From Abraham Lincoln to Sputnik to the B-52s October 4, 2010

Today's Recon, Weather and Communication Satellites are descendents of Sputnik

Lincoln liked Lowe's Balloon But Some of his Generals Did Not

On This Date in History:  President Abraham Lincoln observed a balloon demonstration near Washington DC on this date in 1861 which was intended to show the value of using balloons to gain military intelligence on the battlefield. Both sides tried them for awhile but abandoned the practice after a few years when it was decided that they were too dangerous and unreliable. An advocate was Thaddeus S C Lowe who was in charge of the Union balloon corps. But he resigned after his pay was cut 40% when Union Commanders Joe Hooker and Ambrose Burnside were convinced that balloons gave inaccurate information. Bright guys, those Union Commanders. In the 20th century, aerial reconnaissance became a staple of military intelligence information.

Explorer I

In an ironic twist…On This Date in 1957…the Soviet Union put the first satellite into orbit. It was called Sputnik I but also was known as a “baby moon.” This was because it was a small round sphere that orbited around the earth putting out a little beeping noise via radio waves. Americans being as they are turned it into a political football and Democrats charged the Republican Eisenhower administration with allowing the Soviets to get ahead in technology. It was fearsome because it showed that they had missle technology to deliver nuclear weapons or even build space platfoms from which they could drop bombs on the US!   There also was the question of using a satellite as aerial reconnaissance…something Union generals Joseph “Fightin’ Joe” Hooker (For whom inaccurtely say the slang for prostitute is named)  and Ambrose E. Burnside (for whom sideburns are named)  had tossed aside nearly 100 years before.  So, President Eisenhower started leaning on the space program and by January 31,1958, the US successfully launched its own satellite, Explorer I and the space race was on.

Hmmmm....A Sputnik/B-52's connection?

This all really went back to 1952 when the International Council of Scientific Unions established July 31, 1957 to December 31, 1958 as the International Geophysical Year since scientists knew that solar activity would be at its height during that time. They used the opportunity to promote putting up artificial satellites around the earth. The Americans started off with their Vanguard program which was to put a 3.5 pound object into orbit. But the Soviets beat the Yanks to the punch with the beachball size, 184 pound Sputnik. Now I’m not sure what Sputnik did except scare people and get the Americans off their keesters and prove that the theory of satellites was practical. They turned to Werner Von Braun to develop the Explorer program. Unlike the Soviets and their mini radio station, the Americans included a small data collection system and Explorer I not only showed that “anything you can do, I can do better,” but also discovered the magnetic radiation belts around the earth, which took the name of its primary investigator, James Van Allen. The Van Allen Belt later was displayed prominently in “there’s a moon in the sky (called the moon)” by the B-52′s. Now that is progress…Sputnik to Explorer to the B-52′s.

Weather Bottom Line:  We have a weather pattern that looks simliar to the winter.  There is a big fat low spinning around to our Northeast.  Think of it as having spokes on a wheel.  These spokes I refer to as Vortlobes, or lobes of disturbed weather resulting from a pool of cold air aloft.  As these lobes rotate around, they tend to produce clouds as they proceed, particularly in the daytime.  In the winter, this often results in snow showers.  As it stands, our air is so dry at the surface, we don’t get much rain from the passing disturbances but the temperatures do get chilly with the cloud cover but the mercury jumps in the dry air when sunshine is added.  This pattern will slowly change this week as the upper low moves east and a surface high to our west moves eastward.  Toward the end of the week, we will get into a more southerly flow and temperatures will respond by still having relatively cool to mild nights but afternoon highs will get into the low 80′s.

God has not always been found on US currency or the Pledge of Allegiance July 30, 2010

Salmon P. Chase ca. 1860

On This Date in History: When the Civil War first broke out in April 1861, most Americans, particularly those from the North, assumed the conflict would end quickly. Toward the end of that year, it became all too apparent that it could be a very long and bloody affair. Perhaps it is that realization that caused citizens in the Union to urge Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase to add some recognition to the Deity on US money. While I understand the sentiment, I do not understand the relevance of placing such a recognition on coinage. Nevertheless, on November 20, 1861 Chase called on Philadelphia Mint Director James Pollock to come up with a motto that would be included on all future coinage. Chase wrote in part: “No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins.” While he did not specify what to put on the coins, he did tell Pollock to use the “fewest and tersest” words possible and to do so without delay.

