Wednesday, January 18, 2017

This is no longer an indeterminate outcome, it is the future staring the world in the eye.

World temperatures (click here) hit a record high for the third year in a row in 2016, creeping closer to a ceiling set for global warming, US government agencies said on Wednesday.

2016 is also a global record setter. Everyone needs to realize this is the third year in a row that temperatures have marched higher. 

January 18, 2017

Earth’s 2016 surface temperatures (click here) were the warmest since modern recordkeeping began in 1880, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Globally-averaged temperatures in 2016 were 1.78 degrees Fahrenheit (0.99 degrees Celsius) warmer than the mid-20th century mean. This makes 2016 the third year in a row to set a new record for global average surface temperatures....
Angry oil men are not the people anyone needs to hear from. In a warming ocean the "Beaufort Lens" is changing.

The Beaufort Sea Gyre (click here)

January 18, 2017
By Anna Nowogrodzki

Climate change (click here) has affected many things about the ocean—the temperature; sea level; which creatures live where. But it’s also changed something surprising: how the ocean sounds.

Two years ago, acoustic engineer Lee Freitag, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, discovered a stark change in the Arctic Ocean’s Beaufort Sea: sounds, he found, could now travel about four times farther than they could a decade ago.

The US Navy wanted to know more. Their submarines communicate through underwater sound wave transmissions, making it vital to their operations to understand exactly where their signals are being carried....

Oxfam has an unusally informative assessments of global impacts of the climate crisis.

The IPCC (click here) has assessed the biomes for the continents. We know from Syria the climate crisis can cause civil wars.


Bolivia is a country particularly vulnerable (click here) to the impacts of climate change. In July 2009, a team of Oxfam researchers travelled to three areas of Bolivia (Trinidad in Beni, the Cochabamba valleys and Khapi under Mount Illimani, in La Paz) to take a snapshot of how poor families are experiencing the changing climate, and how they are adapting to it....

...Bolivia can expect five main impacts as a result of climate change:

- Less food security
- Glacial retreat affecting water availability
- More frequent and more intense ‘natural’ disasters
- An increase in mosquito-borne diseases
- More forest fires...

There are many hideously unconstitutional laws in the country and NC has more than it's fair share.

In Michigan, if a person receives food stamps (known in the state as "Bridges") purchases a can of soda (known as "pop" in Michigan) then pours it out all over the ground, returns to the store with the empty can for a refund on the deposit, that is considered breaking the law.

In Michigan, it is believed "drunks" use their MI Bridges card to purchase items with deposits on them, empty them and then use the monies received from the deposit to purchase a bottle of wine or a can of beer or more than that some kind of liquor. 

Amazing. By simply owning a "MI Bridges" card whether in use or not for receiving food stamps and one pours out the contents of a "container with a deposit" the police can arrest you. The idiocy in all that is rather remarkable. 

January 17, 2017
By 
Wilmington -- A Wilmington woman (click here) expressed concern Tuesday about a city ordinance she told council members could be applied selectively to quell dissent.
Anne Russell was questioning Chapter 6, Section 13F of Wilmington City Code, which states members of a picket or similar protest must remain 15 feet apart during a march. Organizers of Saturday's planned Wilmington Women's March, which Russell plans to attend, learned of the ordinance after applying for permits for the event....
In North Carolina there exists a state law about human trafficking that casts such a wide net, anyone,...let's say someone other than Christian..., can be arrested on the slightest indication of SLAVERY. The legal society of North Carolina debated the law for over a year until it was passed in 2013 and still today the majority of lawyers state, "It is a bad law." It has few resemblances to the federal law.
But, true to form, here comes another idiotic law that requires SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS or be arrested.
..."(I) strongly suggest you re-word it because it seems to be an ordinance that can be used very selectively, if you gather what I'm implying," Russell told council....
I think former Governor McCrory gave lessons on how to write laws that ensnare the innocent simply because it can.
Across states with Republican majorities there are may laws passed that ensnare the average citizen if exhibiting or not exhibiting a certain behavior. I thought the Republicans were for less government and not more.
Oh, wait.
Republicans are for less government when profits are behind a regulation regardless of how reckless the profits are, BUT, when it comes to the RIGHTS of citizens that don't act as they should anything goes.
At a time when President Obama has ended the use of private federal prisons, it would seem the states with Republican majorities are finding more and more reason to arrest, jail and imprison citizens. Of course, the citizen be they guilty or not, pays the bills associated with their misdirection of behavior, etc., so why not add law after law that brings dysfunction to a life while the government profits?

