Question

Will the hurricane hurt or help the Republicans? (This is interesting. I cut and paste from the www.nola.com page and it changes when they change. How Cool!)

CNN = MONEY

Have you ever watched the scrolls on the bottom of the screen? Oh course you have. They started at 9/11 when the news stations had too much to report. Well I was watching just now the Palin introduction on CNN, and I saw this funny thing. CNN = Money. then it just kept reporting the news. Subliminal? who knows. But funny and worth catching thanks to DVR rewindability and cell phone camera!

Gustav Update

Courtesy of SciGuy, on chron.com. It's cool I have cut and paste this stuff and they update automatically! Don't understand it but it is neat!

Four potential scenarios for the Cat. 4 Gustav

Hurricane Gustav has become a large storm today, reaching category 4 status with 145 mph winds. As the following satellite image shows, Gustav has developed a distinct eye and will soon begin crossing Cuba.

U.S. Navy

At this point I envision at least four possible scenarios, in order of most likely to least likely:

1. Central Louisiana landfall, moves inland: This scenario basically follows the GFDL model and the official track forecast. A major hurricane slams into the Louisiana coast just east of New Iberia. The storm slows as it moves inland and perhaps stalls over northeast Texas. There's lots of rainfall in Louisiana and east Texas, including Houston. The storm hits Lake Charles and Baton Rouge hard but other major population centers are largely spared damaging winds.

HURRICANE GUSTAV Tracking Map, Forecast Historical Map Computer Models Wind Map Satellite Photo Detailed Discussion More on chron.com Hurricane Central Latest Houston weather

2. Central Louisiana landfall, stalls: In such a scenario, similar to the HWRF model, Gustav makes landfall in central Louisiana as a major hurricane and moves inland for a short period of time. In one to three days, however, it moves back offshore and may re-strengthen before ultimately striking Texas. In such a scenario Texas is probably spared catastrophic winds but there is a potential for significant flooding.

3. Eastern Louisiana landfall: Perhaps after taking a northward jog off Cuba, Gustav makes landfall east of Morgan City as a major hurricane. As I have described below such a scenario is potentially catastrophic for the city of New Orleans, which would face a massive storm surge.

4. Upper Texas coast landfall: Before Gustav reaches the central Louisiana coast the storm bumps into a high pressure system, which bends it westward toward Texas. Depending how close Gustav comes to shore, this scenario could bring a major hurricane to Texas.

Gustav Update: Who knows?

Tonight at 10 I hear the official nhc track
 may move to the west as the
other models indicate. Remember, The GFDL model
 is the "leader" of the group

Who the Hell is Sarah Palin?

That's the question of the day? I'm going to just link to articles here.

Bullish on Drilling (WSJ)

Brilliant but risky (CNN)

Ruins the whole Zero Experience argument against Obama

Wowed the Public and Enthused the Right (National Review)

I mean really, on paper, is she not perfect? Mother of 5. Husband is union. baby has Down's and she chose to keep instead of abort. Son going to Iraq. Pretty. Outside the Loop.

If he wanted the female vote, I would have preferred Kay Bailey Hutchison. But the Texas connection would have reminded everyone of the Bush family. So I respect the deferral.

Doesn't matter. I'm not voting for either of them. But it makes the news interesting....

Check it Out

It's forcasted to move West folks. I know I know, these mean nothing 5 days in advance. But this is the first official shift since this morning. Tomorrow will tell. I think NOLA is doing right getting everyone ready for evacuation. This will hit somewhere in between TX and FL 100%.

ches/Warnings and 5-Day Track Forecast Cone

Click image to zoom out – Turn track off

Saffir-Simpson Scale Forecasting Models Eyewall Wind Profiles Glossary/Acronyms Storm Names Breakpoints

Hurricane History Seasons Archive Forecast Accuracy Climatology Most Extreme

About the NHC Mission and Vision Personnel | Visitors NHC Virtual Tour Library Joint Hurr Testbed The NCEP Centers

