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Petula Dvorak: In a storm, it’s interesting to note who’s ‘essential’By Petula Dvorak, Oct 29, 2012 11:06 PM EDT The Washington Post **SNIP** It's like a weirdly inverse chart, where the folks with secure government jobs, the ones with SUVs and more affluent addresses, get to stay home, bundle up and wait out the storm. **SNIP** The very definition of “nonessential employee” is turned on its head. Law offices, lobbying shops, consulting agencies — all dark. The corner store with Ho Hos and wine bottle openers? A beacon of glorious light! Across the city, federal buildings were locked up, the...

NEW YORK (AP) — Television networks offered compelling pictures and a gripping narration of the monster storm that put Monday on hold for millions of people in the eastern part of the country — and more than a few mixed messages, too. Anchors and reporters repeatedly urged viewers to stay at home and stay safe during the storm, yet they solicited pictures and videos to show evidence of Hurricane Sandy's might and displayed them on the air. Reporters with rain dripping off their windbreakers expressed incredulity at civilians walking around outside, like when CNN's Ashleigh Banfield noted joggers at New...

Much of New York was plunged into darkness Monday by a superstorm that overflowed the city's historic waterfront, flooded the financial district and subway tunnels and cut power to nearly a million people. The city had shut its mass transit system, schools, the stock exchange and Broadway and ordered hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers to leave home to get out of the way of the superstorm Sandy as it zeroed in on the nation's largest city. Residents spent much of the day trying to salvage normal routines, jogging and snapping pictures of the water while officials warned the worst...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama the candidate stepped aside Monday so the commander in chief could take over. In the waning days of his re-election bid, the president scraped two days of campaigning and retreated from the trail. He hunkered down at the White House to oversee the government's response to the East Coast superstorm — and to project presidential leadership. "The election will take care of itself next week," Obama said, speaking to reporters at the White House after hastily flying back to Washington from Florida, one of the handful of states the two campaigns are contesting the...

Late season Hurricane Sandy approaching the Eastern U.S. coast. Sea Surface TempsPublic AdvisoriesNHC Tropical DiscussionsSatellite ImagesLocal Radar & Weather: Wunderground Severe Wx Northeast Philadelphia/New Jersey Current WxDelaware: Dover Air Force Base Current WxNew York: Long Island Current Wx Buoy Data: Current Observations Mt. Holly NJ NWS Briefing Package for Hurricane Sandy (pdf file) Hurricane Sandy Live Thread I

I hope none of you folks are in the path of Sandy. But, if you are, there are some things you need to consider. It's only a cat 1 storm. There will be some high wind. But, nothing you can't ride out in a STURDY building. But, you WILL lose power. Perhaps for days. If you live on the coast, all bets are off. Get out now. What you will see out of this storm is torrential rains and flooding. Prepare for it. Even if it means evacuating. If you decide to stay, make sure you and your car are...

...coastal regions from the Carolinas through eastern Canada are likely to get battered by tremendous surf and face a real risk of significant to severe coastal flooding. This storm will be a slow mover meaning large waves may pound the coast for lengthy time periods...Making matters worse, the storm will coincide with a full moon Monday night, meaning elevated tides above normal levels. Astronomically high tides have played a key role in historic coastal flooding events along the East Coast, such as the Ash Wednesday storm of March, 1962.

70 members of the French youth group Génération Identitaire occupied the Poiters mosque on Saturday to protest against the influence of Islam in France. The youths climbed to the roof and unfurled a banner with the name of their movement. Posted by Jim Hoft on Sunday, October 21, 2012, 10:45 PM 70 members of the French youth group Génération Identitaire occupied the Poiters mosque on Saturday to protest against the influence of Islam in France. The youths climbed to the roof and unfurled a banner with the name of their movement. French politicians firmly condemned the occupation. The youth activists...

Tropical storm Leslie is listed on the front page. Could get interesting.

Tropical Storm Isaac threatens to dampen the Republican National Convention Monday in Tampa, Florida. National media outlets are having a grand time anticipating a Grand Old Party washout. Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn (D) announced Wednesday that he is absolutely prepared to call off the convention next week, with anticipated attendance of 70,000 delegates, party officials, journalists, protesters and others. Buckhorn has not indicated that he would attempt to mitigate liberal protests or a hastily planned Joe "Plugs" Biden visit to Tampa during the convention. Time will tell. Stay tuned... Sea Surface Temps Public AdvisoriesNHC Tropical DiscussionsSatellite ImagesBuoy Data: Caribbean W....

