Storm alert

Over the last couple days the central plains states have been hit by big storms, including large numbers of tornadoes. One ripped through Jefferson City, Missouri last night. I hear the storm system has settled in to stay for a while and the forecast is the same for the weekend. More storms, more chance of tornadoes.

Tracey Steele tweeted a thread:

It's impossible to know how many lives were saved in Jefferson City last night thanks to the warnings issued by the National Weather Service. This post is a reminder that Donald Trump appointed the CEO of Accuweather to lead the NWS. Accuweather has actively lobbied for years to keep the NWS from issuing weather information directly to the public, because Accuweather doesn't want the competition. Meanwhile, the company repackages and sells weather data generated by the government and pretends that Accuweather is the source of that information. Now, Barry Lee Myers has the power to direct the NWS' policies in ways that benefits his family's company (but not the taxpayers who fund the science upon which that company is built). … Trump has given leadership positions to donors and friends who are, in some cases, getting richer as a result of their access to government power, and in other cases, are so incompetent or indifferent about their jobs as to put lives at risk.

JipCRose replied:

All his appointments, except Mattis, point to DT's handlers ideological goal of rendering all gov't agencies ineffective and dysfunctional. Then they can point to that as justification for disbanding them. Enriching friends along the way is just a perk for DT.

Randy Koehn added, talking about a GOP slogan:

“The government is broken” has been a rallying cry for years. How better to prove you are right than by breaking the government?