Fun Video! ALL ABOUT HIS BASE - Randy Rainbow Song Parody

Enjoy the latest   Randy Rainbow Song Parody "ALL ABOUT HIS BASE" (parody of "All about the bass").

Video:  https://youtu.be/_4q8x5fR4Sw

Signs for Stupid People

  Every now and then you'll come across a sign and wonder why someone had to create it. The answer is because someone asked a stupid question and may have even hurt themselves, so someone else needed to make a sign to prevent other (dummies) from doing the same thing. Here are some examples...

   
 (Yes, the hot dog sign says "not actual size" and is about 12 feet across).
          #9 #10 #11   #12   #13   #14         

  

 

Even 1 Vote Counts: Virginia's Delegate Election

  Every vote counts and every vote makes a difference.   IF 1 more Virginian in District 94 voted for the Democrat, the State would have had a 50-50 split in the state legislature. Sadly, someone stayed home.

Shelly Simonds (right)

A Single Vote Could Have Flipped Control Of Virginia's House Of Delegates
A recount showed  Democrat Shelly Simonds tying GOP incumbent David Yancey in the state’s District 94 in Virginia’s House of Delegates
 So, names were "put in a hat" and picked out by a judge.  SADLY, they picked the Republican's name out of a hat to decide the race.
(FUNNY HOW A REPUBLICAN-APPOINTED JUDGE PICKED THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE)

So, Next time there's an election and you lean toward the Democrat who wants to represent ALL people, not just white, rich people - GET OUT AND VOTE. You can make a difference.

 STORY: https://www.npr.org/2017/12/19/572082933/a-single-vote-has-flipped-control-of-virginias-house-of-delegates

News You Don't Hear: DOJ Charged White Supremacist With Terrorism. They Just Didn’t Tell Anyone.

Did you know a white man, a Neo-Nazi, committed an act of terrorism in the U.S. in October and has
recently been charged with terrorism? Not many people do know. Apparently because the Dept. of Justice only wants to make public cases of foreign terrorists. A reporter learned that the person responsible for sharing the press release about it was "out of the office." Uh-huh. There are many other people who can act as back ups in an office.
   Here's the story of the terrorist from the Huffington post:

WASHINGTON ― Usually, when the FBI arrests a terrorist and the Justice Department charges them, it’s a big deal. Combatting terrorism is one of the Justice Department’s top priorities, and terror cases are a great way for federal prosecutors and agents to make names and build careers. The press and the public are very interested. Officials will typically blast out a press release, and, if it’s a big takedown, might even hold a press conference. 

The Justice Department didn’t do any of that when federal prosecutors unsealed terrorism charges last week against Taylor Michael Wilson. The 26-year-old white supremacist from St. Charles, Missouri, allegedly breached a secure area of an Amtrak train on Oct. 22 while armed with a gun and plenty of backup ammunition. He set off the emergency brake, sending passengers lunging as the train cars went “completely black.”

The attempted terrorist attack took place aboard an Amtrak train that started off in California and was making its way through a part of Nebraska so remote that it took an hour for the nearest deputy to arrive on the scene. Wilson was found in the second engine of the train, “playing with the controls,” according to the FBI affidavit.

As passengers waited in dark train cars that smelled of burning rubber, Amtrak workers kept the man pinned down. “I’m the conductor, bitch,” Wilson allegedly said to Amtrak personnel while subdued. They say Wilson had tried to reach for his front waistband, where he was storing a fully loaded handgun.

The incident received little national coverage at the time, perhaps in large part because law enforcement officials didn’t initially treat it as a terrorism case. A subsequent FBI investigation, however, painted a disturbing portrait of an individual who escalated his radical activity in recent years as he built up a massive gun stash, even hiding weapons and extremist propaganda in a secret compartment behind his refrigerator.

