Money is flowing to Flint, Michigan today.

April 28, 2017

After stops and starts, (click here) the state Legislature has adopted a bill to send $100 million to Flint to replace lead pipes.  The money is from the federal government, but had to be approved by state lawmakers.

It was part of a bigger budget bill that was stalled as the House and the Senate deadlocked over how to help Macomb County with a giant sinkhole.  That argument was settled.  And state Senator Jim Ananich of Flint says that’s good news for his city....        

April 28, 2017
2030.19z
UNISYS water vapor satellite of the USA (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)

There are some serious clouds that sprange up at the Indiana - Illinois border in the past hour.

April 28, 2017
By Karen Libby

Springfield, Mo. -- The National Weather Service (click here) has confirmed two small tornadoes in the Ozarks during Wednesday's strong thunderstorms.

A Weather Service survey team says an EF-0 tornado touched down briefly in Barry County near the Missouri-Arkansas border about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.  It had wind speeds of 85 miles an hour near Golden, Missouri.  Trees were uprooted, several fell on homes and several homeowners reported decks severely damaged.

The Barry County tornado was about 100 yards (the length of a football field) wide and was on the ground for about one mile.

A second tornado has been confirmed in Arkansas during Wednesday's storms.  The National Weather Service has confirmed an EF-0 tornado in Yell County that had winds up to 85 miles per hour. The tornado ended up having a 50 yard wide path and a half of a mile track. 

The storms caused significant damage to the electrical system and launched restoration work that is expected to last a couple of days....

These aren't minor tornadoes. They have not claimed lives, but, have done significant damage. I am impressed by the width with the velocity of an EF). I don't really think of low velocity tornadoes with wedge like width. It's about a sixth of a mile wide, but, it's track is a mile long. A mile long track for these low grade tornadoes is usually the upper limit. 

The damage is more than I would expect with an EF0.

A vortex system that travels the entire width of North America.

28 April 2017
1030:20z
UNISYS water vapor satellite of north and west hemisphere (click here)

Wow. Just when I thought there was a limit to the size of a vortex, Earth does this. The vortex was joined by the jet stream. Holy smokes.

The straight line winds across the southern USA is going to be at least 15 to 20 mph. The heat of the sun will give that wind energy to maintain and increase.

Those winds are occurring across a round Earth. It isn't simply a flat dynamic. Winds that travel across a round Earth already has the potential to make whirls in the sky. Add wind to that native effect of a round Earth and the potential to high velocity winds is possible. Add water vapor and the potential for tornadoes increases. Water vapor is the heat absorption mechanism of Earth. Water vapor is heat energy.

Is the violence over yet?

April 27, 2017
By Abby Hamlin

Ann Coulter (click here) was nowhere to be found in Berkeley on Thursday, but hundreds of protesters showed up anyway.

The high-profile conservative pundit’s off-again, on-again, off-again speech for Thursday at UC Berkeley was canceled for fear of violent protests, and in the end she never showed. Yet police geared up to deal with fringe political groups and rioters who have clashed there before — at another conservative speaker’s canceled event....

There has to be an end to the violence. A college campus is not a city, it is a learning environment. It is completely wrong to allow violence to exist because the learning environment is destroyed.

I don't see that campus police need to become storm troops.

THE COST of attempting to bring a very controversial voice to the Berkley Campus is more than money, while the money is significant, it is about the safety of real, breathing people. Berkley isn't interested in having a "Kent State Monument" on it's campus.

Ann Coulter sought to inflame the issue rather than reduce the tensions and actions of her loyalists. The violence served her purpose to defame the university leadership as if they were silencing her message.

You've got to be joking. Ann Coulter has been silenced? I don't think so. 

Her speaking engagement was cancelled because of the inflammatory stance she took and the university could no longer GUARANTEE her safety. Ann Coulter is responsible for her own silencing at Berkley. She should apologize to the students that invited her and refund every penny of her fee. She destroyed the essence of Berkley for her own political propaganda aggrandizement and profits to her career.

