I would appreciate some "no-hurricane-hitting-New-Orleans"-ma.

Oh cripes, no, no, no...No more hurricanes hitting New Orleans. (Or Florida.)

Let it hit some deserted stretch of coastline... somewhere.

I don't want a hurricane to hit anywhere, especially since Florida's gotten so much rain lately, but I would appreciate some "no-hurricane-hitting-New-Orleans"-ma.

I'm with you. WWL has been sending me updates for the past few days.

My dad says that the reason the overall cone is pointing towards New Orleans is because they've averaged the tracks that have it hitting Texas or Florida. Apparently no individual track has it predicted at New Orleans.

But that's not preventing moderate hysteria, of course.

The current curve has it trending towards landfall in Mississippi. Which is still too close.

I remember when I worked for a press clipping agency and my job was to monitor the news broadcases for New Orleans. They talked about how bad it would be if the winds came over Lake Pontchratrain (sp?) towards the city. This was back in the 80s. I think about that every time a hurricane heads just to the east of New Orleans.

Here's what WWL sent me about a half hour ago

The latest forecast track from the National Hurricane Center calls for Gustav to be about 125 miles from New Orleans Monday morning as a major hurricane.

Channel 4 Meteorologist Jonathan Meyers says, however, the cone of error spreads from most of Florida through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

"Where is this going to go? Is it going to settle south and keep this away from us and move this somewhere towards Texas, or will it go off to the east and bring this somewhere into the central and eastern gulf coast," said Meyers. "That is where we really still have all those uncertainties."

Meyers says we should have a much better idea over the next couple of days.

According to the latest track from the Hurricane Center, Gustav will cross over Cuba's western tip Saturday as a category 3 hurricane with winds up to 130 miles per. The track shows the system then moving into the Gulf and up toward the Louisiana coast by Tuesday.

The Hurricane Center, however, notes there could be large changes before that happens and urges all Gulf Coast residents to pay attention once Gustav moves into the Gulf

In addition to the lovely Cashmere and Matt the Bruins Fan, there's Margaret Thatcher, Yves Montand, Marie Osmond, Nancy Kerrigan, Sacha Baron Cohen, and, of course, Chris Carter.

Also, ita's dad.

oh dear - did anyone else see the news that Margaret Thatcher has dementia. Sad.

No, really?

That is sad.

They have to keep telling her her husband died.

Damn, that would suck.

That seems kind of cruel. I mean, why not tell her he's out at the chip shop or something? I ask this honestly, as someone with no personal experience of dementia. Is it wrong to lie to people if it makes them feel better?