1/. OK folks - if you believe global warming is serious, according to Republicans you are in a "climate cult".
Here's the bottom line - the climate doesn't care what you or they believe.....
A hazy sky is seen in New York City due to smoke from Canadian wildfires in June. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Almost three-quarters of US Republican voters think the economy should be given priority in domestic policy, even at the risk of ignoring the climate crisis, a new poll found
The survey, from NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist, found that a majority of Americans (53%) think addressing the climate crisis should be given priority.
But 72% of Republicans said otherwise.
2/. Tom Tomorrow lists Republican talking points about Trump's legal troubles....
3/. Have you heard "Try This in a Small Town"?
This is a very good story from someone who lives in one.....and it's a nasty life....
I’m a big fan of a country music sub-genre called “outlaw country.” Its artists are some of the most widely recognizable names in music: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Charlie Daniels. You probably know these names and can recall some of their songs even if you don’t like country.
Outlaw is, in many ways, an ode to the pervasiveness of rural and small town poverty, and the fraught relationship it stirs up between poor people and authority (especially the law) as the former try to get by under difficult circumstances.
4/ And if you want an example of the above story, read this and watch the police beltcam video of this pathetic incident.....
The cop was trying to shoot a Pomeranian......
Sheriff's Deputy Accused Of Shooting Arkansas Woman While Trying To Shoot Her Dog
Tina Hight accused Deputy Brian Williams of striking her, and not the Pomeranian he was aiming at, in the August 2022 incident.
5/. Jordan Klepper goes to a gun show in Oklahoma......wow.....
6/. Excellent article by Thom Hartmann, who you may know from his daily radio show......
The tipping point for the climate has well and truly tipped.....
You may remember the 2004 disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow, in which large parts of Europe and the American East Coast suddenly freeze up?
The plot device is that the Great Conveyor Belt—also known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)—which brings heat from the south Pacific around the southern tip of Africa and up the east coast of the Americas (we call it the Gulf Stream) into the North Atlantic and Europe shuts down.
The AMOC and the heat it brings to the North Atlantic ocean is the main reason why London (at the same latitude as Calgary) has a relatively temperate climate year-round, instead of being snowbound six months out of the year https://www.nationofchange.org/2023/08/04/is-earth-close-to-the-great-dying/
7/. If you have ever lived in South Florida, this might be interesting....
Paul Krugman's column is titled "What's The Matter With Miami?"
For a couple of years after the pandemic struck, there was considerable buzz to the effect that much of the financial industry might leave New York for Miami. After all, state and local taxes on the richest 1 percent are much lower in Florida than in New York — about nine points lower as a percentage of income, according to the most recent report of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (and taxes on the rich are even higher in New York City than in the state as a whole).
9/. The safest place in Florida if you want to avoid hurricane damage is ....drum roll......Orlando!
Where's the safest place in Florida to avoid hurricanes?
Depends on who you ask, and people are definitely asking — and googling. And for good reason.
On average, close to seven hurricanes every four years strike the United States, while about three major hurricanes cross the U.S. coast every five years, according to NOAA.
Forty percent of all U.S. hurricanes hit Florida.
Sixty percent of major hurricanes hit either Florida or Texas. A major hurricane is one that is Category 3 or higher, with maximum sustained winds of at least 111 mph.
10/. Ho hum, just keeps getting worse.......here the Times lets us know what the warming oceans mean.....
Brutal heat waves have baked the world this summer and they haven’t been contained to land. Earth’s oceans are the hottest they have been in modern history, by an unusually wide margin.
Daily Average Sea Surface Temperatures
All other years 1982-2022
Source: Climate Reanalyzer, Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, based on data from NOAA Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (OISST)
Note: Average sea surface temperatures for ocean areas between 60 degrees north and 60 degrees south latitude are shown.
The planet’s average sea surface temperature spiked to a record high in April and the ocean has remained exceptionally warm ever since. In July, widespread marine heat waves drove temperatures back up to near-record highs, with some hot spots nearing 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or nearly 38 Celsius.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/03/climate/ocean-temperatures-heat-earth.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
11/. Did I mention it keeps getting worse? The sea ice around Antarctica that protects the glaciers is almost gone.....
