Autumnal Equinox

Today marks the first official day of Autumn, better known as the Autumnal equinox. It is the day when daylight hours will begin to wane, as the festivals of summer turn into what I think of as the vivid wake of Autumn. It will no doubt be beautiful as it is every year in new England, especially here in the Pioneer valley and all over western mass, as trees cloak themselves in the red, orange, and yellow fires of foliage, and slowly perform nature’s gradual tri month striptease of these garments to reveal their hunched and sturdy limbs of great timber.

Personally I find it a little depressing, as the skies often become more and more engulfed in clouds and grows closer and closer to the deadness of the Winter season. Anyway here is some background on the Autumnal Equinox, going back to the Pagans.

In ancient times, the Autumn Equinox was cause for a variety of pagan festivals, among them the celebration of the birth of Mabon, the son of Mordon, the Goddess of the earth.

It is also a time to celebrate with a variety of Fall and Harvest Festivals. People enjoy fall festivals as they sense the closure of a great summer season and the coming of a long winter. The fall festivals are the last of the outdoor events until spring. Just getting there is half the fun as you drive through hills and forests ablaze in fall color. So, get out and enjoy them.

Speaking of Fall festivals, the Pumpkin Festivals and weighoffs are among the best and biggest. Find more on Pumpkin Festivals.

Gas Shortages at Some Gas Stations in Nashvile

In the wake of Hurricane Ike, there are still reverbarations being felt. Fox 17 reporting that some Gas stations in Nashville are facing a shortage of fuel, due to so called “Panic buying” where people start buying a resource in bulk either leading up to in the wake of a disaster.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Some Nashville area drivers were having problems finding gasoline before the weekend — a situation a state spokesman and an oil industry official said was spurred by panic buying.

Motorists in Brentwood, on Nashville’s southern edge, found stations with no posted prices and their fuel pumps bagged on Friday morning.

Tennessee Oil Marketers Association Associate Director Emily LeRoy said there was fuel coming in, but the pipeline supply was sporadic.

The association represents gasoline retailers and wholesalers.

LeRoy said some Nashville stations had reported double their usual fuel sales volume for a week, since Hurricane Ike came ashore in Texas.

While Nashville had shortages, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesman Jeremy Heidt said Knoxville — which had a similar problem over last weekend — was receiving adequate delivery and prices had dropped.

Heidt called the Nashville situation a “temporary pinch point.”

Memphis and Chattanooga reported no problems obtaining fuel.

Lieberman and Thompson to Speak at Republican Convention

A day after Hurricane Gustav struck the Gulf coast and dramatically toned down the pageantry and business of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul Minnesota, it appears that the convention at least of now will go back to business.

Organizers of the Republican National Convention seem to be deciding the speakers and events. Last night the speeches of Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W Bush were canceled, although George W Bush will address the convention via Satelite at about 9:30p.m. ET. The “9/11 Guy” (former Mayor and Republican Presidential Candidate Rudy Gulliani (R-NY)) who was supposed to be giving the keynote address tonight will be speaking later in the week. The cause isn’t really stated but one assumes that it is because as the hurricane abates and coverage turns back to the Convention more people will be watching. Instead tonight it appears the GOP will be going with the “Grumpy Old Men” theme, when former 2000 Vice Presidential Candidate and Independent Senator as well as McCain supporter Sen Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Actor, former Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN), who himself had a short-lived Presidential campaign will speak before the convention tonight.

Associated Press:

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Republicans revamped their convention plans for a second day, dropping former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as keynote speaker Tuesday night while trying to determine President Bush’s role in the political pageantry celebrating John McCain’s candidacy for president.

In Giuliani’s speaking slot were former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, one of McCain’s rivals for the Republican nomination, and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, the Democrats’ vice presidential candidate in 2000 and now a McCain supporter. Republicans say the two will talk about McCain’s life and their friendship with him.

Can’t you just feel the excitement? Well to paraphrase “the 9/11 Guy”, Gustav changed everything.