US 1864 Two Cent Coin

But, it was not possible for anyone to just add mottos to US coins willy-nilly. Legislation passed in 1837 required that the mint get congressional approval before any verbiage was added to any coin. So, once Pollock came up with a phrase to put on the coins, he had to get the go-ahead from Congress before he could begin stamping it on the coins. Now, Chase had told Pollock to act “without unneccesary delay.” I suppose Pollock found necessary delays because he did not get around to submitting the potential verbiage until December 1863. It took him two years to come up with 3 choices: Our Country, Our God and God, Our Trust. Chase responded on December 9, 1863 of his approval with some modifications. He said that on the Washington obverse, the phrase should read, “Our God and Our Country” and on the shield it should read “In God We Trust.” Congress passed legislation in April 1864 that approved the two additions. The two-cent coin minted in 1864 was the first coin to bear the words, “In God We Trust.”

US two cent coin 1867

From that point forth, most coins received the new verbiage but, for some reason, it disappeared from the nickel in 1883 and did not return to the 5 cent coin until production of the Jefferson nickel in 1938. Shortly after the double eagle gold coin and eagle gold coin was put into circulation in 1907, new coins appeared without the phrase. Pressure almost immediately was brought down on the mint and in 1908, Congress passed a law that stated that all coins which had previously had the phrase must continue to include “In God We Trust” on all future mintings of those coins. Curiously, the phrase was not mandatory on the penny or the nickel but could be put on those coins at the mint director’s discretion pending approval from the treasury secretary. However, “In God We Trust” was not the official US Motto. It was not until the 1950′s that “In God We Trust” gained such a distinction.

Dr. George Docherty gave a sermon at the York Ave Presbyterian Church on Feb 7 1954 that is said to have persuaded Ike to support adding "Under God" to the Pledge

President Eisenhower on this date in 1956 signed into law a bill requiring “In God We Trust” to be put on all currency and be considered the official US Motto. It also stipulated that along with “In God We Trust,” “E-Pluribus Unum” and “United States of America” would also be included on all US coins. Since the Civil War the motto had been put on all coins but not paper currency. The “In God We Trust” bill came just two years after Eisenhower signed a bill that added “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. Most historians conclude the action of Congress and the President was part of a reaction to the “Red Scare” of the 1950′s. Eisenhower himself has been said to have been raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, while more modern accounts suggest he was raised as a Mennonite. Sources say that Ike abandoned his family religion but that religion was still important to him. In 1953, he was baptised as a Presbyterian, less than a year into his first term as President. So, it was just 1 year after Ike made his personal conversion that he came to support the mention of God in the Pledge of Allegiance and 3 years prior to his acceptance of God in an official US motto.

Argument over Church/State Separation Has Gone on For a Long Time

Today some people claim that the insertion of God into state mottos and the pledge is a violation of the separation of church and state. Many defenders of the verbiage mistakenly think that the inclusion of God was mandated by our founders when in fact, “under God” and “In God We Trust” did not come along until well after the founders were dead and gone. Would the founding fathers have approved of such a motto? Just because they did not endorse a motto does not necessarily mean that they would be against it. Maybe they had better things to do. Then again, they never even approved a pledge of allegiance either. It is difficult to get into the heads of figures from the past and we are left to try to discern their intent from the writings that they left behind. Silence can be a tacit acknowledgement of the founder’s stance. The question remains as to which side of the argument the tacitness would fall. Then again, perhaps the silence was merely the result of their not having ever thought of mottos or pledges of allegiance or anything else. They were, after all, pretty busy considering a number of pressing issues.

