And if you have any doubt that the Sunday fun day debate won’t be nasty, here is the YouTube sorry video Trump released in which he speaks about Bill Clinton’s past with women and Hillary Clinton ‘shaming’ them.
WE ALL MAY NEED TO TAKE A STEP BACK.. Everyone. Weather forecasters.. News media folks.. Bloggers and Tweets and even the social justice warriors among us. The whole lot.
Last night a mini-controversy erupted when the Drudge Report’s Matt Drudge tweeted a demand to know where the 165winds were.. Drudge suggested that the predictions of doom, gloom, and death, were all being done to further the cause of climate change carbon taxes.. POP SCI and other sites hit back, saying not to trust Drudge for weather info…
I suppose you can trust the National Hurricane Center (which normally flubs the number of named storms predictions yearly) .. Or maybe we can trust NOAA… The Weather Channel. Take your pick.. But in reality, I have noticed one thing lately about weather forecasting: It is getting over the top. In an aim to be sexy and seductive, weather prognosticators have abandoned the calm method of prediction in favor or a dire warning of death constantly..
Each snowstorm will kill you. Every cold wave will freeze you. Every rain storm will flood you. And now every hurricane will kill your children.
This is not an argument that people in the affected storm path should stay. Look at Katrina. Ivan. Sandy. Don’t stay. If the storm is going to hit you, don’t stay. If you were be potentially slapped with 165 mile per hour winds, get out. But the last thing we need are weather forecasters telling us all the ways we can die and perish from the planet.
Calm. Cool. Collective. we lost that ability.
Instead we are left with weather forecasters acting more like the priest from POLTERGEIST warning a family of death.
When Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, we were left to watch images of destruction AFTER from TV news ..
This year, as Matthew is poised to cause a disaster for millions of people, I am watching people on Periscope evacuate, get gas, talk about food shortages, or show live images of beaches..
It is said too often, but worth saying AGAIN.. Technology has changed everything, and live video on various social media platforms have changed it even more over the past year..
Who needs media when you get it right from sources… right from the ground up ..
Amazing times we live in. Sadly deadly as well.. Hurricane Matthew is awful. And when you live through history, typically it’s not happy,
The lastest rash of spaghetti plots for where Hurricane Matthew may go… before it gets into ocean waters where it will decide if it swings back again, it is first going to make landfall on Florida and be enormous and deadly in scope..
We can only collectively hope and pray it doesn’t come back for round two..
Very stark warnings are beginning to be given to Florida residents who didn’t evacuate … This is a dangerous situation and it will compare to exceed the damage from Hurricane Andrew ..
Along with the statement posted above from my favorite forecaster the Weatherboy Weather, this posted last night contains exceptionally important information:
CATASTROPHE UNFOLDING IN BAHAMAS, FLORIDA
**EFFORTS TO PROTECT LIFE & PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO IMMEDIATE COMPLETION AND PEOPLE IN EVACUATION AREAS SHOULD GET TO PLACES OF SAFE SHELTER AS QUICKLY AND AS SAFELY AS POSSIBLE. YOUR LIFE IS IN EXTREME DANGER IN HURRICANE WARNING AREAS!!!!**
-HURRICANE WARNINGS EXPANDED
-NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WARNS SOME PARTS OF FLORIDA MAY BE UNINHABITABLE FOR “WEEKS OR MONTHS”
Major Hurricane Matthew is gaining strength now and its eye is visible on satellite photography once again. It will travel over Andros and New Providence Island early tomorrow, with sustained winds of Category 4 hurricane strength and gusts to Category 5 hurricane strength.
The storm will then head for the east coast of Florida and at this time, we believe landfall will occur near the Florida Space Coast sometime on Friday morning. Large intense hurricanes may wobble a bit and landfall further north/south is possible; it is also possible the eye may not entirely come on shore. These slight shifts of a few miles could mean the difference between a community being destroyed or a community being saved.
A HURRICANE WARNING has been issued north of the Flagler/Volusia county line to Fernandina Beach, Florida.
A HURRICANE WATCH has been issued north of Savannah River to Edisto Beach, South Carolina.
SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:
A HURRICANE WARNING is in effect for… * Southeastern Bahamas, including the Inaguas, Mayaguana, Acklins, Crooked Island, Long Cay, and Ragged Island * Central Bahamas, including Long Island, Exuma, Rum Cay, San Salvador, and Cat Island * Northwestern Bahamas, including the Abacos, Andros Island, Berry Islands, Bimini, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama Island, and New Providence * North of Golden Beach to Fernandina Beach * Lake Okeechobee
A HURRICANE WATCH is in effect for… * North of Fernandina Beach to Edisto Beach
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING is in effect for… * Chokoloskee to Golden Beach * Florida Keys from Seven Mile Bridge eastward * Florida Bay
A TROPICAL STORM WATCHis in effect for… * North of Chokoloskee to Suwannee River
A Hurricane Warning means that hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area. A warning is typically issued 36 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds, conditions that make outside preparations difficult or dangerous. Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion.
A Hurricane Watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area. A watch is typically issued 48 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds, conditions that make outside preparations difficult or dangerous.
A Tropical Storm Watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area, generally within 48 hours.
Many life-threatening threats exist in the projected landfall area; the Melbourne, Florida office of the National Weather Service warns of these threats to the Florida central east coast:
>>>>WIND POTENTIAL IMPACTS IN THIS AREA INCLUDE: - STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO STURDY BUILDINGS, SOME WITH COMPLETE ROOF AND WALL FAILURES. COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF MOBILE HOMES. DAMAGE GREATLY ACCENTUATED BY LARGE AIRBORNE PROJECTILES. LOCATIONS MAY BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS OR MONTHS. - NUMEROUS LARGE TREES SNAPPED OR UPROOTED ALONG WITH FENCES AND ROADWAY SIGNS BLOWN OVER. - MANY ROADS IMPASSABLE FROM LARGE DEBRIS, AND MORE WITHIN URBAN OR HEAVILY WOODED PLACES. MANY BRIDGES, CAUSEWAYS, AND ACCESS ROUTES IMPASSABLE. - WIDESPREAD POWER AND COMMUNICATIONS OUTAGES.
>>>>>SURGE: IMPACTS IN THIS AREA INCLUDE: - LARGE AREAS OF DEEP INUNDATION WITH STORM SURGE FLOODING ACCENTUATED BY BATTERING WAVES. STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO BUILDINGS, WITH SEVERAL WASHING AWAY. DAMAGE COMPOUNDED BY FLOATING DEBRIS. LOCATIONS MAY BE UNINHABITABLE FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD. - LARGE SECTIONS OF NEAR-SHORE ESCAPE ROUTES AND SECONDARY ROADS MAY BE WASHED OUT OR SEVERELY FLOODED. FLOOD CONTROL SYSTEMS AND BARRIERS MAY BECOME STRESSED. - SEVERE BEACH EROSION WITH SIGNIFICANT DUNE LOSS. - MAJOR DAMAGE TO MARINAS, DOCKS, BOARDWALKS, PIERS, AND OTHER COASTAL STRUCTURES. MANY SMALL CRAFT BROKEN AWAY FROM MOORINGS, ESPECIALLY IN UNPROTECTED ANCHORAGES WITH SOME LIFTED ONSHORE AND STRANDED. SIGNIFICANT WIND PILING AND SURGING OF WATER WITHIN THE INTRACOASTAL WATERWAYS, LAGOONS, AND INLETS IS ANTICIPATED..
>>>>>FLOODING RAIN: POTENTIAL IMPACTS INCLUDE: - MODERATE RAINFALL FLOODING MAY PROMPT SEVERAL EVACUATIONS AND RESCUES. - RIVERS AND TRIBUTARIES MAY QUICKLY BECOME SWOLLEN WITH SWIFT CURRENTS AND OVERSPILL THEIR BANKS IN A FEW PLACES, ESPECIALLY IN USUALLY VULNERABLE SPOTS. SMALL STREAMS, CREEKS, CANALS, AND DITCHES WILL OVERFLOW. - FLOOD WATERS CAN ENTER SOME STRUCTURES OR WEAKEN FOUNDATIONS. SEVERAL PLACES MAY EXPERIENCE EXPANDED AREAS OF RAPID INUNDATION AT UNDERPASSES, LOW-LYING SPOTS, AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. SOME STREETS AND PARKING LOTS TAKE ON MOVING WATER AS STORM DRAINS AND RETENTION PONDS OVERFLOW. DRIVING CONDITIONS WILL BECOME HAZARDOUS WITH SOME ROAD AND BRIDGE CLOSURES.
