When the US Military turned on its own: A Dark Day in US History July 28, 2010

Bonus Marchers at Capitol June 17, 1932

On This Date in History: We’ve heard that this is the worst economy “since the great depression.” I have taken issue with that as I think it is pure hyperbole and political posturing. In my view, our overall economic situation is more akin to the latter part of the Carter administration and early Reagan years. However, it could be argued that the banking crisis was potentially as troubling as the 1930′s but again, and argument might be made that the Savings and Loan crisis was a better barometer. But, in overall economic terms, its hard to make such a comparison. For instance, on June 17, 1932 a Washington newspaper said it was the “tensest day in the capital since the War.”

US Army with Tanks Prepare to Take on US Veterans

What was going on? Well, 10,000 World War I vets had gathered on the Capitol grounds in Washington DC. Across the Anacostia River were another 10,000 who had been living in huts made of scrap metal and other junk from a nearby junk pile. These vets also had their wives and children residing in their camp. They had gathered to see if they would get their money. In 1924, Congress had voted to award veterans of the Great War $1.25 for every day a soldier served overseas and a dollar for every day stateside. But, there was a catch. They didn’t get their “war bonus” until 1945. These men needed it in 1932 during some of the darkest days of the Depression. The US House of Representatives had voted to give them their bonuses then. But, the Senate voted against the measure by a 62-18 margin. Needless to say, the vets were pretty P’Oed.

Bonus Army Camp 1932

So, the “Bonus Expeditionary Force” decided to stay in protest. Aside from the 10,000 across the river, the 10,000 in the Capitol had for weeks been camped out in some 20 sites, including partially demolished government buildings. What I don’t get is that Congress wouldn’t pony up the bonus money…today we’d call it a stimulus…but they did allocate $100,000 for the relocation of the bonus marchers any where they wanted to go. The politicians just wanted them out of town. But, few took up the offer and President Hoover refused to meet with them. About 500 did leave town but 1000 new ones took their place. The marchers started a single file “death march” in front of the Capitol and it lasted until July 16 when Congress adjourned. By that time, 17,000 had gathered to see their less than favorite legislators exit for recess.

Vets Used the Flag as a Weapon to Defend against Police

With the politicians gone, one might think that the marchers would leave too. Nope. They stayed and the local authorities became nervous and on this date in 1932, the Bonus Expeditionary Force faced law enforcement officials and later their former comrades in arms.. The cops were ordered to clear all government buildings, presumably those that were in some state of demolition housing some of the vets. The old soldiers resisted and the cops started firing their weapons. Two US veterans of World War I who survived open warfare were killed by the police in their own country. So…what to do? Why call out the army!

Caesar and Ike Make Sure the Vets Get Out of Town

By the late afternoon, a tank platoon, an infantry battalion and a cavalry squadron were on the scene to put down their fellow soldiers. Who better to be in command of the troops that General Douglas MacArthur. And who better to serve as his liason with the police but none other than Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, future Supreme Allied Commander and President of the United States. And if that’s not enough, why not get Major George S. Patton to lead the cavalry? Clearly outmatched, the old vets were pushed out by soldiers with fixed bayonets and cavalrymen with their sabres drawn.

Vet Camp Burns in Shadow of Capitol Dome

The UPI reported that “men, women and children fled shrieking across the broken ground, falling into excavations as they strove to avoid the rearing hoofs and sable points. Meantime, infantry on the south side had adjusted gas masks and were hurling tear gas bombs inot the block into which they had just driven the veterans.” Four hours later, the camps had been set ablaze and the protesters driven across the river to the Anacostia Flats camp. By 4am on the 29th, that shantyville was also burning and the marchers driven into Maryland. From their, they were told to not stop walking until they got to Pennsylvania.

Maybe MacArthur was trying to re-enact Sherman’s march to the sea. Or maybe he was practicing for his march back to Bataan. Well, maybe not, but it certainly was not a proud day for America’s armed forces and a dark spot on the public record of three heroes of World War II. However, it must have been tough to follow orders to turn on your own men…tough spot to be in. No word on where the Commander in Chief was at that time.

Weather Bottom Line:  We have a little frontal system coming down our way slowly.  Look for scattered showers and t’storms this afternoon and tonight.  The front should ease through on Thursday so rain chances will be in the picture for Thursday but they should diminish as the day progresses, provided the front doesnt slow down too much.  Friday we will be the slight beneficiaries of the front with the edge taken off the heat and humidity but, the front gets dragged back our way as a warm front as another storm system traverses the northern plains.  That should increase the prospects for rain by late Saturday and I suspect it will be more elevated by Saturday night.  The heat and humidity will again be tough after the warm front is dragged through but it remains to be seen if the follow up cold front actually gets here.  It’s too far out to say conclusively and I have other things to do today so we’ll wait and see.

Hoover Dam Is the Name and It Will Never Look the Same July 7, 2010

This Beautiful View of Hoover Dam Is Gone Forever

View of Hoover Dam from Behind Still Spectacular Even with Bridge

On This Date In History: This is a tale filled with politics so it’s confusing. Back in 1902, Arthur Powell Davis, an engineer with the Bureau of Reclamation, came up with an idea for a dam along the Colorado River at a place called Boulder Canyon.  Herbert Hoover, an engineer by education himself, was Secretary of Commerce in 1921 and he made it a priority to support a high dam at Boulder Canyon. Plans were set for the project to be begun in 1922. Well, there was Congress to contend with and water rights and states rights…lots of politicians. So the project didn’t get started until This Date in 1930. By that time, coincidentally, Herbert Hoover was the 31st President. It was also the beginning of the Great Depression and Hoover wanted to be re-elected. While work started on July 7, the official ceremony commemorating the beginning wasn’t until September when Hoover’s Secretary of the Interior, Ray Wilbur, declared the project would be known as the Hoover Dam. It was appropriate since Hoover had been instrumental over the years in getting the project going. But, Hoover also wanted the project to bear his name to remind people of all the jobs he had created. It didn’t work. Hoover lost badly to Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 election.

Frank Didn't Think Herb Deserved a Dam Named For Hiim

As the project was getting started, it was determined that geologically it was better suited down the river in Black Canyon. Nevertheless, it was still called the Boulder Canyon Project and on May 8, 1933, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes, father of the current Democrat politicial figure and lobbyist Harold M. Ickes) declared that the name of the project would no longer be known as Hoover Dam, but instead Boulder Dam.  Ickes claimed that Wilbur was wrong in naming the dam for President Hoover.  

Construction of the Hoover Dam Was a Monumental Task But Perhaps Not as Difficult as Settling on a Name

FDR had been in office for a few months and I suppose that erasing any mention of Hoover perhaps was high on the priority list of helping the US to be fearless against “fear itself.”   Then again, maybe the former Teddy Roosevelt “Bull Moose”  Republican Ickes simply did not like Hoover.  Ickes claimed that the legislationfor the project had been approved during the Coolidge administration and therefore linking it to Hoover was no good.  It did not seem to matter to Ickes that the original sight had been changed from Boulder Canyon to  Black Canyon.   Even though Ickes did some token work to allow African American laborers to live in Boulder City, NV, I doubt that “Black Dam” would have been acceptable, though “Black Canyon Dam” may have passed muster.  But, Ickes explained that   “The name Boulder Dam is a fine, rugged, and individual name. The men who pioneered this project knew it by this name.”   Today, the Department of the Interior says that the name was never officially changed from Hoover Dam.   I guess Mr. Ickes overstepped his authority.

Wouldn't a Bridge Spoil a Beautiful View of a Magnificent Structure?

