About the Weather and Other Stuff.

The latest hurricane has arrived. It is, at the moment, about 200 miles due north of us. For days, we have been warned about high winds, heavy rains and flash floods. So what do we get? According to the weather service, the temperature at this very moment–4:45 p.m. HST on September 1st– is 90 degrees which, the weather people say, “feels like 100”. It sure as hell does!
 
There’s not a breath of air outside and, inside, all seven of the ceiling fans throughout the house are going at top speed. And it’s still miserable. I watched the Red Sox game this afternoon, moving my chair to be directly below one of the fans, and still had to change T-shirts twice during the game. Who would have thought that a Pacific hurricane a couple of hundred miles from here would bring no wind, no rain, unusual heat, and damn near unbearable humidity?
 

 
I really try to stay away from political issues, but I have to note that Consumer Reports has just reviewed the latest model from the Tesla Corporation. This is the company that is developing a super battery which powers their automobile. It is, according to Consumer Reports, is the best car they have ever tested. (How about 0 to 60 in 3.2 seconds!) In fact, the automobile scored 102 on the CR rating system, which only goes to 100!
 
Good news, right? Well, no … not to some conservatives who are accusing the venerable and heretofore universally respected consumer organization of inflating the Tesla’s performance review because they have a liberal bias against gasoline powered vehicles.
 
And then there’s the mini-uproar because President Obama has directed that Alaska’s Mount McKinley (named for President William McKinley) be renamed Mount Denali. A number of politicians of the Republican persuasion, including Speaker John Boehner, are upset about the change, notwithstanding the fact that (a) Alaskans have always referred to the mountain as Denali, (b) President McKinley never set foot in Alaska, let alone on the mountain itself, and (c ) he was dead at the time the mountain was named for him, anyway. Those arguments are barely worth mentioning compared to the real reason for all the Republican outrage: Obama did it.
 
Seriously, can’t we get back to thoughtful discussion of actual issues? There are, after all, plenty to go around.