Posts from — June 2020

Respect is earned and not automatic. People complain about people taking a knee during the National Anthem. First I’m not a fan of a 20th century Congressional chosen tune that features a poem by a racist 19th century lawyer set to the tune of a British drinking song. Personally I can’t see non-whites buying “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!” Most of them are still waiting to be free.

Then you have the Pledge of Alliance, a magazine promotion for the 400th anniversary of Columbus stumbling onto Caribbean islands. The original “salute” featured the right arm thrust out straight, palm down, but was changed after the Italian fascists and German Nazis adopted the “salute”. After the latest flare up of police rioting who believes “with liberty and justice for all” exists?

All Americans are still waiting:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Position: 32.5N 91.8W [10:00AM CDT 1500 UTC].
Movement: Northwest [325°] near 15 mph [24 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph [ 55 kph].
Wind Gusts: 45 mph [ 70 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 995 mb ↑.

Currently about 15 miles [ 30 km] East of Monroe, Louisiana.

This is the final NHC advisory on the system.

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.]

First Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Trump’s church visit shocks religious leaders:

The Episcopal Bishop of Washington, the Right Reverend Mariann Budde, said: “The president just used a Bible, the most sacred text of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and one of the churches of my diocese, without permission, as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus.”
…
Rabbi Jack Moline, President of the Interfaith Alliance, said: “Seeing President Trump standing in front of St John’s Episcopal Church while holding a Bible in response to calls for racial justice – right after using military force to clear peaceful protesters – is one of the most flagrant misuses of religion that I have ever seen.”

Pat Robertson was not pleased with the photo ops.

A religious trifecta: The Catholic Archbishop of Washington, DC does not approve of Trump’s photo op, and the two senior Anglican Archbishops are siding with the protestors.

In a statement ahead of the president’s visit to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, Archbishop Wilton D Gregory said it violated the church’s religious principles.

Catholics should defend the rights of all people, he said.
…
In the UK the archbishops of York and Canterbury said the unrest exposed “the ongoing evil of white supremacy”.

Trump Ordered Protesters Tear-Gassed And Beaten So He Could Stand In Front Of A Church. The people who were in Lafayette Park reported what was happening in real time. There are multiple videos of what occurred and there is eye-witness testimony from an Episcopal priest who was tending to injured at the church, Reverend Gini Gerbasi:

WE WERE DRIVEN OFF OF THE PATIO AT ST. JOHN’S – a place of peace and respite and medical care throughout the day – SO THAT MAN COULD HAVE A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH!!! PEOPLE WERE HURT SO THAT HE COULD POSE IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH WITH A BIBLE! HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO STEP OVER THE MEDICAL SUPPLIES WE LEFT BEHIND BECAUSE WE WERE BEING TEAR GASSED!!!!

None the less William Barr says: ‘Pepper spray is not a chemical irritant’.

Mr. Barr you are a worse chemist than you are an Attorney General. Oleoresin capsaicin, the active component of pepper spray, is obviously a chemical, and it is sure as hell irritating or it wouldn’t be used.

Pepper spray is banned for use in war by Article I.5 of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans the use of all riot control agents in warfare whether lethal or less-than-lethal.

Frankly the inclusion of the mounted police in the assault reminded me of the Cossacks attacking peaceful shtetls during the pogroms – very 19th century Tsarist Russian.

The tactics were such a hit that Arlington County withdrew all of its police officers who had been in DC as part of a mutual aid agreement among local jurisdictions. The county wasn’t interested in being part of attacking peaceful protestors. 😈

In a video that went viral on Thursday, officers in the city of Buffalo, New York, were seen shoving an elderly man to the ground.

His name is Martin Gugino, and authorities said he was taken to hospital, where he was in a stable but serious condition on Friday.

Mr Gugino is a longtime social justice activist in Buffalo, according to advocacy group Push (People United for Sustainable Housing).

He “has been a tireless fighter against injustice of all types for many years in our city both with Push and other grassroots organizations,” they said in a statement, condemning police for his treatment.

The two officers who did the pushing were charged with Assault in the Second Degree which is a D Felony in New York. The other members of the riot team resigned from the riot squad because “the officers were only following orders.” That is called the Nuremberg Defense, and it didn’t work for the senior Nazi officials who committed war crimes in World War II, and it won’t work in New York State. In addition I can assure you that the commander at that scene will make it clear that he didn’t order anyone to push a senior citizen to the concrete sidewalk (even if he did).

I was in the military and law enforcement. In both basic training and the police academy it was made crystal clear that you were responsible for your own actions and would be liable for following illegal orders.

Other video of the area showed that there was almost no one around which makes this even more unreasonable. Buffalo is a city, there are always people on the street and the police aren’t out there sweeping up every day. People have been cooped up inside because of the pandemic and want to get some air. Given that Mr. Gugino is a longtime activist you would think that the riot squad would know him and say ‘Hi!’ not bust his skull on the concrete.