A video from CNN's Anderson Cooper [for a change].
13/. Is it too late for our Ron? Good question.....
Taking questions from network correspondents. Holding informal press gaggles. Engaging with reporters behind the scenes. It’s all standard practice for a presidential operation. But not, until recently, for Ron DeSantis.
In the past few weeks, the slumping DeSantis campaign has undergone a much-discussed “reset,”which has included reallocating resources and cutting staff. A new press strategy involving moremainstream media interviews was also said to be part of the reboot, a significant departure for the Florida governor better known for bashing the news media and turning to friendly conservative outlets. Reporters on the trail with him say they’re seeing the strategy change in real time.
14/. Found this bizarre picture- just had to share.....
15/. There are people out there trying to reform our disgustingly corrupt Big Ag dominated food industry...
Earl Blumenauer’s newest proposal would redirect billions of dollars away from subsidies for commodity farms towards programs that support small farmers, climate-friendly agriculture and increasing healthy food access. Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images Each year for the last 26 years – nearly his entire tenure in the US Congress – Earl Blumenauer has advocated for a law that would utterly transform US agriculture.
Nearly every time, though, his proposals have been shut down. Even so, he persists.
16/. Ron DeSantis's history books.....
17/ Time to watch this again.....and while you hear George Carlin's wisdom, think of the millions of Trumpies.....
18/. Book review - Jeff Goodell is one of our best environmental journalists, and his new
book is about heat and its effect on us all.
Jeff Goodell in East Hampton, New York, in August 2018. Photograph: Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for East Hampton Library Racism is at the heart of the American government’s failure to tackle the growing threat of deadly heatwaves, according to the author of an authoritative new book on the heating planet.
Jeff Goodell, an award winning climate journalist, told the Guardian that people of color - including millions of migrant workers who are bearing the brunt of record-breaking temperatures as farmhands, builders and delivery workers - are not guaranteed lifesaving measures like water and shade breaks because they are considered expendable.
19/. The Times gives us the best movies on Amazon....
As Netflix pours more of its resources into original content, Amazon Prime Video is picking up the slack, adding new movies for its subscribers each month. Its catalog has grown so impressive, in fact, that it’s a bit overwhelming — and at the same time, movies that are included with a Prime subscription regularly change status, becoming available only for rental or purchase. It’s a lot to sift through, so we’ve plucked out 100 of the absolute best movies included with a Prime subscription right now, to be updated as new information is made available.
20/. And Vanity Fair lists the best shows on Netflix.....
Today's video
"Action" is a TV series that aired on Fox in 1999, was cancelled after 13 episodes and there has never been anything like it since.
It was waaaaaay too advanced for it's time, incredibly raunchy and clever, clever, clever......
The premise is that it follows a movie producer called Peter Dragon [Jay Mohr] who is a loud, aggressive Hollywood type.
I am attaching the Pilot - it's 22 minutes of some of the funniest moments that have ever been on TV....
And remember the opening scene, and the Cobb salad.....
Today's farming joke
"A farmer had 5 female pigs. Times were hard, so he decided to take them to the county fair and sell them. At the fair, he met another farmer who owned five male pigs. After talking a bit, they decided to mate the pigs and split everything 50/50. The farmers lived sixty miles apart, so they agreed to drive thirty miles each and find a field in which to let the pigs mate.
The first morning, the farmer with the female pigs got up at 5 A.M., loaded the pigs into the family station wagon, (which was the only vehicle he had) and drove the thirty miles.
While the pigs were mating, he asked the other farmer, "How will I know if they are pregnant?" The other farmer replied, "If they're lying in the grass tomorrow morning, They're pregnant. If they're in the mud, they're not."
The next morning the pigs were rolling in the mud, so he hosed them off, loaded them into the family station wagon again and proceeded to try again. This continued each morning for more than a week and both farmers were worn out.
The next morning he was too tired to get out of bed. He called to his wife, "Honey, please look outside and tell me whether the pigs are in the mud or in the grass."
