Benefit Concert of the victims of Hurricane Sandy

"We've come together (click here) tonight to tell every single person who's suffering that we are here for you. We will do whatever we can to help. We will not leave anyone behind because every single one of you matters," the star said before beginning her performance of her hit "Beautiful."

Romney definitely understands 'Real Change."

It just isn't the kind of change that benefits a nation of Middle Class people.

Roads lined with cars can cause a tanker delays, too,

..."There is no gasoline supply shortage," (click here) said Sal Risalvato, executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline-C-Store-Automotive Association. "This is a delivery shortage. You get back electricity, and a large part of this goes away."...

The USA is doing well under President Obama rather than Republican ideologies.

Employers added 171,000 people to their payrolls last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. The government also said 84,000 more jobs were created in August and September than previously estimated.

The jobless rate edged up a tenth of a point to 7.9 percent, but that was due to workers surging back into the labor force. Only people who are looking for a job count as unemployed.

"This report is consistent with the emerging picture of an economic recovery that is continuing to regain traction after grinding to a halt earlier this year," said Millan Mulraine, senior U.S. strategist at TD Securities in Toronto.

The Recovery of Private Jobs Under Obama, versus the Fall Under Bush. And the Cuts in Government Jobs Under Obama, versus the Rise Under Bush.

Riddle for the Day.

Why aren't there whales and floundering fish found in the flooded NYC Subway?

Answer: They have respect for big storms and take to calmer seas AHEAD of disaster.

There are some meteorologists making prudent observations.

I also believe there is something to be learned from their observations as well.

...Forecaster Bruce Sullivan (click here) said it wouldn't be as bad as Superstorm Sandy and isn't tropical. But it could include snow in interior New England and New York, beach erosion and high winds for areas hit by Sandy and moderate or heavier rainfall. Winds could be about 30 to 40 mph.

"I wouldn't get too alarmed yet," Sullivan said. "But it's something we're going to be watching over the next few days and fine-tuning. Anything that could hamper clean-up efforts is something that could be watched."

Meanwhile, widespread power outages and subway shutdowns may wind up making Sandy the second most expensive storm in U.S. history, according to the forecasting firm Eqecat. That would rank it right behind Hurricane Katrina....

The awareness of the instability of the northeast coast of North America post storm is appreciated. There cannot be too much vigilance to weather detail for these folks.

The leadership I witnessed during this national emergency was all about returning life to citizens as quickly as possible. We all love them for it. But, there is a season of unpredictable weather ahead of us yet. The end of Hurricane Season is not over until November 30th. Then there is winter. While much is possible to be accomplished over the winter, there are some projects prudently postponed until Spring.

The most pressing projects are removing water, especially contaminated water, from areas where it should not be. It will be getting colder. That water can turn into ice. Ice would cause a great deal more damage because it expands when it freezes.

The gasoline lines are becoming a cultural event. Within that reality are the people with the least amount of resources to withstand life without movement and work. So, their focus is getting fuel to move their lives forward. There is a health danger as weather changes. This storm has done its damage in compounding ways including its' timing in relation to propagating more damage on top of the damage that already exists. These folks have to be encouraged to move to shelters if their personal circumstances are not resolved quickly. I realize anger is a state of mind in the USA since 2008, but, in this case there is so much that can be done immediately. People have to think about their own well being and not their best outcomes. 

Everyone in the nation wants the trauma to stop and return to function is the best way to do that, but, when it comes to the damaged coastline there is a lot to consider with correct approaches to insure the best outcomes.

One aspect to this is, how have the coastlines and sand movement under the ocean water changed. Sandy moved a great deal of sand and what comes to mind are Shipping Lanes. NASA and NOAA need to due assessments to determine the underwater terrain and any changes in those areas. NASA can facilitate NOAA with their initial assessments and streamline this. NASA can probably use their satellite capacity to be most expedient for initial determinations. I think prudent warnings about ships coming and going along the east coast of North America is appropriate until proper assessments are complete. We don't need ships crashing into pieces either.