Weather Bottom Line: As I mentioned the last couple of days, Friday will have a much more comfortable start than we’ve seen the last couple of weeks and the afternoon will only see highs in the 80′s with reasonable comfortable humidity. Don’t get used to it. While Saturday morning will start off very pleasant, the cold front that came through and brougth the relief will come back as a warm front. I”ve seen some forecasts with a rather pedestrian rain chance on Saturday. From where I sit, while its not a guarantee that you will get rain or t’storms on Saturday, I think that it’s a better than fair prospect. Just from the standpoint that the warm front is coming back during the heat of the day is enough. While I do not see any shortwaves riding down the frontal boundary from the northwest, it does not mean that one that is not showing up on the models will not do so. A shortwave coming down from Iowa on Friday doesn’t really show up too much so, that’s possible. They are sometimes tough for the computers to find. Even so, the models tend to show some rain over our area. I am not going to water my sunflowers on Friday as I think I’ll get some rain on Saturday. If not ,well it will be hot and humid again on Sunday with the potential for scattered showers and t’storms Sunday and Monday…warranting pedestrian rain chances. After that, I think we will see a big fat ridge assert itself from the Southwest that will limit the rain chances for midweek and serve to take temperatures to the mid and upper 90′s at some point and the humidity will be tough. So, enjoy your Friday while you can.

“In God We Trust” Unconstitutional? Unjust Court-Martial of USS Indianapolis Skipper? July 29, 2009

Unconstitutional?

Chase Thought Motto on Money was a Good Idea

On This Date in History:  President Eisenhower signed into law a bill requiring “In God We Trust”  (link to a history on “in God we trust’)  be put on all currency and be considered the official US Motto on this date in 1956.   Since 1864, during the Civil War, the motto had been put on some coins but not paper currency under the direction of Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P Chase.  Chase later went to the Supreme Court, which is ironic considering the “separation” issue allegedly begun by Thomas Jefferson. The “in God We Trust” bill was just two years after Eisenhower pushed for “under God” to be added to the Pledge of Allegiance.

 Most historians conclude this action was part of a reaction to the Red Scare of the 1950′s. Interestingly, “under God” was inserted into the US Pledge of Allegiance during Eisenhower Administration.  Eisenhower himself has been said to have admitted the he had been raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, while more modern accounts suggest he was raised as a Mennonite. Sources say that Ike abandoned his family religion but that religion was still important to him and in 1953, he was baptised as a Presbyterian, less than a year into his first term as President.

Ike Liked the Motto

Today people claim the insertion of God into state mottoes and the pledge is a violation of the separation of church and state. Many defenders of the verbiage mistakenly think that the inclusion of God was mandated by our founders when in fact, “under God” and “In God We Trust” did not come along until after the founders were dead and gone.   However, there are many who say that the founders intended on the Constitution to protect the churches from the government, not the government from the church…the proverbial freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.  You make the call.  If you need some help, here are some pros and cons of both “in God we trust” and “under God.”

On this date in 1945, the USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine. The cruiser was returning from Tinian Island where it had secretly delivered the atomic bomb. Because it was a secret mission, details of its schedule were shrouded. So much so that its late arrival went unnoticed. The Americans had intercepted a message from the sub describing the ship they had sunk. The Americans just assumed it was a boast and didn’t follow up. If you remember Jaws then you know the story as told by Captain Quint, who said he was a crew member of the doomed ship. Nearly 1200 men were on the ship.

Captain McVay

About 400 died from the torpedo blast. Some 900 men went into the water but only 318 were rescued. No one showed up for a rescue for 84 hours in during that time nearly 500 men were devoured by sharks. Quint said he’d never wear a life jacket again. The Captain  of the Indianapolis, Charles B McVay III,  never sailed again as he became the only officer in US naval history to be court-martialed for losing a ship in war time.  McVay committed suicide in 1968 and many speculate he took his own life due to guilt.  But, during the Clinton Administration, Captain McVay was exonerated from fault by Congress in October 2000.  In spite of the Congressional official exoneration, the US Navy records still indicate the Captain Charles McVay was found guilty in a Court-Martial for losing the USS Indianapolis while he was in command.

Wed Evening

Weather Bottom Line:  We have some consensus and also some disagreement in the forecast for the next several days.  First off, we had a lot of clouds on Tuesday and even some showers with rumbles of thunder.  That put the kabash on any chance we had of getting to 90 and it now looks inevitable that we will not get to 90 degrees for the entire month of July in Louisville.  First time since records have been kept…I think since 1872….that we have had zero 90 degree days in Louisville.  Remarkable considering that the official numbers are now kept at the airport. 

