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When purple things are pulsating on your mind, I'm the one whose clock you want to clean. Aiding is Sparky, the Astral Plane Zen Pup Dog from his mountain stronghold on the Northernmost Island of the Happy Ninja Island chain, this blog will also act as a journal to my wacky antics at an entertainment company and the progress of my self published comic book, The Deposit Man which only appears when I damn well feel like it. Real Soon Now.

Friday, March 27, 2009

SPARKY - Why we mock faux conservatives when we're sure they're arch-reactionaries. I'm aiming to be an armed progressive. Think of it as an armed liberal who isn't interested in grabbing guns from the good guys.
So once more we camp the HuffPo --

Pat Buchanan Recommends Sniper-Based Border Security

Media Monitor Greg doesn't want you to go without seeing this disconcerting moment from last night's edition of Hardball, in which Pat Buchanan, pressed by Chris Matthews into revealing what he'd do as Ambassador to Mexico to bring security to the border, suggests that -- among other things -- the border should by stocked with snipers. Mind you, not because he wants the snipers to just start sniping everyone crossing the border. No, no. The snipers would just kill the "coyotes" who bring people over the border, and who have been killing and raping people.

Of course, for these snipers to discern the coyotes from the other border jumpers, they'd have to be blessed with a powerful sort of extra-sensory perception. What then, if these powerful psychic snipers turn on the Nation that birthed them, and threaten America? Not to worry, we will deploy our army of magical robots. What happens if the psychic snipers and the Wizardbots team up? This is a scenario I have not "gamed out" yet, in my Doom Room.

[WATCH.]


Palin Snubs Legislative Critics In Stimulus Fight

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has angered lawmakers in her state -- Democratic and Republican -- for rejecting federal stimulus funds. This week, legislators announced that they would most likely go around the governor to get the money, while Palin aides backtracked and claimed she never refused the funds in the first place. Now the governor has backed out of a meeting with legislative critics that was meant to negotiate the conflict.

"We had a meeting scheduled with the governor today and her legislative liaison told us that she wasn't there and that we could meet with the staff," Gary Stevens, the state's Republican Senate President, said at a press conference Thursday. "We're here, we're available, and unfortunately she is not."

"We need better communications with her, that's all we're asking for ... It is really unfair for us not to know what might be off the table," Stevens added.

Palin claimed in a statement that she was scheduled to meet with the lawmakers by phone, but they "cancelled the meeting to host their own press conference." Legislative staff told the Anchorage Daily News that the governor only offered to speak by phone at the last minute.

Legislative staff said that Jerry Gallagher, the governor's legislative director, had told them Wednesday that Palin wouldn't even participate by phone. Gallagher contacted them again late Thursday morning and said Palin was available by phone but by that point the meeting had been canceled and it was too late, according to the speaker's office.

The lawmakers turned down the offer to meet with Palin aides instead, Stevens said, because the governor's staff "often has trouble answering questions."

"We need answers and we need to talk to the person who can tell us yes or no," said House Speaker Mike Chenault, a Nikiski Republican.

Ex-State Dept. Lawyer: Bush Panicked After 9/11, Used Torture

ANDREW O. SELSKY | March 27, 2009 05:57 PM EST | AP

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A former State Department lawyer responsible for Guantanamo-related cases said Friday that the Bush administration overreacted after 9/11 and set up a system in which torture occurred.

Vijay Padmanabhan is at least the second former Bush administration official to publicly label "enhanced interrogation techniques" as torture. He said the administration was wrong in its entire approach when it sent detainees to the remote Navy base and declared it out of reach of any court.

"I think Guantanamo was one of the worst overreactions of the Bush administration," Padmanabhan told The Associated Press. He said other overreactions included extraordinary renditions, waterboarding that occurred at secret CIA prisons and "other enhanced interrogation techniques that would constitute torture."

"The idea that you're going to be able to hold someone and detain someone where there is not an applicable legal regime governing their detention, rules, treatment, standards, etc. is, I think, foolish," he said.

The criticisms from Padmanabhan, the department's chief counsel on Guantanamo litigation, are among the harshest yet made by a former Bush administration insider.

