ME and Ophelia

GALES AND HIGH TIDES BATTER COAST
Coastguards said people should stay away from the sea

Yesterday and today here by the seas have felt like being aboard a ship. Sheets of rain lashing against the windows. Sea is brown. Sounds like we are taking off. Noise is like out of a sea storm horror movie. Thankfully, me and Ophelia are high and dry - and cosy warm. I've been posting over at passionofthepresent.org for past two days. Visitors due here tomorrow and Saturday.



Gales and high tides batter coast. Coastal towns and villages across the South West of England are enduring a second day of destruction caused by 75 mph gales and unusually high tides. Severe flood warning has been issued. In Torbay, it has been described as a "once-in-25-years" storm by the Environment Agency. Coastguards said people should stay away from the sea.
- - -

WE ARE NOT THE GOAL
But one product of the evolutionary process

Interesting quote from report on the Australian scientists who found modern humans' tiny cousin - a new species of hobbit-sized humans who lived about 13,000 years ago on an Indonesian island (they expect to discover more new species of hominids on neighboring islands):

"You don't know until you find them," said Tim White, a paleobiologist at the University of California Berkeley. He said the research does underscore an important point in evolution: "We are not the goal, but one product of the evolutionary process. What they found on Flores is another product."
- - -

PICTURE OF THE WEEK
Courtesy BBC UK



Ukrainian naval cadets march to commemorate the country's liberation from Nazi Germany 60 years ago.
- - -

5 DAYS TO GO
Bush will win by a small margin

Pauly in NYC thinks it will be another close election... and Bush will win by a small margin. I agree. Things must look very encouraging for Kerry right now though, which is great because it makes the whole gruelling inhumane process more bearable and exciting for both candidates. Everyone must be hoping for a clear result.

Read Pauly's latest post at This Side of the Truth, giving his take on the race for the White House. Great Pauly. Thanks.
- - -

FACT OF THE DAY
Courtesy New York Times

On Oct. 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Cleveland.