Monthly Archives: August 2011

NOAA Downgrades Predicted Number of Tropical Storms This Season

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NOAA still sees big potential for hurricanes

BY JENNIFER KAY

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Record high ocean temperatures and the development of a climate phenomenon known as LaNiña will keep the Atlantic hurricane season on track to be the busiest since 2005, government forecasters said Thursday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration slightly lowered the outlook it released in May, but an above-normal season is still expected, said Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center in Washington.

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, with winds of 111 mph or more, forecasters said.

“August heralds the start of the most active phase of the Atlantic hurricane season, and with the meteorological factors in place, now is the time for everyone living in hurricane-prone areas to be prepared,” NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said in a statement.

During active storm seasons, multiple hurricane strikes are much

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/06/2346383/noaa-still-sees-big-potential.html#ixzz1UANVqUtJ

More on TS Emily

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Tropical Storm Emily weakens to barely nothing, still could regenerate

Published on August 4, 2011 8:35 pm PT
– By Kevin Martin – Senior Meteorologist
– Article Editor and Approved – Ron Jackson


Click for larger image

(TheWeatherSpace.com) — Tropical Storm Emily has vanished below Tropical Storm status as the storm interacted with the terrain of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, however it could regenerate.

The center is not closed anymore but that does not mean it will not move over Cuba and then regenerate back into a depression or low grade tropical storm.

The last forecast article stated in quotes that models said hurricane status but I decided to be more realistic and give Florida a weaker system, depression or tropical storm.

to read more, go to:    http://www.theweatherspace.com/news/TWS-08_04_2011_emilyvanishes.html

Another Colbert Moment or so….

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Colbert Takes On GOP Offense To Insurance Covering Women’s Health Issues (VIDEO)

First Posted: 8/4/11 11:10 AM ET Updated: 8/4/11 11:10 AM ET

Many argue that the true craft of “The Colbert Report” is seen when Colbert takes an argument presented by politicians and/or the media and extends it to its logical extreme — to absurd effect. He did just that last night, this time to take on Fox News pundits’ objection to the Obama administrationforcing medical insurance companies to cover women’s health procedures and prescriptions.

The premise often echoed by Fox pundits, that women with access to birth control will inevitably be more promiscuous and careless with their sex habits, seems to hardly have any basis in reality. But Colbert’s a master of lampooning poor argumenters with their own words, and he deftly pokes holes in the claims made by those who insist that government-subsidized birth control spells out the end of humanity as we know it.

(As a sidenote, Colbert certainly has cred in the women’s health department — who can forget when he turned Sen. Jon Kyl’s “not intended to be a factual statement” claim about Planned Parenthood into a national punchline?)

TO WATCH:    Go to:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/04/colbert-takes-on-gop-war-on-womens-health_n_918189.html

Is Sustainable Living A Crime in the UK?

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Injunction to move by the end the of month

A COUPLE living an “off-grid” lifestyle say they face prison unless they move from their own land in Willand and return to an existence in the benefits trap.

Stig and Dinah Mason bought Muxbeare Orchard after a sudden windfall allowed them to quit their impoverished lives on a Hertfordshire council estate two years ago.

  1. ​Dinah and Stig Mason with sons Yosse, 8, and Dahli, 9, and Moo the dog at their lorry home MARCUS THOMPSON EXMT20110614F-003_C

    Dinah and Stig Mason with sons Yosse, 8, and Dahli, 9, and Moo the dog at their lorry home MARCUS THOMPSON EXMT20110614F-003_C

The Masons have transformed what they described as a derelict four-acre plot into a haven of self-sufficiency boasting a 400 sq m allotment, a polytunnel and greenhouses to grow fruit and vegetables, chickens for egg production and an orchard they have regenerated by planting around 14 new apple trees of various species.

The couple, who have two boys, aged eight and nine, say because they moved onto the site in order to work the land, Mid Devon District Council is turfing them off as officers do not consider them to be conserving an agricultural area.

They faced magistrates on March 31 when they were served with an injunction to leave within 28 days from June 1.

Dinah, 35, who spent a year with her husband clearing four-foot high nettles and thistles which engulfed the four-acre site, said: “How anybody can say the orchard was being conserved before is beyond my comprehension.”

Dinah works while Stig, 34, as well as making sure the children get to school on time, tends to the land on a daily basis where peas, potatoes, garlic, strawberries, raspberries and various produce have been growing since 2009.

to read more, go to:    http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/Injunction-end-month/story-12812676-detail/story.html

Wyoming Targets Gray Wolves

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Gray Wolves In Wyoming May Lose Federal Protections

Gray Wolves Wyoming

By BEN NEARY   08/ 3/11 09:40 PM ET   AP

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming ranchers and hunters fed up with wolves attacking livestock and other wildlife would be able to shoot the predators on sight in most of the state under a tentative agreement state and federal officials announced Wednesday.

Gov. Matt Mead and U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said they’ve come to terms over how to end federal protections for gray wolves in Wyoming – the last state in the Northern Rockies where the animals remain under federal management.

Hours later, a judge rejected a legal challenge to a federal budget bill rider that removed protections for the gray wolf in the other Northern Rockies states.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula, Mont., said precedent by a federal appeals court required him to uphold the provision passed earlier this year that stripped wolves of their endangered status in Montana and Idaho, and in parts of Washington, Oregon and Utah.

