Aftermath in Moore, Oklahoma

My sense of empathy is so strong, when these tragedies strike it literally hurts me. At the moment I'm feeling as stunned as the victims must be. I'm too overwhelmed for words. So all I got are these photos.

A teacher hugs child at Briarwood Elementary school after the tornado. [photo via The Oklahoman]



And another survivor amidst the rubble. [photo via]



Meanwhile as reported first at CQ:

The tornado damage near Oklahoma City is still being assessed and the death toll is expected to rise, but already Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., says he will insist that any federal disaster aid be paid for with cuts elsewhere.

Sadly, that's not the worst reaction I've seen tonight.

Your moment of Zen

Blissful tiger via Noman Shabbir.



[Definitely click to embiggen]

You and me and rain on the roof

This is a brilliant idea. Harvesting rainwater.

In the video above, Lancaster demonstrates how he turned his own neighborhood into a kind of vessel that would make the most out of its natural rainfall—and it doesn't require any money or a significant amount of time to maintain.

Simply cutting into the sidewalk curb prevents downstream flooding, while allowing rainwater to disperse among plant life; planting native, fruit-bearing trees opens a low-maintenance source of fresh, whole foods; and the entire system promotes wildlife, cleaner air, cooler ground temperatures and a better quality of life for his neighbors.

Worth clicking over to see the video. Didn't embed it because it was vimeo and those tend to bog down the page loads.

Shared it on facebook and someone said it's illegal to do this is certain places out west and that was a good reason for it. Didn't say what the reason was and can't imagine what it could be. Especially out west where the water just runs off anyway. I was thinking the biggest problem would be getting permission for the curb cuts. City zoning boards generally hate curb cuts.

In the eye of the hurricane

Looks like Isaac is going to be a pretty big storm. Not a Katrina category hurricane but bad enough to worry about your friends on the Gulf coast. Likely to be some flooding and power outages.

Josh Stearns, Public Media Campaign Director for Free Press, storified CNN's Lizzie O'Leary's #Hurricane 101 tweet series. I believe she's a Nola native and she put these up as a guide for reporters, but the advice is useful for anyone stuck on the coast during the storm. Added bonus, she name checked me in the last tweet on page two of the Storify.

Lizzie also posts the Nola evacuation map, just in case things take a turn for the worse, but at this point it's probably too late to leave. [Inga Sarda-Sorensen photo of a storm yesterday in NYC]

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Live cam: For the birds

A new addition to my live cam collection. Decided not to embed the player because it will probably screw up the page load, but here's the links. Both work for me but I understand some people can only access one or the other.

Great Blue Heron Nest or Great Blue Heron Nest. They have a new egg and it appears from a quick check this morning, they also already have one baby heron. Or maybe that's the mom whose butt end I saw.

I've added them to the sidebar links.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Here comes the sun

Can't see a way to embed this video, but watch these solar flares.

The sun erupted with one of the largest solar flares of this solar cycle on March 6, 2012 at 7PM ET. This flare was categorized as an X5.4, making it the second largest flare -- after an X6.9 on August 9, 2011 -- since the sun’s activity segued into a period of relatively low activity called solar minimum in early 2007. The current increase in the number of X-class flares is part of the sun’s normal 11-year solar cycle, during which activity on the sun ramps up to solar maximum, which is expected to peak in late 2013.

Just wild. All that energy going to be bombarding our little planet tomorrow. Expect some trouble with electronics.

Two gigantic solar flares that erupted on the surface of the Sun on Wednesday night have produced magnificent, jaw-dropping imagery and movies of our star’s unpredictable might, but the impact on Earth could be decidedly less enjoyable. The resulting particle blasts are expected to strike our planet at around midnight or early Thursday morning and pose risks to high frequency radios, GPS, and power grids, according to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Expecting my internets here to be cranky. Hell, they get disgruntled every time it just rains.

Natural wonders

I've always wanted to see the Aurora Borealis in real life. I could if only I could bring myself to visit my brother in Alaska in the winter. Haven't managed to do in the last 20 years. Probably should have tried while the solar flares were so active. Apparently they cause spectacular displays like this.

Many more incredible shots here.

These time lapse photos of fireflies remind me of summers in the Happy Valley. There was a certain time of year when it looked very much like this when I walked the big hill into the meadows. Of course, they were moving but they did still leave trails. It was like walking into a fairy tale.

I spent a few days in Paris back in the 90s. I found the residents to be mostly rude if one didn't speak French impeccably, but it is a beautiful city. Lovely photo gallery of Paris in the rain.

This made the rounds a while back, but I didn't get to it for while. If you missed it, it's very cool. Stunning photos of an albino hummingbird.

