From NASA:

If you could slice into a tropical cyclone, it would look something like this. The small red arrows show warm, moist air rising from the ocean’s surface, and forming clouds in bands around the eye. The blue arrows show how cool, dry air sinks in the eye and between the bands of clouds. The large red arrows show the rotation of the rising bands of clouds.


Ewww..that looks fierce.  So bloggers…are we under seige or will Irene zip right up the coast and give us a little rain?

I am hoping for the latter.  Please keep us updated on Irene as well as any aftershocks you feel.

From NTK:  http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

 

114 Thoughts to “Open Thread………………………………………….Friday, August 26”

  1. DB

    Let’s hope. I’m still watching local news and am confused as to how much rain we’re going to get. The colored bands show 2-4 inches, then 4+ inches. So does that mean 2-4 inches and then 4+ inches on top of that?

  2. Wolverine

    Well, Moe, I cannot see how that Qaddafi collection was even regrettable for Condi Rice. Actually, I thought it was kind of humorous and very typical of that nutjob in Tripoli — or wherever he is hiding these days. The story of him slapping his chest like a lovesick puppy when she walked into the room — or, rather, the tent — made me laugh out loud. The guy has always been somewhat of a ham actor, albeit a bloody evil ham actor. I can tell you that such an incident would have caused a laugh riot among the SecState and the embassy staff after the event. As you know, the job of SecState is to meet and deal with all kinds, particularly with the nutjobs the POTUS wants to avoid as much as possible in public. And, man, the stories…..

    But, in any case, Condi Rice was, in my opinion, on a very important mssion: making sure that Qaddafi gave up on his idea of developing a nuclear capability and was truly going to get out of the state-sponsored terrorism business. I think that the quick fall of the regime in Iraq scared the living Hell out of the guy. Not an easy thing to do.

    On the other hand, I agree that including that alleged crying jag in the Cheney book was a lousy thing to do. The guy could simply have stated that Condi admitted that he had been right and she had been wrong on whatever issue was involved. Selling memoirs these days seems to require losing some of the traditional rules of circumspection and gentlemanliness; but maybe that is the fault of the tabloid-prone audiences, not just the writers.

  3. Morris Davis

    Wolverine: “I cannot see how that Qaddafi collection was even regrettable for Condi Rice.”

    I don’t know Wolverine, I suspect if it got out that Sarah Palin had a Wolverine photo collection you’d react differently than finding out that Nancy Pelosi or Barney Frank had one. The object of the infatuation likely has a different reaction to different sources of an infatuation. I suspect there are lots of people Rice would have put ahead of Qaddafi on her list of potential admirers.

  4. VA Beach streaker lets it all hang out on the weather channel. His mother must be proud of him.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaKjl1Mlh3U

  5. Moe gets it. Its the ewwww factor. It is embarrassing as a female.

    And he would have probably typed exactly the same thing if Hillary found out she was Qaddafi’s heart throb.

    I expect Cheney was not being totally truthful about Ms. Rice. She doesn’t seem like the crying and vapors type to me.

  6. Juturna

    I think it’s more than I thought we’d get. Looks like a tiny shift west.

  7. Juturna

    Women should be as embarrassed about shedding tears as men are about angry yelling swearing and fisticuffs. Same emotion released different ways. When will people get that.

  8. Wolverine

    Well, Moe, if Sarah or even Nancy had a collection of Wolverine photos, I would laugh like Hell. What do those gals want with a “Geezer Gallery”?!! But, when you throw Barney in there, well,….er…ummm…uh oh.

    Actually, I would wager that Condi doesn’t really give a fig. Big joke. I think Hillary would have the same response. I don’t think either of those ladies fits into the “ewwww factor.” Reminds me of a gal I know who was working the night shift in a major city and came out of a convencience store to encounter a fellow sitting on the ground by the front door with his package exposed and in self-action (if you get my drift). Her quick verbal response, in essence, was for the guy to zip it up and get a decent hobby. I like unflappable women.

    1. The ladies aren’t the ewwww factor, Qaddafi is ewwww factor. I would bet my next dollar that the thought of him makes both Hillary and Condi gag and retch, like he does most other women.

