Retiring Guy's Digest: 2019-02-24

Saturday, March 2, 2019

UPDATE: Central Florida's record-setting February heat

February rankings: In-depth look at record heat across Central Florida. (WFTV, 3/2/2019)

2/27/2019 update, "Dear phys.org, Those of us living in Wisconsin know where winter is. Best, Retiring Guy", starts here.

The evidence is piled high everywhere here.

Photo by Retiring Guy

Where's winter? Western Europe basks in record temperatures. (phys.org, 2/26/2019)

Retiring Guy's younger son lives in southern Germany. During our video chat on Sunday, he happily described the "shorts weather" they're currently experiencing.

Here's what going on there today.

On our way to more of the same?

Original 2/2/2019 post, "Record heat scorches Australia in January 2019", starts here.

'Unprecedented': Australia Just Recorded Its Hottest Month on Record in January. (Weather.com, 1/31/2019)

Related reading:
'Dome of hot air': Australia blows away heat records. (Sydney Morning Herald, 2/2/2019)
Record Australian heat shows soaring cost of climate change. (CBC, 2/1/2019)

Related posts:
Australia, scorched. (1/16/2019)
2018: Hottest year ever for Australian state of New South Wales. (1/11/2019)
Sea surface temperatures around New Zealand hottest ever in 2018, further threatening marine life. (1/11/2019)
GET ME REWRITE: Prague experiences hottest year on record for third time this decade. (1/6/2019)
Climate change as a matter of fact: Red-hot summer of record heat in Europe. (8/18/2018)
UPDATE: July 2018 is hottest month ever in California. (8/18/2018)

Keeping tabs on Sauk County government

All articles from Baraboo News-Republic unless otherwise noted.

Now a new and much more serious chapter unfolds.

Related Sauk County Board articles and posts:
2019
Sauk County Board member charged with possessing child porn. (Baraboo News-Republic 2/28/2019)
No reprimand for Sauk County Board member caught shoplifting. (Baraboo News-Republic, 2/20/2019)
Sauk County Board to consider rebuke of supervisor who shoplifted, (Baraboo News-Republic, 2/13/2019)
Insurance company pushed Sauk County to appeal ruling in records case. (Baraboo News-Republic, 1/16/2019)
Sauk County Board supervisor ticketed for alleged shoplifting in Reedsburg. (Baraboo News-Republic, 1/9/2019)

2018
Ben Bromley: Send this county board back to kindergarten. (La Crosse Tribune, 8/20/2018)
Another Sauk County Board of Supervisor screw-up (The Tim Meister edition). (4/13/2018)
Fortunately, Tim Meister is not running for re-election to the Sauk County Board of Supervisors. (3/23/2018)
Supervisor David Moore, gun fetishist, wants to put a lid on public comment at Sauk County board meetings. (2/16/2018)
Lie or misrepresentation: Newspaper gives Sauk County Board chair benefit of the doubt. (1/11/2018)

2017
Sauk County Board sideshow: Dennis Polivka makes his constituents proud. (4/6/2017)
UPDATE. The fussin', feudin', and finger-pointin' continues in Sauk County.  (1/20/2017)

2016
Letter to the editor: Sauk County must fix high turnover in top positions. (12/1/2016)
Sauk County won't release complaints against administrator.  (12/1/2016)
Sauk County's last two top administrators dismissed under similar circumstances. (11/29/2016)
Sauk County Board approves separation agreement with top administrator.  (11/22/2016)
County supervisors ordered to preserve documents, data. (11/20/2016)

New Sauk County jail health contractor subject of controversy. (11/17/2016)

County board approves special meeting on administrative calendar. (11/15/2016)

Discussion of Sauk County administrator's removal delayed. (11/10/2016)

Sauk County administrative coordinator under scrutiny. (11/3/2016)

Book reviewer Jennifer Szalai on income inequality in 50 words or less

Nervous States in LINKcat: 3 copies, 6 holds (to date)

BOOKS OF THE TIMES , How the Mind-Body Connection Is Rewiring Our Politics. (The New York Times, 2/27/2019)

