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Sunday, September 24, 2017

All Rise, Or Not, For The United States Of Football

September 16, 2017 3:33 am

Reprinted with permission from Creators.

Once again, we’ve got a lot going on in my hometown of Cleveland that’s attracting national attention.

Even as I write on this Wednesday afternoon, the background noise of my television is making me dare to believe that our baseball team is about to make American League history by winning its 21st consecutive victory.

Shh. I just typed that in a whisper. I’ve got no use for jinxes or other crazy superstitions except when it comes to Cleveland baseball.

This column isn’t about baseball. It’s about Cleveland Browns football players, the national anthem and a police union president who has a habit of making us sound like a town of time travelers who just arrived with a thud from somewhere in the 1950s.…

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Trump Won’t Shut Up About The Size Of His Hands At Disaster Relief Events

September 16, 2017 3:33 am

Reprinted with permission from AlterNet.

President Trump, who was called a “short-fingered vulgarian” in the 1980s, is still feeling insecure about his hands.

He brought up the size of his hands at a Hurricane Irma relief location run by the Red Cross in Florida, as he was handing out food. Trump claimed his hands were “too big” for the gloves.

Weirdly, he did the exact same thing at a recent disaster relief visit to Texas, where he also handed out food after Hurricane Harvey.

Check out both groan-worthy incidents below.

Here’s the moment when President Trump … needed bigger foodservice gloves pic.twitter.com/vSuKmevitz

— Peter Stevenson (@PeterWStevenson) September 14, 2017

As he puts on plastic gloves to serve food at NRG Stadium…President Trump turns to press and says: “My hands are too big!” pic.twitter.com/WIUTLOS4XD

— Pat Ward (@WardDPatrick) September 2, 2017

Hurricane Irma Makes Second Landfall

September 11, 2017 5:25 am

National Memo National News: Top Posts
An Engineer Explains Why Trump's Wall Is So Implausible
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Wake The Hell Up
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5 Dangerous Guns Sold Online In America
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Ethical Questions Surround FBI Director's Decision On Email Probe
Nothing could be less surprising than the partisan response by Congressional Republicans, ever ready to string up someone named Clinton immediately, if not sooner.
LISTEN: Ted Nugent Says Trayvon Martin 'Emboldened' By Obama; Knows How To Fix 'The Black Problem'
Veronica Rutledge And America's Gun Cult
No gun death is horrific enough to make the "gun rights" crowd reexamine its obsession.
5 Ways You Can Fight Back Against Donald Trump
I doubt I'll ever forgive myself for the mistakes I've made, but -- like you -- now all I can do is fight back against Trump. Here is what I think we need to do next.
National Memo National News: Archive
South Florida Residents Won't Have Power For Weeks
In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, Florida Power and Light (FPL) CEO Eric Silagy announced Sunday evening that more than 2 million households and businesses in South Florida would not get power restoration for weeks. FPL Vice President of Communications Rob Gould also told ABC News that affected areas will see a “wholesale rebuild” of the electrical grid, which could be considered the “longest restoration in U.S. history.” FPL serves more than 10 million customers across Florida.
September 11th, 2017
As Hurricane Irma Approaches, For Some 'Leaving Is Not Really An Option'
Forecasters say Irma will hit Florida directly this weekend, starting in Miami and the Keys, and then the entirety of the state by Monday. Nadege Green, a reporter with WLRN in Miami, lives in an area that’s not currently in an evacuation zone. She has boarded up her house in preparation for the storm. She says she's staying put not because she wants to, but because she feels like she has no other choice.
September 10th, 2017
Three Hurricanes Set To Pummel Americas Over Weekend
The three hurricanes—Category 4 Irma, Category 4 Jose and Category 2 Katia—are swirling and wreaking havoc along their distinct paths. Both Irma and Jose are moving up the eastern Atlantic Ocean, with Irma already causing destruction in the northern Lesser Antilles and Jose expected to do the same over the weekend.
September 9th, 2017
9 Million People Expected To Lose Power In Hurricane Irma, Florida Utility Says
FPL now has 13,500 crews from around the country, as well as its own, on hand to restore power once hurricane and tropical winds subside, Silagy said. "We're frankly more prepared for this hurricane than we have been for any storm in the history of our company," he said. But Hurricane Irma is the kind that "can snap concrete poles and bend metal," he said. Silagy expects overgrown vegetation and debris to cause some equipment failures, as well as flooding. "We're going to see a lot of damage. We're going to see areas where we're going to have to rebuild," Silagy said.
September 9th, 2017
Irma Rips Across Islands On Course Toward Florida
In their early morning discussion, National Hurricane Center forecasters said the latest model runs have moved Irma's path slightly to the east, taking the fierce Cat 5 storm over Florida's east coast or the northern Bahamas in the coming days. But they say models are still struggling to factor in a trough moving over the U.S. expected to help steer Irma.
September 7th, 2017
The Price Rises On Houston's 'Cheap' Housing
The disaster in Houston has put many conservatives on the defensive. Houston was their urban model. Developers could put almost anything anywhere, which lowered the cost of living. By unfavorable comparison, "elite" coastal cities that regulate development have relatively high housing costs. But it's an extreme creed that portrays regulation as the enemy of investment. In the real world, smart regulation can protect investments.
September 6th, 2017
What A Difference A Leader Makes In Crisis
Confronted with the catastrophe still unfolding now, Turner sticks by his story. His defiant tone, under duress, falls flat. It seems clear now that those living in Houston's 100-year floodplain should have been strongly encouraged to flee their homes, ahead of time, in an orderly process. That's emergency preparedness 101.
September 5th, 2017
Development And Disasters — A Deadly Combination Well Beyond Houston
“In the Houston metro area alone, there is more than $325 billion in residential value at risk,” Simmons said in an interview. “Most damage to residential property will be flooding and if people don't have flood insurance they are on their own.” (Most don’t, in part because the floodwaters reached so far beyond established danger zones.)
September 2nd, 2017
Harvey Is Likely To Be The Second-Most Costly Natural Disaster In U.S. History
With the shutdown of oil refineries and chemical plants, impaired roads and ports, and widespread damage to homes, businesses and cars, the economic toll from Hurricane Harvey is now being estimated as the second-costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, trailing only the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
September 2nd, 2017
After Harvey: Trump Plans Major Cuts In Federal Disaster Relief
August 31st, 2017
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