Day: June 1, 2016

Trying To Reason With The Hurricane Season–2016

I begin with a joke…..

what did the hurricane say to the coconut palm?

“hang on to your nuts this is no ordinary blow job”.

(rim shot)

This post may not be of interest to many of my readers but my town was all but destroyed by Katrina and Camille 30 years before…..so I take the start of the season seriously and do my preparations as usual…..

Today begins the long watch for approaching storms…now until end of November….hopefully the only disaster in that time span will be the election of the wrong person to lead this country.

For those that may be in or near the Gulf Coast here is this years predictions for the hurricane season……

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said there is a 70 percent likelihood that there will be 10 to 16 named storms this season (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which four to eight could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher). In a “normal” year, there are 12 named storms, six hurricanes and two to three major hurricanes, NOAA said.

This is one of the toughest hurricane season outlooks ever made due to the abundance of atmospheric variables, said Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

The most influential variable would be the AMO (Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation). This pattern is characterized by cooling and warming of water temperatures in the Atlantic and intensity of the monsoon season over West Africa. If the Atlantic water temperature is warmer than normal and the monsoon season in West Africa is active, this pattern tends to produce more tropical systems in the Atlantic Basin. If the reverse happens, it tends to yield toward below-normal hurricane season. These patterns can last over 20 years.

Another important variable this upcoming hurricane season is the fading El Nino and forming La Nina. El Nino tends to suppress tropical activity in the Atlantic and La Nina does the opposite. This year, there is a 70 percent chance that La Nina will form by the end of this summer and early fall. Coincidentally, August, September and October happen to be the average peak of hurricane season, with 90 percent to 95 percent of tropical storms forming during this period.

I pray that we NEVER have to suffer through another Katrina…..that bitch ruined a lot of lives….mine included….for it was the aftermath of the storm that destroyed my right leg to the point of constant pain even with pain meds…..the only good thing that came out of that storm was it gave me more time to dedicate myself to my research and this blog……and the meeting of so many good friends…..so there was an upside.

See ya tomorrow….peace  out

The Right: Home of the Domesticated Intellectual

As we creep closer to the beginning of the general election….there has been a wealth of backstabbing and out right confrontations…..

The Left is reeling from the Sanders challenge to the fave of the Wall Street crowd and mainstream Dems, Clinton……but on the Right is where things have gotten damn right nuts.

Big tent Repubs are really pissed at the success that Trump has had and they are striking back with different attempts to keep him from the nomination….(good luck with that)……

Most of the Mainstream Right is doing what the RNC wants it to do…..oppose the candidacy of Trump…..most are acting like trained seals…..

I read a good analysis of this situation on the site Unz Review…….

These are unusual political times but especially bizarre is the treatment of Donald Trump in many of today’s “conservative” magazines. I have not read them all, but of the three I do follow—The National Review, The Weekly Standard and Commentary, the treatment of The Donald can only be described as totally one-sided, sky-is-falling hysterical. Not the slightest semblance of balance, not even a tiny “horrible but the best we can do.” Everything is just pure, unadulterated vitriol.

Hating Trump per se is not the issue here (disclosure: I support Trump); the point is the ubiquity of the two-minute hate, and if each of these countless rants were an autonomous event, the odds of this uniformity occurring naturally must exceed a billion to one. Clearly, more is involved than just unmitigated aversion.

Source: The Right: Home of the Domesticated Intellectual – The Unz Review

How far will these trained baboons go to sabotage the Trump candidacy?

Will the voting public go along with this blatant act of sabotage?

Will they do as they are told?

Or is this just an exercise in futility?

Sandersism Has Defeated Clintonism

The election of 2016 has been an interesting one on so many levels…….I guess we could call it the “insurgent election”…….two candidates with with no super-PAC took on the more establishment candidates and won handily.

But the Dem side of the ledger has been the most fascinating……the “little” guy took on the big money machine of the Clinton’s and damn well gave her a run for her money.

It has been Clintonism versus Sandersism……

Seth Abramson: The Democratic Party’s perverse obsession with closed primaries has left them with a likely nominee distinctly unpopular with the independent voters who decide national elections.

In 2008, Hillary Clinton — on her way to losing the Democratic nomination — won nine of the final 25 nominating contests. In 2016, she may well — despite being treated as the likely winner of this year’s Democratic primary by the mainstream media — win only seven or eight of the final 25 state primaries and caucuses.

If you’re wondering how Clinton could perform worse in the second half of the election cycle in 2016 than she did in 2008 and still be in a position to win, there’s a good explanation for it that goes beyond the fact that the neck-and-neck Democratic primary race we’ve had for over two months started with a brief but solid run for Clinton. In 2008, both Democratic candidates were sanctioned by Party elders, so super-delegates were free to pick whoever they thought was the stronger candidate without fear of reprisal. In 2016, super-delegates are expected to go with Clinton even if the insurgent Sanders has clearly shown himself, by mid-June, to be the stronger general-election candidate in terms of both head-to-head match-ups with Trump, favorability ratings among independent voters, and performance in the second half of the nominating season.

