Big Time News Blog: 11/08/20

Sunday, November 8, 2020

Hurricane warning issued for Florida Keys as strengthening Eta takes aim

Eta emerged from Cuba and into the warm waters of the Florida Straits on Sunday where restrengthening of the storm is expected to occur prior to its third strike on land -- this time, in the Florida Keys as a 1 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes. Eta made the second landfall of its lifespan thus far after striking east-central Cuba Sunday morning as a strong tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. The storm's first landfall was at Category 4 hurricane strength in Nicaragua last week. Hurricane watches and warnings are in effect for the Florida coast from Deerfield Beach to Bonita Beach and the Florida Keys from Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas, including Florida Bay. Tropical storm warnings are also in effect for portions of Florida, Cuba and the northwestern Bahamas. As of 7 p.m. EST Sunday, Eta was centered 90 miles south of Miami, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. Present movement is to the northwest at 14 mph. Satellite imagery on Sunday showed Eta less organized than a day prior due to interaction with Cuba as well as southwesterly wind shear, or the change in direction and/or speed of winds at increasing heights in the atmosphere. The wind shear was whisking the storm's robust thunderstorms north and east of the center of the storm. This satellite imagery from Sunday morning, Nov. 8, 2020, shows Eta emerging from the northern coast of Cuba. (CIRA at Colorado State/GOES-East) But, forecasters say that as the storm continues to move away from Cuba and conditions become more conducive for strengthening, Eta could reach Category 1 hurricane strength (maximum sustained winds of 74-95 mph) just prior to or after a projected landfall in the Florida Keys Sunday night. Regardless of exact intensity, South Florida will endure heavy rainfall, strong winds, storm surge flooding and isolated tornadoes. The Florida Keys and Peninsula have largely dodged impacts amid a record-setting Atlantic hurricane season, which has spawned 28 named systems. If Eta does in fact make landfall in the Keys as a hurricane, it would be the first such storm to do so in November since Hurricane Kate in 1985, according to Philip Klotzbach, a Colorado State University meteorologist. "Beyond Cuba, Eta is expected to take a westward turn Sunday night into Monday as it moves into the Florida Straits and across the Keys," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski said. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP Officials have been asking Floridians to take precautions ahead of the storm. Crews spent Thursday cleaning storm drains in Miami Beach in anticipation of Eta. Meanwhile, the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, distributed free sandbags to residents on Friday. In preparation for the storm, the City of Miami's COVID-19 Mobile Testing Unit (MTU) and Mobile Testing Unit Call Center will be closed Monday, Nov. 9. Operations are expected to resume on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Soaking rain was already beginning to move across South Florida Sunday morning, and rain and wind will only increase heading into Monday as Eta closes in. Eta, likely as a strong tropical storm (maximum sustained winds 37-73 mph) or Category 1 hurricane strength, will bring wind gusts of 60-70 mph across South Florida and the Florida Keys, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 90 mph, into Monday. This can cause damage to trees and power lines and cause any loose objects such as lawn furniture and trash cans to become dangerous projectiles. A more broad swath of 40- to 60-mph wind gusts is expected to extend into central Florida by early Monday, especially along the coastal regions, with localized damage possible. Heavy rain from Eta, totaling 4-8 inches across a broad area of South Florida with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 16 inches, is expected to cause flooding problems, particularly in poor-drainage areas. "In Miami, the heavy rain combined with strong and persistent easterly (onshore) wind will likely lead to more significant flooding in immediate coastal areas," Pydynowski said. Forecasters expect a 1- to 3-foot storm surge to batter coastal areas of southwestern and South Florida, with locally higher amounts around Miami. Coastal concerns will be just as high even far away from the center of the storm as persistent and strong easterly winds push water onshore along the east coast of Florida. A storm surge watch is in effect from Golden Beach to Bonita Beach, including Biscayne Bay, while a storm surge warning is in effect for the Florida Keys from Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas, including Florida Bay. "In addition, due to a strong easterly (onshore) flow between Eta and a large high pressure area centered farther north over the mid-Atlantic states, minor coastal flooding and beach erosion can occur along the beaches of Georgia, South Carolina and southern North Carolina around times of high tide through Monday," Pydynowski said. As is typically the case with tropical systems, there will be the risk of an isolated tornado or two being spawned in any rainbands north and east of the center of the storm. Due to the threat for heavy, flooding rainfall, damaging winds, storm surge and a number of other economic factors, Eta will be a 1 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes for Florida. The RealImpact™ Scale is a 6-point scale with ratings of less than one and 1 to 5. In contrast to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which classifies storms by wind speed only, the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale is based on a broad range of important factors. Localized downpours will continue to pester the Sunshine State Monday night into Tuesday, but the center of Eta is expected to drift far enough westward to limit damaging wind impacts by that point. It is at this point that Eta's path becomes a bit less clear. "Late in the week, a non-tropical storm moving through the eastern United States could draw Eta northward across the southeastern U.S.," Pydynowski said. In this scenario, another U.S. landfall would be in play, this time somewhere along the upper Gulf Coast. "However, if Eta misses the connection with this non-tropical storm passing to its north, Eta may then remain in the Gulf of Mexico into the upcoming weekend. At that point, it is possible Eta could continue to meander in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, perhaps drifting slowly to the west or even to the south," Pydynowski said. A drift to the south and west could bring rain and wind to western Cuba later Monday into Tuesday, with a brush of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula possible. The storm may then sit and swirl over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico for several days. As a result of the possibilities that remain on the table with Eta's path this week, all interests from western Cuba to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and the southeastern U.S. should closely monitor the forecast in the coming days. Eta has already made history and matched the strength of the strongest storm of the tumultuous 2020 hurricane season -- Hurricane Laura -- when its winds peaked at 150 mph prior to slamming Central America earlier last week. Eta joined the ranks of eight other tropical systems in the Atlantic this season and underwent rapid strengthening, which is defined by a tropical system that experiences an increase in its maximum sustained winds by 35 mph within 24 hours. Its winds increased from 70 mph to 150 mph -- just shy of Category 5 strength -- in just 24 hours. Hurricane season doesn't officially end until Nov. 30. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.

