This post drifts into the partisan arena below the fold. It may contain images that some will find disturbing, or unpleasant.

^{Everyone ought to read more Yotsuba&!}

As compensation for this, here is the very antithesis of partisanship... Yotsuba&! producing less worrisome images.

For those who dare, hit "more" to get on with the politics...

UPDATE: The post below the fold has been updated.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 09:11 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Reuters reports on an EU study that indicates that nearly 40% of Europeans suffer from mental illness. The definition of mental illness in the study seems on one hand to be rather broad, as it includes insomnia and anxiety. On the other hand I don't think the government study is likely to recognize THIS for the madness it is...

At the instigation of a mentally unbalanced bee-keeper, the similarly unbalanced European Court (EuGH), the highest court in the EUSSR, is considering whether honeybees are allowed to approach genetically modified plants and take their pollen. If they are not, then, first, the resultant honey must be removed from supermarket shelves and burned in a carbon-neutral fashion. Second, bees will be forbidden to approach inappropriate blossoms.

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...was great.

Seriously, it was a really good exchange. I was surprised.

Despite the focus on Perry and Romney several of the others were quite strong. Perry was not stellar but he gave a credible and solid performance and Romney seemed to hold his own.

Cain did well in previous debates and he has grown as a candidate. This was his best performance ever, with answers that were not only well delivered but remarkable in their specificity.

Thank goodness for Newt...he is not executive material but he is a damned good idea man and these debates are much better for his presence. He actually did hit it out of the park a couple of times. He needs to at least be an adviser in the next administration.

Huntsman came off better than he has before, in that he got to talk, and though he likely did himself no favors with the base its obvious he is a thoughtful guy.

All in all it was one of the better discussions of our problems I've seen.

OTOH the hosts did not cover themselves in glory as they tried (quite unsuccessfully) to start petty fights and in one remarkably patronizing moment, they brought in a Hispanic reporter to ask questions about immigration...and then dismissed him. 

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 09:58 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Brian Wang at Next Big Future has an interesting post on some of the legal reasons behind the Superman Costume changes that are part of the upcoming DC Reboot.

^{Art by Rags Morales}

It looks to be at least in part a legal gambit to deny the Siegel and Schuster estates ownership of the properties.

Most interesting to me is this bit from Brian Wang:

The interpretations also seem to be that the Siegel and Shuster families will be able to start developing movies and other projects with the portions of copyright that they control starting in 2013.

Their version of Superman would seem to be legally restricted from developing the powers of flight. They would be forced to stay at the power levels of Action #1 and the first two weeks of strips. Although both parties would be free to create new works based on these separate versions. I think it would be perfectly possible the 1938 Superman to be made very interesting and vibrant franchise.

This could actually be interesting.

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She's running! She's running! She ran.
She did pretty good too.

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So this girl asked me...
Where did things go wrong?
And thus a history of banal failure is posted below the fold.

For those uninterested in such matters, here is Kyo-Ani's take on the Sailor Scouts.

^{Actually it's by someone who goes by the handles of Tom and Attopez}

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 11:19 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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UPDATE: Yay! 

....Now keep turning and go to Texas

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Well, we're still bewildered that we have power. No one in our immediate area aside from our neighborhood and an adjoining road does.

Most of the early part of today was spent cleaning up the yard.

This afternoon, I drove over to Newport News and later Virginia Beach to check on friends who weren't answering their phones...they are OK, modern landline phones don't work with no power.

Along the way I noted the damage, which consisted of a lot of blown down trees and missing signs.

Now, the storm lasted a LONG time here. It spawned tornadoes and its surge, which was abnormally high for storm of its intensity, came at the highest tide of the year. There was also a LOT of rain.

That..being...said...
As hurricanes go, this was a pretty gimp event.

This is Virginia, which happens to be in the coastal southeast. We are going to get hurricanes. I don't think that sustained hurricane force winds were actually recorded at ground level in Virginia. We actually endured a CAT 0.8. Such a storm ought not to have left just under a million people without power. It ought not to have collapsed a bridge. We wasted all that money on bailouts, and in the stimulus, and we didn't do jack for the actual infrastructure. Given the disruption and damage caused by this"hurricane by technicality", an actual CAT 4 or 5 storm would not have just left almost a million without power, it would have left nearly as many dead and shut down the whole state.

These were all lessons that ought to have been learned after Isabel. We've had 8 years.

It should be noted however, that there were some good points.  The storm drains which had been such a colossal failure during Isabel and Floyd and contributed to so much flooding, seemed to work very well this time except in areas that were very low lying anyway...and physics comes into play there.   So there was one civil engineering win.

In other good news, all that rain surely put out the fire Great Dismal Swamp so we don't...wait...what?...OH YOU ARE KIDDING ME!1!!

Grrr...Fires, earthquakes, storms...if there are suddenly swarms of bugs I'm gonna...

Oh good grief...

^{Bugnadoes!? In MY neighborhood?}

They don't show up well on the Blackberry camera but that's how thick the bugs are right now.

I'm off to work.

I hope everyone else is safe.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 12:06 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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It looks like flooding will continue to worsen in Chesapeake for a time, but aside from severe thunderstorms, the possibility of tornadoes and the strange phenomenon of the wind being worse in what should be the least dangerous quadrant the worst seems to be over or us.