Nevertheless,  I suppose  that even though it supposedly wasn’t officially called Boulder Dam,  in 1947, President Harry Truman  found it necessary to sign a resolution of the Congress changing the name back to Hoover Dam….but the town built for all of the workers is still Boulder City. When I was a kid we stayed in a motel in Boulder City that looked like it was from the set of National Lampoon’s Vacation. Christie Brinkley didn’t show up though.  Here’s a link to all sorts of stuff about Hoover Dam including a bunch of photos from the 1930′s. Notice that it is called the Boulder Dam Project..AKA Hoover Dam. There are some things of which some people will not let go, Congressional resolution and Presidential signature or not!  The photos show just how majestic and beautiful the dam really is but now that has changed. 

Artist's Vision of What the Completed Bridge Will Look Like

The traffic over  the bridge I suppose just got too congested because they went and built a new bridge to bypass the dam and they built it right in front of the huge structure.  That’s progress for you and necessity but the image of the dam with the Hoover Dam Bypass is just is not the same anymore.   Nevertheless, the bridge is pretty cool and is supposedly on schedule for a fall 2010 opening.  The bridge will be called the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge in honor of a popular Nevada Governor Mike O’Callaghan and NFL star and war hero Pat Tillman who died tragically in Afghanistan.  People in Las Vegas are happy because it will shorten the drive to Phoenix and make it more safe.  And while it is extremely appropriate to name it in the honor of Pat Tillman, I still wish they would have put it somewhere else.  But again, that’s progress.  I suppose that there were people who think that the dam itself, which was a sign of progress, spoiled the natural beauty of Black Canyon.

Weather Bottom Line:  The heat will continue for another couple of days but by Friday, a frontal boundary will be sagging our way.  While it is not entirely clear exactly how much rain we will get, the front’s approach will give us the most substantial risk for rain in several days.  The front will move through and bring some relief but don’t look for a repeat of the nice weather we had late last week with the last front.  It will be drier and highs over the weekend will be in the upper 80′s and overnight lows in the upper 60′s.  Perhaps more significantly is that this front may represent at least a short term change in the long wave pattern such that the ridge that has been dominating the east limiting rain and elevating temperatures may be broken down.  That should allow for a better chance for scattered showers than we have seen and the edge removed from the excessive heat.  It’s still going to be hot…just maybe not quite as hot and humid as it has been.

The Man Who Saved Millions is Now Held in Contempt March 29, 2010

The Man Most Responsible For Feeding Millions Has Been Cast Aside By America

World War I Poster From the Food Adminstration

On this date in History:  When America entered World War I,  President Woodrow Wilson decided to manage the war effort by creating a bureaucracy of four administrators.  There was the Secretary of War, the War Industries Board, the Committee of Public Information and the Food Administration.    While we can understand the Secretary of War working with the actual war making aspects, the War Industries Board coordinating production of war making material and the Committee of Public Information working the PR end, it’s hard to understand the food angle.  Well, in the early part of the 20th century, United States agricultural production was not what it became by the end of the century and there were other considerations.    The job involved not only the management, raising and distribution of food crops to feed the US Army and the US population, but also to feed  all allied armies.  Beyond that, the administrator of food was expected to help feed civilians in the war zones around the globe and make the credo “Food Will Win the War” come true.  Who would want that job?

Urging Americans to Sacrifice for the Troops

Well, it seems that America had the man for the job and he had already proved himself in Europe.  A young mining engineer had been noted for his ability to organize and, prior to America’s entry into the war, he had managed the difficult job of providing clothing and food to war-scarred Belgium.  So, when Wilson needed a man to head up the herculean effort at home, he called the young engineer home.  As the head of the new agency, the engineer got to come up with his own title.  He had working knowledge from his time in Europe that the position was necessarily not a permanent one.  He also had a strong sense of individualism, liberty and cooperation.  He felt that using the term Czar, Dictator, Controller or Director was not appropriate because each suggested actions based on compulsion. So, he took the title of Administrator.  He had found that it was far more effective and also fit better with his ideal of freedom to persuade people to take action rather than use force.  It was also more pragmatic given the numbers of people and corporations that he had to get to work in harmony with his needs as President Wilson had said that the Allies and America, their soldiers and civilians were “eating at a common table.”

World War I Devastated Europe

This engineer was given the power of law to force cooperation.  Just because one has power doesn’t mean that one has to use it and this engineer chose not to do so.  He could have taken the license away from any business with over $100,000 a year in sales that did not follow regulations or profiteered from the war effort.  Only in extreme cases did he resort to such tactics.  Instead, he simply put them on notice and if they continued  to misbehave, then he fined them in a way that they had to make contributions to the Red Cross, not the government.   Instead of ruling with an iron fist, he held several conferences and outlined the needs of the country, the armed forces and the Allies and he persuaded them to the point of uniformity and cooperation with goodwill.  In other words, he got companies to participate because he convinced them that they needed to and they decided to do so on their own.

As for the public, he did not turn to punitive actions but did ask the nation to make sacrifices.  He used advertisements and speeches to urge 105 million Americans to food conservation.   Mothers were asked to not serve more food than was necessary and children to clean their plates.  Girls planted gardens and boys worked in the fields.  The appeals from the administrator were read from in schools, shown on the big screen in movie theatres and printed in newspapers.  I suppose that the idea of separation of church and state had not gotten so militant because even clergy got involved and read the calls for cooperation from pulpits across the land on Sundays.  Some of those measures included porkless Thursday and Saturday, wheatless Monday and Wednesday and no meat was asked to be consumed on Tuesdays.  Bakers were asked to promote “Victory Bread” which had more wheat grain than ordinary bread.  

Filing Conservation Pledges at NY Food Conservation Commission

When he was able, he backed off his requests even though it may have been confusing.  On this date in 1918, he declared a suspension of “Meatless Tuesday” for the month of April.  He didn’t ask people not to eat out as that would hurt the economy.  Instead, he asked Americans to follow simple rules of no bread after the first course, a half ounce of butter per person and use only one kind of meat.  He asked people to limit the serving of sugar to cubes in an effort to avoid waste, which was not necessarily the original intent of the Moravian inventor of sugar cubes in the 1840′s.  However, he did ask that only 2 pounds  of sugar be used for every 90 meals served.

The Greatness of Herbert Hoover Buried in American History

These were not unreasonble requests and really, if  you think about it, would be a good idea for any overindulging society.  Life magazine joined in the chorus by suggesting to not let your child “take a bite or two from an apple and throw the rest away, nowadays even children must be taught to be patriotic to the core.”  The rise of the man who convinced America to alter its lifestyle without resorting to governmental coercion, threat of fines, threat of jail or any legislative power was described by journalist Mark Sullivan was a “combination of quality in the man with adventitious circumstance is always a fascinating aspect of history.”  So who was this man?  Why have we not heard of him?  The fact is that you have but a stock market crash and the depression that followed overshadowed his greatness.  Herbert Hoover was called “the biggest man who has emerged on the Allied side during the war” by a London paper.  Herbert Hoover is called the great humanitarian by those who know of his efforts. Hoover is credited with not only organizing America’s war effort but also saving 10 million lives during and after the war and he did it largely without resorting to force or use of law.  He used his power of persuasion to motivate a people known to answer a call to action (in this case it was called “Hooverizing”) when they are asked and convinced it is the right and just.

Weather Bottom Line:  Take the week off.  Monday’s clouds will give way to lots of sun and an area of high pressure will set up along the Gulf Coast and set up a southerly and southwesterly flow as the longwave pattern becomes oriented with a trof in the west and ridge in the east.  That should result in some strong t’storm activity in the plains this week.  Possilbe that we catch some of that action on Sunday or Monday but until then, just enjoy the rising temperatures as I suspect that by Good Friday, we’ll be talking about 80 degrees.