We have agreement that a front is coming through.  We have agreement that a wave will ride along that front.  The timing is the issue.  The GFS likes rain in the morning and late day, the NAM likes rain midday.  The GFS has rain again on Thursday and also Friday.  The NAM has rain Thursday afternoon into early Friday but dries it out from there.  Both suggest a relatively mild and dry weekend.  Now, the parameters for all data are not overly exciting.  There is an elevation in the Showalter Index and the Total Totals and such but nothing real alarming as the SWEAT index is somewhat pedestrian.  Strong storms with gusty winds from time to time are possible, but nothing appears imminent on the severe weather front.

Nobility of Purpose: Sacrificing Life For a Cow or Sacrificing Life For World Civilization June 6, 2009

On This Date In History:    A Case For The Cows

On this date in 1981…a train pulling cars full of people was tootling down the tracks on a rainy day in India. The engineer was Hindu, who hold cows as sacred. Just before he got to a bridge that crossed a rain swollen river, a cow appeared on the tracks. The engineer braked hard…too hard. The back half of the train with cars full of passengers slid off the tracks and into the river. Though many bodies were never found, it is estimated that 600 people died that day. Thank goodness the cow lived.

These Americans Helped Free a Continent

Ike Had a Tough Decision

A Case For Civilization

On June 6, 1944, the allies of World War II made the largest amphibious landing ever attempted on the area of the coast of France known as Normandy. The allies were successful largely because the good guys’ meteorologists were better than the Nazi meteorologists.  The weather had been atrocious causing the allies to postpone the invasion.  They had created an armada of over 5000 ships of various sizes and thousands of troops stationed in England.  June 6 was the last day that the moon would be right for weeks and it would be almost impossible to maintain the number of troops and supplies in England and also maintain secrecy.  The Nazis thought the weather was so bad there was no way for a landing so Rommel went home to his wife’s birthday party and Hitler took a sleeping pill ordering him not to be disturbed.

 

Landing Map for D-Day

Meanwhile, the American weather men said there was a brief window of opportunity to get it done.   See, the allies had an advantage in that weather generally comes to Europe from the west, north or south.  Well, the allies controlled those areas so they had data.  The Germans were to the east and so had limited information.  Remember, there were no satellites and the only observations that the Germans could get would be from their ships, submarines or planes with some data available from neutral nations.  But, by 1944, the Luftwaffe was greatly depleted and spent most of its time over the mainland defending “Fortress Europe.”  The Nazi  surface navy wasn’t ever very formidable and much of what had been in service had been destroyed by the allies, mainly the Royal Navy.  Now, they did still have submarines  but they too were spending more and more time under water as they were getting their asses handed to them and probably didn’t have too much time to make weather reports when they did surface.  Even when they did, it was only surface observations as I doubt they took the time to launch a weather balloon. 

So, General Eisenhower gambled and won and so did the good guys. So, chalk one up for the weather man!!

Omaha Beach June 6, 1944

Today, we have public leaders running around making speeches in which they apologize to other nations for America’s actions.  They do not mention how we’ve come to the rescue in recent years of the Muslim population in the former Yugoslavia.  It was the Americans who led the rescue of the Islamic country of Kuwait.  They don’ t mention that it was the Americans who came to the aid of the Muslims in Afghanistan against the Soviets.  Some Brits protest against America for some of our foreign policy, yet they either forget or are ignorant of the fact that it was America who provided the armaments and raw materials and food to sustain the island when Churchill and the nation bravely stood alone against Hitler.   The French complain about our actions in Iraq but forget it was the Americans who took the toughest route on D-Day at Omaha Beach and took the lead in liberating France from Nazi rule. 

Vichy Leader Pierre Laval (with Hitler) was executed after the War

It should be noted that many of their French countrymen collaborated with the Nazis and set up the Vichy Government as a puppet to Hitler, though many defiantly resisted both the Germans and the Vichy Government.  It was Americans who fought and died at Anzio in the effort to liberate Italy.  It was the Americans who turned the tide in World War I to end the devastating stalemate that cost millions of lives in Europe. 