Finally long time readers know how much I love religious sightings on ordinary objects, like finding Jesus on a grilled cheese sandwich. This one isn't religious, and it's old now. Not sure how it worked out, but bidding on a bit of dried glue that looks like Homer Simpson was over $237,000 when this was posted. Not even that great a likeness. Since I have no luck at winning the lottery, always hoping to make a fortune on a sighting like this so I can retire.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

World views

It's a gloomy grey day here in the little city. Not feeling very inspired by the news at the moment so here's some links I've been saving up for a while.

Think this temporary exhibit is long since past, but loved the idea. David Byrne's charming new art installation in NYC.

Not sure why I don't follow isardasorensen on the twitter. I love her photos and she posts great links to local NYC stories. Thinking I'll probably just put her blog on my blogroll where she posts just her own photos. But here's a few of her better shots: Early morning Saturday sky. And her sunset photos are always great. This sunset too.

Meanwhile in Texas, the pictures aren't so soothing. But dramatic. In case you happened to miss this one, Downtown Austin with the Bastrop fire in the background. And this video of a dust devil in Garland, Texas is the biggest one I've ever seen.

Moving on to Paris, France that is, this photo also made the rounds but it's the most incredible storm photo ever. Exact moment the Eiffel Tower was struck by a huge bolt of lightning.

I just love stuff like this. Comes with an article. Ancient bridge is engineered from living trees. Takes a long time to build one but they last forever.

This link explores the inner realms of the human mind and it blew mine. The McGurk Effect. Even if you know the trick, you can't make it stop without closing your eyes.

And to end on a somewhat lighter note, they're so not PC, but I love these old toons. I watched them all as a kid and managed to grow up without becoming a bigot. Walt Disney's version of Hell back when their toons were edgy instead of safe. Tell me the guys who drew this stuff weren't on drugs, but I won't believe you.

[Hat tips to Hudsonette, HoneyBearKelly, Terry, Moonbootica and Brian Beutler.]

Actually, Irene was under-hyped

Light posting yesterday because I was riveted to the twitter trying to get news about what was happening in western MA and Vermont. The teevee was no help. All the news orgs were replaying the same footage on a continuous loop, mainly from New York and New Jersey. Meanwhile, Vermont and WMA was being rapidly destroyed by horrific flash floods.

I have friends all up and down the East Coast, but the great majority of them live in these places, so to say I was irritated by the lack of attention and the notion the hurricane was being overhyped while towns were drowning, would be significantly understating it. I even told some smug west coaster to F off for complaining about over-hyping instead of badly focused coverage. Which I never do.

Coverage is a little better today, but the internets still do it better. And since I collected all these links anyway, here's what you probably didn't see on the teevee.

In my old home town, Northampton, MA. The Mill River, Smith College's Paradise Pond dam. The water here is usually so far down into the ditch that you could break your neck if you fell down the hill.

Franklin County was hit worse. Not even old timers remember the water at the Shelburne Falls at Bridge of Flowers being this high. A slightly wider view and this appears to be when the river was cresting and took out a building on the main street.

Not so devastating, the Falls at Mt. Toby in Sunderland aren't usually so vigorous this time of year.

But the really horrifying impact was in Vermont. The entire state is pretty much destroyed by tiny streams that morphed into raging rivers in mere minutes. This was not the only car floating down river. This one was in Bennington VT.

And if I didn't still miss him so much, I would be glad my old friend Dave Shapiro didn't live to see his Village of Grafton being washed away. Guess I am glad he didn't have to live through it though.

But this was probably the one video that almost made me sob, even though I have no personal connection here. The Lower Bartonsville Covered Bridge washing away before our eyes. This bridge has been standing since 1760. It belonged to history. Now gone forever. RIP.

Finally, the latest videos of Vermont devastation are all just as sad. I know and love so many of these towns.

Meanwhile, in the Big Apple, where the jaded were blissfully unaware of the suffering up north and making jokes about all those emergency supplies they stood in line to buy and then never used, they enjoyed a remarkable post-hurricane sunset in NYC.

Simply So Predictable

No surprise to find conservatives desperate to find a way to blame Obama for the earthquake. Or least to make some analogy to make it just as bad as Bush fiddling on stage a full day after Katrina drowned New Orleans. Because somehow Obama going golfing after an unexpected event in which no one was hurt and with little property damage over 22 states is exactly the same as Bush cutting birthday cake with John McCain many hours after the storm hit and jetting around the country to fundraisers while 10,000 Americans were trapped in the Superdome.

