2017 Aug 26^th

So Alice, you say there is a hurricane of stupendous proportions ripping apart the coastal areas of Texas? Tell us, where did it come from? Like all hurricanes it came from the Gulf of Mexico. But we have storms come in from the Gulf all the time; what makes this one special? Usually there are weather conditions that will blow apart the gathering storm; this time those conditions are absent and this storm can continues to feed from the super-warm Gulf of Mexico water.

Is it at all possible that global warming, if it existed of course, could have had anything to do with an event like Hurricane Harvey? We do have the enormous heat buildup in the gulf that feeds energy to this hurricane. There are other factors as well but the heat of the gulf water is a necessary condition, without which there would be no hurricane.

We know that former governor Perry (You remember Perry. He is the presidential candidate who planned to abolish three government departments. Remembering all three was more than poor Perry could handle so now courtesy of President Trump, he is secretary of one of the departments, Energy, he had hoped to abolish.) was adamant that global warming was, “one confused phony mess.” What elase could he say and stay in business as governor given the importance of Texas off shore oil and gas business. Harvey has temporarily eliminated that business and the losses will be considerable.

Trump, Perry’s boss, is also a climate change denier. He wants the votes of West Virginia coal miners so his position is necessary. This is just another Trumpian scam. Coal is not coming back because natural gas is cleaner and cheaper. (But mentioning that will not corral those West Virginia and Kentucky votes.)

Naturally there are other events this weekend. Sheriff Arpaio has been pardoned to no one’s surprise and everyone’s disgust. The premier Nazi in the Trump advisory group, Mr. Gorka, has left the building although whether he was kicked out or resigned is up in the air. Then Trump acted to eliminate Transgender people from the military services. That will be tricky because many of them have served the military honorably.

What will this oaf do next?