Will there be a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico this weekend? The Canadian computer model thinks so. Here’s its forecast for Saturday morning:

That green-and-blue area northeast of the Yucatan represents a tropical low-pressure system. But Adam Moyer at The Storm Track isn’t buying it: “I don’t see this scenario playing out because there is nothing out there right now for a storm to develop from.” Mark Sudduth at HurricaneTrack (which, annoyingly, doesn’t seem to have permalinks enabled) agrees: “It is interesting to watch a few of the global computer models since some of them are indicating development in the Caribbean. Right now, there are no signs of that taking place and the NHC is not concerned about any specific areas for the time being.”

Getting back to The Storm Track, Moyer notes in the same post that, contrary to my previous alarmism, the sea-surface temperatures in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico are actually now lower than what they were last year. (About that previous post… Charles Fenwick took me to task somewhat, noting that “SSTs can be volatile on a daily basis” and therefore “it is more useful to look at at a longer term average and compare it to a long term norm” — a strategy which produces a less alarming result. Fenwick’s visual evidence of my error was not entirely accurate, but his overall point was sound.)

Now then, on to some more political hurricane-related topics… specifically, for starters, global warming. We’ve already had a brief brush fire on that topic today, so why not start an all-out flame war? :)

There is, of course, a ongoing rollicking debate about global warming… and a second ongoing rollicking debate about the debate itself, questioning whether the debate over global warming’s existence is really a debate at all, or just something “cooked up in Texas” (to borrow a phrase), a faux-debate sponsored by the oil companies and the Republicans to advance Chimpy W. Hitler’s Evil Hegemonic Halliburtonization of Mother Earth.

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Photos from today’s stormy weather in Phoenix, as seen from the 21st and 22nd floors of One Renaissance Square downtown:

More photos here.

P.S. Here’s an article about today’s storms. And here’s an article about yesterday’s massive duststorm.

Also from the Arizona Republic, photos of both storms.

P.P.S. For those who missed ‘em, here are my photos of yesterday’s duststorm.

And here are some more cool pictures of yesterday’s storm. In the last one, you can see my building; it’s directly behind the flagpole.

Getting back to today’s storm… after the jump, a radar animation of it:

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Amid all this good news from Newington High School, some really awful news: Class of 2001 graduate Daniel Gorski has died. Gorski was a member of the NHS wrestling team, among other things. According to his obituary:

He was proud of his attendance for many years to the Polish Language School in New Britain. He loved sports and played football, soccer, and was on the wrestling team, he enjoyed karate; loved skiing and snow boarding. Daniel loved life and lived it passionately, was a wonder son, grandson, uncle and nephew and devoted friend. His spontaneous smile and a great attitude will be dearly missed by his family and friends.

The obit says simply that he “died unexpectedly” on Sunday. Another awful NHS tragedy. :(

Calling hours were today. Funeral services will be tomorrow (Thursday), 10:00 AM EDT at St. Mary’s Church in Newington. Burial will be at Sacred Heart Cemetery in New Britain. Memorial donations may be made to the Farrell Treatment Center, 586 Main St., New Britain, CT 06051. You can sign a guestbook for Daniel at Legacy.com or at Mem.com.

Rest in peace, Daniel.

Ann Coulter is being roundly condemned by the Right for saying this:

These self-obsessed women [a group of extremely liberal, anti-war 9/11 widows] seem genuinely unaware that 9-11 was an attack on our nation and acted like as if the terrorist attack only happened to them. They believe the entire country was required to marinate in their exquisite personal agony. Apparently, denouncing Bush was part of the closure process. These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by griefparrazies. I have never seen people enjoying their husband’s death so much.

I always respect people who display a willingness to criticize folks on their own “side” when it’s deserved. And Coulter certainly deserves it. (Hat tip: InstaPundit.)

Don’t worry, despite the photo below of mammatus clouds overhead, there were no tornadoes, and I am still in one piece. :) The storm has passed now, and Becky is on her way to pick me up from work. I got lots of great pictures, and will upload a gallery this evening. Stay tuned!

