This afternoon I received a telemarketing call congratulating me on winning a cruise to the Bahamas. I informed the person that I was well aware that they didn’t get to pick what they were promoting, but they might want to check the weather reports before calling anyone else, and then wait a week to see if the Bahamas are still there after 24 hours with a Category 4 hurricane.

I didn’t mention that the Coast Guard was using helicopters to remove the crew of a container ship that lost its engines and was adrift inside of Joaquin or that they were still looking for another ship with 33 people on board.

People selling the tropics during hurricane season really need to watch the weather.

Kim Davis’s fundy lawyers could not have possibly misrepresented (lied about) her ‘secret’ meeting with the Pope: Pope’s meeting with Kim Davis not an endorsement – Vatican

The Rev Federico Lombardi said the Pope met “several dozen” people at the Vatican’s embassy in Washington just before leaving for New York last week.

“The Pope did not enter into the details of the situation of Mrs Davis and his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects,” Rev Lombardi said.
…

The Pope was asked for his views on the question of government officials refusing to discharge their duties because of their religious beliefs during his return from the US on Sunday.

He told reporters on his flight back to Rome that conscientious objection was a “human right”.

Public servants object to performing acts that conflict with their conscience by resigning. I suspect that translating what the Pope said as ‘conscientious objection’ may cause a misunderstanding as it has acquired a specific, limited meaning in US English as an objection to war, whereas other English speakers will see it in its broader meaning.

Position: 24.7N 74.0W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northeast [040°] near 10 mph [17 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 125 mph [205 kph].
Wind Gusts: 145 mph [220 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 205 miles [335 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 50 miles [ 85 km].
Minimum central pressure: 944 mb ↑.

Currently about 60 miles [ 95 km] North-Northeast of San Salvador, Bahamas.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the Central Bahamas and New Providence, and the Acklins, Crooked Island, and Mayaguana in the Southeastern Bahamas.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the remainder of the Southeastern Bahamas including the Turks & Caicos Islands, and Bermuda.

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Bermuda.

A slight weakening that downgrades the storm to Category 3, but still moving slowly and the Bahamas are being pounded. The US is being affected by coastal flooding from waves and surge from Georgia to Long Island. The low that was dumping rain on me earlier in the week is now stuck in the Southeast and with the moisture that Joaquin is pushing on shore will be causing flooding at least from Georgia to New Jersey.

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.]