Friday, August 28, 2015
Tropical Storm Erika Soaks Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands; Warnings in the Dominican Republic, Bahamas; Uncertain Threat to Florida, Southeast U.S.
Highlights
- Tropical Storm Erika is located near Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, but is still very poorly organized.
- Tropical storm warnings continue in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos and have been extended into the central Bahamas and the south coast of the Dominican Republic.
- Deadly, destructive flooding has been reported in Dominica, in the Lesser Antilles, Thursday. Strong wind gusts were reported in St. Croix and St. Thomas.
- Erika will bring locally heavy rain and gusty winds to drought-suffering Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Hispanola.
- There is potential for Erika to dissipate as a tropical cyclone over the mountains of the Dominican Republic.
- Erika's future track and intensity late this weekend and beyond remains highly uncertain regarding potential U.S. impact, which could occur anywhere from the Florida peninsula to the Carolinas.
Current Status
Erika Watches/Warnings
A watch means the respective conditions are possible within 48 hours. Warnings mean those conditions are expected within 36 hours.
Current Wind Shear Analysis
Wind shear, or the change in wind speed and direction with height, is harmful for tropical cyclones. Higher levels of wind shear are depicted in pink, purple and red contours in this analysis.
Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands Radar
Erika Struggles, But Still Soaks the Caribbean
Tropical Storm Erika continues to struggle against a hostile environment in the Caribbean Sea, and faces an uphill climb to maintain its identity as a tropical cyclone over the next 12-24 hours.
Satellite imagery continues to show Erika's convection (thunderstorms) displaced east of the center of circulation.
The culprit for this disheveled appearance of Erika is strong westerly to southwesterly wind shear, which has been consistently very strong, compared to average, in the Caribbean Sea this hurricane season, so far.
If anything, Erika will be moving into an environment of higher wind shear over the next day or so.
That's not the only barrier Erika faces. The circulation is likely track over the mountains of the Dominican Republic (Pico Duarte is over 10,000 feet), potentially disrupting or ripping apart its circulation.
So these twin nemeses (wind shear, mountains of D.R./land interaction) may both spell the ultimate demise of Erika as a tropical cyclone.
But that doesn't mean there may not be serious impacts. Regardless of Erika's degree or organization, locally heavy rain and flash flooding will continue to be threats the next several days.
A band of torrential rain resulted in deadly flash flooding on the island of Dominica in the Lesser Antilles, Thursday. Roads were washed out, homes were damaged and an airport flooded.
(MORE: Flooding Hits Dominica)
Canefield Airport near the capital of Roseau, Dominica, picked up 12.64 inches (322.4 millimeters) of rain in a 12-hour period ending just before 2 p.m. EDT Thursday.
Bands of locally heavy rain will spread from Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Hispanola, to parts of Cuba and the Bahamas by Saturday.
Despite the long-term Caribbean drought, rain rates of several inches per hour could trigger flash flooding and mud/rockslides. Flood watches were posted for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
The National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said some parts of the island had already picked up 3 to 4.5 inches of rainfall in Erika's rainbands as of early Friday morning.
(INTERACTIVE: Caribbean Radar)
Heavy rainfall over the mountains of Hispanola may also trigger life-threatening flash floods and mudslides. Historically, some of the highest death tolls with Caribbean tropical cyclones have occurred in these situations.
Tropical storm force winds were reported across portions the U.S. Virgin Islands on Thursday. The highest gust was 62 mph at St. Croix shortly before 9 p.m. EDT Thursday. St. Thomas registered a gust to 48 mph. The peak gust, so far, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, has been only 32 mph as of early Friday morning.
Erika may continue to produce tropical storm force winds, mainly in gusts, primarily on the east and north sides of its
[OPINION] On immigration, Kasich just as extreme as Trump
A resident of Summit County, Isabel Framer is a Latina community activist whose expertise springs from her work in language access in the justice system.
