The Black Stars of Ghana are the only English speakers left in the Cup: Germany 4-1 England.

You get the feeling that England psyches itself out every time it plays Germany. Germany plays a great game of football, but the Premier League is not for amateurs. For whatever reason, almost every time England faces Germany on a pitch, they forget where the net is [disallowed goals not withstanding and the fact that the new ball is crap].

Argentina v. Mexico later today.

CONCACAF is out as El Tri fall to La Albiceleste: Argentina 3-1 Mexico.

Position: 19.4N 91.3W [10 PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: West-Northwest [300°] near 7 mph [11 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Wind Gusts: 55 mph [ 90 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 175 miles [280 km].
Minimum central pressure: 991 mb ↓.

It is 470 miles [755 km] East-Southeast of Tampico, Mexico.

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.]

I’ve referred to it as the Well from Hell or Gulf Gusher almost from the beginning, and know that it is officially recorded as Mississippi Canyon block 252, but from time to time someone would use another name, and I kept forgetting to write it down. The thing is, the name was familiar, but I didn’t associate it with the Gulf or oil.

Finally, Mary at Pacific Views and Left Coaster made the connection on the Macondo Prospect, BP’s internal name for the well.

If you have never read Colombian novelist and Nobel laureate. Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, you should. If you know about the history of Colombia it will be a richer experience, but it isn’t necessary to enjoy the novel.

Naming an oil well for Macondo, “a city of mirrors”, is only slightly better than naming your new nuclear power plant Chernobyl, or building a resort near a volcano and calling it Pompeii.