Lapeer Living has pictures from devastated the Biloxi area.

Northern Ireland 1, England 0! First time the Northern Ireland team has beaten England since 1972! (Hat tip: Peter.)

Guestblogger: Josh Rubin

Well, here’s something that gets the title of “Duh” …

The State of Louisiana does not want to forcibly evacuate those who are demanding to stay in NO, but the Mayor is trying to get everyone to leave. City officials are complying, but those that report to the governor and the president (i.e. the National Guard) are not.

This is great. We now have even more disorganization than before in Louisiana. These may be the times that try men’s souls, but a little cooperation between the federal, state, and local governments would be nice.

Over at InstaPundit, Glenn Reynolds offers a nine-step plan for disaster preparedness. Read the whole thing.

Incidentally, although I’m sure I would have seen it eventually, the specific reason I know about this post is because Glenn Reynolds e-mailed me about it. That’s right, the world is turned upside-down: black is white, up is down, short is long, and Glenn Reynolds is e-mailing me with links to his blog. The New York Times article and the national cable-news interview requests are nothing; this is what tells me I’ve truly arrived. :)

(Referential hat tip: Weird Al. :)

Opinion Journal’s “Best of the Web” yesterday noted the New York Times’s correction of its article about me, but the correction itself required correction; the Times, which spelled my name right in the article, spelled it wrong in the correction, and thus so did Opinion Journal in its item making fun of the correction. So today’s Opinion Journal corrects the correction, and does so with a certain comedic flair:

Hamer Nads
An item yesterday quoted a New Yark Times correction about the name of “Brendon Loy’s” dog. We heard from Mr. Loy, who tells us his name is actually Brendan, with an A. Sarry about that.

Heh.

The Times also issued a new correction:

An article in Business Day on Monday about the Notre Dame student who was one of the earliest to sound the alarm about the potential threat to New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina misstated the name of his dog. It is Robbie, not Becky. A correction in this space yesterday misspelled the student’s given name. He is Brendan Loy, not Brendon.

I didn’t demand a new correction; my e-mail to the Times, noting the spelling error, concluded, “This probably does not merit another correction in the print edition of the paper (I’ll leave that decision to you, but I’m not demanding it), but you might want to at least fix it in the online edition.” But I guess there is no such thing at the Times as an error too trivial to correct… unless it’s a lie about Geraldo Rivera or a presidential misquote… :)

Apple is at it again, with a slew of iTunes/iPod products released today. First is the iPod nano, which replaces the iPod mini as Apple’s mid range player. Using solid-state flash memory instead of a hard drive, the nano is about as thick as a pencil. It features a full-color screen and either 2 or 4 GB of storage.

Next is the Motorola ROKR, a cell phone which runs a mobile version of iTunes similar in interface to the iPods themselves. Currently it is only available through Cingular Wireless.

Speaking of iTunes, it’s now up to version 5. It includes a streamlined interface, improved search box, parental controls, and more.

Last, but not least, Apple has released another new special iPod bundle, the Harry Potter Collection. The bundle contains a 20 GB iPod with the Hogwarts Crest engraved on the back, and a complete download of all 6 Harry Potter audiobooks.

Tropical Storm Ophelia is giving forecasters fits. Unlike Katrina, whose track was relatively easy to predict by hurricane-forecasting standards, Ophelia has the computer models all in a tizzy. (See also here.) The predicted tracks are all over the place! Thus, as I pointed out earlier, the current official NHC forecast track is a “low-confidence forecast” (quite unlike the “high-confidence forecast” 48-60 hours prior to Katrina’s landfall, which should have led to a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans on Saturday morning, the use of school buses to evacuate the poor, etc.).

A couple of the computer models have Ophelia trekking across the Florida peninsula and eventually threatening Louisiana, but those models are being “discounted at this time,” according to Dr. Jeff Masters, because they predict immediate westward movement that clearly is not happening. However, while the Gulf Coast probably has nothing to fear from Ophelia at the moment, the East Coast definitely needs to be on its guard. Dr. Masters writes:

The Canadian model takes Ophelia out to sea behind Nate, but is the only model calling for this track. What I believe is the most likely scenario is one that is not promising for the U.S. This solution is the one favored by the GFS, UKMET, and NOGAPS models. These models forecast that steering currents over Ophelia will remain weak the next five days, which will allow her to remain over the warm ocean waters and gather strength. A weak trough of low pressure is forecast to move off the east coast Friday, which should act to push Ophelia away from the coast slightly. This trough could also create some shear and dump cold, dry air into the cyclone, weakening it temporarily. However, the GFS, UKMET, and NOGAPS models forecast that this trough will bypass Ophelia, and a ridge of high pressure will build back in forcing Ophelia westward or south-westward back toward the U.S. coast early next week. With so much time over warm water, and the shear likely to decrease once the trough bypasses her, Ophelia will have a good chance of attaining at least Category 2 hurricane status and making landfall somewhere on the Southeast U.S. coast. All interests along the Southeast coast from Miami to Cape Hatteras need to watch this storm.

