PAID PATRIOTISM

Finding out whether NFL players are to stand on the field for the National Anthem is confusing as there seem to be two manuals with one of them not available.  The bottom line for me, however, is a notice by NFL management repeated on Snopes that:

The NFL will not discipline those teams and players who refused to be on the field for the playing of the national anthem before games Sunday, league spokesman Joe Lockhart said.

“There will be no discipline handed down this week,” Lockhart, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications and public affairs, said in a conference call with reporters.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans were not on the field for the anthem*.

The sad thing about this is that the original message of  Colin Kaepernick emphasizing police brutality has been lost in the ensuing discussions.

There is also the matter of whether the NFL has been paid to have the players on the field and standing for the National anthem.:

The Department of Defense and the National Guard paid the NFL a combined $12.3 million between 2011 and 2015. So the next time you think NFL players should stay out of politics, just remember that politics injected itself into the NFL first, and these players never got a say in being used as army recruitment tools."*

Republican Sens. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and John McCain (R-AZ) released a statement on an investigation into DOD payments for "patriotic tributes" between 2011 and 2014.* 

Their statement in part said:

"clearly show that DOD paid for patriotic tributes at professional football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and soccer games. These paid tributes included on-field color guard, enlistment and reenlistment ceremonies, performances of the national anthem, full-field flag details, ceremonial first pitches͕ and puck drops. The National Guard paid teams for the “opportunity” to sponsor military appreciation nights and to recognize its birthday. It paid the Buffalo Bills to sponsor its Salute to the Service game. DOD even paid teams for the “opportunity” to perform surprise welcome home promotions for troops returning from deployments and to recognize wounded warriors. While well intentioned, we wonder just how many of these displays included a disclaimer that these events were in fact sponsored by the DOD at taxpayer expense. Even with that disclosure, it is hard to understand how a team accepting taxpayer funds to sponsor a military appreciation game, or to recognize wounded warriors or returning troops, can be construed as anything other than paid patriotism." * 

There also is the news that the NFL is reimburse the Federal government $724,000 for patriotic events.***

* http://www.snopes.com/must-nfl-players-stand/?utm_campaign=thursday_update&utm_medium=manual&bt_alias=eyJ1c2VySWQiOiAiZGI1YjBlM2MtNDY3Ny00ZjEzLWJlMTYtYTkxM2MyYWJlNjg4In0%3D&utm_source=bme

** http://www.kvue.com/news/local/verify/verify-did-the-us-govt-pay-nfl-players-to-stand-for-natl-anthem/478658938
*** http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/19/news/companies/nfl-paid-patriotism/index.html

ROY MOORE: JUDGE WHO DOESN'T BELIEVE IN LAW

The poster child of a deplorable is Roy Moore, the former Alabama Supreme Court judge in Alabama who, among other things, doesn't believe in law.  He was ousted once from the Alabama Supreme Court for refusing to take down a Ten Commandments plague from his courtroom in the state judicial building.  A poll showed, however, the 88% of Alabamans supported Moore on this issue.  Then he was reelected and tossed out again when he told other judges in Alabama they don;t need to follow the law on same sex marriage.

As a judge, Moore refused to obey a federal court order to remove from his courthouse a monument to the Ten Commandments he had installed to underscore his belief. He was removed from his job as a result.*

In a 2002 legal opinion, he described homosexual conduct as “an inherent evil,” and he has argued that the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage should not be considered the rule of law. He was suspended from Alabama’s court a second time for defying the higher court’s marriage decision, and he later decided to retire from the bench.*

Moore has said:

To disfavor practicing homosexuals in custody matters is not invidious discrimination, nor is it legislating personal morality. On the contrary, disfavoring practicing homosexuals in custody matters promotes the general welfare of the people of our State in accordance with our law, which is the duty of its public servants...

The State carries the power of the sword, that is, the power to prohibit conduct with physical penalties, such as confinement and even execution. It must use that power to prevent the subversion of children toward this lifestyle, to not encourage a criminal lifestyle...

