OBAMA'S FINAL SOTU SPEECH - HE LOOKS OLDER, STILL HAS POLITICAL SWAG (VIDEO)

OBAMA'S FINAL SOTU SPEECH - HE LOOKS OLDER, STILL HAS POLITICAL SWAG: 

PAUL RYAN'S FIRST SOTU AS HOUSE SPEAKER.

~ 8 Key Quotes From Obama's 2016 State Of The Union

In his final State of the Union Address, President Obama largely avoided requests for Congress to approve specific programs, instead focusing on broad themes about America's future.

Here are eight key passages from his speech:

1. On bipartisanship

"Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the constructive approach you and the other leaders took at the end of last year to pass a budget and make tax cuts permanent for working families. So I hope we can work together this year on bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform, and helping people who are battling prescription drug abuse. We just might surprise the cynics again."

2. On the economy

"Anyone claiming that America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction. What is true — and the reason that a lot of Americans feel anxious — is that the economy has been changing in profound ways, changes that started long before the Great Recession hit and haven’t let up."

3. On combating cancer

"Last year, Vice President Biden said that with a new moonshot, America can cure cancer. Last month, he worked with this Congress to give scientists at the National Institutes of Health the strongest resources they’ve had in over a decade. Tonight, I’m announcing a new national effort to get it done. And because he’s gone to the mat for all of us, on so many issues over the past forty years, I’m putting Joe in charge of Mission Control."

4. On climate change

"We’ve got to accelerate the transition away from dirty energy. Rather than subsidize the past, we should invest in the future — especially in communities that rely on fossil fuels. That’s why I’m going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet."

5. On U.S. strength

The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period. It’s not even close. We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined. Our troops are the finest fighting force in the history of the world ... when it comes to every important international issue, people of the world do not look to Beijing or Moscow to lead — they call us.

6. On the Islamic State

"As we focus on destroying ISIL, over-the-top claims that this is World War III just play into their hands. Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks and twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages pose an enormous danger to civilians and must be stopped. But they do not threaten our national existence. That’s the story ISIL wants to tell; that’s the kind of propaganda they use to recruit. ... We just need to call them what they are — killers and fanatics who have to be rooted out, hunted down, and destroyed."

7. On diversity

"We need to reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion. This isn’t a matter of political correctness. It’s a matter of understanding what makes us strong. The world respects us not just for our arsenal; it respects us for our diversity and our openness and the way we respect every faith."

8. On politics

"The future we want — opportunity and security for our families; a rising standard of living and a sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids — all that is within our reach. But it will only happen if we work together. It will only happen if we can have rational, constructive debates.It will only happen if we fix our politics."

Sources: PBS, USA Today, Youtube

ONE WORLD ORDER CLIMATE CHANGE PACT APPROVED BY 200 NATIONS: (AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH)

#‎parisagreement‬

ONE WORLD ORDER CLIMATE CHANGE PACT APPROVED BY 200 NATIONS: (AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH)

"PARIS AGREEMENT" IS NOT REALLY ABOUT REDUCING CARBON EMISSIONS.

GOOD-BYE FOREVER TO THE MIDDLE CLASS.

~ Climate change pact adopted by delegates of nearly 200 nations

LE BOURGET, France -

Nearly 200 nations adopted the first global pact to fight climate change on Saturday, calling on the world to collectively cut and then eliminate greenhouse gas pollution but imposing no sanctions on countries that don't.

The "Paris agreement" aims to keep global temperatures from rising another degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) between now and 2100, a key demand of poor countries ravaged by rising sea levels and other effects of climate change.

The countries pledge to limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to the same levels that trees, soil and oceans can absorb naturally, beginning at some point between 2050 and 2100.

Achieving such a reduction in emissions would involve a complete transformation of how people get energy, and many activists worry that despite the pledges, countries are not ready to make such profound and costly changes.

The deal now needs to be ratified by individual governments - at least 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global emissions - before taking effect.

The White House is calling the Paris accord "the most ambitious climate change agreement in history" and says it establishes "a long-term, durable global framework" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is praising the new accord on global warming as a deal that will save the world for generations to come, saying "it's a victory for all of the planet and for future generations."

Kerry told fellow negotiators Saturday in Paris that "it will help the world prepare for the impacts of climate change that are already here and also for those that we already know are on our way inevitably." He added the pact would "prevent the worst most devastating consequences of climate change from ever happening."

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore says "years from now, our grandchildren will reflect on humanity's moral courage to solve the climate crisis. And they will look to December 12, 2015, as the day when the community of nations finally made the decision to act."

Nicaragua's U.S.-born climate envoy, Paul Oquist, told climate negotiators that his country is "not able to support the consensus." He said the agreement does not go far enough and leads to twice as much global warming as the stated goals.

South African environment minister Edna Molewa calls the pact "the best we can get at this historic moment."

She says it "can map a turning point to a better and safer world" but she added that developed countries still have to cut emissions more and help poorer nations to counter the effects of global warming.

Post Sources: AP, WTHR, PBS, YouTube

MASS SHOOTINGS IN AMERICA ARE PLANNED EVENTS AND MEDIA DIVERSIONS (SAN BERNANDINO)

#‎SanBernandino‬

MASS SHOOTINGS IN AMERICA ARE PLANNED EVENTS AND MEDIA DIVERSIONS (SAN BERNANDINO)

WHILE FEDERAL GOVT IS TRYING TO ENACT GUN CONTROL & CLIMATE CHANGE LAWS RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSES.

Why is it that for the past 7 years, a MASS SHOOTING event always occurs in the United States whenever there is a Legislative battle on Capitol Hill between Pres OBAMA and Congress?