This American Life Ended 65 years ago today, so that others may live

Truth is, it would be a very different and worse off world without the American soldier.  It would be a very different world without American efforts to provide hope and liberty to the oppressed, often times sacrificing its blood and treasure to make that a reality to these foreign nations.  It would be a very different world without American aid in disasters.  Our leaders fail to remind the Middle East that it was America who took the lead in providing relief to a large Muslim population that suffered after the Tsunami a few years ago.  Improved health, sanitation, lifestyle and innovation has come to the world because of America.  Yeah, we make some mistakes. But we do a lot of good.  Those crosses and stars of David that are on the cliffs of Normandy Beach are for men who gave their lives so that others could be free, not so future leaders could tell the rest of the world how bad we are or have been.

An Extra Blanket Needed?

Weather Bottom Line: A couple of days ago I said that I wouldn’t be surprised to see some temps in the 40′s on Friday morning and at least Brandenburg and Patoka Lake made the cut.  With high pressure building in there will be clear skies and no wind to speak of so I think more people will have a morning wake-up in the 40′s.  Louisville will probably be in the low 50′s.  We warm up to the low to mid 80′s on Saturday, mid to upper 80′s on Sunday. Most folks will be around 90 or so on Monday. Next chance for rain shows up Monday night or early Tuesday. 

Sputnik + Explorer = B 52s; Housing Speculators (flippers) At Fault For Meltdown? October 4, 2008

Explorer I

The B 52s

Maybe We Should Call McBroom

Louisville weather continues to go as planned. That means nice weather but no rain. We’ll warm up as we go on through the next few days. Saturday morning temperatures will not be quite so cool when the official low Friday morning was 45 in Louisville, Rough River Lake had 36 and Bradsfordville 35. Look for upper 70′s Saturday, low 80′s on Sunday and mid 80′s to start the week. Midweek a front will slip into the area and provide a chance for much needed rain. If you can’t get the rain you need, you may as well settle for a spectacular weekend, which we will have.

Housing foreclosures: After watching all of the goings on regarding the “financial crisis” I’ve been pondering how we got into this mess. It didn’t happen overnight. I posted a video that indicates members of Congress were indeed warned of a problem with Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac and they seemed to brush it off and leaders did react by calling the administration’s people incompetent, said that nothing was wrong with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and those in charge of the institutions were going a great job. SEE THE VIDEO HERE. But, I got to wondering about all of those homes that are either in arrears on

How Did This Happen?

their mortgages or in default. In the debates, we’ve heard that homeowners were unsuspecting dupes to predatory lending practices. And I’m sure that was the case in some instances. But, what about the “flippers?” Those are people who bought homes with no intent of living in them at all but simply buying them and speculating that prices would rise rapidly and they could re-sell them at higher prices. I was thinking that perhaps many of those people might have gotten adjustable rate mortgages because of the low initial interest rate because they didn’t care if the rates went up since they were intending on selling them, taking the profit and getting out from under the mortgage before the rate ever went up. Then, the market prices of homes started falling and they couldn’t sell them and then not be able to make the mortgage payments, so they got foreclosed on.

I did some snooping and found an article (CLICK HERE) from August of 2007 that outlines that exact scenario. It says that, at that time, 29% of all mortgages in foreclosure in Nevada and Arizona were for homes not occupied by the owners. In Florida, nearly 1/3 of all mortgages in distress were for non-owner occupied homes. And that was just for mortgages written in the previous two years. Nationwide, it said that 13% of all mortgages in distress were from homes bought by investors, not actual people who resided in their homes. I believe that I saw a statistic that said its only about 4%-5% of mortgages are in foreclosure. With 13% of those nationwide in distress a year ago coming from those trying to turn a quick buck, I wonder how many actual homeowners…people who live in their homes…are really in distress? I would submit that part of the blame here goes to people who were trying to flip homes and turn a quick profit by outsmarting the market. They got burned and lost the gamble. So, the question is, should the Federal government come to their rescue? Would you feel comfortable with that? Here is a listing of homes (CLICK HERE) that somehow have been determined in the Sacramento area as having been owned by speculators. Look at the amount of devaluation and how long they’ve been on the market.

