2nd Admendment, Health Risks-E coli, Hurricane update, politics, Russian Expansionism, Science

Hanna, Ike and Josephine move toward USA
By Oren Dorell, USA TODAY
People living along the coast of the Southeast crowded stores for plywood and batteries as Tropical Storm Hanna headed toward Florida.
The tropical storm was due to hit the Bahamas today with 65 mph winds up to 10 inches of rain, said Corey Walton, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center.
Forecasts show it strengthening to a Category 1, on a scale of 1-5, with winds of up to 95 mph and traveling along the eastern coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, she said.
"Right now that whole area could be a potential landfall, but we don't know where exactly that will be," she said.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Ike, which is expected to become a hurricane today, and Tropical Storm Josephine are lined up behind Hanna. And more tropical storms could be on the way, said Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University's Tropical Meteorology Project.
"We've never really bought plywood, but it seemed like maybe we'd better do it this time," said Janey Miley, 43, at Home Depot in Savannah, Ga.
Miley had also booked hotel reservations in Columbia, S.C., in case her family needed to evacuate.
Governors and emergency management officials in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia have activated their emergency operations centers and issued warnings to residents to watch and prepare for Hanna.
"Even if the storm does not make landfall in Georgia, tropical storm Hanna may bring extensive flooding, tornadoes and power outages," said Charley English, director of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/hurricane/2008-09-02-hanna_N.htm

Update on Ike
Forecasters: Ike strengthens into major hurricane September 3, 2008 - 7:59pm
MIAMI (AP) - Forecasters say Ike has become a dangerous Category 3 hurricane in the Atlantic with maximum sustained winds near 115 mph.
That makes Ike the third major hurricane of the Atlantic season, which has had five hurricanes total. Bertha and Gustav were the other major hurricanes.
(You can read the complete story here)
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=104&sid=1136424

Putin vows 'an answer' to NATO ships near Georgia September 2, 2008 - 3:31pm
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia will respond calmly to an increase in NATO ships in the Black Sea in the aftermath of the short war with Georgia, but promised that "there will be an answer."
Meanwhile, President Dmitry Medvedev sternly warned the West that it would lose more than Moscow would if it tried to punish Russia with sanctions over the war with Georgia.
Russia has repeatedly complained that NATO has too many warships in the Black Sea. Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Tuesday that currently there are two U.S., one Polish, one Spanish and one German ship there.
"We don't understand what American ships are doing on the Georgian shores, but this is a question of taste, it's a decision by our American colleagues," Putin reportedly said. "The second question is why the humanitarian aid is being delivered on naval vessels armed with the newest rocket systems."
Russia's reaction to NATO ships "will be calm, without any sort of hysteria. But of course, there will be an answer," Interfax quoted Putin as saying during a visit to Uzbekistan.
Asked by exactly what measures Russia would take in response to NATO ships in the Black Sea, Putin was quoted as answering, "You'll see."
As if to emphasize the country's strength _ its control over a growing percentage of European energy supplies _ Putin traveled to Uzbekistan to announce a deal that would tighten Russia's hand on Central Asian energy exports to the West.
In an interview with Italy's RAI television broadcast Tuesday, Medvedev said that Russia doesn't fear expulsion from the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations.
"The G-8 will be practically unable to function without Russia, because it can make decisions only if they reflect the opinion of top global economies and leading political players of the world," Medvedev said. "That's why we don't fear being expelled from the G-8."
Presidential candidate John McCain is among those who called for Russia's expulsion from the elite club of the world's richest countries.
Medvedev also warned that NATO would suffer more than Russia if its ties with Moscow were severed.
"We don't see anything dramatic or difficult about suspending our relations if that's the wish of our partners," Medvedev said. "But I think that our partners will lose more from that."
NATO nations depend on Russia as a transit route for supplies going to the alliance's troops in Afghanistan.
At a summit Monday, the European Union issued a declaration saying Russia was violating the terms of its cease-fire with Georgia. It warned that talks on a political and economic agreement with the Kremlin would be postponed unless Russian troops pulled back from positions in Georgia.
Britain and eastern European nations held out for a tougher line, but Europe's dependence on Russian oil and natural gas deterred stronger sanctions.
Russia supplies the EU with a third of its oil and 40 percent of its natural gas _ a dependence that the EU's administrative body says will rise significantly in the future.
Putin announced Tuesday that Russia and Uzbekistan will build a new natural gas pipeline that will pump Turkmen and Uzbek gas into Russia's pipeline system, which Russia will re-export to Europe.
The project, which has been under discussions for several months, will strengthen Moscow's hold over Central Asian gas and undermine Western-backed efforts for a rival trans-Caspian route.
___
Associated Press writers Mansur Mirovalev and Mike Eckel in Moscow and Constant Brand in Brussels, Belgium, contributed to this report.
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=105&sid=1367816

