Active Tropics Once Again.

So, in the time since my last blog Bill and Danny have come and gone in the Atlantic. Danny pretty much petered out, but Bill brought some strong waves to the east coast and actually claimed two lives. Now we have Invest 94 L in the Atlantic which could get a name in the next couple of days.

But the big story in tropical weather right now is Hurricane Jimena which is expected to impact some of Western Mexico's resort areas sometime tomorrow night as a major hurricane. Let's hope everybody, local and tourist, down there gets out of the way, cause it looks like this one's going to pack a punch!

Book Thoughts: "The Conscience of a Liberal" by Paul Krugman

Really enjoyed Krugman's book. Of course, he was preaching to the choir with me too I guess. Anyway, Krugman, a Nobel Prize winning economist, takes us on en economic tour of America from Post-Reconstruction until today's times. He offers explanations of our high and low points. Now I don't know a ton about economics, but it made sense to me, even though some of his conclusions ran a little counter to what I always learned in some of my history classes.

Finally. Krugman calls for a "new New Deal," echoing FDR's successful campaigns to establish a social safety net in the 1930's, particularly Social Security. Krugmans New Deal would have true National Health Care as it's centerpiece, he argues that it can be done and become an accepted American institution, just like Social Security and Medicare.

A very timely book to read right now and I agree with him pretty much all the way.

Welcome to the new Dark Ages........

The Public Policy Polling agency released it's newest poll today. The result: 39% of Americans think the US Government should stay out of Medicare. That's right folks, 39% of your fellow Americans don't realize what Medicare even is. Medicare is health coverage run by the United States Government. Totally by the government that is. The Government should stay out of Medicare? The Government IS MEDICARE.

That's right, 39% of Americans are total idiots. In this same poll, 38% weren't sure if President Obama was born in the United States. 6% weren't even sure if Hawaii was a state!

In other recent polls: 24% of Americans can't name the country America fought in the Revolutionary War. A majority of Americans can't name a single branch of Government or explain what the Bill of Rights is. A Gallup poll found that 18% of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth.

What conclusion do we draw from this? We are a nation full of idiots.

Even James Madison wrote that pure democracy won't work because there is nothing to check an obnoxious individual.

Allow me to quote Bill Maher:

These are the idiots we want to weigh in on the minutia of health care policy? Please, this country is like a college chick after two Long Island Iced Teas: we can be talked into anything, like wars, and we can be talked out of anything, like health care. We should forget town halls, and replace them with study halls. There's a lot of populist anger directed towards Washington, but you know who concerned citizens should be most angry at? Their fellow citizens. "Inside the beltway" thinking may be wrong, but at least it's thinking, which is more than you can say for what's going on outside the beltway.

That's right folks, only in America can poor people be talked into being against and protesting something that will actually HELP THEM. Idiots.

How have we come to this? I think there are two reasons, both dating back into the 1970s, both reasons have reduced us to a society of dolts that can't institute a Public Health policy that was instituted by almost everybody else in the industrialized world years ago. The rest of the world sits back and laughs at the American Idiots.

The first reason is the Anti-Intellectualism driven by the Radical right wing. Don't let your kids go to public school. Don't let them learn about Evolution. Certainly don't let them attend a college or university. These places are just dens of liberals! We have been made to be afraid of intellect and brains over the last 20 years. Where did this get us? It got us possibly the most idiotic president the country has seen, Mr. Bush the second, who sat at his ranch in Texas and wet his pants while Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. We have to be afraid of smart people because smart people might ask to change something. We can't have that either. No change. Further more, why would we want to be intellectual and think if we can go our leaders and have them do the thinking for us? They tell us Obama is going to kill our grandma, and we swallow it hook, line, and sinker. Just like the fish who was too dumb to leave the worm alone. Natural Selection. Oh wait, we don't believe in that.

