Say good morning to Tropical Storm Igor. He formed off the coast of Africa and is very VERY far from the US mainland.
However, for those keeping score, this puts us at:
The Prediction:
We’re on pace it would seem.
And two of his friends!
What started as a slow season has suddenly picked up wind, pardon the pun. Behind Earl we have Fiona and Gaston, both named. Both tropical storms.
Remember, the latest prediction is:
The updated forecast calls for 14 to 20 named tropical storms.
And
Eight to 12 storms could become hurricanes, and four to six of those hurricanes could become major storms, blowing winds of 111 mph or more, forecasters said.
With that said, today’s development:
Tropical Storm Earl has formed in the open Atlantic Ocean, but the system is far from land.
Earl has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and is expected to become a hurricane by Friday.
That means we have:
By the end of August we should see:
That means in the next 5 days we would need to see:
I expect zero new named storms with 1 new hurricane; Earl.
To be honest, I don’t know why we elect people to government positions. I mean, in the larger sense I know that we NEED Senators and such; Nationally and on the State level.
But why do we elect that guy to the job?
I have zero idea.
Maybe because we hate him and want to condemn his life to one of a meaningless suffering?
It certainly is not, simple CAN NOT be, that we think he is smarter and more able to lead and govern than us.
Right?
We now have the fourth named storm of the 2010 season:
MIAMI – Tropical Storm Danielle has formed in the Atlantic, but the system is still far from land.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Sunday that Danielle had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and the storm is expected to strengthen over the next couple of days.
The National Hurricane Center recently revised their forecast to:
14 to 20 named tropical storms
The season runs from June through November; 6 months. We are nearly finished with August; half way. That means we should have seen 7-10 by now. We’re at 4.
Hurricanes?
Eight to 12 storms could become hurricanes…
So far we have zero, we should be near 4-6 by now.
Stay tuned…
I suppose there’s nothing illegal about this. And maybe it’s even natural that someone who’s spent a umber of years building experience and contacts would make a career move that makes sense.
In fact, it happens in Corporate America all the time.
But still, this rubs me wrong:
Raleigh, N.C. — Tom Shaheen, who has headed the North Carolina Education Lottery since its inception four years ago, has resigned his post to take a job with a company involved in the sale of lottery tickets through ATMs.
Lottery officials said in a statement Monday that Shaheen will be vice president of business development for Linq3, which has developed solutions for the sale of lottery tickets through automated teller machines and other point-of-sale terminals for distribution both in the U.S. and abroad. His last day at the lottery will be Sept. 17.
Good work if ya can get it!
Posted in Lobby/PAC, Politics: North Carolina
Tagged Abuse of Power, Lottery, North Carolina, North Carolina Politics, Politics
Even if you’re against gay marriage, the time has come to move on.
No one wants to run on this, and they shouldn’t. It’s a loser.
So this just makes us look dumb:
RALEIGH, N.C. — A national group touring the country to show support for traditional marriage is holding a rally in North Carolina.
…
The event is one of more than 20 stops on the organization’s summer bus tour.
But there is hope:
North Carolina is the only Southeastern state that hasn’t approved a state constitutional amendment restricting marriage to between one man and one woman.
Carolina may be resisting the dark side.
In April I posted the National Hurricane Center’s 2010 predictions:
So, 15 named storms, 4 major himmicane’s and a 45% the US gets hit.
Then, in July I posted an update:
By the end of August, to stay on pace, we would need to see 5 or 6 named storms with 2 of them developing into severe hurricanes.
And now the Hurricane Center has revised their predictions:
The updated forecast calls for 14 to 20 named tropical storms, down from a range of 14 to 23. The hurricane season started June 1 and ends Nov. 30, but the peak period for hurricanes runs from August through October.
Eight to 12 storms could become hurricanes, and four to six of those hurricanes could become major storms, blowing winds of 111 mph or more, forecasters said.
Not much of a change at all. However, that means we are on pace to see 11-17 named storms, 6-10 of which will become hurricanes and 4-6 of those becoming major storms before the season is over.
We’ll see.
North Carolina Governor Bev Purdue recently Tweeted on a blog entry regarding North Carolina High Speed rail:
Today, NCDOT’s Rail Division officially received the first $20.3 million of the $545 million allocated to our state for high-speed rail improvements under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. North Carolina was granted the sixth highest award to any state as part of President Obama’s high-speed rail plan, demonstrating the growing strength of our rail program.
Jeez. Here we go…
Posted in Politics: North Carolina, Transportation
Tagged High Speed Rail, Leftist, North Carolina, North Carolina Politics, Politics, Stimulus
In this morning’s News and Observer, Opinion writer Alexandra Forter Sirota from the N.C. Budget & Tax Center had this to say:
Late last week the U.S. Senate failed to move a bill that would extend essential fiscal relief to states, as well as fund temporary unemployment insurance provisions passed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
As a result, the Employment Security Commission estimates that 20,000 North Carolinians will lose unemployment benefits that they would spend quickly and close to home, boosting the local economy and helping local businesses avoid layoffs.
In addition, North Carolina won’t receive more than $340 million in federal assistance, forcing even deeper spending cuts than we’ve already endured in the face of an unprecedented drop in revenues brought on by the recession.
Basically what she’s saying is that it’s good economic policy to continue to remove money from the hands of people with jobs and continue to shovel into the hands of people who’ve been out of work for more than 99 weeks. Now, I’m not saying that these aren’t good folks. That they don’t deserve the money or wouldn’t appreciate the help. All I’m saying is that Ms. Forter Sirota thinks it continues to make sense to shift money from “A” to “B”.
Further, she mentions in the 3rd paragraph, that she feels it’s wise to continue to tax people in States other than North Carolina to help the state of North Carolina pay our bills. I, for one, resent having my tax money sent to California for them to continue to spend foolishly. I imagine that somewhere, someone feels the same about their money and our State.
If we don’t have the money, then we need to cut our spending.
Period.
When, Ms. Forter Sirota, will enough spending be enough for you?