Allen Funt: Ahead of his Time; Herbert Hoover: Hero; Invest 99L: Potential Ana? August 10, 2009

On This Date in History: On this date in 1948, Candid Camera debuted. Its creator, Allen Funt, had originally run the program for radio. It would be a pretty boring show if it relied on a camera so it was called Candid Microphone. Here is a sample of a Candid Microphone episode with Bela Lugosi (part1) (part 2)He took the concept to TV but for the first season he kept the name Candid Microphone. Candid Camera is much catchier and made more sense for TV and it was probably pretty fortunate for Funt that he wised up. With the Internet and camera phones, the concept lives on today but in its day, Candid Camera provided some of the funniest moments in television history. If you think about it, Funt really created reality TV. So I guess we can blame him for Big Brother.

Happy Birthday Herbie

When we hear the name Allen Funt, we think of “smile.” People usually don’t think of smiling when they hear the name Herbert Hoover, but perhaps they should. Hoover was born on this date in 1874. He is best known for holding the presidency during the first part of the Great Depression. He had been elected in 1928 amidst the “Roaring Twenties.” During his first year in office, the stock market crashed, the global economy collapsed and he was left being held accountable as many Americans faulted him for not doing anything. Its rather ironic that he is seen as a failure during a time of crisis because he seemed well suited for the task. Hoover in 1914 is credited with organizing efforts that brought 120,000 Americans home from Europe in six weeks time at the outset of the Great War.

Hoover responsible for feeding millions

In 1917, President Wilson appointed him as head of the Food Administration.  He is called in some circles as “the great humanitarian.”  He managed to cut food consumption at home, feed the troops overseas while not resorting to food rationing for Americans. After the War, Hoover is credited with organizing and implementing a massive food lift to Europe.

Millions of Children May Have Lived Because of Herbert Hoover

Many scholars point to Hoover’s efforts through 1921 as being the key to saving the lives of millions of Europeans who otherwise would have starved as the war had decimated agricultural production on the other side of the pond. He faced the task of feeding over 20 million people, many of them children, and he rose to the occasion and got the job done. That is why its rather curious that such a man would fall short in the Depression. But it really wasn’t his fault and while many people credit FDR with pulling the US out of the Depression, many scholars argue that it was war time production with the massive governmental spending that ended the depression. Nevertheless, many people had smiles in the face of despair in the early 20th century because Herbert Hoover was born on this date in 1874. I think history has been quite unkind to him.

Side Tidbit: The only election that Hoover served as a candidate was the 1928 presidential election that he won. He had been appointed to most of his previous jobs. President Hoover and President Carter are the only two presidents who were Engineers. Both men were very very smart yet both presided over economic malaise in the nation. Perhaps its just bad luck for Americans to elect an Engineer as President.

Invest 99L Forecast Track 6z 08.10.09

Invest 99L Satellite 1315Z 08.10.09

In The Atlantic:  A tropical cyclone (Invest 99L) is trying to get itself going and it probably will become the first tropical storm of the season.  A goodly number of the models indicate that, but not too many take it into the hurricane category any time soon.  That makes sense because it is very far south. It came off of Africa at 12 N. It’s tough to get a circulation going that far south.  That’s what impressed me about this and why it caught my attention right away as it appeared to have some potential right out of the gate.  But, I also mentioned the trof that was over the US for so long and how it had moved out into the Atlantic.  I think the remnant of that will be influencing this guy a bit as it is forecast to track pretty far northwest. Almost too far northwest for it to be considered a likely threat to the US.  Not impossible, but tough to do.  There is a lot of ocean and coriolis forces alone will want to turn it to the right.  Many models continue it on a northwest track and into the north central Atlantic.  Again, that makes some sense due to the general trofiness.  But, lets lay out this scenario:  It does exactly that then gets caught up in the ridge over the eastern US which is expanding into the Atlantic, moves southwest for a time and then west around the ridge.  That’ why this guy is worth watching.

SPC Severe Threat Today and Tonight

SPC Severe Threat Tomorrow and Tomorrow Night

Weather Bottom Line:  I saw a weather foof on TV this weekend say that the jet stream was going to dive down this week and bring us cooler weather.  Nonsense.  There is a short wave coming across bringing a slight dip in the jet and there will be a weak front.  We have lots of warm moist unstable air.  So, the lead short will initiate big storms this afternoon out west.  We may get the line this evening…probably on the downside of life but the potential energy in our atmosphere may keep them going.  Then the front comes on Tuesday.  When I checked the parameters, the GFS was pretty bullish late in the day on Tuesday with the NAM typically not as agressive.  The GFS even had the SWEAT parameters up into the range in which one might look for twisters.  So, look for the chance for storms this evening with maybe a few troublemakers.  Then look for a better chance for strong storms on Tuesday.  Both models want to continue off and on showers through Thursday.  This is due to the weak front hanging around, so any cooler temperatures we get will be due to clouds and showers, not a change in the jetstream.  With that it mind, it should remain pretty humid and we’ll get back to seasonal temperatures when the threat for showers winds up later in the week.  Rain totals for the first two days both indicate around an inch with about an inch and half total through Thursday.

DAY 1 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK RESENT 1
   NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
   0925 AM CDT MON AUG 10 2009
  
   VALID 101300Z – 111200Z
  
   …THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS FROM THE CNTRL PLNS THROUGH THE
   MID MS/OH VLYS TO THE NORTHEAST…
  
   …SYNOPSIS…
   FAIRLY ZONAL FLOW WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE NRN THIRD OF THE NATION
   THIS PERIOD AS UPR RDG NOW OVER THE SOUTHEAST ELONGATES W ACROSS TX
   AND THE SRN RCKYS.  MAIN SHORT WAVE TROUGH NOW NEAR DLH WILL MOVE E
   ACROSS THE UPR GRT LKS INTO SRN ONTARIO…PRECEDED BY AN MCV-TYPE
   IMPULSE NOW OVER LK MI…AND PERHAPS BY A SIMILAR FEATURE NOW NEAR
   BUF.  UPSTREAM…CONVECTIVELY-ENHANCED IMPULSE NOW IN SW NEB SHOULD
   CONTINUE ENEWD…BECOMING ABSORBED WITHIN STRENGTHENING ZONAL FLOW
   OVER THE CNTRL PLAINS.
  
   AT LWR LVLS…DIFFUSE COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM LK HURON SW THROUGH
   ERN IA INTO CNTRL KS WILL CONTINUE STEADILY ESEWD…WITH TRAILING
   WRN PART BECOMING STNRY OVER THE CNTRL HI PLNS.  THE FRONT AND
   PRE-EXISTING OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES WILL SERVE AS THE PRIMARY FOCI FOR
   STRONG TO SVR STORMS TODAY INTO TONIGHT.
  
   …MID MS VLY/GRT LKS INTO THE NERN STATES/SRN NEW ENGLAND…
   ONGOING PRE-FRONTAL TSTMS NOW OVER NW PA/WRN NY SHOULD STRENGTHEN
   LATER THIS MORNING INTO THE AFTN AS HEATING FURTHER DESTABILIZES
   REGION.  ADDITIONAL STORMS MAY FORM TOWARD MIDDAY OR A BIT LATER
   INVOF COLD FRONT IN LWR MI…AND PERHAPS ALONG OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES IN
   IND/OH.
  
   WARM SECTOR AIR MASS SHOULD REMAIN QUITE MOIST /PW RANGING FROM 1.50
   TO 2.00 INCHES/…WITH HEATING BOOSTING SBCAPE TO BETWEEN 1500 AND
   2500 J/KG.  BELT OF MODERATE /35-40 KT/ DEEP UNIDIRECTIONAL WLY FLOW
   WILL PERSIST ACROSS REGION…RESULTING HODOGRAPHS SUPPORTIVE OF N/S
   BOWING SEGMENTS WITH DMGG WIND.  THE STRONGEST STORMS SHOULD EVOLVE
   INTO CLUSTERS…WITH A SVR THREAT THAT COULD LINGER INTO EARLY
   TONIGHT.
  
