While watching hurricanes and cat-sitting I have failed to acknowledge some great “pirate” posts. Ellroon has just what you need to take notes at a meeting of pirates, while Cheezburger has launched a pirate meme.

“Das war ein Vorspiel nur, dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen.” That is the original German. My English translation would be ‘That is but a prelude, where they burn books, they will in the end burn people.” It is from Heinrich Heine’s 1821 play Almansor.

While technically not a banned book, one of the most important written documents in the United States is seemly unread. That is the Constitution of the United States, the law of the land. The current occupant of the White House would do well to read Article 2, which is the ‘job description’ for the position he captured. From there he can proceed to the Amendments. If he reads the whole thing, he won’t find any mention of a flag or a national anthem. Those are creations of Congress and are subordinate to the rights guaranteed by the Amendments to the Constitution.

Position: 34.9N 72.9W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [005°] near 7 mph [11 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 70 mph [110 kph].
Wind Gusts: 90 mph [145 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 230 miles [370 km].
Minimum central pressure: 975 mb.

Currently about 150 miles [ 240 km] East of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the coast of North Carolina from from Bogue Inlet to the North Carolina/Virginia border, including the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds.

A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for the coast of North Carolina from from Ocracoke Inlet to Cape Hatteras.

A Storm Surge Watch is in effect for the coast of North Carolina from Cape Lookout to west of Ocracoke Inlet and north of Cape Hatteras to Duck.

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: 30.0N 55.5W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [275°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 110 mph [175 kph].
Wind Gusts: 130 mph [210 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 60 miles [ 95 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 25 miles [ 35 km].
Minimum central pressure: 971 mb.

Currently about 570 miles [ 920 km] East-Southeast of 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.]