On This Date in History: On This date in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln observed a balloon demonstration near Washington DC showing the value of using balloons to gain military intelligence on the battlefield. Both sides tried them for awhile but abandoned the practice after a few years when it was decided that they were too dangerous and unreliable. An advocate was Thaddeus S C Lowe (CLICK HERE for more info)who was in charge of the Union balloon corps. But he resigned after his pay was cut 40% when Union Commanders Joe Hooker and Ambrose Burnside were convinced that balloons gave inaccurate information. Bright guys, those Union Commanders. In the 20th century, aerial reconnaissance became a staple of military intelligence information.

In an ironic twist…On This Date in 1957…the Soviet Union put the first satellite into orbit. It was called Sputnik I but also was known as a “baby moon.” This was because it was a small round sphere that orbited around the earth putting out a little beeping noise via radio waves. Americans being as they are turned it into a political football and Democrats charged the Republican Eisenhower administration with allowing the Soviets to get ahead in technology. It was fearsome because it showed that they had missle technology to deliver nuclear weapons or even build space platfoms from which they could drop bombs on the US! There also was the question of using a satellite as aerial reconnaissance…something Union generals Hooker and Burnside had tossed aside nearly 100 years before. So, President Eisenhower started leaning on the space program and by January 31,1958, the US successfully launched its own satellite, Explorer I and the space race was on.

This all really went back to 1952 when the International Council of Scientific Unions established July 31, 1957 to December 31, 1958 as the International Geophysical Year since scientists knew that solar activity would be at its height during that time. They used the opportunity to promote putting up artificial satellites around the earth. The Americans started off with their Vanguard program which was to put a 3.5 pound object into orbit. But the Soviets beat the Yanks to the punch with the beachball size, 184 pound Sputnik. Now I’m not sure what Sputnik did except scare people and get the Americans off their keesters. They turned to Werner Von Braun to develop the Explorer program. Unlike the Soviets and their mini radio station, the Americans included a small data collection system and Explorer I not only showed that “anything you can do, I can do better,” but also discovered the magnetic radiation belts around the earth, which took the name of its primary investigator, James Van Allen. The Van Allen Belt later was displayed prominently in “there’s a moon in the sky (called the moon)” by the B-52′s. Now that is progress…Sputnik to Explorer to the B-52′s.

In God We Trust; Few Storms Possible and One Tough Goat July 30, 2008

We have a weak boundary…I won’t even call it a front..that is sagging down our way. You can make the argument that this is the leftover of Hurricane Dolly which went across South Texas and Northern Mexico, into Arizona and New Mexico before getting into the flow and moving back into Oklahoma and then has gotten stretched into the plains around a ridge of high pressure. Now, it is sagging down our way. There may be a little wave that progresses along the boundary Wednesday evening and with afternoon heating could conspire to produce some decent t’storms across the area. While there is no risk area, the SPC does have something to say about it so I have reprinted the part of the discussion that pertains to our region. For

Tough Goat

this reason, I have not much more to say since I am tending to a bunch of horses and a goat and a mule. Yesterday, I was mending fences after Snow White and I had to go chase down the mule and the goat after the goat had busted a hole through the fence. I found out that I can make a donkey go where I want it to by simply grabbing its ear and then leading it to Snow White who had a lead rope in hand, whatever that is, and we returned it to its field. The goat was a different story. I wrestled the big goat and won! Here’s the SPC report:

…SRN PLAINS TO THE OH VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON… A LOW-MID LEVEL CYCLONE OVER ERN KS/WRN MO WILL MOVE SLOWLY EWD THROUGH THE PERIOD. A LOW-MID LEVEL TROUGH EXTENDS SSWWD ACROSS ERN OK INTO N TX…WHILE A WEAK OUTFLOW BOUNDARY/DIFFERENTIAL HEATING ZONE EXTENDS EWD ACROSS SRN MO INTO KY. SCATTERED STRONG STORMS ARE EXPECTED INVOF THESE SURFACE BOUNDARIES WHERE MODERATE-STRONG INSTABILITY WILL DEVELOP WITH DAYTIME HEATING AND BOUNDARY LAYER DEWPOINTS IN THE LOW-MID 70S. RATHER MODEST MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES AND WARM TEMPERATURES ALOFT SUGGEST THAT ISOLATED DOWNBURSTS WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT THIS AFTERNOON…THOUGH INSTABILITY COULD STILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR ISOLATED/MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL. THE THREAT FOR MORE ORGANIZED STORM TYPES WILL BE LIMITED TO A NARROW CORRIDOR IN ADVANCE OF THE MID LEVEL TROUGH ACROSS MO/IL WHERE VERTICAL SHEAR WILL BE RELATIVELY STRONGER.