President George W. Bush always denied the U.S. tortured anyone. The U.S. has acknowledged that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-described plotter of Sept. 11, and a few other prisoners were waterboarded at secret CIA prisons before being taken to Guantanamo, but the Bush administration insisted that all interrogations were lawful.

Padmanabhan said he believes these tactics _ which the International Committee of the Red Cross has also described as torture _ were approved because the White House was shocked by the Sept. 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, and wanted to prevent other horrors.

"These are not things that I think any American president would have authorized had they been in a calmer environment," Padmanabhan told AP in a telephone interview.

The first Bush administration official to publicly describe these acts as torture, Susan. J. Crawford, is the military official in charge of trying Guantanamo Bay detainees. She said in January that the United States tortured a Saudi detainee in 2002, preventing her from bringing him to trial.

Padmanabhan said the Bush administration's position invited a Supreme Court clash, which it lost when the justices ruled that Guantanamo detainees do have the right to contest their detention in U.S. courts.

Padmanabhan, who now teaches at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, said there was plenty of dissent when detention policy was being formulated. But he said attorney-client privilege prevents him from describing what positions he advocated at the State Department.

"I can't reveal the specific advice I gave my clients," he said. "There always were, in all of these issues, a good diversity of viewpoints and a robust discussion. Ultimately, decisions had to be taken."

Mirroring comments made to the AP this month by Lawrence Wilkerson, another former State Department official, Padmanabhan said many of the men brought to Guantanamo were innocent.

"There were a lot of people in the early days who had no business being there that were subsequently sent home," said Padmanabhan, who negotiated repatriations with detainees' home countries.

http://www.iaconoresearch.com/BlogImages/08-09-26_bush_panic.jpg

A total of almost 800 men have been held at the military base in Cuba since the detention center opened in January 2002. The number has boiled down to 240, and there are proportionately fewer innocent men there now, Padmanabhan said, with most having "some connection to al-Qaida or the Taliban."

He says it was misguided for the administration to insist that the detainees were not subject to the Geneva Conventions or U.S. or international law. The Bush administration argued that the detainees wore no uniforms, fought under no nation's flag and violated the rules of war, and therefore deserved no Geneva Conventions protections.

In one of his first official acts, President Barack Obama said the detainees have rights under the Geneva conventions.

Padmanabhan is preparing to give a presentation on Wednesday on Guantanamo at his law school.

The State Department declined to comment on the substance of Padmanabhan's comments. Instead, it noted the Bush administration's repeated statements that it did not torture Guantanamo detainees, and reiterated Obama's no-torture pledge.

Mount Redoubt

This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.
Mount Redoubt

North face in 1980
Mount Redoubt is located in Alaska
Mount Redoubt
Mount Redoubt
Location in Alaska
Elevation 10,197 feet (3,108 m)[1]
Location Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States
Range Chigmit Mountains, Aleutian Range
Prominence 2,788 m (9,147 ft)[1]
Coordinates 60°29′07″N 152°44′35″W / 60.48528°N 152.74306°W / 60.48528; -152.74306Coordinates: 60°29′07″N 152°44′35″W / 60.48528°N 152.74306°W / 60.48528; -152.74306
Type Stratovolcano
Age of rock 890,000 years[2]
Last eruption Currently Erupting
First ascent 1959 by C Deehr, J Gardey, F Kennell, G Wescott[1]
Easiest route snow/ice climb
Locations of volcanoes near Cook Inlet

This page is about the Alaskan Volcano. For other uses for the name, see
Mount Redoubt

Mount Redoubt, or Redoubt Volcano, is an active and currently erupting stratovolcano in the largely volcanic Aleutian Range of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located in the Chigmit Mountains (a subrange of the Aleutians), west of Cook Inlet, in the Kenai Peninsula Borough about 180 km (110 miles) southwest of Anchorage. The Alaska Volcano Observatory currently rates Redoubt as Aviation Alert Level Red and Volcano Alert Level Warning. Mount Redoubt rises 9,000 feet (2,700 m) above the surrounding valleys to the north, south, and southeast in little over 5 miles (8 km); it is also the highest within the range.

