The Storm is Coming

[Pinkflamingo]

Rump chose Wilbur Ross to head the Dept of Commerce. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is within the Dept of Commerce.

Bestselling critically acclaimed author Michael Lewis has just published (available at Audible only), The Coming Storm. It’s 2 1/2 hours long and explains how very important NOAA’s weather data is, and how it’s future, and our futures, could be endangered by rump’s pick to head NOAA— Barry Lee Myers, the CEO of Accuweather.

This is the blurb from Amazon on The Coming Storm:

“Tornadoes, cyclones, tsunamis... Weather can be deadly - especially when it strikes without warning. Millions of Americans could soon find themselves at the mercy of violent weather if the public data behind lifesaving storm alerts gets privatized for personal gain. In his first Audible Original feature, New York Times best-selling author and journalist Michael Lewis delivers hard-hitting research on not-so-random weather data - and how Washington plans to release it. He also digs deep into the lives of two scientists who revolutionized climate predictions, bringing warning systems to previously unimaginable levels of accuracy. One is Kathy Sullivan, a gifted scientist among the first women in space; the other, D.J. Patil, is a trickster-turned-mathematician and a political adviser. Most urgently, Lewis's narrative reveals the potential cost of putting a price tag on information with the potential to save lives, raising questions about balancing public service with profits in an ethically-ambiguous atmosphere.”

You read that right, rump is willing to privatize the data concerning climate change, and make us pay for access to weather information.

Democrats need to get some more seats in Congress before Myers gets confirmed.

The Coming Storm is free this month to Audible members. I swear I’m in no way connected to Amazon or the author Michael Lewis, but his take on this problem is intensely interesting.

[MuseRider]

1. Thank you.

I had not looked at them yet, so glad you mentioned this. Got it.

[volstork]

2. Seeing your avatar made me think:

This is exactly what happened to healthcare in this country, and look at the mess we are in now. Delivery of healthcare and medications became a for-profit corporate venture, and now tens of thousands of Americans die each year due to lack of access to care. The same will happen if weather information is privatized.

[Pinkflamingo]

4. Yep, I agree. Even the prison system. We're descending into chaos.

[erronis]

3. Link to review from MarketWatch

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/michael-lewis-takes-on-trump-and-the-weather-in-new-audiobook-2018-07-31

Looks like a good and scary read (well, listen.)

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/The-Coming-Storm/dp/B07FHLQ2DD

[MuseRider]

5. Thank you again.

I listened tonight while doing my evening horse barn chores. I got to the part where they were talking about the Moore, Oklahoma tornado where only those who had paid for the Accuweather (?) app knew it was coming. Living in tornado alley we have feared this kind of stuff ever since Santorum talked about it. Very interesting book, well written and well read. I am enjoying it in spite of the scary information.

[Pinkflamingo]

6. Michael Lewis really did his research. Now it's up to us to resist.