Contact Us – Help

Tropical Storm GUSTAV

---

Home Public Adv Fcst/Adv Discussion Wind Probs Maps/Charts Archive

Hurricane Wind Speed Probability

50-knot Wind Speed Probability

Trop Storm Wind Speed Probability

Maximum Wind Speed Probability

Warnings and 3-Day Cone

Warnings and 5-Day Cone

Experimental Warnings and Surface Wind

Mariner's 1-2-3 Rule

Wind History

Tropical Storm Force Wind Speed Probabilities - 120 Hours
Select a Future Forecast Time Below:
0 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108 120 hours Loop

Click image to zoom in – GIS Users click here

Latest on Gustav: Uh Oh Some More

This is from the SciGuy, my favorite Hurricane guy. I can't watch local news because they will all make it about how BAD IT CAN BE FOR YOU! Our highway signs tonight said "Fill your gastanks, it's Hurricane Season". Anyway, the reason why this is the one to watch is what I have mentioned, it is very similar to the three 2005 Hurricanes mentioned below. I am not worried for here at all, Hurricanes always shift right or east eventually. I hope New Orleans doesn't get the brunt of this one......"Here's a map showing the tracks of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma during the remarkable 2005 hurricane season, all of which were category 5 storms prior to making landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast:

NOAA

The common denominator is easy to spot -- the storms all quickly went from minor to major hurricanes (bright red to dark red, above) while traversing the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. Why did this happen? Is it because the seas there were particularly warm in the year 2005? Here's a map of sea temperatures from August 24, 2005, just before Katrina passed through:

Anyway, if you want to become a hurricane know-it-all I recommend you follow SciGuy. He goes on to talk about the eddies as well. This can hit middle Texas to East of Florida Panhandle, really. we don't know. It could intensify to 5 or stay at 3. Or break up to be honest. Why do you think all the professional trackings offer pretty much everything?

This will be interesting to watch. I just read our local station has projected it east of Galveston Labor Day weekend. Way to project the panic!

NOAA/AOML

Gustav: This is One Serious Hurricane

Gustav is one to watch. We'll know a lot more Wednesday morning. Here's a quote from the SciGuy:

"That is, where have storms that formed in the northern Caribbean during August typically wound up?

I'm going to approach the question from a couple of ways, but the bottom line is that -- historically -- Texas is generally the likeliest target for such storms at this time. Mexico and Louisiana are the second likeliest areas to be struck by August storms located near Gustav."

That was earlier today. It has slowed down after hitting Haiti but will gain speed in the warm waters between the Yucatan and Cuba. This one is all over the map, folks. That is why it is called the "cone of uncertainty". Basically anywhere from Mexico to Florida. Cat 4-5 is not out of the question.

What does that mean for me? Get to see how my house bunkers down. Bring it on! Unfortunately if it hits Texas it may be on the holiday, so no days off of work. Oh well.

Yay! We have Gustav!

What's up with all the weird names? Do we have no American names anymore? First Edouardo now Gustav.

Anyway, we'll know more in a couple of days but it is definitely going into the Gulf, it is now projected to hit the Florida Panhandle. They don't need it, but Texas could use the rain....

Because People Passing Out on Stage is Funny

Some 90's band, Jodeci or something. High on crack. Crack is whack! Seriously , the way no one responded like "woops" means this thing happens all the time.




more animals

Sunday Night: Red Dawn

Red Dawn in HiDef on MGM! What a great movie. We all wanted to secretly go to war with Russia, right? It may happen soon enough with the Georgia thing going on

Olympics Over and Other Thoughts

Here is a pretty good run down of the best and worst of the Olympics.

I had friends over last night. My house is officially blessed I suppose.

I made a new CD. Best of 2008 pt 2, or otherwise known as what I'm listening to non-stop.

