There are four officers in Florida government that are elected state-wide: Governor, Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer, and the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Most Floridians simply call the last job “the agricultural commissioner” and think that farming is all the job entails. The next time they’re in a service station, they should look at the sticker on the pump telling them it was inspected for accuracy, because the name on the sticker is the “ag com”. While agriculture is half of the job, the other half is being the advocate for consumers in the government.

Normally the people running are qualified and mostly non-partisan, despite what it may say by their name. Normally a lot of people just don’t bother to vote on this line. Well this year, things aren’t normal because Adam “Howdy Doody” Putnam is the Republican nominee.

Putnam is the grandchild of Ben Hill Griffin, just like Cruella de Harris. Ben Hill didn’t have a farm in central Florida, he created a citrus and cattle empire. Putnam isn’t in farming, he’s in agribusiness. He’s not likely to have much sympathy for small farmers and their problems.

Then there’s energy. Putnam led the charge in Congress to open Florida’s waters to oil drilling, and when he talks about home grown energy resources, he must be talking about sugar cane, which only prospers in the area that is supposed to be returned to the Everglades.

I’m guessing that Putnam sees the Ag Com job as a step towards the US Senate or Governor. That means a large campaign chest, and he isn’t going to get that by helping small farmers and consumers.

That’s my opinion, YMMV.

Position: 14.0N 78.4W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [275°] near 17 mph [28 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 70 kph].
Wind Gusts: 55 mph [ 90 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 45 miles [ 70 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1005 mb.

Currently about 335 miles [540 km] East of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua to Limon, Honduras, including the offshore islands.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Limon, Honduras westward to the Guatemala border.

This has been building in the Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela for several days, but finally spun up.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Krugman et al., the people who were screaming we were about to go over the cliff years before it happened, have been screaming that austerity government budgets were the wrong way to deal with the aftermath.

Ireland was the poster child for the “austerians”, the model for how governments needed to deal with the crisis with massive budget cuts.

The BBC reports that the Irish economy contracts by 1.2%

The Irish Republic’s economy shrank in the second quarter from the previous three months, surprising analysts who had been expecting growth.

Gross domestic product (GDP) fell 1.2%, the Central Statistics Office said. It also revised down its measure of growth in the first quarter to 2.2% from 2.7%.

Gross national product (GNP), seen by some as a more accurate barometer of the economy, fell by 0.3%.

The government has been seeking to reassure investors about the economy.

Excuse me, but screw the “investors”! They are clueless collection of crap shooters that caused the meltdown. In the absence of any other information doing the opposite of the “investors” want is a good general guide for getting back on track for a national economy.

Position: 17.5N 28.6W [ 4 PM CDT 2100 UTC].
Movement: Stationary.
Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph [ 55 kph].
Wind Gusts: 45 mph [ 70 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 35 miles [ 55 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1001 mb ↓.

Currently about 320 miles [515 km] West-Northwest of the Cape Verde Islands

There is still no steering available for this storm.

Lisa clawed back to Tropical Storm level, but it isn’t going anywhere, and the wind shear is set to increase in the area. There is no point in even noticing this storm unless you are in a vessel near the Cape Verde Islands.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]