That brings me to the second reason, which is somewhat coupled with the first. We in America depend WAY TOO MUCH on religion to define our moral code and our beliefs. This is crazy. Not everything in the Bible is true. It doesn't take a genius to figure this out. If you honestly believe that everything in the Bible is literal truth, you're an idiot and you need to have your head examined. Bible literalists have recognized that the Biblical account of creation doesn't jive with the scientific evidence, so they concoct a new story that the Earth is only 6000 years old. Folks, the earth is millions of years old if it's a day. Even the astronomers at the Vatican Observatory believe this. If you don't believe this, go back to school and surrender your voter registration card at the door.

The Bible says we can rape our wives, sell them into slavery. We should execute homosexuals and kids who backtalk their parents. Is this really the book we want guiding our society and our Government? The founders separated Church and state for a reason, and it wasn't to protect the church from the state.

I believe religion has a place. I believe that we can use the model of Christ's life to be compassionate to others, to love one another. I don't believe that the modern purpose for faith should be to abide by the endless list of dos and don'ts listed in the Bible. Sorry folks, most of it is myth, and don't even get me started on the Book of Mormon, a complete fabrication.

Yet a large number of people abide solely by religion. They sit in the pew and listen to and do exactly what the clergyman tells them to do. Take it from me folks. I was going to be a clergyman. They don't know anymore about anything than you do. In fact, if you paid attention in your gen ed classes in college, you probably know more than they do.

Anyway, I'm tired of the idiots. I want someone, President Obama, someone to stand up, call a spade a spade and tell these idiots that they're being lied to. No more compromise, no more negotiating with idiots and morons. Let's do Public health because it's the right thing to do, regardless of religious and right wing hate and lies. Just once I want to see liberals grow a spine and get something done! If we don't, we might find ourselves on the losing end of natural selection. Look it up.

When the future's architectured by a carnival of idiots, you better lie low....

Book Thoughts: "Eyewitness to the Civil War: Gettysburg."

If one is seriously interested in studying a great event in history, it's always a good idea to read contemporary and first hand accounts when available. This book is primarily that, two first hand accounts of the Battle of Gettysburg. One is written by Col. William Oates, CSA, who later become governor of Alabama. The other is written from the Union perspective by Lt. Frank Haskell. He was later killed at Cold Harbor.

Contemporary pieces can often be a bit sluggish, since a lot of the language is somewhat different and perhaps more formal than we use today. However, I really didn't find that to be the case with these two accounts. Both were pretty easy to read. Of course, I have a great interest in the subject, which always helps.

Oates' account focuses primarily on his regiment's action attacking the Union left on Day 2. However, he also gives a great account of Pickett's charge. At the end, he goes into trying to reason out the Confederate loss. While placing some blame on Lee, he seems to place the heaviest responsibility on Longstreet, who he claims only slowly and half-heartedly carried out Lee's orders. This seems to have been a popular sentiment in the post war society of former Confederate soldiers. Today however, maybe we see Longstreet's view a little more and place a little more responsibility with Lee.

I didn't enjoy Haskell's account as much. He spent more time going through and saying what unit was exactly where than anything else. I believe it would be a great companion for a battlefield visit. However, his account of the fight against Pickett's troops at the angle is wonderful, and the type of account most historians really love to sink their teeth into, even if Haskell may have overplayed his own importance a bit. However, even General Hancock noted his action and bravery, so it wasn't overstated all that much.

In the final analysis, this is a great collection of two very different, yet very coherent views of Gettysburg and I believe it's something every serious student of the battle should read.

Tropical Update, Aug 18.

Well it looks like Ana petered out on us, and it looks like we might also be spared the wrath of Hurricane Bill, which was upgraded to a major hurricane today, the first major Hurricane in the Atlantic this year.

According to the NHC forecast, Bill should be headed northward through a break in a subtropical ridge. Hopefully at that point it will be scooped up in a trough exiting the Eastern USA and pushed northeast out to see. That would be good news indeed.

My thoughts on the public option....

Much has been made over several remarks made by prominent folks on Sunday political talk shows in regards to the Public Option's place in the Health Care Reform bill. Many regular news sites as well as blogs from both sides of aisle have announced the death of the public option. Even Nate Silver at 538, who is usually pretty on the money with his analysis, is beating the "Public Option is probably dead" drum.