"Neither," yelled his wife, "they're in the station wagon and one of them is honking the horn.""
Today's Irish joke
Murphy, a furniture dealer from Dublin, decided to expand the line of furniture in his store, so he decided to go to Paris to see what he could find.
After arriving in Paris , he visited with some manufacturers and selected a line that he thought would sell well back home. To celebrate the new acquisition, he decided to visit a small bistro and have a glass of wine.
As he sat enjoying his wine, he noticed that the small place was quite crowded, and that the other chair at his table was the only vacant seat in the house.
Before long, a very beautiful young Parisian girl came to his table, asked him something in French (which Murphy could not understand), so he motioned to the vacant chair and invited her to sit down.
He tried to speak to her in English, but she did not speak his language. After a couple of minutes of trying to communicate with her, he took a napkin and drew a picture of a wine glass and showed it to her. She nodded, so he ordered a glass of wine for her.
After sitting together at the table for a while, he took another napkin, and drew a picture of a plate with food on it, and she nodded. They left the bistro and found a quiet cafe that featured a small group playing romantic music.
They ordered dinner, after which he took another napkin and drew
a picture of a couple dancing. She nodded, and they got up to dance. They danced until the cafe closed and the band was packing up.
Back at their table, the young lady took a napkin and drew a picture of a four-poster bed. To this day, Murphy has no idea how she figured out he was in the furniture business.
Today's heroic joke...
Woman stops 12 ft gator with .22 pistol!
"Florida Woman Stops Alligator Attack Using a small .22 caliber Ruger Pistol."
Another good reason to have a concealed weapons permit.
This is a story of self-control and marksmanship by a brave, cool-headed woman with a small pistol against a fierce predator.
Here's her story in her own words: "While walking along the edge of a pond just outside my house in the Villages discussing a property settlement with my soon-to-be ex-husband, and other divorce issues, we were surprised by a huge 12-ft alligator which suddenly emerged from the murky water. It began charging us with its large jaws wide open.
She must have been protecting her nest because she was extremely aggressive.
"If I had not had my little Ruger 22 caliber pistol with me, I would not be here today!
Just one shot to my estranged husband's knee cap was all it took.
The gator got him easily, and I was able to escape by just walking away at a brisk pace.
The amount I saved in lawyer's fees was really incredible and his life insurance was also a big bonus!"
Today's blonde joke....
A policeman was questioning 3 blondes who were training to become detectives.
To test their skills in recognising a suspect, he shows the first blonde a picture for 5 seconds and then hides it.
“This is your suspect, how would you recognise him?”
The first blonde answers, “That’s easy, we’ll catch him fast because he only has one eye!”
The policeman says, “Well…uh…that’s because the picture shows his profile.”
Slightly flustered by this ridiculous response, he flashes the picture for 5 seconds at the second blonde and asks her, “This is your suspect, how would you recognise him?”
The second blonde giggles, flips her hair and says, “Ha! He’d be too easy to catch because he only has one ear!”
The policeman angrily responds, “What’s the matter with you two?! Of course only one eye and one ear are SHOWING because it’s a picture of his profile!!
Is that the best answer you can come up with?
Extremely frustrated at this point, he shows the picture to the third blonde and in a very testy voice asks,
“This is your suspect, how would you recognise him?”
He quickly adds” . . . think hard before giving me a stupid answer.”
The blonde looks at the picture intently for a moment and says, “Hmmmm . . . the suspect wears contact lenses.”
The policeman is surprised and speechless because he really doesn’t know himself if the suspect wears contacts or not.
“Well, that’s an interesting answer . . . wait here for a few minutes while I check his file and I’ll get back to you on that.”
He leaves the room and goes to his office, checks the suspect’s file in his computer, and comes back with a beaming smile on his face.
“Wow! I can’t believe it…it’s TRUE! The suspect does in fact wear contact lenses.
Good work! How were you able to make such an astute observation?”
“That’s easy,” the blonde replied. “He can’t wear regular glasses because he only has one eye and one ear.
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