Posts from — October 2012

What was Tropical Storm Oscar has been totally disrupted by wind shear and become a remnant low that will be absorbed by a cold front. The NHC has stopped issuing advisories.

Hobbs

I’m not the kitten you are looking for…

[Editor: This is a face shot of the kitten from last week, hiding behind a twig.]

Friday Ark

Position: 22.0N 40.2W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northeast [040°] near 12 mph [19 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph [ 85 kph].
Wind Gusts: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 205 miles [335 km].
Minimum central pressure: 998 mb ↓.

Currently about 1135 miles [1830 km] West-Northwest of the Cape Verde Islands.

Despite the strengthening today, the forecast has Oscar dissipating tomorrow.

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.]

Position: 40.0N 26.7W [10AM CDT 1500 UTC].
Movement: North-Northeast [020°] near 23 mph [37 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Wind Gusts: 65 mph [100 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 998 mb ↑.

Currently about 85 miles [140 km] North-Northeast of Lajes in the Azores.

Nadine is making its second pass through the Azores and is expected to become post-tropical later today.

Nadine has been absorbed by a cold front. All Warnings have been canceled. This is the final advisory.

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.]

Noz’s post, reruns again? proves that occasionally even a winger will accidentally tell the truth.

Essentially, Tucker Carlson admits that he isn’t really a journalist, because the fact that he featured the video in question on his MSNBC show in 2007 is consistent with his claim that the media didn’t cover it in 2007. Obviously putting it on Carlson’s show was the same thing as ignoring it, because no one watched his show.

Actually, MSNBC lends credence to Carlson’s claim, as they canceled the show in 2008 for poor to nonexistent ratings.

At least, that’s what I got from his explanation, but Noz has the quote that he verified from the video.

I do take exception to Carlson’s claim of an ‘exclusive’, as this kind of nonsensical whining is characteristic of a number of wingers.

The Local Puppy Trainer reports on the local problem: Voter fraud investigation underway

“We found around 100 and the state attorney took all of them,” said Santa Rosa County Supervisor Ann Bodenstein.

Most of the tainted forms bore the names of residents already registered. Whoever turned them in was attempting to change a date of birth, an address or a signature, Bodenstein said.

One form bore the name of a woman “buried about six months ago,” she said.

“It was the biggest mess I’ve ever seen,” she said. “These were flagrant. Anybody who knows anything about voter applications at all would have caught these.”

Bodenstein’s office also found numerous instances where voter signatures appeared to be forged.
…

Though the Republican Party of Florida has taken much of the flak statewide for the flawed work of Strategic Allied Consulting, neither Bodenstein nor Paul Lux, her Okaloosa County counterpart, believe GOP officials, particularly locally, deserved the majority of the blame.

“I don’t think you can necessarily affix the blame to the RPOF. If you hire somebody to do a job, there are rules you give them to go by,” Lux said. “Strategic Allied either did not understand the scope or they didn’t train the people they signed up to be registrars. I’d place more blame on Strategic than I would on the RPOF.”

Bodenstein said there was evidence that some of the suspicious forms turned in to her office were registration applications collected by the state Democratic Party.

In case there were any doubts, yes, both Bodenstein and Lux, like all of the local politicians are Republicans, and no, there was no evidence of any registration fraud by the Dems presented. Actually, I would be surprised of any signs of life in the Democratic Party in either county given the 4 to 1 advantage the Republicans have in both counties.

Position: 37.4N 30.3W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northeast [035°] near 24 mph [39 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Wind Gusts: 65 mph [100 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 140 miles [220 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1002 mb.

Currently about 185 miles [ 300 km] West-Southwest of the Azores.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Azores.

The Azores will start feeling the effects of Nadine late tonight or early tomorrow. The storm is weakening.

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.]

Position: 19.3N 42.2W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northwest [335°] near 12 mph [19 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 150 miles [240 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1006 mb ↓.

Currently about 1220 miles [1960 km] West of the Cape Verde Islands.

They don’t expect much from this system, but it met the minimum standards for a tropical cyclone.

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.]

I’ve nearly missed the American Library Associations Banned Books Week that runs through October 6^th.

The quality of the books that get banned these days is not up to standards of days gone by because the book-burners have gotten so thin-skinned. The most memorable local case of recent years was a campaign to ban several ‘graphic novels’ from a local library because this woman’s son had gained illegal access to a restricted [Adults Only] are of the library and was ’emotionally distressed’ by what he found there.

Of course, the child’s emotional distress had nothing to do with the fact that the librarian caught him, voided his library card, and referred the matter to the local police as a burglary. 😈

Mike Konczal at the Next New Deal looks at the question: Is Taxing Capital Income Fair?.

The main thing I take away from the article is that the people talking about eliminating the capital gains tax don’t live in the real world and aren’t qualified to be bookkeepers, much less accountants.

Income is income, regardless of how it is earned. NTodd covered Andrew W. Mellon’s argument for taxing capital gains at a higher rate than wages.

Since the question is about fairness, the fairest solution is to not discriminate between earned [wages] and unearned [capital gains] income, but to treat them the exact same way.

I note that in his textbook example Joanathan Gruber neglects to mention that the reason that Ned pays higher taxes than Homer is because Ned had more income.

The problem with consumption taxes is that it isn’t “fair” for a single guy like myself to pay lower taxes than a single mother with a couple of kids to raise. She will obviously be consuming a lot more than I will, and pay higher taxes as a result. Is there anyone who really thinks that that is fair? [Well, other than the 1% and the sociopathic Republicans, of course.]

Position: 34.4N 35.7W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: East [090°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph [ 85 kph].
Wind Gusts: 65 mph [100 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 90 miles [150 km].
Minimum central pressure: 996 mb ↑.

Currently about 545 miles [ 875 km] West-Southwest of the Azores.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Azores.

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.]

The ‘Obama Phone’ seems to be getting a lot of coverage on the Right, which should be everyone’s first clue that it is wrong.

This program is one of the many things that has pissed me off about Ronald Reagan and the lies about what a conservative and tax cutter he was. This is, was, and always will be another Ronnie Raygun Unfunded Mandate, like so many other things.

Look at your phone bill. Somewhere in it you will find a one dollar fee labeled ‘Lifeline’ or ‘Universal Coverage’. That is the tax used to cover this program. The reason that you were probably unaware of it is simple: the telcos were required to set up the program and provide a low-cost phone for people who met the same income requirements as food stamps, and to charge the fee. What wasn’t required was to tell anyone about it. Telephone companies have been collecting the fees for the program since Ronnie bumped into furniture in the White House, but only a limited number of people ever found out about the program and actually signed up.

Well, now people know about it, and they should certainly use it if they are ready for the humiliating experience of applying. I have helped a few people through the process, but it puts a real strain on my anger management regime.

Position: 35.7N 38.9W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Southeast [125°] near 6 mph [ 9 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 65 mph [100 kph].
Wind Gusts: 75 mph [120 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 115 miles [185 km].
Minimum central pressure: 995 mb.

Currently about 700 miles [1125 km] West-Southwest of the Azores.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Azores.

Nadine is weaker this morning as it finishes its loop and heads back for a second pass at the Azores.

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.]