Airborne Toxic Event: Sometime Around Midnight
Beck - Gamma Ray
Black Kids: I'm not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You
The Walkmen: Four Provinces
Britney Spears: Piece of Me (Boz O Lo Remix)
Low vs Diamond: Heart Attack
Cold War Kids: Something is Not Right with Me
David Archuleta: Crush
Lil Wayne: A Milli
Pink: So What
Okkervil River: Lost Coastlines
The Ting Tings: That's not my Name
Does it Offend You, Yeah: We are Rockstars
Kings of Leon: Sex on Fire
T.I.: Like I Do
Shiny Toy Guns: Ricochet

Haha: Tiki Barber Drops the C Word

Don't know if this will go MSM, but it's on all the blogs today. Tiki's partner sort of mocked him for not having a super bowl ring, and he got back at her by saying "Total Medal Count" but not that C word, the C word without the O. Really, right at :30. After that, everyone is so uneasy. It's quite humorous, and offensive, all the same.

From what I read, Tiki is quite the ass. But look at the body language, they clearly hate each other. And Brian Williams trying to save the day by saying "Count" all over. ha!

Leda Smith's Got a Gun

This is a great story about how you deal with intruders. However if it is at night I will shoot first and ask questions later (cuz you can do that in Texas. as long as they are in the house)

"85-year-old Leda Smith of Point Marion, PA is not about to let some punk ass bitch with her home! On Sunday afternoon, Leda was chilling in her home, probably smoking a bong and listening to Wu Tang, when she heard some bitch breaking into her house. Leda said her neighbor's home was recently robbed, so she had been keeping a .22-caliber revolver near her bed.
She went on to say, "I just walked right on past him to the bedroom and got my gun. I said 'What are you doing in my house?' He just kept saying he didn't do it." Leda then made the 17-year-old robber call the police while she kept the gun pointed at him. She ordered him to hand her the phone so that she could report his ass. With the 911 operator on the line, she instructed him to lie face down on the floor with his legs spread. She continued to the point the gun at him. This memaw doesn't eff around. I guess watching all those episodes of "Barney Miller" really paid off.
The 17-year-old was charged with attempted burglary and related offenses in juvenile court."

BTW, I post interesting stories that I like. They can be happy, sad or cruel. This is an anonymous blog. Please don't take anything personally. I would never use this blog to vent against family or friends. Every thing here is here because it is interesting. The only thing personal I said was "thanks for the birthday wishes" and "I love you". So , just an anonymous blog here. folks.


I have no sublimental motives. OK?

I can't wait to hear the 911 tape of this call!

A New Twist on the Nigerian Letter Scam

I have to give credit to this one. I feel like responding just to see what I get back and mess with them. This time they actually are writing as the persona of the US Secretary of State. He wants to give me $30 million dollars! Awesome! I mean really they send this to millions accounts a day. It only takes one response to bleed your account dry....

"

Good day to you, I am Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Secretary of the United  States National Treasury.  President George W. Bush nominated me to be the  74th Secretary of the Treasury on June 19, 2006. The United States Senate unanimously confirmed me to the position on June 28,2006 and I was sworn into office on July 10, 2006 by Supreme Court
Chief Justice John Roberts. As Treasury Secretary, I am the President'sleading policy advisor on a broad range of domestic and international economic issues.

Before coming to Treasury, I was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs. I joined Goldman Sachs in 1974 in the Chicago Office and became a partner in 1982. From 1983 until 1988, I headed up Investment Banking Services for the Midwest Region and became Managing Partner of the Chicago Office in 1988. In 1990, I was named Co-head of
the firm's investment Banking Division, and in 1994 I rose to the position of President and Chief Operating Officer. In 1998, I was named Co-Senior partner, and with the firm's public offering in 1999, became Chairman and CEO.

Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, I was a member of the White House Domestic Council, serving as staff Assistant to the President from 1972 to 1973,and as staff Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon  from 1970 to 1972 I graduated from Dartmouth in 1968, where I was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and All Ivy, All East, and honorable mention All American for football. I received an M.B.A. from Harvard in 1970.
I and my wife, Wendy, have two  children, Amanda and Merritt.