Each time one of these MASS SHOOTING events occur, the Mainstream Media reports it which of course Diverts the attention of American citizens away from Capitol Hill and Paralyzes American citizens with FEAR.

Considering how Porous America's borders have become for 7 years, is it a Coincidence or are these MASS SHOOTINGS Planned Events and Media Diversions??

Wake Up America and Fear Not!

We are being BAMBOOZLED by the Govt and the MEDIA!

~ San Bernardino shooting: Several dead; police seek 1 to 3 suspects

The hunt for one to three suspects was taking place near a San Bernardino, California, center for people with developmental disabilities, where as many as 20 people were shot Wednesday, authorities said.

SWAT teams and the bomb squad were working to clear the buildings where the shootings took place.

• "There are multiple casualties and confirmed fatalities," San Bernardino Police spokeswoman Sgt. Vicki Cervantes told reporters.

• The shootings were in the conference center at the Inland Regional Center, the center's executive director, Lavinia Johnson, told CNN. She believes the county's Department of Public Health was having a holiday party there.
Johnson said the fire alarm went off in her building, and people began to evacuate but then the order came to stay in place. Later police came and took people out of their offices.

• Witnesses told police they saw three men with long guns, a law enforcement source told CNN. The source said the suspects got into a black SUV and drove away.

• The three suspects are believed to be armed with AK-47-type weapons, a local law enforcement official told CNN.

• President Barack Obama restated his call for more gun control reforms in the wake of the mass shooting. Speaking to CBS News, Obama said Congress should act in a bipartisan manner to close loopholes, including one that allows people on the TSA no-fly list to legally purchase firearms

• Four adults have been transported to Loma Linda University Medical Center, and the hospital is expecting three more patients, hospital spokeswoman Briana Pastorino said.
She did not describe the nature of the patients' wounds. Arrowhead Regional Medical Center has received eight patients, an employee who didn't want to be named told CNN.

• The bomb squad found a suspicious package on the second floor of a building and determined it is "not normal," the source said. They are going to handle it with a robot, the source added.

• A woman who works at a building where the shootings occurred texted her father: "Shooting at my work. People shot." The father told CNN affiliate KABC his daughter told him 10 to 20 people were shot.

Post Sources: CNN, NBC News, YouTube

CLIMATE CHANGE LAWS WILL DESTROY MIDDLE CLASS ON PLANET EARTH (MORE INCONVENIENT TAXES & REGULATIONS)

Global CLIMATE CHANGE Laws (new TAXES) being pushed by Pres OBAMA and other Elite world leaders will not "Save the Planet", nor "Protect the Future of our Children".

So what is the real "INCONVENIENT TRUTH" about CLIMATE CHANGE??

Is it only about reducing CARBON EMISSIONS?

These new set of Global CLIMATE CHANGE Taxes and Regulations being pushed by the Wealthy Elite, will in fact help to reconfigure Mankind on planet Earth via destroying the current Middle Class and eliminating people stuck in Poverty.

It is really all about making the Super RICH more Wealthy by creating only two Economic groups:

~ The Elite, Super Wealthy & Big Banks - LEADERS

~ A New Lower Class - WORKING SERVANTS

~ NO MORE MIDDLE CLASS



~ Climate Change Laws Hurt The Poor And Benefit No One: Why Are Political Elites Pushing So Hard?

August 21, 2015 by Bob Loewen
Bob Loewen is the chairman of the California Policy Center.

I was eighteen years old in 1966 when my plane circled the tiny airport in Ontario, California. I was traveling from the Bay Area to Claremont to begin my freshman year in college. Looking down from my window seat, the overcast cloud cover prevented me from seeing the freeways and buildings on the ground. When we landed, however, I looked up and saw a hazy blue sky. Then I realized that I was looking up through the cloud cover that I had observed from above. To my horror, what I had seen below me from the sky was not cloud cover at all; it was thick, brown smog, and I was breathing it.

That was the day I became an environmentalist. Although I have a libertarian’s skepticism of government, many times I have supported government programs to clean up the air, water, forests and beaches. In this way, I am like other Californians. Because all of us love and defend the natural resources of our state, the brand “environmentalist” is almost as popular as Santa Claus.

George Orwell warned, however, “political language . . . is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.” [1] California’s climate change laws have nothing to do with removing smog or keeping California’s beaches clean. They hurt the poor and benefit no one. Yet a political elite has managed to impose its will on the California economy without having to explain why it has chosen to hurt the poor for no benefit to the public largely because they use the label “environmentalist”. It is time to hold them accountable.

Orwell’s warning also applies to the substance of the climate change conversation. The climate change elites do not discuss climate change issues in the manner of scientists; they collapse multiple distinct issues into demonizing rhetoric: “The science is settled,” they say in response to every argument that is made; this means that the opponent is a “science denier”. Seldom is this rhetoric even arguably responsive.

While science is one of the principal subjects of the discussion about predicting earth’s climate future through scientific computer modeling, it is no more than political rhetoric to argue that one scientist is so completely wrong in his opinion, and the other so clearly correct, that the first is “denying” the very principles of science. And this is not even the main point of this essay…

Opponents who have other reasons for their opposition to climate change laws usually do not challenge the science. Assuming the climate change outcomes have been predicted accurately by proponents, for example, opponents nevertheless contend that enforcement of climate change laws will not eliminate or delay the predicted harmful effects of climate change because reductions in GHG emissions required by California (or EPA) are more than offset by increased emissions from new power generation plants in China and India.

Opponents who make this point do not deny the science; they embrace it.

The climate change elites do not respond to this point as a distinct argument for which they are accountable; at most, they pretend that the issue does not exist, a slick move worthy of Orwell’s admonition about “political speech”.

