The Washington Post   has published an outstanding story regarding the loss of forests in the southern Appalachians as a result of Hurricane Helene.  Home or cabin surrounded by toppled trees near the top of a mountain. Washington Post The story's attempt to tie global warming to Hurricane Helene is weak and it does not sync with the IPCC's position that there is no certainty that hurricane strength is being influenced by climate change.  With that qualification, I highly recommend the story to you.  The disaster continues to grow. From Twitter Monday afternoon.  And, with Veteran's Day still in mind, the Post  has a story of vets volunteering to help the region put itself back together .  We wrote a second set of checks to Samaritan's Purse and the Salvation Army. If you can do so, I urge you to. Unless something has changed in the last two weeks, there are still people looking at a winter without electricity. They need all of the help they can get....

Daily Mail With today being the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, I wish to salute all of the veterans who have given us so much in order to protect liberty and freedom. As a Kansan , I would also like to thank President Biden and Speaker Pelosi for their honoring of WWII veteran and former Senator Bob Dole. He will be lying in state at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday; a rare honor.