The Global Warming Data Controversy

As this blog has reported on several occasions, the quality of data pertaining to global warming is, at best, poor. If you would like to read more on the latest audit of that data, go here.

Investigative Report: School Bus Drivers Endangering Children by Driving Into Floodwaters

We are less than two months into the 2018-19 school year and I have noticed something that should concern parents and society as a whole:

At least once a week, a school bus has become 

trapped in floodwaters.

Raytown (MO) school bus. "Kansas City Star" photo.

In each of these cases, there were children on the bus. The list:

• Mount Joy, Penn. 9/1
• New Castle, Del.  9/10 
• Dobbinsville, Del. 9/10
• Hillsborough, NC  9/17
• Stamford, Conn. 9/25
• Raytown, Mo.    10/8
• Wichita, Kans.     10/9

In every case, the children and drivers had to be rescued. In some cases, they were called "close calls" with regard to injuries. There may also be cases unknown to the media where a bus narrowly made it out of flooding without becoming trapped.

Just four years ago, we had an extremely serious situation near Wichita where the bus was overturned and carried downstream (below) by the swift current.

KAKE TV

The 2014 case was a complicated rescue. Emergency management had to rig a system of ropes to get to the children and driver and get them safely off the bus. Still, there was one injury.

The bus driver in this case was fired.

If this continues, eventually someone is going to drown. 

The number of cases suggests they are not isolated occurrences. In fact, there were at least two examples the end of the 2017-18 school year, one in May and one in June.

It is hard to understand why these are occurring. We know, in the United States, 76% of flood deaths are associated with automobiles. Thus, the "turn around, don't drown" campaign of the National Weather Service. It seems simplistic to think bus drivers are uniquely filtering out that message. It is possible that because school buses ride higher than ordinary autos the drivers believe they can make it safely through floodwaters.

There is the possibility bus drivers are put under sufficient pressure to make schedules that it causes them to toss good judgment aside and attempt to make it through flooding in spite of the fact the drivers involved in many of these instances have been fired. Regardless, this practice is so dangerous it must stop immediately.

Time for action.

School districts and school bus companies must stress to drivers they should never enter floodwaters. Never. Ever. If there is some question, local authorities (fire or police) should be called before the bus proceeds or seeks an alternative route. Many school districts use commercial meteorologists. They can be consulted in flood situations. There may be other solutions beyond these.

School bus drivers cannot continue to risk their lives and the lives of children in their charge. 

(c) 2018 Mike Smith Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved.

Yet Your Children Vaccinated! Now!

This outbreak is serious. Please get your children vaccinated.

"Warnings" at a Low Price

At least at 9:30pm CDT yesterday evening, Warnings was down to $15.00 at Amazon.

Yesterday night I received an email from a reader who wrote:

it is a fantastic story of the weather and your life

So, pick up a copy. Get extras for Christmas gifts. I'm not sure when it will be this inexpensive again.

Railroad Tracks: Danger!

Too many people are getting killed along railroad tracks in America.

Below is an example from Saturday afternoon in Flagstaff, Arizona. The man is standing right next to one set of tracks as a train passes. Had a train been coming from the opposite direction, he would

likely have been killed. The noise of the first train could have prevented him from hearing a second train approaching.

A woman was killed in June standing too close to the tracks in Colorado as a train approached.

You can see her a second before her death in light colored-clothes on the right side of the tracks.

Please stay away from tracks and teach your children to do the same!

Pro Tip: "Science"

By definition: if it isn't reproducible, it is not "science." 

"I'm Going to Sell it to TMZ"

The mob has confronted another Republican politician in a restaurant. This time, it was Senator Mitch McConnell in Louisville. The woman shooting the video (which is here) says, "I'm going to sell it to TMZ." To me, that brings up the question: "Are some of these set-ups for monetary gain?"

Things That Do NOT Matter in the Global Warming Debate

Searching for a Giant Colon

Where is Dave Barry when you need him? A giant colon has gone missing in Kansas City.

Kansas City Star

When a giant colon came to Miami, this is how Dave began one of the most (tears running down your eyes due to laughing so hard) hilarious columns ever.
If you are a professional humor writer, and there is a giant colon within a 200-mile radius, you are legally obligated to go see it. So I went to Miami Beach and crawled through the Colossal Colon. I wrote a column about it, making tasteless colon jokes. But I also urged everyone to get a colonoscopy. I even, when I emerged from the Colossal Colon, signed a pledge stating that I would get one.

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/dave-barry/article1928847.html#storylink=cpy

If you want to laugh, the rest of that column is here.

Extremely Wet Weather Continues in Texas

Here is the rainfall of the last two weeks.

It has rained in Abilene the last eight days.

And, here is the forecast for the next seven days.