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To: Sully- who wrote (76398)	1/5/2010 4:47:09 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Secret Service allowed another unexamined guest into White House By: J.P. Freire Associate Commentary Editor beltway-confidential 01/04/10 12:03 PM EST Forget the hub-bub about party crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi – the Secret Service let yet another unexamined guest into the White House. From Ronald Kessler at Newsmax: <<< Subsequently, the Secret Service examined surveillace video of arriving guests and attempted to match the images with the guest list. The agency spotted an African-American man wearing a tuxedo who had not been invited. He appeared to be with members of the Indian delegation. Checking further, agents found that a State Department official had picked him up, along with others from the Indian delegation, at the Willard InterContinental Hotel and had driven him from the hotel to the White House. The man turned out not to pose a threat, but because the Secret Service failed to perform a background check, the agency never would have known if he was, for example, wanted for murder or involved with terrorist groups. Ironically, in the movie “In the Line of Fire,” an assassin was able to gain access to the president in similar fashion. >>> Forget the political point-scoring. It’s a little worrisome that security has been so lax in light of recent events. washingtonexaminer.com

To: Sully- who wrote (76398)	1/5/2010 6:55:59 PM
From: Sully-	1 Recommendation Respond to of 90947

About That 'Unprecedented' Glacier Melt We Keep Hearing About By: Greg Pollowitz Planet Gore It's not as bad today as it was in the 40's. "Watt's Up With That": <<< The most recent studies by researchers at ETH Zurich show that in the 1940s Swiss glaciers were melting at an even-faster pace than at present. This is despite the fact that the temperatures in the 20th century were lower than in this century. Researchers see the main reason for this as the lower level of aerosol pollution in the atmosphere. In Switzerland, the increase in snow in wintertime and the glacier melt in summertime have been measured at measurement points at around 3,000 metres above sea level - on the Clariden Firn, the Great Aletsch glacier and the Silvretta glacier - without interruption for almost 100 years. As part of his doctoral work, Matthias Huss used this unique range of measurements to examine how climate change in the last century affected the glaciers. The work was carried out under the supervision of Martin Funk, professor and head of the Department for Glaciology at the Laboratory for Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (‘VAW’) at ETH Zurich, who is also co-author of the study. Solar radiation as the decisive factor In its work, the research team took into account the solar radiation measured on the Earth’s surface in Davos since 1934. Studies over the past two decades have shown that solar radiation varies substantially due to aerosols and clouds, and this is assumed to influence climate fluctuations. Recent years have seen the emergence of the terms ‘global dimming’ and ‘global brightening’ to describe these phenomena of reduced and increased solar radiation respectively. These two effects are currently the subject of more and more scientific research, in particular by ETH Zurich, as experts feel that they should be taken into account in the climate models (see ETH Life dated July 9, 2009) The new study, published in the journal ‘Geophysical Research Letters’, confirms this requirement. This is because, taking into account the data recorded for the level of solar radiation, the scientists made a surprising discovery: in the 1940s and in the summer of 1947 especially, the glaciers lost the most ice since measurements commenced in 1914. This is in spite of the fact that temperatures were lower than in the past two decades. “The surprising thing is that this paradox can be explained relatively easily with radiation”, says Huss, who was recently appointed to the post of senior lecturer at the Department of Geosciences at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. >>> The rest here. planetgore.nationalreview.com

To: Sully- who wrote (76398)	1/5/2010 7:12:56 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 90947