Additional storms will no doubt strike the northeast coast. Over the decades it has had its share of snow and ice which was the focus of photographers and journalists, but, the damage done by this storm is unprecedented. The assessments that can be completed by NASA and NOAA will also help expedite the recovery efforts. My concern is the disturbed ocean bottom will continue to shift until it returns to more normalized 'settling.' The oceans do have tide patterns of all kinds and that dictates the location of sand at the bottom of the oceans. The knowledge of shifting 'sediment/sand' where construction will resume at earliest convenience will add to the safety and stability of the reconstruction.

There is much work to be done, but, safety first and protecting the lives saved is important,too. This is going to sound cold hearted, but, what I am hearing about the use of gasoline is that it is being used to heat and light homes rather than the electrical power that normally provides that. The important focus is returning the electricity more than providing gasoline to generators. Sorry, it is just the way it is. There are people waiting to receive gas for their cars to get to work and it is being purchased by those supplying their homes with electricity. It is not a waste of time to provide focus to gas lines, but, in all honesty it is the electricity that is the problem more than the gasoline. 

There are unreasonable demands for gasoline right now. People are trying to supplement loss of electricity with gasoline and folks are filling gas cans to keep in the trunk of their cars so they don't have to repeat waiting in line. There is a perpetuating shortage by the way it is being used now. It is unrealistic to believe any government can get ahead of this artificial demand.

Motorists have to realize their cars are designed NOT TO BLOW UP from a crash when carrying gasoline IN A TANK. There is added danger in providing supplemental gas cans in the trunk of the car in crashes and danger of escaped fumes. 

Do I really have to say this stuff?

I participated in the gas lines under Nixon in the 1970s. It was a cultural event then too, but, I was never so stupid I put gas cans in the trunk of my car. The gas lines of the '70s were in the winter, too.

This is where frustration of the citizen with their government becomes unresolvable and media coverage does more harm when it is not met with what is possible. These folks have to go to shelters until the electricity is turned back on. There is little to resolve here at the moment, however, the frustration is a 'boom for politicians and media ratings.'

I think that does it for now.

Oh, one other thing. The bodies being found in Staten Island may not be from Staten Island.

Departing from the recovery after the storm.

President Obama is correct in stating there needs to be a Secretary of Business. I am not sure he would call it exactly that name, but, there needs to be a consolidation of business interests across the entire Presidential Cabinet.

President Obama has stated from the beginning there needs to be consolidation of some agencies and processes to streamline any needs of businesses in the USA and those wanting to do business with the USA. But, the agencies he is referring to are not exclusively found within the US Department of Commerce, they are spread across the authorities of several US Cabinet positions. That was the point.

Here again, Mr. Romney got it wrong, spun the truth and has no clue. He really doesn't 'get it.' Whatever.

To illustrate more clearly the 'No Clue' status of Mr. Romney. The definition of 'commerce' is not only about MONEY. 

Question: What agency would make a good question for "Jeopardy?" 

I am serious, what question can be derived from the list of agencies with the US Department of Commerce for the game show "Jeopardy?"

How about this one. "What is the one agency within the US Department of Commerce one might not expect to find there?" 

No cheating. What agency is found within the US Department of Commerce the average person would never expect to find there?

The answer brings up back to Superstorm Sandy.

Answer:  NOAA - The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (click here)

...Make no mistake--this is a large and dangerous storm that needs to be taken seriously, especially by the millions of people who live, work or travel in Sandy’s projected path.

According to our meteorologists at Commerce/NOAA’s National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service, Sandy will make landfall overnight Monday into Tuesday in the mid-Atlantic region. The storm is forecast to have significant and widespread impacts over most of the northeastern United States, both in coastal and inland areas. To follow the latest on Hurricane Sandy, please visit NOAA’s National Hurricane Center on the Web at www.hurricanes.gov, on Facebookwww.facebook.com/US.NOAA.NationalHurricaneCenter.gov?fref=ts and on Twitter at twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic. Monitor local media or listen to NOAA Weather Radio (www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/listcov.htm) for the latest developments and check your local National Weather Service forecast at www.weather.gov....

