This is about as bad as it gets folks. I don't think I've seen anything like it since 1994. Sure its been very cold at times over the past 14 years, but the total area impacted by this cold wave will be huge. By next Thursday and Friday, extremely cold air will chill the entire area from the Great Plains to the Eastern Seaboard, and the cold is also going to reach the Deep South. Only the far West will be unscathed.
From the central Plains to the Northeast temperatures are going below zero; there is no question about it. Meanwhile, the Upper Midwest and northern New England could experience readings lower than 30 below zero!
One might have to go back to Jan. 1994 to find anything worse. In that bitter outbreak, temperatures went below zero from the central Plains to the East Coast. In New York there is a chance it will go below zero next Thursday or Friday night. The last time New York City experienced a below-zero temperature was Jan. 1994.
Did I mention there could be a snowstorm to boot? Yes, that very well could happen. Low pressure riding the leading edge of the bitter blast could put down a significant amount of snow starting in the Midwest Tuesday then reaching the East on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#4
Two Australians killed by advancing glacier. The steep overhanging terminus is characteristic of a rapidly advancing glacier. The Fox glacier has been advancing for close to 10 years.
#6
Well, from up here the weather report is 6 to 8 inches of snow once this wave finishes with us, but the temp is a balmy 19 degrees. The windchill does bring it down to single digits, though.
Just hopin' the snowblower works and we don't run out of half and half for the Tsar's coffee....it could get ugly if we do.
#7
Just shoveled half the drive (lengthwise) and it is still snowing.. Time for some Irish coffee. (about 6 inches so far - meaning 1 & 1/2 foot where the plow fills the drive)
#8
Our community weekly describes the local head of Public Works very patiently trying to explain to hollering local citizens that no, there isn't any more road salt left to buy. You can't buy what isn't there, and apparently every community north of the 35th parallel has bought extra this year.
#9
Here in Anchorage, the temps have been sub zero for weeks. Anchorage -6F, Fairbanks -39F, Fort Yukon -42F. We are waiting for global warming....waiting....waiting......patiently....dammit!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/10/2009 12:55 Comments ||
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#10
Our family visited the Fox Glacier in Jan 2005. Active moraines on both sides, active face in front, easy to get to. We kept our distance, but a number of people went up the moraines on the side, and even to the face. Playing the odds. The two chaps crushed in the ice fall played the odds and lost.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/10/2009 14:01 Comments ||
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#11
as I told AP the other day - it's been cold here too. I have my long shorts on
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 14:27 Comments ||
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#12
Here in Perth we keep cool by opening all the doors at night.
#13
Here in the central Virginia area it's supposed to be highs in the 40's (& maybe 50's a day or two) through next weekend. What got my attention during the weather forecast last night was the 12º for a low next weekend.
Yeah, I know you all in Alaska, the north, and the Great Plains are laughing at me, but 12 is pretty low for our area, even in the dead of winter. I don't think we're supposed to get any snow, though, which is good.
I'm definitely getting older - I don't look forward to 18" of snow bringing the area to a screeching halt winter like I used to. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/10/2009 15:13 Comments ||
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#14
The last nights we had -20°C or so... some areas in Germany had -30°C
Bring on Global Warming
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/10/2009 15:33 Comments ||
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#15
It's winter. It's cold. It's gonna snow.
Man up, boys and girls.
Zimbabwe's central bank will introduce a $50 billion note -- enough to buy just two loaves of bread -- as a way of fighting cash shortages amid spiraling inflation.
How exactly does that fight inflation?
The country's acting finance minister, Patrick Chinamasa, made the announcement in a government gazette released Saturday. While Chinamasa did not give the date on which the $50 billion and new $20 billion notes would come into circulation, an official at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said the notes would be distributed to all banks by the end of Monday.
Zimbabwe is grappling with hyperinflation now officially estimated at 231 million percent and its currency is fast losing its value. As of Friday, one U.S. dollar was trading at around ZW$25 billion.
When the government issued a $10 billion note just three weeks ago, it bought 20 loaves of bread. That note now can purchase less than half of one loaf.
