The old boy lost some steam and hit land as a category 3, which undoubtedly kept the damage from being worse than it is. The storm is heading inland, and even as a tropical storm, will dump a lot of rain, knock over some trees and power lines (you know, the kind that could go underground), cause some flooding, before it totally fades away.

But never fear, there are reports that a new tropical depression has formed off the coast of Africa, and could arrive in the Caribbean within four days. If it turns into a tropical storm, she will be christened Emily. Number 5.

I think this is going to be a very wet summer for some people. And possibly, a very destructive one.

In Bush science anyway, pollution is good for the planet and good for health. As long as it makes him and his friends rich, it has to be a good thing. So global warming doesn’t exist. I hope the people in Florida and the rest of the panhandle, who voted for him, are paying attention. According to a study of REAL science, it’s going to get a lot worse. So if you don’t like being wet, well, it’s not going to get any better, as long as we continue to follow the devastating path of Bush science.

According to a recent study, hurricanes will become even more intense because of global warming — the idea that greenhouse gases are heating the earth’s atmosphere and oceans.

“As a storm is moving across the ocean, it’s evaporating water from the ocean’s surface, and that’s supplying fuel for the storm,” Knutson said.

Read the rest of the story on abcnews.com, along with more reports about the antics of Dennis the Menace

Dennis is headed right smack into the Florida panhandle. Same spot where Ivan hit only 10 months ago, and where the damage still hasn’t been completely repaired or cleaned up. Why is that, I wonder. Why do we have billions to spend on Iraq, millions to spend on abstinence only sex-education, millions to spend on patent drugs to treat AIDS patients, but none to clean up the mess from a hurricane?

There seems to be plenty of moolah to dole out to most-favored companies to do reconstruction work in Iraq. So what if they’re practicing major rip-offs, as in Halliburton? Plenty of money to waste on sex-ed programs, that aside from the fact of ignoring the need for education about safe sex and contraception (hint–a huge percentage of the teens in these classes are already screwing around), the information is riddled with inaccuracies. Like even basic scientific facts, such as the number of chromosomes contained in each egg and sperm. One program spoke of men having “male and female sperm.” Does boy meet girl in the vas defrens, I wonder?

There is no oversight to these programs, no vetting via doctors and others for accuracy–and yet, millions of tax dollars spent on this dribble.

And hurricane damage sits. No money to put power lines underground (what a novel thought), or to enforce building codes for better safety. How many people are without power now? Last year, my parents had to throw out all of the food in their freezer, due to the outtages from the various hurricanes. Power outtages could easily be avoided if the lines were put underground. But alas, no money for that.

And so, it is only July 10 and a category 4 hurricane, the 4th storm of the season, it ready to make landfull. Stay tuned.