Tropical Storm Fred

Tropical Storm Fred

Tropical Storm Fred emerged Monday night and appears destined to head north into the distant Atlantic and die. Before doing so, it might strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said. As of 5 a.m. today, Fred, the sixth named storm of the season, was 285 miles southwest of the Cape Verde Islands, moving west at 15 mph. It had sustained winds of 50 mph.

Forecasters with the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Fred was gradually becoming more organized and had the potential to become a hurricane within the next 36 hours. Tropical storms become hurricanes when their top sustained winds reach 74 mph. At 5 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Fred was centered about 285 miles (460) southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands and was moving west at about 15 mph. A gradual turn to the west-northwest and northwest with a decrease in forward speed was forecast over the next two days, the center said.

“Given the current organization and favorable shot-term environment … Fred certainly has the potential to become a hurricane within the next 36 hours,” the center said. Fred’s anticipated immediate track would keep it far from the Gulf of Mexico, where U.S. oil and gas operations are clustered. It was the sixth named tropical storm of the 2009 Atlantic-Caribbean hurricane season, which runs from June through November. Energy traders keep a close eye on storms that could enter the Gulf of Mexico and disrupt offshore U.S. oil and natural gas production or refinery operations along the coast.

Walter E. Ellis

Walter E. Ellis

A serial killer Walter Earl Ellis arrested. 49-year-old Walter E. Ellis has been held in connection with 9 female slayings in 1986. Milwaukee resident Walter E. Ellis, who terrorized the local prostitutes for long time, was arrested on Saturday. According to Edward A. Flynn, the Milwaukee Police got the clue that Walter Earl Ellis, a suspect serial killer who slaughtered as many as 9 women during a span of 21 years, is seen a motel in Franklin Milwaukee therefore, at around Saturday noon, the arrest was made.

The women killed during two decades, ranged from 16 to 41. Walter faces two counts of first-degree murders (intentional homicide) fort killing two victims namely Joyce Mims aged-41 and Ouithreaun Stokes aged-28. Both the victims were choked to death. The police officials have not been able to determine the killer of other victims as yet who were all black African-American prostitutes Jessica Payne who was 16 years of age, was the only white girl and she was a runaway loner. Jessica was found with a slashed throat whereas the rest of the victims were strangled.

The victims linked to Ellis include Shelia Farrior (37), Tanya L. Miller (19), Deborah L. Harris (31) and Florence McCormick (28). They were all killed within the same 21 years-eras. According to the police authorities, the court records prove that Walter used to live in or nearby where the homicide occurred in majority. The killer had become a real pain-in-the-ass as he kept the police pretty busy due to his typical irritating style; ‘killing and dumping’ the dead bodies in various vacant houses in a 3 square-miles radius.

National Affairs Magazine

National Affairs Magazine

National Affairs is a new quarterly journal that aspires to help Americans think a little more clearly about the challenges of governing ourselves. We will publish essays about public policy, society, culture, politics, and the world of ideas, with an eye to what a responsible and thoughtful American ought to know and to think about, and with a special concern for domestic policy and political economy, broadly understood.

This may seem a strange time to launch such a venture. It is, for one thing, a terrible time for magazine publishing, as the economics of the information age takes its toll. It might be thought a terrible time for a quarterly schedule and long-form essays, too, as internet opinion journalism has conditioned us to seek analysis in small but quick and frequent doses, like chickens pecking at their feed. A glance at the popular media would suggest it is also a terrible time for taking up large public questions — as the country’s interest seems to be directed elsewhere.

But calamity is ever the season of reflection, and a terrible time is often just the right time for new ventures. This one is especially called for now because the challenges of governing ourselves today are great and daunting, and are poorly understood. In the wake of a bewildering economic crisis, the foundations of America’s post-war economic order have suddenly come into question. We are struggling with the exploding costs and inefficiencies of health care and entitlements, and fiscal disaster looms as our society ages.