 8th,2008, Mason City, Iowa had probably it's worst flood in it's history! Areas were flooded that have never been flooded in the history of the town. This photo is of 12th St NE looking east. The river is way back in the trees. The water is approx 4 to 6 feet deep thruout the area. Here is an automotive shop and a car wash not too far from the river. You can bet these cars won't be running for a while. Once the river went over the banks the flooding happened very quickly and left little time to get belongings out!

The REAL nightmare to this story is that the couple taking the pictures are 'cut off' from an evacuation route. What are they still doing there? Don't tell me it didn't look that bad when the creeks, rivers and streams were already swollen. There are earthen dams cracking and people in their right minds don't do this to themselves. Now, what in God's name is everyone thinking?


June 8, 2008
Ontario, Wisconsin
Photographer states :: Here is a picture of the flood in Ontario, WI, taken by my wife. What started off as a manageable rise in the waters turned into a nightmare.

Now is not the time to clean out drainage ditches. The water is going to wash more debris into the ditch no matter how fast one tries to shovel it out. Now, that 'stuff' that he is shoveling out of the ditch will simply be washed right back into it. People need to stop trying to 'save the moment' and evacuate. This is senseless activity when the creeks are rising ! The dog shouldn't be drenched to the bone like that.


June 8, 2008
Ontario, Wisconsin
Photographer states :: Cleaning out the drainage ditch in front of our house in the storm that brought us 6 of the 10 plus inches of rain in two days.


June 8 and 9, 2008
Flooding in Ontario, Wisconsin

By RYAN J. FOLEY , Associated Press
Last update: June 9, 2008 - 5:41 PM
LAKE DELTON, Wis. - Floodwater from days of rainstorms washed out an earthen dam and sent a 245-acre lake rushing into the Wisconsin River Monday, ripping homes from the shore and sending them floating downstream.
The overflow happened as authorities ordered evacuations and sandbagging in a number of towns across the southern portion of the state.
Lake Delton, a manmade lake and popular tourist spot south of the Wisconsin Dells, overflowed and emptied out Monday afternoon. Three homes were washed away and two others were torn apart.
Gov. Jim Doyle vowed the state would work to replenish the lake.
About 100 people started sandbagging at 2 a.m. Monday, but water drained into the nearby Wisconsin River after the embankment topped by a county road gave way, state and village officials said.
"It's horrible. There's no way we could stop it," said Thomas Diehl, a Lake Delton village trustee. "The breach is between 300 and 400 feet wide. The volume (of water) was just so great there wasn't anything anyone could do."...


Lake Delton, Wisconsin


WISCONSIN DELLS Wisconsin Dells, Columbia and Sauk Counties. August, 1966.

Altitude 7,500 ft. (Water runs downhill.)

This view to the NNE reveals the city of Wisconsin Dells at right center, a portion of the Lower Dells of the Wisconsin River at lower right, and the Upper Dells at upper center. Highway 13 angles across the upper right. The Upper Dells, a narrow gorge as little as 100 feet in width in places, was created when the waters of Glacial Lake Wisconsin cut a new channel through weak Cambrian Sandstone here about 14,000 years ago as it emptied southwestward into the lower Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. The communities of Wisconsin Dells and adjacent Lake Delton (lower left) appear relatively undeveloped in this 1966 photograph, but today numerous amusement parks and recreational businesses make it the prime tourist- oriented locale in Wisconsin.


A home near the 254-acre Lake Delton in Lake Delton, Wisconsin was damaged when flood waters breached the bank and drained the lake Monday, June 9, 2008. Floodwater washed away three houses and threatened dams in Wisconsin as military crews joined desperate sandbagging operations to hold back Indiana streams surging toward record levels. (click here)


The stage area for the Water Ski shows on Lake Delton in Lake Delton, Wis., now sits on the lake bottom after flood waters breached the bank and drained the lake Monday, June 9, 2008. Heavy rains over the weekend have contributed to flooding in a number of Wisconsin areas.

The slowest Belmont Stakes on Record was the first in 1867 with a time of 3:05. But, this one has more injuries than any on record that I am aware.

To begin with, I love horses. Always have. For my Second Chritmas being born to a Roman Catholic Family my father bought an American Flyer Train (which I still own, by the way) and placed it under the tree in working condition. It was a fabulous Christmas Morning with every 'starry-eyed' expectation in place by two relatively new parents. As I ran to the living room to see what Santa had left a 'very good girl' I stated, "...but, where is my horse?"

With that my Father called my Grandfather who was due for dinner later that day and they spent the rest of the morning into the afternoon making a wooden rocking horse in my Grandfather's basement. The 'horse' was in place by bedtime that Christmas and never again did my parents 'assume' my expectations in life would be filled by their insight.

Kindly note, "Big Brown's big ears" vs. the ears of the number 6 horse and winner, Da’ Tara. You know, the public goes to see movies like "The Horse Wisperer" (click here) and come away with a greater love of animals, horses and the role people play with the species. Some might call it compassion, but, I have never known a jockey at the top of the practice to be anything except a person with more insight to his mount than any other.

