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31 Aug 2011 21:17

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U.S., World: Tropical Storm Katia could become Hurricane Katia overnight

  • yeah … Meteorologists expect Tropical Storm Katia to strengthen into a hurricane tonight — making it the second Atlantic-based hurricane in a week. (Dunno if you heard, but the last one was a bit of a doozy.) The storm’s current path shows Katia moving west-northwest toward North America.
  • … but Don’t freak out yet, though — the storm may never actually hit land. See, storms in the Atlantic often get blown off course by jet stream winds that run west-to-east across the U.S. Those winds plus east-to-west winds across Africa cause the storm to “recurve.” Many hurricanes die out this way. source
  • » A coulda-been Katrina: Storm-trackers give hurricanes their names based on six standardized lists that they then cycle through; each year has a different list, so we’ll see 2011’s list again in 2017. Had 2005 not been a devastating year of storms, Katia would still be “Katrina”.
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Aug 2011 15:21

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U.S.: “Fast and Furious” investigation forces reassignment of ATF chief Kenneth Melson

  • cause The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ran a gun trafficking sting in 2009 called “Operation Fast and Furious.” They allowed about 2000 illegal guns into Mexico, trying to build a bigger case against high-level buyers. The 2010 death of a border patrol agent sparked attention, and the plan was ended.
  • effect The House Oversight Committee has found only about 600 guns have been recovered, and heard testimony from a former agent who claims the ATF knew the same guns were being found at crime scenes in the U.S. and Mexico. Bureau head Kenneth Melson was consequently reassigned today. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Aug 2011 09:57

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U.S.: Hurricane Irene, Joplin tornado run into wall of tightly-funded political reality

  • Any projects that have not come in for approval, we’re not going to be able to fund those as this point. We’re going to postpone those. Our goal is to keep this disruption as short as possible, but it was prudent.
  • FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate • Describing the reasons that FEMA is putting their long-term work to repair Joplin, Mo. on hold, and instead putting that money towards Hurricane Irene. Another issue arising in the Hurricane Irene situation? They might run into yet another wall of House Republican suck. That’s because House Majority Leader Eric Cantor makes no guarantees about funding Irene cleanup unless there are budget cuts to match, which is a real jerk move which shows how out-of-touch with reality that the GOP is. Now, granted, Ron Paul pitches ideas like these all the time. But when the GOP leadership continues to do so without regard to the current situation at hand, it makes you you want to vote all the bums out en masse next year. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Aug 2011 23:58

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U.S.: Sect leader Warren Jeffs in coma after fasting in prison

  • Jeffs fasted for three days, became unstable: Polygamist sect leader and convicted child rapist Warren Jeffs is being treated for fasting-related complications. “He did indicate to staff that he was fasting, but he is currently being treated for other medical ailments and conditions,” said a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. She also said that she “cannot confirm that he is in a coma.” (An AP source says that he in fact is in one.) Jeffs is to face a second trial — this time for first-degree bigamy — in October. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Aug 2011 22:51

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U.S.: Wisconsin patients possibly exposed to blood-borne diseases

  • 2,345 patients were possibly exposed to HIV source
  • » One Wisconsin nurse didn’t alternate between insulin pens when giving diabetes test demonstrations. She changed needles, but not the insulin pen; as a result, blood could have remained on the pen between patients. Now a clinic’s trying to clean up a scary mess caused by a nurse who didn’t know proper procedure. Yikes.
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Aug 2011 16:32

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U.S.: Alan Krueger named chairman of White House economic advisers

  • So, here’s the new Austan Goolsbee, America. Princeton University’s Alan Krueger, age 50, is President Obama’s selection to serve as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Affairs. While we readily confess we don’t know a terrible lot about him or his philosophies (he served as assistant Treasury secretary the first two years of the Obama administration, which while an important job isn’t as visible as it might be), the article suggests he may want more aggressive government action on joblessness. This is theoretical, of course — it still requires Senate confirmation, which has been hard to come by of late. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Aug 2011 10:34

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U.S.: Post-Katrina general: Changing attitudes at play with Hurricane Irene

  • Before Katrina, it was a longstanding tradition in our country for political officials to wait until the last minute to warn, to take action, to evacuate. No more. With Irene, you had mass evacuations — mandatory ones — issued days ahead of time. That was the right thing to do.
  • Retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honore • Regarding the changing approach to hurricanes since Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in Louisiana six years ago today. Honore was one of the officials whose work on the recovery from that storm was widely respected. To put his point another way: “I’ve been in the storm business for years and I’ve never seen officials be prudent enough to cancel commercial and sporting events before a storm. Folks in the Northeast did that. The day before Katrina, we had a football game in Baton Rouge. That’s how far the community has come.” So there you have it: The guy who coordinated much of the the Katrina response says they did the right thing on Irene. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

29 Aug 2011 10:21

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U.S.: Commuters in NYC slowly getting back to normal after Irene

  • positive All of New York City’s subway routes are moving along without much trouble. While service was supposed to be lighter than usual, many riders said they didn’t notice any significant delays.
  • negative However, if you’re commuting from outside the city — especially Connecticut or New Jersey, you’re out of luck. All lines of the Metro-North Railroad are down, as are New Jersey Transit trains. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Aug 2011 01:30

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U.S.: Irene’s remnants catch Vermont off-guard, cause heavy flooding

  • Our emergency management people are flat-out trying as hard as they can to avoid loss of life. We have been encouraging any Vermonter who lives near a brook, river or lake should head to higher ground.
  • Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin • Offering a message to people in his state affected by the now-former tropical storm Irene, which is really now just a giant storm that’s dropping a ton of rain on Shumlin’s state. And the state wasn’t expecting it: According to Shumlin, officials expected the storm to nail the Connecticut River Valley, but the storm track changed and now it’s over Vermont. Some locals have called it the worst flooding the region has seen in a generation. So yeah, Irene’s nothing to screw with even though she’s no longer a tropical storm. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Aug 2011 20:25

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U.S.: Hurricane Irene’s costs — both in human and monetary form

  • 19 deaths reported so far from Hurricane Irene source
  • » And damages in “the tens of billions”: With the storm largely past U.S. shores, now begins the tallying of damages. You’ve seen some examples of this already. But while it’s too soon to predict exactly what the final tally will be, in New Jersey, Chris Christie is already throwing a price tag on things. “I’ve got to imagine that the damage estimates are going to be in the billions of dollars, if not in the tens of billions of dollars,” he told “Meet the Press” this morning. These costs will largely be eaten by the federal government. The loss of human life, however, won’t be. Click the source link above. It’s a blow by blow of saddening proportions.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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