2015 archive
Hypercane 0
The resident curmudgeon at my local rag gets one right. Weather channels and websites (whether they have the word “weather” in their name or not) pine for disaster, as their coverage of the recent storm indicated. No one pays attention to them otherwise.
By mid-morning Thursday, though, the forecasting mood began to change. I turned on The Weather Channel and was greeted by long faces. Anchors there and elsewhere were barely able to disguise their disappointment at the new projection for the storm:
Joaquin was predicted to take his fury out to sea.
Gladiators 0
I counted up the number of college football games on our local TV and cable stations yesterday: 35. There were three baseball games being aired.
I watched a mystery.
Hank Garfield is correct. Television’s–and sports fans–football fetish is absurd. Here’s a bit of his screed:
“The Smart One” 0
Charles Blow describes a moment of accidental candor.
“Thank You for Your Service,” Republican Style 0
There is a simple solution for situations such as this one, but you will not see it advanced in Washington, where the Republican Party underfunds government agencies (other than the military) so Republicans can then complain that government agencies (other than the military*) don’t work.
Fund the damned agencies adequately.
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*The military’s performance in accomplishing goals set for it is its own topic.
(Afterthought: The issue there, though, is not so much the military itself as it is policies that place a mystickal magickal macho man faith in the efficacy of building things by blowing them up.)
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 2
Be polite to your mother.
Nayback had been walking down the road at the time of the incident, while the steel targets were placed on the ground in the woods, according to the release.
Steel targets. Words fail me.
Water, Water, Everywhere . . . . 0
My local rag has pictures.
When I emptied my rain gauge this afternoon, we had gotten about 7 1/2 inches in two and a half days, and it’s raining again.
It’s not affecting us directly. We’re at about 25 feet above sea level and we don’t try to drive through ponds. We went out this afternoon and did not see anything like what the pictures show on our drive to the local drug store.
My brother has not gotten nearly so much rain in Virginia’s Northern Neck, but he has high tides, as witnessed by this picture he sent me of his dock about two hours before high tide this afternoon. I haven’t heard whether high tide floated his boat.
Addendum:
Another inch over night, but the skies seem to be clearing.
Droning On . . . 0
. . . but you wouldn’t know it in Apple’s walled orchard.