Active for millennia, Mount Redoubt has erupted five times since 1900: in 1902, 1922, 1966, 1989 and 2009. The eruption in 1989 spewed volcanic ash to a height of 14,000 m (45,000 ft) and managed to catch KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight 867, a Boeing 747 aircraft, in its plume (the flight landed safely at Anchorage). The ash covered an area of about 20,000 km² (7,700 sq. miles). The 1989 eruption is also notable for being the first ever volcanic eruption to be successfully predicted by the method of long-period seismic events developed by Swiss/American volcanologist Bernard Chouet.[3]

Name

The official name of the mountain is Redoubt Volcano.[4] The name is a translation of the Russian name "Sopka Redutskaya", referring, as does the word "redoubt", to "a fortified place". A local name, "Ujakushatsch", also means "fortified place", but it is difficult to determine if one name is derived from the other. The Board on Geographic Names decided on the name "Redoubt Volcano" in 1891.[4]

The Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution refers to the mountain simply as "Redoubt", and lists the following as alternate names: Burnt Mountain, Goreloi, Mirando, Ujakushatsch, Viesokaia, and Yjakushatsch.[2] The Alaska Volcano Observatory also uses simply "Redoubt"; it lists the same alternate names and also these: Redoubt, Mt.; Goryalaya; Redoute Mtn.; and Redutskaya, Sopka.[5]

Geology

The volcano is about 6 miles (10 km) in diameter at its base with a rough volume of 39,000,000,000–46,000,000,000 cubic yards (30,000,000,000–35,000,000,000 m³). The sides of the upper cone are relatively steep (in comparison to volcanoes in general). Composed of pyroclastic flow deposits, lava flows, and resting on Mesozoic era rocks of the Aleutian Mountain Range batholith, the mountain has been somewhat weathered by movement of several glaciers that reside on it. The current main vent is on the north side of the crater by the head of the Drift glacier. Also present on the mountain are Holocene lahar deposits that travel as far as the Cook Inlet.[6]This mountain has produced andesite, basalt and dacite, with relatively silicic andesite dominant in recent eruptions.[7]

Eruptions

Early reports

Captain James Cook saw Mt. Redoubt during the summer of 1778, describing it as "emitting a white smoke but no fire which made some think it was no more than a white thick cloud such as we have frequently seen on the Coast, for the most part appearing on the sides of hills and often extends along a whole range and at different times falls or rises, expands or contracts itself and has a resemblance to Clouds of white smoke. But this besides being too small for one of those clouds, remained as it were fixed in the same spot for the whole time the Mountain was clear which was above 48 hours." However, several sources call this a "discredited eruption."[8] There are several other of these activities that are not called eruptions.

In 1819, smoke was observed at the mountain. However, this is often not recorded as an eruption as the information was insufficient to identify it as such.[9] Similarly, in 2003, a large amount of snow was mistaken by an employee of the ConocoPhillips Building in Anchorage for an ash plume.[10] Possible steam-vapor let off was observed in 1933 at the mountain.[11]

1881

There was apparently an eruption described as "to the eastward, Redoubt Volcano, 11,060 feet (3,370 m) high, is constantly smoking, with periods of exaggerated activity. Fire has been seen issuing from its summit far out at sea. A great eruption took place in 1881, when a party of native hunters half-way up its slopes were overwhelmed by a lava-flow and only two escaped." However, this eruption is not well-documented by other sources.[12]

1902

The volcano erupted rather abruptly in 1902, spewing out ash from January 18 to June 21 in the year. A local newspaper stated, "Word has just been received that Redoubt, one of the volcanoes at Cook's Inlet had an eruption on January 18, and the country for 150 miles (240 km) around was covered with ashes and lava. The news comes from Sunrise, but nothing definite has been ascertained as to whether any damage was done, for no boats have as yet been in the neighborhood of the volcano." There were many other news reports on the eruption, one describing the eruption as "a terrific earthquake which burst the mountain asunder leaving a large gap," which could possibly suggest the crack formation in the volcano's crater, however, it is unlikely. Supposedly, the volcano was ejecting "flames" from its caldera, and the eruption terrified natives in the area. Newspapers seemed to suggest that the ash had traveled for more than 150 miles (241 km), reaching the opposite side of the Cook Inlet.[13]

1989–1990

April 21, 1990 eruption cloud from Redoubt Volcano as viewed to the west from the Kenai Peninsula