   …CNTRL PLAINS…
   SFC HEATING EXPECTED TO RESULT IN SUBSTANTIAL DESTABILIZATION E/SE
   OF LOOSELY-ORGANIZED CONVECTIVE SYSTEM NOW IN NW KS.  THE SYSTEM
   APPEARS TO HAVE DEVELOPED A WEAK MCV STRUCTURE THAT…COUPLED WITH
   GLANCING INFLUENCE OF ASSOCIATED UPR IMPULSE…MAY AUGMENT
   DOWNSTREAM CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT LATER TODAY.
  
   COMBINATION OF STRONG INSTABILITY AND MODERATE /30 KT/ DEEP WNW
   SHEAR COULD SUPPORT UPSCALE DEVELOPMENT INTO A SUSTAINED…
   FORWARD-PROPAGATING MCS.  EMBEDDED LEWPS/POSSIBLE SUPERCELLS COULD
   POSE A THREAT FOR SVR WIND/HAIL E/ESE ACROSS PARTS OF KS AND PERHAPS
   WRN MO THROUGH THIS EVE AS MOIST LOW LVL SSW FLOW PERSISTS.
  
   FARTHER W…DIURNAL TERRAIN-INDUCED CIRCULATIONS MAY SUPPORT ANOTHER
   ROUND OF STORMS OVER THE CO MOUNTAINS…DESPITE RISING HEIGHTS IN
   WAKE OF DEPARTING UPR DISTURBANCE.  REGION WILL REMAIN ON SRN FRINGE
   WLY FLOW ALOFT.  COUPLED WITH LIGHT ELY LOW-LVL  WINDS…VERTICAL
   SHEAR WILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR ORGANIZED/ROTATING STORMS CAPABLE OF
   MAINLY HAIL AND DMGG WIND INTO TONIGHT.
  
   ..CORFIDI/HURLBUT.. 08/10/2009

US Army Attacks US Army Vets in One of America’s Darkest Hours July 27, 2009

Bonus Marchers at Capitol June 17, 1932

On This Date in History:  We’ve heard that this is the worst economy “since the great depression.”   I have taken issue with that as I think it is pure hyperbole and political posturing.  In my view, our overall economic situation is more akin to the latter part of the Carter administration and early Reagan years. However, it could be argued that the banking crisis was potentially as troubling as the 1930′s but again, and argument might be made that the Savings and Loan crisis was a better barometer.  But, in overall economic terms, its hard to make such a comparison.  For instance, on June 17, 1932 a Washington newspaper said it was the “tensest day in the capital since the War.”

What was going on?  Well, 10,000 World War I vets had gathered on the Capitol grounds in Washington DC.  Across the Anacostia River were another 10,000 who had been living in huts  made of scrap metal and other junk from a nearby junk pile.  These vets also had their wives and children residing in their camp.  They had gathered to see if they would get their money.  In 1924, Congress had voted to award veterans of the Great War $1.25 for every day a soldier served overseas and a dollar for every day stateside.  But, there was a catch.  They didn’t get their “war bonus” until 1945.  These men needed it in 1932 during some of the darkest days of the Depression.  The US House of Representatives had voted to give them their bonuses then.  But, the Senate voted against the measure by a 62-18 margin.  Needless to say, the vets were pretty P’Oed.

Bonus Army Camp 1932

So, the “Bonus Expeditionary Force” decided to stay in protest.  Aside from the 10,000 across the river, the 10,000 in the Capitol had for weeks been camped out in some 20 sites, including partially demolished government buildings.  What I don’t get is that Congress wouldn’t pony up the bonus money…today we’d call it a stimulus…but they did allocate $100,000 for the relocation of the bonus marchers any where they wanted to go.  The politicians just wanted them out of town.  But, few took up the offer and President Hoover refused to meet with them.  About 500 did leave town but 1000 new ones took their place.  The marchers started a single file “death march” in front of the Capitol and it lasted until July 16 when Congress adjourned.  By that time, 17,000 had gathered to see their less than favorite legislators exit for recess. 

Vets Used the Flag as a Weapon to Defend against Police

With the politicians gone, one might think that the marchers would leave too. Nope. They stayed and the local authorities became nervous and on this date in 1932, the Bonus Expeditionary Force enjoyed their final day of relative peace in our nation’s capitol.   The next day, cops were ordered to clear all government buildings, presumably those that were in some state of demolition housing some of the vets.  The old soldiers resisted and the cops started firing their weapons.  Two US veterans of World War I who survived open warfare were killed by the police in their own country.  So…what to do? Why call out the army!   

Caesar and Ike Make Sure the Vets Get Out of Town

By the late afternoon, a tank platoon, an infantry battalion and a cavalry squadron were on the scene to put down their fellow soldiers.  Who better to be in command of the troops that General Douglas MacArthur.  And who better to serve as his liason with the police but none other than Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, future Supreme Allied Commander and President of the United States. And if that’s not enough, why not get Major George S. Patton to lead the cavalry?  Clearly outmatched, the old vets were pushed out by soldiers with fixed bayonets and cavalrymen with their sabres drawn.   

Vet Camp Burns in Shadow of Capitol Dome

The UPI reported that “men, women and children fled shrieking across the broken ground, falling into excavations as they strove to avoid the rearing hoofs and sable points.  Meantime, infantry on the south side had adjusted gas masks and were hurling tear gas bombs inot the block into which they had just driven the veterans.”  Four hours later, the camps had been set ablaze and the protesters driven across the river to the Anacostia Flats camp.  By 4am on the 29th, that shantyville was also burning and the marchers driven into Maryland.  From their, they were told to not stop walking until they got to Pennsylvania. 

Maybe MacArthur was trying to re-enact Sherman’s march to the sea.  Or maybe he was practicing for his march back to Bataan.  Well, maybe not, but it certainly was not a proud day for America’s armed forces and a dark spot on the public record of three heroes of World War II.  However, it must have been tough to follow orders to turn on your own men…tough spot to be in.  No word on where the Commander in Chief was at that time.

Monday evening

Weather Bottom Line:  If we get to 90 in July it would be in the next two days.  Not so much today but perhaps Tuesday.  The reason that I say on Tuesday is because there will be a front approaching late Tuesday.  A scenario could unfold that we get a decent southwesterly flow and perhaps some slight compressional warming with the approach of the front and that may get us to 90.  However, some of the models want to bring a shortwave close to the area in th e flow along a returning warm front from the southwest that would help to increase afternoon clouds and that may hold  down the temps a bit.  I’d say about a 1 in 4 chance of getting 90 on Tuesday.  After that, we have the front on Wednesday increasing rain and t’storm chances and then the rest of the week the big long wave trof that had been in over the eastern half of the nation appears to be re-established in a fashion not as deep as the previous one but broader with a greater wave length so it encompasses the northern plains as well as the northeastern quadrant of the US.  Hence, we will be in the jetstream flow or the storm track and so the models all bring through little short waves or upper disturbances now and again keeping rain chances in the forecast for the remainder of the week.

Who is paying for the Michael Jackson Memorial? Is it Hoover Dam or Boulder Dam? July 7, 2009

Who is footing the bill for Jackson's memorial?

LA Mayor Volunteers to Pony Up the Money?