In a court affidavit, the FBI agent who investigated the attempted terrorist attack said he’d learned that Wilson traveled with an “alt-right Neo Nazi group” to the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in August; may have helped vandalize restaurants with “whites only” stickers; pointed a gun at a black woman during a road rage incident; and spoke of “killing black people” during recent protests against police violence in St. Louis. 

But even when the federal terrorism charges were unsealed against Wilson last week, the case didn’t get a ton of national pickup. One key reason: The Justice Department didn’t tell anyone.

There was no press release on the case out of Justice Department headquarters in Washington, nor from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nebraska. The reporter who broke the story of the terrorism charges on Thursday evening, Lori Pilger of the Lincoln Journal Star, told HuffPost that she spotted the unsealed case when checking the federal court docket online.

On its face, the lack of attention the Wilson case received from Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department could read as a brazen political decision by Trump administration officials to obscure a terrorism case that doesn’t fit into their broader agenda. Why would they want to highlight a terrorism charge against an alleged neo-Nazi who attended a violent alt-right event that President Donald Trump insisted included “very fine people”?

But the lack of attention the Wilson case has received actually reflects the priorities embedded in a system built up by U.S. lawmakers and law enforcement officials over the years: a U.S. criminal code and federal law enforcement apparatus that treats domestic terrorism as a second-class threat.

Many in the law enforcement community acknowledge that’s a problem.

“This type of a crime certainly, from a perspective of seriousness and the potential for injuring or even killing large numbers of people, is very much on par with other terrorism crimes that we’ve seen in the United States and elsewhere which are motivated by the Islamist extremist ideologies such as that promoted by ISIS,” Mary McCord, a Justice Department veteran who headed DOJ’s National Security Division until last spring, told HuffPost.

NBC NEWS: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alleged-white-supremacist-accused-terrorism-amtrak-incident-n834966

MORE: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jeff-sessions-domestic-terrorism-white-supremacist_us_5a510cc2e4b01e1a4b157ae9?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=__TheMorningEmail__010918&utm_content=__TheMorningEmail__010918+CID_22294f6ea1ea630a690d6614c64d51ff&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=HuffPost&ncid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__010918

Great (pre-Batman) novel: Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu

If you're a Batman fan, you'll want to read a brand new book called "Batman: Nightwalker (DC Icons Series)" by Marie Lu. The  Hardcover just came out January 2, 2018.   I give it 4.5 out of 5 Stars (because there was really no Batman in it,)
    It's actually about Bruce Wayne as an 18 year old, and how he gets mixed up with one member of a group of killers who are out to steal from millionaires and billionaires. The group winds up being murderous and Bruce finds out when he turned 18 he joined their hit list. 
   The novel is fast-paced and has some supporting characters and places from Batman lore- like a young Harvey Dent, Alfred, Detective James Gordon, Wayne Manor, Arkham Asylum, and Gotham Police Dept. There are other good supporting characters like the introduction of young Bruce's friend Dianne and another detective.  
  Although there's no Batman, it's well-written, captivating and enjoyable. Batman fans will love it as I did! - Rob

ABOUT THE BOOK: The new, eagerly anticipated BATMAN YA novel is an action-packed thrill ride that could only be penned by #1 New York Times bestselling author MARIE LU.

Before he was Batman, he was Bruce Wayne. A reckless boy willing to break the rules for a girl who may be his worst enemy.

The Nightwalkers are terrorizing Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne is next on their list. The city's elites are being taken out one by one as their mansions' security systems turn against them, trapping them like prey. Meanwhile, Bruce is about to become eighteen and inherit his family's fortune, not to mention the keys to Wayne Industries and all the tech gadgetry that he loves. But on the way home from his birthday party, he makes an impulsive choice and is sentenced to community service at Arkham Asylum, the infamous prison that holds the city's most nefarious criminals.

Madeleine Wallace is a brilliant killer . . . and Bruce's only hope.
The most intriguing inmate in Arkham is Madeleine, a brilliant girl with ties to the Nightwalkers. A girl who will only speak to Bruce. She is the mystery he must unravel, but is he convincing her to divulge her secrets, or is he feeding her the information she needs to bring Gotham City to its knees?

