The above video explains the damage in neighboring Culpeper, Virginia. The main damage was done near the epicenter in Mineral, Virginia, 35 miles from Culpeper.
Gov. Bob McDonnell and Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell met privately with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for approximately 10 minutes this morning in Hampton in what was described as a “friendly visit” by McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin.
The conversation ranged from Louisa County disaster aid to a park designation for Fort Monroe to the focus of the president’s event — veterans.
McDonnell and the first lady welcomed the Obama’s to Virginia and the governor thanked the president for making the hiring of veterans a priority, according to a brief description of the meeting by Martin.
Still fuming from a denial of federal aid for earthquake-battered Louisa County, Gov. Bob McDonnell has invited President Barack Obama to join him in Louisa next week during Obama’s swing-state bus tour.
McDonnell, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, wrote in a letter Tuesday to Obama that “it would benefit your administration to understand the devastation brought on by this historic earthquake, and to see how the community’s recovery will be hindered as a result of FEMA’s denial of important emergency relief funds.”
The Aug. 23 magnitude-5.8 earthquake that shook much of the East Coast was centered near Mineral.
The state was notified Friday that its request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance for residents of Louisa was turned down. The declaration would have made federal grants and low-interest loans as well as unemployment assistance and crisis counseling available to homeowners, renters and businesses.
An estimated 150 to 175 individuals from 35 to 40 families from the Marumsco and Holly Acres mobile home parks were left homeless when more than 10 inches hit the U.S.1 corridor in Woodbridge last Thursday. The heavy rainfall caused massive damage to the parks; 66 out of 108 units in the Holly Acres park were declared unsafe to inhabit.
Many of the displaced flood victims are staying at the Dale City Recreation Center because they have no where else to go. This arrangement will be very short-lived because the county is shutting the shelter down at 5 p.m. on this coming Friday.
Those still staying at Dale City Recreation Center – between 35 and 40 families – have until Friday at 5 p.m. before they have to leave the Red Cross-administered facility. Many of those families came to speak to the board on Tuesday, relaying their plight.
It was only fitting that President Bush honor those who lost their lives on 9/11/01 fighting the terrorists on Flight 93. his speech was moving and he reflected upon another small town in Pennsylvania that had many heroes–Gettysburg.
Following his dedication, President Clinton spoke. He spoke of the Alamo and how the people knew they were going to die, but stayed the course. Both speeches were extremely moving. Bill Clinton said it was a disgrace that there was still 10 million more dollars to raise and he announced that he and Speaker Boehner had formed a bipartisan partnership to raise the rest of the cash for the memorial. He received a standing ovation.
CLINTON: So, since I am no longer in office, I can do unpopular things.
CLINTON: I told the secretary of the interior, the head of your development program, that I was aghast to find out that we still need to raise $10 million to finish this place. And Speaker Boehner and I have already volunteered to do a bipartisan event in Washington.
Let’s get this show on the road. Let’s roll. Thank you and God bless you.
Vice President Joe Biden was in attendance also and addressed the crowd. He was very gracious to both former presidents and spoke of his own personal losses generally and to reassure.
I am more convinced than ever that this National Memorial to the bravery of the passengers on Flight 93 is the right and proper acknowledgement of people who gave all so that others could live. They fought back.
Is this what singer Skeeter Davis was talking about when she sang “The End of the World” when I was a kid?
I feel like I am watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Buffy has to save the world from the forces of whatever. What is this all about? Who is Mr. Camping other than someone who graduated from college before I was born, thus making him one terribly old dude. What does the rapture mean? What time does it start? What happens if Sunday comes and we are all still here? How does the End of the World group explain that? The New York Times is slipping.
Mr. Camping, whose ministry is fundamentalist Christian but not affiliated with mainstream churches, described Saturday as the beginning of five months of hell on earth: the Rapture. Beginning by time zone until the world is encompassed, the relative few saved by God will ascend to heaven, while seven billion will be left to suffer and die.
As VA Tech continues to heal from the worst massacre in US history, they got dealt another blow, this time by the US Department of Education. According to the Washington Post:
The federal government said Tuesday that it plans to issue the maximum possible fine against Virginia Tech — $55,000 — for violations of a campus safety law in connection with the 2007 shooting rampage that left more than 30 students and teachers dead.
A federal official wrote in a letter to Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger that the penalty for failing to provide timely warnings about the threat to the campus on the day of the massacre should be greater.
Simon Winchester continues his discussion of geological history and assures us that a major earthquake along the west coast is inevitable. In the video, he talks about the San Andreas fault line and the Cascadia subduction zone which runs from California to Vancouver, B.C. The Cascadia fault would be under water which would create tsunamis.
Much area along the west coast is coastal highway with only one way out. The area is flat and if everyone tried to leave at once, the roads would become parking lots.
For every Winchester, there are nay-sayers who say “the big one” will not be like what happened in Japan. Further south, two nuclear plants, San Onofre and Diablo Canyon, both in Southern California, are built along fault lines. Both are built to withstand a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. That would not pass muster in last weeks Japanese quake. Those with California Emergency Management seem to be assured and us that they are ready. That statement seems to ignore the fact that even though something is very improbable, that doesn’t make it impossible.
We can only wait and see if the earthquake cluster theory has validity. There is also some concern on the part of geologists that the super-volcano Yellowstone is due for a dust up. Any eruption of Yellowstone would be disastrous for not just that region but the entire country and Canada because of fallout from the eruption.
Again, now is not the time to cut back on any safety precautions that can help us be ready to survive major attacks from Mother Nature, whether it is hurricane, tornado, and other storm rediction, or earthquake, volcano and tsunami warnings. Our very lives might depend on it. Looking back just 6 years should remind us of the ferocity of Katrina and how there are just some things you can never be totally ready for.
