North Queensland battens down for Cyclone Yasi’s fury
A severe cyclone expected to hit Queensland this week is likely to rival, and on some measures, dwarf Cyclone Larry, which devastated parts of north Queensland in 2006.
The weather bureau says Cyclone Yasi will be a severe category three or four cyclone when it crosses the Queensland coast, likely early on Thursday.
….If it hits as a category three, wind gusts up to 200km/h can be expected, and 250km/h if it builds to a four, as Cyclone Larry was when it devastated Innisfail and surrounding communities in March 2006.’      source

Thanks to TrueblueNZ for the graphic

‘Scientists Find the Tiny 24-Hour Clock in Every Living Thing
…The studies also suggest that the 24-hour circadian clock found in human cells is the same as that found in algae, and dates back millions of years to early life on earth..’   source

Very much worth a visit.

Some optimists view events in Egypt as a push for freedom and democracy. They’re not.  Richard Fernandez of Belmont Club:
‘…Events are unfolding, but they have not yet run their course; things are still continuing to cascade.  If the unrest spreads to the point where the Suez and regional oil fall into anti-Western hands, the consequences would be incalculable.  The scale of the left’s folly: their insistence on drilling moratoriums, opposition to nuclear power, support of  negotiations with dictators at all costs, calls for unilateral disarmament, addiction to debt and their barely disguised virulent anti-Semitism should be too manifest to deny.
Because it will hit them where it hurts, in the lifestyle they somehow thought came from some permanent Western prosperity that was beyond the power of their fecklessness to destroy. It will be interesting to see if anyone can fill up their cars with carbon credits when oil the tankers stop coming or when black gold is marked at $500 a barrel. It is even possible that within a relatively short time the only government left friendly to Washington in the Middle East may be Iraq. There is some irony in that, but it is unlikely to be appreciated.
The Left is always correct and when it is not, they will simply rewrite history. “Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” As the former Eastern Europeans  said when they read Orwell, “how did he know? How did he know?”…’

And this, with possibly the most incompetent inhabitant ever in the White House. How will Americans feel if the price and supply of oil forces this Administration–and other Western countries–to bow to the demands of the islamists? The choice will be stark…surrender or war.
UPDATE: Wolf Howling has some background and a good analysis of this thing.

‘North Queensland braces for Cyclone Anthony as Cyclone Yasi brews behind it. …..The cyclone is being described as a David – and unfortunately Goliath is on the way.
A tropical low off Vanuatu intensified into category one cyclone Yasi this afternoon.
It is expected to intensify and slam into Queensland’s tropical coast by Thursday at the earliest.
“It’s very impressive on the satellite and absolutely dwarfs tropical cyclone Anthony,” Mr Banks said.                source

‘Does your government have an Internet kill-switch? Read our guide to Guerrilla Networking and be prepared for when the lines get cut.’

Google is taking measures to reduce the rankngs of those blogs which act as news aggregators.  Wabbit refuses to use lefty Google and uses Ixquick instead.

‘…For those who understand this concept, if they punish sites that re-post content such as news aggregators that link back to them, the source will surely lose traffic and overall ranking despite being heavy in original content.  Which begs the question, what people have been asking for “stronger action against content farms?”  Because gauging the rise in popularity of alternative media (i.e. news aggregators), it seems that Internet users themselves aren’t the ones complaining.
It is obviously the entrenched dinosaur media that despises having to play on a level field, especially as it pertains to truthful reporting and analysis….’          source

Claire Berlinski:
‘..It is one thing to know abstractly, for example, that the Soviets sponsored terrorism in the Middle East. It is another to read a newly translated memorandum from longtime KGB head Yuri Andropov to Communist Party general secretary Leonid Brezhnev requesting authorization to fund a detailed plan by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to kill civilians around the world..’
A superb article, which shows the depth and extent of communist influence.

Would a voter boycott work?
Is “The Pacific” as good a series as Band Of Brothers? (Wabbit thinks not)
Is a beer and a bacon sandwich a healthy breakfast? Does it matter?
Where’s my tropical cyclone?