Posts from — October 2014

The people who think banning entrance will stop Ebola have more support: North Korea.

Look, you had the lab supervisor who spent big bucks on a cruise to the Caribbean get confined to her cabin for the trip, and the ship refused landing permission by Belize and Mexico, despite the fact that she didn’t have any symptoms of anything, and was found to be Ebola-free once she got back to the US and could be tested.

Then there was the Air Canada pilot who refused to have blood samples on his airliner, because they were going to be tested for Ebola.

The disease that is spreading outside of West Africa is paranoia, not Ebola. Chill the hell out, people.

Early voting in Okaloosa County for the General Election started on Monday, October 20^th and runs through Saturday, November 1^st from 9AM to 7PM CDT daily.

The locations are more convenient than last time for the South County.

[Thanks for reminding me about Early Voting, Steve.]

Monday: One member of the Canadian Defense Forces was killed and a second injured on Monday by a hit-and-run driver outside their station near Montreal, Quebec. The police gave pursuit and finally ended up shooting the driver.

Tuesday: In Winnipeg, Manitoba the bodies of 6 dead babies were found in a storage locker. The police have arrested the woman who rented the locker.

Today: In Ottawa a soldier was shot and killed while guarding the War Memorial, Canada’s equivalent of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The gunman then went to the Parliament and was killed in a shoot-out with the Parliamentary Sergeant-at-Arms and police.

This sort of thing isn’t supposed to happen in Canada. Canada is supposed to be polite and dull.

Position: 18.9N 90.9W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: East-Southeast [105°] near 6 mph [ 9 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 30 mph [ 45 kph].
Wind Gusts: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1004mb.

Currently about 75 miles [ 120 km] South-Southwest of Campeche, Mexico.

As the depression is weakening, Mexico cancelled the Watch at 7PM.

At 10PM the system moved inland and became a remnant low. This is the final NHC advisory.

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 only real news I’ve seen is that the Turks are apparently allowing Iraqi Peshmerga forces to transit its territory to fight the ISIS forces around the city of Kobane in Syria. This is a big deal for the Turks to agree to this, but ISIS shells are landing in Turkey along the border.

A guy admits to murdering one woman in Indiana and leads the police to the bodies of 6 other murdered women, but no one wants to call him a serial killer. The media and authorities get weird at times. If they all died at the same time he would be a ‘mass murderer’, but given the geographic separation of the bodies, it is fairly certain that he is a ‘serial killer’ with a minimum of 7 victims.

I thought August was supposed to be the slow month for news.

Oh, there is a possible problem brewing in the Bay of Campeche, but if it makes it to tropical status it isn’t likely to be around long.

Louise Troh, Thomas Duncan’s fiancée, who was his sole caregiver when he first became symptomatic and contagious, has been released from quarantine restrictions as disease free.

So this woman cares for him in an apartment, with no isolation ward or hazmat suit, is disease free, while two nurses who cared for him in the hospital isolation ward have contracted the disease.

For all of the Congresscritters calling for a flight ban between West Africa and the US – there already is one caused by the limited range of airlines in West Africa. There are no direct flights between the Ebola affected area and the US. What do they want to do – ban flights from Europe?

The lead article on the news sites at the moment is the death of a fashion designer…

Position: 51.6N 41.8W [ 4PM CDT 2100 UTC].
Movement: East-Northeast [060°] near 52 mph [83 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 80 mph [130 kph].
Wind Gusts: 95 mph [150 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 310 miles [500 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 115 miles [185 km].
Minimum central pressure: 972 mb ↑.

Currently about 560 miles [ 900 km] Northeast of St. Johns, Newfoundland.

Canada has cancelled its Watch for Newfoundland as the storm passes by, still a hurricane, over some rather cold water.

At 4PM the storm transitioned to Post-Tropical. This is the final NHC advisory. The storm is on track to strike northern Scotland and then Norway with gale force winds.

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.]

Why can every Podunk Police Department in the US buy armored vehicles and automatic weapons, but our hospitals can’t buy decent protective clothing for nurses?

In this centennial of World War I it is important to remember that 17 million people died in that conflict, but 50 million people died in the Spanish influenza pandemic that followed.

The Federal government gave a grant to a small Alaskan fishing village to install a close circuit TV monitoring system to watch for terrorists, but cut funding for the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control. From 2000 to 2010 a total of a little more than 3,000 Americans have died from terrorist attacks while 50,000 Americans die every year from the flu. How does that make sense?

The War on Terror™ is a scam that has cost us our liberties and about $ 1 trillion.

Position: 42.3N 57.0W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northeast [040°] near 39 mph [63 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 90 mph [150 kph].
Wind Gusts: 110 mph [175 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 290 miles [465 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 115 miles [185 km].
Minimum central pressure: 966 mb.

Currently about 360 miles [ 580 km] Southwest of Cape Race, Newfoundland.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Arnolds Cove to Chapels Cove, Newfoundland.

The cooling water and increasing wind shear are weakening the storm.

The storm’s movement has speeded up considerably and the wind field has expanded.

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: 32.7N 64.5W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northeast [030°] near 16 mph [26 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 110 mph [175 kph].
Wind Gusts: 125 mph [200 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 175 miles [280 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 45 miles [ 75 km].
Minimum central pressure: 951 mb.

Currently about 35 miles [ 55 km] North-Northeast of Bermuda.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Bermuda.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Arnolds Cove to Chapels Cove, Newfoundland.

Bermuda is in the eye of the hurricane at 7PM CDT. The calm of the eye will be replaced by the hurricane conditions in a couple of hours.

At 10PM CDT the eye is moving away and Bermuda is again being battered by high winds.

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.]

Light & Shadow

Zzzzzzz…

[Editor: Tadpole and Hadley that close and motionless is a very rare occurrence.

Friday Ark

Position: 28.0N 67.5W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northeast [025°] near 14 mph [22 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 140 mph [220 kph].
Wind Gusts: 160 mph [255 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 175 miles [280 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 60 miles [ 95 km].
Minimum central pressure: 943 mb.

Currently about 340 miles [ 545 km] South-Southwest of Bermuda.

Bermuda is located at 32.3N 64.8W. The current forecast takes the storm just to the West of Bermuda as at least a Category 3 hurricane on Friday afternoon.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Bermuda.

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.]

Badtux has an infographic that pretty much nails the ‘threat’ of Ebola. The ABC adds some more detail in How you can and can’t get Ebola.

The BBC has a video showing Ebola bio-hazard suit: How to wear it and what can go wrong. They shot this in Texas and I could see one very major problem with their system – the gloves. They used the standard blue nitrile gloves which I have used for years for dealing with chemicals, painting, and other messy jobs, as well as caring for my Mother. The gloves have a problem – no cuff to protect the ends of your sleeves. I now use a more expensive glove that extends well up my arm. That’s what they need.

CNN covers another problem in a video with a Dallas physician who gets upset when it is pointed out that the hospital screwed up, and the ABC covers Second Texas nurse tests positive for virus one day after taking commercial flight.

When hospitals became profit centers and control shifted to MBAs rather than MDs, it became inevitable that business would make health care a secondary priority.

Position: 24.6N 68.7W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [350°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 120 mph [195 kph].
Wind Gusts: 140 mph [220 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 140 miles [220 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 40 miles [ 65 km].
Minimum central pressure: 953 mb.

Currently about 580 miles [ 935 km] South-Southwest of Bermuda.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Bermuda.

Gonzalo is a small, intense storm, so changes are to be expected. Bermuda hasn’t completed clean-up from Fay and certainly didn’t need to see this headed their way.

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.]