Colonel Bateman at Charlie Pierce’s place has identified a signal that things have gone critical with North Korea. He says, and I believe him, that if General Mattis resigns as Secretary of Defense in the near future and/or General McMaster resigns as National Security Advisor, it is probable that Drumpf wants an overt act against North Korea.

If Drumpf orders a strike against North Korea that is not a response to an actual attack, the truce that has held since 1953 will be over and thousands, if not millions of people will soon die. It is up to Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25^th Amendment to prevent World War III, but Congress needs to act to repeal the blank check “Authorization for the Use of Military Force” that they gave to the Shrubbery. Declaring war is a specific function of the Congress, and the possibility of a President like Drumpf is the reason.

Position: 20.2N 96.1W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [270°] near 13 mph [20 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 85 mph [140 kph].
Wind Gusts: 100 mph [160 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 150 miles [240 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 35 miles [ 55 km].
Minimum central pressure: 985 mb ↑.

Currently about 70 miles [ 110 km] North of Veracruz, Mexico.

The first hurricane this season. At 10pm CDT tropical storm force winds have reached the coast and the storm should make landfall in the next few hours.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the coast of Mexico from Puerto de Veracruz to Cabo Rojo.

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for the coast of Mexico from Cabo Rojo to Rio Panuco.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the coast of Mexico from east of Puerto de Veracruz to to Puerto Dos Bocas and from north of Tuxpan to Barra del Tordo.

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.]