Storms batter U.S. coasts, east and westlink NEW YORK, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- New Yorkers had another rough morning commute Friday with heavy rains and gusting winds battering the city. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for the New York metropolitan area. New York and other parts of the U.S. East Coast were belted with remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole, which lost its punch quickly earlier this week, but not before pummeling Jamaica where emergency management officials attribute at least five deaths to the storm, The Miami Herald reported. Schools were closed in the island nation Thursday and more than 170,000 power customers were without service because of downed utility polls, broken conductors and faults in the network, officials said. At least 14 people were reported missing and hundreds sought emergency shelters, the Herald reported. In New York, rain overwhelmed one portion of the city's subway system, forcing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to suspend service along three lines, The New York Times reported. Inbound traffic on the George Washington Bridge was at a standstill and the entrance to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel was closed because of flooding, authorities said Amtrak officials said downed trees and wires along tracks were causing delays between New York and Boston and delays were reported at Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. In North Carolina, the storm system brought flooding to the central and eastern parts of the state Thursday, but forecasters said relief was on the way for the weekend, WRAL-TV, Raleigh, N.C., reported. Nearly 21 inches of rain collected in Wilmington, N.C., since drops began falling Sunday, NWS officials said. Emergency officials in several coastal counties reported highway closures because of the flooding. High water prompted several school districts to cancel classes for Friday. State emergency officials said moderate to major flooding in low-lying areas along rivers and creeks likely would run into next week. On the West Coast, powerful thunderstorms and lightning strikes were reported from Santa Barbara to Riverside counties in California Thursday as subtropical air moved through the region, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. NWS meteorologists said portions of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties received as much as 0.42 inches of rain in 7 minutes. Because the storm cells were quick-moving, the potential for flash flooding was limited, the weather service said.   Aafia Siddiqui: ‘I have proof Israel masterminded 9/11…big wars are being planned’ link The New York Post; September 24, 2010 [The following article, written by Bruce Golding for the contemptible Zionist rag The New York Post, is typically laden with half-truths, exaggerations and flagrant bias. Siddiqui's reported statements about Israel's central role in the 9/11 attacks, however, are not without relevance -- 800] Reputed al-Qaeda associate Aafia Siddiqui was sentenced to 86 years in prison yesterday for trying to kill American personnel after getting busted in Afghanistan carrying two pounds of poison and plans to attack New York City. But the MIT-educated neuroscientist — and wife of accused 9/11 plotter Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali — took her punishment in stride, urging her supporters to “forgive everybody in my case, please.” “This may shock the Muslims, and I don’t mean disrespect . . . but I do love America, too, and there is no harm,” she said during a marathon, three-plus hour hearing in Manhattan federal court. The 38-year-old, petite Pakistani spouted bizarre theories about how one of her jailers was plotting against America and how terrorists posing as Hispanics could be exposed through DNA testing. “I have very credible information that I have been desperately trying to give to the FBI, but they won’t let me,” she said during one of several rambling, and disjointed statements. Siddiqui — who tried to bar jurors with “Zionist or Israeli background” from her trial — repeated her claims that the Jewish state was behind the 9/11 terror attacks. “I’m not anti-Israel, but, yes, I have said that they masterminded 9/11, and I have proof of that. Now I am saying that there are attacks being planned against America, big wars being planned, and they are involved in it,” she said. She also repeatedly shook her head, rolled her eyes, waved her index finger and threw her hands up in the air at suggestions that she’s schizophrenic or otherwise unhinged. “No, I am not mentally sick, schizophrenia. Excuse me. No way on earth,” she said. Defense lawyer Dawn Cardi urged a sentence of no more than 12 years, insisting that Siddiqui “suffers from diminished capacity, and that is clear.” “I ask the world to read what she’s written. It is incoherent . . . It is the writing of a woman who is mentally ill,” Cardi said. Prosecutor Christopher LaVigne urged a maximum life sentence plus 10 years, saying “a catastrophe was averted” when Siddiqui was shot after grabbing an automatic rifle and opening fire inside an Afghan police compound in July 2008. Judge Richard Berman — who called Siddiqui an “enigma” while reciting a lengthy history of her case — said the need for “significant incarceration” was “completely obvious and, indeed, compelled.” Socialist agitator Sara Flounders, of the International Action Center, shouted, “Shame! Shame! Shame on this court!” after Berman announced the sentence, then led a band of marchers in chants outside the courthouse. Angry demonstrations also erupted in Pakistan, where protesters shouted, “Down with America!” and threw shoes at a picture of President Obama, The Associated Press reported. Extreme cold kills gorillas in Rwanda Mainstream media somehow "missed" this story  link

                      
  

19 May 10 - Four rare mountain gorillas were found dead in Rwanda, apparently victims of extreme cold.

"While it is not unusual to witness death of infant gorillas during the first three months, the sudden death of all the four, is not only very shocking, but also is such a great loss to Rwanda and the entire conservation team," said Rica Rwigamba of the Rwanda Development Board..