Have a better day, Mitt. You really should try 'learnedness, honesty and the truth' rather than manipulation because 'I haven't got a clue.'

In complete honesty, I do not see where there will be severe weather for the northeast USA again.

November 2, 2012
0230:21z
UNISYS Enhanced Infrared Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)

The closest I can see is a vortex across  the Atlantic Ocean headed in the opposite direction of the USA. There is some turbulence in the Caribbbean, but, there isn't any kind of storm even formed yet. There is a storm working across the northern portion of the nation with snow warnings in Montana and North Dakota, but, I don't see a threat to the area effected with Sandy. I could be wrong, it is just I don't think so right now.

Secretary Napolitano needs to coordinate spiritual councilors as well.

Staten Island is an older and well established community. This disruption is going to be hard on them. They have not had to face such trauma before. Older Americans will also have far less resilience to their circumstances, especially in a community as wonderfully settled and consistent at this.

There are some wonderful places of worship on Staten Island that may need assistance in providing all the help needed for their communities.

The idea they are cut off from medical attention and their regular activities are very much a looming threat. They have raised generations of family and that reliable life is now something more elusive. It is very threatening. The idea people have died at the mercy of water is more than scary. 

Staten Island is also mindful of other New Yorkers. The people there were actively involved in receiving people from Lower Manhattan the day September 11th occurred. I know because a family member found his way home to his three children and wife in a New Jersey community by taking the Statin Island Ferry to transition closer to home. He watched the smoke billow from the site while being grateful for his life as he was about to enter his office in Building Seven when the terrorists struck the first tower.

The people of Staten Island are wonderful people. They are all about family, children, community and enjoying the simple pleasures of life as more important than the latest fancy invention now marketing for a few hundred dollars US.

They deserve the attention of the nation, yet alone the federal authorities that can make a difference. They are wonderful examples of life as it should be in the USA.

This has little to do with Staten Island, but, I am assuming the Tramway is shut down. It needs to be thoroughly inspected if it hasn't been already.

The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (click here)

Incredible devastation.

Waves break in front of a destroyed amusement park wrecked by Hurricane Sandy in Seaside Heights, N.J., on Oct. 31, 2012.


More twisted steel. I would not trust any of the remaining infrastructure of that pier.

In watching some of the video of the storm water in the tides swirling among the city, it was very obvious there was a large amount of sand in the water. The color of the water was exactly the same color as the sand. That is not average for a storm at sea. It is average for storms to wash out roads and flood areas, but, to carry huge amounts of sand ashore to the extent this storm did is unusual.

It may be at least a section of the pier was lifted right out of the sand under it. It is speculative that all of the pier was disturbed in the same event. It looks as though the waves roll up on this beach from right to left. The destruction occurred the same way. The sand was completely undermined. I think that pier is a complete loss. Sea water is also salt water and it is corrosive.

By Associated PressNov. 01, 2012

(NEW YORK) — The cleanup of miles of New Jersey shorefront (click here) ripped apart by Superstorm Sandy has just begun, but New York City moved closer to resuming its normal frenetic pace Thursday by getting back its vital subways.

The storm-crippled trains began rolling uptown from Penn Station shortly after 6 a.m. Technology worker Ronnie Abraham was on one of them, hoping to get home to Harlem....

After all the facts are in the storm will be classified higher than a Category One.

I find criticism of Governor Christy by anyone unwarranted and completely stupid especially on political grounds. It shows how completely perverse the political dialogue is on political right in the USA has become. I believe it was Governor Christy that stated, "We are seeing 100 year storms every two years." I believe Governor Cuomo stated something very similar. I am sure Mayor Bloomberg never expected his city to be this crippled by the storm. A return to such denial of the obvious only to throw away the experiences of these storms as 'it just happens' only proves how estranged the American people have become in their hopelessness to deal with a government of denial. Why would anyone want to put a city or people through this all over again and deny what occurred here? It is not only immoral, but, completely flagrant of responsibility of the public trust.

