Monthly Archives: September 2007

Red sky in morning….

Posted on September 4, 2007 | Comments Off on Red sky in morning….

…sailor take warning. Had a red sky this morning, which generally signifies a high moisture content in the atmosphere, so it’s a good thing I wasn’t planning to sail today, anyhow. We’ve had a fair amount of rain the past 24 hours, and judging from the projected track of minimal (Cat 1) Hurricane Henriette, now approaching Baja California, it looks like we’re going to be getting more by Wednesday. A moisture tap from Henriette on Monday helped bring us a few downpours.

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Posted in Weather/Climate

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Grunt work

Posted on September 3, 2007 | Comments Off on Grunt work

In the Marines, it’s Military Occupational Speciality 0311. In the Army, it’s MOS 11 Bravo. Doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s still the infantry. And, though the ancient Greeks used men of all ages in the phalanx, theirs was a different kind of war. Nowadays, it is, as W. Thomas Smith Jr. says, young man’s work.

Via OpFor. 

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Posted in Afghanistan, Iraq, The War, Troops

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Celebrate Labor (as you shop)

Posted on September 3, 2007 | Comments Off on Celebrate Labor (as you shop)

evans-labor.jpg

My choice for Labor Day. Older than the information age, certainly, but right on point. From industrialization to information. The statue originally graced the Allegheny Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, PA.

"Built in 1889, it was an island of calm…and the first free library Andrew Carnegie built in the US, close to Slabtown where he worked as a bobbin boy in a textile mill after arriving from Scotland in 1848. Meant to be a ‘working boys’ library, it was the culmination of his dream to honor his mentor Colonel James Anderson, a pioneer iron manufacturer. Pittsburgh, famous as the Steel City, was actually once known as the “Iron City,” due to the industry of Anderson and his fellow ironmongers, but that moniker now exists only as the name of a popular local beer."

Via Simply Jews 

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Posted in Library, Scribbles

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Felix: Not quite a pussycat

Posted on September 3, 2007 | Comments Off on Felix: Not quite a pussycat

But no longer the ferocious Lion it seemed to be just a few hours ago. The Seablogger explains why.

UPDATE: Felix returned to Lion status overnight, but remained compact, and went ashore this (Tuesday) morning in a sparsely populated area of Central America where mountains are expected to tear it apart. More from the Seablogger, who I would thank directly for his good work but leaving comments on his blog doesn’t work for me anymore, so I’ll do it here. Thanks, Alan. 

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In Felix’s Eye

Posted on September 3, 2007 | Comments Off on In Felix’s Eye

InTheEyeofFelix.jpg

 Cool photo of last night’s moon, rising over the eyewall, taken by NOAA Hurricane Hunters flying into the storm to measure it. There is now some discussion that, once Felix is in Campeche Bay, even as a minimal Cat 1, it might be sucked north by low pressure and hit the Texas coast. But the Houston Chronicle’s Eric Berger disagrees. Still worth keeping an eye on, so to speak.

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The Burquini

Posted on September 2, 2007 | Comments Off on The Burquini

A joke too far for the WaPo. Now, if it had been a joke about Christians (particularly right-wing ones), instead of Muslims, well then. No problemo, amigo.

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Posted in Scribbles, The War

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Killer Felix

Posted on September 2, 2007 | Comments Off on Killer Felix

felix_nrlmry20070902_big.jpg

So strong at Category 5, with sustained 165 mph winds and gusts to 200 mph, that a Hurricane Hunter plane sent to investigate it had to retreat. Now expected to hit poor Belize on Tuesday morning. Belize is still trying to forget Dean, i.e. "We’re tired,  many people are broke, and given the scope of the storm there seems no sure safe haven." First, it will brush northeastern Honduras which might slow it down to a Cat 4. By Thursday it could be into Campeche Bay as a greatly diminished Cat 1. No hit on Texas expected. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Centex is expected to get wet tomorrow, but not from Felix. Rather a result of tropical moisture surging in from the western Gulf and a moisture tap from Hurricane Henriette in the eastern Pacific. Both to be set off by a slow-moving closed low. A flood watch is expected.

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Posted in Weather/Climate

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