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INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECTFox News has Geraldo Rivera reading this verbatim -- they've finally found a use for him.
UNTIL 10:00PM CDT
Urgent - Weather Message National Weather Service New Orleans LA 413 PM CDT Sun Aug 28 2005
... Extremely Dangerous Hurricane Katrina Continues To Approach The Mississippi River Delta... ... Devastating Damage Expected...
Most Of The Area Will Be Uninhabitable For Weeks... Perhaps Longer. At Least One Half Of Well Constructed Homes Will Have Roof And Wall Failure. All Gabled Roofs Will Fail... Leaving Those Homes Severely Damaged Or Destroyed.
The Majority Of Industrial Buildings Will Become Non Functional. Partial To Complete Wall And Roof Failure Is Expected. All Wood Framed Low Rising Apartment Buildings Will Be Destroyed. Concrete Block Low Rise Apartments Will Sustain Major Damage... Including Some Wall And Roof Failure.
High Rise Office And Apartment Buildings Will Sway Dangerously... A Few To The Point Of Total Collapse. All Windows Will Blow Out.
Airborne Debris Will Be Widespread... And May Include Heavy Items Such As Household Appliances And Even Light Vehicles. Sport Utility Vehicles And Light Trucks Will Be Moved. The Blown Debris Will Create Additional Destruction. Persons... Pets... And Livestock Exposed To The Winds Will Face Certain Death If Struck.
Power Outages Will Last For Weeks... As Most Power Poles Will Be Down And Transformers Destroyed. Water Shortages Will Make Human Suffering Incredible By Modern Standards.
The Vast Majority Of Native Trees Will Be Snapped Or Uprooted. Only The Heartiest Will Remain Standing... But Be Totally Defoliated. Few Crops Will Remain. Livestock Left Exposed To The Winds Will Be Killed.
The federal Base Closure and Realignment Commission dropped the Pentagon's request to deactivate the 111th Fighter Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, the base's primary operating unit.Well I suppose if they say they took the planes, then they took the planes. But I listened again to the BRAC hearing linked to below, and it sure sounded to me that the motion preceding the final vote to close the base deleted references to deactivating the Wing and moving the planes. I looked briefly on the BRAC DoD website to find the original recommendation, which I thought might help figure this out, but I gave up. It's a Saturday afternoon afterall, and like I said before, I only know enough to be dangerous about the legalities of this stuff. Yet still, I labor on.
If the unit remains on duty, however, it is unclear what it will do, because 15 A-10 "Warthog" attack planes now at the base will be reassigned.
. . . .
"They didn't deactivate the 111th, but they gave away the airplanes," said Dan McCaffrey, cochair of the regional military affairs committee of the Suburban Horsham Willow Grove Chamber of Commerce.
"Gov. Rendell has 1,700 air guardsmen but no planes," McCaffrey said, referring to part-time and full-time service people. "Now the question is: Do they still have any funding?"
Adrian King, director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and Rendell's point man on the lawsuit, said the base-closing committee had the power to close the base and move the aircraft.
"Overall, the BRAC does have the discretion to close the real estate, and they appear to have done that," King said.
Indeed, the battle over the future of the historic air base had consumed this leafy suburb of rolling hills and shopping centers for much of the summer. It's almost impossible to drive anywhere in Willow Grove or the surrounding Montgomery County communities without seeing "Save Our Base" yard signs, even on a lawn next to the Double Visions Erotic Go-Go Club.Ah yes -- my hometown. A leafy suburb of rolling hills, shopping centers, and the Double Visions Erotic Go-Go Club. I've gotta remember to buy some postcards.
Col. Gregory Marston, commander of the 111th and Col. Paul Comtois, the air-commander of the 111th, declined to speculate on the fate of the unit. Marston noted that Congress and the president must still sign off on the BRAC decision, and "meanwhile, our job is to prepare airmen for combat and we will continue to do so," he said. "The whole process takes years and we have to keep going."If nothing else, with a little luck maybe the Base will be around for one final Air Show.
