It’s time to clean your glasses.

Over at MSNBC they say the economy is in turmoil.

Initial jobless claims are going up again, after dropping last week. Even with the “Cash for Clunkers” boost, retail sales are down; even WalMart is down.

The continuing jobless claims are down, but that is people coming to the end their coverage.

Consumption is two-thirds of the GDP, so forget this “green shoots”, it’s the brass corroding. You can’t have a “jobless recovery”, because credit has been maxed out.

The commercial real estate disaster has just started and the ARMs are still resetting, so housing can’t save the economy like it usually does. Real estate was the problem, so it isn’t going to be the solution. The fall may be slowing, but the economy is still falling, and that will continue until people can get back to work.

CNN reports on the Lockheed Fire

(CNN) — A fast-moving wildfire near the Santa Cruz Mountains prompted the mandatory evacuation of some 600 people in northern California early Thursday, fire officials said.

Authorities did not immediately know what caused the fire, which began about 7 p.m. Wednesday and burned an estimated 1,200 acres in the town of Bonny Doon by 1 a.m., said John Forbes with the city’s fire and rescue department.

Evacuations have been extended to the Braemore, Swanton and Davenport areas.

The area is near the Pacific coast about 55 miles south of San Francisco.

“Right now, details are sketchy,” said Jim Crawford, spokesman for the California fire agency, Cal Fire.

High winds tripled the size of the fire in just a few hours.

According to the Cal Fire incident page: 2,800 acres burning with 0% containment in the Santa Cruz Mountains. More than 1000 structures threatened.

Currently there are 120 engines, 15 crews, 15 dozers, 3 water tenders, and 670 personnel assigned to the fire.

Links: Enplan Wildfire Viewer for California, the Santa Cruz Sentinel local news page, and their Map: Lockheed Fire.

The fire in the San Rafael Wilderness area has now burned over 48,450 acres and is 10% contained. Structures to the North of the fire in Cottonwood Canyon are now under threat and evacuations have been ordered.

There have been 2 minor injuries fighting the fire which has already cost > $6.3 million.

Currently there are 89 engines, 57 crews, 28 dozers, 5 tankers, 10 helicopters, and 1,641 total personnel assigned to the fire.

Links: The KEYT La Brea Fire article, the Santa Barbara Independent La Brea Fire page, InciWeb La Brea page with a map, and KSBY has videos. The Enplan Wildfire Viewer has a good map based on satellite detection of hot spots.

Position: 14.2 N 38.3 W [ 4 PM CDT 2100 UTC].
Movement: West [275°] near 8 mph [13 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 30 mph [50 kph].
Wind Gusts: 40 mph [65 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1008 mb ↑.

It is 930 miles [1500 km] West of the Cape Verde Islands. Dry air and wind shear are weakening the system.

This is the last advisory as the system has decayed into a remnant low pressure area.

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.]