Los Angeles is in the midst of a $500 million budget shortfall. So, when Michael Jackson’s memorial service takes place today, who is going to pay for all of the police officers necessary to control the crowds. According to ABC News, the City of Los Angeles will be footing the bill, which is expected to be about $2.5 million.  An LA Times blog asked the question, “should taxpayers be responsible for Michael Jackson’s memorial service?” In that text, it says that the Los Angeles budget shortfall is only $360 million.  Whatever.  What is interesting is that, on the same day, the LA Times business section has a story that claims Jackson’s estate could be a “thriller of a profit machine.”   So, we have a situation in which, presumably, the family wants to have a public memorial service with free tickets for Michael Jackson whose estate is expected to genererate millions of dollars a year.  Yet, the cash strapped city, that is laying off workers, is expected to pick up the tab.  Indeed…the LA Times raised a good quesiton, should the taxpayers be expected to pick up the tab for the memorial service? You make the call.
On This Date In History: This is a tale filled with politics so it’s confusing. Back in 1902, Arthur Powell Davis, an engineer with the Bureau of Reclamation, came up with an idea for a dam along the Colorado River at a place called Boulder Canyon. Herbert Hoover, an engineer by education himself, was Secretary of Commerce in 1921 and he made it a priority to support a high dam at Boulder Canyon. Plans were set for the project to be begun in 1922. Well, there was Congress to contend with and water rights and states rights…lots of politicians. So the project didn’t get started until This Date in 1930. By that time, coincidentally, Herbert Hoover was the 31st President. It was also the beginning of the Great Depression and Hoover wanted to be re-elected. While work started on July 7, the official ceremony commemorating the beginning wasn’t until September when Hoover’s Secretary of the Interior, Ray Wilbur, declared the project would be known as the Hoover Dam. It was appropriate since Hoover had been instrumental over the years in getting the project going. But, Hoover also wanted the project to bear his name to remind people of all the jobs he had created. It didn’t work. Hoover lost badly to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Frank Didn't Think Herb Deserved a Dam Named For Hiim

As the project was getting started, it was determined that geologically it was better suited down the river in Black Canyon. Nevertheless, it was still called the Boulder Canyon Project and on May 8, 1933, Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes(father of the current Democrat politician with the same name) declared that the name of the project would no longer be known as Hoover Dam, but instead Boulder Dam. FDR had been in office for a few months and erasing any mention of Hoover perhaps was high on the priority list of helping the US to be fearless against “fear itself.” This of course even though the dam was being built in Black Canyon. In 1947, President Harry Truman signed a resolution of the Congress changing the name back to Hoover Dam….but the town built for all of the workers is still Boulder City. When I was a kid we stayed in a motel in Boulder City that looked like it was from the set of National Lampoon’s Vacation. Christie Brinkley didn’t show up though.

Here’s a link to all sorts of stuff about Hoover Dam including a bunch of photos from the 1930′s. Notice that it is called the Boulder Dam Project..AKA Hoover Dam. There are some things of which some people will not let go, Congressional resolution and Presidential signature or not!

Weather Bottom Line:  There is a little wrinkle in the forecast. I saw this yesterday but didn’t mention it because it seemed so pedestrian.  But, we have a weak front trying to come down late Tuesday.  The 18Z GFS Monday indicates a tenth of an inch of rain late Tuesday.  The NAM has some moisture but no rain.  The other models are equally as non-commital.  As of Monday night, the official forecast makes no mention of rain and for most people, that will be probably correct. But, I betcha we will see a number of clouds with some scattered showers.  After this guy goes back on the retreat, we will get a southerly component to the windflow and the temperatures will rise to the low 90′s by the end of the week and humidity levels will continue to rise, probably to a rather uncomfortable level by the end of the week.

A New Phone, Big Election Win and New York Terrorist March 29, 2009

Accused Seems to Enjoy Being a Celebrity

Hold the Phone!

Hello? Son, is that You?

On This Date in History:
The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 when he spilled acid on his trousers and shouted, “Watson, Come Here! I want you.”  Good thing for Al that Watson was able to hear him over the telephone.  Bell may never have known that his phone worked and he may have had even greater problems with acid in his pants.  President Rutherford B. Hayes had the first telephone installed in the White House in 1878 complete with a telephone switchboard.  For some reason, no one ever thought that it might be a good idea to have a phone put in the president’s office.  President Herbert Hoover apparently grew weary of having to go to the foyer outside of the Oval Office to use the phone.  So, on this date in 1929, he had one installed in his office.  Naturally, it didn’t work as Hoover grew incensed that his son was not able to get through to the Oval Office on an outside line.  See, the stock market had not crashed yet and so Herb had plenty of time on his hands.  I bet when the economy went south a year later he wished that he never had that phone put in. 

 

 

Another world leader was pleased on this date, and he should not have been surprised.  Eight

Goebbels Family...Not Exactly Ozzie and Harriet

months after the Treaty of Versailles was signed and World War I was officially brought to an end.  In pragmatic terms, the war was pretty much a stalemate.  But, with the Germans and Turks pretty much spent militarily and economically and America having joined up with the Allies, it was impossible for Germany and its allies to continue.  Not through military defeat, but instead due to a position of weakness,  the Germans were forced to sign an agreement that was grossly tilted against them.  This peace treaty ultimately sowed the seeds for World War II.  Part of the deal was for Germany to leave it’s extreme western portion bordering France, the Rhineland, to be absent of military presence.  On March 7, 1936 German Chancellor Adolph Hitler unilaterally cancelled the Treaty of Versailles and remilitarized the Rhineland.  The world was outraged…but did nothing.  To show the world that he had legitimate support from all of Germany, Hitler called for an election for a referendum on the remilitarization of the region.  On March 17, Hitler made a speech in which he said that he wished for peace to continue with France.   On this date in 1936, it was a fine spring day in Germany and an excellent time for an election.  Joseph Goebbels announced that the Nazis received 99% of the vote!  What a surprise!  Hey, maybe it was legit.  

Jesse Owens PO'd Hitler in 1936 a few months after the Nazi election "victory"

 I recall once in Louisville there was an election between political rivals, Charles D. Jacob and John G. Baxter.  That in itself was not unusual because the two squared off for the Louisville Mayor’s office several times.  Baxter was Mayor on two different occasions and I think Jacob got elected 5 times.  Anyway, Baxter was known for his political hijinx and had made a lot of enemies.  Once there was an assassination attempt made against him.  Perhaps the would-be assassin was reflecting public sentiment because Baxter went and lost an election to Jacob by getting only 100 out of 15,000 votes cast.  So, a near unanimous route is possible.  In this case, the Germans were very angry with the Treaty of Versailles and according to the Berlin Diary of correspondent William Shirer, the people of the Rhineland were overjoyed at the return of German troops to their region.   Shirer said that some correspondents reported some irregularlities but Shirer himself had no doubt that the overwhelming majority of Germans did, in fact, support the move into the Rhineland, whether they were a part of the Nazi Party or not.  If the vote indeed was a 99% win for the Nazis, it’s probably the only time that Joseph Goebbels had an honest press release.

The Mad Bomber?

And finally, we often think of terrorism as being something relatively new.  It’s not really.  It’s a tactic that is used by a group of people who do not have the means to face their opponent in a traditional military style.  The object of war is the conclusion of political aims and so is the same for most terrorists.  Some may consider some of the actions of the Sons of Liberty in colonial America to be terrorism.  And, in the first part of the 20th century through World War II, it was Jewish extremist groups that led numerous terror attacks against the ruling British in an effort to establish an independent Israel.  Now, while the Sons of Liberty may or may not have been terrorists, the legacy of domestic terrorism has continued from time to time.  Usually brought by nut cases.  Sometimes they get some infamous notoriety as the media likes to put name tags on them.  In the late 20th century there was the “Unibomber” but before that it was the “Mad Bomber” that terrorized New York. 

