If it's not floods, it's fire in Australia.

I believe there needs to be vast evacuation of the entire area that could be affected by the wildfires (bush fires). Listening to a live commentary this morning I am convinced the region is under the influence of enormous heat that is 'consistent' due to the 'heat transfer system' that lingers over Victoria.

The heat over Victoria is so sustained that any 'rain' clouds never actually rain while lightning strikes the area and produces fire in this drought stricken region. All people that could remotely be disaffected need to be evacuated. The 'heat transfer system' clouds are NOT rain clouds. They exist to transfer heat from the equator to Antarctica where the heat is then absorbed by the ice that is subsequently sublimed.

The point is that any rain clouds that 'might' occur will never produce enough rain to reach the ground and except for what humans can do to extinguish these fires they will not let up. Evacuation of any life from the region is paramount to their well being.

I am not surprised at these dynamics. The surface of the planet is too hot to allow anything but evaporation should rain be predicted.

Queen's shock at bush fire deaths (click here)
The Queen has expressed her "shock and sadness" at the death toll in the Australian bush fires.
At least 108 people have died in the fires in southern Australia, the worst in the country's history.
She also expressed her admiration for the work of the emergency services to contain the situation.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has telephoned his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd to offer sympathy and assistance dealing with the bush fires.
In a statement issued by Buckingham Palace the Queen said: "I was shocked and saddened to learn of the terrible toll being exacted by the fires this weekend.
"I send my heartfelt condolences to the families of all those who have died and my deep sympathy to the many who have lost their homes in this disaster on so dreadful an occasion as this for Australia....

This is the current climate image of Australia and one will notice the chronic 'heat transfer' system that crosses Australia at Victoria. Noted at the northern end of that heat transfer is a severe storm, Tropical Storm Freddy.

Sodden state wary of new stroms (click here)
4:00AM Friday Feb 06, 2009
BRISBANE - Sodden residents of northeastern Australia were trying to clean up from weeks of rain, even as forecasters said two offshore storms could turn into cyclones by tomorrow.
River levels were beginning to fall in some parts of Queensland while emergency workers continued to evacuate people left stranded.
A 42-year-old man was rescued after clinging to a tree near a swollen creek for more than three hours. He was treated for minor injuries.
Ingham, the hardest-hit town, has been underwater since a weekend storm, but water levels were beginning to drop....


Queensland is northeast and has been hit hard with chronic rains and flooding. Victoria, where the fires currently are blazing is at the direct opposite of the continent, in the southern region. South of Victoria are the Bass Strait and the Island of Tasmania, then on into Antarctica.


The flooded Ingham area between Cairns and townsville in north Queensland

Australian floods wash crocodiles into streets (click here)
3 days ago
SYDNEY (AFP) — Floods ravaging northern Australia have washed crocodiles onto the streets, where one was hit by a car, authorities said in a warning to residents Wednesday.
More than 60 percent of the vast northeastern state of Queensland has been declared a disaster area, and flooding after two recent cyclones has affected almost 3,000 homes, they said.
The army has been called in to help with rescue and recovery efforts, while three reports of large crocodiles washed up from flooded rivers have come in from homes in the Gulf of Carpentaria region.
"I'm not sure if it's the same crocodile moving around -- on the three sides of Normanton there's been a large croc seen right up close to the water's edge," said mayor Joyce Zahner.
"Hopefully he'll stay in the water and the kids will stay on the land," Zahner told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation....


Michael Bachelard and Cameron Houston(click title to entry - thank you)
February 8, 2009
FOURTEEN people are confirmed dead but as many as 40 are feared to have died as bushfires swept across Victoria yesterday and continued to burn through the night.
Police, who last night could only begin going into the blackened ruins of towns and communities, said six people were killed in a single vehicle in Kinglake.
But they acknowledged they had little idea of how many could be buried inside their ruined homes, or burned as they tried to escape, and that the death toll could go much higher.
Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said official predictions that 40 people had lost their lives was only an estimate.....



...The six killed in Kinglake were all in the same car, Mr. Walshe told reporters. (click here)
“This is an absolute tragedy for the state and we believe the figure may even get worse,” said Mr. Walshe....

There is international acclaim for the Biden speech in Germany. Russia shows signs of relief to inclusion.

There is no doubt that Iran poses a serious threat to Europe and the Middle East. Now, with its ability to launch missiles into space there is no doubt ICBMs are on the Iranian agenda. To that end there needs to be defense systems that will END the incentive for nuclear proliferation.

According to RIA Novosti, Russia is pleased the future plans of such defense systems will not be offensive to Russian borders through inclusion in talks leading to Non-Proliferation and peace.

The world Post-Bush/Cheney is a very different place.


NATO chief: more European troops in Afghanistan (click title to entry - thank you)
By DAVID RISING and GEORGE JAHN – 6 hours ago
MUNICH (AP) — NATO's secretary-general on Saturday blasted Europe's reluctance to respond to American calls for more troops in Afghanistan, saying countries like Germany and France need to "share the heavy lifting."
Germany's chancellor endorsed the principle of greater military support for the U.S. in NATO operations but did not commit to additional deployment in Afghanistan. France's president did not mention the issue at all during at a meeting of world leaders at the Munich Security Conference
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, a staunch supporter of U.S. calls for more European troops in Afghanistan, referred to a joint call this week from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy to strengthen Europe's role in NATO. He said it was a good idea but would not come without cost.
"I'm frankly concerned when I hear the United States is planning a major commitment for Afghanistan but other allies are already ruling out doing more," he told a gathering of world leaders and top ministers at the Munich Security Conference. "That is not good for the political balance ... and it also makes the calls for Europe's' voice to be heard in Washington perhaps a bit more hollow than they should be."...