Meanwhile, several prominent folks in the democratic community are decrying this. Gov. Howard Dean, a doctor, says you really can't reform Health Care without the public option. Paul Krugman, winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, says all that stands in the way of Universal Health Care is greed. Well, that's a mighty tough thing to overcome.

When I decided to support Barack Obama early on in the primary process, it was largely because of his strong support for Public Health Coverage. I supported Howard Dean in 2004 for the same reason. This is a priority issue for me. People in the United States are dying needlessly because they don't have health coverage. People in the United States are going bankrupt over medical costs. These things don't happen in other countries. Why not? Because they have Single payer health care. They treat health care as a basic human right, not a for profit, billion dollar industry. Candidate Obama said he agreed Health Care was a right when he debated John McCain. I want to see him back it up as President.

Now, Obama hasn't said he's given up on the public option. Let me say this though, if he does, I will not vote for him again. We're falling back into the same old trap where the money and the corporations run America. Though Obama said it would be different under his leadership, I'm starting to have my doubts.

If Obama gives up on the Public option, two things are going to happen. One, the Republican Party will be energized like it hasn't been since 1994. Two, many of the Progressives and liberals that helped elect Obama will again abandon the democratic party. I don't care if the Republicans are worse. I'm tired of voting for people who say they share my views then don't back it up. Maybe I'll vote for the socialist candidate next time around.

Anyway, I think Obama still has time to get this thing right. Daily Kos has floated the prospect that the administration was just sending up a trial balloon to see what would happen if they did drop the public option. I hope they are sufficiently scared with the reaction. We need to get this done for the people, they deserve it. Let's do something for the folks instead of the corporations for once.

Update, 3:00 PM: CNN reporting President Obama is NOT abandoning the Public Option.

Update, 3:21 PM: Speaker Pelosi hinting that she will throw the whole weight of House Dems behind the Public Option.

Tropical Storm Claudette landfall

According to NHC, Tropical Storm Claudette made landfall in the Florida panhandle at 1:12 AM Eastern this morning. It should be downgraded to a depression by Monday evening over the southern USA.



This looks to be mainly a rain event, a short article on the landfall from CNN can be found here. Officials in the area are asking people to stay off of the roads for the remainder of the evening.

Ana, Bill, and Claudette

Well, looks like we know have 3 systems out there with the potential to have some effect on the US.

Ana has been downgraded to a depression as of this afternoon, but the forecast track brings it into the gulf where it may restrengthen.

Tropical Storm Bill will perhaps become a hurricane tonight. However, the forecast right now indicates a more northern direction so the chance for a recurve to the Atlantic is greater:



Still way to early to say for sure though.

In addition, we had Claudette pop up off the gulf Coast of Florida today. This should make a landfall this evening as a Tropical Storm in the Florida panhandle.



Barometer Bob will have a Hurricane Hollow show at 6 PM Eastern this evening to cover all 3 of these storms. Listen at WRBN.net and keep an eye on local weather info outlets and the NHC.

Tropical Storm Ana 1

Well, TD 2 died, then became Tropical Storm Ana, which just goes to show you can't let your guard down. As of the Saturday morning advisories, it's a minimal storm, but is perhaps forecast to strike the US and the Caribbean.

Latest NHC Advisory on Ana.

This one isn't going to get as much press as TD 3 is going to get once it gets a name, but this could bring some rains and gusty winds to the Caribbean and Florida, and if it gets into the Gulf, hey, who knows? Still it is a potential land-falling system so it bears watching.



Keep in Touch with your local weather outlets and sites like Hurricane Hollow for the latest on this system. I'll also be posting updates through the week.

The tropics wake up.

So if you know me, you know one of my interests is weather, specifically severe weather and tropical weather. Well basically I don't have any more than a layman's understanding of it, but it does fascinate me and I enjoy learning about it.

Obviously, Mariel and I have a vested interest in Florida, with her family being there, and hell, a lot of our stuff is still there. We'll probably end up back there too someday, so I really keep an eye on it.

