Free Republic

So much has changed, not least the US presidency, writes Erika Dreifus from New York What a difference a year makes. At the end of October 2016, I was travelling in Israel with a group from my home congregation. Our 10-day voyage was scheduled to return us to Newark Liberty International Airport early on Tuesday morning, November 7 — in time to vote in that day’s U.S. presidential election. But just in case we encountered any delays, I obtained and submitted an absentee ballot prior to departure. Much about those days lingers in memory: the Israeli hotel breakfasts — still...

Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared state of emergency Friday ahead of Tropical Storm Erika, currently drenching the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and headed for the Dominican Republic. Erika, moving to the west-northwest at 17 miles per hour, is expected to gradually turn north as it approaches Florida Sunday evening,.....

000 WTNT85 KNHC 271733 TCVAT5 ERIKA WATCH/WARNING BREAKPOINTS/INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 11A NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL052015 200 PM AST THU AUG 27 2015 .TROPICAL STORM ERIKA PRZ001-002-003-004-005-006-007-008-009-010-011-012-013-VIZ001-002- 272100- /O.CON.KNHC.TR.W.1005.000000T0000Z-000000T0000Z/ 200 PM AST THU AUG 27 2015 PUERTO-RICO 18.22N 66.44W VIEQUES 18.12N 65.43W CULEBRA 18.32N 65.28W ST-THOMAS-AND-ST-JOHN 18.33N 64.85W ST-CROIX 17.74N 64.73W $$ ATTN...WFO...SJU...

It's time to release the hurricane tracking sharks because we're officially in the dreaded "cone of uncertainty" with Tropical Storm Erika, which is expected to arrive in our neck of the woods by Monday morning. Most models predict that Erika could be a hurricane by the time it reaches our general area next week. According to most tracks and predictions, Erika's cone covers all of South Florida, as she approaches the Leeward Islands tonight. Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Antigua, Barbuda and Anguilla are all under a Tropical Storm Warning. The latest advisory has Erika with maximum sustained winds of...

Tropical Storm Erika developed in the North Atlantic September 1, 2009. Erika is expected to pass to the NE of the Leeward Islands Thursday, currently moving WNW at 8 miles per hour. Erika is not anticipated to strengthen into a hurricane over the next several days. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for St. Maarten, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, St.Martin and St. Barthelemy. In other tropical storm news, Hurricane Jimena is approaching Southern Baja, and weather conditions there are deteriorating rapidly. Jimena maximum sustained wind speeds are 115mph. Public Advisories Updated every six hours. Tropical Storm Discussion...

As of 10 AM CT, T.S. Danny was located about 320 miles northeast of Nassau and had max winds near 60 mph. Danny is not moving consistently to the northwest but that is the overall general direction of movement at about 13 mph. A general northwest motion is likely for the next 24-hours and then a more northerly turn is anticipated with an increase in forward speed.

A FRIEND OF MINE, an ex-radical who became a conservative and Deputy Sheriff of a Vermont town -- has a bumper sticker on his pickup truck that reads "Hanoi Jane Not Welcome Here." I admit to always having felt uncomfortable reading it, since it seemed to me to be an unnecessary reminder of the terrible, polarized atmosphere surrounding the war in Vietnam. It was a time when ultra-conservative supporters of the war showed their anger by what I thought was an unjustified demand that she be tried for "treason," because of what she had said in her trip to North...

Tropical Storm Erika Advisory Number 1 Statement as of 5:00 PM EDT on August 14, 2003 ...Erika...the fifth tropical storm of the season forms in the Gulf of Mexico... Tropical Storm Erika could threaten southern Texas or northeastern Mexico within the next 36 to 48 hours. Watches or warnings will likely be issued tonight or early Friday. Consult statements issued by local government and National Weather Service offices for recommended actions in your area. Reports from a reconnaissance plane and satellite images indicate that the area of disturbed weather in the Gulf of Mexico has become Tropical Storm Erika...the fifth...