It’s a sad state of affairs in the Republican Party today when the candidates are falling all over themselves to out-Trump one another on the issue of immigration. The GOP’s anti-immigrant xenophobia has gone so far, the candidates are now attacking families and innocent children. The Republican outrage du jour concerns “birthright citizenship,” which is a right guaranteed under the 14th Amendment to “[a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States.”
Donald Trump, Chris Christie, Rand Paul, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Ben Carson, Lindsey Graham ... nearly half of the GOP field have come out recently in favor of amending the U.S. Constitution or passing legislation to take away citizenship rights from children who are born in America. Early last week Scott Walker voiced his support for ending birthright citizenship, then seemed to reverse course and now is claiming he won’t take a position on the issue. Meanwhile, Jeb Bush says folks should “chill out a little bit” with criticism of his use of the derogatory term “anchor babies.”
One of those who has seemed slightly less offensive with his comments has been John Kasich. However, a quick look at Kasich’s record reveals he has been just as extreme as Trump and the rest of the GOP. In the early 1990s, Kasich was on the leading edge of anti-immigrant fever as a co-sponsor of legislation to end birthright citizenship. The former Fox News host continued his support for this policy during his 2010 run for governor.
Now that Kasich is running for president – against a field that offers him no room to maneuver on the right – he’s trying to sing a different tune on immigration. While Kasich says he wouldn’t take a path to citizenship off the table, he has also said he opposes it. Kasich added, “I don’t favor citizenship because, as I teach my kids, you don’t jump the line to get into a Taylor Swift concert.”
Many immigrant families have been working for decades, waiting to come out of the shadows as Republicans have failed to act, but Kasich thinks that’s somehow equivalent to teenagers cutting the line for a concert.
Now let’s take a look at Kasich’s actual record as governor on the issue of immigration. Ohio is one of the states challenging President Obama’s executive actions that have deferred action for young people who arrived in America as children and parents of U.S. citizens. To date, Kasich has stood on the sidelines while Attorney General Mike DeWine joined a lawsuit against Obama’s executive orders.
Kasich loves to talk about balancing budgets, but he’s ignoring a real benefit for Ohio taxpayers from deferred action. This process, which requires undocumented immigrants that qualify for the program to register, undergo background checks and pay taxes, would bring in an additional $41 million in revenue for the state of Ohio. Add to that the fact that earlier this year a study by UCLA found Ohio was the worst state in the country for promoting the health and well-being of undocumented immigrants.
So ultimately, actions speak louder than words, and Kasich’s actions shouldn’t fool anyone that he’s suddenly a moderate on immigration. If Kasich wanted to do something about immigration, he could pick up the phone and tell DeWine to drop his ridiculous lawsuit. He could make it easier for immigrants in Ohio to access health care and higher education and obtain legal documents. Until then, I’ll view Kasich as a flip-flopping opportunist who can’t be trusted.
Feds wildly disagree on number of agencies, range is 60-430
How big is the federal government? So big, it has lost count of just how many department and agencies it has, according to a federal watchdog group.
Quoting federal officials, the Competitive Enterprise Institute said the number given ranges from a mere 60 to a whopping 430.
In face, Clyde Wayne Crews, vice president of policy for CEI, found this gem of a quote inside the Administrative Conference of the United States source book. It lists 115 agencies in the appendix but adds:
"[T]here is no authoritative list of government agencies."
Don't laugh. Yet.
Digging through other counts offered by federal officials, he found an online Federal Register Index of 257.
United States Government Manual lists 316.
Then there was a 2015 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing during which a senator listed over 430 departments, agencies and sub-agencies.
"As bureaucracy sprawls, nobody can say with complete authority exactly how many federal agencies exist," blogged Crews on the CEI site.
[EDITORIAL] When Fellow Journalists Become News
Reporters and video journalists enter danger every day of the week. War zones in Iraq and Syria. Covering the drug wars in Mexico. In Third World countries where governments see the news media and reporters as threats to their power and murder them in cold blood.