There is no way anyone has a right to carry criticism of these leaders. No way.

By JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN and CHRISTINE HAUSER
Published: November 1, 2012

The number of New York City (click here) fatalities from Hurricane Sandy jumped to 37 on Thursday, including two young boys who were swept from the arms of their mother on Staten Island and found dead at the swampy end of a street, the police said.
The mother, Glenda Moore, told the police that her sons, Connor, 4, and Brandon, 2, were swept away on Monday shortly after 6 p.m., as the storm arrived. The mother and children had been leaving Staten Island, heading for Brooklyn, as their car was disabled by water, the police said. Ms. Moore, 39, got out of her car with her two sons, near Father Capodanno Boulevard, when a surge of water caused her to lose grip of her children, the police said.

The two children were found at the end of McLaughlin Street, said Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the New York Police Department.

“We just brought the parents into a trailer for the awful duty of identifying their little ones,” Mr. Browne wrote in an e-mail....

These two children are a very tragic loss for the nation. A Climate Crisis storm took the lives of the innocent. Will the USA allow this to continue? Continue the denial? Because this is the cost. It will be repeated over and over until this country comes to grips with reality. Every one that denies the reality of the Climate Crisis cannot deny the death of innocent Americans caused by a storm never witnessed in the world before.

I have no sympathy for whining about gas lines, train schedules and enforcement of 3 passenger car pooling. Get over it.

It makes me laugh.

People complain and complain they need a government that understands their needs, reacts to them and delivers services for the taxes they paid.

Well?

Isn't that what occurred?

Maybe folks can't believe it, but, through all the Middle Class struggle to have leadership reflecting their hopes; they finally have it.

It is up to them to keep it now. The oppressors are many. The struggle is not over, but, stop speculating on suspicions this is not what it is.

What happened here? Why not animosity?

How could these two men get along so well?

You have got to be joking. Both these men have lived their lives for the moment they were sincerely needed.

Neither were born with silver spoons in the mouths. They grew up 'making life' happen the way their ambitions lead and it put two MIDDLE CLASS leaders in the very moment in time they have aspired their careers.

They were the PERFECT LEADERS for this moment in history. They found themselves among the Middle Class with their lives in destruction and disruption. No two other men could have done this together.

Why did they get along so well? That is not the question. That is not the question at all. The question is, why wouldn't they?

Sandy's devastated areas need diplomatic delegations.

That statement is not meant to be humorous. There are some very old cities in these areas. The populations are stable and frequently the Middle Class or impoverished. This devastation is more than a matter of rebuilding to them. This is a return to LOSS.

When people have little in life, there is that much more loss realized when all comforts are gone.

Some of what occurred in these communities was due to the age of the towns and buildings themselves.

But, rationalizing the loss isn't comforting. There is nothing the government can do to bring back what was and make the tragedy go away. Community after community need their local leaders to be strong and examples of what is possible. They need to lead. The President nor the Governor can make visits to every doorstep to bring help. This is the role of the local leadership.

Everyone in these circumstances are facing devastating events in their lives, but, they have to be motivated to move away from their loss. There are shelters everywhere. There is no reason for exposure to contaminated water and air with burgeoning health problems.

It will not be long before molds and fungus will begin to build in these areas. That will cause hideous disease requiring medical treatment almost as bad as the disease itself.

It is not realistic for citizens to remain in their homes. No matter how difficult it is to leave there are many, many reasons to do so.

People have to understand they have to return to their lives as they exist now while in a zone of safety provided for them by their government in recognition of the importance of their lives. The devotion of the state, federal and local governments in this disaster has been more than remarkable. They acted in protection of their citizens and to defeat that now is a matter of denial of reality as it exists at this moment.

There are shelters where space, food, warmth and other community members are to find their lives moving into the future. There is support at the shelters. 

None of this is easy, but, families are not about suffering so much as coping, growing, loving each other through such tragedy and looking forward to a future.