** I blame Bush! Arctic wave #2 crashes into the U.S. Kevin Roth, Lead Meteorologist The Weather Channel Jan. 5, 2010 1:55 pm ET The next arctic air mass charges from the eastern Dakotas and central Nebraska Wednesday morning to the Mississippi River by early evening. Temperatures behind the cold front all day struggle to stay above zero during the day and quickly fall below zero by early evening. Areas that have the cold front pass them during the day should see high temperatures in the 0s and 10s just ahead of the front, but should fall quickly toward zero behind it. High temperatures east of the Mississippi River should reach the upper 10s to upper 20s. An area of light to moderate snow should accompany the very cold air as it arrives. Accumulations of 4 to 8 inches are possible across North Dakota, eastern South Dakota, northeastern Nebraska, a part of western Iowa, and northern Missouri through Wednesday night. The arctic express chugs eastward Thursday bringing the chill to the Great Lakes, Midwest and Ohio Valley. High temperatures should reach the 20s before the cold front arrives. The mercury plummets back into the 10s once the front charges through. High temperatures in the Mississippi Valley hold in the 0s with -10 to 0 over the Plains Thursday. South \| View Regional Video The arctic air plunges into Oklahoma and western Arkansas by Wednesday evening. Ahead of the cold front temperatures should climb into the upper 30s and 40s with a moderate southerly breeze. As the cold air arrives a burst of snow is expected across northeaster Oklahoma and northern Arkansas producing 1 to 3 inches of accumulation. A few rain showers are possible in southern Oklahoma and southern Arkansas and they could change to snow showers before ending. The remainder of the South should have a mostly sunny day Wednesday with moderating temperatures. Afternoon highs should climb into the upper 30s to middle 40s north and in the 50s to lower 60s south. A few locations could approach 70 degrees near the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas. Wednesday night the arctic air mass charges into Texas, Louisiana, western Tennessee, and western Mississippi with some snow across Tennessee and northern Mississippi and a few rain showers in Texas and Louisiana. Some of the rain could turn to snow before ending. Snow accumulations could tally 1 to 3 inches across western Tennessee and northern Mississippi. Thursday the bitterly cold air continues to move south and east reaching the western Carolinas and northern Florida by evening. Ahead of the cold air temperatures should moderate into 40s in the Southeast and in the 50s to middle 60s across Florida. Temperatures behind the cold front range from the 10s over the southern Plains to the lower 30s along the western Gulf coast and in the Mississippi Valley. A band of snow accompanies the cold air arrival over Tennessee, northern Alabama, northern Georgia and the western Carolinas. Accumulations of 1 to 3 inches are possible in that band. Rain showers are possible from central Alabama and central Georgia southward to the Gulf coast and eastward to the Southeast coast as the cold air moves in. Some of the rain could mix with or briefly change to snow before ending in Alabama and Georgia. Northeast \| View Regional Video Chilly temperatures remain over the region Wednesday and Thursday, but an even colder air mass looms for Friday and the weekend. Afternoon high temperatures should reach the 20s over the interior and in the 30s to near 40 along the coastal plain both days. However, high temperatures over the weekend could run up to 10 degrees colder with most locations staying in the 10s and 20s. Most of the region remains dry Wednesday and Thursday. Scattered snow showers should continue from northern New England southwest through West Virginia. Accumulations could be 2 to 6 inches each day with the heavier amounts occurring closer to the Great Lakes. West \| View Regional Video Cold arctic air plunges down through the Rockies reaching southern New Mexico by Thursday morning.** A burst of snow accompanies the arrival of the arctic express with accumulations of 6 to 12 inches in the mountains and 2 to 6 inches in the lower elevations. The boundary during the morning should be near the Wyoming/Colorado border with temperatures in the 0s and low 10s behind the boundary and in the mid 20s to mid 30s ahead of it. By early evening the front should drop through Colorado with falling temperatures from Denver to Colorado Springs. Overnight lows drop into the -0s and -10s in Colorado and Wyoming and possibly as low as the -20s in Montana. Some of the cold air filters through the Rockies into the Intermountain West keeping daytime temperatures in the 20s and 30s and overnight lows in the 0s and 10s. West of the mountains it will be much warmer with a few showers in northern California Wednesday. On Thursday a few showers may tickle the Northwest coast later in the day. weather.com

To: Sully- who wrote (76398)	1/5/2010 7:18:09 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 90947

Harsh, Dangerous, Long-Lasting Cold by Tim Ballisty TheWeatherChannel.com Jan 4, 2010 11:03 am ET The Eastern two-thirds of the United States will be in the grips of a long-lasting spell of harsh, arctic cold. We are already in the midst of the first wave of the cold air invasion. The second and likely even colder air mass will begin its descent over the eastern United States on Wednesday morning. By Sunday morning, the cold wave will have made its way as far south as the Florida Keys. Below you'll find a collection of maps providing visuals and data on this arctic invasion. We will be constantly updating everyone on this arctic blast through the week right here on weather.com. We of course will also send out valuable tweets via Twitter and you can join the cold conversation with tens of thousands of fans on facebook.com/TheWeatherChannel. weather.com

To: Sully- who wrote (76398)	1/5/2010 7:18:59 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 90947

Snowstorm squelches climate change protest By Judy Fahys The Salt Lake Tribune Updated: 12/30/2009 06:36:58 PM MST A downtown protest of the climate change talks in Copenhagen became a victim of Wednesday's snowstorm. "Not many people showed up because of the blizzard conditions," said organizer Clea Major, an international studies student at the University of Utah. It didn't take long for the six friends to pack up a bullhorn and posters they'd planned to use for their "scream-in," an outlet for their frustration about the failure of the Copenhagen climate talks earlier this month to curb the pollution blamed for climate change. Still, they chatted with a few passers-by during the commuter-hour protest near the Gateway, and explained that, blizzard aside, climate change is expected to bring chaos to the global climate, said Major. She called Wednesday evening's effort a success and possibly the first in a series. As for the snow, it's not entirely new; a protest she attended last year in Washington, D.C., suffered a similar fate. "There is always the irony element," Major said. sltrib.com