But a shopping center in Moneta, doing a live television interview with a local chamber of commerce official?
That’s not supposed to be the case. Community journalism is all about covering city councils or boards of supervisors or school boards. Features on the 108-year-old Sunday School teacher. Profiles of World War II veterans. And, yes, cute puppy and kitten stories from the local humane society.
But sadly ... shockingly ... that’s not what happened Wednesday morning. WDBJ reporter Alison Parker was interviewing Vicki Gardner, president of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, as cameraman Adam Ward filmed. Suddenly, shots rang out. Parker screams; the camera drops to the ground; and viewers next see a shocked anchor back in the studio.
Parker, 24, was a native of Martinsville who had moved back to the area to work for the Roanoke station as a morning reporter. In the last several months, she’d been dating a fellow reporter, and they had been talking about marriage. Ward, 27, was a graduate of Virginia Tech and an avid Hokie. He was engaged to a producer at the station who was in the control booth back in Roanoke as images of the shooting came in. Gardner, a long-time booster of the Smith Mountain Lake business community, underwent surgery for gunshot wounds at a Roanoke hospital and was in stable condition Wednesday afternoon.
This world is crazy and upside down some days. Police officers aren’t supposed to get gunned down when they pull over a speeder on a desolate highway. A teacher and her classroom of first-graders aren’t supposed to be massacred at their desks. And community broadcast journalists doing a story about a local chamber of commerce’s efforts to boost local businesses aren’t supposed to be shot to death, live on the air.
Our thoughts and our prayers are with the families and friends of Parker and Adams; we also wish Gardner a speedy recovery. And our thoughts are with our colleagues at WDBJ as they deal with the loss of their friends and co-workers while simultaneously reporting the international news story they find themselves at the center of.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Don’t Like ‘Anchor Babies’? Try ‘Products of Deception’
The overlords of political correctness have struck again. Evidently, it’s now a “hateful slur” to call the children of illegal immigrants “anchor babies,” a long-held designation to describe how automatic citizenship bestowed on the children of illegal immigrants becomes a powerful magnet for people entering and staying in the United States illegally.
Last week, Hillary Clinton attacked Jeb Bush for using the term, saying it’s offensive and that anchor babies are simply “babies.” Donald Trump scoffed at that and refused to give in to the easily offended speech police. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal had the best response, tying Clinton’s comment to the abortion industry’s harvesting of organs from aborted babies.
“You know what I find offensive is Hillary Clinton, the Left, when you look at those Planned Parenthood videos—they refuse to call them babies, they call it fetal tissue, they call them specimens,” Jindal said. “That’s what’s offensive.”
After the Center of Medical Progress released the videos, defenders of abortion came out swinging, saying they aren’t “babies” but“products of conception“—a nice, clean, politically correct term that dehumanizes unborn children so the consciences of abortionists can be dulled as they chop up and crush the arms, legs, bodies, and heads of human babies.
Let’s Call Them Products of Deception
So, here’s a suggestion—for the sake of consistency among those on the Left. Let’s start calling anchor babies “products of deception,” because that’s exactly what they are—they’re children used by their parents to deceive American citizens in order to abuse and take advantage of our generosity.
It’s not meant to judge the character or value of the children themselves, but only to describe their role in illegal immigration practices.
Illegal immigrants, and even tourists who come to the United States for the fraudulent purpose of delivering their children on American soil, use their babies as tools to remain in our country and often to get freebies from our welfare system and to bring in more family members through chain migration. They do this despite the Fourteenth Amendment offering no legal support for this practice and no court in American history ever holding that the children of illegal immigrants have the right to automatic citizenship. Yet, somehow, this practice has administratively slipped into our system. Now, illegal aliens are taking advantage of it in droves.