      As for the Geezer Gallery, you know, you never know. 😉

  9. Should women be embarrassed about swearing and fisticuffs? I am rarely embarrassed about swearing. It is like second nature.

  10. @Juturna, I was counting on not getting a whole lot of storm.

  11. Where is Cargo? Did he lose his power? I heard Richmond is very dark. Over 701,000 homes without electricity in Virginia, more than any other state.

    Does Bear have electricity? He lives above NYC.

  12. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    Starting to hear a little bit of wind now!

  13. DB

    Called my favorite motel keeper whose motel is located on the barrier island of wildwood, nj. YAY! she and her husband evacuated and now in their home in central NJ. Her husband did NOT want to leave the motel their family has owned for 50 years. She insisted.

    1. @Db, where do they live in Central Jersey?

      Glad they did the smart thing. It sounds awful.

      I hope it doesn’t get any worse here.

  14. I found a pitch fork for Wolverine:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/25/giant-rat-at-brooklyns-ma_n_937316.html

    It has a gigantic white rat hooked on to it.

  15. Lafayette

    @Moon-howler
    Quite the find! Can you find a similar picture with a squirrel? They are just rats with bushy tails.

    All is calm over here. How about your way? Time for a field trip.

  16. Big Dog

    Looks like Irene was gentle with the City of Manassas. A much needed
    long soaking rain and little or no damage. We were fortunate – as we
    were with the earthquake.

    Anyone with City of Manassas utilities lose power?
    (Your monthly payment goes to to the “City of Manassas”)

  17. Just sticks in the yard here. Not much rain. Better to err on the side of caution though.

    @ Big Dog

    to Laf,

    You get squirrels that big over there you had better move.

  18. DB

    My cousin lives in West Nyack, NY. The dam near her has opened and her development is rapidly becoming submerged. Seven feet of water currently surrounds her house. They evacuated last night, but her husband went back this afternoon to check on the home and is now stuck in a flooded home.

  19. Morris Davis

    Colin Powell, one of the most respected military and political leaders of our time, fired back at Dick Cheney, a military dodger and one of the most reviled politcal leaders in modern history. He said Cheney’s comments about Rice were condescending. Powell: “It’s not necessary to take these kinds of barbs and then try to pump a book up by saying ‘heads will be exploding.’ I think it’s a bit too far. I think Dick overshot the runway with that kind of comment, if that’s how he plans to sell his book.”

    http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/0811/Powell_Cheney_bio_takes_.html

  20. DB, good luck to them both. Let us know when he is safe.

  21. @Moe

    It was condescending. Good for Colin Powell!!

  22. DB

    @moon He’s safe on higher ground now. Another cousin in the same development said the dam is still open (water authorities had to open it due to pressure) and the water is creeping closer to her home. The river still isnt expected to crest until tomorrow, so it’s looking bad for everyone’s homes there.

  23. Cindy B

    Big Dog, we lost power on our street in Weems area at 3 am – just a few hours – then back on. Thank you, City of Manassas.

  24. Wolverine

    Rats. Actually, Moon, I have an old photo taken right behind my house in an African country which virtually matches that NYC photo. Only differences: the rat is gray; there is no pitchfork, and the man is holding the dead rat by the tail. Oh, and one other thing: the guy took my big rat home to have it for dinner.

  25. Wolverine

    Some extended rain in Sterling Park all evening and most of the night but hardly any wind at all. Just a few smaller tree branches on the ground. We never lost power. That’s a mystery. The gusts of wind were strong enough to tear heavy shingles off a new building under construction at Georgetown University in D.C. but never materialized here.

    I think some kudos are in order. We spent yesterday checking and setting up the household emergency materials. We had the radios constantly tuned to WMAL and WTOP, the laptop in action for visuals, and the NOAA emergency radio activated. (It helps to have lived in Africa for a long while). We were absolutely impressed by the pro-active preparations taken by state and local governments, law enforcement, and fire and rescue from the Carolinas to New England, as well as by readiness measures at the federal level. SecDef Panetta even had 6000 active duty troops on stand-by if needed. Governors and mayors and county executives almost without exception were out there taking charge and overseeing everything, as well as being quick to communicate to citizens through the media, which was also doing a good job of coverage. We were even getting alert and “what to do if…” emails from our BOS supervisor and the chairman of our BOS. Mayor Bloomberg of New York, a guy seldom in my personal approval range, was out there like a Roman general preparing for a seige by the barbarians. Even before the storm hit the coast, we heard that power company trucks were headed this way from inland states.
    It was like a bunch of parts of a larger machine all working simultaneously and at full speed in their separate jurisdictions.