A remarkable number of people are alive. Let's keep it that way.

Superstorm Sandy: The north-east begins long struggle to recovery (click here)
Death toll at 58 and millions still without power as recovery begins from devastating storm that cost billions of damage
Paul Harris, Karen McVeigh and Gizelle Lugo in New York
Thursday, November 1, 2012

America's devastated north-east began to struggle to life in the wake of superstorm Sandy even as millions of people remained without power and the US military continued to launch rescue missions to people trapped by floodwaters.

The historic storm killed at least 58 people in the US and has left more than 8 million people without power. New Jersey bore the brunt of the storm and in the city of Hoboken – just across the Hudson river from New York – the US National Guard arrived to help evacuate up to 20,000 people stuck in their homes.

Sandy is now thought to have caused tens of billions of dollars of damage with a unique combination of high winds, a massive flood surge and even a blizzard in mountainous areas. Its cone of impact stretched from North Carolina to Canada and it has been described by many as the worst ever to hit the region....

Look, if people insist on being exposed to petroleum tainted water there will be....THAT WAS WILL BE....an increase in cancers in 20 years and less. The people have to be moved to safety until it is safe to return.

The City of Hoboken is facing desperate circumstances.

National Guard Evacuating Flooded Hoboken, Bringing in Supplies (click here)

Sandy flooded roughly half the town of 50,000 people

By SAMANTHA HENRY

Thursday, Nov 1, 2012

Updated 12:22 AM EDT

...Tooke said the estimated 20,000 people still stranded in their homes were being encouraged to shelter in place, and that high-water vehicles would get supplies to them. He said people with medical and other special needs were being taken out by trucks. Two churches were serving as shelters.

Public housing, senior projects and private residences were all affected. Mayor Dawn Zimmer said senior citizens were the most distressed and eager to get more supplies.

National Guard troops in 12 trucks arrived Tuesday night, officials said. On Wednesday the city appealed for additional aid, including boats and generators. Zimmer asked local businesses to get water and nonperishable goods to City Hall....

The remnants of Sandy is headed to Canada.

October 31, 2012
1930:15z
UNISYS Enhanced Infrared GOES East Satellite

What a nightmare this storm has been.

Can we please not repeat this mistake.

A view of debris following a large fire which destroyed 100 homes in Breezy Point.

There are only a few things that could have started these fires. Either live overhead electric wires or a natural gas explosion. There is only one kind of flame that burns through water and that is a natural gas explosion. Once ignited the wind did the rest.

With homes built so close together there has to be special considerations to these tragedies. 

To begin, electric wires belong underground and not overhead. Electric sources have to be cut off when such problems manifest. This is very near the water so it will happen again.

This is an opportunity to get it right and make people more safe. If there was natural gas lines in the housing development it needs to be rethought. Realizing these homes are near each other, it is imprudent to put natural gas lines under these streets and homes.

My vision are houses fashionably on stilts as any beach community is designed with break away under-structures if hit with floods. They need to be state of the art solar homes with underground electric lines as a supplement to the home. 

Breezy Point was lucky this time. No one died.

Residents (click here) of the tight knit beach enclave of Breezy Point, Queens, sometimes known as the "Irish Riviera" for its overwhelming ethnic makeup, picked through the ashes of more than 100 homes destroyed by fire Monday night and contemplated the future of the once-placid getaway ravished by Sandy.

Hundreds more homes suffered flood damage and dozens of houses were swept off their foundations, officials said.

At the same time, stories of neighbor helping neighbor abounded amid flooded streets, pancaked beach houses that lined a battered promenade and the entire cluster of dozens of homes known as "the wedge" leveled by the fire that was still smoldering Tuesday....

There are legitimate reasons why Governor Christy wanted people out of Atlantic City.

...At 2:00 p.m. EDT (click here) on October 29, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that Sandy was located about 110 miles (180 kilometers) southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and about 175 miles (285 kilometers) south-southeast of New York City. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 90 miles (150 kilometers) per hour. The storm was moving toward the northwest at about 28 miles (44 kilometers) per hour. The NHC stated that Sandy could transition into a wintertime low-pressure system later in the day, but cautioned that this would not weaken the storm prior to landfall....