Note that the emphasis here is on illegal aliens—a point often lost in the debate over birthright citizenship. When advocates for immigration reform say the United States must end “birthright citizenship,” they are talking about citizenship for the children ofillegal immigrants and those committing fraud on the American system, not for children of legal immigrants, and certainly not for people who have already been granted citizenship (see the grandfather clause in the Birthright Citizenship bill HR 140). They are talking about the practice of giving automatic citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants who are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States but are citizens of another country.
[COMMENTARY] Witnessing evolution of newspaper industry
Four years ago, most of us wouldn’t have predicted award-winning TV series would debut via online streaming on websites such as Netflix and Hulu and would never be aired on cable or network television. Likewise, just four years ago most of us wouldn’t believe we would get news updates on our watches.
During my four years as the CEO of the Newspaper Association of America, I have watched nearly every media industry shift dramatically in response to the ever-changing technology and consumption habits of our audiences.
The same holds true for newspapers. This industry has been around far longer than radio, television or telecommunications, and some critics have questioned how we will continue to remain relevant in today’s digital world.
But today’s numbers speak for themselves: In the United States, the newspaper digital audience is skyrocketing, reaching 176 million unique visitors across all platforms in March (comScore, 2015). Circulation revenue is also rising, both in the United States and around the world. According to the 2015 World Press Trends Survey, global newspaper circulation revenue exceeded advertising revenue for the first time ever.
The reason? Newspapers are leveraging technology and audience data more than ever to create new content, products and services that attract audiences and advertisers. The appetite for quality content and information is insatiable, and over the last few years, we have transformed into an industry that adopts and utilizes the latest developments in social, mobile, print and video to better reach consumers with interesting and engaging content.
Let’s look at a few of the ways the news industry has evolved:
Social media: Newspapers are successfully tapping into our desire to remain “plugged in” and up-to-date on the latest happenings. USA Today, for example, uses Snapchat to cover live sporting events through instantly-delivered photos and captions. Periscope, Twitter’s live-streaming service that debuted in the spring, is being leveraged by reporters and media outlets as a way to give viewers the inside look at breaking news, sports events,and even political press conferences. The New York Times even used WhatsApp, a messaging app that is incredibly popular outside the United States, to broadcast information about the Pope’s visit to South America to its international audience.
Apps: Newspapers have developed niche apps with customized content, such as the New York Times Cooking App and the Denver Post’s Colorado Ski Guide, to build on popular features and further engage specific audiences looking to more deeply explore their areas of interest.
Print special features: In response to readers’ desires for quality leisure-reading, newspapers have begun offering expanded Sunday sections, such as the Philadelphia Inquirer’s new lifestyle section, “Live, Life, Love.” Similarly, the Chicago Tribune has doubled its opinion pages, following the growing reader interest in local commentary.
New revenue streams: Advertisers are still taking notice of the growing audience and continued demand for newsworthy, useful content. This has inspired the recent interest in native advertising, or sponsored content, as a way to provide advertisements that don’t disrupt the reader experience and still provide valuable information. And today, advertising is just one part of a fully-diversified revenue stream, which includes event marketing, digital marketing services and increasing circulation content.
Much has changed in four years, and I can say with confidence that the newspaper industry is poised to continue evolving with new technologies and engaging content in the years to come. It’s been an honor to serve as CEO of NAA during the last four years and I look forward to cheering the industry’s continued success.
Blue Cross of NM pulls out of Obamacare exchange
Thousands of New Mexicans will need to shop for new health insurance plans later this year after a decision by Blue Cross Blue Shield to stop offering individual insurance plans through the state health exchange beginning Jan. 1.
Company President Kurt Shipley announced the move Wednesday in a letter to individual customers that was also posted on the insurer’s website, www.bcbsnm.com.
The letter said Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Mexico lost $19.2 million in 2015 on the 35,000 individuals covered by plans they purchased on and off the exchange.