First out of gate in the race to blame was Wingtopia's favorite idiot, Jim Hoft. Charles Johnson braves his comment section and finds this gem:

To bad that all, ALL the liberals weren’t in that tunnel going out into Virginia from the Capital and our representatives buildings, and it caved in taking them all out! Then that way the largest majority in Washington would be the conservative Republican’s. Then when Obama came back from Martha’s Vineyard he’d have no one to support his crazy ideas that are destroying this nation. You know that Obama is good friends with Maurice Strong who thinks he runs the world with all his bogus organizations and even more bogus NGO’s. Our conservative Republican’s could defund all the U.N. agreements where we don’t know where the money goes. America could begin returning back to where it ought to be. And if all the liberals were dead, Obama couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it. I would like to see him in a situation like that, and I would like to see America in a situation like that, where we would have a small conservative government that got the things done that it is supposed to do and that’s all.

Granted it's nutpicking to use a single commenter, but it strikes me as pretty damn representative of some of the conservatives I know personally. Gratefully, not all of them.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Felt the earth. Move. Under my feet.

I actually didn't feel the earthquake today but I lived it vicariously through the twitter. The jokes have long since all been made, but now the serious posts are arriving. Ironically, the quake was centered in Eric Cantor's district. As emptywheel points out, Cantor was defending cutting funds for USGS and warning systems for natural disasters as recently as last March.

As for why it was so big and felt so widely, there was a lot of speculation early today that it has something to do with fracking. And to be fair, there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that links the two. But in this case, geology explains the causation. Think it's kind of cool that it was centered on the Spotsylvania fault zone. Sounds like somewhere Dracula would live. And I had no idea there were so many fault lines here on the East Coast.

Not so cool that they built a nuke plant right on the fault line though. The one nearest the epicenter lost power almost immediately and several others had "unusual incidents." Fortunately, no danger of meltdowns but it's a good reminder of the hazards of nuke energy.

And if you're wondering how strong the quake was in your area if you felt it, or in those of your friends and family back East, you can check the intensity by zip code here. [Last two links via argylestyle who's been on a tear today with great links.]

Update: Haven't looked at this one yet, but it's an animation of the seismic waves. Science is so cool. Makes you wonder why so many conservatives hate it so much.


[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

GOP: Special Victims Unit

Been a while since I've linked to, or even watched a Jon Stewart segment. This one is especially good:

The Daily Show - GOP - Special Victims Unit
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

In case the video doesn't work in your browser, here's a direct link to the segment. And it being a Sunday, a few more easy links for your amusement.

The Tea Party held a rally in DC the other day to protest Boehner trying to pass a debt ceiling bill. Louie Gohmert addresses the crowd. I'd note that I saw a couple of different TV reports on this rally. None showed the crowd, nor mentioned its size.

This is a amateur video. It's a bit long at 4 minutes, but really well done. I lasted all the way through. You might like it too. "Legend of the Tea Party Patriots"

A couple of great photos. A plane flying in front of a rainbow. And awesome rainbow over the Empire State Building after some sideways rain.

Didn't watch this yet, but trust Hudsonette's RTs completely. Video report on Mongolia's wild horses.

Finally if you're a fan of Edward Hopper's work and I certainly am, you can page through one of Hopper's sketchbooks at the Whitney Museum website.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

GOP to disaster victims: Screw you

Sorry natural disaster victims. The GOP majority in the House say they simply can't afford to send you federal relief funds.

The No. 2 House Republican said that if Congress doles out additional money to assist in the aftermath of natural disasters across the country, the spending may need to be offset.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said “if there is support for a supplemental, it would be accompanied by support for having pay-fors to that supplemental.”

You know the Republican drill newly homeless people, now living in devastation. You need to take personal responsibility for this stuff. Shouldn't have built your homes in a tornado zone.

Oh and by the way, the GOP wants you to pay for your own tornado warning systems too. You've been counting on big gummit to protect you for far too long. If the GOPers have anything to say about it, those days are over now.

Mother Earth is calling you

I love this. Bolivia is proposing a United Nations treaty giving "Mother Earth" the same rights as humans. Makes more sense than the corporate "person."

The bid aims to have the UN recognize the Earth as a living entity that humans have sought to "dominate and exploit" — to the point that the "well-being and existence of many beings" is now threatened. [...]

The wording may yet evolve, but the general structure is meant to mirror Bolivia's Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, which Bolivian President Evo Morales enacted in January.

The Bolivian law reflects the "traditional indigenous religious belief in the Earth deity known as Pachamama [which] is the centre of all life, and humans are considered equal to all other entities." Indeed, our planet is a living, breathing organism and respect for that has long been lost in Western traditions. That's why we're on the brink of environmental disaster and possible extinction of the human species now.

Pure Loyalty

Stories like this just make me sob in empathy for these poor critters:



Story here but since YahooNews links are so notorious for rotting in a short time, I'll post the English translation of the voiceover exchange between the two reporters in the clip (translation courtesy of Toshiyuki Kitamura):

We are in Arahama area. Looks like there is a dog. There is a dog. He looks tired and dirty. He must have been caught in the tsunami. He looks very dirty.

