Posts

Danger, Danger! A "Cashless" Society

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Another terrible idea from Washington (which is a font of terrible ideas these days)! Remember: Congress has already passed a law that every car sold in 2017 or after  will have to have an interlocking system so it will not start if the car believes you are drunk; or local or federal authorities don't want you to drive! What are we Americans giving up our freedoms without a even a protest?!  

New England Tornado Risk

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There is a slight risk of a tornado or two in the outlined area later today. This is a meteorologically unusual situation so I suggesting keeping an eye on the weather today. 

My Definition of "Climate Change"

On LinkedIn last week, I was asked my definition of "climate change." In case you are interested, here it is:  Our climate continually changes. Clearly, the mean atmospheric and oceanic temperatures of earth are warmer than 100 years ago. This is due to a mix of natural (volcanic, solar, internal variability) and human-driven factors including greenhouse gas concentrations, land use changes, instrument relocations and numerous other factors. Unfortunately, we don't know the exact contribution of each of these factors.

Today's Tornado Risk

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The brown area has a significant risk of tornadoes later today. Please keep up on the weather in these area. 

Next Time You Read These Fires are Caused By Climate Change

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Daily Mail A few days ago, lightning from (nearly) dry thunderstorms set off a large number of fires in the Pacific Northwest. It is possible, if the facts justify, to blame them on global warming. And, in France... But these arson-set fires -- which are far more frequent than lightning sparked fires -- should never be blamed on climate change. 

Just This Afternoon: Another Terrible NWS Tornado Forecast

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This is a tiny part of the major damage from a violent tornado(es) that began around 12:55pm this afternoon in the south part of the Green Bay metro area. Appleton was hard hit with major damage and with injuries, the extent of which are unknown at this time.  The problem: At 11:30am the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center forecast zero  chance of strong tornadoes anywhere in the U.S. and just a tiny (2%) chance of tornadoes of any intensity. Because of the events in Wisconsin, they were forced to rush out (17 minutes after the tornado began) a product calling for "strong" tornadoes -- that the public doesn't even see.  I believe the tornado will be rated at least EF-3 intensity.  The local Green Bay NWS office did an adequate job with this fast-developing situation, especially since the guidance would not have indicated to them there was any kind of meaningful tornado risk. From radar, the first significant indication of a tornado was at 11:56. Their ...

What is Wrong With the 'Leaders' of Our Airline Industry?

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Wall Street Journal Are you kidding?! This is insane. The mergers of Continental + United and Northwest + Delta never  should have been approved for antitrust/oligopoly reasons. Those mergers, along with U.S. Air + American have killed competition and have directly led to flying being the terrible experience it is today. The 'leaders' of the airlines can't manage what they have; what makes them believe they can manage a vastly bigger company?! Of course, these mergers never seem to bring the "synergy" that is promised so they end up cutting people and service.  When you combine these "too big to care" airlines with Congress being influenced by the airline lobby to make it practically impossible to hold the airlines accountable -- no matter how egregious their behavior -- it makes our airline experience worse than many "second world" airlines.  For our 50th wedding anniversary, we purchased first class tickets on American. Good thing we did! The...