Source: Make No Mistake, Sandersism Has Defeated Clintonism – LA Progressive

I know that the Clinton camp is making all kinds of concessions to Sanders in the hopes of keeping his supporters in the tent for the upcoming general election.

I am afraid that Bernie people will not feel the “love” for Clinton in the end and it could be the tilt of the election……probably not in the direction that all are hoping.

Realistic thoughts anyone?

After ‘Destroying’ Canada, Stephen Harper Leaving Politics

I have a few readers from the north, Canada, to be accurate……while we Americans pay little attention to our neighbors to the north…..some things are universal……like politicians that leave office and immediately set about making their fortune on their “good” name.

I mean look at the fortune that Bubba has put together with that corrupted piece of crap he calls the Clinton Global Initiative……..and now his wife has eyes on her next fortune……

Sorry I digress……looks like Canadian politicians are NO different from their American counterparts…..

News that former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper would be leaving politics presumably to “make his fortune” was met with derision and delight from his many critics who say that the conservative MP “destroyed the social fabric of Canada.”

Harper is expected to resign from federal politics before Parliament resumes in the fall. According to the Globe and Mail, which broke the news Wednesday, he plans to “pursue new interests on corporate boards and the establishment of a foreign policy institute,” which, according to an undisclosed source, “won’t be academic or domestic-policy focused…but directed largely at global ‘big picture’ issues.”

And one former policy director speculated that those issues will likely include free trade, in addition to Harper’s “geopolitical thinking” in regards to human rights, democracy, and “standing up to authoritarian regimes.”

uring his tenure as Prime Minister, which spanned from 2006-2015, Harper was known internationally for pushing through an aggressive conservative agenda which included: wholesale investment in fossil fuels, including Canadian tar sands; blocking international efforts to combat climate change; dismantling civil liberties through mass surveillance; unflinching support of Israel and attempts to outlaw pro-Palestinian boycott movements; supporting numerous wars overseas; and willfully ignoring the treaty rights of Canadian First Nations, among many other things.

After word of his imminent departure broke, critics took to social media to speculate about what may be next for the man accused of turning Canada into a “climate villain.”

(commondreams.org)

I would like to hear from my readers from the north…..please let my other readers know what is what in Canada…..all opinions welcome…..

 

Oh, To Be In Somaliland

Before we go any further…this is NOT about the country where the Blackhawk went down and Hollywood made a movie…..that was Somalia.

On another note…my readers know that I am championing the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco and the recognition of the state of Palestine…so I am not a stranger to a people’s desire for independence and/or recognition…..and this where the country of Somaliland comes into the conversation.

I know this area a bit for back in the day I was stationed in Ethiopia the area now is known as Eritrea…..so I am familiar with this region……

But first a bit about the country Somaliland…….

A breakaway, semi-desert territory on the coast of the Gulf of Aden, Somaliland declared independence after the overthrow of Somali military dictator Siad Barre in 1991.

The move followed a secessionist struggle during which Siad Barre’s forces pursued rebel guerrillas in the territory. Tens of thousands of people were killed and towns were flattened.

Though not internationally recognised, Somaliland has a working political system, government institutions, a police force and its own currency.

The former British protectorate has also escaped much of the chaos and violence that plague Somalia.

Map of Somaliland

The full country profile can be read here……

Source: Somaliland profile – BBC News

With that out of the way…..after 25 years of autonomy this country has been looking for official recognition……

“Even if they don’t recognise us, our independence is by virtue of our existence and by virtue of our liberty,” said Yussef Ali, who had taken his four young sons to join the crowds that lined Independence Avenue to watch the May 18 independence parade under the harsh sun.

On May 18, 1991, Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia. Twenty-five years on, it still has not received legal recognition from the international community. 

“Even if they don’t recognise us, our independence is by virtue of our existence and by virtue of our liberty,” said Yussef Ali, who had taken his four young sons to join the crowds that lined Independence Avenue to watch the May 18 independence parade under the harsh sun.

Around 500,000 Somalilanders were expected to fill the streets of the capital, Hargeisa, for the big day. But despite the festivities and the resolve of its people, Somaliland is straining after a quarter of a century of non-statehood. Its economy is fragile, making this apparent against the odds success story vulnerable.

“It’s absolutely unfair,” said Saad Ali Shire, the minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, after a conference the preceding day titled, The Republic of Somaliland: The Case for Recognition.

“We can’t get international credit or foreign investment to build the country and create jobs as we are not recognised.”

Source: Somaliland: 25 years as an unrecognised state – Al Jazeera English

The world needs to give this country what it needs….recognition.

The chances are that this could very well slide into the category of Somalia without the world’s help….personally, we already have enough “hot spots” in the world we cannot afford too many more…..

Time to do the right thing!