The Environmentalist’s Climate page has a live feed panel of all twelve cameras from the Gulf floor. The page may take a while to load, but it’s worth looking at all cameras at once.  Most feeds only show the one BP sends out – rather than the entire working ROV cameras.  It shows the impact, the amount of oil and gas and the dispersant they’re shooting into the well head.

The feed panel is at this link: http://climate.the-environmentalist.org/2010/06/live-video-feeds-of-gulf-oil-disaster.html

You may need Windows Media Player’s plugin to view it (that’s the format the ROV subs use).  There’s also a link to a plugin for Macs on the page.  

I travel a lot. I see preparations being made to deal with a pandemic at airports and in different ways by different governments. I asked colleagues who work in epidemiology what we were dealing with and how much I should worry. Here’s what they said:

• This flu, which they call H1N1, not Swine Flu, is what they call a novel virus, in that it is new and have never been recorded or analysed before this outbreak.
• A novel virus is unpredictable in that there is no built up immunity in populations and, therfore, it can spread quickly.
• The current H1N1 is sensitive to (can be fought with) Tamaflu and Relenza.  That’s the good news.  It is not sensitive to two other antivirals, which can be a problem if it mutates to become Tamiflu or Relenza resistant.
• The current working theory about its origin is a Smithfield Foods (American hog factory farm company) affiliate outside Mexico City.  The suspected patient zero was a boy from a nearby village where almost half were stricken earlier this year.  What is significant is that the villagers had been complaining for sometime about open hog waste ponds where ducks were present and biting insects fed.  One possibility (not proven) is that the ducks had bird flu which mingled with swine flu.  The biting insects picked up both and infected people who already had human flu, as February is Mexico’s flu season and very few people are inoculated.  
• The World Health Organization (WHO) is upping their alert level to 5.  This is significant.  6 is a full blown out of control pandemic.  This will release measures to deal with the problem across borders and means they’re concerned about countries that don’t have the measures in place that we do in the developed nations.

What you can do to protect yourself below the fold…

Four (wow) articles from THE ENVIRONMENTALIST (many more on the site):

US Climate Change Envoy in Place and Ready to Negotiate

by Jake Schmidt.  Today, a ceremony was held at the US State Department to announce Todd Stern as the Special Envoy for Climate Change (see short bio and video of the event). As we outlined in our transition recommendations, it is crucial that President Obama appoint a climate negotiating team early in his Administration.

http://climate.the-environment…

Deniability: Facing the War on Terror through Poetry

There are times in history when it is best for a people to move on from past mistakes. There are other times, such as now, when the past cries out to be explored. For those who are searching for meaning to the last eight years, a new book by American poet, George Witte, Deniability, is the place to start. This is not only for the writing that is spectacular in its simplicity, its perfect placement of each word, its prose, but for its bravery in peeling back the layers of the war on terror as an eight year journey that is stark and unforgiving in its verse.

http://op-ed.the-environmental…

Global Temperature Trends: 2008 Annual Summation

by James Hansen. The Goddard Institute for Space Studies has analyzed the global temperature trends based on 2008 surface air temperature leading to the conclusion that, despite the cold brought on by the strong La Nina event last year, 2008 was the ninth warmest year since measurements began in 1880.

http://world.the-environmental…

Unleashing the Geeks

by William S. Becker.  There is good climate change and bad climate change. One of the very best types is the radical warming of the atmosphere for scientific inquiry we’re already feeling from the incoming Obama Administration.

http://science.the-environment…

See The Environmentalist for more

Excerpt from an article by the managing editor at the The Environmentalist:

There has been a great deal of reporting, speculation, finger pointing and denials on the Mumbai attacks, much of which has focused on trees (dots) instead of forests. After reading with empathy and horror of the death and destruction, the question remained, who was behind this and why?

snip

The press has been referring to the Mumbai attacks as India’s 9/11. Given the impact on India and the larger impact on both the global economy and the ongoing conflicts in South Asia, that seems an accurate assessment.

http://world.the-environmental…

The article lists the different players involved and identifies, by name, the likeliest suspects.  