Homosexual behavior is a ground for divorce, an act of sexual misconduct punishable as a crime in Alabama, a crime against nature, an inherent evil, and an act so heinous that it defies one's ability to describe it. That is enough under the law to allow a court to consider such activity harmful to a child. To declare that homosexuality is harmful is not to make new law but to reaffirm the old; to say that it is not harmful is to experiment with people's lives, particularly the lives of children.^[**

In August 2017, Moore suggested that 9/11 was a punishment by God for Americans' declining religiosity**Moore has also stated that suffering in the United States may be because "we legitimize sodomy" and "legitimize abortion."[114] The Washington Post notes that "among the prices [Moore] says this country has paid for denying God’s supremacy: the high murder rate in Chicago, crime on the streets of Washington, child abuse, rape and sodomy.**

Moore believes Obama is not a U.S. citizen to this day.**

Moore feels that Islam is a false religion. He claims there are communities in the U.S. under Sharia Law, something that has no factual basis. He also feels that Muslims shouldn't serve in the American congress. [currently there are two].  On a TV interview, Moore said he never heard of DACA or Dreamers and asked what they were.***

For more see the references.*

* https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/moore-vs-strange-polling-opens-in-alabama-republican-primary/2017/09/25/9c7192f8-a253-11e7-b14f-f41773cd5a14_story.html?utm_term=.d261dbbba5b1
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Moore
*** http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/roy-moore-leading-candidate-in-alabama-senate-race-doesnt-know-what-daca-is/article/2633200

SMALL BUSINESS CONFIDENCE IN TRUMP DROPS

Perhaps America is slowly, very slowly, coming to grips with out current political problems.  Just this last week our president gave a speech at the U.S. that was well received, though I was distracted by all the bullying  statements in it.  Then he stepped all over it with a large number of comments and tweets slashing right and left.  It seems it he does something considered good, he has to make up for it by intemperate talk and writing afterward.

Confidence among America's small-business owners has slipped since April, according to the latest CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey, released Monday.
.................................................................................
The survey's Small Business Confidence Index fell from 60 in the second quarter to 57 in the third quarter. The index is calculated on a scale from 0–100 and is based on the responses to eight survey questions. A zero indicates no confidence, and a score of 100 indicates perfect confidence. An index value of 57 means that business owners on the whole are more optimistic than they are pessimistic about the direction their business will head over the next 12 months.The slight dip in confidence is the result of sharp decreases in the number of small-business owners who are optimistic about the impact of changes in tax, trade, regulatory and immigration policy over the next 12 months.*

(click on figure to enlarge)

Only 27 percent of respondents say they expect changes in government regulations to have a positive effect on their business over the next 12 months. That's down from 38 percent who said the same in April, while the number saying regulation will have a negative impact on their business rose from 26 percent to 30 percent.

On tax policy, 31 percent now say changes will have a positive impact, down from 42 percent in April. Those saying changes in trade policy will have a positive impact declined from 27 percent in April to just 18 percent in August.

* https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/25/confidence-in-trump-drops-on-main-street-even-among-conservatives.html

STANDING FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

Most people who are criticizing professional athletes for not standing and putting their hands over their hearts when the national anthem Star Spangled Banner* is played  are hypocritical.  Why?  Because they watch  the sports games on TV and don't stand at home with their hand over their heart when the national anthem is played on TV.  Why don't they get their butts off the chair and stand?  What exempts them?

Though I would stand at a sports event when the national anthem is played if I went to one, I do wonder why it is played at all?  And it is not done in all sports so far as I know.  For example, is the national anthem played before the start of each day in all professional sports?  I think not.  Why is golf exempt? Or the Indianapolis 500 where God Bless America is used?

I used to go to the concerts of the Fairfax Symphony (Fairfax Co., VA) where the national anthem was played to begin the concerts.  Of course, I stood and I guess I put my hand over my heart.  Truth to tell, I would rather America the Beautiful** (God is mentioned in each stanza if that is important but only in the 4th stanza of the Star Spangled Banner.) was the anthem or God Bless America **(only one stanza though there is an intro stanza) that are less militarily focused.  I used to go to a church hymn sing on Sunday nights in Highlands, NC,  where we ended singing God Bless America facing an American flag with our hand over our heart.  It is also sung before the Indianapolis 500 races.

In my memory, in St. Paul, MN, where I grew up, I think the national anthem was played before movies during WW-II and we stood, etc..

Incidentally, congress only adopted the national anthem on March 3, 1931 about 6 wks before I was born.  Hail Columbia*** was the unofficial national anthem for most of the 19th century.  I think we actually sang My Country 'Tis Of Thee**** at the beginning of the primary school day.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_God_We_Trust
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_the_Beautiful
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Bless_America
*** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail,_Columbia
**** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Country,_%27Tis_of_Thee

DOING SOMETHING FOR THE FEARS AND CONCERNS OF TRUMP'S BASE

Democrats are accused of not catering to the needs and fears of the white male worker.  So what can be done?  This is not so easy as the white male worker abandoned the Democratic Party because they felt too much attention was being paid to women, minorities, and gays (at the same time women, minorities and gays feel that not enough was done for them.).  Jobs were plentiful and wages were increasing but those didn't help Democrats.  Maybe the Democrats will just have to write off these people.  Politics is hard.

