Spring Tornadoes

The weather around the nation recently has been breaking records. From winter tornados to very little or too much, snowfall, it looks as though we’re in for a tough year.

The month of January alone has broken records for snowfall as well as high and low temperatures. Along with that, there have been 70 tornados across the United States. That has made for the third most active January for tornadoes on record.

In Sunnyside Nevada, they had reported a record low of 14 degrees Fahrenheit. This broke their previous record of 18 degrees Fahrenheit set in 1971. The temperatures reported from the Fairbanks International Airport in Alaska have been the lowest since 1972. Fairbanks had averaged a temperature of 24.5 degrees Fahrenheit below zero during January.

Lewis County in Washington reported 11.5 inches of snow this year, breaking their past record of only 2 inches. Midland County in Texas reported 10.6 inches of snow breaking the previous record set in 1955 of 5.9 inches.

The 112 year record of the highest winter temperature in Beadle County in South Dakota was 64 degrees Fahrenheit. That was broken in this past January at 65 degrees Fahrenheit. One degree difference may not seem like a lot, but the fact that it took 112 years to get to that one degree difference makes it seem a little more substantial.

Alexandria, Louisiana set a new record of 93 degree Fahrenheit, beating their previous record of 83 degrees Fahrenheit. Phillips County in Montana also broke a record high temperature by 10°F. The record of 60°F from 1992 was broken this month with a record of 70°F.

Although the temperature and snowfall records are startling, the tornadoes this spring has been the talk of the nation. Already 40 people have been killed by the tornadoes and that death toll is expected to rise as many more remain missing. On March 4^th, the death toll stood at 18 in Kentucky and 14 people in Indiana. Unbelievably, one night’s warnings in March exceeded all warnings in February. On a Friday in March, 269 tornado warnings had been issued when there had only been 189 issued in the previous month. Nights like these still seem to continue.

Many towns in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and many other surrounding states are completely demolished. The tornadoes took out everything in their path leaving families devastated and people dead and missing. Families search through the rubble of their torn apart homes in search of anything that managed to survive. Many are broken hearted as they find that everything they owned, the entire future they saw in their home, has now completely vanished, leaving them to start all over.

Many people have helped out these families though. Shelters are being congregated to give people a shelter and food while they work to find ways to regain what they had lost.

Although there has been a great deal of relief from the aftermath, we have only begun tornado season. Spring has just started and chances are these tornadoes will continue to strike all through-out summer. This summer is also predicted to be the muggiest and hottest summer in a while which is perfect weather for tornadoes to occur. The chances of this new-born tornado alley moving slightly more Midwest is also a serious possibility.

Kony is Overrated

This whole Kony thing is annoying me. I know that sounds rude or careless but I think it is just so completely overrated. The Kony 2012 video was actually made 9 years ago. One of the guys that was in that video is now in college and has a ton of friends and is so happy. Hmm it must be so hard to get out of there…oh wait, he already did and didn’t make it seem like a big deal.

I think that the Invisible Children Foundation is only in it for the money and publicity. Only 31% of the money they receive goes to the Uganda army (who uses rape as a weapon) and the rest goes to the company’s salaries. If you were really in it to be a good hearted person you wouldn’t need a salary. Missionaries are able to go to a third world country and help people because they want to, not because they’re being paid. That’s how a non-profit organization should be.

Republicans are Losing Support

Recently in the news, Rush Limbaugh (republican radio talk show host) said a really horrible comment about a law student named Sandra Fluke.

Sandra had presented herself to congress about being in favor of the new contraception bill. He reasons for doing so were among the lines of being that birth control isn’t always used to prevent pregnancies. She said that 30% of birth control users do so because of other health issues, like migraines and menstrual pains.

After this address to congress, on Rush’s radio show he said that all Sandra is asking for is to be paid to have sex. He proceeded then to call her a slut and a prostitute. However, he continued in saying that if she wants to be paid for sex so bad then she needs to video tape herself having sex and put it on the internet for everyone to see.

After his comment, Rush had lost 12 different supporting advertisers. He apologized to Sandra in realizing that those comment had negative effects but she dismissed it because she found those words to be completely insulting. When asked if she would forgive him if he gave her a personal phone call to apologize, she said that the comments were personal enough and that’s enough personal contact for a lifetime.

Now statistics show that women vote more than men. When it really comes down to it, women in the suburbs really decide the president. Since Rush is part of the Republican Party and so many women were offended by his attacks on Sandra, many women switched sides. They were very turned off by the Republicans and it was reported that they had begun leaning more towards the Democratic side.