Related posts:
For most Americans, it's a bullshit, not a bull, market. (8/27/2018)
Greetings from Trump's America: Decatur County, Iowa, where 52% of residents can't afford the basics. (6/29/2018)
Repeat after me: Seattle's minimum wage has gone too far. (6/30/2017)
Former U.S. Senator Alan K. Simpson isn't singing with the current Republican chorus. (11/9/2015)
It's Deja Vu Vu Vu All Over Again: The Rich Get Richer, the Poor Poorer. (8/12/2014)
The Very Rich are not Spending Their Money on Job Creation, Suckers. (3/5/2014)

Donald Trump, nudist, visits Vietnam

Donald Trump, in the role for which he is best-suited.

Reported in Trump-Kim Summit’s Collapse Exposes the Risks of One-to-One Diplomacy. (The New York Times, 2/28/2019)

Disappearing cities and villages of the Buckeye State: East Cleveland, Ohio

It all started here.

Scene & Heard, 5/10/2018

Source: Wikipedia

East Cleveland's population peaked at 40,047 in 1950. Its 2017 estimated population is 17,187 -- a drop of 22,860 (57%).

Cleveland's first suburb, incorporated in 1895, East Cleveland ("Focused on Revitalization") is bounded by its much larger neighbor to the west and north. It is located in Cuyahoga County.

Other disappearing cities of the Buckeye State:
Akron. (2/28/2019)
Cambridge. (2/27/2019)
Canton. (3/1/2019)
Cleveland. (1/2/2019)
East Liverpool. (2/18/2019)
Gallipolis. (2/23/2019)
Ironton. (2/24/2019)
Martins Ferry. (2/21/2019)
Pomeroy. (2/22/2019)
Portsmouth. (2/25/2019)
Steubenville. (2/20/2019)
Warren. (1/18/2019)
Youngstown. (1/9/2019)
Zanesville. (2/26/2019)

Disappearing cities and boroughs of the Keystone State

Aliquippa. (1/12/2019)
Ambridge. (1/17/2019)
Arnold. (1/18/2019)
Braddock. (1/19/2019)
Bradford, (1/20/2019)
Carbondale. (1/21/2019)
Charleroi. (1/22/2019)
Chester. (1/23/2019)
Clairton. (1/24/2019)
Coraopolis. (1/25/2019)
Dickson City. (1/26/2019)
Donora. (1/27/2019)
Duquesne. (1/28/2019)
Farrell. (1/29/2019)
Harrisburg. (2/12/2019)
Homestead. (1/30/2019)
Johnstown. (1/6/2019)
McKees Rocks. (1/31/2019)
McKeesport. (2/1/2019)
Monessen. (2/2/2019)
Nanticoke. (2/3/2019)
New Castle. (2/4/2019)
New Kensington. (2/5/2019)
Oil City. (2/6/2019)
Pittsburgh. (1/13/2019)
Pittston. (2/7/2019)
Scranton. (1/14/2019)
Shamokin. (2/8/2019)
Sharon. (2/9/2019)
Steelton. (2/11/2019)
Swissvale. (2/13/2019)
Titusville. (2/10/2019)
Uniontown. (2/14/2019)
Washington. (2/15/2019)
Willkes-Barre. (2/16/2019)
Wiklinsburg. (2/17/2018)

Other U.S. disappearing cities

Baltimore, Maryland. (12/31/2018)
Benton Harbor, Michigan. (1/15/2019)
Buffalo, New York, (1/8/2019)
Cairo, Illinois. (1/5/2019)
Detroit, Michigan. (1/1/2019)
East St. Louis, Illinois. (1/11/2019)
Flint, Michigan. (1/7/2019)
Gary, Indiana. (1/4/2019)
St. Louis, Missouri. (1/2/2019)
Wheeling, West Virginia. (1/16/2019)

Friday, March 1, 2019

"Only the Strong Survive" by Jerry Butler debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending March 1, 1969

"Only the Strong Survive" is Jerry Butler's best performer of his 39 singles, released from 1958 to 1977, that reached the Billboard Hot 100. Despite his smooth delivery on any number of great songs, he reached the top 10 just twice: "He Will Brek Your Heart" (1960) and "Let It Be Me" (a duet with Betty Everett in 1964).