Mammatus clouds, almost directly overhead.

The southern sky is now clear, as the reflection off the Chase building shows. The northern sky, however, is awesome. :) Storm now mostly past us.

I’m still at the office downtown, where a big-time thunderstorm is about to hit us. We’re under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning. I plan to stay at the office till it passes, taking pictures. (I’ve never watched a thunderstorm from the 22nd floor before.) Alas, my cell-phone battery is almost dead, so liveblogging will be either sparse or nonexistent. But I’ll have cool photos later.

Dark clouds on the southern horizon…

In a move that should surprise very few, the Senate today rejected the proposed Constitutional Ammendment banning gay marriage. The vote was 49-48, in a largely party-line division. Republicans breaking ranks were Specter, Gregg, Chafee, Snowe, McCain, Collins, and Sununu. Democrats breaking ranks were Byrd and Nelson. Dodd, Rockefeller, and Hagel didn’t vote, and Jeffords, Vermont’s Independent, sided with the Democrats. The successful cloture motion effectively ends the legislative process for this ammendment for this year.

While we’re on the topic, though, I have a question which has genuinely puzzled me for years. The Defense of Marriage Act (which, to be completely fair, hails from 1996, so it was signed by Clinton, not Bush) says that states don’t have to recognize legally-performed gay marriages from other states regardless of the “full faith and credit” clause in the Constitution. I’m not a lawyer (nor do I play one on TV), but I have never understood what the legal justification is for passing a law stating that certain other laws are not subject to the Constitution. As much as I oppose the proposed ammendment which failed today, I do recognize that at least it’s being done in accordance with the law–if you don’t like what the Constitution says, you have to ammend it, rather than passing laws in violation of it. Brendan’s told me before that he has heard that DOMA’s constituionality isn’t as clear-cut as it seems, but he was unable to elaborate how. So, since this blog has a good percentage of readers who are lawyers-in-training at a markedly religious school, I figure someone might be able to explain this. How is it that a law can state what other laws are subject to the constitution? Would it be any different if I tried to get a law passed saying that computer files aren’t subject to due process claims, and thus there is no such thing as unreasonable search and seizure when it comes to electronic files? If so, why?

At least one federal judge was having some fun on 6/6/06:

This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff’s Motion to designate location of a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition (Doc. 105). Upon consideration of the Motion – the latest in a series of Gordian knots that the parties have been unable to untangle without enlisting the assistance of the federal courts – it is

ORDERED that said Motion is DENIED. Instead, the Court will fashion a new form of alternative dispute resolution, to wit: at 4:00 P.M. on Friday, June 30, 2006, counsel shall convene at a neutral site agreeable to both parties. If counsel cannot agree on a neutral site, they shall meet on the front steps of the Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse, 801 North Florida Ave., Tampa, Florida 33602. Each lawyer shall be entitled to be accompanied by one paralegal who shall act as an attendant and witness. At that time and location, counsel shall engage in one (1) game of “rock, paper, scissors.” The winner of this engagement shall be entitled to select the location for the 30(b)(6) deposition to be held somewhere in Hillsborough County during the period July 11-12, 2006.

LOL! This story is rocketing around the legal world today, and it’s easy to see why. Funny stuff.

According to CNN, the plaintiff’s lawyer said he is “going to comply with the court’s order to the letter.” The defense lawyer could not be reached for comment.

Tim “Darth” Eyman’s latest effort to circumvent the legislature in the state of Washington failed on Tuesday. He was attempting to place a referendum on the fall ballot regarding a recently passed Washignton law which would add sexual orientation to the list of classes which one can not be legally discriminated against in areas such as housing and employment. The deadline for filling was yesterday afternoon and the referendum effort came up several thousand signatures short.

As such the bill went into law today.

Eyman’s attempted argument was that such a controversial matter should be decided by a vote of the people.

Well frankly, I think thats a particularly stupid argument. For one, if we allowed simple majority to decide “controversial issues” we might still be seeing segregation to this day, especially in the south. No, instead we realize that sometimes majority opinion isn’t the right way to decide things like that.

