Problem: Texas wildfires! Is It Serious?: The worst in Texas history. The wildfires, which can now be observed from space, move incredibly fast, as this video from the Texas Park & Wildlife people shows: Have these fires been around for a while? Oh yes, this is wildfire season – it's been going on for months. But thank God for … Read More
Bachmann Channels WorldNetDaily Craziness
A few days ago, I mocked Joseph Farah, editor and owner of World Net Daily, for his ridiculous stance that God is trying to get our attention by sending an earthquake and a tornado. That's right. God, who could, if he wanted, make the clouds form the words "Yo! Listen up!" decided to get our attention by setting off some … Read More
The Saddest Casualty of Irene
The Bartonsville Covered Bridge was a wooden covered bridge in the village of Bartonsville, Vermont. It was built in 1870 by Sanford Granger. The bridge was a lattice truss style with a 151 foot span across the Williams River.
Irene Post-Mortem
The talk this morning seems to be, "Well, it wasn't as bad as predicted for NYC and other areas. So did local officials over react?" Facepalm. First of all, the North Carolina coast saw some heavy damage, and so did Vermont. So if NYC and other areas in between managed to go relatively unscathed, then it was only a matter … Read More
Irene Update
The latest NOAA discussion notes that Hurricane Irene has weakened slightly, which is (quite obviously) good news. However, the important word is "slightly". For the next 12-24 hours, it probably won't change much in strength (either way) which means it will still have maximum winds as high as 105 mph. Nothing to sneeze at. By comparison, the Great New England … Read More
Current Projections Put Irene On A Direct Path to NYC
Direct hit on Sunday, it looks like. It will have weakened some, but sustained winds of 50 mph and more are certainly possible, with gusts as high as 100 mph. Don't expect any flights to/from NYC that day. Then there's the storm search which could bring waters right into the heart of Manhatten. Just saying.
How Animals Reacted To The Earthquake
An interesting press release from the Smithsonian National Zoo on how animals reacted (and foretold) the earthquake. The winning earthquake predictor appears to be the red ruffed lemurs. Great Apes The earthquake hit the Great Ape House and Think Tank Exhibit during afternoon feeding time. About five to ten seconds before the quake, many of the apes, including Kyle (an … Read More
The Right’s Frenzy About Obama And The Earthquake
Steve Benen is right. Can this be any sillier? So, there was an earthquake. The president was made aware of it. There was no serious damage, no casualties, nothing for emergency response teams to do, and nothing for Obama to do. He was kept apprised and went about his afternoon. I don't know why this is supposed to be interesting. … Read More
Weather Wonders
For those keeping score — and I'm sure most aren't – as of May 23, Mother Nature had unleashed a whopping 1,151 twisters in the U.S. That's more than double the 506 that had touched ground by this same time in 2010.
Joplin, MO
Horrifying. 89 dead so far, including a co-worker of mine who lost his mother — apparently a wall collapsed on her as his brother held to protect her. Death toll expected to rise.
Another Japan Earthquake
It just happened within the past few minutes. 7.4 on the Richter scale. Tsunami warnings. Apparently, the same epicenter as the last one. This can't be good, especially for that trouble nuke plant.
TV Recommendation
NOVA tonight… entitled Japan’s Killer Quake. It's only been a few weeks, and yet the events in Japan are already receding into the memory's past for those outside the ravaged country. The NOVA special will help us remember that the whole catastrophe is far from over. From all accounts, it is not disaster porn (although there is, of course, non-gory footage … Read More