In other chart action

Blood, Sweat & Tears made its first appearance on the Hot 100 with the first of 3 consecutive top 10 singles, all of which reach #2, all of which spent 13 weeks on the chart. Talk about consistency!

Steppenwolf's "Rock Me" became their third top 10 hit in a row. With their remaining 10 singles, they cracked the top 30 just once.

Glen Campbell had his second straight top 10 hit with "Galveston", and one-hit wonder and bubblegum studio group Crazy Elephant polluted the AM airwaves during their blessedly short incarnation.

Billboard Hot 100

Related articles:
Jerry Butler: Soul Survivor. (Chicago Reader, 4/7/2011)

There was a time, back in the late 60s, when Butler was one of the biggest stars in soul music, a creative collaborator to icons including Curtis Mayfield and Otis Redding in an era that also found Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Diana Ross and the Supremes, and the Temptations at or near the peak of their careers. Yet today Butler is more of a connoisseur's choice, not heard on the radio, even on oldies and dusties stations, as often as those other artists. The man fellow Cook County commissioner Larry Suffredin calls "one of the most modest people you'll ever see in public life" is more likely to deflect inquiries about his career in show business with his self-deprecating sense of humor.

Soul Singer Jerry Butler, Still Strong, Still Surviving. (KPBS, 8/18/2011)

Butler grew up on the North side of Chicago in the 1950s. He and Curtis Mayfield started singing together in church. Butler says a lot of soul and R&B musicians come up that way. He explains with a chuckle, "The first place you can go and perform is in a church and someone’s gonna say 'Amen' whether you’re good or bad."

Butler and Mayfield formed the doo-wop group The Impressions and they made a splash with a song Butler wrote as a poem at the age of 16. "For Your Precious Love" was a surprise hit in 1958. "In the days of rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll, everything was pretty much juked up so the kids could dance and all," says Butler.

'Twitter is the crystat meth of newsrooms" (Exhibit B)

Washington Post, 1/25/2019

But in the coolness of the press section of what was then known as the Tampa Bay Times Forum, I observed something I’d never seen in seven prior conventions. The seats were filled, but hardly anyone glanced at the stage or the delegates. My colleagues had their laptops opened to their TweetDecks. Side by side in the dim glow of their screens, they monitored each bon mot and burp of Twitter’s commentary on events.

Now, obviously: old fogey alert. Apply your geezer filter as you see fit.

Exhibit B.

Madison.com, 2/28/2019

63-word intro. Subject headings added to 19 tweets. That's all he wrote!

Exhibit A. February 22, 2019. "Slow news day in the sports section of the Green Bay Press-Gazette."

Exhibit for your consideration

Green Bay Press-Gazette, 2/21/2019

CES 2019: VOLO Go cordless infrared hair dryer

Cordless hair dryers aren’t really a thing but Volo wants to change that. (Digital Trends, 1/2/2019)

The Go debuted at last year’s CES, but now it’s coming to Kickstarter. Volo’s first product was the $39 Hero, an absorbent towel that also seems key to the Go’s success. You probably don’t want to turn on the device if your hair is sopping wet, as the cordless dryer only has about 14 minutes of battery life on full power. On medium, it lasts for 24 minutes, but it can run for over an hour on its cool setting.

14 minutes of battery life works just fine for Retiring Guy's wife.

