another day, another typhoon...it's overcast, and will hit here Thursday. We should miss the winds, but the real worry is flooding, especially in Manila, which was devestated with a similar storm two years ago.
Trivia note: The local name for the typhoon is "Chedeng"...and here it is a slang word for a Mercedes Benz...
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Joplin is devestated and now a new batch of tornadoes is hitting Oklahoma city and other areas. Alas, such things are not unusual...FEMA is there, but most of the responders are local folks,(Police, firemen from nearby communities, the Red Cross, and local church groups) including the National Guard.
...the National Guard trains for civilian disasters and includes much of the "support units" for the military (e.g.water supply, military police, medical units, engineering/construction units). They lives nearby, and can be on site quickly.
Legally the regular US military, which is mainly combat units, is not allowed to be called up for civilian emergencies, a law passed after the hated post civil war occupation of the south.
One reason for the Nat Guard being called up to go to Iraq etc. is that their work was peacekeeping/policing/construction, not war per se.
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China uses it's military for civilian disasters, and it may need to upgrade to do so efficiently. Something to remember if you read a "China is rearming alas" article.
Of course, the Chinese are using their military to pressure the Philippines and VietNam to give up sovereignty of the Spratlys Islands...they figure Obama won't do anything, and the smaller countries are too weak to stop them...
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and the really important news for the day: Area 51 was a Soviet hoax, and the "aliens" were child pilots.
preysumably they bought the costume HERE.
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