Big Brown was in 'fit condition' that day, but, he wasn't interested in running. As an admirer of nature, conservation and the species one finds at most danger to protect, the Throughbred industry needs to look at its lack of ability to protect the species.

One doesn't know what the destruction of a filly that was running hard at his side in the Kentucky Derby does to a stallion on his way to greatness. To many, Big Brown was 'the sure bet' and possibly the 'guaranteed mortgage payment,' to others they were about to witness history as though a 'magic moment' was guaranteed to them because the colt had managed to finish at the top of the field in the Derby and Preakness. But, to me and I believe to his jockey, Big Brown had lost heart that day. Lining up next to more horses in a starting gate that had lead him to achieve a quarter crack in his hoof, 'the fall' of a filly that race beside him and more fuss over 'his soundness' than any horse in recent history at a starting gate, Big Brown had had enough to cause him to run, but, without the 'heart' to win.

Animals are funny and you never know exactly what their thoughts are, but, that day, Big Brown had fallen off 'his personal best' and what Kent Desormeaux decided about the 'already' Champion colt under him, as probably was discussed with his trainer before the race, is that at the top of a 'stretch run' to a Triple Crown Victory, he wasn't about to be 'the fool' that would cause the destruction of still another throughbred race horse.

Big Brown did the right thing. He measured himself before he entered the starting gate and had decided, "I ain't doin' this no more and no one can make me either." He lost heart. He worried about his leg, his wins and the reality of a dead filly. He made history on Saturday in a very different way. As a Champion owned by a group of people that never even stroked his sleek neck, he wasn't going to be 'the fool' that would 'play the game without a brain in his head.' Indeed, Big Brown is a champion. A champion that had had enough and wasn't interested in anything else on Saturday except making it to the finish line with four legs and hooves to walk on.

Take 'that one' to the bank !


Big Brown, right, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, was trying to become the 12th Triple Crown champion and the first since Affirmed in 1978.


"He was in no way, shape or form lame or sore," said Desormeaux, who was the only member of the Big Brown camp to answer questions immediately after the race.

One dead, one missing in Indiana flooding (video) - The problem with 'risk taking behavior' through floods is the flooding has existed for days.

Know when it is too late and too dangerous !!!

When in doubt, LEAVE !

There is every indication that rivers are continuing to receive rain at phenomenal rates. The West Fork River in Iowa received 3.67 inches in the last 24 hours and is continuing to rise. The 'high intensity' of the water accumulation puts 'stress' on the infrastructure with unpredictable results (Rivergages.com - Click here - if clicking on 'Data Mining' - it lists rivers by name on a 'drop down screen, under "Choose A Station").

A majority of rivers across the spectrum are swollen if not already flooded. Dangerous. It would be better if folks got used to the 'idea' of "The Creek is Rising" rather than "My basement is flooded" to faciliate the decision to activate the "Volunteer Emergency Response" and EVACUATE rather than 'sand-bagging' or otherwise. Sandbagging needs to be left to The National Guard and people simply need to activate their local emergency measures and evacuate. Coping is NOT the answer when infrastructure is tenuous. It simply is TOO LATE when Emergency Routes such as major Interstate Highways are flooded and there is no egress left. Early decision making to evacuate is the only measure to insure safety. No heroics allowed. None !


June 8, 2008
West Fork Des Moines River at Humboldt, IA (click here)
(Central Time Zone)


June 7, 2008
Princess Lake Dam Breached (click here for video)
Very strong, rushing waters. These are small towns with emergency volunteers manning their services. They need state and federal resources. The States need to send in their National Guard Units because people aren't making good management decisions with prolonged flooding.


June 6, 2008
Phillip, South Dakota
Photographer states :: These are photo's taken at the back of my property of the creek (Bad River) Flooding began June 5th with 1st photo loaded taken at 4:45pm. These photo's began at 8:15am June 6. and track the waters rise. Up a little ways from where water was running across the road, this portion of the Road is completely flooded. Time is apx. 10:10am


June 7, 2008
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Photographer states :: Flooding on Oklahoma (Street)


June 6, 2008
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Storms swamp Midwest (click here)
By: Reuters
Sun Jun 8, 2008 7:41 AM EDT (Pic)-A motorist continues through a flooded street in Waukesha, Wisconsin June 7, 2008. Flash flooding is occurring in Southeast Wisconsin with forecasts of 6-10 inches of rain...


June 7, 2008
Hutsonville, Illinois

Flooding shuts down Columbus (Video) - Columbus Hospital Flooded
Updated:
June 7, 2008 10:43 PM EDT
An ambulance drives through floodwaters near Columbus Regional Hospital.
Workers move patients and equipment out of the hospital.
Columbus - Police are asking that people to not come to Columbus until the flooding subsides.
Water rushed into Columbus Regional Hospital Saturday, forcing the evacuation of nearly 100 patients. Helicopters, ambulances and school buses were called to the hospital around 6:30 pm to help with the evacuation. The patients are being transported to hospitals in Madison and Seymour. The basement of the hospital flooded in 45 minutes, with waters quickly reaching the first floor of the building....


June 7. 2008
Hutsonville, Illinois
Photographer states :: flooded areas after severe storm