Ted Kaczynski "Unabomber"

In 1940, a pipe bomb was found at New York’s electric company, Con Edison.  The note attached said, “Con Edison Crooks, this is for you.”  More bombs were found in 1941, each more powerful than the previous one.  That is until the end of 1941.  Perhaps he was taking a page from the Sons of Liberty or maybe he was just patriotic but the bomber left a note that said he would not plant any more bombs until after the war was over.  I guess he wanted to wait until things settled down after the war because it was not until this date in 1950 that the Mad

Sons of Liberty Was a Rough Crowd

Bomber returned and set a bomb at Grand Central Station.  That one was disarmed but some of his other work went off in places like Radio City Music Hall, the Staten Island Ferry, Macy’s, the RCA building and again at Grand Central Station. 

The cops couldn’t track the guy down but an investigation by Con Edison found…you guessed it….the proverbial “disgruntled former employee.”  Seems that in 1931, George Peter Metesky had been injured on the job and Con Edison refused to pay for any medical benefits.  So, Metesky got sore and decided to start planting bombs.  Investigators found him living with his sister and in 1957 he was sent to a mental institution where he resided until his release in 1973.   Man, this guy sure could carry a grudge!  He was blowing stuff up over 20 years after he had felt shafted.  And to think, I always thought the Mad Bomber was Darryl Lamonica. 

Pretty Lousy Sunday

Weather Bottom Line:  Tell you what, the data was really pretty good regarding the weather event of Saturday.   The dynamics were great but there wasn’t a whole lot else going for this stuff.  We had very strong winds aloft and also a good bit of veering of the winds.  But, we weren’t all that unstable to  help things out.  In the late afternoon we got to the low to mid 60′s which was sufficient to support big storms that got going to our southwest and produced big hail, high winds and a few tornadoes.  But, but the time it got to Louisville, the sun had been down for a few hours and so the instability was gone and we got thunderstorms and winds, but nothing really severe. 

The rest of the forecast looks on track through the weekend with a chilly and blustery day on Sunday with highs struggling to get to 50.  Back to the lower 60′s for early next week.

alphainventions.com

Big Snow in Northeast; Key Finds a Tune; Klink Returns March 3, 2009

Snow Greatest on Long Island

 

I Told You So!

Total New England Snow Depth After Big Monday Snow

Northeast Snow: 

This is a Colonel Klink moment.  I think it was about 4 days ago that I said that the East Coast and particularly the Northeast would be threatened with a whomping of snow.  I also kept saying that we’d be colder than the folks on the tube were advertising and I especially couldn’t figure out how we were supposed to get above freezing on Monday.  Well, I’ll claim victory on both counts.  I subscribe to the Jackson Browne method…”forget about the losses and exagerate the wins.”    Really, the Northeast snow was a pretty easy call.  The only question was how much because that would strictly be a function of how far off the coast the storm center would run.  As it was, the highest snowfall that I found was on Long Island, New York around Setauket where reports of 12-14 inches came in.  Central Park in the Big Apple had 8 inches. (Text of numerous snow reports in the region)  The majority of the reports are in the 6-9 inch range with some higher amounts.  I’ve put a map of the snow totals as I have the preliminary reports.  Here is a listing of snow reports by the public and observers in parts of New England.

March 2009 Climate Forecast

I’ve been tracking the climate forecasts.  Initially, the story was that the Ohio Valley would be warmer than average.  Well, let’s explain that again.  You will typically hear in the media that an specific area is expected to be “colder than normal” or “warmer than normal.”  In fact, when you look at the forecast maps, what they give is a darkened area that has the probability of it being outside the realm of average.  I have never seen an area greater than 50%.  For the winter, the Ohio Valley had a 40% chance of it being warmer than average, but most of the reports by your favorite media outlet said it was forecast to be warmer than normal.  For January and February, Louisville was in the 40% chance of being warmer than normal.  The result was a split decision.  In January, Louisville had an average high of 38.1 and an avg. low of 21.6.  The 30 year average is 41 and 24.9 respectively.  So, it was in fact, colder than average and fairly significantly.  In February, preliminary analysis shows that the 30 year average high of 46.6 was eclipsed in February 2009 by last month’s 49.2.  The average low of 31.1 in Feb. 2009 was greater than the 28.5 30 year average.  For March, in spite of the real cold start, we fall under the “equal chances” of warmer or colder or average temperatures.  Now that’s a big limb to climb out on.  Look to the bottom for the next victory that I may be claiming…and if I am wrong…then I won’t comment.

Snow White and I Saw The Flag From Ft. McHenry at the Smithsonian

On This Date in History:

Artist's Idea of What Key Saw

What we have been always been taught in school was that Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the Star Spangled Banner while being held prisoner on a British ship as the Brits fleet In Baltimore Harbor bombarded Fort McHenry for 25 hours.  He looked out his small window and saw that the American flag was still hoisted high above the fort with the bombs “bursting in air.”

Well, here’s the real story.  Key was a lawyer from Georgetown.  He also was the head of peace mission who went to the British fleet in Chesapeake Bay in an attempt to secure the release of a doctor being held as a prisoner.  When Frank Key came aboard, the British received him with great courtesy and even agreed to release Dr. William Beanes.  But, somethat got in the way.  See, while Key was on board, he saw the ships preparing for an attack so the English, not being stupid, detained Key and his party aboard the sloop Minden until the attack was over.   It was from the Minden that Key saw that in the dawns early light, the flag was still there.  That gave him great inspiration and on the back of a letter, he penned the lyrics.  He decided to put his poem to a rather popular tune of the time.  That song was “To Anacreon in Heaven” (Here are the Lyrics) and was quite popular in taverns as a somewhat bawdy drinking song composed by John Stafford Smith in 1775.    It was the anthem of a London gentleman’s club (not the same thing as they are today) with the name Anacreonic Society derivinig from the moniker of a Greek poet who worshiped “Muses, Wine and Love.” 

Herb Thought A Depression Was a Good Time for a Song

Francis Scott Key’s version became an instant hit and rose quickly to near the top of patriotic songs, competing with “America the Beautiful” for the top spot.  On this Date in 1931, President Herbert Hoover was dealing with a failing economy, a tanking stock market and an oncoming depression.  Sound familiar?  Anyway, amidst all of the crisis, Hoover somehow found that it was time that the nation had an official national anthem.  Perhaps he thought that would prove to be the stimulus the economy needed.  So, 78 years ago today, Herbert Hoover signed a bill that made Key’s “Star-Spangled Banner,” put to the tune of a tavern booze song, the national anthem.  And people have been butchering it at the beginning of sporting events ever since.

NWS Tue AM Forecast Temperatures

Weather Bottom Line:  We started off in the teens on Monday morning and the airport made it to 31 in the afternoon and I doubt if anyone else was that warm.  With the wind blowing, I guarantee no one felt like it was as warm as it was.  Tuesday morning will find temperatures in the low to mid teens and then we slowly warm up…perhaps low 40′s at best but then we get into the 50′s on Wednesday and pushing toward 70 on Friday.  I had told you yesterday that there were indications that not only would we have a long wave ridge building in for the middle of the week, but also that a ridge would be building off the SE coast and that would help to block a front coming in.  The data was a bit inconclusive but I suggested that the warm weather would probably persist as I suspected the ridge would indeed build in from the Southeast and hold up any frontal activity.