Ophelia is already strengthening, according to both Dr. Masters and Steve Gregory, and will probably be a Category 1 hurricane within 24 hours.

As for Hurricane Nate, it is slowly strengthening, and has prompted a Tropical Storm Warning and a Hurricane Watch for Bermuda. At this time, the eye is expected to pass southeast of the island.

Last and least, Hurricane Maria remains a non-threat over open waters.

It had to happen sooner or later… yes, a place for all Irish Trojan Fans to show their support for the great work of Brendan Loy and the Irish Trojan Blog.
Visit the Irish Trojan Fan Club Store to purchase your Irish Trojan Fan Club Stuff. This Store was created by me (Toni) and all proceeds will go to the Red Cross for Katrina Survivors.

NOTE FROM BRENDAN: I just want to emphasize, lest anyone think that my head has officially grown larger than a Category 5 hurricane :), that I had no part in the creation of the “Fan Club.” But, since the proceeds are going to the hurricane victims, I’m okay with it.

UPDATE FROM TONI: For those readers who do not want a photo of Brendan on their underwear, we now have “Beckywear” at the Irish Trojan Fan Club Store!

Coming Soon.. Robbiewear! Butterwear.. you get the drift.

Again, all proceeds go to Katrina Victim Relief Funds!

The MSM continues to beat down my door. :) Tucker Carlson is my latest conquest. (Okay, it sounds really wrong when I put it that way…) His producer just called, and, long story short, I am going to be on MSNBC tonight at 10:00 PM Indiana time (11:00 East Coast, 8:00 West Coast).

I’m trying to keep track (for my own sake at least as much as my readers’) of all the pending interviews here.

Also, here is the South Bend Tribune article about me. It’s on the front page, and it’s quite good; the AP version not only truncated it, but made it less accurate. The Tribune story is pretty much spot-on. And you gotta love the picture! :)

Okay, lunch/blogging break over, back to work… and fielding media calls…

Report blasts U.N.; Annan “accepts responsibility,” still somehow has job.

Okay, so DaySide (1pm-2pm EDT) doesn’t want me anymore, but now apparently Fox News Live (9am-1pm, 2pm-3pm EDT) does. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: I’m now scheduled for 9:45 AM South Bend time (10:45 East Coast, 7:45 West Coast) on Friday.

I’ve been chewed up and spit out by the MSM. :)

I just got a call from the Fox producer who had scheduled my interview for this afternoon. She regretfully said she had to cancel; “they want to go more with the political angle,” she explained. In other words, the “clairvoyant weather nerd” angle is so 24 hours ago. :) If Fox had been able to find a studio for my live shot yesterday, I could have had my TV debut… but alas, now I’m yesterday’s news. Today is all about blame, shame and multiple overlapping investigations.

Sorry to disappoint, y’all!

But hey — the beat goes on. I’m in the South Bend Tribune today, and although the article hasn’t appeared on the Tribune website yet, it’s been picked up by the AP. Also, Monday’s New York Times article ran in today’s International Herald-Tribune. And I’m getting press now in Norway, and in France’s Le Monde.

UPDATE: There’s also this, including the following quotes:

“In the past week, Brendan has made what is undoubtedly the greatest contribution to the blogosphere in its short history: foreseeing this calamity long before anyone in MSM or in local government did, and prescribing precisely the right course of action.” –Patrick Ruffini

“Brendan Loy was way, way ahead of the curve on Katrina. … If you happen to work for the media, hire this man.”
–tallape

Any and all six-figure offers will be seriously considered. :)

Michael Barone is linking to me, too, from usnews.com.

Tropical Depression 16 is now Tropical Storm Ophelia. The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season’s remarkable record pace continues.

Unlike with Katrina as she approached New Orleans, the predicted track for Ophelia is a “low-confidence forecast” — the NHC really isn’t sure where she’s going to go.

[I originally started a post about this on Friday 9/2, but didn’t get a chance to finish it before I had to leave town. I am rather surprised something like it hasn’t been put up.]

For those who haven’t been paying attention, or thinking that the only ones responding to this crisis are the National Guard and the Red Cross, note that it’s quite a bit bigger than that: the world has responded, and according to CNN as of last night 94 countries have contributed to the relief effort, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia, Afghanistan (!), China, and Venezeula. Contributions range from $25,000 (Sri Lanka and Maldives) all the way to half a billion (Kuwait). And in addition to material aid, Jacques Chirac of France included a handwritten letter addressed: “Dear George“.

:)

Update: And the Washington Post reports on our apparent inability to actually accept those offers of help. Tragic.

I also wrote a bit more extended piece here.

Brian (Briandot)

Not sure if they don’t want the bad press, but SI.com has beaten ESPN.com to a couple of big stories involving ESPN personalities. First, college football analyst Trev Alberts was fired on Sunday after he failed to show up for work at ESPN’s studios in Bristol, Conn. Then, Adrian Karsten, a former college football sideline reporter for ESPN, was found dead at his home just before reporting to federal prison for tax evasion.