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AOC Says ‘Not a Single Member of Congress’ Campaigned on Socialism, Blames House Defeats on ‘Republican Attacks’

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) on Sunday dismissed concerns among some members of her party that the label of "socialist" hurt House Democrats who lost their reelection bids this week.In a leaked conference call between congressional Democrats on Thursday, Representative Abigail Spanberger of Virginia warned that the party must never use the words "socialist" or "socialism" again, saying that "we lost good members because of that" and predicting that Democrats will get "torn apart" during the next midterm elections otherwise."Why is she wrong?" host Jake Tapper asked Ocasio-Cortez Sunday on CNN.The New York progressive responded that Republicans launched "very effective rhetorical attacks" against Democrats this election cycle but insisted that socialism was not on the ballot."But I think one of the things that is very important is to realize that very effective Republican attacks are going to happen every cycle, and so the question is how do we defend ourselves against that?" Ocasio-Cortez said."If you look at some of the arguments that are being advanced, that 'Defund the Police' hurt or that arguments about socialism hurt, not a single member of Congress that I’m aware of campaigned on socialism or defunding the police in this general election," she continued, saying such language came in the form of "slogans" or "demands" from progressive activist groups.Democrats lost seats but retained a slim majority in the House. The party also failed to wrest control of the Senate as two Senate races in Georgia head toward run-off elections that will determine which party controls the upper chamber.The question now, she said, is "how can we build a more effective Democratic operation that is stronger and more resilient to Republican attacks," adding that she sees "many areas that we can point at in centralized Democratic operations that are extraordinarily weak," such as the party's digital campaigning, an area where Republicans are "quite strong.""The Democratic party is still campaigning largely as if it's still 2005," she charged.The 31-year-old first-term congresswoman, who has described herself as a "democratic socialist," said there are "very deep divisions" within the party at least in the House caucus, and that with a slimmer majority it will be more important to unify against Republicans.

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Kamala Harris' Indian ancestral village celebrates her victory as she becomes Vice President of the United States

Thulasendrapuram, population 350, was the Indian home of Harris' maternal grandfather, P.V. Gopalan.

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After tough House losses, Conor Lamb, a moderate, says he’s ‘frustrated’ by progressive rhetoric and policy proposals.

By BY ASTEAD W. HERNDON from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/36nGiXo

A ‘Terrifying’ Covid Surge Will Land in Biden’s Lap

By BY SARAH MERVOSH, MITCH SMITH AND GIULIA MCDONNELL NIETO DEL RIO from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2UdJkHH

Third Term of the Obama Presidency

By BY CHARLES M. BLOW from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/3pa7Wzt

One Group Is Unreservedly Happy About the Election Results

By BY LIZ MAIR from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2GFfusz

‘In America, you get four years and you can do it again.’ Nebraska greets Biden win with a shrug.