Latest on Gustav, Hanna, and the GOP convention

Here is the latest as it relates to Hurricane Gustav as of 2:32p.m ET.

Associated Press:

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A weakened Hurricane Gustav slammed into the heart of Louisiana’s fishing and oil industry with 110 mph winds Monday, delivering only a glancing blow to New Orleans that raised hopes the city would escape the kind of catastrophic flooding brought by Katrina three years ago.

Wind-driven water sloshed over the top of the Industrial Canal’s floodwall, but city officials and the Army Corps of Engineers said they expected the levees, still only partially rebuilt after Katrina, would hold. The canal broke with disastrous effect during Katrina, submerging St. Bernard Parish and the Lower Ninth Ward.

“We are seeing some overtopping waves,” said Col. Jeff Bedey, commander of the Corps’ hurricane protection office. “We are cautiously optimistic and confident that we won’t see catastrophic wall failure.”

Of more immediate concern to authorities was a barge that broke loose from its moorings and crashed into two anchored, scrapped ships. There were no immediate reports of any damage to the canal.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Gustav hit around 11:30 a.m. near the Cocodrie (pronounced ko-ko-DREE), a low-lying community in Louisiana’s Cajun country 72 miles southwest of New Orleans, as a Category 2 storm on a scale of 1 to 5. Forecasters had feared the storm would arrive as a devastating Category 4.

The extent of the damage in Cajun country was not immediately clear, and only one storm-related death, involving a woman killed in a car wreck, was reported in Louisiana.

Read More>>>
,
Appears that preparations are better than those before Hurricane Katrina in 2005
in which government officials at the municipal, state, and Federal levels were horrifically unprepared. Nevertheless, despite the storm being weaker than anticipated, though the fury of the storm sounds like it remains intense with water overlapping some levees and winds remaining strong. All residents of New Orleans have been ordered to evacuate affected parts of the city a few days ago. Any looters or those who commit acts of crime are warned that the penalty for doing so, will be imprisonment in Angola state prison one of the most brutal prison facilities in the country.

Meanwhile the tone and scope of the Republican National Convention that was scheduled to start this week up the Mississippi River in ST. Paul Minnesota is also said to be dramatically affected by the arrival and intensity of Hurricane Gustav. First Lady Laura Bush and the wife of presumptive Presidential Candidate Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Cindy McCain are expected to speak as slated, but many reports indicate that President Bush and Vice President Cheney’s speeches are likely not to take place, due to worries about Gustav and efforts to not appear as indifferent about the hurricane as they had in 2005 with Hurricane Katrina when Bush was on vacation and eating birthday cake with Senator McCain while those stranded in New Orleans drowned in murky waters and were stranded on top of crumbling rooftops.

For at least the first day and night of the convention, business and festivities will be reduced dramatically, mostly to business. Fundraising efforts will also take place in ST Paul at the Republican National Convention and events and business throughout the week will either take place or be postponed as events and developments dictate. McCain has also reduced his appearances and events on the campaign trail, as have Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill) and his running mate Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del). However McCain is expected to accept the nomination of his party as Presidential candidate in ST Paul later this week.

Also a second hurricane looks to be brewing in the Caribbean Hurricane Hanna, and possibly strike the southeastern United States. tornadoes also appear to be brewing throughout states in the Gulf coast. More as it develops.

News and Such – June 14, 2008

WWLP.com– (local) Parents of Springfield,MA murder victim speak out against gang violence.

CNN.com-(unusual) Britain’s Princess Eugenie caught “frolicking” naked.

Washington Post.com– (International) Possible trouble on the horizon for U.S Forces in Iraq: Iraqi government voicing opposition to U.S backed Status of Forces agreement and grumblings from Shiite Cleric moqtada Al-Sadr calls for new violent offensives against U.S Forces.

Taunton Gazette– More on the Iowa floods.

MSNBC.com– Remembering the life and accomplishments of Tim Russert. Remember to say a prayer for his family.

L.A TIMES– (crime) Reportedly near death, Manson family member and convicted murderer Susan Atkins could be released.