China launched it's first domestically produced aircraft carrier. But, really, China?

April 28, 2017

China's Defence Ministry (click here) has apologised for allowing a badly photoshopped picture of navy ships and fighter jets to appear on its social media accounts over the weekend.

The dodgy image, which appeared on the ministry's accounts on social networking sites Weibo and Wechat, was meant to mark the navy's 68th birthday.

It included fighter jets soaring over the country's first aircraft carrier, with two other warships steaming along in the background, above two ghostly submarines....

$597 billion USD is the USA budget.

The Chinese military budget (click here) is second in the world. However, it cannot be directly related to the USA budget. China is a communist country and it's "Cost in Production" is very different than the USA. If the USA is spending $1000 on a hammer, the Chinese simply make another one for nearly nothing. The entire Chinese infrastructure and it's internal costs are handled far differently than the capitalism it practices with the world. 

China should stop worrying about over stating it's power, the fact of the matter is it is a respectable force.

The USA government is about governance, not profit.

April 28, 2017
By Jessa Schroeder

As his 100-day mark in office approaches, (click here) President Trump admitted Thursday that his new job isn’t quite all it’s cracked up to be.

“I thought it would be easier,” Trump said in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters that covered a variety of topics, such as his longing for life prior to the presidency as a business mogul and the possibility of a government shutdown.

The former billionaire tycoon conceded that he thought the presidency would be a much simpler task than that of his former work in real estate.

"I loved my previous life. I had so many things going. This is more work than in my previous life,” he said....

All those populous point of views are hubris and very victimizing. Hardly the truth.

The facts are plain, the USA can always be improved on and to that end it is good to have at least two parties for elections, but, for the waste and fraud there is a very complex set of agencies, employees and rules.

The USA government is about national defense which a CEO rarely worries about. The investments the American people make are important and can't really be toyed with to trim some cost here or reduce budgets there. The USA government is as diverse and complex as its people and its states that have rights as well.

Many of Trump supporters wanted to change the country's rules overnight. The budget was going to be tamed and all issues reduced to simple dynamics and resolved. President Trump the leader of a very volatile group of constituents was sincere to them, the problem is they had measured the country, its structure, infrastructure and governance wrong. The USA is not a kitchen table or a curvy couch. It is a magnificent country developed over 240 years.

It is incredible to realize that 240 years ago a group of colonists, hard as nails, fought a guerrilla war as well as a traditional war against a powerful dynasty and won their freedom from colonialism. They were incredible people. They were statesmen and women dedicated to their own idea of freedom and governance. They, no different than their populous electorate today, wanted to be ruled by no king and paying no more taxes.

The USA is very different than its original 13 colonies. Those people from so long ago would not recognize the country they fought for, but, would be proud of the result of their constitution.

Freedom is elusive and can be lost far easier than it was gained. The freedom provided by our constitutional relatives is still here. We have many liberties. We can develop an economy and make it run. We can rise up against oppressive dictates within our country and demand they all be changed to bring in fairness and equity. That is incredible and a perfect dynamic that survived 240 years. That is no mistake and the checks and balances of this democracy guards this country at every turn.

I am not surprised this populous president has an awakening to the power at the top of the Executive Branch. There is no doubt there is incredible power. There is the power of life and death within the reaches of the USA military. For that reason alone there are checks and balances that bring equity to the people, protections of their constitution and their liberties.

While the dream for this electorate was to transplant the power of "The Apprentice," with Trump's children at his side to protect the power to move forward, it is far more complex than judging the outcome of a project.

At some level I believe President Trump threw his hat in the ring because he could bring change that would benefit Wall Street outcomes and return profits to companies that are waning including majestic hotels and casinos. I am sure Wall Street, especially the financial sector, believes the government of the USA is hideous and bloated. I am sure President Trump is no different than many that line Wall Street and believe the government can be cut and curtailed and reduced. "It can be handled." The fact is "It can't."