By BY DIONNE SEARCEY from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2U6QDB9

Kansas Democrat Who Admitted to Revenge Porn Wins State House Seat

By BY CHRISTINA MORALES from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/38s3F4u

Biden adviser: Presidential campaign 'was less consultant-driven than any' in 'modern history'

President-elect Joe Biden's path to victory wasn't an easy one — at one point, early in the Democratic primaries, it even seemed like he could wind up an afterthought — but he ultimately emerged as the projected winner Saturday. And it appears that sticking to his own personal vision during his campaign, even if it seemed unpersuasive at times to other Democrats, is at least part of what pushed him over the line, The New York Times reports."It was his campaign," Anita Dunn, one of his closest advisers, told the Times. "It was less consultant-driven than any presidential campaign in modern history."Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) recalled hearing Biden's original pitch for the White House back in 2019, before he announced his candidacy. Casey said he wasn't convinced by Biden's messaging "about the soul of the country," especially at a time of intense ideological division across the United States. "I was worried at the time at the time that it wasn't hard-hitting enough," Casey told the Times, but he admitted the former vice president "was prescient in his ability, even in the primaries when almost nobody else was doing it, to say, 'We have to bring the country back together.'" Read more at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com Fox News brings Trump to his knees Lindsey Graham warns GOP will 'never win' a presidential race if party doesn't 'fight back' in 2020 The day the world stopped paying attention to Donald Trump

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Sen. Romney on Trump legal action: It’s important for democracy that we don’t allege fraud

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney joins Chris Wallace on ‘Fox News Sunday.’

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ESPN’s massive layoffs have hit the Miami-based Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz. Here is who’s out

ESPN’s Miami-based Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz is dealing with a loss in the show’s family after being informed Chris Cote is among the network’s massive layoffs announced in a company-wide internal memo last Thursday.

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Letters to the Editor: Stop reporting ballot counts as if Biden and Trump are still in a race

Voting is over. What's going on now is merely determining who won, not who is "in the lead" or "closing in" on victory.

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How will history view Trump — and us?

Being impeached and then denied a second term are poor recommendations for presidential immortality, and Trump is likely to go down in history more for his sullen, graceless exit than his accomplishments.

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GOP Sen. David Perdue, Democrat Jon Ossoff headed for Georgia runoff

Georgia's Senate races will both remain up in the air until at least January.Both Sen. David Perdue (R) and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff have failed to get a majority of the vote in Georgia's Senate race, The New York Times and The Associated Press project. They'll advance to a runoff race in January, as will the Georgia special Senate race between Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock.With 98 percent of votes reported, Perdue secured 49.8 percent of the vote to Ossoff's 47.9 percent. With neither hitting 50 percent, Georgia election law moves the top two candidates to a runoff. In the other race, Warnock got 32.9 percent of the vote to Loeffler's 26 percent, with GOP Rep. Doug Collins getting another 20 percent. Both of these races will be vital in determining which party controls the Senate. North Carolina and Alaska's races still haven't been called, and at the moment both parties are projected to have 48 seats in the next Senate.Georgia's presidential results still haven't been called for either Democratic nominee Joe Biden or President Trump as of Friday evening. Biden has been building a lead in Georgia as more votes are counted, and a win there would put him just one Electoral College vote from victory.More stories from theweek.com Fox News brings Trump to his knees Lindsey Graham warns GOP will 'never win' a presidential race if party doesn't 'fight back' in 2020 The day the world stopped paying attention to Donald Trump

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The futuristic US Army goggles built to make soldiers unstoppable in the dark are almost ready for troops to take into combat

The US Army hopes its new mixed-reality heads-up display will give its soldiers an edge on future battlefields. Check out what all it can do.

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'It's a slaughter,' doctors say of new coronavirus wave

Coronavirus hospitalizations have been rapidly climbing, leading to concerns that we may once more see what we saw over the spring and early summer: crowded intensive care units, overwhelmed hospitals, deaths that could have been prevented.

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AOC says she might quit politics: ‘I didn’t even know if I was going to run for re-election this year’

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said that she might quit politics if Democrats continue to be “hostile” towards progressive causes. In an interview with The New York Times, shortly after president-elect Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election, AOC admitted that she wasn’t even initially sure if she was going to run for reelection this year.

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Bolivians decorate skulls with sunglasses and cigarettes to honor the dead

Bolivians celebrated the Day of Skulls over the weekend, a colorful tradition rooted in ancient indigenous beliefs that is meant to bring good fortune and protection by honoring the dead. Known as "ñatitas," the skulls are decorated and paraded to the cemetery a week after All Saints Day. The festival this year coincides with the inauguration of Bolivia's new President Luis Arce, which caps a turbulent year for the Andean country that has been rattled over the last year by political upheaval and the coronavirus pandemic.

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Berlin's new $7 billion airport has finally opened after 9 years of delays, corruption allegations, and construction woes— see inside

The opening had been delayed nearly a decade but Berliners finally have their new airport. And from the looks of it, the wait was worth it.

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