Even Mitt Romney pretty much supported Rush. He said “I would have used different words”. How do you say “She’s a slut/prostitute” in different words? By saying that he’s implying he didn’t disagree with the accusation, he just didn’t agree with the phrasing.

All in all, the Republicans are blowing it this year. The more stupid mistakes they make the more that Obama will win by. Not only is this such a political issue, but it has turned into a social issue with all of the negative words being thrown around.

Not only Sandra has been attacked. The Obama’s themselves have been insulted by running Republicans and well as the Republicans bashing on each other. Many of these accusations and horrible things are derogatory and sexual in nature. This is exactly what is upsetting women, and will eventually upset the nation.

As more and more of that enters the media, people will become less and less impressed by the republican party. If the Republicans don’t fix their mistakes and become more intelligent about getting to the people, they will have zero chance of winning office.

The Laramie Project

Recently I read the play “The Laramie Project” by Moises Kaufman and the members of Tectonic Theatre Project. This play was inspired by true events about a young man named Matthew Shepard.

Matthew Shepard was a student at a college in Laramie, Wyoming. On October 7, 1998, Matthew was found bound to a fence in the hills outside of Laramie and was savagely beaten to death. Matthew was a victim of a hate crime because he was gay.

In the play “The Laramie Project”, it reviews the town’s reactions to this event. The members of the Tectonic Theatre went to Laramie and returned there several times. During these visits they conducted over 200 interviews with the townspeople.

One of the interviews that struck me the most was with one of the accused. Aaron McKinney was one of the two accused of the hate crime on Matthew. When interviewed as to why he did it, he said that Matthew was hitting on him.

This is where my opinion comes in. I really highly doubt Matthew would’ve hit on him. By the description one townsperson said about Aaron, he seemed to me like a drunken and poor redneck. He couldn’t even get a girl if he wanted to, let alone a guy.

A second reason why this claim seems so completely false to me is that gay people know who is straight and who is gay. We have really good gaydars because, well, we’re gay ourselves. We know what to look for and what qualities a homosexual would possess versus and heterosexual. And I’m not talking about the stereotypical differences like “lesbians look like men” or “gays act like a girl”. There are plenty that don’t fit into that stereotype. But most gays just know based on certain things people do. Just like straight people get stared at if they’re pretty or hot by another straight person, which happens with gay people too. That’d be one of the many ways to tell who’s gay and who’s not. Plus, if they lived in the same town, wouldn’t Matthew already know he’s straight? Gays don’t waste time on straights, mostly because we aren’t attracted to them.

Now, even if Matthew did hit on Aaron (although highly unlikely) why would Aaron beat him to death over that? I think that says plenty more about Aaron than it ever could Matthew. Just because I don’t like guys doesn’t mean I’d kill one if they hit on me. To me it sounds like Aaron is insecure with his own sexuality so he lashed out on Matthew because he’s not afraid to say he’s gay.

Now although this interview stuck out to me, another, more uplifting one did as well. A man named Harry Woods lived in the center of Laramie. Harry Woods was 52, and he was also gay. The homecoming parade route went right by his house on both sides. After the Matthew incident made news, people created a banner just for him at the end of the parade. Harry said around 100 people were walking behind that banner in support of him the first time they passed his house. By the second time that group had grown to more than 500.

I think this says a lot about how society is changing for the better. More and more people are willing to accept others for what they are. Although there are still horrible people who don’t see people as real people, much like Aaron McKinney, our society is beginning to turn for the better and build support for those that deserve it. Rest in peace Matthew Shepard.

Two of the Best Movie Soundtracks

There have only been 2 movies where the soundtracks really struck me. Those movies would be “Dear John” and “Ladder 49”.

In Dear John, a young man in the military falls in love with a young woman while he’s on a two week break. They promise to stay together even when he goes back and they wrote to each other all the time. After the 9/11 attacks, his group was asked if they want to re-instate for another term and they all agreed they would. While he goes home for a week he has to break the news to his girlfriend who thought he was coming home for good. This winds up being a sex scene but it was the song that really got me. “The Moon” by the Swell Season is a very different genre of music and it’s very soul-piercing, if it had to be described.

Later on in the movie, John doesn’t receive any more letters from his girlfriend. The song that plays depicting those scenes builds up the moments to when he gets sent a break-up letter. “This is the Thing” by Fink was the song. It’s sad and the lyrics go right along with what was happening in the movie. It was a perfect moment for the song.