One thing many (most?) of Trump''s base dearly wants is The Wall (The Great Wall of Trump)

The president's 2018 budget proposal asks Congress for around $21.6 million per mile to build 74 miles of his wall.*

At this rate, the 74 mi. would cost nearly $1.6 billion ($1.598,400,000).

I’m not sure how far you can see at the Mexican border, but surely 15 mi. should be beyond eyesight.  So maybe you could fund 15 mi. or $325 million with a promise to fund more in the [infinite] future.  Then Trump could have his picture taken in front of the wall .  How much credit would Democrats get for this?  Hard to tell, but maybe to say you voted for the Wall, would yield some benefits.  Perhaps this could be used as a compromise to get DACA passed into law.

What else could be done?  Raising the minimum wage would help, but Democrats already have been for this and it didn't help them.  Free in-state college tuition and community college tuition might help, but Hillary already proposed this and it didn't help.

• Every student should have the option to graduate from a public college or university in their state without taking on any student debt. By 2021, families with income up to $125,000 will pay no tuition at in-state four-year public colleges and universities. And from the beginning, every student from a family making $85,000 a year or less will be able to go to an in-state four-year public college or university without paying tuition.**
• All community colleges will offer free tuition.

     And of course, Democrats offered an infrastructure program as did Trump.  The white workers should have known that their best hope for such a program would be with the Democrats because Republicans haven't been for that type of thing.  Sure enough, infrastructure came in third priority in the Trump programs and probably will never be gotten to it.  An infrastructure program now would generate good wages because of the low unemployment.  The white male worker opted to vote against their economic best interests.

     An analysis of these people is that they love Trump and Republicans for the emotions, not the programs.

Assuming that Donald (The Bully) Trump doesn't screw things up, the economic recovery should continue to expand, slowly if you prefer the term, and maybe even gain some speed.  It is already the 3rd longest recovery of all time.


* http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/30/donald-trumps-border-wall-a-progress-report.html
^^ 
** https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/college/

MEXICO EARTHQUAKES (Poem)

I wrote a poem stimulated by the 1985 earthquake of Mexico City but published it in 2014.  It seems timely again  The facts are technically correct for an earthquake:

https://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/04/earthquake-poem.html

AUTUMN EQUINOX

4:02 PM today (Sept. 22nd) marks the Autumn Equinox.  That is the time at which day and night are the same length (12 hrs each).  From then on for the rest of the year, nights are longer than days in the Northern Hemisphere.  Of course the reverse is true in the Southern Hemisphere and there, days become longer than nights.

COMPANIES BUYING BACK STOCK

You frequently hear that a company buying back stock is returning value to the stock holders  I have long held that this is a fraud and that a company buying back stock is a waste of corporate money and has nothing to do with the stock value.  If they don't have any constructive use for the money, return it to stock holders as a special dividend.

Wise investors look for increasing profits and not earnings per share (EPS).

I am certainly not alone in such feelings:  Richard X. Bove published a piece about banking on CNBC (September 18, 2017).  In this article he makes the following comments:

Next, the bank bulls are committed to the belief that buying back stock drives up bank stock prices. I actually asked a half dozen banks whether they had completed any studies to prove this assertion. Not one had, or more correctly, not one was willing to share this information with me. Yet, they were following the demands of the bank bulls, in my view, blindly.

Stock buybacks are done for financial engineering purposes. The reality for banks is that capital is the core source of bank earnings. It is the basis of leveraging the bank balance sheet and making loans. If a bank reduces capital it lowers its ability to earn money; weakens its secular growth prospects. Why would anyone want to buy a company which is lowering its growth potential to play "stock market?"*

* https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/18/why-the-bulls-are-so-wrong-about-bank-stocks-bove-commentary.html

CONSERVATIVE IDEALS

If you read my posts, you may get the idea that I am against conservatism, but I do appreciate certain conservative ideals.  Here I will discuss three of these:

TAKING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Chief among these is taking personal responsibility, an ideal that is as difficult for conservatives as it is for liberals.  Think of Donald Trump who always seems to have a scapegoat.  Consider that ALL 12 step programs emphasize taking responsibility.  If you can't handle alcohol, it is your responsibility to stop.  Also you can't blame someone else for your drinking, you didn't have to do it.

DO NOT CHANGE FOR THE SAKE OF CHANGING
Another good one is that you shouldn't change for the sake of changing.  You must think of the consequences.  I have a good example of this from my life.  I was all for the high-rise low-cost apartment complexes.  Give people a nice new home, and they will live up to it was the thought.  What I hadn't taken into account is that if you put a lot of failed people together, you don't get success, you get massive failure.  It sounds pretty obvious in hindsight, but it wasn't to me at the time.