Well, June and July of this year have passed with nothing in the Atlantic. Well, the dead time is over folks. Right now we have two systems in the tropical Atlantic that will have the potential to threaten the USA in the next 10 days or so, and the Caribbean even sooner than that.

First off, Tropical Storm Ana is the first named storm of the season. As of the Saturday morning advisories, it's a minimal storm and really isn't expected to gain hurricane strength. The 5 day track from NHC takes it either into South Florida or the Gulf by Wednesday night or Thursday.

Secondly. Tropical Depression 3 is churning off the coast of Africa. This is expected to progress to PERHAPS major hurricane strength, but it's still too far off to really track. Look for this to perhaps become a named storm tonight or tomorrow.

If you live on the East Coast or the Gulf Coast, this is always a concern this time of year. Here are some links that either you, or even just a casual tropical observer like myself can use.

National Hurricane Center

Hamweather Tropics page

Hurricane Hollow Weather and Barometer Bob

Barometer Bob's Blog

Storm Carib--The Caribbean Hurricane Network

Check these links out for great info on the tropics, Barometer Bob's sites and Storm Carib are particularly good reads.

Book Thoughts: "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America" by Chris Hedges

Normally I just post what I write on my Shelfari page for these little entries about books, but I decided to go into more depth for this one.

"American Fascists" is a compelling read. At first off, someone from the Christian world might try to dismiss it by saying the author is some sort of liberal quack that really doesn't know what he's taking about. Well, that's entirely incorrect. Chris Hedges has graduated from Harvard Divinity school and was raised in the house of a Presbyterian Minister. Speaking as someone who grew up in the midst of a lot of the right wing speak, I can vouch that Hedges knows what he's talking about.

The main premise of the book is that a small, but radical element within Evangelical Christianity has largely hijacked modern Christianity, gained political influence, and is in the process of attempting to turn America into a quasi-militant Christian state, where strict Biblical moral codes will be enforced and those who disagree will be either banished or eliminated in the name of Christ.

Sound a bit alarmist? Well it did to me at first too. Even me, a fairly rabid liberal was a little hesitant to buy in at first, but Hedges makes his case strongly. When I add his writings to what I experienced growing up in a mainstream Protestant church, it's a little scary.

First off, Hedges talks about the retooling of the Christian faith to meet the radical right wing agenda. Those in control of this movement cherry pick the Bible to form what they believe is a scripture supported belief system of dos and don'ts. They then use a fine brush to paint everything in black and white, saying if you're not for God you're against him and they're going to wipe you out.

According to Hedges, this approach plays really well in a new American age where economic prosperity has turned to ruin and in despair, people look for someone or something to blame. Those to blame are the opponents of the stringent moral philosophy: liberals, gays, unions, organized women's groups, non-hard line Protestants, and left wing Catholics. Ultra right wing Protestants, together with some elements of the LDS faith and Right-Wing leaning Catholics will continue to push their ideals until a "Christian" United States is established.

This new State will subjugate women, persecute and drive out homosexuals, and stamp out any dissent. They will play all of this as being anti-God, and Anti-Christ. Racist trappings will seep in as many of these elements in the hard core right have close ties to Racist organizations such as the Aryan Nations Movement, Christian Identity, and even the Ku Klux Klan.

After the creation of the Christian United States is established, the movement will seek what they believe is a God-given dominion over all the earth, waging wars to do away with the enemies if Christ and seeking to bring about the Apocalyptic violence in the last days as recorded in the Book of Revelation and popularized in the mind-numbingly idiotic "Left Behind" series. Basically they will seek to bring about the end of Days and the return and 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ on Earth.

Sound scary? You betcha. Possible? Yep.

However, even Hedges doesn't believe that this is inevitable at this point. The 2006 and 2008 elections have dealt a heavy blow this movement, a sign that they have overplayed their hand. However, the movement has suffered body blows before and according to Hedges it is the responsibility of more tolerant minded and liberal Christians to stand up, call a spade a spade, and repudiate this horrific perversion of a faith that was supposed to be all about love and compassion.

