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Filipino police shot a 65-year old Taiwanese fisherman in the neck a few days ago in the latest dispute to heat up the South China Sea. Things escalated quickly after the “accident” and now two American allies are at each other’s throats. The Philippines apologized twice for the “accident,” in which the coast guard riddled the fisherman’s boat with dozens of bullets, but Taiwan was having none of it. Taiwan recalled its ambassador and stopped accepting applications from Filipino workers applying to live in Taiwan. Then the Taiwanese navy held threatening drills near the spot where the fisherman was killed....

> Will Lonnie Thompson archive THIS new ice core data? Posted on April 4, 2013 by Anthony Watts From the Ohio State University , taken with a grain of salt since Dr. Thompson and his wife Ellen are serial non archivers of ice core data (even when asked for it), which prevents other scientists from checking their work.Discovery of 1,800-year-old ‘Rosetta Stone’ for tropical ice coresFind offers the most complete picture of Earth’s low-latitude climate history to dateThis photo from a 1977 expedition to Quelccaya Ice Cap in Peru shows clearly defined annual layers of ice and dust visible in the...

U.S. Territory of Guam photographed from the NASA Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite on December 30, 2011. Map 1 and Map 2. 2013 x 3020, 2680 x 4020, 3346 x 5020, 4014 x 6021. Via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-201304.htm

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan -- The commanding officer of the former minesweeper USS Guardian and three others have been relieved of duty following the initial investigation into the grounding of the Sasebo-based ship on a reef in the Philippines, Navy officials said Thursday. Lt. Cmdr. Mark Rice, executive officer Daniel Tyler, the ship’s enlisted assistant navigator and the officer of the deck at the time of the ship’s grounding were all relieved because they “did not adhere to the standard navy navigation procedures,” Expeditionary Strike Group Seven spokesman Lt. Brian Wierzbicki said. Rice and the others were relieved by Rear...

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — Four officers of a U.S. Navy minesweeper that ran aground on coral reef in the Philippines are being relieved of their duties. The U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement Wednesday that initial findings indicate all four sailors failed to adhere to standard navigation procedures at the time of the Jan. 17 grounding of the Guardian. The sailors are the commanding officer, the executive officer and navigator, the assistant navigator and the officer of the deck. They've been reassigned. snip

A nuclear disaster may lead to insights into the mysterious migrations of Pacific bluefin tuna, a fish species that recently has suffered a dramatic decline. Scientists report in a new study that they can use trace amounts of radiation in bluefin tuna to sketch the crisscrossing passage of the fish through the world's largest ocean. Understanding how many fish move back and forth may help with the conservation of bluefin tuna. During the Fukushima nuclear disaster, two years ago, radioactive particles flooded into the Pacific Ocean. Bluefin tuna swimming through these waters began to store certain radioisotopes, called cesium 134...

In 1946, the United States conducted a series of nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll in what’s known as Operation Crossroads. A total of two bombs were detonated to test the effects nuclear blasts had on naval warships. The second, named Baker, was the world’s first nuke to be detonated underwater. Due to the unique properties of underwater explosions, the Baker test produced a number of unique photographs that the world had never seen before.

A powerful magnitude 8.0 earthquake off the Solomon Islands generated a tsunami of up to 5 feet that killed at least 5 people, a hospital official says, while the death toll is feared to rise as officials inspect dozens of damaged homes. Authorities on Wednesday canceled warnings for tsunamis on more distant coasts. Solomons officials reported two 1.5-meter (4 foot, 11 inch) waves hit the western side of Santa Cruz Island, damaging between 70 and 80 homes and properties, said George Herming, a spokesman for the prime minister. Many villagers of the South Pacific island chain had headed to higher...

EARLY......

Washington - As Hillary Clinton made her final speech as America's top diplomat, she suggested US had encouraged India's "Look East" policy as an exercise in 'smart power' in its pivot to Asia Pacific. "There are limits to what soft power on its own can achieve," said Secretary of State Clinton Thursday emphasising American leadership, and the need to reshape diplomacy to meet the changing landscape of the world. "And there are limits to what hard power on its own can achieve. That's why, from day one, I've been talking about smart power," she said during a forum at the...