Realizing the worthlessness of the currency, the RBZ has allowed most goods and services to be charged in foreign currency. As a result, grocery purchases, government hospital bills, property sales, rent, vegetables and even mobile phone recharge cards are now paid for in foreign currency, as the worthless Zimbabwe dollar virtually ceases to be legal tender.
Once a regional economic model, Zimbabwe is in the throes of an economic crisis, with unemployment running at more than 80 per cent and many families unable to afford a square meal. President Robert Mugabe's critics blame his policies for the economic meltdown but he in turn says the West is sabotaging his efforts.
In order to attract foreign currency, Zimbabwe's central bank has, since September, licensed at least 1,000 shops to sell goods in foreign currency. All mobile phone service providers are now licensed to accept foreign exchange for airtime and other services.
John Robertson, an economist in Zimbabwe, said he's puzzled by the introduction of the new $50 and $20 billion notes. "I am not really sure what these notes would be for," he said. "No one now accepts the local currency. It is a waste of resources to print Zimbabwe dollar notes now. Who accepts a currency that loses value by almost 100 percent daily?"
In August last year, the RBZ slashed ten zeros from the currency. But the zeroes have bounced back with more vigor.
A power-sharing deal between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed in September -- and brokered by former South African leader Thabo Mbeki -- raised hopes of halting Zimbabwe's plunge into economic destruction. But the pact has stalled over the allocation of key cabinet ministries, with Tsvangirai accusing Mugabe of grabbing all key posts such as defense, home affairs, local government, foreign affairs and finance.
#5
"In August last year, the RBZ slashed ten zeros from the currency. But the zeroes have bounced back with more vigor."
Why then not to make a currency-calender? slash the zeroes at the end of December, and until next year calculate the month by means of zeroes on the currenct you get as a salary.
Soviets had local bus tickets produced as long strips - with icons on, each being worth 2, 3 or 5 kopeeks. Zimbabwe could adapt this by having strips with number 1, 2 or 5 at the start (one can stamp the number at the start of the strip), and zeroes afterwards.
On the bright side, people in Zimbabwe are getting used to large numbers, which is good in astronomy. National science nevertheless.
Posted by: Gloluting Darling of the Heathen Rus4265 ||
01/10/2009 13:53 Comments ||
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#6
two words: scientific notation
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 14:25 Comments ||
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#7
We might wanna lay off Bob. Down the road, Barry may be asking him for advice.
MOMBASA, Kenya, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- A supertanker that was hijacked by Somali pirates as it carried 2 million barrels of oil to the United States has been released, the pirates said Friday. Mohamed Said, who said he was one of the pirates, told The Times of London by telephone that everyone on board the Sirius Star had been freed unharmed.
The tanker was captured in the Indian Ocean 420 miles off the coast in November. The pirates sought $25 million for its release but later cut their ransom demand to $3.5 million. The ship was owned by Vela International Marine, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco. Vela refused to comment on any payments, but pirates said that their demands had been met.
Andrew Mwangura, head of the Seafarers' Assistance Program in the port of Mombasa, Kenya, said that the Sirius Star, more than 1,000 feet in length, is too big to dock in Mombasa. He said that the vessel might simply continue on its voyage, rounding the Cape of Good Hope.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2009 00:14 ||
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Mmmmmmmmmmmm...elephant.
HARARE, Zimbabwe, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Zimbabwean soldiers are being given elephant meat to eat, an environmental group says. The BBC reported Saturday that the use of elephant meat began last June but has recently increased. Some days you eat the elephant, some days the elephant eats you...
Jonny Rodrigues of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said several soldiers had complained to him that was the only meat they were given. Rodrigues said that army contracts to supply beef to feed soldiers had been canceled. "It is cheaper and easier to use elephant meat," he was quoted by the British network as saying. Unless you're an elephant... Hokay, is there such a thing as 'dark' and 'white' elephant meat?
The BBC said the Zimbabwean economy is collapsing and that soldiers have recently complained after being unable to withdraw their salaries in cash from banks. Piss off the army in a third world dictatorship? That's not good, Bob...