California has the most aggressive climate change laws of any state in the nation and is the only state imposing a cap and trade protocol on emitters. It requires that GHG emissions be reduced to 1990 levels no later than 2020.

This year, new laws have been proposed to tighten that standard, requiring that 2020 emissions be reduced to 80% below 1990 levels. Other restrictions include specific requirements that specified minimum levels of wind and solar power be included in the mix of power sources.

All of this makes power in California the most expensive in the nation.

According to the Manhattan Institute, “California’s renewable energy mandates and climate change policies . . . are having a disproportionate economic impact on the poor.” [2] The report found that “in 2012, about 1 million California households were living in energy poverty, a term that applies to households that spend 10 percent, or more, of their income on household energy costs.”

There is a considerable disparity between wealthy areas, such as Mill Valley in Marin County, whose monthly energy costs were only $200 per home because of mild weather conditions, and middle-income areas, such as the town of Hanford in the San Joaquin Valley, where harsher average weather leads to average monthly energy costs of about $500 per home.

The climate change elite is leaving the poor and middle class behind in other ways too.

The Manhattan Institute study found that because of the high cost of compliance (estimated $115 billion to meet renewable requirements alone), California’s climate change laws are forcing businesses out of the state, resulting in job losses. There are also collateral effects from the general hostility of climate change elites to any business involved with fossil fuels. Take fracking, for example. Two years ago, Californians were excited about the potential for thousands of jobs when we learned that California’s shale formations are even richer than those in boom states like North Dakota. [3] A USC study predicted that fossil fuels from shale would provide “up to 2.8 million jobs, increasing the state’s total economic output by up to 14.3 percent . . . boosting personal income by up to 10 percent.” [4] Due to actions in Sacramento, nothing has happened. Why not? A public official who wants to help the poor and middle class close the economic gap has enough information to allow fracking to proceed, but for now, the political elites prefer to keep fossil fuels right where they are, embedded deep in California’s shale.

Most troubling is that the goals of climate change laws are not achieved even when they are strictly enforced. For example, the EPA is pressuring American utilities to stop using coal because it generates more GHGs than other fuel sources. India and China, however, both build coal-fired power plants faster than the United States can remove its own. [5] Eric Roston, writing for Bloomberg Business, observes “’The U.S. is dropping coal plants at an unprecedented rate, but still nowhere as quickly as India is adding them,” and “By 2020 India may have built about 2.5 times as much capacity [in coal] as the U.S. is about to lose.” [6]

China, “the world’s biggest coal addict by far,” has a plan to build hundreds of coal plants, which negates the efficacy of emissions limits imposed by political elites in this country. Eric Lawson of Princeton University, known for his strong stance in favor of the science of climate change, is quoted by Stephen Moore in Investors Business Daily: “From 2010 through 2013, (China) added half the coal generation of the entire U.S. At the peak, from 2005 through 2011, China added roughly two 600-megawatt coal plants a week for seven straight years. [7] And according to U.S. government projections, China will add yet another U.S. worth of coal plants over the next 10 years, or the equivalent of a new 600-megawatt plant every 10 days for 10 years.”

California’s climate change laws are particularly vulnerable to the criticism that they will not change the predicted outcome of man-made warming because, according to the Manhattan Institute study, all of California’s emissions are only 1% of GHG emissions worldwide and 6% of total U.S. emissions. There are no climate models that support the idea that reduction of some or all of those amounts will affect global climate change given increases of emissions in China and India.
Instead of responding directly to these criticisms, some have argued that China and India will change; if the U.S. sticks with its stringent emission reduction policies, they contend, our example will encourage them to reverse the increases in emissions that represent their recent history and turn those into reductions in emissions.

This is pure Utopian fantasy.

About 900 coal plants are currently planned in China and India.

Where is the evidence that India or China have made any plans to change these to lower-emission energy plants? What plans have been made to tear down the existing coal plants and replace them? Absent concrete plans, the follow-my-lead theory is far-fetched.

There is no precedent to suggest that follow-my-lead will succeed. There is, however, precedent suggesting it will not succeed. In California, proponents of AB32 sold the most aggressive state law on climate change in America partly on the follow-my-lead theory. They told Californians that when AB32 was enacted, other states would follow California’s example by adopting statutes similar to AB32.

This effort failed; not one state has adopted a climate change law like California’s. Since it should have been easier to convince another state, like Oregon, to join California on climate change law than to convince a sovereign nation like China, California’s experience disproves the follow-my-lead theory.

Proponents of climate change laws point to the “Joint Announcement” on climate change dated November 12, 2014 signed during President Obama’s visit to China as supposed proof that China is willing to reconsider its policy of increasing emissions.

The Joint Agreement, however, confirms that China will continue to increase its emissions through at least 2030. Much false information has been implied about this nonbinding statement. But it is available on line, and its meaning is pretty clear.

[8] China does not commit anywhere in the document to reduce its emissions; it only states, without agreeing, that it might reach a peak in its increases by 2030. By signing the Joint Agreement, President Obama effectively acknowledges that current conditions will not change before 2030 at the earliest. This means that the heavy burdens created by California’s emissions limits cannot achieve the intended benefits until sometime after that date.

These critical problems with climate change laws have been known for a long time.

Yet climate change elites do not respond to them, making it clear that they have no response that makes sense. This does not mean that nothing should be done about climate change.

But it does mean we need to change the laws that are hurting the poor and middle class, examine what is possible in the area of adaptation, and hold the political elites accountable. The future of California depends on it.