The air that now blankets Palau is warm, dry, still, and disturbingly ominous. Palau’s sky has reason to brood for in less than 24 hours Typhoon Bopha is predicted to make landfall on the tiny nation of the Republic of Palau with a near direct hit. This typhoon has been securing strength and intensity while at sea and is expected to be a monster typhoon with a violent entry. As of 4am on December 2, 2012, this typhoon is predicted to sustain 150-mph winds and 180-mph gusts when it reaches Palau on early morning Monday. If that were not enough,...

Archaeologists, using new high-precision techniques, have come to the conclusion that first settlers arrived in Polynesia almost 2,900 years ago.This is a view on an island in Tonga (thekingdomoftonga.com) Polynesia was one of the last places on our planet to be settled by humans. In 2008, Prof David Burley of Simon Fraser University in Canada and his team claimed that Tonga was the first group of islands in the region to be settled by migrants – the Lapita people – some 3,000 years ago, and that Nukuleka, a small village on the coast of the Tonga’s Tongatapu Island, was their...

Anti-US protests sweeping across the entire Muslim world (which are continuing today), besieging, attacking and burning down US embassies, are not the only thing that the central banker policy vehicle known as "the markets" have to ignore in the coming days and weeks. Cause here comes China: "Thousands besiege Japan's embassy in Beijing over Tokyo's assertion of control over disputed islands in East China Sea." ....

The Philippines said Wednesday its oldest World War II veteran, who escaped from Japanese troops before the infamous Bataan Death March and became a guerrilla fighter, has died at age 111. Alfonso Fabros died Aug. 9 in northern Nueva Ecija province, said Jet Rivera, spokeswoman for the Philippine Veterans’ Affairs Office. Fabros’ daughter, Ella Gandalera, said her father, a farmer after the war, died of pneumonia.

USN losses: 1 BB damaged (South Dakota) 130 aircraft destroyed IJN losses: 2 CVs sunk (Shokaku, Taiho) 1 CV heavily damaged (Zuikaku) 1 CVL sunk (Hiyo) 2 CVLs damaged (Junyo, Chiyoda) 1 BB damaged (Haruna) 1 CA damaged (Maya) 1 DD damaged (Shigure) 2 tankers sunk 750 aircraft destroyed

Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement reacting to a leaked version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact with Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam: “These new trade agreements will place domestic U.S. firms that do not do business overseas at a competitive disadvantage. Based on these leaked documents, foreign firms under this trade pact could conceivably appeal federal regulatory and court rulings against them to an international tribunal with the apparent authority to overrule our sovereignty. If foreign companies want to do business in America, they should have to...

HONOLULU: Canada, Mexico and at least two other countries have expressed interest in joining US-led talks for a pan-Pacific trade pact, a US Republican lawmaker said on Friday after Japan asked to take part. “There’s a good deal of momentum for the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership),” Representative Kevin Brady said after meetings with members of President Barack Obama’s administration at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. That momentum was evidenced by Japan’s announcement earlier on Friday that it was interested in joining the talks “and what seem to be very solid inquiries from Canada, Mexico and a few others,” Brady...

With the U.S. moving the majority of its naval fleet to the Pacific, commanders are eagerly looking for invitations to park the planes and ships that will be pouring into the region. Travis Tritten at Stars and Stripes reports that the Pentagon has apparently been fanning the old flame of friendship with the Philippines and will be re-opening two bases it left in 1991 — Subic Bay and Clark Air Base. The U.S. had a falling out with the island nation in the early nineties and pulled out of the bases, which were then built-up by a series of private...

B-1 Pilots Turn Their Bombsights to the Pacific As the Pentagon turns more of its attention toward the Pacific Rim in an attempt to keep up with China, here's what the new realignment of forces means for pilots of America's largest (and least known) bomber force. One of the hottest topics in the defense and diplomatic worlds is the Obama administration's "rebalancing" of U.S. interests toward Asia. The new focus is a slate of military and geopolitical strategies meant as a hedge against China, and to a lesser extent its client, North Korea. But what does it mean for the...

Glenn Singleton’s Pacific Education Group (PEG), which bases its school programs on “Systemic Racism” on Derrick Bell’s radical Critical Race Theory, has caused controversy in school districts across the country—at taxpayer expense. In addition to disputes within the Evanston Township High School district in Evanston, IL -- reported today by Breitbart.com -- PEG has been the focus of debate in school districts from St. Paul, MN to Macon, GA. Yesterday, local media in Macon reported that parents had begun protesting the use of PEG by the school district. As Phillip Ramati noted at macon.com: In his Macon Miracle school improvement...