>>>>>TORNADOES: POTENTIAL IMPACTS INCLUDE: - THE OCCURRENCE OF ISOLATED TO SCATTERED TORNADOES CAN HINDER THE EXECUTION OF EMERGENCY PLANS DURING TROPICAL EVENTS. - SEVERAL PLACES MAY EXPERIENCE TORNADO DAMAGE WITH A FEW LOCATIONS SEEING CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE, POWER LOSS, AND COMMUNICATIONS FAILURES. -LOCATIONS COULD REALIZE ROOFS TORN OFF FRAME HOUSES, MOBILE HOMES DEMOLISHED, BOXCARS OVERTURNED, LARGE TREES SNAPPED OR UPROOTED, VEHICLES TUMBLED, AND SMALL BOATS TOSSED ABOUT. DANGEROUS PROJECTILES CAN ADD TO THE TOLL.
Please take these threats very seriously in the Hurricane Warning area; assume the worst is coming and hope for the best.
STAY INFORMED. GET PREPARED. ACT SMART. BE SAFE!
This map, generated by the National Weather Service this evening, shows expected maximum wind gusts across central Florida. Hurricane-force wind gusts are expected to Orlando while gusts over 130mph are expected from Daytona Beach south to Melbourne, include NASA’s Kennedy Space Center complex.
I this this article with great interest about potential questionable hackings (maybe?) of the emergency broadcast system .. it supposedly happened multiple times in NewYork and NewJersey over the past month..
This is an image from satellite of Hurricane Matthew showing an infared view.. You do not have to look close to see the now imfamous skull shape that the Internet has been buzzing about for the past 24 hours..
Even Snopes has a page already (http://ift.tt/2dqXDUv).. And yes, the image is true to form. There was a brief moment in which a skull-looking snap was visible.. with a frightening eye looking towards the West.. Which could be the East Coast..
The damage in Haiti and Cuba and the Bahamas will be large in its extent.. and most likley the East Coast as well…
This is an AP dispatch from yesterday … dateline McKeesport Pennsylvania. Small town and rural America is being ravaged by heroin.. Pennsylvania is one of the hardest hit states.. (My local area, well East of McKeesport, is exceptionally awful)… The AP news alert for your reading:
MCKEESPORT, Pa. — Two adults have been found dead of suspected drug overdoses after their 7-year-old daughter told school officials in Pennsylvania she couldn’t wake them up.
The Allegheny County medical examiner says the bodies of 26-year-old Christopher Dilly and 25-year-old Jessica Lally were found Monday evening in their McKeesport apartment.
Authorities say a 9-month-old girl, 3-year-old boy and 5-year-old boy who were inside the home were taken to a hospital to be evaluated.
It struck Haiti as a Cat 4… it was briefly a category 5.. there is a chance that when it dances with the East Coast of the United States it will still be a strong 3 .. I fear the ocean waters are warm enough that–if the eyewall stays off shore–it could even tick back to a category 4 or stronger..
From the AP: South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said state officials would reverse lanes on major evacuation routes in South Carolina. It would be the first major evacuation since Hurricane Floyd in 1999, when the governor at the time didn’t reverse the lanes and Interstate 26 became a parking lot. A typically two-hour drive from Charleston to Columbia turned into a 24-hour nightmare…
Reuters was unable to determine what data Yahoo may have handed over, if any, and if intelligence officials had approached other email providers besides Yahoo with this kind of request. According to two of the former employees, Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer’s decision to obey the directive roiled some senior executives and led to the June 2015 departure of Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos, who now holds the top security job at Facebook Inc .
Mayer bought Tumblr too.. I would suppose messages on Tumblr would eventually be known to be in the same boat?
Forecasters predict a Category 4 hurricane will brush up against the East Coast – including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina – sometime between Thursday evening and Saturday.
Gridlock is massive in South Carolina .. North Carolina tourists have been sent home .. Florida is worried about a direct hit .. And forecasters are warning that their models may not be precise and longer range outlooks could change..
All up on the air. Including a massive and deadline hurricane that undoubtedly just destroyed structures and lives in Haiti and the Bahamas ..
And while I didn’t watch it, the common denominator I’m hearing from friends and pundits was that Kaine seemed edgy and weird and the entire spectacle became unwatchable quickly ..
Cillizza seems to also concur with that assessment ..