Russia said Friday it was preparing to resume natural gas shipments to Europe as the European Union sought an agreement that would allow a team of international observers to verify that fuel isn't being stolen as it passes through Ukrainian pipelines.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
Pooty Poot playing mind-f*ck with the mental and moral midgets of the EU. Just a little incident to let the EU know who is in charge of the gas, and the supply valve.
The EU is doing conversions to wood pellets as a fuel on a grand scale. Canada produces about 1.2 million tons a year. A lot from the east, and the majority from BC production goes to Europe. There is not enough capacity in Scandinavian forests to supply the demand.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/10/2009 13:01 Comments ||
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#3
Now they understand why he wanted control of the southern line thru Georgia. When he accidently turns it off in mid-winter, it's off. Got it yet EU ?
(AKI) - Turkish police discovered explosives, bombs and arms in a suburb of the capital Ankara early on Friday allegedly related to the shadowy Ergenekon organisation and its bid to topple the Islamic-rooted government.
Media reports say the search was conducted on a vacant property after a sketch was found at the home of Ibrahim Sahin, an Ergenekon suspect. Three shoulder missile launchers, TNT molds and plastic explosives were found in two separate bags, Turkish media reports said.
Sahin was among the 37 people detained on Wednesday in the latest wave of arrests linked to the Ergenekon operation. Three retired generals and active military officers were among those arrested for their suspected links to the right-wing group.
Turkey's military chief met prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and president Abdullah Gul on Thursday to discuss the latest detentions.
In a statement, the general staff said separate talks between armed forces commander General Ilker Basbug, Erdogan and Gul had centred on Wednesday's detentions. The military, which has unseated four governments in the last 50 years, has denied any link to the group, known as Ergenekon.
A total of 86 people including retired army officers, politicians and lawyers, are facing trial over allegations they were planning a coup attempt.
Sahin, the former head of the Turkish anti-terrorist Special Forces was tried in Turkey's infamous Susurluk case that became one of the most crucial scandals in the country's political history. In the late 1990s, the Susurluk case, aimed at unveiling a shadowy illegal organisation, known as "the deep-state", began after a traffic accident involving a parliamentarian, a police official and a fugitive. The case uncovered the mysterious relationship between the country's Mafia, police and political figures.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Ha! Barry doesn't have enough problems?
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Get ready for the in-law in chief.
Transition officials said Friday that President-elect Barack Obama's mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, is moving into the White House to join Michelle Obama and their two children. It's not clear whether the move will be permanent.
Shades of Ms. Lillian ...
Katie McCormick Lelyveld, the press secretary for Michelle Obama, said Robinson would decide in coming months whether she wants to stay in Washington.
Robinson retired from her job as a bank executive secretary to help with her granddaughters during the campaign.
This is fine, of course. She gets to have the granddaughters in her life and Obama has one less (perhaps) distraction on the job.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 16:08 Comments ||
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#6
Black guy gets elected President. Mother-in-law moves into the White House with the family. We have the making for a TV sit-com here, folks. Working title: Everyone Loves Barry
#7
I think this is a wise idea. The girls have been in their grandmother's care for the last eighteen months or so, and before that their mother was responsible for their upbringing. The change from private to public life is hard enough on adults. The president will be surrounded by those catering to him all day long, the first lady will be busy hostessing -- a job for which I imagine she is ill-prepared, and which will therefore be highly stressful until she masters it (I do hope she makes a point to learn as much as Mrs. Bush will teach her -- I don't think she can count on much from her Democratic predecessor). Even six months with their grandmother in residence will ease the transition all around, and if possible a year would be ideal.
#8
Can you imagine being on the White House staff (Maid, Butler, Cook, Cleaning crew etc...) and having to put up with the mother-in-law?
Talk about torture...
NORFOLK, Va. -- President George W. Bush landed Saturday on the USS George H.W. Bush, a new aircraft carrier named after his father -- the ultimate honor for a decorated Navy pilot from World War II.
"So what do you give a guy who has been blessed and has just about everything he has ever needed?" the president asked the estimated 20,000 gathered for the commissioning at Naval Station Norfolk. "Well, an aircraft carrier. Laura and I are thrilled to be here to help commission an awesome ship and to honor an awesome man," Bush said.