At 9PM on January 26, 1700 one of the world's largest earthquakes occurred along the west coast of North America. The undersea Cascadia thrust fault ruptured along a 680 mile length, from mid Vancouver Island to northern California in a great earthquake, producing tremendous shaking and a huge tsunami that swept across the Pacific. The Cascadia fault is the boundary between two of the Earth's tectonic plates: the smaller offshore Juan de Fuca plate that is sliding under the much larger North American plate. The earthquake also left unmistakable signatures in the geological record as the outer coastal regions subsided...

The scattered islands of the vast Pacific Ocean were settled by seafarers who set out from the eastern coasts and islands of Asia and traveled thousands of kilometers by boat. Meanwhile pre-Columbian South America was populated by people who crossed a now-vanished land bridge far to the north. Did these two groups ever meet in the New World? There's a good chance of that, according to a new study, which finds evidence that Easter Islanders may have reached South America and mixed with the Native Americans already there. University of Oslo immunologist Erik Thorsby first began analyzing the people of...

A president's most solemn duty is to protect America and her people -- a responsibility that, in a time of evolving security threats and unsustainable debt, will only grow harder for the next administration. In the aftermath of the failure of the super committee, we are facing cuts in defense. Yet there has still been little discussion about overall defense spending priorities and how we must transform our defense infrastructure for the 21st century. Some of my opponents suggest maintaining the status quo, thus avoiding the tough decisions. Others advocate retrenchment and isolationism through draconian across-the-board cuts, which brings greater

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Signaling a determination to counter a rising China, President Barack Obama vowed Thursday to expand U.S. influence in the Asia-Pacific region and "project power and deter threats to peace" in that part of the world even as he reduces defense spending and winds down two wars.

WASHINGTON — The White House Wednesday defended President Barack Obama's decision to make a week-long Pacific trip next week, saying he was out to leverage jobs from a dynamic region to ease economic pain at home. Obama's image-makers face a tough task in selling his journey, which begins Friday, as Washington media fixates on domestic concerns including a deficit row with Republicans and the quickening 2012 election. By hosting an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hawaii, and visiting Australia and the East Asia summit in Bali, Obama will pursue trade and employment and stand up for US values and security...

Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan prepared to deal one more decisive blow to the U.S. Naval forces in the Pacific. The aim was to destroy U.S. aircraft carriers and occupy the strategically important Midway Atoll, a tiny island nearly halfway between Asia and North America that was home to a U.S. Naval air station. American codebreakers deciphered the Japanese plans, allowing the U.S. Navy to plan an ambush. On June 3, 1942, the Battle of Midway commenced.

US seeks transparency on China's first aircraft carrier IANS | Aug 11, 2011, 06.20AM IST WASHINGTON: The US is worried by the lack of transparency about China's first aircraft carrier, which made its maiden voyage on Wednesday, the US state department has stated. "We want to see more transparency. We would welcome any kind of explanation that China would like to give for needing this kind of equipment," said US state department Victoria Nuland. "This is part of our larger concern that China is not as transparent as other countries. It's not as transparent as the United States about its...

Complete title: Tsunami warning is in effect for coastal Alaska after 7.4-magnitude earthquake hits in the Pacific Ocean ### ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 7.4 earthquake has been recorded in the Pacific Ocean off Alaska's remote Aleutian Islands. The Alaska Tsunami Warning Center says a tsunami warning has been posted for certain coastal areas of Alaska. That warning covers an area from 80 miles (128 kilometers) northeast of Dutch Harbor to about 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of Adak.

Tokyo (CNN) -- Workers at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are onto "Plan C" in their bid to stop highly radioactive water from gushing directly into the Pacific Ocean through a cracked concrete shaft, a Japanese nuclear official said Monday. Neither of the first two attempts to fill up the 20-centimeter (8-inch) crack outside the No. 2 reactor's turbine building -- on Saturday by pouring in concrete, and then Sunday by using a chemical compound mixed with sawdust and newspaper -- has been successful. "We were assuming and hoping (that water) would stay in the containment vessel as...