Now Ladder 49 is about a firefighter who falls through many floors from a floor collapse in a burning building. As he fades in and out of consciousness his memories also play in and out. SPOILER ALERT: The main character dies in the end because he wasn’t able to be saved by his fellow workers. While his casket was being carried out of the church and onto the fire truck, “Shine Your Light” by Robbie Robertson was playing. This song talks about a man who wants the Lord to shine his light down on him and life him up so he can see. I think that goes along incredibly well with the ending imagery.

Mild Winter, But Severe Spring?

With the mild winter that has almost passed us, there have been concerns that spring will also be unusual. We haven’t had this mild of a winter in a while so no one really knows what this upcoming spring will bring to the United States.

Last year in 2011, there were a record number of tornados during tornado season. 1,709 tornados were reported last year just falling short of the record of 1,817 in 2004. It even exceeded the average number of tornados in the past decade of 1,300. These tornados were cause by a very strong La Nina.

La Nina is a weather phenomenon. Basically, sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean drop below normal temperatures. This causes a very strong jet stream which is a main factor in severe weather.

While normally tornados hit the “Tornado Alley” of Mississippi and Alabama as well as Ohio and Tennessee valleys. Last year, however, most tornados hit below the Tornado Alley. Tornados frequently hit Texas and Kansas during last spring because warm and humid air from the Gulf of Mexico clashed with the dry air from the Rockies.

It is expected that the Gulf of Mexico will have warmed than normal temperature again this year. It’s very probable that this humid are will cause super cell tornados and severe storms. However, the La Nina seems to be weakening and will further weaken as we enter the 2012 spring. Since there will only be the dry humid air coming from the Gulf, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan are expected to be hit more than the states further south.

However, because of this mild winter, there hasn’t been much snowfall. Thanks to this, flooding won’t be as big of a problem as it was in 2011. It is very dry around the Great Lakes so spring flooding isn’t expected to be a problem. The Mississippi River is actually dry enough that it is expected to stay dry and have a 20 to 30 percent chance below average of reaching the flood stage this spring.

Not only is spring expected to bring many tornados, but it is also predicted that it will be the worst allergy season in 10 years. Because of the mild winter, people will allergies have had to take medicine earlier than usual. Pollen will be coming earlier producing higher pollen counts and more annoying allergies.

Oil Prices May Reach $5.00 Per Gallon

As the gas prices are always increasing, so are the public complaints. Many people have argued that it is too high and we need alternatives. Last November, gas prices were very low, close to only $3.00. Now we’re up to about $3.40 per gallon and expected to be at $5.00 by the end of the month. So what’s the deal?

Iran recently cut off oil supply to both the British and French suppliers, the same suppliers we get our oil from. Because we have less supply, the prices had to increase. Now Britain and France have to find alternative sources for crude oil.

Why did Iran do this? Just to tick the Americans off. In all seriousness, they are deciding to be immature because the European Union imposed sanctions on Iran’s crucial fuel exports. That includes a freeze of the country’s central bank assets and an oil embargo set to begin in July.

Although the price of a barrel of oil rose from $96 earlier this month up to almost $120, it’s not because of the decreased supply. Mostly it is because of concerns that the tensions between Iran and the United States and European nations will escalate. And yet, it is still possible that we will see oil prices increase over the next 12 to 24 months.

However, it could be possible that their plan isn’t going to have any effect on the United States. First of all, our United States’ refineries are very good at what they do. With the oil they put in, they get plenty more gasoline out of it. So much gasoline, in fact, that we actually export our excess gasoline from the United States to other countries. So a way we could have more available gas is to stop exporting our extra gasoline and keep it for the Americans.

Also, the British and French suppliers have slowly but surely been straying away from Iran’s oil supply. They have been needing less and less oil from Iran and therefore aren’t as dependent on Iran for oil as it may seem. They have been finding alternate sources already so the fact that the Iran oil supply was cut off, doesn’t create as much of a blow to anyone. In fact, this would actually be bad for Iran. Now they don’t have someone buying up their oil which is making them not take in as much revenue.

Whether the oil cut off was going to have a large effect or not on the United States was going to be determined by the DOW. The DOW was actually positive and didn’t take a hit at all from the cut off, showing that the United States people are still continuing to trust the market which is a very good sign.

Now although the oil dilemma may just have a chance of blowing over, it still doesn’t cover up the fact of how we are just so dependent upon gasoline. The reason we aren’t getting great alternatives for fuel in our vehicles is because no one wants to buy them! If we are still willing to pay the price of gas, no one is going to care to make alternatives. As soon as we can put our foot down and say that enough is enough, then we can start changing and become less dependable upon gasoline and oil.