In an effort to keep up with the local news from my hometown, I have an e-mail alert that automatically sends me any and all news stories containing the term “Newington” that cross Google News’s wire. This works pretty well; the majority of the resulting links are stories about my beloved Newington, Connecticut. But every once in a while, I am treated to some extremely random piece of local British news from the town of Stoke Newington in the borough of Hackney, England. A few weeks ago, it was a “witch trial.” Today, it was this:

A mob descended on a police station to demand the release of a heavily pregnant woman - sparking violence which left two female officers injured.

The drama started when officers arrested the Turkish woman for alleged threatening behaviour on a bus in Stoke Newington High Street, on Thursday night last week.

She was taken to the nearby Stoke Newington police station, but up to 15 people quickly gathered to demand her release.

The angry protest by sections of the Turkish community grew until it was up to 200-strong.

The things I find out about just by keeping up on my hometown… :)

P.S. I also occasionally see stories about Newington, New Hampshire, but — with all due respect to any New Hampshirians who may be reading this — random local news from N.H. just isn’t as interesting as random local news from the U.K. :)

Hurricane Dennis isn’t likely to hit Guantanamo Bay head-on, but it’s expected to come close enough that a Hurricane Warning is up.

Okay, so maybe South Bend wasn’t as cool a place to be today as London. But at least we had a pretty rainbow!

Hey, they’re sort of like Olympic colors. Ish.

So all this hoopla about Tom Cruise had me wondering, what exactly DO Scientologists believe? For information I decided to check out Wikipedia. It was, hmmm how do I put this, interesting, but one part takes the cake. Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to Xenu, a former dictator of the Galactic Confederacy who makes Saddam Hussein look like a girl scout.

What does Xenu have to do with Scientology you ask? Well here’s what Wikipedia has to say:

In Scientology doctrine, Xenu is a galactic ruler who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of people to Earth, stacked them around volcanoes, and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. Their souls then clustered together and stuck to the bodies of the living, and continue to cause people problems today.

Harmless religion or crazy cult? We report, you decide.

Tropical Storm Dennis was officially upgraded to hurricane strength at 4:47 PM EST.

It certainly looks the part:

Further strengthening is expected, and it could happen quickly now:

Recon and satellite data indicate Dennis has become much better organized during the past couple of hours. If this trend continues into this evening…then there is the possibility that rapid intensification could occur for the next 24 hours or so…and Dennis could reach category 2 hurricane strength before it passes close to Jamaica in 24 hours.

It’s that time of day again…

• Tropical Storm Dennis (”the Menace”) is “very close to hurricane strength.” Sustained winds at 70 mph. Hurricane Hunter aircraft to investigate this afternoon; I’m guessing it’ll be upgraded at 1:00 PM. [UPDATE, 1:00 PM: Or perhaps at 4:00 PM. -ed] Forecast track unchanged; Florida still in the five-day bullseye.
• In happier news, today is International Kissing Day. Or, as it’s known in American workplaces, Sexual Harassment Day.
• There is undoubtedly lots of kissing happening today over in London, where the Olympic celebration (and anti-France schadenfreude-fest) continues. Alex reports: “Trafalgar Square was packed with people. It may have been the first time I’ve seen the square with more people than pigeons.” Heh. Here’s a breakdown of the Olympic balloting. And here’s a great headline: France stunned and confused. And your point is…? :)
• Back home in the U.S., President Bush has asked former senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee to help his forthcoming Supreme Court pick — specifically, to “guide the nominee through the confirmation process.” If this goes the same way Bush’s choice of Dick Cheney as his vice-presidential search point-man went, former senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee will be nominated to the Supreme Court. You heard it here first on BrendanLoy.com. :)
• In other SCOTUS-related news, Senator Schumer (D-NY) was overheard today — talking on a cell phone on an Amtrak train, the idiot — saying of the coming nomination battle, “We are contemplating how we are going to go to war over this.” Matt Drudge is shocked, I tell you, SHOCKED!
• The United Church of Christ has officially come out (so to speak) in support of gay marriage. (Hat tip: Mike.) If I were an anti-gay-marriage conservative, I would give this story a Fark-esque headline: “UCC endorses gay marriage. God surrenders.” But, since I actually strongly agree with the UCC, I’ll simply echo Mike’s sentiments: “Yay!”
• Speaking of Fark-esque headlines, Fark gave this story the headline: “Airliner collides with a cow. Air France surrenders.” Heh.
• Wind turbines in the Altamont, CA area kill 1,000+ birds of prey every year, “including as many as 116 federally protected golden eagles,” according to the California Energy Commission. I have just one word: SQUAWK!
• The Hualapai tribe is building a glass bridge across the Grand Canyon. It is being “engineered to withstand 100-mile per hour winds, magnitude 8 earthquakes — and hold the weight of 71 jumbo jetliners.” Well, I’m not too worried about the jetliners, and 100+ mph winds don’t usually happen without at least some advance warning, probably enough to get people off the bridge. But um, what about an 8.1 earthquake?
• Last but not least, it seems that Tom Cruise has a blog. (Hat tip: Scientizzle.) Heh.