I had abandoned my engineering training to analyze a situation and ask, "What can go wrong?"  The change might sound good on the surface but what are the unintended consequences.  Of course you can't always figure them out.  Note this is not to say that all change is bad as some do.

TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY
Then there is the tyranny of the majority.  This can be hard to figure out and some conservatives will apply it over generously.

An example here is background checks for all gun purchases that polls indicated were approved by more than 80% of the public.  But there were those who thought that this was tyranny of the majority for example in that who should have  to go through a background check to give a gun to your child?

Another example active now is giving children legal status who were brought to this country by illegal immigrant parents (DACA).  Again more than 80% of the public approves of this and even more than 50% feel they should be given a path to citizenship.  I have a hard time viewing this as the tyranny of the majority, but there are a lot of Republicans that seem to think so and that these people should be deported even though they were educated in the U.S. and speak American without an accent.  Many of these do not remember their native countries that are a foreign land to them.  There is the thinking that these people are taking American jobs away from citizens.

TRUMP'S HUMOR

Well, I suppose it follows that if you are a Bully* that you would have a pugilistic sense of humor.  I thought that with the CNN man "joke" in which Trump takes down CNN man and pummels him, I couldn't be shocked anymore by what Trump's humor is.  Now Trump has re-tweeted another "joke" in which he drives a golf ball that hits Hillary Clinton on the back and she falls down as she boards an airplane **(Her tripping on boarding a plane was often shown on TV at the time.).  Ha, ha, ha.  Well, when you see Trump on TV it seems to me he is usually scowling, but now we know what he finds funny.  Of course, he couldn't have composed the recent re-tweet himself as he doesn't have the smarts.

I suppose one thing that brought this on is Hillary's new book, that I have not read but I'm sure has some nasty things to say about Trump.  It turns out that Hillary hates the news media as much as Trump.***

How long are Republicans going to put up with such behavior?   Have they no sense of decency?  Well, if you are a conservative you want to turn back the clock, but , if you can't do that, at least leave things as they are.  So inaction is action for conservatives.  So for them, diversions like Trump are all right, I guess.

Well, inaction may be tolerable for domestic politics for a while, but I worry about it on foreign relations.

* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2017/07/pugnacious-politics.html
** http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/09/17/trump-hypes-mock-video-golf-ball-seen-striking-clinton.html
*** http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/12/media/what-happened-hillary-clinton-media/index.html

WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE EQUIFAX CREDIT BREACH

I'm really mad at Equifax for permitting 143 million credit accounts to be hacked.  I think they should be put out of business* for what they allowed, but what should we do?*  This is with us for the rest of our lives.

I've looked into putting a freeze on my credit accounts with the three big raters to protect fraudsters from accessing my credit.  What this means is that no new person or company can get my credit information to open a new credit account.  I'm told that existing creditors can still access the account.  You can do each online and don't need to write letters.  Yesterday I found that I could do TransUnion online** and did so.  Today, I have also done Experian*** and Equifax**** online   No charge here in North Carolina.  You have to put in a PIN to get in each company and you can temporarily undo the freeze if you are getting credit with a new company.  You can choose your PIN for TransUnion (6 numbers, can't start with a zero) and Experian (10 numbers, can start with zeros).  Equifax gives you a PIN.

You can also put a "lock" on your account, but I have not done so,.  I think there is a sizable monthly fee.  The following is taken from Experian (http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/Credit-lock-Credit-Freeze/td-p/50431550):

The ability to control who can access your Experian Credit Report is in your hands. With the touch of a button, you can lock your Report, keeping fraudsters and identity thieves away. If someone attempts to access your locked Report, you’ll be notified with a real time alert. When you want to apply for credit or financing, simply unlock your Report for the application process. Think of it as extra security for your credit.

When locked, your Experian Credit Report is NOT accessible to:

Banks and lenders that check your Credit Report for a credit or loan application.

Companies checking your Credit Report in order to open new utilities, cellular service or apartment rentals.
............................................................
Potential employers or insurance companies during the application process
Companies that have an existing credit relationship with you
Collection agencies acting on behalf of companies you may owe
Government agencies in connection to a Child Support claim
Personalized offers from Experian, such as credit card offers, if you choose to receive them
Companies providing pre-screened credit card offers. You can choose to opt out of these offers here.