FOOTNOTES

(1) “Politics and the English Language,” George Orwell, 1946
(2) “Renewable Energy Mandates Same As A Tax On The Poor,” by Robert Bryce, Manhattan Institute, 7/26/2015
(3) “Fixing California: Will Fracking Bonanza Be Allowed?,” Chris Reed, CPC Prosperity Forum, 9/30/2013
(4) “The Monterey Shale & California’s Economic Future,” USC Price School of Public Policy, March 2013
(5) “World Falls In Love With Coal That Obama Is Waging War On,” Stephen Moore Investor’s Business Daily, 8/7/2015
(6) “The Grim Promise of India’s Coal-Powered Future,” Eric Roston, Bloomberg Business, 5/21/2015
(7) “World Falls In Love With Coal That Obama Is Waging War On,” Stephen Moore Investor’s Business Daily, 8/7/2015
(8) U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change, 11/12/2014


Sources: California Policy Center, Manhattan Institute, Fox News, YouTube, CPC Prosperity, USC Price School of Public Policy

Polar VORTEX Winter Hits United States: Coldest Winter In Decades!

ARTICLE: "Historic & Life-Threatening' Freeze Brings Rare Danger Warning"


On Monday morning, Nashville was 40 degrees colder than Albany, New York. Memphis, Tennessee, was 20 degrees colder than Anchorage, Alaska. And Atlanta was colder than Moscow.

But the U.S. South was downright balmy compared to the Great Lakes region, where temperatures hovered in the negative 20s -- before wind chill, which dropped temps to the negative 50s, making it very dangerous to go outside.

The bitter cold that a "polar vortex" is pushing into much of the United States is not just another winter storm. It's the coldest in 20 years in many areas, and breaking some records.

More than 3,500 flights nationwide were canceled by noon ET Monday, according to flightaware.com.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn declared a statewide disaster and activated the Illinois National Guard to help provide aid.

While the current weather patterns gave the Northeast a bit of a reprieve, it's in for a brutal drop as the arctic air works its way east. New York, where it was about 50 degrees with wind chill Monday morning, could go as low as minus 7 on Tuesday, said CNN meteorologist Indra Petersons. The region could face a 60-degree temperature change in a single day.

The temperature spread within the United States is a stunning 130 degrees, CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen said, with wind chill putting northern Minnesota at 60 below zero, while Key West, Florida, basks in its dreamy 70 degrees. Much of the West can also expect relatively pleasant weather through Tuesday.

But from Minneapolis to Chicago to Milwaukee, people are under health warnings to stay indoors. Many schools have closed.

"Skin freezes in just five minutes with a wind chill of minus 50," said HLN meteorologist Bob Van Dillen.

Frostbite occurs in 10 minutes with wind chills of minus 35, Hennen added.

Over the past week, at least 13 people have died of weather-related causes. Eleven people died in road accidents; one man in Wisconsin died of hypothermia, and an elderly woman with Alzheimer's disease who wandered away from her home in New York state was found dead in the snow in a wooded area about 100 yards away.

Rare warning

In a very rare move, Minneapolis issued a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" warning about the "historic and life-threatening cold." Such warnings are typically issued for tornadoes, said Petersons.

The National Weather Service adopted the Twitter hashtag "#Chiberia" for Chicago, where temperatures were at 14 below zero. (Parts of the vast Siberian region, such as Tobolsk, had Fahrenheit temps in the low teens Monday, though other parts had temperatures of 50 below zero.)

Some of the greatest concern surrounds the tens of thousands of Midwesterners without electricity.

More than 15,000 customers in Indiana, 6,800 in Illinois and 2,200 in Missouri didn't have power overnight, according to utility companies.

Chicago opened up 12 centers for residents to seek warmth, one of which was to stay open all night through Tuesday.

Libraries and some other city facilities would also be open, said Evelyn Diaz of the city's Department of Family and Support Services.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said 100 warming centers were open statewide.


Source: CNN

Heat Wave & Storms Claims More Than 23 Lives! 21st Century Global Warming

Extreme heat bakes Midwest, parts of East Coast

Highways buckled in Illinois and Wisconsin, water use was cut back in Indiana and those who had power in the mid-Atlantic were urged to conserve it, but the heat gripping much of the country was only expected to worsen Saturday.

Temperatures of more than 100 degrees were forecast in Philadelphia, authorities warned of excessive heat in the Midwest and the power outages surpassed a week in the mid-Atlantic, where extreme heat was expected into the weekend.

A major storm in the area last week left behind damage, which combined with the high demand for power to stress the electrical system's capabilities, a Washington-area utility said.

Hundreds of thousands remained without power Friday night in the Appalachians and mid-Atlantic, mostly in West Virginia.

Tens of thousands were still without power in the Midwest as well after storms there this week. Utilities hoped to restore service over the weekend in Michigan, where temperatures were forecast in the 90s.

The heat was blamed for at least 23 deaths.

Nine people in Maryland have died of heat-related causes in recent days, the state said. Authorities in Chicago said heat was a factor in six deaths there, mostly among older people.

Three deaths in Wisconsin and two in Tennessee were also reported to be heat-related.

In Ohio, a man in his 70s and two women -- one in her late 60s, the other in her 80s -- were found dead this week, said Dr. Jeff Lee, a deputy county coroner in the central part of the state.

He said all three were suffering from heart disease but died from stress caused by high temperatures in their houses.

Temperatures inside were stifling, recorded in the 90s in two cases, with windows shut and no ventilation. The houses lacked electricity because of recent power outages.

"If they had gotten cooling, we would have expected them to survive," he said.

Record temperatures were set Friday in the Indiana cities of Indianapolis, South Bend and Fort Wayne, where temperatures could reach 106 degrees but feel more like 114.

In central Arkansas, Russellville reached 106 degrees, breaking a record set in 1964.

Relief was on the way in the form of a cold front as the weekend ends, but forecasters expected it to bring severe weather, too.

The rain should help dry spells in many places.

