Posts from — October 2019

Position: 40.8N 31.3W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: East [090°] near 21 mph [33 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 70 miles [110 km].
Minimum central pressure: 995 mb ↑.

Currently about 300 miles [ 485 km] Northwest of the Azores.

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.]

Whether you celebrate Celtic New Year’s Eve [Samhain], the evening before All Saints Day [Halloween], or the anniversary of the posting of Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 [Reformation Day], have a happy one.

Wikipedia does its normally thorough job of covering all of the bases on the holidays that share October 31^st.

These are my remembrances of a traditional American Halloween.

Locally we are having preemptive lawn drowning to prevent people at the ‘Autumn Festival’ from parking on our grass.

The BBC reports that US-Russia surveillance flights treaty under threat. Yet another agreement that Trump wants to withdraw the US from – the Open Skies Treaty. This allows unarmed surveillance aircraft to overfly the territory of potential enemies to avoid sneak attacks. He doesn’t understand why we want to do this, so he wants to withdraw.

Former Mattis aide describes what it’s like trying to brief Trump: Guy Snodgrass, the man who was communications director under Secretary of Defense James Mattis wrote “It seems that military members are all honorable when we close our mouths and hold our tongues, but when we give ourselves a voice, when we dare speak truth to power, well, then our honor is questioned”

Or as Stephen Colbert puts it: GOP is ‘Fracking America’s moral bedrock’ in Vindman attacks.

The problem with briefing Trump is that Pixar can’t get enough animators cleared to create the briefings. 😈

Position: 38.5N 38.8W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: East [080°] near 17 mph [28 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Wind Gusts: 55 mph [ 90 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 90 miles [150 km].
Minimum central pressure: 987 mb.

Currently about 640 miles [1030 km] West of the Azores.

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.]

Trending: Baghdadi: Trump tweet inspires ‘declassified’ dog pictures. That’s right, Trump generated a meme…

Finally Boris Johnson wins something in Parliament: UK set for 12 December general election after MPs’ vote. A new election is all they can agree on in the age of BREXIT.

We remember “compare and contrast” papers from English classes: Jimmy Kimmel’s Mash Up Of Obama Vs. Trump Post-Raid Speeches.

Oh, about booing Trump at the baseball game: The Office of the President wasn’t at the game, only the current occupant. If the Resident had shown a little respect for the Office, he might have been due a little respect.

John Oliver on Trump’s Syria Policy: ‘Genuinely hard to get it this wrong’. This is 20 minutes of reality check.

A body language expert analyses Trump’s situation room photo. I don’t disagree with her opinions but she missed all of the disconnected cables on the table. If they were actually following the action like was implied, there would have been laptops on the table. Oh, there was apparently no audio and the video was infrared to avoid making targets of the ops team.

The thing everyone agrees on is that the dog is awesome.

Position: 46.8N 17.7W [10:00AM CDT 1500 UTC].
Movement: North [360°] near 5 mph [ 7 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 60 miles [ 95 km].
Minimum central pressure: 995 mb ↑.

Currently about 730 miles [1170 km] Northeast of Lajes Air Base in the Azores.

Pablo lost its tropical characteristics over the cold northern waters. 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 BBC reports the claim: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: IS leader ‘dead after US raid’ in Syria. The basic story would seem to be that the Kurds located al-Baghdadi and a US special operations team carried out an assault on his hiding place. Al-Baghdadi was chased down a tunnel by military dogs and when he realized he was trapped he detonated a suicide vest killing himself and three children. One of the dogs was wounded.

Trump admits he told Russia of ISIS raid but kept Pelosi and Schiff in the dark. for their part Russian military throws shade at Trump: We have ‘valid doubts about the reality and success’ of ISIS raid. If Russia knew about the raid they would have been looking for activity in the target area. (It is very possible that they were unable to detect the raid with their available resources and don’t want to admit it to Moscow.)

Colonel Wilkerson deflates ISIS raid: happening ‘in the shadow of impeachment.’ (See Wag the Dog.)

Position: 46.0N 17.1W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [360°] near 14 mph [22 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 70 mph [110 kph].
Wind Gusts: 80 mph [130 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 60 miles [ 95 km].
Minimum central pressure: 982 mb ↑.

Currently about 710 miles [1145 km] Northeast of Lajes Air Base in the Azores.

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: 38.2N 22.6W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northeast [050°] near 29 mph [46 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 65 mph [100 kph].
Wind Gusts: 75 mph [120 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 80 miles [130 km].
Minimum central pressure: 985 mb ↓.

Currently about 245 miles [ 395 km] East of Lajes Air Base in the Azores.

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.]

When scientists discover a new species they get naming rights:

… There is also a moth called Neopalpa donaldtrumpi which, biologist Vazrick Nazari said in 2017, is known for its distinctive blonde head and “comparatively small” genitals.

And just last year, Donald Trump had another animal named after him – an amphibian that buries its head in the sand. The Dermophis donaldtrumpi was so named because of the US president’s comments about climate change.

This is why you should be nice to people …

Position: 35.5N 31.1W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: East-Southeast [120°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Wind Gusts: 55 mph [ 90 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 35 miles [ 55 km].
Minimum central pressure: 990 mb.

Currently about 285 miles [ 460 km] Southwest of the Azores.

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: 27.8N 92.2W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northeast [040°] near 17 mph [28 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph [ 85 kph].
Wind Gusts: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 140 miles [220 km].
Minimum central pressure: 999 mb ↑.

Currently about 170 miles [ 275 km] South-Southeast of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

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.]

If the EU extends the Brexit deadline it is looking more certain that there will be a Parliamentary election in Britain. Johnson’s Brexit plan passed its first vote, but lost a vote to speed up to overall process before the Halloween deadline. [Maybe extending it until Valentine’s Day would produce better vibes]

It is also possible a new Brexit referendum may be scheduled.

Update: This appeals to my odd sense of humor – Brexit [It only makes sense if you are familiar with the CS Lewis’ Narnia stories]