See: NOAA National Hurricane Center Web Site To keep up to date... It appears Tropical Depression Nine might be one to watch. It might provide much needed rain to drought stricken parts of the South. But it might also wreak havoc with the GOP Convention. Also it might wreak havoc on the Gulf Coast... The Gulf of Mexico is quite potent this time of year to produce storms with exceptionally warm water and conditions. Might be something to follow...

During the pre-dawn hours on Sunday, July 4, 1999 thunderstorms were occurring over portions of the Dakotas. By 6 AM CDT some of the storms formed into a bow echo and began moving into the Fargo, North Dakota area with damaging winds. Thus would begin the "Boundary Waters - Canadian Derecho" that would last for over 22 hours, travel over 1300 miles at an average speed of almost 60 mph, and result in widespread devastation and many casualties in both Canada and the United States (Fig. 1). The following paragraphs describe what happened along the path of this long-lived international...

TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 200 PM EDT SAT JUN 23 2012 FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO... BUOY OBSERVATIONS...SATELLITE DATA...AND PRELIMINARY RECONNAISSANCE DATA INDICATE THAT A TROPICAL STORM MAY BE FORMING IN THE CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO ABOUT 250 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. IF THE PLANE IS ABLE TO IDENTIFY A WELL-DEFINED SURFACE WIND CIRCULATION...THEN ADVISORIES WILL BE INITIATED LATER THIS AFTERNOON. THIS SYSTEM HAS A HIGH CHANCE...90 PERCENT...OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE AS IT MOVES SLOWLY NORTHWESTWARD DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS. TROPICAL STORM WATCHES...

Video Linky Here

As The Blaze previously reported, liberals assembled this weekend in Providence, Rhode Island, for Netroots Nation, an annual conference aimed at promoting the progressive cause. Closing out the event was Van Jones, the former White House official who has distinguished himself as being especially hostile toward the American right. In his address, the one-time green jobs adviser warned the audience about the Tea Party and encouraged them to fight diligently to ensure their policies are enacted.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Throughout this year’s three-day Netroots Nations conference — as progressive activists have cheered on Elizabeth Warren, held Occupy-style general assemblies and attended seminars on topics ranging from voter ID laws to “Love, Compassion and Outrageous Forms of Activism” — present just below the surface of the discussion has been an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with President Obama. A series of liberal favorites, culminating with former Obama environmental adviser Van Jones, took to the stage at the Rhode Island Convention Center to rally the Democratic base — and also to make clear that nearly four years after his election,...

Van Jones Slams the Tea Party Again: ‘The So-Called Patriots…Smashing Down Every American Institution’By Madeleine Morgenstern | The Blaze – 14 hrs ago **SNIP** “At this point in this struggle, it’s the so-called patriots who are the ones who are smashing down every American institution….It’s the so-called patriots, the ones who come out here with their Tea Party and the flags and call themselves patriots — they’re the ones that are smashing down our unions, smashing down public education, smashing down every American institution that we built, and our parents built, and our grandparents built to make this country great.”...

Weather Channel TORCON (Tornado Conditions) Index for Saturday: IA southwest - 6 to 7 IA northwest - 5 IA central, northeast night - 4 to 5 KS central, northeast - 8 KS southeast night - 6 MN southwest - 4 MN south, east-central night - 5 MO northwest night - 6 NE central, northeast - 5 NE southeast - 7 OK west, north-central (except panhandle) - 7 OK central, northeast night - 7 SD southeast - 4 TX northwest near Wichita Falls - 6 TX central night, west of I-35 - 4 WI west-central night - 5 The highest TORCON...

I was listening to a local talk show discussing Trayvon Martin and how potential riots are coming, and one of the comments of a caller hit me: Rodney King. We're dealing with revolutionaries here - there are no coincidences. So I whipped out my trusty copy of the Reclaiming Revolution manifesto and flipped a few pages. Right there on page 5,(or section 2 1:50) is where it mentions how Roots Against War(RAW - STORM's predecessor) helped organize the protests behind the Rodney King riots. As I made note of not too long ago, Van Jones is a self-described communist.(And the...

Appearing on HBO's Bill Maher Show Obama's former green job czar Van Jones attacks Supreme Court Justice Scalia over his questioning in the Obamacare SCOTUS arguments.