Earl strengthens; N.Y. coast put on alert for tropical storm conditions

Storm packing 145 mph winds prompts state of emergency in N.C.

HATTERAS ISLAND, N.C. — Forecasters added New York's Long Island coast to the list of areas under a tropical storm warning Thursday, as Hurricane Earl barrels toward the Eastern Seaboard.

The National Hurricane Center also issued a hurricane watch Thursday for areas of Massachusetts and a tropical storm watch for other parts of the state and several places in Maine. Canadian officials put parts of the Nova Scotia coast under a tropical storm watch.
Much of the East Coast is under warnings and watches as the Labor Day weekend approaches, including hurricane warnings for parts of North Carolina and the latest warning for Long Island includes areas from Fire Island Inlet to Port Jefferson Harbor.
Category four storm Earl, which has maximum sustained winds near 145 mph, is located about 410 miles south of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and is moving north-northwest near 18 mph. 
Forecasters expect gradual weakening to start later Thursday. Hurricane-force winds extend outward 90 miles from the center.
Farther south, tourists were largely gone from North Carolina's Outer Banks, but those resolute residents who stayed behind said they were prepared to potentially face down the most powerful hurricane to threaten the coast in years.
The National Hurricane Center predicted Earl's center will pass near the Outer Banks area of North Carolina Thursday night, approaching southeastern New England by Friday night.
Forecasters have warned of a "dangerous storm surge" that could raise water levels by up to five feet above ground level in some areas.  "Large and destructive waves" could also cause problems.
Earl was also causing swells along the East Coast, resulting in dangerous surf conditions and rip currents.
Communities from North Carolina to New England kept a close eye on the storm packing 140 mph winds and worried that even a slight shift in the Category 4 storm's predicted offshore track could put millions of people in the most densely populated part of the country in harm's way.
President Barack Obama declared late Wednesday that an emergency exists in North Carolina and ordered federal agencies to help state and local officials with handling any problems caused by Hurricane Earl.
The president's action authorized the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts.
Vacationers along North Carolina's dangerously exposed Outer Banks took advantage of the typical picture-perfect day Wednesday just before a hurricane arrives to pack their cars and flee inland, cutting short their summer just before Labor Day weekend.
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TAKING THE WORLD DOWN WITH US: U.S., ISRAEL AND IRAN

It is time we cut down the rhetoric and faced reality vis a vis Iran and the Muslim world. If we don't, and we keep letting the "vaunted Mossad" nonsense propel us into war.

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There is something peculiar about the logic and data in this situation. I am not making a brief for Iran, but I am saying that America is treading foolishly on shaky ground, just as it did when it believed the zionist neo-cons who led us into a wrongful war in Iraq and an endless, and unwinnable war, in Afghanistan.

It is time for America and the world to look at facts, not Israeli and neo-con propaganda; if not, then we shall reap the whirlwind once again, as we are failing and being destroyed along with our human sacrifices, American, Iraqi, Afghan, our democracy and our economy while the war party and Israel gloats at our continuing commitment to endless and unwinnable wars against Islamic countries. In truth, Israel and America have nothing to fear from Islamic countries unless we continue our brutal imperialistic behavior. It is time we woke up; otherwise, we will meet with more disasters, and even as some Christian ministers are beginning to say aloud, "If you don't heed the lessons from the Bible, ye shall pay the price of pride and arrogance and it will lead to your destruction." They see the fallacy of following Israel into our own destruction, led by zionist and neo cons in the Congress and those surrounding President Obama.

Iranians are not unsophisticated militarily; they have been in wars since 5000 B C and have won most of them. Not only that, but as I reported several years back, the Iranians would block the Straits of Hormuz, and the Chinese also sold Iran the "Sunbeam" missile, which is mach 2 missile that can be used to destroy aircraft carriers of the type of we have in the Persian Gulf as our main "threat weapon." Thus, we would be victimized if Israel dared to attack Iran; that is why Admiral Mullen made clear to Obama and Israel that an attack on Iran would be a disaster for America and American troops in the region. What he didn't say, but I am sure is in his mind, it would be a disaster for Americans and American troops anywhere in the Muslim world because the Muslim man-in-the-street would explode with anger at not only the U.S. and Israel but against their own governments if their governments did not stand up against the U.S. and Israel.

Thus, as a lover of peace, I think it is good that we understand the consequences of such a foolish attack on Iran by Israel or the US. If Israel does attack, even with or without American permission, America will be the bigger loser in the end because Israel will survive, but American interests everywhere in the Muslim world most likely be attacked. I don't want to see this, for the sake of America, Americans or the Islamic world, but unfortunately, Israel has shown time and again that it could care less.

It is time we cut down the rhetoric and faced reality vis a vis Iran and the Muslim world. If we don't, and we keep letting the "vaunted Mossad" nonsense propel us into war, or allow Israel to get us blamed for an attack on Iran, then we will have once again been played the fool by Israel.


Sam Hamod, ph.d, writes on a variety of subjects for ezines all over the world. He is one of the few American writers who has called the Afghan and Iraq wars "mistakes" from their beginnings.

He is reprinting Wm. Blum's article on the Iran situation with hopes that others will read these two articles and see the reality, not the American media myth that has led us down the path to disaster and to the loss of so many lives in the world, and the destruction of our democracy and our economy.

 

Military Study Warns of a Potentially Drastic Oil Crisis

By Stefan Schultz

Reuters

Suppose it runs out? Mishaps in oil and gas exploration are almost routine, and governments have now started to wonder about a future with dwindling fossil fuel.

A study by a German military think tank has analyzed how "peak oil" might change the global economy. The internal draft document -- leaked on the Internet -- shows for the first time how carefully the German government has considered a potential energy crisis.

The term "peak oil" is used by energy experts to refer to a point in time when global oil reserves pass their zenith and production gradually begins to decline. This would result in a permanent supply crisis -- and fear of it can trigger turbulence in commodity markets and on stock exchanges.

The issue is so politically explosive that it's remarkable when an institution like the Bundeswehr, the German military, uses the term "peak oil" at all. But a military study currently circulating on the German blogosphere goes even further. The study is a product of the Future Analysis department of the Bundeswehr Transformation Center, a think tank tasked with fixing a direction for the German military. The team of authors, led by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Will, uses sometimes-dramatic language to depict the consequences of an irreversible depletion of raw materials. It warns of shifts in the global balance of power, of the formation of new relationships based on interdependency, of a decline in importance of the western industrial nations, of the "total collapse of the markets" and of serious political and economic crises.
The study, whose authenticity was confirmed to SPIEGEL ONLINE by sources in government circles, was not meant for publication. The document is said to be in draft stage and to consist solely of scientific opinion, which has not yet been edited by the Defense Ministry and other government bodies.
The lead author, Will, has declined to comment on the study. It remains doubtful that either the Bundeswehr or the German government would have consented to publish the document in its current form. But the study does show how intensively the German government has engaged with the question of peak oil.
Parallels to activities in the UK

The leak has parallels with recent reports from the UK. Only last week the Guardian newspaper reported that the British Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is keeping documents secret which show the UK government is far more concerned about an impending supply crisis than it cares to admit. According to the Guardian, the DECC, the Bank of England and the British Ministry of Defence are working alongside industry representatives to develop a crisis plan to deal with possible shortfalls in energy supply. Inquiries made by Britain's so-called peak oil workshops to energy experts have been seen by SPIEGEL ONLINE. A DECC spokeswoman sought to play down the process, telling the Guardian the enquiries were "routine" and had no political implications.
The Bundeswehr study may not have immediate political consequences, either, but it shows that the German government fears shortages could quickly arise.
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