* https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/opinion/get-rid-of-equifax.html?mcubz=0
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/your-money/identity-theft/equifaxs-instructions-are-confusing-heres-what-to-do-now.html?mi_u=29112017&mi_user_hash=82b5c34fc3b831e6909d80ade6b5dffad7f9e9a9bcb8602dcac08732&_r=0
** https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze/place-credit-freeze
*** http://www.experian.com/news/security-freeze.html
**** https://www.freeze.equifax.com/Freeze/jsp/SFF_PersonalIDInfo.jsp

WHO GOT TO TRUMP?

So President Trump and the Democratic Party leaders of the Senate (Schumer) and the House (Pelosi) got together and came to grips with the debt ceiling and funding of the government (for three months).  Is Trump really taking a pivot?

Well it would be nice if DACA is codified in some way and it seems like Trump and the other two leaders may be able to accomplish this also.  Trump wants the DACA tied to extreme border control.  As to extreme border control, how about (1) finish the fence to 700 mi., (2) hiring 19,000 more border control agents, (3) increase the number of drones and surveillance towers?  Well all this was in the bipartisan Senate bill of 2013 bill that was never brought up in the House even though the bill carried by Senate by 68-32!.*  I can never forgive John Boehner for not falling on his sword and letting a vote on the Senate bill be taken.  Of course, he was afraid it would pass.  Why did he want the immigration issue kept open?

Well, the Pivot by Trump seems to be real but it probably will be limited:
The path of least resistance, the path of popularity for him [Trump], is to dismiss the demands of Congressional Republicans on virtually everything except abortion, judges, education, free speech, and regulations**.
If that statement is correct, the pivot will be very limited.

* https://www.vox.com/cards/immigration-reform-congress-2014-house-john-boehner-obama/border-security
** https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/the-rino-hunters-become-the-hunted/539067/

FROM EARTH TO GALAXY ROTATION

Looking down on the Solar system from the North Star ( chauvinistic just looking at the Solar System from "above."):
The Sun rotates on its axis in an anticlockwise direction. The Earth also rotates on its axis in an anticlockwise direction. And the Earth revolves around the Sun in an anticlockwise direction. All the other major planets, and most of the minor planets (asteroids) also orbit the Sun in an anticlockwise direction. (A few comets orbit in the opposite, or clockwise, direction).

Most of the planets rotate about their own axes in a counterclockwise direction. This is called prograde rotation. Venus and Neptune are exceptions. Venus has a very slow clockwise rotation (termed retrograde), and Uranus, although it rotates every 15.5 hours, has its equator inclined at almost a right angle to its orbital plane. It is thus difficult to know whether to describe the rotation of Uranus as prograde with an equatorial inclination of 98^o or retrograde with an inclination of 82^o.

But why is nearly everything moving counter-clockwise (prograde rotation)?  My guess is that the short answer is the condensates (Sun and planets) from the huge cloud that formed the solar system will gain their rotation from the main body formed from the cloud (i.e. the Sun that has nearly 100% of the mass of the Solar System, 99.8 or 99.9%).  So if the sun rotates counterclockwise, the planets probably will also.  For a more detailed answer, see the Physics Stack Exchange.**

But why do Galaxies spin?

Why do galaxies form at all? If the matter were distributed completely uniformly, there would be nothing to pick one spot over another for the galaxy to start clumping. Each bit of matter would have a uniform surrounding and not be pulled any direction. However, there's some randomness (apparently ultimately from quantum mechanics) giving some lumpiness to get the process started.

The same random lumpiness means that as a galaxy starts to form there will be random lumps of stuff outside the part forming the galaxy. So different parts of the galaxy will be pulled different directions by gravity from the neighbors.  Unless there's a special accident, the torques won't perfectly balance and the galaxy will pick up some "spin"- angular momentum. (Emphasis added) A quick web search suggests that the details of the process are still being worked out:

* http://www.spaceacademy.net.au/library/notes/anticlok.htm
https://www.google.com/search?q=why+does+the+Earth+rotate+counterclockwise&rlz=1C1PRFC_enUS655US656&oq=why+does+the+Earth+rotate+counterclockwise&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l3.12360j1j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
** https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/72656/why-does-the-moon-or-the-earth-revolve-anti-clockwise

SOFT HEARTED OR ...

Kim Jong-un (dictator of North Korea) didn't fire off his intercontinental missile this last weekend.  My first thought was, "How nice of him to hold off his game with President Trump while we dealt with all these hurricanes."  But then I thought, "He held off  because his rocket wouldn't get much news play because of the hurricanes."  More likely the latter, I’m afraid.

Note added 09-14, 2017:  Kim Jong-un is at it again.*  North Korea has threatened to sink Japan and said the US should be “beaten to death like a rabid dog” after the two countries spearheaded fresh UN security council sanctions in response to the regime’s recent nuclear test.*

* https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/14/north-korea-threat-sink-japan-us-ashes-darkness

JOB OPENINGS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH

There is a mismatch between the number of job openings and the skills or reluctance to move of the workforce.