“We were unable to reach an agreement with the Office of Superintendent of Insurance … that would allow us to continue to offer coverage on the state’s health insurance exchange with rates that would be adequate to cover the anticipated needs of our members for the coming year,” Shipley wrote.
Blue Cross will offer a basic-level insurance plan outside the exchange in 2016, which will be available to all consumers at the same rate as in 2015.
Insurers can sell health insurance to individuals off the exchange as long as they comply with the same rules under the Affordable Care Act. But consumers who don’t buy through the exchange are not eligible for premium subsidies.
The ACA subsidizes premiums for consumers who purchase their plans through exchanges, based on income.
Existing policies will remain in force until the end of the year. And the insurer’s small group, large group, commercial, Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug, Medicaid and individual dental plans will not be affected.
Insurance Superintendent John Franchini earlier this month rejected Blue Cross Blue Shield’s request for a rate increase averaging 51.6 percent. Franchini said he was prepared to instead approve a 24 percent increase and was waiting for Blue Cross Blue Shield’s response.
He had approved much smaller rate increases for the other insurance companies that offer plans on the exchange – Presbyterian Health Plan, Molina Healthcare of New Mexico, Christus Health Plan and New Mexico Health Connections.
Those insurers say they are willing to accommodate Blue Cross members who decide to pick their plans. The open enrollment period to purchase plans on the exchange will begin Nov. 1.
“We are extremely disappointed that BCBSNM will not be an option for our customers on the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange in 2016,” Shipley said.
Franchini said Blue Cross could return to the exchange after one year and offer plans for 2017.
Blue Cross actually lost more than the $19.2 million the company cited in the letter Wednesday but received more than $23 million from a pool set up by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to help insurers offset unusually high claims. The pool is financed with mandatory contributions from insurers.
[VIDEO] Is Jorge Ramos a journalist or an attention whore masquerading as one?
What, exactly, is a journalist? The cynical among us (read: every comment to the posts on journalism that I write) would say that a journalist is a leftwing hack that advocates for the left-of-center causes and attacks Republicans at every opportunity. And, why not say that? Modern journalism is exactly that, you know.
But, let us take the curious case of Jorge Ramos, a man who stood up, out of turn, at a Trump press conference and attempted to lecture Trump on immigration issues before being removed. Ramos went all over the place saying that, as a journalist, he had rights that were violated by Trump. Is this true? Did Ramos get mistreated by the big bad Trump?
Of course not.
What is a journalist? He or she is a human being whose job is to report the news. It is commonly accepted that journalists are to strictly report the news and not be the news, which is the very first rule Ramos broke. And he knew he was going to be the news. It’s what he wanted. His goal was to get kicked out, and by God, Trump said “Go back to Univision,” and tossed Ramos out like he was a raging alcoholic at a bar around closing time. Good for Trump for doing so, and even better for Trump to be the bigger man and let Ramos back in.
A journalist asks the tough questions. They pursue the truth. They seek information beneficial to the public. Ramos had one goal: Get on camera to attack Trump. His “question,” if indeed you could call some sort of hybrid rant/lecture/screed such, was nothing more than the publicity stunt of a man who pretends to be a journalist while pursuing a spotlight to demand that people who violate the law to be in this country be treated as citizens (sorry, Lefties! They aren’t citizens!). There is no reason to think that anything he did was journalistic in any regard.
Had it been any one else, I’d be livid that a man who wants to be president of the United States would kick out a journalist. Especially Trump, who has at times seemed to be able to dish it, but not take it. After all, he has every right to remove a journalist because it is his event, but to seek to dodge questions by barring journalists from participating shows weakness. However, the man he had removed was a man who contributes nothing to journalism. He is an attention whore of the highest caliber and seeks only his own glory in front of the camera.
Ramos is absolutely no journalist, and to act as though he is some sort of martyr because Trump was mean and kicked him out (never mind that he let him back in later and lost yet another exchange) is an insult to the people who are journalists, who know how to do their jobs.