He has a collar. He must be someone's pet. He has a silver collar. He is shaking. He seems very afraid.

Oh, there is another dog. I wonder if he is dead.

Where?

Right there. There is another dog right next to the one sitting down. He is not moving. I wonder. I wonder if he is alright.

The dog is protecting him.

Yes. He is protecting the dog. That is why he did not want us to approach them. He was trying to keep us at bay.

I can't watch this. This is a very difficult to watch.

Oh. Look. He is moving. He is alive. I am so happy to see that he is alive.
Yes! Yes! He is alive.

He looks to be weakened. We need to them to be rescued soon. We really want them rescued soon.

Oh good. He's getting up.

It is amazing how they survived the tremendous earthquake and tsunami. It's just amazing that they survived through this all.

Happy ending too. The dogs have been rescued since the footage aired, and are both receiving veterinary care. They're in separate places though. I do hope they'll reunite them once the sick one recovers.

No where to run to

My heart is breaking for Japan. It's not enough that they suffered through a series of mega-quakes, a giant tsunami and apparently facing multiple meltdowns of their nuclear power plants in the north. Now, a volcano is erupting in southern Japan.

Can hardly imagine how horribly frightening it must be to be stuck on that island right now. And hearing there's a chance of more mega-quakes. The first one is said to have moved the entire main island at least 8 feet and changed the earth's axis by four inches.

It's enough to make you wonder if the Mayans were right after all...

Atomic Tsunami

I just had the weirdest conversation with a nominally liberal friend on Twitter. I hear the news about evacuations around the nuke facility in Japan.

Japanese officials early Saturday expanded the area around a crippled nuclear power plant subject to emergency evacuation, as radiation levels inside the facility were reported to have surged and operators struggled to keep the plant’s cooling system operating on battery power.

So I posted to the effect that this should end the false notion that nuclear energy is "clean." He tweeted me back, basically saying I was making too big a deal of it because other energy sources also suffer industrial accidents and cause pollution. As if the long term effects of a nuclear plant meltdown is in any way analogous. Besides, I've never understood how an energy source that produces toxic waste which remains lethal for centuries could ever be considered clean.

Meanwhile, my thoughts and prayers for the victims of this disaster.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Snowpocalypse 2011

Watching from afar and snow free here, I was searching for accounts and especially pictures of the big blizzard. Thought this one was the iconic photo of the storm.

The link will surely rot in a few weeks as Yahoo links are prone to do, but finally found the back story:

CHICAGO – Lindsey Wilson was on Lake Shore Drive, but she couldn't tell where. It was dark, and the snow swirling around the stranded bus made it impossible to see anything but the closest cars.

There was talk among her fellow commuters of 25-foot waves washing up from Lake Michigan and about when the bus might get going, but nobody knew anything — not the driver, not the emergency operators passengers were calling, and not the shivering motorists climbing aboard to keep warm after firefighters pulled them from their cars.

When a group of passengers decided enough was enough and started to walk, she joined them.

"I got 100 feet, everything was an orange hue, there was snow in my face, I couldn't see anything, I turned around and couldn't see the bus and I thought I was going to die," she said Wednesday morning.

Incredible. Over a thousand cars stuck in snow with the people in them stranded for hours. One thing I wonder about though, if you click over to the gallery, you'll see they opened up the opposite lanes right next to it by the next day. Surprised that people stuck near the outside lane didn't organize and dig themselves out. It wasn't that far to freedom and even if you hired ten teenagers to do the digging, would likely have been cheaper and faster than waiting for the city to tow you out.

Oh and the woman quoted above did make it safely back to the bus where they were eventually rescued. [AP photo]

Dead bird dropping

The experts are saying it's nothing to be alarmed about because it's happened several times in the last 30 years, but today in Louisiana some 500 birds fell out of the sky. And they didn't fly down. They were D.O.A.

Yesterday, thousands of dead drum fish blanketed an Arkansas River. That was preceded by thousands of dead blackbirds that dropped out of the sky in Arkansas on New Year's Eve. Last count I saw was estimated at 5,000 and nobody knows why they died. Which is also what they said about the massive fish kill on the Jersey shore last summer.

Around the same time, it snowed in Las Vegas for quite a while. I'm told it didn't amount to much, but still -- Las Vegas is a desert.

Climate disruption? Effects of GM crops? Signs of Armageddon? Who knows? But speaking of the Jersey Shore, I'm also the disgraceful, tacky loudmouth of the horrible reality show, Snooki, got a book deal. That alone feels like the end times of civil society to me.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Big wind in Gotham City

Wow. I'm offline for a few hours and a tornado hits Brooklyn.

Crazy. Wonder how long its been since the last time a tornado hit greater Manhattan? More photos and video at the link.