The steel-gray vessel is more than three football fields long, one in the Nimitz class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers that are the largest warships on the world. Its price tag is just as hefty: $6.2 billion.
The elder Bush, 84, told the ship's crew, his voice quavering at times with emotion, that they will form "an unbroken line of patriots protecting this special piece of American territory. As someone who has stood that watch and remembers the quiet solitude of that experience, I know you will find comfort and inspiration," he said, "particularly in the night sky, where it is basking in the splendor of the night stars that you will truly understand the majesty of creation and bear witness to the certain hand of God."
Doro Bush Koch, the president's sister and ship's sponsor, had the honor of bringing the carrier to life. With the words, "Man our ship. Bring her to life," hundreds of sailors charged up gangplanks as a band played "Anchors Aweigh". Four F-18s flew overhead, followed by a solo World War II torpedo bomber similar to the one the elder Bush flew during the war.
The mood was celebratory aboard the ship, spit and polished for its unveiling. The Marine One presidential helicopter ferried the president, his father and their wives to its deck. It was sunny, but a chilly breeze greeted the president, his father and their wives got off the helicopter with their wives. George H.W. Bush, sporting a purple scarf inside his overcoat, walked with a cane to a golf cart. He got in the back seat with former first lady Barbara Bush; the president grinned and waved as he took the driver's seat with his wife by his side.
Unexpectedly to onlookers, the entire section of the deck -- actually an elevator -- dropped slowly to the floor below. They drove to the ceremony site that overlooked thousands of guests attending the ceremony on the carrier, decorated in red-white-and-blue bunting. Ooooooh, there's elevators on aircraft carriers? Looks like AP sent out another one of their "military experts" out to cover this.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, one of the first speakers, said there is no one more worthy than the former president to have the last ship of the Nimitz class to bear his name -- "the last of the World War II generation to serve as commander in chief."
A bronze statue on the hangar bay deck of the 1,092-foot warship depicts the former president as a youthful, smiling pilot in his flight suit. On an upper deck, a "tribute room" presents Bush's life from his days in the Navy to his four years in the White House.
No other former president has visited a carrier named after him. Ronald Reagan was the first living ex-president to have a carrier named in his honor, but Reagan was unable to visit the vessel before he died. Maybe Clinton will still be around to visit the honey barge that they'll eventually name after him...
#2
I do NOT approve of naming warships after still-living ex-Presidents. I didn't like it when they commissioned the Reagan and I don't like it now. Tell them brass-hat suck-ups in the Pentagon to knock it off.
#6
Mojo, as much as I respect President GHW Bush, I agree with you. Ships, buildings, highways, etc should not be named after living people. Too much chance for underhanded dealings.
Note: I do not think that there was anything underhanded in naming the USS Bush. However, just about every highway, public building, and federally funded outhouse in West Virginia is named after Robert Byrd. And don't get me started on the Charlie Rangel school of whatever in New York.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/10/2009 16:42 Comments ||
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#7
The Charles Rangel School of Convienient Memory Loss. I believe...
#8
Personally, I like the WWII-era names for carriers and wish those would be used. I know a few of the amphib assault ships are using those names now, but Ranger, Wasp, Hornet, Essex, Saratoga, Yorktown, etc., are the kinds of names that should forever be carriers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2009 17:59 Comments ||
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#9
USS KillYouDead would work for me
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 18:02 Comments ||
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#3
Have the UN turn down free wine? Even "Zionist Oppressor" wine? You must be insane, Mr. Ambassdor.
And it's "conquered" territory, not "occupied" territory. You can thank the Mighty Syrian Army for that.
As budget cuts force many U.S. newspapers to retrench on their foreign coverage, veteran journalist Charles Sennott saw virtually no chance of getting another assignment abroad. So Sennott left The Boston Globe to start his own news organization, GlobalPost.com. It launches Monday with 65 journalists, including veterans of major news organizations such as CNN, The Washington Post, Time magazine and The Associated Press. Newspapers in Toilet: Women, Minorities, Hack Journalists Hardest Hit...