I would highly recommend this book, it may open your eyes and help you see the radical right wing in a new light. It might even prompt you to take action.

Book Thoughts "The Associate" by John Grisham

For me this one was just ok. Grisham was obviously going for the same feel as he had in "The Firm," one of my favorite books ever, but he just didn't pull it off this time. Even the jacket makes the connection.

There were some good moments, and some good tension throughout. However, I just didn't like the ending much at all. It was like, "You spent the entire book building all this tension and that's IT?" I was looking to see if I bought a bad copy that was missing the last several chapters. I read another review that said it was like he got tired of writing and just wrapped it up as fast as possible. I can really see that.

Not a bad book, and you can't win them all. Still I expect better from Grisham, especially when it comes to the payoff. The is probably my least favorite of his.

Movie: "Mama Mia"

Well my wife and I bought a couple of DVDs this week, since we don't splurge on ourselves too much. One of them was "Mama Mia." That's right, the musical.

Normally I like musicals. I was prepared to hate this though, primarily because of all the hype it got from women and people my parents age. Not to mention, I'm not a huge ABBA fan.

I was pretty impressed though. It was fun. Pierce Brosnan can't carry a tune in 3 buckets, and he pretty much butchered the only ABBA song I really like, "SOS." All the other songs were pretty decent though.

It's a cool concept, taking a band's music, putting a storyline to it, and making a musical. For the most part, I thought it worked pretty well. There were a few songs where it seemed it was a bit of a stretch to put them at that point in the story, but they were few and far between. For the most part it was just a fun movie.

I'd probably give it three stars, and I'm sure we'll be watching it again over the years.

Birther of a Nation

"In America, there is no idea so patently absurd that it can't catch on."
--Bill Maher

"Now everybody do the propaganda, and sing along to the age of paranoia."
--Green Day

In the year 1915, The film "Birth of a Nation" was released. Widely recognized as the first ever "Blockbuster" movie, the film was innovative in many ways especially the use of new camera angles and narrative technique. It even earned a place in The American Film Institute's "100 years...100 movies list" coming in at number 44.

However, the film has been widely controversial over the years for it's racial themes and positive portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan. This is one of the film's narrative slides, quoting President Woodrow Wilson:



"The White Men were roused by a mere instinct of self preservation...."

Does this sound like anything that's going on right now? Sure it does, it sounds like the radical birther movement.

If you've been living under a rock and don't know what the birthers are, well they're a bunch of total idiots who espouse a conspiracy theory that President Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii, and is therefore not eligible to be president.

The radical right wing has latched onto this and will not let go, even though the mainstream conservatives even disagree with them. Hell even Glenn Beck thinks this is crazy, and when Glenn Beck thinks you're crazy, well, you get my drift.

Well, the birthers have been gaining some steam over the last few months, and just last week they finally thought they had their hands on the smoking gun. Queen Birther Orly Taitz (Lawyer/Dentist/Real Estate agent) got her hands on AN ACTUAL KENYAN BIRTH CERTIFICATE WITH BARACK OBAMA'S NAME ON IT.



The whackos blew their collective loads over this. This was it! They had him! Even the right wing weirdo site World Net Daily (Ground Zero for the birthers) put it up on their website. You can see it here

Looks pretty good, yeah? Even looks like it's been printed on...acid...free...computer..paper?? Man I'm impressed with Kenya. I didn't know they had such things in the 1960s.

Well, the whole thing fell apart rather quickly. I'm not going into all the things wrong with it, but here's a link to a few. Now we've also found out that the source of the fake was an actual Australian birth certificate. You can see both of them here and see for yourself.

Folks, Super Dental Lawyer Orly Taitz actually presented this in court against the President. That is how absolutely stupid these people are. Normally I don't believe in name calling, but that's only thing to call this: stupid.

Want to see Obama's real birth certificate? Ok here ya go. Need some more verification? Here.

So now that we have all that out of the way, let's press on to more important questions. Why do the birthers do this? What is the driving force behind the movement? Do people really believe this?