The volcano erupted on December 14, 1989, and continued to erupt for over six months.[14] Sudden melting of snow and ice at the summit caused by pyroclastic flows and dome collapses caused lahars, or mudflows, which flowed down the north flank of the mountain. A majority of the mudflows coursed to Cook Inlet, about 22 miles (35 km) from the volcano. The lahars entered a nearby river, worrying officials that they might destroy an oil storage facility positioned along it.[15]

Since the lahars were produced repetitively, scientists realized that they could use these to analyze a trial period for a newly developed device proposed to measure the movement of rocks against each other. This device, now known as an Acoustic Flow Monitor, alerts nearby stations to possible lahars.[15]

The eruption also caused an airliner to have all four engines fail after it flew into a cloud of volcanic ash.[16] Damage from the eruption was estimated at $160 million,[17] the second costliest volcanic eruption in United States history.[14]

2009

Pre-eruption

Fumaroles observed on the side of Mount Redoubt on January 31, 2009

On January 30, 2009, scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) warned that an eruption was imminent, sending experienced Alaskans shopping for protection against a dusty shower of volcanic ash that could descend on south-central Alaska.

By January 31, volcanic earthquakes increased to several per hour,[18] and a large hole in the glacier on the side of the mountain was spotted.[19] Scientists began to monitor seismic data from the mountain twenty-four hours a day in an effort to warn people in nearby communities.[20] A flyover conducted by the AVO detected "significant steaming from a new melt depression at the mouth of the summit crater near the vent area of the 1989-90 eruption."[21]

Doppler radar of third summit explosion on March 23

March 15

Seismic activity at Redoubt increased beginning about 13:00 ATZ. An AVO observation flight reported that a steam and ash plume rose as high as 15,000 feet (4,600 m) above sea level and produced minor ash fall on the upper south flank of Redoubt. Later reports were that the plume was then mainly steam.

Based on this change in activity, AVO increased the level of concern and alert level to ORANGE/WATCH.

Emissions

Fumarole on March 21, 2009, the day before the eruption

The material ejected from the volcano mainly consisted of water vapor, along with smaller amounts of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Further study by airborne monitors suggests that the materials were not oxidized much, and little of the concentration contained sulfates, less than 20%.[22]

Large scale eruptions begin

Sister project Wikinews has related news: Alaskan Mount Redoubt volcano erupts

Mount Redoubt erupted explosively late in the evening of March 22, 2009.[23] The extent of the eruption has not been determined, but reports have found the ash cloud reaching at least 60,000 feet (18,000 m) above sea level.[24] The National Weather Service issued an ash fall advisory for the Susitna Valley, which was canceled later in the day.[25] Citizens of Alaska's largest city, Anchorage, were spared from falling ash. These eruptions of Mount Redoubt have been the most seismic activity occuring on the mountain in twenty years[26].

Eruptive activity

During the cycle which began March 22, 2009, Mount Redoubt has erupted 12 times. For details, see the main page 2009 eruptions