State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, a Republican whose district includes Montgomery and Bucks counties, said he is hopeful the state can keep the air field open as its own facility, as was done several years ago with a base at Indiantown Gap. "I think it is important for us to maintain our security and for us to maintain the importance of the military here."I have no idea how this will play out, but then again, it's still only Saturday afternoon.
Admiral Gehman: Thank you Mr. Chairman. Colleagues, this closure of the Joint Reserve Base at Willow Grove -- any time we deal with a closure it gives us great pause. This closure is part of the total Air Guard lay down, it frees up units, frees up airplanes, moves them around in accordance with our Master Plan, and uh, therefore, it's probably the right thing to do. This has been a Naval Air Station and then a Joint Reserve Base for decades and decades and decades. The people of this community and the functions at Willow Grove that have been performed over the years have been remarkable, they've been important to the national defense of the country, the community has been enormously supportive of Willow Grove for decades. It's uh, it's a fabulous base, and our vote here today in no way should be taken that, as a signal that they're doing something wrong or that somethings not right. This is a very very good installation, a very succesful experiment in joint basing, uh and uh, the only reason it's on the table is because it's swept up in the larger plan of uh, other bases. I myself know what a great contribution the citizens have made, the great contribution that this base has made over the years, and I regret that it's come to this but the greater good of the Deptartment and the country requires that we take this action. Thank you Mr. Chairman.So it's "We're sorry, but . . . ."? Actually, that's about how I saw this turning out. I haven't watched any other parts of the hearings so I don't know if that's a general litany or if Willow Grove got special treatment. But Willow Grove's problem is that it's not large enough and can't become much larger. So in an environment of shrinking needs the Base is hard pressed to justify it's cost when it's functions can be performed elsewhere in a larger facility, for less.
Chairman Principi: Thank you Admiral Gehman and I certainly associate myself with your comments. This is a painful decision, but I believe that it's the right decision, and that we did not find substantial deviation from the military value criteria. However as Admiral Gehman said the people of Willow Grove has served the nation very very well.
The DVD will be released by WMG (Warner Music Group) on October 25th, 2005 in the USA, and October 24th in the rest of the world, as a 2-disc package, including the original 99-minute film restored and remixed in 5.1, as well as 72-minutes of extras. The extras feature a 45-minute documentary "The Concert For Bangladesh Revisited with George Harrison & friends" . . . .Note to self -- start Christmas list.
During a round-table interview with reporters from five Texas newspapers, Bush declined to go into detail on his personal views of the origin of life. But he said students should learn about both theories, Knight Ridder Newspapers reported.The "both theories" is a reference, of course, to intelligent design and evolution.
''I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought,'' Bush said. ''You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes.''
Palmeiro's statement: "Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. My name is Rafael Palmeiro and I am a professional baseball player. I'll be brief in my remarks today. Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never. The reference to me in Mr. Canseco's book is absolutely false. I am against the use of steroids. I don't think athletes should use steroids and I don't think our kids should use them. That point of view is one, unfortunately, that is not shared by our former colleague, Jose Canseco. Mr. Canseco is an unashamed advocate for increased steroid use by all athletes."Yeah. And I did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky. We've heard it before, and that's the point. Palmiero's credibility was tossed down the crapper by the test result. If Palmiero wants us to believe him, and if MLB wants us to believe in their test program's results, both have to do something to tighten the process -- they need to identify the substance he tested for and need to explain how, what, or why the positive result was either false or not. This burden falls more heavily on Palmiero than MLB, but Carroll makes a good point that baseball's testing program isn't as tightly defined as the NFL's. And while I'm sure that OJ is still suffering sleepless nights as he searches high and low for Nicole's killer, it seems to me that Palmiero uniquely has the means to identify what he took that caused the test to return a positive result. Have at it Mr. Hall of Famer.
USAMA: All right, but apart from cell phones, the satellite television, indoor plumbing, air conditioning, electricity, DVDs, SUVs, the Internet, and universal education, what have the infidels ever done for us?
ABDULLAH: Establish democracy.
USAMA: Oh. Democracy? Shut up!