In this second DC Icons book--following Leigh Bardugo's Wonder Woman: Warbringer--Bruce Wayne is proof that you don't need superpowers to be a super hero, but can he survive this game of tense intrigue, pulse-pounding action, and masterful deception?

It's Not a UFO, it's a Lenticular Cloud!

As a meteorologist it's easy to see how some people who are not could mistake a Lenticular cloud for a UFO. So, today's blog gives you an explanation of what they are with a photo so you can know what they look like.


Photo right:  This image came from Greece:  Beautiful lenticular cloud over Rethymnon, Crete, Greece on Jan 11, 2018  Photo: Giannis Gkikas / Cyclone of Rhodes
 
WHAT ARE LENTICULAR CLOUDS?  In Latin they are called Altocumulus lenticularis.
 They're stationary clouds that form in the troposphere (lowest layer of the atmosphere), typically in perpendicular alignment to the wind direction. They look like a saucer! 

THREE TYPES - There are three main types of lenticular clouds: altocumulus standing lenticular (ACSL), stratocumulus standing lenticular (SCSL), and cirrocumulus standing lenticular (CCSL), varying in altitude above the ground. 
ALTITUDE: Up to 40,000 feet high

HOW THEY FORM - A lenticular cloud   normally develops on the downwind side of a mountain or mountain range. It forms when stable, moist air flows over a mountain, creating a series of oscillating waves in the atmosphere.
If the temperature at the top (crest) of the wave equals the dewpoint temperature, condensation occurs in a lens formation. As the air falls down the trough of the wave, where the temperature and dew point temperature are not equal, evaporation occurs. Thus, a wave cloud, or a series of lenticular clouds, is capable of forming. 

Here's a VIDEO from the Weather Channel to explain how they form: 
https://youtu.be/u7CVY1vLXcY

So. Florida Gets a Much-Needed New Commuter Rail!

Brightline trains are doing “simulated” trial runs before they debut.

It's great to see that one state is getting a new rail system for commuters and this one is in southeastern Florida. This new system called "Brightline" will ultimately go from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale to West Palm Beach to the Orlando airport.  
  Speaking as two guys who previously lived in Florida and have driven the gridlock in southeastern Florida, this is MUCH needed. Smart Planning, too.
  What's interesting is that this is privately funded and has nothing to do with politics (because conservatives like the FL governor, don't believe in trains, just widening highways).     
  The volume on the highways in Florida is overwhelming and always in gridlock on routes like Interstate 95.
  Construction is well under way.  Bravo, Brightline!

Here's the update from the Miami Herald on Jan. 11: 

Brightline's Miami Central Station nears final construction

    The Miami Central Station of Brightline nears final construction in downtown Miami on August 7, 2017. Brightline a private passenger rail service aiming to connect South Florida’s downtown areas with express service, announced fares starting at $10 per leg with a Saturday launch for service from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach and plans to extend to downtown Miami in the coming months.

  Early this year, construction will begin on an extension to Orlando, as Brightline hopes to tantalize Miamians with a three-hour trip to Orlando International Airport.

COST, SCHEDULE AND TRAIN STATS -  A one-way ride will cost $10 for Brightline’s basic “Smart” package and $15 for the more high-end “Select” package, featuring leather seats, free parking, free food, beverages and free premium guest lounge access. The five four-car train sets will each hold 240 people. Brightline will offer 10 daily roundtrips on weekdays and nine on weekends, with service beginning as early as 6 a.m. and ending as late as 11 p.m.  

RIDE TIMES -    Rides from Miami to Fort Lauderdale will take about 35 minutes, with an additional 30 minutes from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach. 

PRIVATELY FUNDED - Brightline calls itself the only privately funded, operated and maintained rail service in the United States.