The Labor Department says openings edged up 0.9 percent from June to 6.2 million, the highest on records dating to 2000. Hiring also increased, but the record number of openings make clear that employers have plenty of jobs to fill but are still searching to find qualified workers at the pay levels being offered.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/us-job-openings-increase-slightly-in-july-to-6-point-17-million.html

BEHAVIOR OF HURRICANES,CYCLONES, AND TYPHOONS

Cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons are just different names for the same thing.  Some distinguish cyclone from hurricanes by the speed of the rotation, i.e. hurricanes move faster.  Hurricanes have to have sustained speeds of at least 74 MPH.

Why do hurricanes rotate? As you watched the recent activity of hurricanes, no doubt you sat there wondering why hurricanes rotate counterclockwise.  It has to do with something called the Coriolis Force resulting from the spin of the Earth going counterclockwise as viewed from above (astronomers say viewed from the north) in the Northern Hemisphere (and will rotate clockwise in the southern Hemisphere).  the reason for this is that the Earth rotates faster at the equator than near the pole.*

Imagine if a person were to stand at the North Pole and throw a ball far enough to reach the equator — say, to a person standing in Quito, Ecuador — the ball would not actually reach that person because it would not travel in a straight line. Since the equatorial region is moving faster than the North Pole, the ball would end up to the west of its target — somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, probably.*

The same thing would happen in the Northern Hemisphere if someone were to throw a ball from south to north, only the ball would end up east of its intended target.*

This is what happens to the winds that travel to and from the poles. In the Northern Hemisphere, winds moving north are diverted eastward, and winds moving south are diverted westward. In the Southern Hemisphere, winds traveling toward the equator will move eastward, and winds traveling toward the South Pole will curve west.*

..................................................................
If there were no Coriolis effect, air would simply rush into the low pressure center, "since nature abhors a vacuum, and a low pressure area is a partial vacuum," said Chris Landsea, a Science and Operations Officer at the National Hurricane Center.*

It follows that you cannot have hurricanes at the equator because everything moves at the same speed, but there have been hurricanes observed 7 or 8 degrees from the equator.*  So if you want to be safe from a hurricane, live on the equator.

Why did Hurricane Irma turn north?**  There was a strong high pressure area to the East of the tornado blocking movement to the east and another to the west Though not as strong but still blocking the hurricane from moving west.  It found a way to move to the north between the two high pressure areas so that is where it went.  Because of the rotation of hurricanes, they want to move northward naturally at any rate.

Jet Stream Not surprisingly, the jet stream flows counterclockwise across the U.S. in the Northern Hemisphere in a undulating pattern (see figure) because of the Coriolis Force.***

Tornadoes Most tornadoes spin cyclonically (about 98%), ie, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere but the Coriolis Force is not strong enough to make this a certainty.****


* https://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/07/heres-why-hurricanes-spin-counterclockwise-in-the-north.html
**http://miami.cbslocal.com/2017/09/08/why-hurricanes-turn-north/\
http://www.katc.com/story/36302637/why-irma-will-turn-north-and-not-go-into-the-gulf
*** http://www.businessinsider.com/jet-streams-coriolis-effect-earth-faster-fly-west-2016-2
**** https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/coriolis.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticyclonic_tornado

CRITERIA FOR DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS (DACA)

The legal online site www.nolo.com gives the following criteria to becoming a DACA member. ( Also see www.immigrationequality.org*) (Quotes are in italics.):*

• had not yet turned age 16 when you came to the U.S. to live
• have continuously lived (“resided”) in the U.S. since June 15, 2010 up to when you apply (excluding any brief, casual, and innocent departures)
• [Wikipedia says the date is June 15, 2007]**
• were physically present in the U.S. on June 15, 2012, and also at the time you apply for deferred action
• either entered the U.S. without inspection before June 15, 2012, or if you entered with inspection, your lawful immigration status (such as a visa or Temporary Protected Status (TPS)) had expired as of June 15, 2012
• are either in school now (unless absent for emergency reasons), have graduated or earned a certificate of completion from an accredited high school, have obtained a general education development (GED) certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States, and
• have not been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, or three or more other misdemeanors; and do not otherwise present a threat to U.S. national security or public safety (such as by being a member of a gang).

[ Also had to be under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012]

..............................................................