China challenges US predominance in Asia-Pacific (AP) – 3 hours ago WASHINGTON (AP) — When China launched threatening war games off Taiwan 15 years ago on the eve of an election on the self-governing island, the U.S. deployed two aircraft carriers, and China quickly backed down. Things don't seem so one-sided any more. China's military has been on a spending spree at a time that the debt-ridden U.S. government is looking to cut defense costs. On Friday, China announced a 12.7 percent hike for this year, the latest in a string of double-digit increases. That trend has triggered worries in...

.'Boost military' to take on China: adviser EXCLUSIVE Greg Sheridan, Foreign editor From: The Australian February 05, 2011 AUSTRALIA will need nuclear-powered attack submarines among a range of highly potent weapons systems, and must revolutionise its strategic culture to answer the security dangers posed by China's massive military build-up, according to one of the federal government's chief military advisers. Ross Babbage, who served on the government's advisory panel for the 2009 Defence white paper, believes Australia should acquire a fleet of 12 nuclear-powered attack submarines. He also favours developing a conventionally armed cruise and ballistic missile capability to be carried...

U.S. Air Force F-22A Raptor stealth fighter jets fly together over the Western Pacific Ocean. Via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20060917.htm (medium, large, huge) The Photographer Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald, United States Air Force  

A special report on China's place in the world The fourth modernisation China is becoming a military force to reckon with in the western Pacific. How should America respond? Dec 2nd 2010 | from PRINT EDITION THIRTY-FIVE years ago Deng Xiaoping accused the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of “bloating, laxity, conceit, extravagance and inertia”. Even so, three years later, when he set about modernising China, he put the PLA last in the queue, behind farming, industry and science. And when the commander of the navy in 1982 laid out his plans for China to become a world sea power, he...

An East-West Center program, “Legacies of the Pacific War,” which EWC co-sponsored in July with the USS Arizona Memorial Museum Association and the National Park Service World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, has been the subject of some critical attention because of one complaint that the program was anti-veteran. [snip] The program in question was a workshop for college instructors which examined multiple perspectives on the impact of World War II in the Pacific. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) funded the workshop, which was attended by college professors from nine nations. One of the participants...

Personal wealth in Asia Pacific has grown at a much faster rate compared to the global average. Wealth in the region grew between 100 and 400 per cent in the last 10 years, compared to the average global rate of 42 per cent, according to the first Global Wealth Report by Credit Suisse released on Friday. The Credit Suisse report aims to provide insight for investors going into different markets, using a methodology which calculates total wealth by looking at fixed assets and bankable assets, including properties, equities and cash. Asia Pacific markets have been bullish since recovering from the...

<p>STANFORD, California (CNN) -- In an event known as a "silent earthquake," a 72-square-mile chunk of the south slope of Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano slipped 3.5 inches toward the sea several months ago, leading one scientist to warn of a possible disaster for Pacific Rim nations.</p>

ABOARD THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON – Nothing projects U.S. global air and sea power more vividly than supercarriers. Bristling with fighter jets that can reach deep into even landlocked trouble zones, America's virtually invincible carrier fleet has long enforced its dominance of the high seas. China may soon put an end to that. U.S. naval planners are scrambling to deal with what analysts say is a game-changing weapon being developed by China — an unprecedented carrier-killing missile called the Dong Feng 21D that could be launched from land with enough accuracy to penetrate the defenses of even the most advanced...

<p>An undersea 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit the southern Philippines on Saturday morning but it was too deep to cause any damage, officials said.</p> <p>No tsunami alert was issued, said the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, based in Hawaii.</p> <p>The quake hit the Moro Gulf off Mindanao Island at 7:15 a.m. (2315 GMT), the U.S. Geological Survey said. It said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 but the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology later reported a 6.9 magnitude.</p>

Color footage of carrier action in the Pacific. Thie is my daddy's generation in action, just a bunch of kids then. One of my uncles was flying off a carriers, he flew Corsairs.

If you check in regularly with the Drudge Report, you probably remember the mysterious light spiral over Norway last year, and the multitude of explanations offered for it (I think we were finally told that it was a Russian missile experiment gone awry). Now there's a new light spiral in Australia, that isn't getting so much attention - and there aren't any Russian missile tests anywhere near there. So what gives? A quick visit to the website of Share International, a creepy, occultist, messianic New Age group headed by Benjamin Creme, says these light spirals in the sky are a...