Russia must be part of European security structures - Merkel (click here)
15:00
07/ 02/ 2009
MUNICH, February 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russia must be included in European security structures, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday at the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy
Merkel said it was in the general interest to involve Russia in Europe's future security structures, adding that attention should be paid to the initiative of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on discussing a new security set up for the continent.
Relations with Russia play a key role in European security as Russia is a part of Europe, Merkel said.
She added that the new NATO security approach should be all-encompassing.

Russia has already recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independant states. Considering all the evidence of the violations of Georgia in regard to human rights abuses there really is no debate. The protections Russia is providing in these areas are for reasons of their own defense. It is reasonable and prudent. NATO is still talking around the reality of those human rights abuses and needs to address this new security reality for those reasons straight on without delay.

NATO chief prioritizes strengthening West's ties with Russia (click here)
13:54
07/ 02/ 2009
MUNICH, February 7 (RIA Novosti) - Strengthening Russia's ties with the West is vital and the NATO-Russia Council can play an important role, the military alliance's secretary general said on Saturday.
Speaking at the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer identified two partnerships that need fundamentally strengthening - the second being between Europe and the United States.
He said that the NATO-Russia Council had great potential but warned there was a long way to go, expressing doubts about Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's proposals for a new European security structure in the wake of Russia's recognition of and cooperation with the separatist Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia....

The 'revisit' is the best venue for hopes to stop the proliferation of Iran. If Russia can bring enough clout to the Iranian idea of national defense, they could disarm from any nuclear potential. Russia is a key player in eliminating any missile defense for Europe and the Middle East if it is effective with Iran. Russia also has a responsibility in realizing its own citizens now face unpredictable dangers from Iran and might consider asking the USA for protections from any Iranian potential as well.

Basically, THE LANGUAGE of peace hasn't entered the international dialogue yet. To date, all the nations that dealt with Bush/Cheney were focusing on 'containment' of the Iraq invasion and its anticipated outcome in the best interest of the people of Iraq. Bush/Cheney never engaged 'peace' as a directive, nor the possibility of being benevolent partners with Russia.

Barak Obama has a huge opportunity before him in that by introducing 'the language' of peace through productive negotiations that include the national security of all nations, even in the face of Iranian hatred, he can stop nuclear proliferation and the economic 'sapping' of military weaponary demands by so many countries where spending priorities should turn to peaceful economic infrastructure such as education and health care.

I remind the nations bordering the Gulf of Mexico are just as much partners in this peace as are countries at distance such as Iran and North Korea.

U.S. to develop missile shield in Europe, consult Russia - Biden (click here)
17:33
07/ 02/ 2009
MUNICH, February 7 (RIA Novosti) - The United States will continue to work on a planned missile defense system in Central Europe, but it will consult Russia, Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday.
"We will continue to develop missile defenses to counter a growing Iranian capability, provided the technology is proven to work and cost effective," Biden said at the 45th Munich Security Conference, adding: "We will do so in consultation with our NATO allies and Russia."
Russia has consistently opposed the missile shield as a threat to its national security and officials have repeatedly expressed the hope that President Barack Obama would not follow through with his predecessor's missile defense plans.
Washington has agreed with Warsaw and Prague plans to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic by 2013. The United States says the defenses are needed to deter possible strikes from "rogue states" such as Iran.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said at the conference on Friday that the shield is aimed at Russia's nuclear deterrent, but added that Moscow would not follow through with its threat to deploy Iskander missile systems in the Kaliningrad Region if the United States gave up its missile shield plans.
Biden's message to Russia was mixed, suggesting more effort at engagement but giving little sign of movement on the core issues, such as the missile shield and NATO expansion.
"It is time to press the reset button and to revisit the many areas where we can and should work together," he said, identifying Afghanistan as an area for greater cooperation between NATO and Russia....

Anticipating her return.

Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court spoke last year at award ceremonies for the Gruber Justice Prize at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. At present, she is the court's only woman justice. (Jose Luis Magana/Associated press/file)

This is a tough call. Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease. She joins people such as Michael Landon and Patrick Swayze in a fight for life. The uptick for Justice Ginsburg is that it was caught early.

It isn't as though Pancreatic Cancer has won every fight that it embarked on, there have been hugely wonderful success stories in the past, when people underwent a surgery called a Whipple Procedure. The surgery is nearly as dangerous as the cancer, but, when a person recovers from it they have the promise of life afterwards.

Justice Ginsbury has probably beaten the odds and I sincerely hope so. She'll be back in good order soon to the court and her much needed concise decision making.

Ruth Bader Ginsberg: Pancreatic Cancer
2/5/09, 2:22 pm EST
Left-leaning Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg had surgery today for pancreatic cancer — which is nasty stuff.
Ginberg’s was caught early in a cancer screening — she’s already a survivor of colon cancer — which is rare for a cancer that often goes undetected into its advanced stages. The AP is reporting Ginsberg’s 1-cm diameter tumor was removed surgically, the most hopeful course of treatment.
Even so, the 5 year survival rate is only about 15 percent.

Whipple Procedure and other Pancreatic Cancer information (click here)