Much of Arkansas is enduring brown grass and seeing trees lose their green, and farmers in Ohio are growing concerned about the dry conditions, considered among the worst of the past decade.


View Larger Map


Sources: CNN, Fox News, Google Maps

Heat Wave Hammers Mid-Atlantic, East & Southern States: Elderly & Homeless Most Vulnerable

Lives in danger as many seek refuge from extreme heat

People in a huge swath of the United States are being urged to seek out shelters as needed on Sunday as a historic heat wave continues to bring sizzling temperatures -- including to some who have lost power.

Extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States.

Twenty states were either partially or entirely under excessive heat warnings or heat advisories on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit were expected in much of the Southeast.

New York City was among the sites in the Northeast facing heat advisories.

The National Weather Service said the advisory would be in effect from noon until 7 p.m. ET for the city, with temperatures expected in the mid-90s. When combined with humidity, it could feel like 100 degrees.

Over the past week, nearly 1600 high temperatures have been broken -- including 140 all-time highs, according to the National Climatic Data Center. Statistics for Saturday, when more records were broken, were not yet available.

Meanwhile, a derecho -- or massive storm -- that moved across the Ohio Valley to the Northeast on Friday left 12 people dead and millions without electricity.

Many remained without power on Sunday.

Some residents in the affected areas, particularly between Chicago and Washington, were likely to see high temperatures in the 90s or even 100 on Sunday, said CNN Meterologist Sarah Dillingham. "Even with areas seeing temperatures in the 80s to low 90s, no air conditioning will still pose a major threat."

"Residents who have no air conditioning are urged to find local cooling shelters or other air conditioned establishments to keep cool. It is imperative people do anything they can to try and beat the heat."

Cities throughout the affected regions opened cooling shelters and sites offering water.

"I'm very concerned with the problems created by the combination of power outages and severe heat," said Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who said it could take up to a week to get the power back up to everybody in the state.

Kasich also called out the Ohio National Guard to check on and help the state's most vulnerable, primarily the elderly and the ill.

While crews worked around the clock to restore power, hundreds of thousands of customers remained without electricity on Sunday.

FirstEnergy said four of its utility companies combined still had well over 300,000 customers without power Saturday night. AEP Ohio said it had more than 500,000 customers without power Saturday night.

BGE said Sunday morning it had more than 300,000 customers in Maryland still without power.

The deaths from Friday's storm stretched from Ohio to New Jersey. Most were the result of downed trees and power lines, according to officials.

The destruction prompted state of emergency declarations by governors of Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia.

"This is not a one-day situation; it is a multiday challenge," said Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who called it the largest power outage unrelated to a hurricane in the state's history.

In West Virginia, power outages forced the closure of a large number of gas stations after pumps were rendered inoperable.

Brian Duckworth waited in line for gas for nearly two hours in Vienna, along the West-Virginia-Ohio border.

"I wouldn't even be here because I have plenty of gas in my truck," Duckworth told CNN affiliate WTAP. "But I have to get gas for my generators and some backup gas."

The storm also affected Amtrak service, including shutting down service between Washington and Philadelphia on Saturday.

Those most inconvenienced were aboard a train that ended up grinding to a halt Friday night in Prince, West Virginia, after trees blocked tracks both in front of and behind it, Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm said.

By late Saturday night, the 232 passengers -- who stayed aboard the Chicago-bound train, which had air conditioning and food -- had been taken off and put on buses so they could reach their final destinations, according to Kulm.

The storm's deaths included six in Virginia and two children in New Jersey, cousins who huddled with their families in a tent in Parvin State Park when strong winds felled a pine tree, crushing them.

Their relatives all survived relatively unscathed, said Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection.

In Washington, a couple was electrocuted after they went outside to check on downed power lines. The husband was killed while the wife -- who is in critical condition at a local hospital with burns -- is expected to survive, said police spokesman Araz Alali.

Emergency rooms in Prince George's County, Maryland, filled up over the weekend by people looking to escape the heat, said Fran Phillips, deputy secretary for the state's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

She noted that libraries and community centers across the state would stay open late to act as cooling centers.

Even in places where power was not disrupted, people with no air conditioning were advised to spend the day in a library, a cooling center or some other such place to avoid heat exhaustion.

In Atlanta, where temperatures hit a record-breaking 106 degrees on Saturday and were projected to hit 103 degrees on Sunday, cooling centers were ordered open across the city.


View Larger Map


Sources: CNN, McClatchy Newspapers, Google Maps

Reid Seeks GOP Substitute For Graham, Climate Talks

Harry Reid Tries To Get Around Graham Roadblock



Senate Democrats on Wednesday began circulating a legislative framework for immigration reform that advocates hope will attract a Republican sponsor to replace Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and ease the way for action on both immigration and energy reform this year.

The effort is an attempt by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to get around the roadblock caused when Graham, the lone Republican sponsor on both bills, threatened to withdraw his support from both measures unless Reid agreed to table immigration this year.

“Senate Democrats were not prepared to give him that promise and they are still not,” said one senior Democratic aide.

At the same time, they have not given up hope on persuading Graham to rejoin Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) as a sponsor of the energy bill, and are urging President Barack Obama to do more to reunite the co-sponsors and move the bill to the floor. Graham’s office declined to comment.

Reid, who has been under tremendous pressure to settle the dispute, tried to calm the waters Wednesday.

“This is not going to be like the soap opera, ‘As the World Turns,’ that my mother watched,” he said. “I am going to move energy first and the bill’s ready. I don’t see why we can’t do that.”

The legislation is now undergoing review at the Environmental Protection Agency, a process that is likely to take about a month. That is expected to allow time for adjustments to the measure’s final language, including the inclusion of energy efficiencies passed in another bill by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Reid said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) would spearhead the distribution and crafting of the framework for the immigration legislation. “It’s an outline, but they can put it in legislative language,” said Reid. “For anyone saying that we shouldn’t do immigration this year, especially Republicans, that takes a lot of gall and a lot of being very unreasonable and illogical,” he added.