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Redoubt Volcano". Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia. Bivouac.com. http://www.bivouac.com/MtnPg.asp?MtnId=7656. Retrieved on 2009-01-07.
  2. ^ a b "Redoubt". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1103-03-. Retrieved on 2009-01-07.
  3. ^ Chouet, Bernard (1996-03-28). "Long-period volcano seismicity: its sources and use in eruption forecasting". Nature 380 (6572): 309–316. doi:10.1038/380309a0.
  4. ^ a b "Feature Detail Report for: Redoubt Volcano". USGS. January 1, 2000. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1413853. Retrieved on 2009-03-27.
  5. ^ Alaska Volcano Observatory contributors. "Redoubt—Introduction". USGS. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcinfo.php?volcname=Redoubt. Retrieved on 2009-03-27.
  6. ^ Miller, et al. (1998). Catalog of the Historically Active Volcanoes of Alaska. USGS.
  7. ^ http://geology.com/volcanoes/redoubt/
  8. ^ Alaska Volcano Observatory contributors. "Event Specific Information: Redoubt — 1778". Alaska Volcano Observatory. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcact.php?volcname=Redoubt&eruptionid=434&page=basics. Retrieved on 2008-12-01.
  9. ^ Alaska Volcano Observatory contributors. "Event Specific Information: Redoubt — 1819". USGS. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcact.php?volcname=Redoubt&eruptionid=435&page=basics. Retrieved on 2008-12-01.
  10. ^ Alaska Volcano Observatory contributors. "Event Specific Information: Redoubt — 2003". Alaska Volcano Observatory. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcact.php?volcname=Redoubt&eruptionid=538&page=basics. Retrieved on 2008-12-01.
  11. ^ AVO contributors. "Event Specific Information: Redoubt — 1933". Alaska Volcano Observatory. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcact.php?volcname=Redoubt&eruptionid=438&page=basics. Retrieved on 2008-12-05.
  12. ^ AVO contributors. "Event Specific Information: Redoubt — 1881". Alaska Volcano Observatory. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcact.php?volcname=Redoubt&eruptionid=436&page=basics. Retrieved on 2008-12-01.
  13. ^ "Event Specific Information: Redoubt — 1902". Alaska Volcano Observatory. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcact.php?volcname=Redoubt&eruptionid=437&page=basics. Retrieved on 2008-12-01.
  14. ^ a b (Subscription)Jennifer Nagorka (December 24, 1990). "Redoubt rumblings: Seismic data gathered at Alaska volcano help scientists hone prediction techniques". Dallas Morning News. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D14CD199BB99&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved on January 7, 2009.
  15. ^ a b USGS contributors (2008-10-11). "1989–90 Eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, and the First Test Case of a USGS Lahar-Detection System". USGS. http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/activity/methods/hydrologic/afm_redoubt.php. Retrieved on 2008-11-30.
  16. ^ "Redoubt Ash Cloud Forces Dutch 747 to Land". Deseret News. 1989-12-16. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=DSNB&d_place=DSNB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F35FC9197923689&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved on 2008-11-30.
  17. ^ "Alaska Natural Productions:Mount Redoubt Information Page". Alaska Natural Productions. http://www.semicro.com/offline/anp/volcano.htm. Retrieved on 2008-11-30.
  18. ^ "Volcano Could Blow Any Minute". SKY News. January 30, 2009. http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Volcano-Mount-Redoubt-In-Anchorage-Alaska-United-States-Could-Erupt-Geologists-Warn/Article/200901415213286?lpos=World_News_News_Your_Way_Region_2&lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15213286_Volcano_Mount_Redoubt_In_Anchorage%2C_Alaska%2C_United_States_Could_Erupt%2C_Geologists_Warn. Retrieved on January 30, 2009.
  19. ^ Joling, Dan. "Scientist see holes in glacier at Alaska volcano". Associated Press. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hcWJaxwgurm_TV9AVcObQBWbS25QD962JVUO0. Retrieved on 1 February 2009.
  20. ^ "Alaska volcano has geologists on alert". ctv.ca. 29 January 2009. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090129/alaska_volcano_090129/20090129?hub=World. Retrieved on 1 February 2009.
  21. ^ "Alaska Volcano Observatory Current Status Report Saturday, January 31, 2009 11:54 AM AKST". Alaska Volcano Observatory. January 31, 2009. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/avoreport.php?view=status&id=1697&type=status&month=January&year=2009. Retrieved on February 1, 2009.
  22. ^ Peter V. Hobbs; Lawrence F. Radke, Jamie H. Lyons, Roland J. Ferek, Derek J. Coffman, Thomas J. Casadevall (October 1991). "Airborne measurements of particle and gas emissions from the 1990 volcanic eruptions of Mount Redoubt". Journal of Geophysical Research 96: 18735–18752. doi:10.1029/91JD01635.
  23. ^ "Redoubt Activity". Alaska Volcano Observatory. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php. Retrieved on 2009-03-22.
  24. ^ "After lengthy buildup, Redoubt finally erupts". KTUU News. 2009-03-23. http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=10051900. Retrieved on 2009-03-23.
  25. ^ "Redoubt Coordination". National Weather Service Forecast Office Anchorage, AK. 2009-03-23. http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/volcano.php. Retrieved on 2009-03-23.
  26. ^ http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090323/mount_redoubt_090323/20090323?hub=TopStories

External links and resources

Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mount Redoubt


The above should now have bumped the cover into viewable range ...

posted by ZenPupDog @ 7:30 PM  

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