Rwanda's New Times reported that the group of gorillas live in the Karisimbi area which has seen unusually cold weather conditions in recent days.

"Climate change alarmists (global warming alarmists) frequently cite a warming climate and decreased sea ice which will lead to losses of the polar bear population – a fact which has yet to be born out."

"(The alarmists) repeated use of faked imagery using polar bears * causes a great deal of amusement amongst skeptics and this report of unusually cold weather affecting a warm climate is likely to add fuel to their fire."

The mainstream media in the U.S. apparently somehow "missed" this story. I'm sure they'll be very happy that one of my readers forwarded it to me so it can still get some coverage.

Danish Arctic research dates Ice Age

The result of a Danish ice drilling project has become the international standard for the termination of the last glacial period. It ended precisely 11,711 years ago.link

A Danish ice drilling project has conclusively ended the discussion on the exact date of the end of the last ice age.
The extensive scientific study shows that it was precisely 11,711 years ago - and not the indeterminate figure of ‘some’ 11,000 years ago – that the ice withdrew, allowing humans and animals free reign.
According to the Niels Bohr Institute (NBI) in Copenhagen, the very precise dating of the end of the last Ice Age has made Denmark the owner of the “Greenwich Mean Time” of the end of the last glacial period and beginning of the present climate – the so-called International Standard Reference.
Kilometres of iceIt took several thousand years to warm up the earth and melt the kilometre thick ice caps that covered large parts of the northern hemisphere during the last glacial period and as a result the transition from Ice Age to the current period has lacked a clearly defined point in time.
The answer has now been found in the NordGrip drilling project in Greenland.
“Our new, extremely detailed data from the examination of the ice cores shows that in the transition from the ice age to our current warm, interglacial period the climate shift is so sudden that it is as if a button was pressed”, explains ice core researcher Jørgen Peder Steffensen, Centre for Ice and Climate at NBI at the University of Copenhagen.
Ice core reference
When ice cores, that are formed by annual snowfall that is compressed into ice, are drilled out and analysed, the three kilometre ice cap in Greenland has acted like a filing cabinet of the climate detail of past geological periods.
“It is the first time an ice core has been used as an international standard reference for a geological period and it is a great recognition of our extremely detailed scientific data”, Jørgen Peder Steffensen said.

 

Newly discovered planet may have water on its surfacelink

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Anthony Watts

This artist's conception shows the inner four planets of the Gliese 581 system and their host star, a red dwarf star only 20 light-years away from Earth. The large planet in the foreground is the newly discovered GJ 581g, an Earth-size planet that orbits in the star's habitable zone. Artwork by Lynette Cook.

From the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
The planet, which is probably 30 percent larger than Earth, was discovered using one of the telescopes of the W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea. It orbits a relatively small star, Gliese 581, that is 20 light-years from Earth in the constellation Libra.
“By determining the orbit of this planet, we can deduce that its surface temperature is similar to that of Earth,” said Haghighipour. This means that at least some of any water on the surface of the planet and in its atmosphere will be in liquid form rather than ice or vapor. The discovery of  liquid water in space is an important step in the search for extraterrestrial life.
The team estimates that the new planet, called Gliese 581g, has a mass three to four times that of Earth, and orbits its star in just under 37 Earth days. Its mass indicates that it is probably a rocky planet with enough gravity to hold on to its atmosphere. It is one of six known planets orbiting the star.
To discover the planet, the team looked for the tiny changes in the star’s velocity that arise from the gravitational tugs of its planets. They used 238 separate observations of Gliese 581 taken over a period of 11 years.
Haghighipour said that the team is keeping tabs on many nearby stars using the Keck Observatory. “As we collect more and more data about how these stars are moving, we expect to find many more planets with potentially Earth-like conditions,” he said. He noted that to learn more about the conditions on these planets would take even bigger telescopes, such at the Thirty Meter Telescope planned for Mauna Kea.
The team that made the discovery is led by Steven Vogt of the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) and Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Other team members include UCSC associate research scientist Eugenio Rivera, and Gregory Henry and Michael Williamson of Tennessee State University.
This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the NASA Astrobiology Institute.

