Waiting it out

I was almost right in my statement that hurricanes occur in the Atlantic and typhoons occur in the Pacific.  Depending on which side of the International Date Line the storm occurs it can be either.  East of it you have a hurricane, west of it you got a typhoon.  That makes sense, I guess.  You gotta draw the line somewhere.

Anyhow, if you thought Harvey was bad it looks like Irma is going to be worse, depending on where it hits.  It's a Category 5 storm already, and that's as high as it goes; there is no Cat 6.  Yet.  I can't begin to imagine what sustained winds of 185+ mph winds would be like.  And Irma is big, too, and moving slowly so she'll be dumping a lot of rain.  Not a good time to be in Florida, or the East Coast for that matter, depending on her final path.  If she sneaks under Cuba and makes it to the Gulf it could be another bad time for those folks.  The Gulf water is warmer than the Atlantic so Irma will pick up energy and grow more intense.  I don't think Houston could take another hit, and New Orleans still hasn't yet fully recovered from Katrina.  A lot of evacuees from Katrina settled in Houston, so they are twice cursed.

Not much to do about hurricanes.  You either hunker down or get out of Dodge, and neither are appealing choices.  The suspense must be agonizing.  Tornados, despite their brutality, seem almost benign.  They're quick, bing-bang-boom and they're gone.  If you're lucky you have a little warning so you're not spending a lot of time worrying about what's going to happen, and the sun will come out tomorrow.

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To be fair, I know more about butter than the situation in the Korean peninsula.  I'm suspecting that The Pudgy One is playing a subtle game with his apparent threats to the US.  His real goal may be to play China against Russia for more concessions and a better bargaining position.  If he behaves himself maybe they'll give him a lollipop.  Or oil and food, along with that lollipop.

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A major weakness in Fortress Trump appeared today with the impending departure of Keith Schiller.  He's the guy that fired Comey and is Trump's long time head of security, and maybe the closest thing Trump has to a friend.  A couple of sites say Trump is "crushed" and this is what people.com has to say:

That’s because Schiller is more than just another White House aide — he’s reportedly one of Trump’s closest confidants outside his family, and has been described by West Wing insiders as the president’s “protector, gate-keeper and wing man” as well as his “emotional anchor.”

Who knew Trump had an emotional anchor?  I thought that was Ivanka's job.