    Because the damage around here was much less than expected, there are now some who are griping about too much hype. Well, really. Not exactly a precise science trying to guess whether a large hurricane will grow stronger or weaker when it closes in on the shoreline. Putting all partisanship aside, this is one citizen who is standing up and applauding POTUS and FEMA and guys named Perdue, McDonnell, O’Malley, Christie, Cuomo, Bloomberg, and many others for good leadership and a job very well done. Sometimes the system just plain works!

  26. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    Moon-howler :
    @Moe
    It was condescending. Good for Colin Powell!!

    OK, but honestly….who cares what Colin Powell thinks of Dick Cheney? Or Vice Versa? Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out…..Dick and Colin!!!! Yes, as a matter of fact, I am 5 years old. 🙂

  27. @Wolverine,

    What a nice tribute to a job well done. I think we all learned from Katrina. Some places got clobbered also but the enemy was Mother Nature, not each other.

    I agree, Woverine.

  28. Second Alamo

    It’s simply amazing how much can be accomplished from a golf course ; )

  29. Lafayette

    Can you see Waltz doing this? Bwahahaha! I don’t think so. This man is going to work for less than a new teacher the last three years of his contract.
    http://news.yahoo.com/school-superintendent-gives-800k-pay-150206667.html

  30. @Lafayette, what an amazing story. Thanks for posting it. Not many would step up to the plate like this guy has.

  31. Steve Thomas

    Lafayette :@Moon-howler Quite the find! Can you find a similar picture with a squirrel? They are just rats with bushy tails.
    All is calm over here. How about your way? Time for a field trip.

    The Eastern Gray Squirrel is my nemisis. These athletic rats raid my fruit trees, my grape vines, and my tomato plants. They have destroyed our bird feeders. They bury acorns all over the place, and I constantly have to pull up oak saplings growing next to the foundation of the house. I used to trap and relocate (at the urging of Mrs. T) them, until I found out it is illegal to release an animal anywhere except on the property on which it was trapped, but it is legal to trap and (humanely) kill. I have therefore begun doing so.

  32. Big Dog

    Current WSJ online headline – “Wall Street almost back up to
    breaking even for 2011”. So, I could have stuffed my savings under a
    mattress for the past eight months and be at the same financial spot today?
    And with a few less grey hairs. (Of course banks, with their tiny interest rates,
    could be another option to park cash and break even).

    Right now I’m a National — a break even season this year would be a positive.

    1. I don’t think it is even close to being at Jan.1 2011 levels. Maybe I missed something.

      Big Dog, why miss the roller coaster ride?

      I just went and looked it up. My mutual fund accounts aren’t back. In fact, they are off by quite a bit. Individual stocks seem to be back. I guess its the mixing it up that isn’t back.

  33. Wolverine

    That law forbidding the release of trapped critters anywhere but on the property where they were trapped is about as asinine as you can get. We’ve got a problem here with skunks digging under stoops of the houses and taking up residence, including the birthing of their young. So, you catch and release in the same neighborhood? How absolutely brilliant. But, it is okay to trap and euthanize those beautiful critters? Once again evidence that the law can be an ass.

  34. Totally agree, Wolverine. Which mental midget thought that one up?

    I have a possom living under my porch, or so my next door neighbors tell me. Oh joy. Do I kill the little bastard? Is that more humane? Do I shoot him or lay out poison? If I shoot him I will probably have the cops at my door. If I poison him he dies a horrible death and meanwhile half the animals in the neighborhood, wild and domestic , eat it and also die horrible deaths.

    If I get this right, I have to trap him and let him lose in the back of the lot so he can walk back up to the front of the yard.

