So, Hurricane Alex is going ashore around the Mexico-Texas border, so there’s no problem, right? Wrong, there are already problems.

This is a gulf. Water enters and exits around Cuba, either the Yucatan Strait or the Florida Strait. Alex is big enough and moving slow enough that it is affecting the northern Gulf Coast with wind, waves, and surge. The skimmers have already left for port because they don’t work in 4-foot seas, and the booms are worthless, as the oil will push over the top. Tropical storms spin in a counter-clockwise motion around the center, so the winds will be from the South and Southeast, depending on how far East of the storm you are. That will add wind to the surge and wave action to push oil further inland.

Platforms working off the Texas coast are already being evacuated, but it probably won’t be necessary for those working directly on the gusher.

The US is accepting international help, not, as some people [Republican politicians] have claimed, rejecting it. The only thing not accepted so far has been dispersants from France, because they aren’t on the approved list. Some of the aid, like booms from Mexico, is free, but other assistance is going to have to be paid for, which means BP approval under the present stupid system. If the aid doesn’t come, it isn’t because the Feds blocked it, it’s because BP refused to pay for it.

CNN reports on the great Russian “spy” arrests:

The U.S. Justice Department announced Monday that 10 people were arrested on charges of being Russian agents involved in a long-term mission in the United States.

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday that the suspects are Russian citizens. In a statement posted on its website, the ministry said the suspects did not commit any actions directed toward American interests and asked for a guarantee that they will be given access to Russian consular officials and lawyers.
…

The Justice Department said the suspects were supposed to recruit intelligence agents, but were not directly involved in obtaining U.S. secrets themselves. They were charged with acting as agents of a foreign government, and nine also were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The charges include conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, the Justice Department said. Conspiracy to commit money laundering has a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

This is embarrassing, What if people think that the Soviets did stuff like this? How much credibility can “Cold Warriors” get when this is the opposition. Some of them had accents! What kind of spycraft is that – deep agents with accents?! The Russian Foreign Ministry admitting they’re Russians?!

The “trade” has really gone downhill [….. hey, you commies, get off my lawn!!]

The last of the qualifiers for the Quarter Finals.

Paraguay wins on penalty shots after both teams failed to score in the game or extra time. Japan’s third penalty shot struck the crossbar while Paraguay netted all five.

Spain – Portugal is later this afternoon.

Spain [La Furia Roja] 1-0 Portugal [Selecção]

This means that the Quarter Finals will be:

July 2^nd
Netherlands [Oranje] – Brazil [Canarinho]
Uruguay [La Celeste] – Ghana [Black Stars]

July 3^rd
Argentina [La Albiceleste] – Germany [Die Mannschaft]
Paraguay [La Albirroja] – Spain [La Furia Roja]

Position: 23.1N 94.8W [10 PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [280°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 75 mph [120 kph].
Wind Gusts: 85 mph [135 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 175 miles [280 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 15 miles [25 km].
Minimum central pressure: 973 mb ↓.

It is 255 miles [415 km] Southeast of Brownsville, Texas.

It is on track to come ashore around the mouth of the Rio Bravo/Rio Grande late Wednesday night and is the first June hurricane since 1995.

Hurricane Warnings have been issued from South of Baffin Bay on the Texas coast to La Cruz on the coast of Mexico.

Tropical Storm Warnings from Baffin Bay North to Port O’Connor, Texas and from La Cruz South to Cabo Rojo, 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.]