tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56294582009-08-09T10:38:47.911-04:00Here and there... mostly thereJohn Burgessnoreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1105944821439808242005-01-17T01:52:00.000-05:002005-01-17T01:53:41.440-05:00

All my blogging is now being done at Crossroads Arabia, where I try to put Saudi Arabia--its history, culture, and contemporary reforms--into context. Hope to see you there.

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1092436245965938812004-08-13T18:20:00.000-04:002004-08-13T18:30:45.966-04:00

It seems as though we've dodged the bullet in Sarasota. The center of the storm--the eye, which is degrading--is now to the northeast. We're still concerned about bands of weather coming along the back side of Charley, but so far it's been not too bad. Port Charlotte seems to have gotten really hammered, though. TV is reporting a collapsed nursing home and damage to a firestation, with injuries,

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1092430262552025592004-08-13T16:46:00.000-04:002004-08-13T16:51:02.553-04:00

Charley is inshore now. It's currently moving NE across Charlotte Harbor, about 55 miles south of Sarasota. The eye of the hurricane is a tightly-wound one, perhaps 20 miles across. That suggests that it's going to miss my area, at least with a direct hit. Winds are gusting here, but there's no obvious damage visible in my immediate area. Rain has been continuing at a steady, heavy pace for the

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1092418826205512882004-08-13T13:35:00.000-04:002004-08-13T13:40:26.206-04:00

Charley seems to be fickle. Winds are picking up and now recorded at 145 mph. That moves it into a Cat 4 status. Along with the windspeed, momentum is also increasing: the storms going to hit perhaps two hours ahead of previous estimates. It also seems to be veering to the east a bit. If that continues, landfall will be around the Charlotte Harbor area, south of Sarasota and far south of Tampa/

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1092411765006652932004-08-13T11:58:00.000-04:002004-08-13T11:56:40.726-04:00

Gov. JEB Bush is on the TV now. He's saying that if people haven't already left the area, it's too late. He warns people against using the Interstate highways in the area. People in Pinellas Co.--where Tampa lies--are to stay in the county and seek higher ground. Avoid the highways. The Skyway Bridge, which arches over the mouth of Tampa Bay, will be open to traffic until winds hit 65 mph; then,

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1092412419917692492004-08-13T11:44:00.000-04:002004-08-13T22:56:34.446-04:00

Weatherbug is blogging out of the Tampa area. His blog is meteorologically based and a very interesting read. Instapundit is linking to bloggers covering the storm. And, to respond to his query, "No, I'm not sticking around to blog the storm and put myself in danger." I'm actually about as safe as I can be and still be in the area. I expect to lose electricty--and thus the ability to blog--long

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1092403096164690952004-08-13T09:18:00.000-04:002004-08-13T10:01:46.266-04:00

Instapundit.com: asks"Is anybody blogging this down there?" Well, yes, I am... I'm sitting in Sarasota. All of the barrier islands like Longboat Key and Siesta Key have been evacuated. All the mobile homes, RVs and trailer parks are empty. They estimate that some 300,000 people have been moved out of harm's way along the SW Florida coast. The Florida communities have hurricane evacuation plans

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1090781849228475352004-07-25T14:57:00.000-04:002004-07-25T14:57:29.226-04:00

USS Clueless - Just do it Steve den Beste, blogger at USS Clueless, has a very good article up. He talks about the difference between what is desirable and what is feasible. The context is discussion about CIA infiltration of Al Qaeda, but he takes it further into the realm of engineering as well. While I don't always agree with den Beste, he's right on the mark with this one. RTWT.

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1090510695985531962004-07-22T11:35:00.000-04:002004-07-22T11:38:15.986-04:00

A peculiar site, panoramas.dk has an absolutely incredible set of pictures, all, of course, in panorama format. The one linked above is to the Apollo 17 mission to the moon. Check it out.

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1090378789484053352004-07-20T21:31:00.000-04:002004-07-20T22:59:49.483-04:00

Sandy Berger, former National Security Advisor, walks off with classified documents while preparing for congressional testimony for the 9/11 hearings. He returns most, but managed to lose some. This happened earlier in the year, if not late last year. In the meantime, he signs on as a foreign policy advisor to John Kerry. Berger knows a few things. He knows that you don't walk out with, or

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1090338894782800412004-07-20T11:52:00.000-04:002004-07-20T12:21:53.656-04:00

There's a really remarkable article over at Mainichi Daily News about flavors of ice cream in Japan. While I have a very catholic approach to food, some of these are just incredibly strange. Take a look, but maybe not while eating lunch.

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1090274395431404672004-07-19T17:54:00.000-04:002004-07-19T18:02:32.643-04:00

New research out of Switzerland is saying that the sun has had a sustained high in sunspot activity for the past 60 years, having started to increase over the past 100-150 years.   One of the big questions about global warming has always been the role of solar radiance on temperature change. To date, there's not been a whole lot of research on it; it's certainly never been used in any of the

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1089990501864025152004-07-16T16:12:00.000-04:002004-07-16T11:08:21.863-04:00

At one time, Bobby Fischer held a large part of the world in thrall. A genius, a chess prodigy, a Grand Master at the age of 15. His international championships were--it's hard to believe--compelling TV.   But then he quite simply lost his mind.   He also got himself sideway with UN resolutions and US laws concerning economic sanctions against the former Yugoslavia, when he went there for a

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1089748789683788812004-07-13T15:57:00.000-04:002004-07-13T15:59:49.683-04:00

because fat, apparently, isn't sitting there doing nothing! An article in the July 11 Washington Post reviews current research on fat and finds that it's dynamic, changing the signals it sends out in response to the environmental cues it's receiving. Worth reading, even if it might complicate the review below.

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1089740088083322732004-07-13T13:09:00.000-04:002004-07-13T13:34:48.083-04:00

Just finished reading--in one sitting--Steve Graham's Eat What You Want and Die Like a Man. What can I say other than this is one of the funniest books I've read in a very long time! Utterly un-PC, the book is a rebellion against the "food police". Graham, like I, seems to have missed that election where the country voted to "live longer; live more miserably". But, seeing that we're both

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629458.post-1059563166167117252004-07-12T06:00:00.000-04:002004-07-13T13:00:00.790-04:00

This post is republished from about just a year ago. In looking it over while revitalizing this blog, I decided that it's still germane and still accurate. This blog will be doing less reporting on the Middle East: you can find my stuff on Saudi Arabia at my Crossroads Arabia site. This blog will be more domestically oriented, and a lot more opinionated. Den Beste's Strategic Overview is a

John Burgessnoreply@blogger.com