On This Date in History: President Eisenhower signed into law a bill requiring “In God We Trust” be put on all currency and be considered the official US Motto. Since the Civil War the motto had been put on all coins but not paper currency. The “in God We Trust” bill was just two years after Eisenhower pushed for “under God” to be added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Most historians conclude this action was part of a reaction to the Red Scare of the 1950′s. Eisenhower himself has been said to have been raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, while more modern accounts suggest he was raised as a Mennonite. Sources say that Ike abandoned his family religion but that religion was still important to him and in 1953, he was baptised as a Presbyterian, less than a year into his first term as President. Today people claim the insertion of God into state mottoes and the pledge is a violation of the separation of church and state. Many defenders of the verbiage mistakenly think that the inclusion of God was mandated by our founders when in fact, “under God” and “In God We Trust” did not come along until after the founders were dead and gone. I’ll let you make the call.

New Man At Helm In Miami…Dogs Still Woofing July 30, 2007

The Dog Days of Summer are still woofing. The pattern that is ahead of us looks hot and humid with rain chances slim and none for the foreseeable future. The future of the National Hurricane Center remains a bit in the air. Earlier in July, Director Bill Proenza was reassigned and Deputy Director Ed Rappaport took his place. If you recall from an earlier post, about 40% of the center’s employees called on the Feds to ditch Proenza because they said he had lowered moral and decreased public perception and confidence in the Center’s ability to forecast hurricanes. Proenza, who was a veteran of the NWS but not the Hurricane Center, had from nearly the beginning of his tenure in early 2007 complained that NOAA was wasting money on birthday celebrations while cutting the funding of the NHC. He also was upset that a critical satellite was nearing the end of its life and no plans had been made for a replacement. His cry was that the loss of the satellite would diminish the center’s ability to make accurate forecasts. Here is the brief story from July 9, 2007:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8Q99LU01&show_article=1

Proenza then went on to testify before Congress and defended his contention regarding the satellite:

http://www.miamiherald.com/459/story/175464.html

http://www.local10.com/weather/13713256/detail.html?rss=mia&psp=news

The whole situation seems muddled to me and I still think there must be something more because one would think the boys at the NHC would love a guy trying to get them more funding. But Congress apparently agreed that the situation was untenable. I suppose it came down to firing nearly half the staff or firing the guy in charge.

Nevertheless, its still quiet in the tropics. One system currently SW of Bermuda doesn’t look too menacing from my perspective. Earlier this weekend, one extremely long range model tried creating a hurricane near mid-August but the next day that feature mysteriously disappeared and has yet to show up again. Its supposed to be a big hurricane year but keep in mind, in 2005 when there were 31 systems of Tropical Depression status or greater, the first named storm didn’t show up until late July.

On This Date in History: President Eisenhower signed into law a bill requiring “In God We Trust” be put on all currency and be considered the official US Motto. Since the Civil War the motto had been put on all coins but not paper currency. The “in God We Trust” bill was just two years after Eisenhower pushed for “under God” to be added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Most historians conclude this action was part of a reaction to the Red Scare of the 1950′s. Eisenhower himself has been said to have been raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, while more modern accounts suggest he was raised as a Mennonite. Sources say that Ike abandoned his family religion but that religion was still important to him and in 1953, he was baptised as a Presbyterian, less than a year into his first term as President. Today people claim the insertion of God into state mottoes and the pledge is a violation of the separation of church and state. Many defenders of the verbiage mistakenly think that the inclusion of God was mandated by our founders when in fact, “under God” and “In God We Trust” did not come along until after the founders were dead and gone. I’ll let you make the call.