Immigration reform supporters want the White House to “turbo charge” that legislative effort by using the bully pulpit and White House meetings to bring lawmakers together, said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice.

Traveling in the Midwest Wednesday, Obama urged passage of both bills. “The administration has been in close touch with senators and staff to offer any needed assistance as the negotiations continue to find a path forward for the legislation,” said Ben LaBolt, a White House spokesman on energy.

Still, neither Obama nor Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who sees Graham as a key component of the administration’s legislative strategy, has contacted the South Carolina Republican since he issued the weekend threats that could derail both bills.

“There comes a time in any major legislative initiative when the president can help bridge institutional differences in the Congress, and it’s time now for everyone to come to the table and have a level-headed conversation about next steps,” said Tony Kreindler of the Environmental Defense Fund.

A dispute over the timing of the immigration reform legislation began brewing weeks ago as advocates and some Democrats became convinced Graham was trying to delay a debate and vote this year that could damage Sen. John McCain (R-Az.), his long-time friend and ally. McCain is facing a tough primary fight in a state where immigration has become a hot-button issue since the legislature passed a law that gives police extraordinary leeway to detain people suspected of being illegal immigrants.

Graham denied that this week, saying he knows plenty of Democrats who also don’t want to address the issue in the run up to the midterms. His concern, he said, was that moving the legislation too quickly would doom its outcome.

Reid, however, vowed to Hispanic supporters at a Nevada campaign rally that he’d move legislation to the Senate floor this year. And when rumors began spreading that he may schedule immigration before energy, despite months of efforts by Graham, Kerry and Lieberman to draft legislation a bill acceptable to both industry and environmentalists, Graham issued his ultimatum.

The framework released to immigration advocates by Schumer on Wednesday and obtained by POLITICO contains many of the elements already negotiated with Graham.

It includes provisions aimed at tightening the borders, a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country that requires registration but not that they return home, and the issuance of Social Security cards with biometric identifiers, an idea attacked by some as a national ID card.

But immigrant advocates are hoping the more detailed document will give them a better platform to engage other Republicans and convince them to support a bill. Their targets include Sen. Judd Gregg, (R-N.H.), Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), all of whom voted for immigration reform in the past.

“Now, we need to see if Republicans are going to be serious about solving the problem,” said Clarissa Martinez, the director of immigration and national campaigns for the National Council of La Raza.

Sharry said advocates may not press for a full Senate vote if no Republicans are willing to co-sponsor the immigration measure. But Martinez and others noted that the pressure for Congress to act will only grow now that other states, including Texas, are considering passing legislation similar to one passed by Arizona last week.

“We aren’t interested in a partisan game. We aren’t in this to mobilize voters. We don’t want a kamikaze mission to the floor. We are in it to win it,” said Sharrey.

“What’s driving this debate is 11 million people in mixed status families, living increasingly in fear of being separates, of being fired, and with kids who have committed suicide because their father lost his job,” he added.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), who has been pressing the White House for action on immigration, called on his Senate colleagues to move forward. “We cannot allow people like Sen. Lindsey Graham to unilaterally and singly veto a whole movement for justice and for fairness for immigrants in this country.”


Sources: MSNBC, Politico

Lindsey Graham's Ultimatum To Dems: Climate Change Or Immigration?

Senate Dispute Endangers Climate Change Bill


Long-awaited Climate Change legislation was put on hold by its authors Saturday when a dispute over Immigration politics and U.S. Senate priorities threatened to unravel a bi-partisan effort that took months of work.

Voicing regrets, Sen. John Kerry said Saturday he is postponing the much anticipated unveiling of comprehensive energy and climate change legislation scheduled for Monday.

The Massachusetts Democrat made his announcement after a key partner in drafting the bill, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, threatened to withhold support if Senate Democratic leaders push ahead first with an immigration bill.

Graham is angry that Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada is considering that. Legislation to overhaul immigration laws and grant legal status to millions of long term immigrants unlawfully in the country could create problems for Republicans in the midterm elections. It's a top priority for Hispanic voters — and most Republicans are opposed. Reid's idea amounts to a "cynical political ploy," Graham asserted.

Kerry tried to assure environmentalists and other backers of the climate bill that the delay will be short. The legislation aims to cut emissions of pollution-causing greenhouse gases 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. It also likely will expand domestic production of oil, natural gas and nuclear power.

"We all believe that this year is our best and perhaps last chance for Congress to pass a comprehensive approach," Kerry said in a statement.

"Regrettably, external issues have arisen that force us to postpone only temporarily."

Kerry, Graham and Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman have spent more than six months working on the bill they had hoped to unveil Monday. White House energy adviser Carol Browner praised the three senators, reiterating that the Obama administration wants the energy and climate bill done this year.

Graham's threat to back away from the coalition came Saturday in a letter to Senate leaders.

He said putting immigration at the top of the legislative priority list would derail efforts to find common ground on climate change, a difficult issue involving critically important economic priorities. And he warned that Republican lawmakers would not take kindly to being put on the spot with Hispanics. Many in the Republican Party's political base are adamantly opposed to 'amnesty' for illegal immigrants.

"Moving forward on immigration — in this hurried, panicked manner — is nothing more than a cynical political ploy," Graham said. "Let's be clear, a phony, political effort on immigration today accomplishes nothing but making it exponentially more difficult to address in a serious, comprehensive manner in the future."

Kerry praised Graham's work on the climate legislation, saying the Republican "helped to build an unprecendented coalition of stakeholders from the environmental community and the industry who have been prepared to stand together behind a proposal."