Eligibility depends on meeting each and every criterion listed above. If, for example, you fit all the criteria but were already 17 when you came to the U.S. to live, you will not qualify. The same goes if you haven’t lived in the U.S. “continuously” for the required period but, for example, spent a few years in the U.S., a few years in your home country, and so forth. USCIS looks closely at whether the schools from which applicants claim to have graduated are in fact recognized, accredited (in most cases, public) schools.

The criminal grounds of ineligibility are especially challenging for some applicants; especially because the term “significant misdemeanor” is not one that has a long history in the immigration law, and thus has not often been applied to particular fact patterns by USCIS or the courts.

Here’s what USCIS has said about significant misdemeanors: They include any misdemeanor, regardless of the prison or other sentence imposed, that involved burglary, domestic violence, sexual abuse or exploitation, unlawful possession or use of a firearm; driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol (DUI or DWI); and drug distribution or trafficking.

But that’s not all. They may also include any other misdemeanor for which the applicant was sentenced to more than 90 days in prison, not including suspended sentences, pretrial detention, or time held on an immigration detainer. (And again, three or more misdemeanors of any sort are a disqualifier for deferred action status.)

USCIS has also explained a “non-significant misdemeanor,” as including any misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment of more than five days and less than a year that is not on the USCIS list of significant misdemeanors.

For more on misdeamers, see: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/significant-misdemeanors-affect-daca-eligibility.html

On June 16, 2017, the United States Department of Homeland Security announced that it would rescind the executive order by the Barack Obama administration that expanded the DACA program, though the DACA program's overall existence would continue to be reviewed.^[15][16] 
On September 5, 2017, the Trump Administration formally rescinded the program, but delayed implementation for six months to give Congress time to act.^[17]**
It would be better if congress codified DACA.

....................................................................

Note added September 7, 2017: It is not clear how many
scientists, engineers, and students in related fields are 
facing similar uncertainties. Based on the DACA guidelines,
the oldest beneficiaries are now 36 years old, and many
of the recipients are in their 20s. Aguilar says she knew
of just two other DACA students during her doctoral studies.
The Association of American Medical Colleges says 113
students with DACA status applied to medical school in
2016;overall, it estimates thereare 65 DACA student
 amongthe 83,000 medical students in the United States.***

The University of Washington (UW) in Seattle says 50 to
75 of the roughly 12,000 students in its graduate and
professional schools self-identify as undocumented.
Fifteen to 20 of those are in science and engineering
fields, says Gabriel Gallardo, UW’s associate vice
president for minority affairs and diversity. At the
undergraduate level, the university had 336 students
who self-identified as undocumented status in the last
school year, Gallardo says, and he estimates that
one-third are in science and engineering fields.***

* http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/applying-deferred-action-dream-act-student.html

http://www.immigrationequality.org/get-legal-help/our-legal-resources/path-to-status-in-the-u-s/daca-deferred-action-for-childhood-arrivals/
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deferred_Action_for_Childhood_Arrivals
*** http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/09/young-immigrant-scientists-anxiously-await-trump-s-daca-decision

HOUSTON: LAND OF DROUGHTS AND FLOODS

I agree that we need to help Houston get back on its feet, but in the recovery, I think as a nation we need to consider that Houston do some things to help itself if American tax payers are to bail them out.  I mean Harvey aside , Houston seemingly has floods almost every year.

Texas has always been a land of weather extremes—in 1927, an unnamed National Weather Service meteorologist famously said "Texas is a land of perennial drought, broken by the occasional devastating flood”—but what’s happening now seems more extreme than ever. The current floods are happening just five years after the driest year on record in Texas, in which statewide rainfall was just 14.88 inches. Brenham, Texas, about 50 miles northwest of Houston’s suburbs, got more than that in just one day last week.*

For southeast Texas, this is at least the sixth major flood in just the past 12 months. Houston received more than 10 inches of rainfall in May, June, and October of 2015, and in April and May of this year, and has already racked up more than 7.5 inches in the first two days of June. (It’s still raining there as I type this.) April’s “Tax Day” deluge in Houston was estimated by the local flood control district to be a one-in-10,000 year rainfall event.*

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Texas has seen some of the most drastic change in the United States, with Houston registering a 167 percent increase in the biggest downpours since the 1950s. Combined with rapid population growth and a laissez faire urbanization policy that prioritizes parking lots over flood control, Houston is nearing a breaking point. At the moment, the region’s reservoirs are fulll and unable to release more water without adding to the deluge. With land prices cheap, acres of swamp and grasslands are being cleared for more subdivisions—cutting into the city’s natural defenses and creating a billion-dollar flooding problem. A drive into Houston these days is a glimpse of a future where weather has gone wild.*