NASA says new images from its Jason-2 oceanography satellite shows the tropical Pacific has switched from El Nino warm conditions to La Nina cool conditions. "The central equatorial Pacific Ocean could stay colder than normal into summer and beyond," said oceanographer and climatologist Bill Patzert at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "That's because sea level is already about 4 inches below normal, creating a significant deficit of the heat stored in the upper ocean. The next few months will reveal if the current cooling trend will eventually evolve into a long-lasting La Nina situation." Patzert said a La...

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas – A volcanic eruption near the Pacific's Northern Mariana Islands shot clouds of ash and vapor nearly eight miles into the sky, federal scientists said. The eruption occurred early Saturday and appeared to come from an underwater volcano off Sarigan, a sparsely inhabited island about 100 miles north of the U.S. commonwealth's main island of Saipan. The Northern Marianas are about 3,800 miles southwest of Hawaii. USGS volcanologist Game McGimsey said Sunday that scientists are still trying to pinpoint the source but evidence is pointing to an underwater mountain. "People on the island (Sarigan) heard a loud...

Hugh Pickens writes "Science Daily Headlines reports on research by Oregon State University marine geologist Chris Goldfinger showing that earthquakes of magnitude 8.2 (or higher) have occurred 41 times during the past 10,000 years in the Pacific Northwest. By extrapolation, there is a 37% chance of another major earthquake in the area in the next 50 years that could exceed the power of recent seismic events in Chile and Haiti. If a magnitude-9 quake does strike the Cascadia Subduction Zone, extending from northern Vancouver Island to northern California, the ground could shake for several minutes, highways could be torn to...

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 rattled the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu early Friday, briefly triggering a tsunami watch for the region, officials said. There were no immediate reports of damage. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck just after 4 a.m. local time and was centered 300 miles (485 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Port Vila, at a depth of 22 miles (36 kilometers). The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued a tsunami warning for Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia, but canceled the alert about an hour later. The center's duty geophysicist...

VANCOUVER - At least two Canadian fighter jets escorted a Cathay Pacific passenger jet to a safe landing in Vancouver International Airport on Saturday due to a potential unspecified security threat, a North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesperson said. Local media reports said the plane, which reportedly originated in Hong Kong, was towed to a secure part of the tarmac with passengers still on board.

ADELAIDE, Australia — A powerful earthquake struck off the Solomon Islands on Sunday, but a monitoring agency said a tsunami was not expected. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 7.1-magnitude quake hit southwest of the island chain's Kira Kira island in the South Pacific. The temblor's epicenter was about 130 miles (210 kilometers) southeast of the capital, Honiara. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says a destructive wave is not expected. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The commander of U.S. military forces in the Pacific said Thursday that the buildup of Chinese armed forces is continuing "unabated" and Beijing's goal appears to be power projection beyond Asia. "China's rapid and comprehensive transformation of its armed forces is affecting regional military balances and holds implications beyond the Asia-Pacific region," said Adm. Robert F. Willard, the Pacific Command leader. "Of particular concern is that elements of China's military modernization appear designed to challenge our freedom of action in the region." The comments in testimony to the House Armed Services Committee are likely to fuel an ongoing debate inside...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The fierce and escalating battle over health care reform Friday forced President Barack Obama to delay his departure on a trip to Indonesia and Australia by three days until Sunday, March 21. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs made the announcement on his Twitter feed, a day after saying the trip would not be delayed, reflecting the fast-shifting debate on an issue that has put the president's political credibility on the line. Gibbs also said that Obama's wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha would no longer join him on a poignant journey to the president's haunts in Indonesia...

To prepare for the filming of HBO's epic, $200-million World War II miniseries "The Pacific," screenwriter Bruce C. McKenna accompanied a locations crew to a tiny coral island near Guam known as Peleliu. A ridge there is laced with hundreds of caves -- undisturbed for more than half a century -- where Japanese troops hid out from U.S. Marines during one of the war's deadliest conflicts. "There are still skeletons in the caves, and we saw them," McKenna remembers with amazement. "At the first cave we found, we walked in and there was the rib cage of a dead Japanese...