PrintJanuary 15, 2007
Emergency update (updated)
As of 7 AM Pacific time, we have had a very fragmentary and intermittent restoration of some email service. The problem is at the server level, and it appears that repairs are still underway. Only a tiny fraction of the normal flow of email has come in, and the backed-up email over the weekend is still missing. So we ask for further patience from those who have tried to contact us since Saturday afternoon.
We have used a separate server for email than the one which publishes American Thinker, owing to the large number of attacks we receive via email. It appears that we need to transfer our email server to another provider, as the amount of time for recovery from the problem has been unsatisfactory. We apologize to everyone who has been inconvenienced.
At our headquarters in Berkeley, we are facing a declared "Stage Three Emergency" due to a major explosion at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, California. Television is carrying helicopter pictures of a fire still burning in the massive facility, and residents of the immediate area are being warned to stay indoors owing to the presence of toxic substances in the air. We are roughly 5 miles away, and unless the wind shifts from its normal pattern, in no danger whatsoever. Nevertheless, it is unnerving. Reports are that the toxic plume is being blown into Marin County, which is the opposite direction from us.
I have many friends and colleagues in both the Point Richmond community, near the fire, and in Marin County, across the bridge. I also sit on the board of directors of a company with a subsidiary in an new office park about a mile from the Chevron refinery, an area which has been undergoing extensive redevelopment. My thoughts are with everyone in danger from the toxic substances.
Blog postings will probably be light as we recover. Stay tuned.
Update:
Email is coming back nicely. No way to tell if everything missed over the weekend is in, but a lot of backed-up emails have already arrived.
The emergency situation at the Chevron refinery has also been ended. Now all we have to worry about is a rise in gasoline prices. California requires a unique gasoline blend, and refinery capacity here is very, very tight (just try and build a new refinery here!). So whenever a refinery has a fire, prices jump. Chevron is one of the very biggest, so if its production goes way down, local prices will soar.
Update:
All clear in Richmond, and finally, email problems are solved.
Blog postings will probably be light as we recover. Stay tuned.
Update:
Email is coming back nicely. No way to tell if everything missed over the weekend is in, but a lot of backed-up emails have already arrived.
The emergency situation at the Chevron refinery has also been ended. Now all we have to worry about is a rise in gasoline prices. California requires a unique gasoline blend, and refinery capacity here is very, very tight (just try and build a new refinery here!). So whenever a refinery has a fire, prices jump. Chevron is one of the very biggest, so if its production goes way down, local prices will soar.
Update:
All clear in Richmond, and finally, email problems are solved.
