On-line Opinion Magazine…OK, it's a blog

Position: 35.2N 77.0W [ 4:00AM CDT 090UTC].
Movement: Northeast [055°] near 10 mph [17 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 30 mph [ 45 kph].
Wind Gusts: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1014 mb.

Currently about 10 miles [ 15 km] North-Northeast of New Bern, North Carolina.

The storm dissipated over eastern North Carolina. This is the final public advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center on this system.

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: 11.3N 89.5W [10:00PM CDT 0300UTC].
Movement: West [270°] near 17 mph [28 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Wind Gusts: 70 mph [115 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 70 miles [110 km].
Minimum central pressure: 997 mb ↓.

Currently about 165 miles [ 270 km] South of San Salvador, El Salvador.

The storm has crossed into the Pacific Ocean

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: 34.4N 77.8W [10:00PM CDT 030UTC].
Movement: Northeast [055°] near 7 mph [11 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph [ 55 kph].
Wind Gusts: 45 mph [ 70 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1014 mb.

Currently about 15 miles [ 20 km] North of Wilmington, North Carolina.

The storm has weaken to a Depression and all watches and warnings have been discontinued.

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 race starts with the Grand Départ today in Copenhagen and will finish on 24 July in Paris, so I thought I should explain some of what I’ll be ranting about.

The cartoon characters from my header are wearing the various colored jerseys that indicate the leader in the different classifications in the race.

The Maillot Jaune, Yellow Jersey is worn by the rider with the lowest time overall in the race. The eventual winner of the race may never have come in first in any stage, but was near the lead throughout the race and achieved the lowest time over the entire course of the event. The winner is normally an “all-arounder”, someone is very good at the sprints and the hill climbing, even if they aren’t the best. “All-arounders” show up on the lists of the sprinters and the climbers, while staying in the top ten for overall time.

[Read more →]

Position: 10.9N 83.8W [10:00PM CDT 0300UTC].
Movement: West [270°] near 16 mph [26 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph [ 85 kph].
Wind Gusts: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 115 miles [185 km].
Minimum central pressure: 997 mb ↓.

Currently about 75 miles [ 120 km] South of Bluefields, Nicaragua.

The storm made landfall near the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for San Andres, Colombia; Limon, Costa Rica northward to Sandy Bay Sirpi, Nicaragua; Cabo Blanco, Costa Rica northward to the border of Nicaragua and Honduras.

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.]

La fête du
Canada
Day

Thank you for not yet building a fence along your southern or western border, and for brewing great beer.

This is the 155th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution Act of 1867.

Schedule of Ottawa events and some background.

Position: 11.8N 77.7W [10:00PM CDT 0300UTC].
Movement: West [270°] near 21 mph [33 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 80 miles [130 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1005 mb.

Currently about 410 miles [ 665 km] East of Bluefields, Nicaragua.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for San Andres, Colombia; Limon, Costa Rica northward to Sandy Bay Sirpi, Nicaragua

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua from the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border northward to Laguna de Perlas.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Cabo Blanco, Costa Rica northward to Puerto Sandino, Nicaragua

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: 12.0N 70.6W [10:00PM CDT 0300UTC].
Movement: West [275°] near 21 mph [33 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 80 miles [130 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1009 mb.

Currently about 65 miles [ 105 km] East-Southeast of the northern tip of the Guajira Peninsula, Colombia.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the coast of Venezuela from the Peninsula de Paraguana westward to the Colombia/Venezuela border including the Gulf of Venezuela; the coast of Colombia from the Colombia/Venezuela border westward to Santa Marta

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua from the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border northward to Laguna de Perlas.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Nicaragua from North of Laguna de Perlas to Sandy Bay Sirpi; the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica from Limon northward to the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border

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: 10.9N 62.8W [10:00PM CDT 0300UTC].
Movement: West-Northwest [285°] near 26 mph [43 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: 1011 mb ↑.

Currently about 430 miles [ 690 km] East-Southeast of Curacao.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Trinidad and Tobago; Grenada and its dependencies; Islas de Margarita, Coche, and Cubagua; Bonaire; Curacao; Aruba; the coast of Venezuela from the Peninsula de Paraguana westward to the Colombia/Venezuela border including the Gulf of Venezuela; the coast of Colombia from the Colombia/Venezuela border westward to Santa Marta.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the coast Venezuela from Pedernales to Cumana.

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: 08.7N 52.8W [10:00PM CDT 0300UTC].
Movement: West [275°] near 17 mph [28 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: 1009 mb.

Currently about 590 miles [ 950 km] East of Trinidad.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Trinidad and Tobago; Grenada and its dependencies.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Bonaire; and the coast Venezuela from Pedernales to Cumana, including Islas de Margarita, Coche, and Cubagua.

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.]

Today at 4:14AM [CDT] is the Summer Solstice, technically considered the “first day of Summer”, but the mid Summer by much of Europe.

Many Wiccans celebrate the day as Litha, while computer programmers honor their predecessors, the druids, who built the first solid-state computing devices, the megaliths, like Stonehenge.

The Slavs celebrate St. John’s Night, Иван Купала [Ivan Kupala], the battle between the White god [Белобог – Belobog] and the Black god [Чёрнобог – Chyornobog] for control of the Sun. The Black god always wins and the night begins to expand.

The sound track to the battle is Иванова Ночь на Лысой Горе [Night on Bald Mountain ] by Модест Петрович Мусоргский [Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky], which everyone should play very loudly.

Juneteenth

… On the morning of Monday, June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived on the island of Galveston, Texas, to take command of the more than 2,000 federal troops recently landed in the department of Texas to enforce the emancipation of its slaves and oversee a peaceful transition of power, additionally nullifying all laws passed within Texas during the war by Confederate lawmakers. The Texas Historical Commission and Galveston Historical Foundation report that Granger’s men marched throughout Galveston reading General Order No. 3 first at Union Army Headquarters at the Osterman Building (formerly at the intersection of Strand Street and 22nd Street, since demolished), in the Strand Historic District. Next they marched to the 1861 Customs House and Courthouse before finally marching to the Negro Church on Broadway, since renamed Reedy Chapel-AME Church. The order informed all Texans that, in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves were free:

The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.

Some people are attempting to make this something that it isn’t. Having Juneteenth as a Federal holiday has no impact on any other Federal holiday. Some people seem to believe if something new is created that something old is destroyed. They assume that life is a zero sum game. They are ignorant and pathetic, but there are a lot of them so they are dangerous.

According to the James Joyce Center

Bloomsday is a celebration that takes place both in Dublin and around the world. It celebrates Thursday 16 June 1904, which is the day depicted in James Joyce’s novel Ulysses. The day is named after Leopold Bloom, the central character in Ulysses. The novel follows the life and thoughts of Leopold Bloom and a host of other characters – real and fictional – from 8am on 16 June 1904 through to the early hours of the following morning.

Why not?

John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou in the meadow which is called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June, 1215, signed the Great Charter in the presence of assorted heavily armed peers of the realm, who assured him it was the right thing to do.

The British Library has pictures of the Magna Carta available, but they are now requiring registration. Wikipedia has a nice discussion of the document.

The Magna Carta of 1297 is permanently residing in the US National Archives.

The Avalon Project has a translation of the 1215 version with an index and definitions.

John abided by the charter for several months, before he returned to business as normal, but the principle was established – no one is above the law.