Flooding in Houston seems to be a common event.  Here is a report from 2016 (Just last year and well before Harvey)*  One recent flood is named the Tax Day Flood (2016) and another the Memorial Day Flood (2015).  Then there was the "hundred year flood " of 2012.***

The 2015 storm impacted more of central Houston, and the heaviest areas reported between 11 to 12 inches. Again, the only event that compares  [until Havey]- since at least the 1960s - was the July 2012 storm [also before Harvey]. **

But wait, there is more.  The standard seems to be Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 with  23 deaths.*** And, oh, did I mention Hurricane Ike in 2008?  Hurricane Ike was the 4th most costly storm on record at $35 billion pl;us 74 killed in Texas after Katrina $160 (2005),**** Sandy $70 billion (2012), and Hurricane Andrew  $48 billion (1992) .

* http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/06/03/historic_floods_in_houston_texas.html 
 http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/article/How-floods-compare-7330750.php

** https://www.cbsnews.com/news/100-year-rainfall-event-drenches-houston-area
*** https://weather.com/storms/severe/news/houston-flood-history-may2015-allison/
**** https://weather.com/storms/severe/news/houston-flood-history-may2015-allison

TAX HOLIDAY FOR REPATRIATION OF COMPANIES OVERSEAS PROFITS

Though I am for a "Tax Holiday" to repatriate foreign corporate profits with a tax, of say, 5%,  I would demand that the companies doing so be legally bound not to buy back stock for 5 yrs.  What would be the penalty if they do buy back stock?  Perhaps a tax of 50% of the dollar amount of the buyback.  Stock buybacks are wasted money and are done because companies don't know what to do with the money.  Companies are awash in money and really don't need the repatriation.  I doubt much of the money will go towards new plant and equipment or a bonus to the employees.  They could buy back debt and/or issue a special dividend, some of which may find it way into productive enterprises.  If something like this isn't done, then we would no doubt see something liked happened to the "Tax Holiday: of 2004:

In the 2004 case, 9,700 companies were eligible to take part in a tax holiday that would bring the overseas cash back at a rate of 5.25 percent, well below the 35 percent rate for profits earned abroad.

Of that group, 843 companies participated. They brought home $312 billion in qualified earnings, or about one-third of the total cash held overseas, according to the CRS. That translated into total deductions of $265 billion.

For certain industries and companies, the program worked out nicely.

Five companies — Pfizer, Merck, Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnsonand IBM — accounted for 28 percent, or more than a quarter, of total repatriations. The top 15 tax holiday beneficiaries accounted for 52 percent of the total benefit.

Moreover, the pharmaceutical and medicine industry alone accounted for 32 percent of the total, and combined with the computer and electronic equipment sector to make up fully one-half of the repatriated cash.

..................................................................

From 2005 to 2006, Pfizer, which repatriated $37 billion, slashed 10,000 jobs. Merck, which brought back $15.9 billion, cut 7,000 jobs, and HP pared its employment rolls by 14,500 after repatriating $14.5 billion.

Most of the money went to repairing balance sheets and rewarding shareholders, according to the CRS. According to one study cited, as much as 91 cents on the dollar went to share repurchases, even though that, along with compensation increases, was expressly prohibited by Congress.  (Empasis added).

Prohibited uses for the cash weren't easy to track because the money ended up being commingled with other corporate funds.

The study said one of the biggest faults was that the permitted uses were "overly generous" and not "explicitly linked to specific uses."

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/31/trumps-tax-repatriation-plan-flopped-the-last-time-it-was-tried.html

RESIGNATIONS FROM CYBERSECURITY COUNCIL

Business councils are not the only ones receiving resignations over Trump's actions regarding Charlottesville.

Established in 2001 under an executive order from President George W. Bush, the NIAC [National Infrastructure Advisory Council] advises the president on critical infrastructure security. Last week's [8] resignations came ahead of a new [28 member] NIAC report that called] for the US to strengthen its cyber defense systems, adding that the current state of US infrastructure is a in a "pre-9/11 moment." (Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta used similar language to describe the state of US cybersecurity infrastructure in 2012.)*

Two White House business councils were disbanded  earlier this month after several executives raised concerns over Trump's response to the Charlottesville violence.*

From a separate article:

Former Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly continued an Obama administration effort to shift federal resources to shore up the cybersecurity of state and local election infrastructure following Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election. Kelly also stuck with an Obama-era decision to label election systems critical infrastructure—an official Homeland Security Department designation that makes it easier to commit federal resources to protecting them.**

* https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/28/members-of-trumps-cybersecurity-council-resign-in-protest.html

**http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2017/08/trump-cybersecurity-advisers-resign-moral-protest/140535/