Tammy Bruce.com– Happy Flag Day! Celebrate our stars and stripes.

Sirius: Gravy in your ear today at 4:00pm Eastern time on Sirius 17 Jam On. Check for times of rebroadcast.

farkItButton(“Your headline goes here”, “http://your-url-goes-here/”, “80×20”);

Tornado injures dozens of Boy scouts, kills four

Overhead view of the remnants of the Little Sioux Scout Ranch, after being struck by a violent tornado last night. Picture in the New York Times.

Devastating news from Sioux city Iowa, as last night a tornado touched down there, nature unleashing its wrath against, amongst others, a gang of teenage boy scouts at the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in Sioux City,Iowa. Dozens are said to be injured and about four are thought to have died. All this as destructive weather continues to pumble areas of the Midwest.

farkItButton(“Your headline goes here”, “http://your-url-goes-here/”, “80×20”);

Had this e-mailed to me by my father

This is what is known as a fire rainbow.

farkItButton(“Your headline goes here”, “http://your-url-goes-here/”, “80×20”);

This Date in History- June 9 (havent done this in awhile)

Courtesy: hippy.com, wikipedia, History Channel

1790: The “Philadelphia Spelling Book” by John Barry becomes the first U.S copyrighted book.

1915: Ex-three time Presidential candidate and U.S Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigns, over the U.S policy and that of then President Woodrow Wilson in response to the sinking of the RMS Lusitania by German submarines.

1916: Les paul is born.

1934: Disney cartoon Donald Duck makes his premiere.

1953: A pair of tornadoes break off from one storm system, one strikes Flynt, Michigan and the other Worcester, Massachusetts.

1954: During a hearing of the House on Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), Army special counsel Joseph Welch lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy asking if he has “no shame” during a hearing on whether or not communists have infiltrated the ranks of the U.S Army.

1963: Actor Johnny Depp is born.

1967: During the Six day War, Israel seizes the Syrian Golan Heights.

1968: Days after Senator Robert F Kennedy (D-NY) is assassinated U.S President Lyndon Johnson declares a national day of mourning.

1978: The Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints declares that the church will allow black men to enter the Priesthood.

farkItButton(“Your headline goes here”, “http://your-url-goes-here/”, “80×20”);

Myanmar denies delays in Cyclone relief, turns away U.S Ships

Nearly a month after a deadly cyclone struck and battered Myanmar, the autocratic millitary Junta that rules the country deny any fault with the delivery and distribution of aid to victims. This despite the regime delaying and obstructing international efforts to bring supplies and relief to the devastated people of that nation, and still not helping much of its population located in the less populated regions of that country.

Now the rulers so obssesed with maintaining thier own power and keeping the devastated population away from the outside world and in a state of paranoia have rejected needed supplies from U.S Navy ships. Its a government unresponsive, uncaring, and in ways at war with its own people. Any government that does this and neglects the suffering and demands of its people, should not get in return the obedience of those they supposedly govern.

AFP:

YANGON (AFP) — Myanmar denied Tuesday any delays to cyclone aid, but the United Nations said the operation to help 2.4 million survivors is still moving too slowly one month after the deadly storm.

Cyclone Nargis left 133,000 people dead or missing when it ploughed across Myanmar one month ago, laying waste to vital farmlands and wiping remote villages off the map.

For the first three weeks after the storm, Myanmar stonewalled international efforts to deliver aid, yielding only after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon paid a personal visit here to meet with junta leader Than Shwe.

Ban left Myanmar saying he had convinced the senior general to allow a full-scale relief effort, but 11 days later, UN agencies say access remains spotty, with only a handful of foreign aid workers actually in the worst-hit parts of the Irrawaddy Delta.

Elisabeth Byrs, a UN spokeswoman in Geneva, said that about 1.3 million people out of the 2.4 million affected by the cyclone have now received some form of foreign aid.

Many of the one million survivors still languishing with little help live in remote villages inaccessible by land, aid agencies say.

