Empty Wheel and the Agonist have posted about the US reaction to the DDOS attacks on the Saudi oil industry and major banks. Panetta wants new powers and money to deal with ‘cyber-terrorism’ and they say Iran is behind the attacks.

You would have to be off-line not to know that the Iranians are retaliating for the US-Israeli Stuxnet and Flame attacks on their computer systems that are related to their nuclear program. The Iranians did a back-trace, located the perpetrators and sent a clear message that they can and will react to being targeted.

The Iranians haven’t attacked another country since before the United States was founded, but they have been attacked several times. The US has been involved in more than one of those attacks, and the Iranians are not going to forget it. Just because the Iranians have no interest in being friends with the US, doesn’t mean that they are enemies. They have no reason to trust anything the US says or does, and many reasons not to. The US needs to stop poking Iran, because they won’t put up with it. If they are attacked they will retaliate – they always have.

Position: 30.1N 40.3W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: East-Northeast [070°] near 23 mph [37 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph [ 85 kph].
Wind Gusts: 65 mph [105 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 70 miles [110 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1000 mb.

Currently about 935 miles [1505 km] West-Southwest of the Azores.

Tony has been losing its tropical characteristics and is expected to become a post-tropical cyclone tomorrow.

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.]

Position: 19.4N 76.3W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [010°] near 13 mph [20 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 90 mph [150 kph].
Wind Gusts: 105 mph [170 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 140 miles [220 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 30 miles [ 45 km].
Minimum central pressure: 954 mb ↓.

Currently about 85 miles [ 135 km] Southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba.

At 2PM CDT [1900 UTC] the storm made landfall about 5 miles [8 kilometers] East of Kingston, Jamaica.

The storm is intensifying rapidly and may be a Category 2 hurricane when it makes landfall in Eastern Cuba.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Jamaica and the Cuban Provinces of Camaguey, Las Tunas, Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, and Guantanamo, the Central Bahamas, the Northwestern Bahamas, and the Ragged Islands in the Southeastern Bahamas.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Haiti, the East Coast of Florida from Sebastian Inlet to Ocean Reef, and the Southeastern Bahamas [except for the Ragged Islands].

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the Florida East Coast from Sebastian Inlet to Flagler Beach, the Keys from Ocean Reef to Craig Key, and Florida Bay.

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.]