Position: 30.3N 90.2W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northwest [345°] near 10 mph [17 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Wind Gusts: 55 mph [ 90 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 205 miles [335 km].
Minimum central pressure: 993 mb.

Currently about 20 miles [ 35 km] North-Northwest of New Orleans, Louisiana.

At 5:00PM CDT the storm made land fall about 50 miles [ 80 km] South-Southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico from Morgan City, Louisiana to the Okaloosa/Walton County line, Florida including Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas.

A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for mouth of the Mississippi River to Ocean Springs, Mississippi including Lake Borgne.

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.]

This is the 76^th anniversary of one of history’s biggest military gambles – the invasion of Normandy. There were so many things that had to fall into place for it to work, that it really is amazing that it did.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt told a news conference the invasion did not mean the war was over. He said: “You don’t just walk to Berlin, and the sooner this country realizes that the better.”

The war continued for almost a year, but FDR did not, dying a month before the German surrender.

This is what it was like when the US had adults in the White House.

Position: 26.2N 90.2W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [360°] near 12 mph [19 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph [ 85 kph].
Wind Gusts: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 240 miles [390 km].
Minimum central pressure: 993 mb.

Currently about 210 miles [ 340 km] South-Southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico from Intracoastal City, Louisiana to the Okaloosa/Walton County line, Florida including Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas.

A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for mouth of the Mississippi River to Ocean Springs, Mississippi including Lake Borgne.

A Storm Surge Watch is in effect for east of Morgan City, Louisiana to the mouth of the Mississippi River.

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: 22.7N 90.1W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [360°] near 14 mph [22 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Wind Gusts: 55 mph [ 90 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 240 miles [390 km].
Minimum central pressure: 998 mb.

Currently about 440 miles [ 705 km] South of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico from east of Morgan City, Louisiana to the Okaloosa/Walton County line, Florida including Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas.

A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for Mouth of the Mississippi River to Ocean Springs, Mississippi including Lake Borgne.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico from Intracoastal City, Louisiana to Morgan City, Louisiana.

A Storm Surge Watch is in effect for Indian Pass to Arepika, Florida; East of Morgan City, Louisiana to the mouth of the Mississippi River.

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: 17.8N 90.4W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: East [090°] near 3 mph [ 6 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph [ 55 kph].
Wind Gusts: 45 mph [ 70 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1000 mb ↑.

Currently about 145 miles [ 235 km] South of Campeche, Mexico.

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.]

(Gilda Radner as Roseanne Roseannadanna)

The Fates decided that a pandemic, riots, Trump DeSantis & Gaetz representing me, and pollen aren’t enough as the Hurricane season begins, I now have honeybees infesting a wall in the cats’ house. In an amazing burst of sanity at some point Florida protects them as an endangered species so you have to get a beekeeper to remove them.

Beekeepers are apparently as secretive as the Knights Templar as they don’t believe in the Internet in Northwest Florida. You have to play telephone tag for a day or so before you find someone who will give you a name, and then you can find them using a name search. Keyword searches don’t work when all of the mentions of bees are in graphics.

If I didn’t have tenants with bee allergies I would ignore the bees. They are between the inner and outer walls, not in cat space and are pollinating whatever the Asian restaurant across the street is growing in their backyard.

Position: 18.3N 91.8W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Stationary.
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Wind Gusts: 55 mph [ 90 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 60 miles [ 95 km].
Minimum central pressure: 995 mb.

Currently about 20 miles [ 35 km] South of Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico.

At 8:35AM CDT Tropical Storm Cristobal made landfall near Atasta, Mexico, just to the west of Ciudad del Carmen.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Campeche to Coatzacoalcos, Mexico.

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: 19.1N 92.3W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: South [170°] near 3 mph [ 6 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph [ 85 kph].
Wind Gusts: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 70 miles [110 km].
Minimum central pressure: 996 mb ↓.

Currently about 50 miles [ 75 km] Northwest of Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Campeche to Puerto de Veracruz, Mexico.

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.]

June 1^st:

The official start of the hurricane season.

Events:
1495 – Friar John Cor records the first known batch of Scotch whisky.
1660 – Mary Dyer is hanged in Boston, Massachusetts, for defying a law banning Quakers from the colony. She is considered by some to be the last religious martyr in what would become the United States.
1890 – The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith’s tabulating machine to count census returns.
1967 – The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is released.
1980 – The Cable News Network (CNN) begins broadcasting.

Births:
1563 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English statesman and spymaster (d. 1612)
1780 – Karl von Klausewitz, Prussian general (d. 1831)
1804 – Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (d. 1857)

For some reason, I didn’t make the list.