The only change that I have to my suspicion is that I think that a boundary that had earlier had appeared to want to move through and bring a cold weekend will not totally get held up.  The Canadian model has this solution which is to have the boundary in the neighborhood with clouds and perhaps some rain but the really cold air will be bottled up to the north…so upper 50′s to near 60 for the weekend…a bit cooler than the last couple of days of the week but not a big change.  Now, keep in mind, the GFS wants to have it be wet from say Thursday through the weekend and holds the front way out of the way and keeps the cold air way north.  The European still wants to bring the boundary through and make it colder for Sunday but it only lasts for one day.  As I said, I suspect that the Canadian will be the winner…but we’ll see how it shakes out.

Turn Out the Lights, Turn Up the Heat and Viva Alaska! October 18, 2008

In the 30s on Saturday Night

Hope Your Heater Works: As expected we had a much cooler day than we’ve seen in quite some time. An upper low will work its way through overnight bringing some light showers and clouds but the showers will probably not be that signficant and will end shortly after sunrise. The clouds won’t stick around long thereafter and the sun will be dominant by Saturday afternoon but area highs won’t get out of the low 60′s. Saturday night, the mercury will fall to the 30′s area wide with some places in the low 30′s. Hope your heaters work and be careful if you haven’t used yours yet this year. Check it out prior to use. Then get ready for your bill. I had figured that my gas rate had increased by 39%. LG & E corrected me. They claim its 65%!! Apparently I missed an interim increase. Natural gas prices have fallen quite a bit since they adjusted the rates in July. Hopefully when they readjust in November, they will come back down because I don’t want to have heating bills this winter like I had a few years ago…nor do you.

Tropical Storm Omar Satellite Image 1018 0245Z

Tropical Storm Omar Forecast Track 1017 11pm

Tropical Storm Omar is useless but if you want to read about it, check out below. But, at least you can find it now on the satellite imagery and is certainly much better looking that it was. It is moving over much colder water and as it continues northeast it will run into frontal zones. In short, Omar’s days are numbered. I think its still going to be interesting to see if it eventually affects Europe in whatever shape or form it is in. Remember, the role of tropical cyclones in nature is to transport heat and moisture from the tropical regions to the polar regions. They are not trying to melt the polar ice caps, they are just doing what they are supposed to do and this year, in the Atlantic Basin, they have done a very good job with several storms making it into the northern latitudes.

Want To See the $7.2 Million Dollar Check For Alaska Purchase?

Gov. Palin Owes Career To William H Seward?

Governor Palin’s Path is Set: Had it not been for the dogged determination of Secretary of State William H. Seward, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin may be be the Vice-Presidential nominee of the Republican Party.

In the 19th Century, Russia laid claim to the Alaskan territory with the establishment of the fur-trading Russian-American Company. The company was quite profitable for awhile but by the 1860′s, business wasn’t too good. In order for the company to remain viable, the Tsar would have to heavily subsidize operations. Only a few hundred Russians had emigrated to Alaska and the Russians had no way of defending the vast region. The Tsar and his ministers thought it was in their best interest to sell the land to the Americans rather than lose it in battle to one of the world powers, like Great Britain.

Thanks Bill! Monty Hall Would Be Proud!

In 1867. Secretary of State William Seward began negotiations to acquire the territory. Now, Seward was a hold-over from the Lincoln administration and was serving under President Andrew Johnson at the time. Johnson became quite unpopular due to his Reconstruction policies and some in the public derisively called the plan “Seward’s Folly”, “Seward’s Ice Box” or “Andrew Johnson’s Polar Bear Garden.” There were also facticious calls for the opening of the “Polar Bear Bureau” and the establishment of the “Superintendent of Walruses.” At the time, it was seen as a vast, empty wilderness. But, some histories now suggest that most of the general public thought it was a shrewd deal. Political opponents in Congress who were trying to figure out how to impeach Johnson delayed approval of the $7.2 million needed to complete the deal. But, perhaps because public opposition wasn’t as great as has been advertised, Congress ratified the deal on April 9, 1867 to acquire an area about twice the size of Texas being purchased for $7.2 million, or about 2 cents an acre. Funny thing is, Congress didn’t appropriate the money until July 1868. If you notice the Check above is dated August 1868. Guess the Tsar didn’t care too much about the slow payment but I suppose any Americans in Alaska before the check cleared could be considered to be squatters. Anyway, the public

Bill Had a Great Catch for the US

remained generally non-plussed about the deal until gold was discovered in 1896 and suddenly the acquisition wasn’t such a folly after all. As time went on, the deal became to be on par with buying Manhattan for $24.

Today, 25% of America’s oil comes from Alaska and about half of the seafood. It also produces a huge amount of natural gas, timber and other natural resources. Today, it has produced “Sarah Barracuda”, the first female Republican nominee for Vice-President. Alaska became a state in 1959 and there are two state

Andrew Johnson's Polar Bear Swimming Pool?

holidays marking its heritage. One is “Seward’s Day” which is in March every year to mark the day that William Seward signed the treaty (Mar 30, 1867) and the other is on October 18, which commemorates This date in History when on October 18, 1867, the United States formally took possession of the 586, 412 square miles of Alaska. If this Global Warming caper goes the way that Mr. Gore suggests, then “Andrew Johnson’s Polar Bear Garden” will have to find a new name…perhaps “Andrew Johnson’s Polar Bear Swimming Pool” would be more appropriate.

A No Doubt About It Genius

Turn Out the Lights For Edison

Turn out the Lights: On this date in 1931, perhaps the greatest single inventor in the history of the world died. Thomas Alva Edison died in West Orange, New Jersey at the age of 84. Upon his death, President Hoover asked all americans to turn out the lights for one minute. He had considered having all power plants across the nation be shut down but his advisors reminded him that electricity had become such a part of the American fabric that doing so would place many people at extreme risk. So, Hoover took the Republican approach of asking for a volunteer effort. Too bad he didn’t take a Republican view of taxes as, in the wake of the stock market crash, Hoover raised taxes and most economic historians point to his raising of taxes and tariffs that led to the Great Depression, not the stock market crash….anyway….

Thomas Edison’s 1093 US patents is a record that will probably never be even remotely challenged. There are a couple of links of Edison to Louisville. For a brief period of time when he was young, Edison lived in a small house in Louisville near Butchertown. (you can visit the home) One of his most famous inventions was the first practical incandescent light

Benefactor to the World

bulb in 1879. In 1883, the Southern Exposition opened in Louisville with a display of 20,000 incandescent lights making it the largest display in this history of the world at that time. The number of lights in Louisville at that time was more than the entire city of New York. Please take the time to READ THIS EDISON BIOGRAPHY as it does a far better justice than I could do to bring to the attention one of the most influential people in the history of the United States, and even the world, not just in the 19th and 20th century and far beyond. While it was not patented, Edison actually invented the modern method of invention…a footnote that is often lost in most history lessons.