How jealous am I of my classmates in the London Summer Program this morning? Very. Alex was in class when he got the news of London’s Olympic bid:

I was sitting in EU Law at the time, in a classroom considered to be a wireless dead zone in the law school. However, the cheers from outside (Trafalgar Square, which has seemingly been ground zero for London’s countdown) and jets flying overhead pretty much told the story.

Patrick is also in London, and is apparently blogging from Trafalgar Square.

And I’m in South Bend. Poo.

LOL!

Hey, maybe she’s a long-lost relative of Alex?

Happy Birthday, President Bush!

Tropical Storm Cindy made landfall in Louisiana last night, bringing lots of rain and a fair amount of wind. Now she’s expected to head up toward the Northeast as a weakening depression.

But the big story is Tropical Storm Dennis, which will probably become a hurricane later today, and is officially predicted to reach Category 3 strength within 48 hours (and then it’ll probably get even stronger, but the NHC won’t forecast that yet). The forecast track puts the Florida panhandle in the bullseye in five days. But really, the entire Gulf Coast should be watching this one, as the bottom line is that the NHC expects “a major dangerous hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean Sea and the eastern Gulf of Mexico” this weekend.

The 2012 Summer Olympics will be held in London.

Moscow, New York and Madrid were eliminated in the first three rounds of balloting, leaving just London and Paris vying for the bid. Whereupon, of course, the French surrendered. :)

Rehnquist did not retire today, as originally predicted*, but it is very possible that he may do so soon, and create the first simultaneous SCOTUS openings since 1971.

The Washington Post says a Rehnquist retirement would “set[] the stage for a double nomination and Senate confirmation fight.” That’s one possibility, yes. The other is a triple nomination and Senate confirmation fight, if Bush were to appoint two new associate justices and elevate Scalia or Thomas to chief justice. But “it’s considered more likely he’ll go outside the court rather than elevating Thomas or Scalia,” according to the Post.

Meanwhile, rumors on the Internets say that Judge John Roberts — born in Buffalo, NY — is getting serious consideration to replace O’Connor, as is Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (who, it strikes me, is the only candidate at any obvious risk of being flat-out rejected — rather than just filibustered — by the Senate, given that he might be opposed both by anti-torture-memo lefties and anti-abortion righties).

*In fairness, the prediction said “on or about July 5.”

Cindy will come ashore in Louisiana this evening as a strong tropical storm.

As for Dennis… it is “steadily becoming more organized” as it trudges across the Caribbean toward Hispaniola, Jamaica, Cuba, and perhaps eventually the U.S. Gulf Coast. Are you ready for those oh-so-clever “Dennis the Menace” headlines? Because you’ll be seeing them real soon.

CORRECTION: Real soon? Try right now. Headline-writers are so predictable. :)

There has been a “very serious accident” on I-95 in New Haven, CT, injuring seven people including two children. Traffic is backed up for miles, as these live webcam views from the state DOT attest:

Tropical Depression Four officially became Tropical Storm Dennis at 10:00 AM today. The National Hurricane Center discussion notes, “This is the earliest date ever to have four named tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Basin.”

The official forecast calls for Hurricane Dennis to be in the Gulf of Mexico with 85 mph winds by the weekend. Some computer models take the wind speed even higher. The NHC says it’s too early to speculate on possible targets, but I have three words: Look out, Florida.

Meanwhile, T.S. Cindy is rapidly approaching New Orleans. It’ll be a big rain-maker, but that’s about it.

UPDATE: Hmm, maybe I spoke too soon! Just a few hours from landfall, Cindy is now almost a hurricane! She has winds of 70 mph, according to the latest Hurricane Hunter aircraft update.