 VIDEO: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article165970157.html

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article194068174.html#emlnl=Morning_Newsletter#storylink=cpy

Weather Extremes: It’s So Hot In Australia, Hundreds Of Bats Just Dropped Dead

Global warming causes extreme weather events and climate change. Earlier this month we
highlighted the record-breaking heat of 117 Fahrenheit in Sydney, Australia. Well, that scorching record affects wildlife and led to a massive demise of bats  in the region. (Bats eat insects that destroy crops).   This is what mankind has done to other forms of life by speeding up global warming with fossil fuels.

It’s So Hot In Australia, Hundreds Of Bats Just Dropped Dead

Cr: Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown/Facebook

A brutal heat wave that gripped much of Australia this weekend saw footpaths literally melt in the sun and 80-year temperature records tumble ― but one of its more tragic effects came when hundreds of bats in a colony in Sydney’s southwest simply dropped dead.

    The environmental group Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown, based an hour outside Sydney, reported Sunday that hundreds of flying foxes have died due to the extreme heat and insufficient shade cover. Most of the dead bats were young, with adults better able to find shelter and cooler temperatures. Temperatures hit nearly 45 degrees Celsius, or 113 Fahrenheit, in the region over the weekend. Wildlife experts say any temperature over 35 degrees Celsius can be fatal for bats.

“Adults sought out shade and more shelter further up the creek resulting in many babies being left behind to deal with the heat. Many pups were on their last lot of breaths before getting much needed help by the WIRES members,” Help Save the Wildlife said on Facebook, referring to the New South Wales wildlife rescue group.

   “As the dead bodies were recovered and placed in a pile for a head count the numbers had reached 200 not including the many hundreds that were still left in trees being unreachable, sadly a few adults were also included in the body count.”

    A later post by the group claimed that more than 400 bats had died in the heat.

    Over the weekend, volunteers tried to rescue the living bats, supplying them with water. Photos posted by the Campbelltown group show volunteers holding young bats in pillows and towels, and rigging up IV bags of fluid.

    “There were tears shed and hearts sunken, it’s devastating when a colony like our local one goes down like this due to heat, this colony needs more canopy cover and shaded areas to help with our ever rising hot summers because this episode will surely not be the last,” the group said on Facebook.

Apparent temperatures in other parts of the city reached 57 degrees Celsius, or 134 Fahrenheit, such as at the Sydney Cricket Ground during a cricket match between Australia and England. (Yes, not only do Australians endure this brutal heat, we choose to spend five entire days standing and playing sport in it.)

NPR Story: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/10/576908629/australias-heat-wave-fries-bats-brains-hundreds-found-dead

Facts About the 3 Day Trump Shutdown from a FL Congresswoman

Keep this in mind when you vote for Congress people in November. Democrats in Congress were looking out for the military, 800,000 children, and U.S. citizens. The Republicans were not. 

Idiot of the Week: Woman stole from her Mother during her Mom's funeral

Alyce Davenport

You can't get much lower than this week's idiot. This low life actually skipped her mother's funeral,

broke into her mom's house and Robbed it!!  You can't get much lower than that.

  We hope that her mother's spirit comes back and haunts her!!

Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass.),

January 9, 2018

EAST BROOKFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Police say a Massachusetts woman skipped her own mother’s funeral so she could break into the dead woman’s house and steal a safe filled with items worth $90,000.
The Telegram & Gazette reports that 30-year-old Alyce Davenport was held on $15,000 bail after pleading not guilty Monday to seven charges. An alleged accomplice was held without bail on a warrant.
Police say Davenport and her accomplice went to the mother’s home on Friday during the funeral. Police say she did not attend her mother’s funeral and was not answering calls from relatives.
Police were tipped off about the alleged theft by the boyfriend of Davenport’s mother.
Davenport and her accomplice were found at a Sturbridge motel on Saturday.
It could not immediately be determined if Davenport has a lawyer.
___
Information from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass.), http://www.telegram.com