Gun sales start Tuesday September 3, 2008 - 11:03am WASHINGTON - District residents will be able to buy handguns starting next Tuesday. The District began registering handguns in mid-July in response to a Supreme Court ruling that overturned the city's long time ban. But, as of last month, only 11 handguns had been registered. The low number could be because there was no way for residents to buy a handgun and get it transferred into the city. That's about to change. "I do think the numbers will go up some once you can purchase in the District," says D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier. "I don't think it's going to skyrocket." Because there are no gun stores in the city, residents have been unable to purchase a handgun. The guns registered so far have either been illegal guns that were registered under the amnesty program or guns that were being stored out-of-state. Federal law requires that guns purchased out-of-state be shipped from the dealer who sells the gun to another dealer in the state where the buyer is going to register the weapon. Charles Sykes, the only licensed firearms dealer in the District willing to transfer handguns for individuals, tells WTOP his office in Anacostia will be open for business next week. Sykes says he will be charging a $125 fee to transfer each handgun. Gun stores in Maryland and Virginia charge as little as $25 for the same service. Sykes says he gets between one to two calls a day about transferring guns. Sykes has been transferring handguns for security firms in the city for years, but had to have his license and permits renewed after he moved his office. Traci Hughes, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department, says that process is complete and Sykes can begin transferring guns anytime. "He is fully licensed by the ATF and the District," writes Hughes. http://www.wtop.com/?nid=695&sid=1471352

Sun Makes History: First Spotless Month in a CenturyMichael Asher (Blog) - September 1, 2008 8:11 AM
The record-setting surface of the sun. A full month has gone by without a single spot (Source: Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO))
Sunspot activity of the past decade. Over the past year, SIDC has continually revised its predictions downward (Source: Solar Influences Data Center)
Geomagnetic solar activity for the past two decades. The recent drop corresponds to the decline in sunspots. (Source: Anthony Watts)
A chart of sunspot activity showing two prior solar minima, along with heightened activity during the 20th century (Source: Wikimedia Commons)Drop in solar activity has potential effect for climate on earth.
The sun has reached a milestone not seen for nearly 100 years: an entire month has passed without a single visible sunspot being noted.
The event is significant as many climatologists now believe solar magnetic activity – which determines the number of sunspots -- is an influencing factor for climate on earth.
According to data from Mount Wilson Observatory, UCLA, more than an entire month has passed without a spot. The last time such an event occurred was June of 1913. Sunspot data has been collected since 1749.
When the sun is active, it's not uncommon to see sunspot numbers of 100 or more in a single month. Every 11 years, activity slows, and numbers briefly drop to near-zero. Normally sunspots return very quickly, as a new cycle begins.
But this year -- which corresponds to the start of Solar Cycle 24 -- has been extraordinarily long and quiet, with the first seven months averaging a sunspot number of only 3. August followed with none at all. The astonishing rapid drop of the past year has defied predictions, and caught nearly all astronomers by surprise.
In 2005, a pair of astronomers from the National Solar Observatory (NSO) in Tucson attempted to publish a paper in the journal Science. The pair looked at minute spectroscopic and magnetic changes in the sun. By extrapolating forward, they reached the startling result that, within 10 years, sunspots would vanish entirely. At the time, the sun was very active. Most of their peers laughed at what they considered an unsubstantiated conclusion.
The journal ultimately rejected the paper as being too controversial.
The paper's lead author, William Livingston, tells DailyTech that, while the refusal may have been justified at the time, recent data fits his theory well. He says he will be "secretly pleased" if his predictions come to pass.
But will the rest of us? In the past 1000 years, three previous such events -- the Dalton, Maunder, and Spörer Minimums, have all led to rapid cooling. One was large enough to be called a "mini ice age". For a society dependent on agriculture, cold is more damaging than heat. The growing season shortens, yields drop, and the occurrence of crop-destroying frosts increases.
Meteorologist Anthony Watts, who runs a climate data auditing site, tells DailyTech the sunspot numbers are another indication the "sun's dynamo" is idling. According to Watts, the effect of sunspots on TSI (total solar irradiance) is negligible, but the reduction in the solar magnetosphere affects cloud formation here on Earth, which in turn modulates climate.
This theory was originally proposed by physicist Henrik Svensmark, who has published a number of scientific papers on the subject. Last year Svensmark's "SKY" experiment claimed to have proven that galactic cosmic rays -- which the sun's magnetic field partially shields the Earth from -- increase the formation of molecular clusters that promote cloud growth. Svensmark, who recently published a book on the theory, says the relationship is a larger factor in climate change than greenhouse gases.
Solar physicist Ilya Usoskin of the University of Oulu, Finland, tells DailyTech the correlation between cosmic rays and terrestrial cloud cover is more complex than "more rays equals more clouds". Usoskin, who notes the sun has been more active since 1940 than at any point in the past 11 centuries, says the effects are most important at certain latitudes and altitudes which control climate. He says the relationship needs more study before we can understand it fully.
Other researchers have proposed solar effects on other terrestrial processes besides cloud formation. The sunspot cycle has strong effects on irradiance in certain wavelengths such as the far ultraviolet, which affects ozone production. Natural production of isotopes such as C-14 is also tied to solar activity. The overall effects on climate are still poorly understood.
What is incontrovertible, though, is that ice ages have occurred before. And no scientist, even the most skeptical, is prepared to say it won't happen again. Article Update, Sep 1 2008. After this story was published, the NOAA reversed their previous decision on a tiny speck seen Aug 21, which gives their version of the August data a half-point. Other observation centers such as Mount Wilson Observatory are still reporting a spotless month. So depending on which center you believe, August was a record for either a full century, or only 50 years.
http://www.dailytech.com/Sun+Makes+History+First+Spotless+Month+in+a+Century/article12823.htm
Big Government Is a High-Stakes Affair
By ERNEST S. CHRISTIAN and BILL FRENZELAugust 30, 2008; Page A9
The 2008 election is shaping up to be an extraordinarily high-risk affair. Consider, for example, the risk that Republican losses in the Senate might give Democrats control over both houses of Congress, with unstoppably large majorities. And on top of that, consider the risk that Barack Obama will win the White House with an open-ended mandate for radical but unspecified change.
Who is Sen. Obama, and what would he do with an open-ended mandate? Except for his own media-packaged self-description, the voters still have relatively little to go on.
Mr. Obama's sparse legislative record suggests that he is at the very least a high-tax, big-spending liberal. On the broad issues of the social contract -- those involving personal freedom, America's status in the world, and the role of government versus markets in allocating resources -- he might become the most left-wing, collectivist-minded person ever to be president.
The stakes are so high in this presidential election for a fundamental reason that doesn't get discussed nearly enough: The federal government is so large and powerful. In particular, any aggressive president and Congress acting together have it in their legal authority -- under our presently elasticized Constitution -- to exercise near complete control over the economy. A long line of judge-made law since the Supreme Court's New Deal era decision in Wickard v. Filburn (1942) says there is almost no limit, under the commerce clause of the Constitution, to the regulatory reach of the federal government.
Thus, a united president and Congress can, as a practical matter, do all or any of the following (plus much more): take your money and give it to someone else; tell businesses what to produce and sell, who to hire and what wages to pay; set all commodity, wholesale and retail prices; control all energy supplies, communication networks and financial markets; replace all private health-care with a government system; prescribe the curriculum for all schools; determine which students get a slot in elite universities; diminish political and other speech; and enroll all citizens above the age of 17 either in the military or in civilian corps for periodic instruction and service. Children could be required to spend the summer in government "youth" camps.
Obama or no Obama, alarm bells about the size and scope of government should have been going off for years, but weren't. They may yet, in November -- after it is too late.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122005098970184843.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