The United Nations have given me due Instructions,alongside with the World Bank to wire a sum of $30m US Dollars Only into your Bank Account in a Legal way. that is why I have contacted you, as the United States Department of Justice, in The Person of the Attorney General Peter will get some documents for you so that this Transaction can be completed without delay the following documents needed are as follows

1: United Nations Stop Order Document
2: World Bank Clearance Certificate
3: Proof of Ownership Certificate.

These four documents are needed before I can proceed with the transfer into your bank account: in the meantime; I want you to Re-Confirm the following details to me for your Case File Processing.

Legal First and Last Name:
Complete Residential Address & Age
Direct Telephone No & Fax
Legal Occupation and Position
Address of Occupation

Please get back to me as soon as possible,You can reach me back via my Personal Email and Note that you can reach me faster via my personal email/Direct Telephone Conversation.

Thanks and God Bless you.

Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
Executive Secretary United States Treasury Department
Main Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220

You may send U.S. mail to
US Treasury Department.
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20220
Office Fax: (202) 622-6415General Tel#:(202) 622-2000
Personal E-mail: henrypaulsonjr3@gmail.com"

Song of the Year: Airborne Toxic Event "Sometime Around Midnight"; Low vs Diamond "Heart Attack" a close second...

You remember how I said I like to listen to songs on XM on the way to work, and sometimes I catch something so awesome and epic I giggle with glee? Well, this is it. This is the song of the year folks. Don't worry, it will not get radio play. It just builds and builds and builds. This is for the headphones. The head bopping. But, if you don't like Intervention you probably won't like this.

I can understand if you don't like it. But I fell in love from the first guitar pick. wow. Give it a try (btw the quality of this is prob 128 Kbps, which isn't great): (BTW it's only 30 second! but if you go to IMEEM you can hear it all)



BTW, I promised you this song in full version when it got posted. If you want to understand quality difference, this one is probably 320 Kbps. You can hear it. And it is definitely in the top 10 of the year: (SAME IT IS ONLY 30 Seconds but you can hear it on imeem or find on hype machine)

Olympic Moments: Nike with The Killers "All the Things That I have Done"

They are hard to catch because they are usually taped. Phelps is the easy one since all his were in prime time. I'm missing all the Track and Field and just getting the highlights. I'm watch most all the soccer games. Beach Volleyball Finals is Thursday morning, the same time as Final Women's Soccer so I will be flipping. Men's Soccer Final is seriously at midnight or something. Forget that.

Favorite commercial, Nike with The Killers "All the Things That I have Done":

Just When I Thought I had nothing, a woman named Dolores Aguilar Passes

Thanks to Dlisted, here's an obit that's supposedly real:

"This touching and eloquent obit showed up in the Times-Herald Napa/Sonoma paper. It's already been removed from the papers website, but I'm going to choose to believe that this is a real obit. It's just too amazing to be fake.

I'm sure that when I'm finally strapped into the jet plane to hell, my family will just copy and paste this shit as my obit.

Dolores Aguilar, born in 1929 in New Mexico, left us on August 7, 2008. She will be met in the afterlife by her husband, Raymond, her son, Paul Jr., and daughter, Ruby.

She is survived by her daughters Marietta, Mitzi, Stella, Beatrice, Virginia and Ramona, and son Billy; grandchildren, Donnelle, Joe, Mitzie, Maria, Mario, Marty, Tynette, Tania, Leta, Alexandria, Tommy, Billy, Mathew, Raymond, Kenny, Javier, Lisa, Ashlie and Michael; great-grandchildren, Brendan, Joseph, Karissa, Jacob, Delaney, Shawn, Cienna, Bailey, Christian, Andre Jr., Andrea, Keith, Saeed, Nujaymah, Salma, Merissa, Emily, Jayci, Isabella, Samantha and Emily. I apologize if I missed anyone.

Dolores had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed and there will be no lamenting over her passing.