Of course, this law in Wilmington is to intimidate participants so the idea of protesting is no longer a practical one.

The oppressive law works, too. The unconstitutional aspect of the law falls under the First Amendment which allows flag burning; FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION!

January 17, 2017
By Hunter Ingram
...Although it retains the name of the Women’s March, (click here) the event will -- for logistical and permit reasons -- largely remain stationary on the four corners of Third and Princess streets. Some participants may march around the block if they choose.
Norton said the idea is for participants to bring signs and peacefully share their messages of solidarity and equal rights, while also communicating with their like-minded neighbors.
She said she has received messages from locals who said they planned to attend the D.C. march, but scrapped the plans in favor of the Wilmington event....

Oh, one other thing about the dumping of a container's contents to retrieve the deposit; if the owner of the legally purchased container wants the deposit back without being arrested, JUST DRINK THE CONTENTS!!!!!!!!!!

That is good sound advise that will work and it is free!

With a 60 percent approval rating President Obama continues his end of presidential career list.

I wish Ms. Manning, her family and friends well as they will continue to find a path forward.

January 17, 2017
By Charlie Savage


Washington — President Obama on Tuesday (click here) commuted all but four months of the remaining prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the Army intelligence analyst convicted of a 2010 leak that revealed American military and diplomatic activities across the world, disrupted Mr. Obama’s administration and brought global prominence to WikiLeaks, the recipient of those disclosures.

The decision by Mr. Obama rescued Ms. Manning, who twice tried to kill herself last year, from an uncertain future as a transgender woman incarcerated at the men’s military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. She has been jailed for nearly seven years, and her 35-year sentence was by far the longest punishment ever imposed in the United States for a leak conviction.

At the same time that Mr. Obama commuted the sentence of Ms. Manning, a low-ranking enlisted soldier at the time of her leaks, he also pardoned James E. Cartwright, the retired Marine general and former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who pleaded guilty to lying about his conversations with reporters to F.B.I. agents investigating a leak of classified information about cyberattacks on Iran’s nuclear program.... 

...Mr. Obama also granted 63 other pardons and 207 other commutations, mostly for drug offenders.

Under the terms of the commutation announced by the White House on Tuesday, Ms. Manning is set to be freed on May 17 of this year rather than in 2045. A senior administration official said the 120-day delay was part of a standard transition period for commutations to time served, and was designed to allow for such steps as finding a place for Ms. Manning to live after her release.

The commutation also relieved the Defense Department of the difficult responsibility of Ms. Manning’s incarceration as she pushes for treatment for her gender dysphoria, including sex reassignment surgery, that the military has no experience providing....

Some Republicans have come forward to criticize the commutation of sentences, but, get this I DON'T CARE BECAUSE IT IS ALL POLITICS BASED IN RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY!

Ms. Manning has every right as an American to live a happy life and I look forward to her doing so.

While experiencing severe rain storms, there are also extreme fires in New Zealand.

New Zealand is a far small country than the USA and such events are felt more deeply by the people.


January 18, 2017
By Jamie Morton and Belinda Feek

They described it as explosive, (click here) extreme and rampant; and tonight the wildfire that cost residents of an idyllic Whitianga peninsula their homes is burning on.

The blaze broke out in a rural area south of the Coromandel township early yesterday evening, and soon engulfed whole hillsides, tearing through four homes at deadly speed.

"There's no way any man was ever going to run as fast as that fire was moving," said principal rural fire officer Paul Shaw, who commanded several ground crews that tried to battle the fire across steep terrain.

"The wind wasn't our friend: it stayed up, blew through and made conditions quite extreme."...

This has been a very hot and rough summer for Australia.