People sometimes forget, we don’t live in a society that simply decides things based on a majority vote. We live in a society governed by a Constitution and beyond that we have an elected legislature whose job it is to enact laws. If people want to voice their opinion they are welcome to go to their representative and tell them what they think. Beyond that if they don’t like the way their legislator is voting, DON’T RE-ELECT THEM!. I once thought that the initiative/referendum process in Washignton was valuable safety valve, something that could be used in limited circumstances to prevent the legislature from going too far, when simply voting one politician out of office wouldn’t be able to have the impact that an initiative would. Unfortunately as Brendan pointed out our Freshman year, the process is all to easily abused, there are very little checks and balances in place to prevent well intentioned but potentially dangerous or even ill intentioned initiatives from being passed, beyond the preliminary signature requirement.

I still think that the initiative process COULD be a valuable tool, provided it is sufficiently limited in its power.

But for today atleast, the process worked and Eyman and his attempt to stay in the spotlight were seen for what they really were, and even people like me who are morally opposed to homosexual behavior, are glad that another form of discirimination has become illegal.

The CIAC website initially got it wrong, and thus, so did I… but now the truth can be revealed: Newington beat Southington in the state semifinals of boys volleyball yesterday!!!

It is, I believe, the first time EVER that a Newington High School team has beaten traditional archrival Southington in head-to-head state tournament play, in any sport!! And it means NHS is one win from its first CIAC state championship since 1982!! They’ll play either Staples or Trumbull on Friday for the Class L title.

WOOOHOOO!!!!!!

(Why do I care so much? Explanation here.)

It was an upset of apocalyptic proportions on 6/6/06. Southington’s volleyball squad was previously undefeated, and was the #1 seed in the tournament. More broadly, SHS teams have been a Newington nemesis in state tournaments over the years, defeating previously unbeaten NHS squads in the 1993 girls basketball title game and the 1999 softball quarterfinals. So this is poetic justice!! And appropriately enough for the date, the Indians have now exorcised at least some of the demons of that beastly history against the devilishly good Blue Knights. :)

Not only did the Indians win, but they did so with significant contributions from BrendanLoy.com reader and 2004 Living Room Times women’s NCAA pool champion Conor Sullivan! From the New Britain Herald:

MERIDEN — The Southington volleyball program reached heights this season it hadn’t seen before in its four years of existence.

On Tuesday, however, they were knocked off their highest cliff by a team that was a little more comfortable with the view.

Peter Kolinksy’s 52 assists led a veteran and talented Newington team into the Class L state championship volleyball game with a four-game semifinal dispatching of the top-seeded upstarts from Southington at Maloney High School.

The game scores were 25-16, 25-17, 18-25 and 25-15. …

Newington, the four-seed, showed how ready it was by dominating right from the start. A setup by Kolinsky for Conor Sullivan put Newington up 5-1 in the first game, and the Indians rarely looked back in the opener. Southington, which entered the game with a 19-0 record, rallied briefly to pull to within 17-11, but Kolinsky fed Nickolas Porrello to end a long rally and give the Indians an 18-11 lead they didn’t give up.

The second game started in similar fashion, with Newington building a 4-0 lead before Southington tried to crawl back into the match. Mariusz Kurzatkowski’s kill tied the game at five for the Knights, but Newington went on a 7-2 run from there to pull away.

An emphatic spike by Sullivan gave Newington an 18-12 cushion, and the Indians cruised home from there.

Southington ralied and won the third game, but “Newington took the momentum back in the fourth game, using a 4-0 run to take an 18-13 lead late in the game on a Sullivan ace and pulling away down the stretch.”

The article concludes: “There will be more moments for Southington, but this moment belonged to the Indians.” Oh, how sweet it is to be able to say THAT for once!!!

Again: WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!

GO INDIANS!!!!

So… who wants to bring a camera and a cell phone to the championship game on Friday, and report on it for me? :)