4.2 Earthquake In East Bay

An earthquake just occurred as I was writing my last post at around 9:00 PM.

The earthquake happened in the Alamo, CA area and my wife and I hear the rumble and then felt one small jolt then a quick moderate jolt.

No damage that we are aware of in the area.

Here is more information from the USGS.

CDC Chief Warns Pandemic Flu Is Coming

During a a national conference Thursday Dr. Julie Gerberding director of the CDC says "ready or not, a flu pandemic is coming."

"No one knows when the pandemic is coming or what strain of flu virus will cause it, but it is overdue", she said.

She was also correct in her statement in which she said, "politicians are not talking about a flu pandemic or the bird flu virus, which may or may not be the virus that causes the next pandemic. No one is talking about it, and it’s not on their radar screen.”

At the conference she also made mention that critical products and services including food, and water and basic drugs will be unavailable due to transportation and energy problems.

For more on this story please visit our Source.

Secret Raid To Kill and Capture Militants In Pakistan

The United States is not confirming the story, however multiple news sources are indicating that a raid took place inside Pakistan to kill and or capture militants, and Al Qaeda forces in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

After the raid took place Pakistan is saying that the United States relied on bad intelligence and that only innocent civilians were killed, including woman and children. Though I myself do not belive that report.

Pakistan is also claiming we violated their territorial rights, however, I would like to dispute this claim, since Pakistan has publicly made statements that they are unable to control this part of their territory, and they have confirmed that Al Qaeda has freedom of movement in an area that has become largely like Afghanistan prior to the United States driving out the Taliban in 2001.

If they are unable to establish control over a region, how can they claim that it is their sovereign territory? So on this basis I would like to dispute that Pakistan has the right to that region, and if they do have control, then they themselves are giving shelter to terrorists.

In either case, I say it is about time we strated operating in this region and drive the terrorists out of their caves.

Though I doubt that the actions will be confirmed, I hope this leads to many more such actions.

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Evacuation A Success, New Orleans Levees Hold

New Orleans, is saved from disaster as the levees hold. After historic and unprecedented evacuation of nearly 2 million people.

National Guardsmen, and members of the Coast Guard adverted a possible disaster by keeping a propane tank and ships from battering up against the levees and possibly breaching them.

They risked their own lives to save the City of New Orleans by going out into the Hurricane and in one case diving into the canal to tie a line onto the propane tank.

In all there have been six reported deaths attributed to the storm in the United States. With damage estimates at $6-10 billion last I saw.

Though largely a success, the low impact may have future repercussions since not so many may heed the evacuation warnings next time around, but that remains to be seen.

Also, though the levees held, some were over topped by the surge which is not a breech, but they may not stand up well to a Category 4 or higher storm, but the Army Corps of Engineers say more work remains to be done on the levee system.

Good job to all those involved.

New Orleans Mayor Calls Gustav "Storm of the Century"

Mandatory evacuations begin as Gustav closes in on the New Orleans area. But as should be expected not everyone is leaving.

As ABC News reported, Larry Denny isn't worried enough about Hurricane Gustav to leave. Denny says that there is "no way" he and his wife Charlotte will evacuate New Orleans.

"Why do we stay?" asked Denny, who was raised in Louisiana and returned to New Orleans 15 years ago to settle in Orleans Parish, just north of the French Quarter. "Because we know the government won't protect our house, so we have to."

"I won't be coming back to a shell," said Denny, who added that just like he rode out Katrina he'll do it again for Gustav.

The Mayor of New Orleans is issuing stern warning to residents to leave. "This is going to be the storm of the century," said Nagin, admitting that while he's usually "very calm," this time is different. "You need to be scared," said Nagin. "This is the mother of all storms, and I'm not sure we've seen anything like this."

With all the warnings from officials to leave and changes in rules in which people are being allowed to take their pets, it seems more people are leaving the area this time around, but as mentioned earlier some are still choosing to stay.

The Mayor is telling these people they will be on their own, and depending on how many people do stay, we still might see a bit of a mess. Especially if it takes some time to reach these people after the storm.

With the storm surge predicted to be twice as high as the levees even if they hold the water will just go right over the top causing massive flooding once again for the second time in three years.

For Current Status of Gustave with historical track of Katrina.

Earlier posts on Gustave in order:

New Orleans Considers Evacuations

Gustave becomes Cat 1, Killer Storm

Gustave Becomes Cat 3, Evacuations Begin

Gustav Increases To Category 4, Evacuations Begin

Source 1 ABC NEWS - Great Video news cast on this page
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