Kerry said he deeply regrets that Graham "feels immigration politics have gotten in the way and for now prevent him from being engaged in the way he intended."

Lieberman also praised Graham's work, and said he's disappointed that "allegations of partisan politics will prevent us from introducing the bill on Monday as planned."

Pushing immigration ahead of climate legislation would disappoint and anger environmentalists, who see this as their best chance in recent years to pass a bill addressing global warming. But Reid told fellow Democrats this week he wants to pursue legislation that would offer legal status to many unlawful immigrants before tackling climate change.

Hispanics voted heavily Democratic in 2008, and they've been disappointed with President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats for not following up on campaign promises to reform immigration laws. Reid is up for re-election this year and trailing in polls in Nevada, where Latinos are an important constituency. With Democrats facing a tough political climate in the midterm elections, energized Hispanic voters could make a difference in several states.

In a statement Saturday that was both conciliatory and noncommittal, Reid said he is committed to passing both immigration and energy this year.

"Immigration and energy reform are equally vital to our economic and national security and have been ignored for far too long," he said.

Both measures will require bipartisan support, Reid said, "and energy could be next if it's ready." Comprehensive immigration reform requires significant committee work that has not yet begun, he noted.

Reid said he appreciates Graham's work on both issues, but added: "I will not allow him to play one issue off of another, and neither will the American people. They expect us to do both, and they will not accept the notion that trying to act on one is an excuse for not acting on the other."

A spokesman said Reid would continue to consult with Kerry on building bipartisan support for a climate bill.

The House last year narrowly passed a bill creating a system to cap emissions blamed for global warming, but has not acted on immigration. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has long said the Senate must vote before the House on an immigration bill.


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Sources: CNN, MSNBC, Meet The Press, Youtube, Google Maps

Where's Al Gore? Iceland's Volcano & China's Quake, Apocalypse Or Climate Change?

Where's Al Gore??

Earthquakes in Chile, China & Haiti, the Worse U.S. Winter in decades, Tsunamis in Hawaii & Taiwan and now Iceland's Volcanic Eruptions all in less than a year's time.

Are these regular "Natural Disasters", signs of "Climate Change" or "End of the World" warnings to Mankind?

Its definitely something to think about.

By the way has anyone seen Al Gore lately?

Perhaps he can enlighten us as to what's happening with this weird weather.

Check out the videos and article about these catastrophes below.

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Europe Faces More Air Travel Chaos


Thick drifts of volcanic ash blanketed parts of rural Iceland on Friday as a vast, invisible plume of grit drifted over Europe, emptying the skies of planes and sending hundreds of thousands in search of hotel rooms, train tickets or rental cars.

Polish officials worried that the ash cloud could threaten the arrival of world leaders for Sunday's state funeral for President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, Maria, in the southern city of Krakow.

So far, President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are among those coming and no one has canceled. Kaczynski's family insisted Friday they wanted the funeral to go forward as planned but there was no denying the ash cloud was moving south and east.

The air traffic agency Eurocontrol said almost two-thirds of Europe's flights were canceled Friday, as air space remained largely closed in Britain and across large chunks of north and central Europe.

"The skies are totally empty over northern Europe," said Brian Flynn, deputy head of Eurocontrol, adding "there will be some significant disruption of European air traffic tomorrow."

Air travel grounded

The agency said about 16,000 of Europe's usual 28,000 daily flights were canceled Friday — twice as many as were canceled a day earlier. Only about 120 trans-Atlantic flights reached European airports compared to 300 on a normal day, and about 60 flights between Asia and Europe were canceled.

The International Air Transport Association said the volcano was costing the industry at least $200 million a day.

Southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier began erupting for the second time in a month on Wednesday, sending ash several miles into the air. Winds pushed the plume south and east across Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia and into the heart of Europe.

Gray ash settled in drifts near the glacier, swirling in the air and turning day into night. Authorities told people in the area with respiratory problems to stay indoors, and advised everyone to wear masks and protective goggles outside.

In major European cities, travel chaos reigned. Extra trains were put on in Amsterdam and lines to buy train tickets were so long that the rail company handed out free coffee.

Train operator Eurostar said it was carrying almost 50,000 passengers between London, Paris and Brussels. Thalys, a high-speed venture of the French, Belgian and German rail companies, was allowing passengers to buy tickets even if trains were fully booked.

London taxi company Addison Lee said it had received requests for journeys to cities as far away as Paris, Milan, Amsterdam and Zurich.

The disruptions hit tourists, business travelers and dignitaries alike.

Germany's Merkel had to go to Portugal rather than Berlin as she flew home from a U.S. visit. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg managed to get a flight to Madrid from New York but was still not sure when or how he would get back home.

Shift in tactics

The military also had to adjust. Five German soldiers wounded in Afghanistan were diverted to Turkey instead of Germany, while U.S. medical evacuations for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are being flown directly from the warfronts to Washington rather than to a care facility in Germany. The U.S. military has also stopped using temporarily closed air bases in the U.K. and Germany.

Aviation experts said it was among the worst disruptions Europe has ever seen.

"We don't have many volcanoes in Europe," said David Learmount of Flight International, an aviation publication. "The wind was blowing in the wrong direction."

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Ice, fire

In Iceland, torrents of water carried away chunks of ice the size of small houses on Thursday as hot gases melted the glacier over the volcano. Sections of the country's main ring road were wiped out by the flash floods.

More floods from melting waters are expected as long as the volcano keeps erupting — and in 1821, the same volcano managed to erupt for more than a year.

Small amounts of ash settled in northern Scotland and Norway, but officials said it posed little threat to health.