Japan Faces Prospect of Nuclear Catastrophe as Employees Leave Plant
Japan faced the likelihood of a catastrophic nuclear accident Tuesday morning, as an explosion at the most crippled of three reactors at the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Station damaged its crucial steel containment structure, emergency workers were withdrawn from the plant, and much larger emissions of radioactive materials appeared imminent, according to official statements and industry executives informed about the developments.
Prime Minsiter [sic] Naoto Kan of Japan was preparing to make a televised address to the nation at 11 a.m. Tokyo time
What is this going to do to Japan? People within 19 miles are being told to leave. So far the explosions have been hydrogren. This is not the same as a nuclear explosion. The third explosion might be more serious.
What will this do to neighboring countries? What will this do to nuclear power in our country? The anti-nuclear people are already protesting.
Most nuclear power plants are on the east coast, where there is greater population. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Are populations in danger? Should we continue to build nuclear power plants? How involved is the government in our existing plants? Are there tax credits for nuclear power and are there grants available for private industry to build? Perhaps we need to discuss.
Japan’s nuclear crisis seems to be getting worse, as officials say they think partial meltdowns have occurred at two reactors damaged by the earthquake and tsunami, and four others experienced serious cooling problems. They also said they were bracing for a second explosion, similar to the one that happened at the No. 1 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi Saturday when they vented hydrogen from the overheating plant, as they try to release pressure at the second failing reactor. The Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said as many as 160 people may have been exposed to radiation around the plant, and the Japanese news media said three workers at the station were suffering from radiation sickness. Though officials insist that the radiation leaks were small and didn’t pose a major health risk, they did distribute iodine tablets to keep the thyroid gland from being exposed to radiation.
First off, how many countries have been hit with a triple whammy like Japan has? A huge 8.9 earthquake, killer tsunamis, and now potential nuclear disasters are crushing down on Japan. Nations from around the world are speeding towards Japan to offer humanitarian aid, rescue personnel and expertise, food, medical supplies, blankets, technical advice. Japan has not faced anything like this disaster since WWII.
An 8.9 earthquake hit Japan near Tokyo during the night. It was around 2 in the afternoon in Japan when the earthquake hit. The epicenter was right off the coast. Tsunamis have hit Japan. Hawaii and the entire Pacific Basin are under tsunami warning meaning imminent danger. Our entire west coast line, Canada and Alaska are under this warning.
Pictures coming in of the tsunamis already hitting Japan have been in TV all night. This earthquake is the largest in Japan since such data has been recorded.
Smoke is billowing from the fire at Sumner Lake. Sumner Lake is a fairly new community on the site of Selwyn Smith’s farm, nestled in between Point of Woods single family homes, Plantation Lane and upper Westgate. The Manassas News & Messenger reports that as many as 8 houses are on fire. It is a three alarm fire.
Traffic is horrible around Manassas because of rubber neckers and fire and rescue vehicles on the move. We can only hope that there were no injuries. The fact that this fire has involved multiple homes is no surprise. Some of those houses don’t have 15 feet between them. Everyone lives in the shadow of someone else. When houses are that close, you might as well live in a townhouse row. Actually, they are probably safer. There are firewalls.
There is a reason we call wild animals, ‘wild animals.’ Wild animals are unpredictable and capable of causing great injury and even death. People always seem to want to defy the odds by either keeping wild animals as pets or invading the space of wild animals in nature.
Sometimes the animals fight back. There are signs all over Yellowstone National Park warning visitors not to go near the buffalo and other wild animals. (the signs about the grizzlies are particularly stern.) However, I have personally watched far too many people fail to heed the warnings. Why would anyone approach a beast that is just huge? Buffalo make cattle look like wimps. This buffalo showed these people who was the boss, with attitude.
Again, it should be painful to be stupid. We need a break in here from politics. Don’t forget to give to your national parks if you have any spare change. National Parks have been hit hard by this economy and belt-tightening. They also suffered under the Bush Administration.
Remember the dude who was released from Scottish prison back in August of 2009 and sent home to Libya? He wasn’t just your run of the mill thug. Megrahi had received a life sentence for his involvement in the Lockerbie bombing. 189 Americans lost their life on Pan Am Flight 103. 290 lives were lost in all.
The public was told that Megrahi had only weeks to live and he was being released for humanitarian reasons. Americans were outraged at the time, but this guy just seemed to float off the radar. Did I mention that Megrahi is still alive? So much for days, weeks, or months left.
Republican Rep. Joe Barton of Texas has spoken out against President Obama’s agreement with BP CEO and US Chairman and called it a ‘shake down.’ What is this man thinking? He apparently doesn’t feel that corporations have any culpability for their actions. How do those along the Texas gulf feel about this shakedown, especially those who are out of work. How about Florida? Alabama? Mississippi? Louisiana? All those gulf states will have economies wrecked, long term environmental damage, high rate of joblessness, and things we haven’t even thought of for years to come. We cannot continue to have companies come in for profit and leave a wake of destruction for the American people to deal with.
I suppose this guy is Michelle Bachmann’s soul mate. Bachmann stated over the weekend:
“But if I was the head of BP, I would let the signal get out there — ‘We’re not going to be chumps, and we’re not going to be fleeced.’ And they shouldn’t be. They shouldn’t have to be fleeced and make chumps to have to pay for perpetual unemployment and all the rest — they’ve got to be legitimate claims.”
Both apparently have the souls of vampires, feeding on the life-blood of those who make their livings, their homes, their lives along the Gulf Coast of the United States.
Had Rep. Barton apologized for the rude way some of his colleagues behaved towards Tony Hayword, I might not have minded. Some are grand-standing and posing like tough guys. They are an embarrassment.
