The Government Shutdown
At midnight on Tuesday, October 1st,
the U.S. government shutdown for the first time in about 17 years. The reason
for this is the ongoing battle between the Senate and the House. They have been
arguing over a funding bill which was due October 1st, without this
bill the government will run out of funding, and they must stop the printing of
money. The House and the Senate are still arguing over whether to remove the
funding of Obamacare, or to keep it funded. The House, whose majority belongs
to the Republicans, is only making bills that remove Obamacare. However, the
Senate, which is controlled by more Democrats than Republicans, is scrapping
any bill that even touches Obamacare. President Obama who is democratic has
also promised that any bill that messes with Obamacare will be vetoed
immediately. Due to the basic gridlock, the government shutdown early Tuesday,
and the government officially ran out of funding. The shutdown is costing the
government more than a billion dollars each week, and has also caused a massive
amount of federal employees to be furloughed. When a worker is furloughed, they
are sent home until further notice w/o pay. But most people suggest that the
workers furloughed will be given the money that they couldn’t earn when they
return back to work. The government furloughed around 800k of their employees
who were considered “non essential.” Some of the departments affected include
the Centers for Disease Control, the Department of Food Safety, and some
members of the Postal Service. The CDC has said that they will not be as
responsive to outbreaks and diseases, and they will mostly only deal with
large-threat outbreaks. They have also stated that they will be helping local
communities, but not nearly as much as they could before the shutdown. Also,
with the shutdown there came a wave of protesters who made signs like “Do your
job so I can do mines” along with restaurants who were giving discounts to
furloughed employees and charging members of congress more than usual. I myself
am not really affected by the shutdown, except for one thing. Saturday I stated
that I will do weather related posts, as I plan on being a meteorologist. Well,
the shutdown has meant that even though the national weather service will still
be up and running, developments of models such as the GFS will be halted. Now,
the U.S. has been in a “race” with Europe to make the fastest and most accurate
weather models. Since the shutdown has occurred, the already winning Europe
will gain a good advantage over the U.S., and our polar satellite data could be
lost anywhere from 17 to around 50 months. If this happens, it will greatly
decrease some of our ability to observe and predict some forecasts. Now, all of
this seems very bad, but it could end up being a lot worse. In Mid-October, congress
will have to make a bill involving increasing the debt limit upwards from its
current limit, about 17.6 trillion dollars. If that isn’t passed, then the
government will completely stop all of its pay-outs, and any bills that involve
the U.S. paying will not be made or passed. The effects of that could devastate
our already weakened economy, and the stocks would drop big time.
I have enjoyed making my first post
and thank you if you read this. If you have any comments, suggestions, or
questions post them in the comments. Thanks for reading and this has been my
first post as a tween (almost teen) blogger.
NOTE:
Thanks to my typing teacher for giving me time to work on these at school.
NOTE
2: I planned on doing my first real post earlier in the week, but I have had 2
projects to do this week. One I finished today which was an oral presentation
that I got a good grade on. My other project is a group project involving a big
oral presentation complete with a PowerPoint, poster, and other items that
relate to the Greek god Ares, god of war.
Short
Range Forecast For The Eastern U.S.
The
weather in the contiguous U.S. is going to be sunny in some places, while rainy
and snowy in others. This is my first weather forecast and discussion so please
excuse me if I make any mistakes.
Mid-Atlantic
Living in
Virginia, this forecast should be the most accurate. The weather and
temperatures in this area should remain very nice, but the temperatures will be
above average. For Virginia, weather should be tranquil, with partly cloudy
skies. Expect highs to be in the start at the low 80s, to almost 90 by
Saturday. On Sunday, the region will experience partly cloudy skies with highs
ranging from 86 to 73 as a cold front prepares to enter the region. In the
Mountains expect spotted showers today, with a 25% chance of drizzle.
New
England
The forecast for
this region is not as nice looking as the Mid-Atlantic’s forecast. Today expect
showers from Northern PA to Maine with temperatures in the low 80s to the 60s
in Maine. Tomorrow, showers will still be in the area and temperatures will
remain almost the same. However, on Saturday you can expect a very nice day
with temperatures ranging from 80 to 67 in the afternoon with very spotty
showers in some areas. On Sunday temperatures will drop some as a cold front enters
the Ohio Valley.
South
For all of you
in the Southern states (In the Eastern U.S.) the forecast is not promising at
all. Today, rain is in Southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama as the
humid air and heat produce showers and a very spotty t-storm. Temps will be
very muggy as highs will range from 91 to 86 in the region with very humid air.
Tomorrow, expect very rainy conditions if you live near Jackson Mississippi as
a cold front nears the region, with rain being with them. Temps will drop anywhere
from 4 to 9 degrees from today’s highs with it becoming humidor and humidor as
the weekend progress’s. On Sunday, there will be showers in the area with a 50%
chance and temps in the lower to mid 70s.
Thanks for reading if you did, and yes, I
know there is a tropical cyclone in the Atlantic. I will most likely make a
post Saturday on this system as it nears the Gulf Coast. Anyone in the region
needs to take precautions immediately as the systems exact strength upon
landfall remains lengthy. Since there is a hurricane watch, remember that it
only takes one storm to determine everything. Remember that even though Sandy
was only a Cat. 1 Hurricane, it is one of the costliest hurricanes to hit the
U.S. doing more than a billion dollars in damage. Thanks for reading and stay
safe guys!
NOTE: I am sorry for
posting on Saturday, but I have made 2 posts for Today and I want to be able to
be free tomorrow, but I may still make a post.
Tropical
Storm Karen
Tropical storm Karen has been a point of interest since the
beginning of the week for most meteorologists, and is now a named storm. Karen
started out as a depression Tuesday into early Wednesday, and is now a tropical
storm with winds at about 50 mph as of 10 P.M. CST with the pressure being
almost 1000 mb. As it moved towards the U.S., I am expecting it to have a wind
speed in between 61 and 64 mph if the models stick together. I am predicting
the landfall to be in Southern Alabama or Mississippi as it makes an easterly
turn towards the Gulf Coast. After landfall, I am guessing it will be absorbed
by a low pressure tracking towards the Mid- Atlantic bringing rains and winds
around 10 to 21 mph. As for the exact track, it will most likely go through
northern South Carolina, then track straight through the center of North
Carolina before entering Southside Virginia. Recent forecasts have the track
generally in the same area but the wind speed weakening more than previously
forecasted. This system’s forecast are likely to change in the future, and
everyone in the danger zone needs to prepare just in case and pay attention to
the media. Thanks for reading,
J.
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