But Europeans were urged to stay indoors if ash started to rain down from the sky, the World Health Organization said on Friday. WHO spokesman David Epstein said the microscopic ash was potentially dangerous for people if it started to "settle" on the earth because inhaled particles can reach the lungs and cause respiratory problems.

The ash cloud, drifting between 20,000 to 30,000 feet high and invisible from the ground, initially blocked the main air flight path between the U.S. east coast and Europe. On Friday, the cloud's trajectory was taking it over northern France and Austria and into eastern and central Russia at about 25 mph.

Fearing that microscopic particles of highly abrasive ash could endanger passengers by causing aircraft engines to fail, authorities shut down air space over Britain, Ireland, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Belgium. That halted flights at Europe's two busiest airports — Heathrow in London and Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris — as well as dozens of other airports, 25 in France alone.

Air space restrictions were lifted, imposed or extended Friday as the cloud moved.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Flights were suspended at Frankfurt airport, Europe's third-busiest terminal, and at other German airports including Duesseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne.

Irish aviation authorities reopened airports in Dublin and Cork and France allowed some planes to land in Paris. Sweden and Norway declared skies in the far north to be safe but kept a lockdown on flights to both capitals — Stockholm and Oslo.

Britain's National Air Traffic Service said the air over England would remain closed to flights until at least 7 a.m. (0600 GMT, 2 a.m. EDT) Saturday, although some flights were being allowed in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Switzerland, Slovakia, Croatia and Hungary closed their airspace, and Poland expanded its no-fly zone to most of the country, excluding Krakow. Belgium extended its flight restrictions until late Saturday morning.

Iceland, a nation of 320,000 people, sits on a large volcanic hot spot in the Atlantic's mid-oceanic ridge and has a history of devastating eruptions. One of the worst was the 1783 eruption of the Laki volcano, which spewed a toxic cloud over Europe, killing tens of thousands.


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Sources: CBS News, CNN, Digital Art, Freaking News, MSNBC, Youtube, Google Maps

Worried Dem Lawmakers Beg Obama To Drop Cap-and-Trade Bill

Senate Democrats To W.H.: "Drop Cap-and-Trade"



Bruised by the health care debate and worried about what 2010 will bring, moderate Senate Democrats are urging the White House to give up now on any effort to pass a cap-and-trade bill next year.

“I am communicating that in every way I know how,” says Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of at least half a dozen Democrats who've told the White House or their own leaders that it's time to jettison the centerpiece of their party's plan to curb global warming.

The creation of an economy-wide market for greenhouse gas emissions is as the heart of the climate bill that cleared the House earlier this year. But with the health care fight still raging and the economy still hurting, moderate Democrats have little appetite for another sweeping initiative — especially another one likely to pass with little or no Republican support.

“We need to deal with the phenomena of global warming, but I think it’s very difficult in the kind of economic circumstances we have right now,” said Indiana Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh, who called passage of any economy-wide cap and trade “unlikely.”

At a meeting about health care last month, moderates pushed to table climate legislation in favor of a jobs bill that would be an easier sell during the 2010 elections, according to Senate Democratic aides.

“I’d just as soon see that set aside until we work through the economy,” said Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.). ?“What we don’t want to do is have anything get in the way of working to resolve the problems with the economy.”

“Climate change in an election year has very poor prospects,” added Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). “I’ve told that to the leadership.”

At least some in the Democratic leadership appear to be listening.

Asked about cap-and-trade last week, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said: “At this point I’d like to see a complete bill but we have to be realistic."

Moderate House Democrats who voted in favor of the cap-and-trade bill just before the July 4th recess came under fire back home, and Republicans have vowed to make the issue a key line of attack during next year’s elections.

Some Democrats would prefer to deny them that target.

“I’d prefer to do energy, because I think you could get a really broad consensus on a lot of energy legislation,” said Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) ?

But supporters of the climate bill say that cap-and-trade is an inextricable part of any energy package for next year.

“We’ve got to keep them together because they go together,” said Connecticut Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, who infuriated liberals with his opposition to the public option in the health care bill but who's trying to keep cap-and-trade alive in a bipartisan climate bill he's drafting with Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

The White House remains firmly behind an economy-wide cap-and-trade system, which would curb greenhouse gas emissions and create a market for polluters to buy and sell carbon allowances.

“We think that a cap-and-trade mechanism is the best way to achieve the most cost-effective reductions," a senior administration official told reporters last week.

But Kerry raised eyebrows last week when he seemed to hint at some flexibility over the issue.

"I can't tell you the method or the means or amount by which we might price carbon," he told reporters in Copenhagen. "We haven't resolved that issue yet.”

A move away from cap-and-trade would bitterly disappoint the environmental community and many powerful utility companies, who’ve lobbied hard for the system.

Many utilities, investors, and even some consumer companies like Starbucks and Nike believe cap-and-trade will unleash a flood of investments in energy efficiency and renewable fuels like wind, solar, and nuclear power But passage will be a heavy lift -- with few signs of Republican support and mounting concern from the moderate Democrats.

Earlier this month, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) introduced a bill that would replace cap and trade with a system that would set a price on carbon dioxide emissions and return all the revenue to consumers, instead of industry.

And Republican Sens. George Voinovich of Ohio and Richard Lugar of Indiana are examining proposals to cap greenhouse gas emissions only on power plants, coupled with energy efficiency programs for buildings and transportation.

After the tough health care fight, Democratic leadership believes a climate bill must pass with significant bipartisan support or risk leaving the party open to attack during the midterm elections.

“Any bill dealing with energy and climate change will have to be bipartisan to pass,” said Durbin. “Sen. Kerry assures me that there are other (Republicans) that he may have.”

But even among Republicans who believe global warming is a problem, few -- if any -- other than Graham support an economy-wide cap and trade system.



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Sources: Politico, Google Maps