18 January 2017
By Australian Associated Press

Reports of property lost amid deteriorating conditions near Tarago and in the Hunter region (click here)

...The RFS (click here) has received unconfirmed reports from the public and firefighters of properties being destroyed by the 650 hectare fire, which was formed when two serious blazes merged on Wednesday.
More than 250 firefighters continue to battle the northwest-moving fire, which is burning near Hart Road, McLeod Road, and the Hunter Expressway.
The crews, including extra hands from Sydney and the Central Coast, have been assisted by waterbombing aircraft.
The Hunter Expressway remained closed between Buchanan and Branxton on Wednesday afternoon.
The ABC was reporting the nearby Weston Aluminium recycling plant had been shut down to limit the threat of an explosion.
Residents were evacuating and moving stock on Wednesday as firefighters battled worsening conditions and an out-of-control blaze near Canberra.
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service had earlier said those in the Mount Fairy and Boro areas, near Tarago north-west of Canberra, should implement their bushfire survival plan....

The Trump presidency is throwing out all precedent, all history and operating a 'take over' of the USA government.

It is a coupe. There is no respect for our country by this administration and it is being viewed as an asset and nothing more.

I am confident every ally the USA has sought to build a relationship will be evaluated for it's assets, rather than it's loyalty and like minded values that prevent danger to our peoples. This form of relationship is standard operating practice of dehumanization that allows an emotional distance from sincere alliances.

I am confident the allies of the USA will find diplomatic measures to handle the inevitable insults to change direction in USA foreign policy. What is important are the relationships of the USA with it's allies that shall remain strong and strategic.

"W" threw out a vitally important missile treaty and in it's place a three page document that was to reduce the burden of reading and definitions and of course 'the fine print.' If we can get through an attack on the financial centers of the USA, an illegal and immoral war into Iraq and treaties treated as bothersome, I am confident the global community interested in peace and prosperity will weather this storm as well, albeit, somewhat more crude and inhumane.

January 18, 2017
By Nicola Lamb
...On Tuesday, (click here) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "We Europeans have our fate in our hands".
She was reacting to Trump's comments about Nato ("obsolete" but also "important"), the EU (prepare for Brexit sequels) and herself (made a "catastrophic mistake" about refugees).
In the same interview with the Times and Bild, Trump put Merkel on the same level as Russia's President Vladimir Putin, even though Berlin is a key US ally and Moscow is a difficult rival power, usually dealt with at arms length. "I start off trusting both but let's see how long that lasts," he said. "It may not last long at all."
Statements that were once seen as part of the tumble of campaign politics take on a different light when uttered by a man days away from being the leader of the free world. Former US ambassador to Nato Ivo Daalder tweeted: "Trump is more critical of Nato, EU, & Germany--all close allies--than he's ever been of Putin & Russia.

We're entering an upside down world." But Robin Niblett, the director of Chatham House, told the New York Times: "I take all of this with a pinch of salt. I think Trump is trying to keep his options open and not be cornered by simply standing up for existing policy positions."...            

Trump will probably exonerate Bill Cosby before long.

I am sure women sexually assaulted by Donald Trump did not know the scope of his habit. I am still waiting for the charges of voyeurism by groups of women and young girls to come forward. It is difficult for women to come forward as a single voice because they are the victims regardless of their dedication to the truth.

January 18, 2017
A former contestant of reality show The Apprentice, who last year accused Donald Trump of sexual assault, is suing the President-elect for defamation.
Just two days before Trump will be sworn in the 45th president of the United States, Summer Zervos has filed the claim, stemming from an accusation Trump made about her and other women who accused him of sexual assault before November's election....
...The Hollywood Reporter (click here) said she would not be able to directly sue for sexual assault because of a statute of limitations.
Instead, she's echoing the legal strategy by many of Bill Cosby's accusers by suing over comments that allegedly branded her a liar.
Zervos' lawyer, Gloria Allred, told Australian news programme Sunrise this morning she expected Trump to seek to have the case thrown out.
"It would not surprise me at all if President Trump sought to either delay this case or to have this case dismissed," she said....

"Statues of Limitations for Sexual Assault; A State by State Comparison" (click here) Opens a PDF. Protections for minor may have no statute of limitations.
I briefly looked at an article stating inauguration week was stated to be one of boycotting the festivities. Okay, but, that doesn't sound like much fun. Where are all the Hillary and Bernie parties? I  think supporters should be having fun, too. New year with new challenges. Pouting is not allowed. No one surrended. It is time to be heard loud and clear. "The truth needs a defender, it has been abandoned by the incoming administration. It has been replaced by oppression. That cannot stand.