Source: Climate Central

Published: Jun 17th, 2016



May 2016 was the warmest May on record, 1.56°F (0.87°C) above the 20th century average. It was the first month since November 2013 to have an anomaly less than 1°C above the 20th century average, a sign of El Nino's demise.

For the year-to-date, temperatures are 1.9°F (1.08°C) above the 20th century average, according to NOAA, putting it 0.43°F (0.24°C) above where 2015 was at this point. A Climate Central analysis that averages NOAA and NASA temperature data and compares them to a 1881-1910 baseline (closer to pre-industrial temperatures) found that the year-to-date is 2.5°F (1.39°C) above that average, edging closer to 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures.

So far, it is likely that 2016 will top 2015 as the warmest year on record, but that depends in part on how the rest of the year plays out. If a La Nina forms by fall, as expected, that could depress global temperatures slightly.

In a mark of how hot the last few years (which saw three consecutive record hot years) have been, NOAA compared the top 10 warmest months globally as of November 2013 to the current list. As of last month, all but one of the 10 warmest months on recorded occurred in 2016 and 2015. The lone exception was January 2007, which was tied for tenth place. Back in November 2003, it was the warmest month on record.

Read more: http://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/graphics/2016-is-blowing-away-global-heat-records

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Short article. Nothing further at link.

Editorial from the New York Daily News...



Their words, not mine. Thing is, though, I agree with those words!

Source: Politico

By Nick Gass
06/16/16 11:46 AM EDT

The National Rifle Association is complicit in terrorist attacks with its failure to support gun-control restrictions with broad public and bipartisan support, The New York Times' editorial board said Thursday.

"Few places on earth make it easier than the United States for a terrorist to buy assault weapons to mow down scores of people in a matter of minutes. The horrific massacre in Orlando last weekend is only the latest example," the board wrote, after noting that Al Qaeda in a 2011 recruitment video urged would-be jihadists to take advantage of the abundance of "easily obtainable firearms."

Such attacks are "made vastly easier by a gun lobby that has blocked sensible safety measures at every turn, and by members of Congress who seem to pledge greater allegiance to the firearms industry than to their own constituencies," the editorial board continued. "There is a word for their role in this form of terrorism: complicity."

Pointing to polls that suggest an "overwhelming majority of Americans — including gun owners and even N.R.A. members — support universal background checks" as well as "strong majorities" to block gun sales to suspected terrorists and to also ban high-capacity magazines, the article noted that the NRA opposed such measures even though it has maintained that terrorists should not be able to obtain guns.




Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/nra-terrorism-new-york-times-224433

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Politico is (click the link) reporting this as a news item about the fact that the Paper of Record has now stated the National Rifle Association has OCEANS of innocent blood on its hands!

Source: The Guardian (United Kingdom)

The Labour MP Jo Cox has died after being shot and stabbed multiple times after a constituency meeting.

Armed officers responded to the attack near a library in Birstall, West Yorkshire, on Thursday afternoon. A 52-year-old man was arrested in the area, police confirmed. The suspect was named locally as Tommy Mair.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jun/16/labour-mp-jo-cox-shot-in-west-yorkshire

It ain't lookin' so good for Donnie.



http://frontloading.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-electoral-college-map-61316.html

I would draw your attention to Arizona, if you please.

The losing team congratulates their victorious opponents, and, if they're a stand-up squad, wishes them good luck in the Super Bowl.

What they don't do is stay on the field, denying the clock has run out, even though the scoreboard clearly reads 00:00. Nor do they call the league office in New York, demanding that the score of the game be changed.

Hey, I'm just talkin' about football!

And his final twelve words will chill you to the bone!

Source: Associated Press

By GREG BEACHAM
Jun. 14, 2016 12:35 PM EDT


A person with direct knowledge of the NHL's decision says the league has settled on Las Vegas as its choice for expansion, provided organizers can come up with a $500 million fee.

The person spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because details have not been released by the league ahead of its Board of Governors meeting on June 22. Quebec City was also considered for expansion.

A second person who had been briefed on the decision said Las Vegas was a "done deal" following the recommendation of the NHL's executive committee.

The 2017-18 season would be the earliest the league would expand.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f665e04a389a4bdb846216dcb14089c6/ap-source-nhl-settles-las-vegas-expansion

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This is not the kind of story I would usually post here, even though it is, technically, news. But this story absolutely enrages me! As you've probably deduced from my avatar, I'm a fan of the Buffalo Sabres. You know Buffalo, right? A place that has actual winters? This is another ridiculous move by Bonehead Bettman, placing another team in the fucking desert! (See "Arizona Coyotes." What's next? Mexico City???

I am in no way granting that, but let's just assume it for the sake of argument. It does not change the fact that he legally purchased the guns he used in the massacre. Here. In America.

Vladimir Lenin talked about stringing up capitalists and once said, "When the time comes to hang capitalism, we'll find a capitalist to sell us the rope."

So, even assuming Mateen was first and foremost a jihadist, what does it say about US that our gun laws are so porous that the terrorists can---in this country---buy the weapons they want to shoot us with?

(Deleted and reposted {with edits} from earlier today, when gun-worshipers were running rampant on the board.)

Source: Associated Press

By KEN THOMAS
Jun. 13, 2016 9:36 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders is expected to spend his final primary night meeting with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton — not before thousands of cheering supporters — as his campaign seeks to influence Clinton's agenda against Republican Donald Trump.

Sanders plans to meet privately with Clinton in Washington on Tuesday evening as the District of Columbia holds the last primary of the Democratic race. The Vermont senator suggested in media interviews Sunday that an endorsement will not come immediately, saying he hopes to learn more about the kind of platform she will support.

"Dependent on how Secretary Clinton comes down on many of these major issues will determine how closely we can work with her," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Clinton is now the presumptive Democratic nominee and Sanders has shown signs of winding down his campaign. He met last week with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, who both later endorsed Clinton, and held a Washington rally that included chants of "Thank you, Bernie."


Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/671ba3f958264359a7e31e6cf4716295/sanders-spending-night-final-primary-meeting-clinton

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Sensible and realistic, Senator.