Here’s the link.

THE ENVIRONMENTALIST has had an influx of new writers, including the executive director of PCAP (Presidential Climate Action Project charged with the environmental agenda for the new administration’s first 100 days), the International Climate Policy Director from the NRDC and others.  Excerpts and links:

Struggling for Obama’s Soul

by William S. Becker, Executive Director, PCAP

Now that we know Barack Obama will become the 44th President of the United States, we can turn to the next critical question of national leadership: In this historic moment, how bold will President Obama be?

http://op-ed.the-environmental…

Restoring America’s Leadership in International Global Warming Negotiations

by Jake Schmidt, International Climate Policy Director, NRDC

We now have a new leader in the US that understands global warming and recognizes that it requires leadership both at home and abroad. Addressing this challenge (and opportunity) will be a key task of both President-elect Barack Obama (and his Administration) and Congress.

http://climate.the-environment…

The 100 Day Action Plan to Save the Planet

On January 1st, 2007, the Presidential Climate Action Plan (PCAP), a project of the University of Colorado, Wirth Chair in Environmental and Community Development Policy, was launched to produce a 100 day action plan on climate change for the next President of the United States.

http://politics.the-environmen…

THE ENVIRONMENTALIST has more new posts.

Ta.

A post excerpt (reprinted by permission) from our managing editor at THE ENVIRONMENTALIST:

John McCain missed the single greatest opportunity to address his most dangerous supporters directly and to repudiate their threats of violence after Senator Obama brought up the threats in the debate. McCain chose not to do so, calling them “fringe” while lauding ALL his supporters as “patriotic.”

This came after Senator John McCain made a point during the debate that Barack Obama should repudiate John Lewis’ Wallace comparison, which Senator Obama had done already, while pointing out that Lewis’ concern about violence, given the congressman’s first hand experience, was a valid consideration.

Senator McCain was not impressed. Nor was he impressed when Senator Obama directly brought up the vitriol from McCain and Palin’s rallies, citing words like “terrorist” and “kill him,” which John McCain dismissed as coming from fringe supporters, after which the Republican senator went on to laud all his supporters as “patriotic Americans.”

More below the fold…

According to this Huffington Post by Tom D’Antoni, the reason Paulson was rushing to put the bailout deal through — and the reason Democrats are supporting the basic need for the bill — is because hedge funds come up for renewal on October 1st.  

Without a shoring up of that market, D’Antoni explains, there would have been (and may still be) a run to pull out money from hedge funds that could have (and may still) spur a worldwide collapse:

During the White House meeting, it appears that Sen. John McCain had an agenda. He brought up alternative proposals, surprising and angering Democrats. He did not, according to someone briefed on the meeting, provide specifics.  One of the proposals — favored by House Republicans — would relax regulation and temporarily get rid of certain taxes in order to lure private industry into the market for these distressed assets.

(snip)

The real reason why there is such a [Democratic] clamor for [Paulson’s) bill, and a rush to get it passed is that there may be billions of dollars pulled out of the hedge funds…money that is due on October 1. This may be the famed October surprise, but one that nobody figured was coming. If that money is due and the hedge funds can’t pay, they will collapse.

But Paulson’s [Republican] Wall Street pals are clamoring for help to clean up the mess that their irresponsible lending and greedy practices brought us, with McCain only pouring fuel on the fire he and his GOP deregulatory cronies helped start.

More at this link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

The question becomes: Why are they refusing to release his health records?  Is the Sarah Palin pick a stealth replacement for a candidate they do not expect to fulfill his term in office?

McCain needs to release his medical records without precondition.

Until he does, it can be speculated that a vote for McCain is a vote for Palin as president.

Please sign the doctors’ request for release of records letter here:

http://therealmccain.com/doctors/