The Miami Herald reports that Charlie Crist names ex-chief of staff George LeMieux to Senate seat

Gov. Charlie Crist chose his political shadow and former chief of staff, George LeMieux, to stand in as Florida’s U.S. senator until Crist can seek the seat himself in the 2010 election.

Crist has said that he wanted his appointment to have some time to get ready before Congress reconvenes on Sept. 8.

Mr. LeMieux has never been elected to office. He operates a ‘consulting” business assisting the Seminoles with their gaming interests, you know, like Jack Abramoff, among other things, I’m sure.

It’s so insightful of “Chuckles” to decide there was no need to appoint someone who has experience as a legislator to the Senate. George is a lobbyist, so he has passed a lot of legislation, and he’s wealthy, so he’ll be right at home in the Senate.

Position: 31.4 N 74.9 W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northeast [020°] near 12 mph [19 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 175 miles [280 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1006 mb ↓.

It is 265 miles [425 km] South of Cape Hatteras North Carolina.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the North Carolina coast from Cape Lookout northward to Duck including the Ablemarle and Pamlico sounds.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

The Pump House Gang

Food, Mom, we need food!

[Editor: Two tuxedos and a silver tabby, that their mother wishes would take the hint and start eating cat food. These are the last of the kittens and this was taken well away from them as they would scatter like leaves in a gale if I tried to approach close enough to get a good picture.]

Friday Ark