Retiring Guy's Digest

Son of CERN. A hodgepodge of what he reads and otherwise finds of interest.

Thursday, August 20, 2026

Where in the world is Mitch McConnell? (Day 70 of his disappearance)

AI-generated image requested from Manus 1.6 Lite

Headline: AlterNet, 8/19/2026

Matthew Rozsa reports:

Now a new report reveals that, even before his hospitalization in June, there were warning signs that McConnell's best days physically and mentally were behind him.

"Ten days before Mitch McConnell disappeared from public view, worrying signs of his declining health were captured on video," reported Laura Esposito from The Daily Beast on Wednesday. "On June 4, a frail-looking McConnell, 84, spent a sizable portion of a 20-hour vote-a-rama session on the Senate floor frozen in place." [emphasis added]

Related post:

Say "cheese" Mitch McConnell. (7/29/2026)

Dear Adam Lynch, Mitch McConnell and Dianne Feinstein are not baby boomers. Learn about your generations. Best, Retiring Guy. (2/7/2026)

Posted by Retiring Guy at 7:32 AM No comments:

Hot enough for ya? Miami residents think so!

Headline: CNN, 8/19/2026/

Andrew Freedman reports:

As Miami hit 100 degrees on Tuesday, parts of Oklahoma saw high temperatures soar well past that, with Kingfisher reaching 112 degrees, a record high there for the date. The all-time hottest temperature on record anywhere in Florida is 109 degrees. Oklahoma’s is 120 degrees. Minnesota’s is 115 degrees.

So what’s up with Florida?

The relatively low all-time record in Miami is tied to its proximity to the ocean and the city’s typically high levels of humidity. It is more difficult for the sun’s energy to heat very humid air to extreme levels than it is to raise the temperature of dry air. A lot of the solar energy goes into evaporating the moisture in the air, so in drier climates, more of the Sun’s energy can go directly into heating the air.

This is part of the reason the hottest locations in the US are in the desert Southwest, rather than in the humid Southeast.

Related posts:

August 16-31, 2026

Hot enough for ya? Oklahoma City residents think so! (8/20)

Hot enough for ya? Too hot for Champagne grapes in France. (8/16)

August 11-15, 2026

Hot enough for ya? In Europe this summer, suffering up, deaths up. (8/15)

Hot enough for ya? South Korea records highest temperature ever! (8/15)

Hot enough for ya? United Kingdom has its hottest day of the day during 5th heat wave of summer. (8/14)

Hot enough for ya? Just ask the families of hundreds of workers who have died from the heat! (8/14)

Hot enough for ya? Unbearable the 5th time around in Europe. (8/13)

Hot enough for ya? Too hot for thousands of cattle in South Dakota! (8/13)

Hot enough for ya? Extreme weather puts Pakistan's red chile pepper farmers at risk. (8/12)

Hot enough for ya? World's average sea surface temperature sets heat record for July! (8/11)

Hot enough for ya? United States experiences hottest July ever. (8/11)

Hot enough for ya? Western Europe sets a temperature record. (8/11)

August 1-10, 2026

Climate crisis: Extreme weather drying up Europe's rivers. (8/8)

Hot enough for ya? Enough already! say sweltering Italians. (8/7)

Hot enough for ya? Austria and Slovakia swelter in record-setting heat. (8/7)

Hot enough for ya? South Koreans swelter in record-breaking heat!. (8/7)

Hot enough for ya? Too hot as far as Great Plains feedlot and cow calf operators are concerned! (8/6)

Hot enough for ya? Millions of Western US residents likely think so! (8/4)

Hot enough for ya? Too hot as far as Hungary's only nuclear power plant is concerned! (8/4)

Hot enough for ya? Too hot, as far as 3 lions in a Tokyo zoo are concerned! (8/4)

July 2026

All you need to read to put the scope of the Bordeaux wildfire in France in perspective. (7/29)

Western states get a taste of their own wildfire smoke. (7/29)

Heat dome puts Western and Central United States on broil. (7/28)

Earth on fire: Spain and France wildfires edition. (7/28)

Even the coldest places in the world are experiencing record heat. (7/27)

Scorching heat wave breaks daily temperature record in Phoenix. (7?26)

It's a warming world (scooping water from the Seine edition). (7/19)

Extreme heat kills. (7/18)

Montana heat wave: Billings and Miles City set all-time high-temperature records. (7/14)

Salt Lake City his all-time record with a high temperature of 109. (7/13)

Welcome to Our Warming World: Boundary Waters Minnesota edition. (7/13)

Unprecedented heat wave kills millions of chickens in France. (7/10)

Western Europe experiences its hottest-ever June. (7/10)

May-June 2026

Unprecedented European heat wave. (6/27)

What climate change feels like in the Dadu district of Pakistan. (6/13)

Climate change turned up the heat on Planet Earth (May 2026 worldwide edition). (6/11)

50 -- count 'em! -- 50 cities in India were the world's hottest spots on April 27, 2026. (5/12)

April 2026

If right-wing parties gain control, then Europe will only get hotter (b/w Looney Tunes at the Heartland Institute). (4/30)

Climate change forces cities to use plastic instead of ice in new skating rink. (4/12)

Lack of snowpack in western states raises concerns of drought and wildfires this summer. (4/10)

United States experiences its hottest March ever. (4/9)

Record heat puts Arctic sea ice at lowest recorded winter level. (4/4)

2026 Southwest U.S. heat wave joins list of "most astonishing weather events" of 21st century. (4/4)

Wyoming experiences its warmest winter in its recorded history then gets hit with a blinding spring blizzard. (4/4)

Denver experiences its hottest March ever, breaking 14 records in the process. (4/2)

March 2026

United States weather: 9 states experience record-warm winter, 0 states experience record cold winter. (3/21)

Historic, unprecedented, extreme, record-smashing heat wave envelopes Western United States. (3/21)

Hong Kong joins the list of 2025-2026 winter weather hot spots. (3/4)

It was a extremely wet and hot summer in Australia. (3/4)

Add Denver to the list of Western cities that experienced one of its warmest Februarys. (3/2)

HOT HOT HOT: Las Vegas records its warmest winter ever. (3/3)

And the heat just keeps on comin' in Phoenix Arizona. (3/3)

February 2026

Boogying our way to doomsday in a climate denier administration: Phoenix Arizona is experiencing its hottest winter ever. (2/28)

Southern Hemisphere is HOT HOT HOT. (2/12)

Much of the rest of the world broiled while residents of Europe and North America froze their asses off. (2/11)

Alaskans in Anchorage are having a heat wave. A record heat wave! (2/7)

Warmest December ever in Phoenix, Arizona: 2025. (2/6)

They're having a heat wave in Greenland. A record heat wave! (2/6)

Australians just lived through their 4th hottest January on record. (2/3)

January 2026

While the United States shivers, it's hotter than hell in Australia. (1/31)

Climate change as a matter of fact: That's why it's called "extreme weather". (1/29)

Posted by Retiring Guy at 7:20 AM No comments:

Hot enough for ya? Oklahoma City residents think so!

Graphic and headline: KOCO, 8/19/2026

Mikayla Smith reports:

Oklahoma City has only hit 109 or higher 21 times. Of those times, 13 have occurred since 2011 – five in 2011, five in 2012, one in 2018, and one in 2022. The 109-degree day on Tuesday was the only one so far in 2026.