Yes, people really buy into this, and they continue to believe it despite the fact that there is indisputable evidence to the contrary. I'm sorry, if you're one of these people, you are a grade A idiot. This is about on par with believing the world is flat or that Bush orchestrated the 9/11 attacks.

However, I suspect that most of the people actually pushing this don't really buy it either, Ultra Legal Dental Girl Orly excepted of course. They see it as a way to distract from the real problems facing our country. I don't think that it's a coincidence that this really started to ratchet up at the same time as the health care debate. If these GOPers can drum up enough hatred with the rank and file Idiot Tools of the right, they might get enough misguided outrage to derail Health Care now and the rest of the President's agenda later.

Most disturbing to me though is that so many everyday people seem to be buying it. Everyday white people. There is a strong under current of racial fear here, and the hardcore right is channeling it, telling these people that their way of life is being destroyed by a Negro from Kenya. Yes people buy into that. Sounds the like the Wilson quote in "Birth of a Nation." We saw the racial violence explode from Reconstruction on to the present day. Can it explode again? I bet it can. The idiots who believe this own a lot of guns, and that's scary. This is dangerous. I wonder if the Republicans realize that?

Well at any rate, you all keep looking for a Kenyan birth certificate and we'll keep making laws and fixing the country. You're welcome.

Book Thoughts: "Cat & Mouse" by James Patterson

James Patterson really delivers a great read with "Cat & Mouse." At first I wasn't really thrilled at the prospect of rehashing Gary Soneji, but it was really well done and executed flawlessly. I was really kept on the edge of my seat wondering what Soneji would do next, and how Cross would counter him.

I did start to wonder how the Mr. Smith storyline was going to be dovetailed into the Cross/Soneji story. However when it finally happened, Patterson did it expertly and I was in no way disappointed, A real, genuine plot twist that I actually didn't see coming.

The body count is high, and the gore factor is ratcheted up a few times, but it's all done very tastefully, as is one of Patterson's trademarks. Also, please note: No character in this book is safe. I got the creepy feeling up my spine the entire time. The pacing was fantastic as well. All in all a top rate mystery/thriller. Highly recommended.

And now for something a little less serious.........

Have you ever had a real emotional connection with a song? Like you just hear the right song at the right time, in the right setting?

It's only happened to me a handful of times, and I listen to a lot of music. In recent times I can only think of two songs that I've had that happen with: "Gone" by Pearl Jam and "Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day.

Well it happened again tonight.

I was driving home from work, late, after a particularly frustrating evening and frustrating week. Driving down Main Street in Clearfield and Layton the in dark, with the neon signs of run down buildings slipping into my vision like Ghosts from a past that isn't all mine, but is part mine as well, as in "This place is a part of you whether you like it or not." Most of the time I don't like it. I don't like the culture, I don't like the fact that there's nothing to do. It's just not me, but in fact part of it is. I've been up and down these streets for what will be the better part of 31 years next week.

Anyway, as this is all going on in my brain, "Turn the Page" by Bob Seger hits the radio. Now usually I listen to the alternative station, but Mariel had been driving the car yesterday so the radio was on the Classic Rock station.

Now not being a Rock star I'm not gonna pretend that this song is in anyway about me. But the music has always struck a bit of a vibe and then these lyrics hit me tonight:

Well you walk into a restaurant, strung out from the road,
You can feel the eyes upon you as your shaking off the cold
You pretend it doesn't bother you, but you just want to explode.
Most times you cant hear em talk, other times you can.
Oh the same old cliche, as that woman on her a man........

There I go, turn the page.

Everywhere I go I feel the eyes of people on me thinking I'm a bit of a never was, a person who hasn't lived up to potential. It pisses me off. A lot of it's probably in my head, but not all of it, and I have a hard time escaping it. I really want to turn the page, have a life that is new and unique to me and my family (My wonderful wife and puppy at the moment.)

I'd love to turn the page.

Anyway, the song really struck me and connected with me tonight, and as I felt the warm evening air blow the ghosts of the old streets and the old life past my car into the distance, Bob Seger helped me escape it all for five minutes, to turn the page, to be lost in the music.