    PWC no longer helps capture wild animals.

    Maybe I should just lay out a bed for the little fellow since VA law makes him a permanent guest.

  35. Pat.Herve

    I could be the mental midget that came up with that one. The reason for the law, is that people trapped the pest, and let them loose in another neighborhood, so that the pest became someone else’s problem. Relocation did not solve the problem.

  36. There is such a thing as releasing a possom or skunk in the woods. If I had a lot of wooded property, I wouldn’t care. A suburban lot, not so good.

    Animals have legs. They could walk to that same neighborhood. What’s wrong with releasing an animal in the battlefield?

    I don’t think that releasing a wild animal is as offensive going off and leaving a domestic animal like a dog or cat. Those animals will really become problems.

    Steve, you can bring squirrels over here if you want. They are pests but I don’t care. I just gave up on setting out bird food. Birds are messy also and get seeds all over everything.

    Also feel free to bring chipmunks here.

  37. Elena

    We in “babysitting” a tiny mouse I saved from the cat, nicknamed Great Mouse Hunter. I am in a quandry now. Where do I release him? For now he is content, in a small amphibian cage with solid walls, a piece of home made chocoate chunk cookie, and a bottle cap with water.

  38. Elena also might take in squirrels and wild rabbits. We can ask her.

    If I say it is ok to release on my property, why would that be against the law?

  39. Wolverine

    Moon, you don’t want those chipmunks. They attract other very hungry visitors known as copperheads. An entree very much of choice if available.

  40. Wolverine

    Will Elena take deer? We’ve got a whole herd out here which is eating Mrs. Wolverine’s flower and shrub garden as fast as she can grow it.

  41. Steve Thomas

    Moon-howler :Elena also might take in squirrels and wild rabbits. We can ask her.
    If I say it is ok to release on my property, why would that be against the law?

    The code does not specify.

    Pat.Herve :I could be the mental midget that came up with that one. The reason for the law, is that people trapped the pest, and let them loose in another neighborhood, so that the pest became someone else’s problem. Relocation did not solve the problem.

    Exactly right. Plus, territorial animals such as squirrels are relocated away from their food stores and face starvation.

    If you like the squirrels, and are willing to harmoniously co-exist with them, good onya. The environmental easement behind casa del Thomas is the squirrel version of Cambodia to my VietNam. They raid my garden and vineyard and then scoot across the border with impunity. But as soon as it cools off, I am going to start thining them out. Why wait till it’s cool? Because you can’t eat them when the weather is warm. Pan-fired Squirrel anyone?

  42. marinm

    @Steve Thomas

    Virginia Brunswick Stew? Or, how about Western PW County Brunswick Stew..

  43. Mom

    Here’s how you deal with pesky squirrels (or rabbits, possum, etc.) without running afoul of silly laws regarding the relocation of trapped critters.

    1 Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
    2 Shoot squirrel with pellet gun (now legal for use in all of the Commonwealth’s backyards).
    3 Wash squirrels well inside and out with warm water.
    4 Cut into serving pieces.
    5 Put squirrel into a kettle, add water to cover 2 inches and add salt, heat to boiling.
    6 Reduce heat, cover tightly and simmer until very tender, 1-2 hours+ depending on age.
    (The meat should be almost ready to fall off the bones.)
    7 Remove squirrel and let drain.
    8 When cooled cut meat from bones.
    9 Mix together vegetables, soup and squirrel meat in a casserole dish.
    10 Mix buttermilk, margine and flour together and pour over top.
    11 Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

  44. Why would any mouse want to leave it it got to eat homemade chocolate chip cookies?

    Mice cannot resist snickers bars. They make wonderful bait.

  45. Elena

    MoM,
    I am going to throw up !

  46. Elena

    Wolverine 🙂

    I just took a beautiful picture of 8 deer in my back yard, two babies and one buck were a part of the group!

  47. Elena

    Steve,
    I can hear you telling this story, very entertaining, thank you!

  48. I don’t think I could kill a squirrel. I can shake things at them.

    The closest I came was when I caught the culprit with my big strawberry in his mouth. I wasn’t too keen on one coming in and sawing off my new petite sunflowers either.

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