Scientists were left puzzled about why the three satellites launched by the European Space Agency have regularly lost their navigation signal when passing over the equator above the Atlantic Ocean.
Now they believe they may have uncovered the underlying cause of the strange loss in the GPS signal that helps control the satellites – thunderstorms high in the ionosphere.
A number of clown related social media posts were displayed this past weekend regarding threats towards school districts in Pennsylvania and throughout the country. Some threats stated that a clown would arrive at the school and “shoot all students and teachers,” while another threat stated they “weren’t clowning around.” Most of the social media posts were attributed to a “clown joke,” possibly linked to numerous clown sightings throughout the nation and the world.
These sightings have not been validated and there are no known threats to schools in Pennsylvania. Residents are encouraged to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to their closest police department. Over the last few months, “creepy clowns” have been reported throughout the United States and the world. The media has reported incidents where clowns have stood on the street not moving or speaking, to incidents where creepy clowns attempted to lure children into wooded areas. These sightings have occurred in Wisconsin, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Tennessee, Missouri, Colorado, Oregon, and Texas.
They go on to give information on how to contact the police should clowns attack..
This is a monster .. It struck Haiti dead on.. The disaster is slowly churning with 145 mile per hour winds.. The east coast of the United States could be in the crosshairs..
May god bless those already dealing with hurricane Matthew and those will have yet to experience him..
The name could be retired of the storm continues at this pace ..
37 percent said the harsh language is coming from Trump’s campaign, while 11 percent thought it was coming from Clinton’s.
The poll surveyed 802 registered voters between Sept. 22 and 25 with a 3.5 percentage point margin of error..
It is not a shock poll to me.. I have actually seen friendships changed this year with this election – people who were cordial and friendly have gone into a friendship hibernation. Hopefully after the November election (when presumably SOMEONE wins?) will this all will subside.. and friendships will blossom again. Unless the election itself becomes even more divisive by then. And maybe if a repeat of 2000 happens–My God just imagine that ..
So I am curious.. did you lose friends because of this election..? Did YOU break friendships off?
This is the latest model ensemble for Hurricane Matthew.. the storm is already getting wild .. it is a major threat to life and limb. Haiti may get localized 40 inches of rain, with an average of 15-25.. Other areas in the region are bracing for what could be one of the deadliest storms in history..
And from there? A threat to the United States.. Just as the US is bracing for an election, it may have its attention quickly turned by the force of nature to Matthew.. people should pray to Matthew Mark Luke and John for a reprieve from the hell that this may unleash along the east coast of the United States..
I read with great interest a ROLLING STONE article about All of these clown sightings taking place throughout the United States, especially the Eastern seaboard states… Great interest because for two reasons: 1) I have been blogging about this clown phenomenon for years now, it occurs every autumn and starts in the late days of August. Just as it did this year. And 2) Because it mentioned my home state, and towns near me.. Pretty exciting to see the little city of ‘Pottsville,’ the home of Yuengling brewery..
The article reports,
Pennsylvania, too, is rife with creepy clown reports. In Pottsville, there were reports of two people wearing “clown-like clothes,” driving around in a pickup truck scaring teens and children. In Ebensburg, a woman caught a peeping-Tom clown peering through her window. Most recently, York College sent a safety alert out to the campus – a reaction deemed necessary after receiving eight different clown reports since September 24th. More sightings have been reported in Virginia, Ohio, Wisconsin and, most recently, New York State.
I was at a party this weekend.. The small town clown phenom was the talk of the event! People claiming they saw clowns outside their windows…in parks…in parking lots… Under street lights. The trouble in.. There is no proof of these clown sightings. And really, this year, with all the hubbub about small town clowns, very few have been proven. It is mostly an urban legend tale of kids on school buses passing along frightful information of clowns with knives..
Speaking of clowns with knives, there was another story of clowns this weekend.. According to reports in Florida, a young girl claims men in clowns masks and a knife scaled the fence of the house and scared her.. No proof of it and no other witnesses as well..
There is a fear deep within out soul of clowns. The makeup and style is similar to that of a dying patient of the plague.. The clown mocks death. There have been countless pop culture references to clowns in horror. The Joker has been one of the most known fictional criminals in all of entertainment history.. And Stephen King’s Pennywise the dancing clown was so frightening that it has had an enduring legacy since the made for TV movie debuted in the early 1990s–so much so that now the film is being remade into a whole new scary clown film!
