46 Comments

A Pullet Surprise to you for today's title! I hope Dylan sees it.

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Over the last 15-20 years the data collection and enhanced radar -Doppler -has probably automated a lot of jobs in weather.

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I would guess the opposite: that our wildly enhanced, unimaginably sophisticated, computerized, automated progress in meteorology now makes possible, and desirable, even more personpower to continue to improve our understanding of weather and implementing of life-and-economy-saving responses to it and preparation for it. Any experts care to weigh in?

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As far as Bergman is concerned, I wrote him to thank him, but my email included a "BUT"... Among the things I wrote, I opined that I wasn't sure how much good him holding Trump accountable will do when he's also voting FOR cutting $880 billion to the Commission of Energy and Commerce budget of which Medicaid, Medicare, and other social safety net programs are a part of. That choice is on top of the plethora of other issues and harmful actions he and other Republicans are supporting, either directly or indirectly (as in being complicit because they're not pushing back, not voting against, and refusing to vote no in every single confirmation hearing).

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Thank you for your reports. I am in Oregon and work educating future meteorologists- so I was aware of what yesterday’s firings were going to do and have been collating numbers on the impact. Which is hard to do given it is almost taken as obvious what the worth of the weather service is. There is so much confusion around who is fired. Just to be clear: the National weather service was not considered a critical service and lost probationary staff. Oregon offices are down 30-40% and are going to have to cut vital services.

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Good thing it never rains or floods or anything in Oregon. Or has a "shipwreck coast" or a drought- and fire-prone desert.

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Are we certain Bergman just never updated his website from the previous administration?

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D’oh!

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That’s absolutely what happened. I was just having fun.

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Oh I know which way the wind blows…Mars-a-Lago for oligarchs (after they totally destroy our democracy and planet) and the gulag for the rest of us. Sorry, MAGAts, you’re not one of them after all, you’re going down too. Gone with the wind…🌬️💨

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First, many thanks for the comps. Spreading the word about here is pinned to the top of my to-do list.

I just read while stomping through my daily 200-odd newsletters that Elon the Magnificent is recommending the NWS info be paywalled. I can see it now—the alarm rings on phones throughout a region facing a major weather event, but all the text says is "Major Weather Event! For information send $X using this link: (insert Venmo link)".

Good times.

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Woof! Every damn day is full of ugh and dread. They are literally breaking America.

Off topic, I just watched part of the meeting Pres. Zelenskyy, trump, and vance. Disgusting behavior.

That bloated orange fucker and that hillbilly abuser of sofas treated the Ukrainian leader with so very little respect, yelling at him, interrupting him, telling him he should be kissing their large asses

and say thank you sir! A couple of fucking mobsters trying to extort another president that is fighting to save his country. I swear, I have never been so embarrassed to be an American citizen in my whole life. Jeezus, I hate these people!

I have never wished death on anyone but boy, they're pushing it.

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Disgusting and embarrassing, indeed! Relieved someone shares my views on that awful scene. I eagerly await the recap of the horror from TFN because I need *something* to get the wretched taste out of my mouth!

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NOAA-looking for Merl Heinlein employee last known to be in Kentucky...talk to me Merl! (FPC 1997-2003 DC KS)

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May I suggest in addition to “Newsfuckers” you also try the terms “Newsfucktarians” “Newsfuckians” and “Newsfucksters”?

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While it’s nice that rep. Bergman says that on his website, he still voted to pass the disastrous budget this week, did he not??? So how “disastrous” does he really think Trump is? This just feels like lip service and, what’s more, a safe way to cover your ass (tucking it away on your website). What about saying it OUT LOUD in front of a camera??

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Chomsky (who got his last topic, Ukraine, heinously wrong) used to say the Republican Party was the world's most dangerous organization. The line to Trump comes straight from the Southern Strategy and Ronald Reagan -- aka core, official RP positions. Anybody who's still a member of that sociopathic operation is a pile, or something worse.

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Please realize that there are many of us who see the Russia/Ukraine issue differently. For excellent, well-documented coverage, I suggest thegrayzone.com.

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The grayzone is wrong about Ukraine, and is devoted to knowingly mis-reporting it. I know it exists, but it is erroneous. The United States didn't overthrow Yanukovych; Ukrainians did, for excellent independent reasons. Russia has been 100 percent responsible for all its subsequent war crimes.

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I haven't noticed much Chomsky this century. What was he saying about Ukraine?

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The standard "tankist" stuff. That USA tricked Ukrainians into overthrowing Yanukovych so as to expand NATO, and then forced Russia to protect itself. Shameful, wildly ignorant of actual events, huge insult to Ukrainians themselves.

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The only sound criticisms to his politics I’ve ever seen hinge on how he frames/questions aggression by non-U.S. entities. Haven't seen it w/r/t the Middle East or East Timor, but I know much hay has been made of his solicited responses to ‘70s Cambodia.

Seems like he's most consistently an inversion of the Amnesty International formula — only forms accurate critiques of the system he’s soaking in.

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I think he's been extremely helpful and insightful. But he's been wrong a few times. Certainly so on Ukraine. But he was also very aged when this all started. His big idea is to have and use a single standard for all socio-political analysis. Interesting that even he fails to stick to that at times. Ukraine is a huge test of the proposition. It was/is also a rare chance for we libs to stand up for international law.

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Ima defy that hail-description statute: Coming storm will produce larger-than-a-Republican-brain nuggets.

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Answer to "This is the size of gas molecules..."

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Unclear why USA needs NWS or NOAA employees. Trump** has a sharpie.

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And Musk has several blunts.

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A coherent argument can be made — and has been by Timothy Noah at The New Republic — that a blanket boycott is wrong-headed. Noah puts it: "Boycotts can play a role in Trump Resistance 2.0, but let’s boycott the right targets. People have lately been picketing Tesla dealerships to pressure Elon Musk to get the hell out of the White House. Good idea—keep it going! I’ve previously urged New Republic readers (and The New Republic itself) to get the hell off Twitter."

I'm also all in favor of boycotting Amazon and it's tentacular subsidiaries — including the Washington Post. But not boycotting local businesses which just hurts their employees and in the slightly longer run their customers — anyone remember the impact of the COVID shut-down on small businesses in your town/neighborhood?

Sorry if I've offended anyone.

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Drowning the government in the bathtub is so old school. Why not juice up its elimination with spectacular doses of shock and awe by letting hurricanes, floods, and every form of really bad weather induced calamity sneak up on folks ripping their homes, loved ones, family and future apart?

Deprived of weather forecasts, pilots will have to brush up their flying skills and knowledge of terrain: Knowing where the best places to crash land, or how to do a last minute roll of a 767 when a Piper Cub shows up unannounced out of storm clouds.

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Topped off with several pandemics du jour!

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But her emails

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