Scarborough Thanks MSNBC Boss for Booting Liberal Hosts
The morning after Al Sharpton was booted to the Sunday morning desert from his evening show, and not long after Ed Schultz and Alex Wagner were relieved of their hosting duties, Joe Scarborough has profusely thanked NBC News honcho Andrew Lack for making those changes.
On today's Morning Joe, Scarborough was discussing stunning poll results in which the first word that came to voters' minds about Hillary was "liar." Asked what was the worst thing said about him in such polling, Scarborough said "he works for MSNBC was always the worst." But Joe then added, his hands steepled in a gesture of gratefulness: "not any more though, cause things have changed. Thank you, Andy. Thank you very much."
MARK HALPERIN: They asked an open question: what's the first word you think of when you're asked the name of a presidential candidate? The leading answer for Hillary Clinton was "liar." The leading answer for Trump was "arrogant." And the leading word for Jeb Bush, Bush.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: That may be a problem.
NICOLLE WALLACE: It may be, it may not be. I mean, Bush is also the last name of one of our most popular former presidents, Bush 41, his father. I think the Republican primary voters are well aware of that. I would rather be known as Bush than a liar.
OE: Or arrogant. These are unprompted by the way. These questions, though, what happens is they ask in these polls, what. It's the part of these polls that always scared me the most because they were the most instructive. They're called verbates.
WALLACE: Like a focus group.
JOE: What's the first thing you think of when you think of Joe Scarborough. And then you have to sit there and read the sentences, and you go oh, my God!
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: How did you do? What were some of the worst?
JOE: He works for MSNBC. That was always the worst. Not any more, though, because things have changed. Thank you, Andy. That was the past, this is the now. Thank you, very much.
Obama Punishes Kansas for De-Funding Planned Parenthood by Cutting Its Title X Funding
The Obama administration has punished the state of Kansas for cutting taxpayer funds for the Planned Parenthood abortion business by cutting its federal Title X funding by the same amount.The moves comes at the same time the abortion giant is facing intense criticism over its sales of aborted babies and their body parts.
In 2011, pro-life Governor Sam Brownback signed a bill signed into law a bill that would shift funding away from the Planned Parenthood abortion business and stops abortion funding in health insurance programs. The Kansas Senate passed the measure on a 28-10 vote and the state House followed suit with an 86-30 vote.
The measure has the state budget directing over $300,000 in Title 10 money to local full-service health clinics instead of Planed Parenthood and it places $300,000 into the Stan Clark grant-matched fund for pregnancy support and adoption counseling.
The funding cuts eventually resulted in the Planned Parenthood abortion business closing one of its centers.
Now, the Obama administration, in the wake of additional states cutting Planned Parenthood funding following the massive scandal, is going after one state that already cut tax-funding to the abortion company. According to an AP report: “The federal government reduced its Title X funding to the state by about the $370,000 annually in Title X money that two Planned Parenthood facilities in Wichita and Hays and an unaffiliated clinic in Dodge City had been receiving.”
While Kansas revoked taxpayer dollars for an abortion business, the Obama administration’s decision hurts women’s health and deprives them of legitimate medical and health care.
As AP reports, “Medical providers say that means low-income patients are finding it harder to access birth control, cancer screenings and other reproductive health care services.
“People have fewer places to go, and for those with limited means that may make utilizing those services even more difficult,” said J’Vonnah Maryman, director for public health at the Sedgwick County Health Department.
In terms of the pro-life law de-funding Planned Parenthood, the insurance portion of the legislation prohibits private health insurance companies from forcing enrollees to pay for abortions and it makes those who want to potentially have abortion coverage pay for an insurance rider. It also ensures abortions can’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars through the state exchanges set up under the federal Obamacare health care law.
ACTION: Thank Governor Brownback at https://governor.ks.gov/
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