TROPICAL STORM OMAR DISCUSSION NUMBER 19

NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL152008

1100 PM EDT FRI OCT 17 2008

THE CONVECTION ASSOCIATED WITH OMAR HAS DECREASED AGAIN THIS EVENING…WITH THE REMAINING CONVECTION IN A RAGGED BAND WELL SOUTHEAST OF THE CENTER. HOWEVER…AN AMSU OVERPASS NEAR 20Z SHOWS THAT THE CYCLONE HAS A DEEP-LAYER WARM CORE…WHICH SSM/I IMAGERY SHOWS IS SURROUNDED BY MID/UPPER-LEVEL DRY/COOL AIR. A QUIKSCAT OVERPASS NEAR 22Z SHOWS A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE WINDS FROM THE EARLIER OVERPASS…WITH NO RELIABLE-LOOKING VECTORS SHOWING WINDS OF MORE THAN 45 TO 50 KT. AMSU INTENSITY ESTIMATES AT 20Z WERE 55 TO 60 KT…WHILE REGULAR SATELLITE INTENSITY ESTIMATES WERE TROPICAL 65 KT FROM TAFB AND SUBTROPICAL 35-40 KT FROM SAB. THE INITIAL INTENSITY IS DECREASED TO 55 KT BASED ON AN AVERAGE OF THESE ESTIMATES…AND THIS MIGHT BE A BIT GENEROUS. THE INITIAL WIND RADII HAVE BEEN REVISED BASED ON THE QUIKSCAT DATA. OMAR HAS SLOWED ITS FORWARD MOTION DURING THE PAST FEW HOURS AND THE INITIAL MOTION IS NOW 040/14. IN THE SHORT TERM…OMAR SHOULD CONTINUE A GENERAL NORTHEASTWARD MOTION BETWEEN A DEEP-LAYER RIDGE OVER THE EAST CENTRAL ATLANTIC AND THE MID-LATITUDE WESTERLIES TO THE NORTH. THE FIRST 48 HR OF THE FORECAST IS DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE FAIRLY TIGHTLY CLUSTERED GUIDANCE. AFTER 48 HR…THE GFS… ECMWF…UKMET..AND HWRF SHOW OMAR BEING ABSORBED INTO A BAROCLINIC LOW MOVING EASTWARD FROM THE WESTERN ATLANTIC…THIS AFTER OMAR TURNS MORE NORTHWARD IN ADVANCE OF THE LOW. THE NOGAPS…THE BAMD…THE BAMM…AND THE LBAR FORECAST OMAR TO TURN EASTWARD AND EVENTUALLY SOUTHWARD AROUND THE EASTERN ATLANTIC RIDGE. THE NEW FORECAST TRACK WILL LEAN MORE TOWARD THE GFS/UKMET/ECMWF/HWRF SOLUTION…CALLING FOR OMAR TO TURN MORE NORTHWARD AFTER 72 HR. HOWEVER…OUT OF DEFERENCE TO THE OTHER MODELS AND THE PREVIOUS FORECAST…THE NEW FORECAST IS NOT AS FAR NORTH AS THAT OF THOSE MODELS. OMAR IS MOVING OVER SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES OF LESS THAN 26C…AND IS LIKELY TO ENCOUNTER INCREASING WESTERLY VERTICAL WIND SHEAR AFTER 24 HR. WHILE ANOTHER CONVECTIVE FLARE-UP CANNOT BE RULED OUT…THESE CONDITIONS INDICATE THE STORM SHOULD GENERALLY WEAKEN THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. THIS IS SUPPORTED BY ALL THE INTENSITY GUIDANCE. OMAR SHOULD BECOME EXTRATROPICAL IN 48-72 HR AS IT MERGES WITH A FRONTAL SYSTEM OVER THE NORTH ATLANTIC. IF THE GFS/UKMET/ECMWF/HWRF SCENARIO VERIFIES…OMAR WILL BE ABSORBED BY THE WARM FRONT OF THE ONCOMING BAROCLINIC LOW…WITH THE FORMER TROPICAL CYCLONE SHOWING LITTLE RE-INTENSIFICATION AS AN EXTRATROPICAL LOW. THIS IS REFLECTED IN THE 48-96 HR PORTION OF THE INTENSITY FORECAST.

FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS

INITIAL 18/0300Z 31.5N 52.8W 55 KT

12HR VT 18/1200Z 33.3N 51.1W 50 KT

24HR VT 19/0000Z 35.1N 48.7W 45 KT

36HR VT 19/1200Z 36.7N 46.2W 40 KT

48HR VT 20/0000Z 38.3N 43.2W 35 KT…BECOMING EXTRATROPICAL

72HR VT 21/0000Z 39.5N 39.0W 35 KT…EXTRATROPICAL

96HR VT 22/0000Z 42.0N 36.0W 35 KT…EXTRATROPICAL

120HR VT 23/0000Z…ABSORBED BY FRONTAL SYSTEM

$$ FORECASTER BEVEN

California Wildfires In Pictures; Hoover or Boulder? July 7, 2008

Click Here for a National Interactive Radar that you can use to zoom in to street level, track and see analysis for any part of the country.

The above is the July 6th version of the severe outlook for Tuesday July 8.

Our weather looks pretty good to start the week. An upper disturbance will wander through the flow across the lower Great Lakes and an appendage of instability may be far enough southto work with afternoon heating to kick off a few Monday afternoon isolated t’storms. If they do go, they’ll most likely be confined to the northern half of the viewing area. Tuesday night a front will slowly plod our way and rain chances will go up accordingly. Note the severe threat is well to our northwest where the boundary will be moving during the heat of the day. There may be some late day renegade t’storms but primarily the threat will be for Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. We should see improvement by Wednesday afternoon that will translate to a good Thursday. The front comes back as a warm front Friday morning marking the return of heat and humidity for much of the weekend. Another front comes down for late Sunday…or so it seems right now.

California Wild Fires: The map to the left is for Tuesday afternoon and evening. In our area you see rain moving with a cold front that doesn’t have great prospects for severe weather but will have the potential to bring some decent rain. Out west though, you see the way the contour lines are oriented is for a general offshore flow, which means dry and hot air coming down out of the mountains. Not really a Santa Anna wind which typically comes from the southwest but the end result is the same. No real help in the near term.

Here is a slide show from KTAR which is in the Phoenix area. I suppose since that region has numerous links to California that they decided to enhance their coverage. I’m not sure how long this link will be good, but I would think that it would be good for the near term. It has well over 100 shots.

California Wildfires Slide Show KTAR

Here is a slideshow from the NYTimes. Not as many shots but they have an artistic edge to them.

NYTimes California Wildfire Slide Show

Here are some more from the Big Sur Fire.

NYTimes Big Sur Wildfire Slide Show

On This Date In History: This is a tale filled with politics so it’s confusing. Back in 1902, Arthur Powell Davis, an engineer with the Bureau of Reclamation, came up with an idea for a dam along the Colorado River at a place called Boulder Canyon. Herbert Hoover, an engineer by education himself, was Secretary of Commerce in 1921 and he made it a priority to support a high dam at Boulder Canyon. Plans were set for the project to be begun in 1922. Well, there was Congress to contend with and water rights and states rights…lots of politicians. So the project didn’t get started until This Date in 1930. By that time, coincidentally, Herbert Hoover was the 31st President. It was also the beginning of the Great Depression and Hoover wanted to be re-elected. While work started on July 7, the official ceremony commemorating the beginning wasn’t until September when Hoover’s Secretary of the Interior, Ray Wilbur, declared the project would be known as the Hoover Dam. It was appropriate since Hoover had been instrumental over the years in getting the project going. But, Hoover also wanted the project to bear his name to remind people of all the jobs he had created. It didn’t work. Hoover lost badly to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

As the project was getting started, it was determined that geologically it was better suited down the river in Black Canyon. Nevertheless, it was still called the Boulder Canyon Project and on May 8, 1933, Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes(father of the current Democrat politician with the same name) declared that the name of the project would no longer be known as Hoover Dam, but instead Boulder Dam. FDR had been in office for a few months and erasing any mention of Hoover perhaps was high on the priority list of helping the US to be fearless against “fear itself.” This of course even though the dam was being built in Black Canyon. In 1947, President Harry Truman signed a resolution of the Congress changing the name back to Hoover Dam….but the town built for all of the workers is still Boulder City. When I was a kid we stayed in a motel in Boulder City that looked like it was from the set of National Lampoon’s Vacation. Christie Brinkley didn’t show up though.

Here’s a link to all sorts of stuff about Hoover Dam including a bunch of photos from the 1930′s. Notice that it is called the Boulder Dam Project..AKA Hoover Dam. There are some things of which some people will not let go, Congressional resolution and Presidential signature or not!