Her family will remember Dolores and amongst ourselves we will remember her in our own way, which were mostly sad and troubling times throughout the years. We may have some fond memories of her and perhaps we will think of those times too. But I truly believe at the end of the day ALL of us will really only miss what we never had, a good and kind mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I hope she is finally at peace with herself. As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the beginning of a time of healing and learning to be a family again.

There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come together in the end to see to it that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren can say their goodbyes. So I say here for all of us, GOOD BYE, MOM."

So there you are.

On a happy note, US Women's Soccer made it to the finals. They beat Japan 4-2. It was a blowout. I managed to get through he whole day without seeing the score! Thursday's gold medal game will be on USA, so I can watch in at work on USA. The other games have been on MSNBC, which for some reason I don't get at work.

What me? Yes lucky me I have a tv in my office. And two managers who are European and totally get soccer, which means cool that I can watch soccer at work.

Sunday Night: whatevs

don't have anything substantial. Managed to get through Friday without hearing the results of Women's Soccer (olympics), hope to do the same tomorrow. Got it DVR'd folks.

And because, you can never get enough of Dr Horrible

Cat likes Music

What can I say? she likes my music. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes.

News out of LA, Not Shocking

more cat pictures

From the city that makes it illegal to build fast food restaurants because its citizens are too fat, aka ignorant, to make healthy food choices, we now bring you this. Home Depot's et al must provide shelter to the "day laborers" gathered in their parking lot:

"Major new home improvement stores opening in the city of Los Angeles may have to build shelters for day laborers under a City Council ordinance approved Wednesday.

Under the ordinance, proposed by Councilmembers Bernard Parks and Ed Reyes and passed unanimously, all proposed home improvement stores of more than 100,000 square feet would have to obtain a conditional use permit from the city. Most Home Depot, Lowe's and other big box home improvement stores would meet this threshold.

In order to obtain the permit, the developers of the stores would have to present plans to address the issue of day laborers congregating on the property and waiting to be picked up for jobs. These plans could include building shelters for day laborers that include bathroom facilities, though the ordinance does not specifically mandate that such shelters be built."

What's next? look out, Houston. Now the Home Depot shopper will be forced to provide a job to said day laborer or be arrested for discrimination, or something like that.

Friday Night: 080808 Let the Games Begin!

Had our safety meeting today. We do it monthly and it is always followed by Birthday cake for the lucky one of the month. Today = Me! We had Tres Leches from Americas / Churrasco's. It was sooooooooooo gooooooooooooood. (the birthday person gets their choice, so on multiple b-day's we have had up to three cakes! Like The Office!)

It's been a long time since I hear a song on the drive in to work (almost always XM Ethel) and heard a new one that just caught on: Low Vs. Diamond "Heart Attack". Never heard of them. It's not on Imeem yet (an approved website, by the way of the artists and labels). I'll upload when I find it.

The pics of tonight's Olympics Openings are beautiful. Ralph Lauren stock went up today 4% after CNBC reported they outfited the USA team in the opening ceremony. good looking outfits (slide show linked here)!

more cat pictures

Awwwww: All Dogs go To Heaven

Got this story via bestweekever via urlesque, whom I have never heard of. Aww, post officers can be awesom.

The US Women's already lost their first soccer game today against Norway. If we win out the group we can maybe face them again in a medal game.


Awww!


more cat pictures

Let the Disgrace Begin: China Olympic Treatment, who needs Human Rights when you can arrest and censure?

Richard Justice, a respected Chronicle sportswriter, offers this "disgrace" assessment of the issue.

Sally Jenkins, and equally respected USA Today writer, writes a similar article, "Speak Up and get Shut Down".

I know what I think about China. They should have never gotten the Olympics. When our own US State Department is officially warning them that they will have zero privacy in their hotel rooms and elsewhere, it is just stating the obvious. I will be curious how the reporting will be. I don't know what to say about Bush going there, because it is the Olympics and the US and USSR played the boycott games in the 80's. hmm, what do you think?