The same can't be said for the rest of the country. Remember, we were having a mild drought when these rains came, the Northeast has been soaked already. The huge rain on saturated ground and the possibility of an 8 foot storm surge and a high tide arrival is going to be a very rude awakening to Northeasterners.  The storm is already reorganizing and strengthening a bit as I type this. Weather Nerd has more. 

North Carolina and Virginia took a hit but those still in its path may well get the worst of it.

If you are northeast of here, this storm is NOT spent and it is coming toward you.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 08:38 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The storm is now offshore, but she held the worst waited for last. WNIS, which is broadcasting from Dominion Tower, is reporting the Elizabeth River is now topping the Norfolk seawall, financial district flooded. Dominion Tower parking garage is flooded. 
Caller reports hip high water in Fox Hill in Hampton.
Water mains have broken in Norfolk.

UPDATE: Nags Head reports that Albermarle Sound is overflowing and breaching the barrier island west to east....this will sweep everything out to sea.

UPDATE: Governor McDonnell  sez: 877,470 without power. 3 Deaths confirmed 1 in Richmond area. ALL major bridges and tunnels out of commission.

UPDATE: The storm is 30 miles offshore but the wind is the worse yet. House is shaking.  Radio reports Tidewater Drive is impassable. 6 inches of water in back yard. Reports on radio indicate LOTS of flooding.

UPDATE: I've just been informed that Wonderduck has better flooding pics.

 UPDATE: Wind sounds like thunder. Lights flickering. Sounds like branches are breaking. Bizarre that we get this now.

UPDATE: Radio says Midtown Tunnel not reopening. Great.

UPDATE: Radio says Richmond and Fredricksburg have a really large number of power outages.

21:41 UPDATE: The storm is more than 45 miles off shore and Naval Air Station Oceana STILL reports 69MPH wings in the "safe" quadrant. We've been getting the worst winds of the day since the storm passed offshore.

21:50 UPDATE: Radio Weather Dude says that the storm is strengthening as it passes over the water which is why we are getting more wind. There is a posibility that the Midtown Tunnel may open by Monday.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 07:21 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Portsmouth announced a curfew...to go into effect after the worst has passed.

The Portsmouth curfew was in effect as of 8 p.m. and was to be lifted at 8 a.m. Sunday. No person shall be on any public street between those hours unless for an emergency or essential purpose or operation of a business, the city said.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 06:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Info comes via WNIS.

No other info, but my commute to school from work has gotten longer.

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We had a break in the storm about an hour ago and as part of my overall policy of making bad decisions I ran out to move my car (which was being menaced by a steadily listing tree) and drove around the neighborhood for a few minutes.

15 -21 inches of rain is what they're saying.

Everything smells like rotting fish.

702,413 reported without power in VA. Our neighborhood is an anomaly that is not likely to last long.
 
The break in the storm is well and truly over. The winds are picking up rapidly and the rain is again coming down in sheets.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 05:06 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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This doesn't concern the storm, but it's of concern nonetheless.

If the R.O.U.S.s team up with the C.H.U.D.s New York is in trouble.
via

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 02:02 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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This should not be news but...In marked contrast to The Weather Channel, the local network affiliates and the local Talk Station  (AM 790 WNIS) are doing a stellar job of reporting the situation. Dave Parker the Talk Host is a consummate professional.

Weather Nerd is doing a fine drama free coverage of this on a national level.

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2 tornadoes have touched down in Sandbridge, a lowlying area of Virginia Beach near the NC state line containing the northernmost of the sounds and barrier islands. A caller on the radio reports considerable damage. The area is in the no go zone, no responders will be sent till after the storm passes.

Tornado warnings a bit ago in Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk but they have been lifted.

Via 790AM WNIS: Brookridge Apts in Newport News has been stove by a tree. A child is reportedly pinned.
UPDATE: Chid is dead.

Winds are picking up substantially.

350,000 380,000 without power.

Caller on radio reports Blackwater River is flooding the town of Franklin which suffered so much in Floyd.

5 hours till maximum winds. It looks like the dead center will pass right over us. There is expected to be a 7 foot storm surge or greater and will coincide with high tide.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:07 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Aiee.
There is rain.

Wind here is 15-25 knots. Weather Channel dude is on TV in nearby VA Beach dramatically "staggering" against the gale.

Weather Channel meteorologists, the mimes of the 21st century.

_{Actual video of Weather Channel meteorologists.}

Caller on the radio from Kill Devil Hills (which the Weather Channel reports devastated) reports terrible carnage amongst the islands pine cones. The storm is serious but not catastrophic. They really needed to stop overhyping the wind angle once it became clear it was not a major wind event. This will only cause people to ignore them in the future.


Note though that there IS rain...a LOT of rain;  really impressive rain that has been remarkably steady for hours.
I do expect inland flooding to be terrible.
Irene's jaundiced eye should pass over in 5-7 hours, nearly coinciding with high tide. Coastal flooding is going to be as bad as Isabel or worse.
This is going to be bad enough without the winds,...
...or the weather mimes.

100,000+ without power already including the next neighborhood over. We'll loose it here soon enough.
I'm going to go get what may be my last shower for a few days.

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