Clowns abound. But there’s really no proof they even exist.
That is what the ROLLING STONE article sets to show.. There have been no photographs besides a few … And despite police warnings of crackdowns on clowns, only a few have been apprehended and arrested.
A lot of this is cyclical. I recall last year and the year before, clowns showing up on porches and smashing pumpkins around Halloween. I recall bad clowns in France rioting.. And as the STONE article reports, this clown situation has dated back to at least the Reagan era:
Since the 1980s, clowns have made appearances across the country, usually in the weeks and months leading up to Halloween. Coleman’s phantom clown theory is rooted in the “primal dread that so many children experience in their presence.” The first notable instance of a creepy clown is when serial killer John Wayne Gacy was captured in 1979. His alter ego Pogo the Clown frequented children’s parties, so his capture drew a connection between a killer and a clown. Three years later came Poltergeist, in which a sinister clown doll lives underneath the bed. Stephen King doubled down and only increased the public’s fear of clowns – his 1987 novel It, featuring Pennywise the clown, was made into a horrifying film in 1990. (People still love to fear clowns – Poltergeist was rebooted last year, and a remake of It is set to arrive next fall.)
And with that… The clown crisis will continue. I have no doubts that more will be reported before Samhain… And with each passing day, we will be one day closer to the darkness of winter…when the clown makeup comes off.. And the real scary time of year begins.
People who make terror videos .. People who watch terror videos .. People who fake terror videos ..
In war, propaganda seems inevitable .. But it also makes me constantly pause and question the photos, videos, and stories coming from deep in the Middle East.. Forgive me for what may be considered a sin in the pop culture world of online rage 24/7, but when when the Aleppo boy’s image was broadcast around the world, I paused and felt uneasy about it all.. Wondering if some propaganda force behind the scenes is portraying this young boy’s image for their own social control in the Syrian civil war – one that was potentially influenced by the CIA and other worldly groups anyway..
The purpose of such was to see who watched them, we are told. That sound quaint.. Make a fake video of mass genocide, a beheading, or some other horror and see who downloaded and shared..
Isn’t it also a potential victory if Western societies begin to share those same videos, too? Believe them?
Audio from years ago was released this weekend of John Kerry lamenting that he lost the battle for President Obama’s ear and that the United States did not send forces into the Syrian war. Others are grateful he lost.. The ‘red line’ speech the President gave in an address to the nation so many years ago fell flat with critics and even friends.. And a civil war in Syria raged since. It is a very difficult story and one that has about as many facets as can be imagined..
….but could you imagine, during a run up to war, faked videos being used to find the enemy .. And perhaps rattle the friends into action?
The pesticide known as glyphosate in several types of infant oat cereal, including banana strawberry- and banana-flavored varieties. Glyphosate was also detected in “cinnamon spice” instant oatmeal; “maple brown sugar” instant oatmeal and “peach and cream” instant oatmeal products, as well as others..
Keep watching over the next few weeks.. Bayer is making a big big move to try to buy up Monsanto– and then change it’s name.
But shame shame.. we know the name.. the chemicals are all the same.
Secretary of State John Kerry’s frustration with the failure of American diplomacy was on display as he defended US efforts to help end the five-year civil war in Syria during a meeting last week with a group of Syrian civilians, according to an audio recording obtained by CNN.
But Kerry also expressed sympathy for the Syrians’ demands that the United States intervene more forcefully amid Syrian and Russian airstrikes against civilians, telling the group that he “lost the argument” for using military force against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Kerry’s comments came at a meeting that took place at the Dutch Mission to the United Nations on the sidelines the UN General Assembly, where Kerry was going from session to session in a frenzied effort to resuscitate a ceasefire that seemed poised to collapse.
And more..
“I think you’re looking at three people, four people in the administration. I lost the argument. I’ve argued for the use of force. I’m the guy who stood up and announced that we’re going to attack Assad for the use of weapons,” Kerry is heard telling the Syrian attendees, referring to internal deliberations within the administration of President Barack Obama that followed Assad’s use of chemical weapons in 2013. Kerry also faulted Congress for failing to support such a retaliatory strike, saying, “The bottom line is that Congress refused even to vote to allow that.” “We have a Congress that will not authorize our use of force,” he added, explaining that a new military intervention would be difficult to bring about.