Mr. Romney never had experience with the Red Cross or was it just a feel good moment for the constituents.

Sandy is still alive and well. North Caroline is still receiving rain.

October 30, 2012
1230:18z
UNISYS Infrared USA Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)

In NC this is day six. It is now raining as far west as Wisconsin and Illinois.

Very odd, UNISYS stopped posting the central pressures of Sandy.

I guess it doesn't exist anymore.

  29  37.50  -71.50 10/29/15Z   80   943 HURRICANE-1
29A  38.30  -73.10 10/29/18Z   80   940 HURRICANE-1
  30  38.80  -74.40 10/29/21Z   80   940 HURRICANE-1
+12  39.80  -76.60 10/30/06Z   65     - HURRICArtNE-1

Sandy is still part of a larger system. It what keeps it going. It still has an ocean component. The President and Governors needed to be commended. They did an incredible job with a very deadly storm. It is amazing. It could have been 1000 times worse without evacuations. I could not believe rail cars were on the NJ Turnpike. That is the velocity of sustained winds. It rocks huge things into submission. There is no way to project from that. The point is this storm is still persistent. Was is even more strange is its inverted shape. It is actually connected to water vapor from the Canada and the Arctic Circle while receiving heat energy from a warmer ocean.

It is a crazy storm.

October 30, 2012

1330:18z

UNISYS Water Vapor GOES East Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)

The First Responders have done their job well and saved lives. Those safe should be considered grateful. The First Responders are still at risk and carry significant risk since this storm is not giving anyone a break.

Additionally, a storm is also coming into the west coast.

A hurricane's speed and path (click here) depend on complex ocean and atmospheric interactions, including the presence or absence of other weather patterns. This complexity of the flow makes it very difficult to predict the speed and direction of a hurricane.

In listening to Governor Christy there should be far more people dead. He did a truly remarkable job. He needs to take care of himself as well.

October 30, 2012

1310 gmt

The Weather Channel North Pole Satellite

Hurricane Sandy can be noted on the east one third of the USA. Its origins of water vapor is directly connected to the Arctic Circle border and Greenland.  It is also connected with a heat source in the Atlantic. There is a huge votex in the Atlantic and a heat transfer system bring adverse weather to the west coast of North America.

People's lives will be effected by this storm. If they rely on public transit to maintain their ability to work, they will be seeking support elsewhere to see them through. I know what a strange political environment this is in the USA, but, in all honesty for those effected by the loss of transportation to work should be considered a candidate for unemployment and relocation in the work force if employment is lost. This storm can't simply strand them economically.

I am sure President Obama will be putting forth a relief package before Congress to assist the states to return function to their infrastructure. We did with Katrina. Governor Christy saved lives, but, the future of his state and that of New York City will depend on clean up and rebuilding. One thing that can cut down on costs to the coastal areas is the removal of sand from the streets. It can be stored, cleaned and used for beach restoration, too. Just a suggestion.

New York and New Jersey have a lot of reconstruction to do.

The USA is a huge country and it doesn't stop. These events only prove how the tax structure requires improvement to bring all this under control. To think otherwise is purely hideous. There was economic stranding today and it includes the populous state in the union.

AP/ October 30, 2012, 9:07 AM

Superstorm Sandy: State-by-state snapshot (click here)

Carolinas

North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue expanded a state of emergency to western North Carolina, which could see a foot of snow.

A woman who was pulled from the Atlantic after abandoning a tall ship died. Power outages: 6,600....

Everytime I hear this ad in Michigan I think how angry this makes the international community.

Countries pay attention to their image with others. That is especially true of China. It is very vigilant to its image with The West. 

This ad is racist, full of lies and has no real indication of the relationship between China and the USA.

No one needs this. I don't believe it is effective at all. It can raise hatred with Chinese Americans and others. Lies leading to racism should never be tolerated.