It was not immediately clear Wednesday whether conservation groups planned to appeal.

While some neighboring states plan to let licensed hunters kill wolves at certain times of the year, Wyoming would be the only one to allow people to shoot wolves in most of the state year-round without a license.

Environmentalists swiftly blasted the agreement, saying it offers wolves too little protection and would fail judicial review unless Congress approves pending language to insulate it from legal challenges.

to read more, go to:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/04/gray-wolves-wyoming-ranchers_n_917977.html

Weekend “SlutWalk” in San Francisco

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SlutWalk San Francisco Is Coming This Weekend (PHOTOS)
Slutwalk

First Posted: 8/2/11 09:35 PM ET Updated: 8/3/11 11:10 AM ET

During a safety forum at Osgood Hall Law School in Toronto in January, police constable Michael Sanguinetti told a room filled with women that to avoid being sexually assaulted, they should “avoid dressing like sluts,” The Huffington Post reported in April.

Outraged ensued. Rotten tomatoes were thrown, tar was warmed and feathers were readied. No, not really. But according to SlutWalk organizers, they should have been.

Though Sanguinetti issued a written apology, a small group of Canadian women organized a march to bring awareness to social attitudes about sexual assault. They dressed in their finest lingerie, wrote “slut” on their foreheads, and took to the streets with signs of protest, hoping a few dozen supporters would show up. Instead, 3,000 people crowded the streets. SlutWalk was born.

And this Saturday, it’s coming to Dolores Park.

SlutWalk San Francisco boasts a group of 18 organizers and contributors that has been hosting meet-and-greets, happy hours, and sign-making parties in anticipation of the event.

“We’re so excited for Saturday,” organizer Lauren Chief Elk told The Huffington Post. “We were so moved by the outrage of the women in Toronto. Especially since most of us have experienced sexual assault in one way or another. Rape happens all over the world, but here in the United States, we have a strong tendency to blame the victim.”

to read more, go to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/02/slutwalk-san-francisco_n_916721.html?ir=Impact

 

Earth’s Two Moons?

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Earth may once have had two moons

By Matt McGrathScience reporter, BBC World Service

A new theory suggests the Earth once had a small second moon that perished in a slow motion collision with its “big sister”.

Researchers suggest the collision may explain the mysterious mountains on the far side of our Moon.

The scientists say the relatively slow speed of the crash was crucial in adding material to the rarely-seen lunar hemisphere.

Details have been published in the journal Nature.

The researchers involved hope that data from two US space agency (Nasa) lunar missions will substantiate or challenge their theory within the next year.

For decades, scientists have been trying to understand why the near side of the Moon – the one visible from Earth – is flat and cratered while the rarely-seen far side is heavily cratered and has mountain ranges higher than 3,000m.

Various theories have been proposed to explain what’s termed the lunar dichotomy. One suggests that tidal heating, caused by the pull of the Earth on the ocean of liquid rock that once flowed under the lunar crust, may have been the cause.

But this latest paper proposes a different solution: a long-term series of cosmic collisions.

to read more, go to:    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14391929

Eye Protein Can Sense Earth’s Magnetism

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Human eye protein senses Earth’s magnetism

A light-sensitive protein in the human eye has been shown to act as a “compass” in a magnetic field, when it is present in flies’ eyes.

The study in Nature Communications showed that without their natural “magnetoreception” protein, the flies did not respond to a magnetic field – but replacing the protein with the human version restored the ability.

Despite much controversy, no conclusive evidence exists that humans can sense the Earth’s magnetic field, and the find may revive interest in the idea.

Although humans, like migratory birds, are known to have cryptochrome in their eyes, the idea of human magnetoreception has remained largely unexplored since pioneering experiments by Robin Baker of the University of Manchester in the 1980s.

Dr Baker used a long series of experiments on thousands of volunteers that suggested humans could indirectly sense magnetic fields, though he never definitively identified the mechanism. In subsequent years, several groups attempted to repeat those experiments, claiming opposing results.

to read more, go to:    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13809144

Incoming Strong Solar Flare

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STRONG SOLAR ACTIVITY: For the third day in a row, active sunspot 1261 has unleashed a strong M-class solar flare. The latest blast at 0357 UT on August 4th registered M9.3 on the Richter Scale of Flares, almost crossing the threshold into X-territory (X-flares are the most powerful kind). The number of energetic protons around Earth has jumped nearly 100-fold as a result of this event.

fr/spaceweather.com

Do you Want to Go Here?

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7 Sites You Should Be Wasting Time On Right Now (PICTURES)

The Huffington Post      First Posted: 8/3/11 09:06 AM ET   Updated: 8/3/11 09:06 AM ET

t’s Wednesday which means we’re here with seven more websites to distract and entertain you. We know you’re probably worried about the alleged cyber-spies and the Mubarak trial, but no one’s going to blame you if you take a minute or twenty for yourself this afternoon.

As always, be sure to vote for your favorites and let us know if you come across any awesome new time-wasters that you think we should feature.

ok, you can see them all here:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/03/7-sites-you-should-be-was_n_916930.html#s321071&title=Officials_Say_the