E. coli outbreak in Oklahoma kills 1, sickens 200 September 2, 2008 - 6:04pm By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press Writer OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - An E. coli outbreak linked to a restaurant in northeastern Oklahoma has sickened more than 200 people and killed at least one person, state health officials said Tuesday. The Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove has been closed voluntarily for more than a week, but an exact source of the contamination has not been pinpointed, state epidemiologist Dr. Kristy Bradley said in a statement. "The complexity of this outbreak and the necessity to be extremely thorough in our investigation means we still have more questions than answers," she said. The state is testing food preparation and serving surfaces at the restaurant and interviewing those who became ill, Bradley said. Health officials first reported the outbreak Aug. 25. The state Health Department said Tuesday that 206 people have become sick, including 53 children. Those sickened range in age from 2 months to 88 years. The outbreak has been blamed for the death of 26-year-old Chad Ingle of Pryor, who died Aug. 24, a week after eating at the restaurant. A spokeswoman for the family that runs the restaurant has described the owners as distraught. A message on the restaurant's answering machine says, "We have decided to voluntarily remain closed today so we can continue working closely with the state Health Department." Symptoms of E. coli infection include stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea. Most of those who die have weak immune systems, such as the elderly or very young. Sheila Beaver, a Locust Grove woman whose family ate at Country Cottage on Aug. 19, said she took her 19-month-old daughter, Braylee Beaver, to the hospital nearly a week later after she developed a fever and severe diarrhea. Beaver criticized state health officials for not shutting down the restaurant after the first illnesses were reported to the health department on Aug. 22. Even after a surprise inspection Aug. 23 that identified nine health code violations, the restaurant remained open Aug. 24, the day Ingle died. "Once there were so many people who were sick that had eaten at Country Cottage, I think they should have at least shut it down," Beaver said. "When it's people's lives at stake, they should shut things down. This is a serious disease." But Leslea Bennett-Webb, a spokeswoman for the state health department, said that even after officials were notified Aug. 22 of an outbreak, there was little hard evidence to present to the public. "There was nothing evident on the inspection that would have linked immediately to a major outbreak," Bennett-Webb said. Braylee Beaver ate chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes with gravy and corn from her father's plate, her mother said, but the little girl was the only one who became seriously ill. The girl also at ice cream from the restaurant. She was placed on 24-hour dialysis for three days last week and remains hospitalized in Oklahoma City. "It's been an emotional roller coaster, and I've cried a lot," Beaver said Tuesday from her daughter's hospital room, noting that the little girl was wary of the doctors trying to help her. "When they were poking her, she kept saying 'I'm sorry,'" Beaver said. "It was really hard." Locust Grove is a community of 1,500 about 50 miles east of Tulsa. http://wtop.com/?nid=106&sid=1411380