Have you seen the actually funny Paris Hilton retort? Can't believe I said that in the same sentence.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Edouard (What a stupid name)

I don't understand that name. Anyway, SciGuy reports two scenarios, one good for Houston and one bad. Actually, the good is actually bad because we need the rain:

"

Edouard strikes Galveston Island: If this happens then conditions tomorrow should be pretty much be as I describe below. It will be very wet and very windy, a day to avoid being outside if possible. Expect rainfall totals of 3 to 5 inches across the Houston region, with isolated totals of 8 inches. This remains the official forecast.

Edouard turns toward the Texas-Louisiana border: Such a scenario is possible and Jeff Masters, of The Weather Underground, believes this will happen. He's usually a reliable source. If this plays out the Houston metro area won't get much wind, and we'll probably get less rain than the 3 to 5 inches currently being forecast."

I've got my stuff ready. Going to order pizza tonight in case it is bad tomorrow and can't get out. Got my batteries, flashlights, slim jim, coke zero, protein shakes, and work computer so no expectation to go to work if it is unsafe (BTW: I have most that stuff every day. I did not make a run on the stores. I bought a gallon of water at Walgreen's and my C batteries for my toy at the dollar store. no lines!). Here's my emergency toy (It's cool, it has a flashlight, a TV, a weather radio, normal radio, siren, thermometer):

forget it, blogger is down. I'll post the pic later.

Eduoard Update

I have removed all references to Eduardo and instead will link to the Sciguy or NOAA.

The 1000am report has been released

Killers: All These Things That I Have Done; Live 8

I forgot how awesome Live 8 was, I was in Tokyo at the time but remember watching this on the internet....



And Robbie Williams, whom I love...

Edouard! We have a name!

I don't like the spelling, however.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Update.

$5 to who can name the author of that title...nevermind, You'll just google it.'

This wet weather is about to get interesting in the next 48 hours.

Alicia hit Houston in 1983. This has a similar path.


i wish i were a cat

Ah, Sunday:

Texas is about to get a lot of rain, ya'll. Hope it helps the drought. But damn, lets blame Global Warming!

Here's an interesting story about trolls on the internet.

Will post later...

More Obama Speak

can someone interpret this for me?

"When I'm president, I intend to keep in place the moratorium here in Florida and around the country that prevents oil companies from drilling off Florida's coasts," Obama told reporters in Jacksonville in late June. "That's how we can protect our coastline and still make the investments that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and bring down gas prices for good."

More Dr. Horrible in HD

Well, I guess Joss lied because drhorrible.com still has the videos up. Enjoy!

Obama is a Socialist

He wants to redistribute the wealth. His proposal today was released: He wants to give $1000 to "needy" families. Where is it going to come from? "Windfall profits" of oil companies. You already know my opinion of this. XOM profited $11.7B this quarter. It actually didn't meet expectations and as a result the stock fell. Read this: That is a 8.5% return on investment. That's actually disappointing for an investor. Wallmart and Best Buy make like 40%. If that was an M instead of a B we wouldn't be having this conversation. XOM invested $105B to make $11.7B. 70% percent of the profit came from overseas investments. XOM is not profiting from you at the gas pump. That is why they are divesting from the downstream....If it was profitable why would they sell their gas stations? And what pisses me off is the politicians know the facts, they just want the soundbites. They are lying to the public to get votes. "Windfall" should be based on profit margin, not total. They know that. You, the educated consumer, knows that. I have to pay 4$ a gallon too. It sucks. I just discovered this washingtonpost blog, and I am not sure where his opinion lies. But it may be worth a read. By his argument of what defines a windfall: I own 10 ounces of gold I bought at $100 10 years ago (this is an example, not real facts or numbers). I can sell today because of speculation and the weak dollar for $1000. Therefore, I am windfalling on my investment. Obama will take my profit and give it to stupid poor people who bought a house at the sub-prime, didn't read the fine print, rack up debt with their credit card after the ARM set in, etc. Windfall this, jackass. Obama will set this country back 30 years: it will be Jimmy Carter all over again.