Katrina or Katia now almost a hurricane!

August the 31^st - Say it’s not true, but had Katrina not been such a baddie that the weather folks retired her name, this storm would have been called…you guessed it Katrina.

This afternoon, at around 4PM CST, the tropical storm system was still churning around in the Central Atlantic. Her maximum winds have reached 70 mph and she is moving WNW at about 20 mph. It’s a good bet she will be a Category One system by later this date. From there, no one is absolutely sure of her track.

Looking back to August 2005, the original Katrina’s path as she approached the US in early August, looked odd at best. And, when you get right down to it, her birth was also something of a fluke.  Hurricane Katrina first formed as Tropical Depression Twelve over the southeastern Bahamas on August 23, 2005 as the result of an interaction of a tropical wave and the remains of Tropical Depression Ten. Kind of a two fer deal. So, her birth was not without some help. That was on August the 23^rd in 2005. Then, a few days later she crossed the southern tip of Florida as a Category One storm causing some destruction as well as a few deaths. After that she moved into the gulf and the rest is history. As a category three when it made landfall in the gulf, Katrina became only the fifth deadliest hurricane in the history if the United States.  

Will this new depression attain the heights of suffering caused by Katrina. Hopefully not. The odds makers right now predict this storm will re-curve harmlessly back to the mid Atlantic. Still, it makes you wonder. This storm has a history attached to it for better or worst.

Quakes that appear minor, yet are still interesting!

Anytime I observe an earthquake that affects the middle area of the United States, I take notice. Here on August the 29^th we have a series of small ones that form a pretty straight line right across the continent. Does that mean anything? I don’t know. But, from my readings on plate movements over the years, I do know that sometimes even little things can be the harbinger of bigger things to come. This may be especially true after seismologists recorded unusual movements of the earths crust in both southern Colorado and Virginia just last week. and here is another map of the US taken on the 31st of August. A similar pattern?

Admittedly minor and shallow quakes occurring in locations where seismic activity is pretty rare. Still, it’s probably nothing.

Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi : A personal message from the great beyond!

TRIPOLI, Libya — An official with the rebel government on Sunday ruled out extraditing the former Libyan intelligence officer convicted as the mastermind of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and released from a Scottish prison two years ago on the ground that he was near death.

The deity that will take charge of your soul, eagerly awaits...your arrival...

Top five reasons to not fly a kite in a storm!

5 – Winds may be a tad too high!

4 – There is lightening about! Duh!

3 – The neighbors will think you are even more strange than before.

2 – Replacement kites cost money!

And the top reason not to fly a kite in a storm!

1 – You will get really, really wet!

Steak & Eggs are a Nutritional Train Wreck! But!....

Eating healthy is a problem for me and a lot of other people I know. In a previous blog, I wrote about what a nutritional train wreck a traditional steak and egg breakfast is. This meal consisted of a small portion of steak, hash browns, one egg, toast and milk. Now, any food that is high in calories, loaded with salt and which administers a boat load of cholesterol is probably not a good thing. Did I mention that the taste was out of this world?

Knowing that all things can be improved, I thought it would be interesting to see if I could preserve some of the more desirable aspects of this repast, while also cutting back on both the calories and the cholesterol via alternative food choices. (Think food downgrade). For this effort, I decided to go with a so-called fake egg substitute (Egg Beaters) and a couple of vegetable sausage patties made by a company called Morning Star.

Now here is a picture of the meal along with a nutritional panel of the homemade regular steak and eggs I made a week or so ago (note – ‘cl’ is cholesterol in milligrams):

 If you’re on a 1500 calorie a day diet, this will be about all you’ll be allowed to eat for the 24 hour period. Other than the fantastic taste, there just isn’t much to recommend here. But, there is that taste thing! OK, so now let’s look at the substitute meal along with nutritional information about it:

Gee, not much of an improvement other than in the cholesterol department! (For most people anything higher than 200 mg of cholesterol per day is on the high side of things). The sodium level in both meals is unacceptable as are the total calories. Also, both are a pain to make at home.

The bottom line, then, is to do what I do. Forget this whole mess and go out to a nice restaurant like Charlie’s Ribs Steak and Ale, plunk down some cash and have the real deal once or twice a month. That kind of intake is nutritionally doable and you’ll totally enjoy the experience.

America needs a way out!

While reading this it wouldn’t hurt to play Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson’s - Just To Satisfy You ! A song about how someone’s gonna get hurt before we’re all through. Perhaps surprisingly, I think that someone is gonna be China and I think it’s gonna be soon!

This country is hurting right at the moment. We owe a whole bunch of money to people that not only dislike the West, but who have been taking advantage whenever and wherever they could. The Fair Trade Act we signed lo these many years ago appears to have been heavily slanted in China’s favor while trying to force the US to directly compete with thirty cent an hour Chinese workers. That didn’t turn out too well, did it?

Now a trillion and some change later, a very large portion of our industrial might has moved on over there where, surprise, we’re still getting screwed and tattooed! China keeps getting stronger while we keep getting weaker! Or, is that really going to be the case? What would happen if we decided to default on that money? Hmm.  Moral one – don’t let a foreign power sucker you like that again because it can spark a very nasty war!

Next, we have troops deployed all over hells creation. Some of whom have been stationed in countries, like Germany, since I was but a mere lad. We’re constantly fighting wars and protecting other countries borders while allowing our southern border to look like a sieve. All this at a cost of (wait for it), trillions of dollars. Moral two – bring em all back and let our neighbors work out their own problems. Place these troops on our southern border, if you have too, and enjoy the effect.

Finally, for so very long now, we have been sucking at the oil nipple of countries that really dislike us. Countries that would like to see America get hurt in any way possible. We’re on the hook to some of these folks for much of our energy needs and one of these days, they may just decide pull that chain around our necks…hard! Moral three – drill baby drill! (Sarah you might just yet have your day)!

Three morals and three things we need to learn from them. It’s not too late America! Please consider sending this, or your own message, to your Federal representatives. Do it soon, however America, or we might have to start learning to speak Mandarin.

The one point one million dollar bus!

Above is a photo of the million dollar plus bus our government bought for Obama's three day Midwest excursion. That was money well spent, don't ya think?