The free Web site, supported by ads, will offer regular dispatches for an American audience to supplement coverage from the AP, Reuters and other news organizations still covering the world. GlobalPost also will sell stories to papers to run in print or online.
"We cannot cover every plane crash or be there for every press conference," Sennott said. "What we can do is have a network of talented writers who live in the places they write and who deliver stories that are comparable to a metro newspaper's columnist, stories that connect the dots, that give you a sense of a place in a relatively short space."
At launch, GlobalPost will span nearly 50 countries, including Brazil, Indonesia and other regions that Sennott believes are undercovered in American media. Reporters also will be concentrated in key emerging markets like China and India.
Journalists will generally be paid $1,000 a month as part-time freelancers, meaning they'll likely continue working for other outlets as well. In fact, Sennott has discouraged applicants from leaving full-time jobs.
GlobalPost is providing its recruits with digital video cameras and some travel expenses, but they will work from home, eliminating office costs. In high-cost regions like Iraq and Afghanistan, the company looked for freelancers who already have contracts with larger organizations footing the bill.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
So, a blog, then. I thought journalists hated blogs?
#4
There's a few of these out there. Politico and PJM are the better known ones, but there's also one covering San Diego and a couple others funded by foundations (who also donate to left-side-of-the-political-spectrum groups).
This one has seed money from a former Globe publisher and a hi-tech exec.
Oil prices have fallen back close to 40 dollars having begun the session higher, at the end of a very volatile week.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, fell 1.35 dollars to 40.35 dollars per barrel. Brent North Sea crude for February shed 96 cents to 43.71dollars on London's InterContinental Exchange.
Oil prices had fallen Thursday on concerns over a US stockpile buildup and worries that the global economic slump would further dampen demand, traders said. The US Department of Energy said on Wednesday that stockpiles of crude increased 6.7 million barrels last week, far higher than predictions from analysts for a gain of only 700,000 barrels.
News of the buildup in recession-struck United States, the world's biggest crude consuming nation, pushed New York crude down 5.95 dollars and London Brent oil by 4.67 dollars on Wednesday. The market also remains concerned over higher US jobless numbers and President-elect Barack Obama's mammoth task of stimulating growth.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
What I have never understood is why, when the price of crude oil goes up, the price at the pump goes up immediately. However when the price of oil drops, the price of gas does not. The explanation of that is usually that the price of oil is the price at the well head, and it has to be shipped, refined and delivered to the pump for the price to go down.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/10/2009 18:30 Comments ||
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Seriously, if you don't like the price DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT
(Electric vehicles if you live in a city, Cheap non ac, non ps, no boombox-gps-dvd and other toys)
I don't recommend motorcycles, but a three wheeler with roof would be nice.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
01/10/2009 21:07 Comments ||
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#5
Interesting times for micro-producers out here in the midwest. Lots of 'em are shutting down production in hopes that they can hang around long enough to see a recovery.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
This is about as bad as it gets folks. I don't think I've seen anything like it since 1994. Sure its been very cold at times over the past 14 years, but the total area impacted by this cold wave will be huge. By next Thursday and Friday, extremely cold air will chill the entire area from the Great Plains to the Eastern Seaboard, and the cold is also going to reach the Deep South. Only the far West will be unscathed.
Zimbabwe's central bank will introduce a $50 billion note -- enough to buy just two loaves of bread -- as a way of fighting cash shortages amid spiraling inflation.
(AKI) - Turkish police discovered explosives, bombs and arms in a suburb of the capital Ankara early on Friday allegedly related to the shadowy Ergenekon organisation and its bid to topple the Islamic-rooted government. 
As budget cuts force many U.S. newspapers to retrench on their foreign coverage, veteran journalist Charles Sennott saw virtually no chance of getting another assignment abroad. So Sennott left The Boston Globe to start his own news organization, GlobalPost.com. It launches Monday with 65 journalists, including veterans of major news organizations such as CNN, The Washington Post, Time magazine and The Associated Press.
Oil prices have fallen back close to 40 dollars having begun the session higher, at the end of a very volatile week. 