But the government mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar newspaper insisted that the recovery was on track, and that farmers were ploughing devastated fields that have been soaked in sea water and littered with human and animal corpses.

“Myanmar was able to successfully carry out the relief and rehabilitation operation in a short time although it was hit hard by the severe storm,” it said.

Now in spite of the continued suffering, the tens of thousands dead, and the many who have not received medical relief, are homeless, and hungry, the Myanmar junta seeks to give an appearance of a return to normalcy by reopening the schools where many of the victims of the cyclone have taken shelter, resuming classes, and likely leaving the victims to fend for themselves. That is the typical mentality and practice of an autocratic regime be it dictatorship, theocracy, or junta; pretend nothing is the matter and ignore problems and maybe they will fade away on their own.

farkItButton(“Your headline goes here”, “http://your-url-goes-here/”, “80×20”);

In Wake of Severe Earth Quake China loosening restrictions on Internet access

China enters three days of mourning in quake aftermath today.

The eyes of the world have been fixated on China ever since last Monday, when a 7.9 earthquake shook the large Asian nation and is now reported to have left thousands of victims in its wake. It is said to be the worst earthquake to strike China since at least 1976. Chinese left trapped beneath the slabs of cracked stone and buildings. For those who have persevered and have miraculously managed to survive and remain beneath the mounds of rubble and carnage awash in mounds of dust, the sun has set seven times and has arisen seven more since they last breathed and moved freely.

Rescue and aid efforts continue, however the government is said to have responded slow.

But the normally restrictive communist government when it comes to freedom of the press and Internet access within the red nation, has at least temporarily eased it restrictions and censorship, permitting citizens within China to provide personal accounts of their ordeals as well as amass information from other sources via the Internet and interactive media sources.

Wired:

China is now home to the world’s largest number of Internet and mobile phone users, and their hunger for quake news is forcing the government to let information flow in ways it hasn’t before.

A fast moving network of text messages, instant messages, and blogs has been a powerful source of first hand accounts of disaster, as well as pleas for help and even passionate criticism of rescue efforts.

“I don’t want to use the word transparent,but it’s less censored, an almost free flow of discussion,” said Xiao Qiang, a Journalism Professor at the University of California, Berkley, and director of the China Internet Project, which monitors and translates Chinese websites.

Meanwhile China is observing the tragedy and death they have endured in the past week with a three minute moment of silence and a three day period of National mourning.

The Chinese government, who owns and controls the levers of power regarding the media in that country; has likely learned in the wake of such incidents in the suppression of Buddhist monks in Myanmar last year (in which bloggers also played a part in breaching the usually solid wall of censorship), the Chinese recent crackdown in Tibet, as well as protests surrounding the Chinese Olympics, that in the wake of such devastation that suppressing such expression and the search for news regarding the earth quake would be much more costly to the regime then allowing them to get access to such information and discussions. Also the government likely realized how illogical it would be in such a colossal nation, to be well equipped enough to respond to the turmoil that has followed the violent quake and the distribution of aid, while simultaneously cracking down on dissent and anti-government speech.

Will this mean permanent changes and more liberal speech laws for the Chinese people, who despite relatively free markets, still find liberties of speech, expression, and religion in relatively sparse in supply? The answer is likely no. Despite the government’s easing up on Internet and electronic communications access, tight restraints on speech and Internet access remain in place. Over the course of the past week and in the wake of this latest disaster, a number of people were penalized for supposedly distributing what the government deems “false information”, including a post on one Internet venue that leveled criticisms of the government’s response, which was later erased.

So in terms of motives, the at least token liberalization of some free speech restrictions and Internet access, it is likely to blunt domestic and international criticisms of the Chinese government and their response to the earthquake. The impediments to news and the expression of messages that the government deems unlawful will probably be reinstated after the recovery.

Hopefully this breath of fresh air and free speech will motivate the Chinese to demand more of it from their rulers.

Photo from the Associated Press.

farkItButton(“Your headline goes here”);