Japanese PM Naoto Kan warns of China's military riselink

Mr Kan said the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, also claimed by China, belonged to Japan

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan has expressed concern over China's maritime activities and military build-up, amid a lingering diplomatic row.

He called on China to act as a "responsible member of the international community".
Mr Kan made the comments in his first major policy speech since surviving a leadership challenge last month.
Relations between the two countries hit a low point last month over a maritime incident near a disputed island chain.

"The rise of China has been remarkable in recent years," Mr Kan told Japan's parliament.

"But we are concerned about its strengthening defence capabilities without transparency and accelerating maritime activities spanning from the Indian Ocean to the East China Sea."
Earlier this year, China announced its military spending would rise by 7.5% in 2010, ending a long run of double digit growth.
Many experts believe the actual amount spent by China on its armed forces is far higher than the published amount.
Chinese officials say that as a proportion of GDP, China still spends less than other countries, such as the US.
Angry reaction The diplomatic row was touched off by the collision of a Chinese fishing vessel and two Japanese patrol boats in waters off a chain of small islands claimed by both countries.
China reacted angrily when Japan detained the captain of the fishing vessel for more than two weeks, demanding an apology from Tokyo and compensation over the incident.

Continue reading the main story

Ongoing disputes

• Gas fields: The countries argue over gas exploration rights in the East China Sea
• Disputed islands: Both countries claim ownership of Senkaku/Diaoyu islands
• Yasukuni Shrine: Memorial to Japan's war dead which China sees as glorifying war criminals

Beijing suspended high-level talks with Tokyo, exports to Japan of rare earth metals were temporarily halted and four Japanese men were detained for allegedly entering a restricted military area.

Three of them have been released and returned to Japan on Friday, but a fourth remained in detention.
In another development, China's national tourism agency warned Chinese tourists to watch their safety in Japan.
The warning was issued after a bus carrying Chinese visitors to the country was surrounded by dozens of vehicles. People then reportedly started kicking the bus and shouting abuse at the tourists inside.
'Uncertainty and instability' The seas around the uninhabited chain of islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, may have rich oil and gas deposits.
Mr Kan repeated Japan's claim to the islands.
"The Senkaku islands are an integral part of our country, historically and under international law," he said.
He said good relations with China - Japan's largest trading partner - were vital to both countries, but said China must act as a responsible member of the international community.
Japan needed to adopt more active foreign and defence policies to deal with "uncertainty and instability that exist in areas surrounding our country", Mr Kan said.
His speech followed remarks from China's foreign ministry spokesman on Thursday urging Japan to "stop making irresponsible remarks and safeguard the larger interests of bilateral relations with concrete actions".
The spokesman, Jiang Yu, said: "We are willing to resolve our disputes through friendly negotiations but the Chinese government's and people's will and resolve are unswerving on issues involving China's territorial integrity and sovereignty."

Death toll rises from Tropical Storm Nicole in Jamaicalink

Nicole triggered flash floods and mudslides that swept through shanty towns

The death toll from Tropical Storm Nicole in Jamaica has risen to five following flash floods and mudslides triggered by the storm, officials say.

At least seven others are missing, swept away by floodwaters, Jamaica's disaster management office said.
The latest victims include two men who died when a house in Kingston collapsed in a slide triggered by heavy rain on saturated ground.
Nicole broke apart over the Atlantic late on Wednesday afternoon.

But intermittent rains increased the risk of additional landslides across the island.

Emergency workers were trying to locate at least seven missing people, most of whom were believed to have been washed away in slides that roared through Kingston shanty towns.
Schools and universities stayed closed for a second day, while about 30% of those served by Jamaica's utility company were without power, officials said.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who surveyed the damage by helicopter on Wednesday, said the recovery would "cost a significant amount of money".
Nicole is the latest storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. The storm's remnants have now begun moving up the east coast of America.
The US National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, said there was a fair chance the weather system could develop into a tropical depression in the next couple of days, raising the possibility of coastal flooding.