Other 2019 CES posts:
December 2018
AVidea Group Safe Zone Gunfire Detector. (12/5/2018)
FADES auto-darkening eyewear. (12/7/2018)
Estelle Costanza does not approve of this car porn. (12/12/2018)
Smart smoke detectors. (12/15/2018)
LG CineBeam Laser 4K projector. (12/22/2018)
Poopy diaper alarm for harried parents. (12/25/2018)
Twice breathlessly promotes the "Clash of the Robovacs". (12/28/2018)
Don't worry, you won't have to throw away your stupid shoes. (12/31/2018)

January 2019
Samsung is building The Wall. (1/6/2019)
Hypnbos smart sleep mask. (1/8/2019)
Hyundai creates a car with body parts. (1/9/2019)
Intimate messager banned, gender bias alleged. (1/13/2019)
Why brush? Because they'll soon be Y-Brush! (1/13/2019)
Auto Sense wireless charger car mount. (1`/13/2019)
EyeForcer improves posture without nagging parents. (1/14/2019)
Quell your pain. (1/17/2019)
Muse 2. (1/17/2019)
Augment your view of the world with Focals by North. (1/18/2019)
Opte Intelligent Beauty Wand. (1/20/2019)
Bell Nexus autonomous flying taxi. (1/21/2019)
Sit tight, she'll be back in a month with a followup report. (1/22/2019)
Swidget will help you with device overload -- and keep your home much warmer than it needs to be. (1/27/2019)
Iris-scanning rearview mirror gets into your head. (1/31/2019)

February 2019

A doubletake on binoculars. (2/3/2019)
Machine-washable Chronolife vest. (2/6/2019)

Sphero Specdrums music ring. (2/19/2019)
Somnox robot pillow. (2/27/2019)

Louis Vuitton wireless earbuds. (2/28/2019)

Greetings from Trump's Amreica: Stark County, Ohio, where loss of manufacturing jobs has been a way of life for 50 years

Canton Repository, 11/13/2016

Voters in Canton were the lone holdout in an election that locally was a landslide for Republican president-elect Donald Trump. Every other city, village and township went for the celebrity businessman, even places that historically have leaned Democrat, an analysis by The Canton Repository of unofficial election results shows.

Source: Wikipedia

Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts

Prior to 2016, Stark County had voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in 5 of the 6 previous elections. Voters flipped for Trump in 2016, the MAGA message resonating in a county that has experienced continuous manufacturing job loss for the past 50 years.

Source: Wikipedia

(3rd-party candidates received 24.7% of vote in 1992, 15.6% of vote in 1996)

Other Trump's America posts:
Alabama
Autauga County. (6/29/2017)
Bibb County. (11/10/2017)
Covington County. (11/11/2017)
Dale County. (12/12/2017)
Geneva County. (11/11/2017)
Marion County. (11/11/2017)

Arizona
8th congressional district.  (4/25/2018)

Arkansas
Faulkner County. (3/20/2018)
Mississippi County. (3/19/2018)
Woodruff County. (3/26/2018)

California
Mesa County. (7/20/2017)
Shasta County. (7/4/2017

Colorado
Morgan County. (4/25/2017)

Florida
Citrus County. (3/5/2017)
DeSoto County,. (9/9/2017)

Idaho
Kootenai County. (9/25/2017)

Illinois
Effingham County. (2/15/2018)
Franklin County. (2/27/2017)
Jo Daviess County. (5/13/2018)
Knox County. (5/13/2018)
McHenry County. (2/5/2017)
Perry County.  (5/8/2017)
Stephenson County. (5/13/2018)
Whiteside County. (5/13/2018)
16th Congressional District. (3/26/2017)

Indiana
Granger.  (3/26/2017)
Hendricks County. (10/1/2017)
Huntington County. (4/27/2017)
Jefferson County. (3/10/2018)
Posey County. (10/21/2017)
Scott County,. (10/21/2017)

Iowa
Adair County. (9/16/2018)
Adams County. (9/16/2018)
Allamakee County. (7/31/2018)
Appanoose County. (8/4/2018)
Benton County. (8/2/2018)
Boone County.  (1/15/2017)
Bremer County. (8/2/2018)
Buchanan County. (8/2/2018)
Butler County. (8/6/2018)
Calhoun County. (9/6/2018)
Cass County. (4/3/2018)
Cedar County. (7/31/2018)
Cerro Gordo County. (8/6/2018)
Chickasaw County. (8/2/2018)
Clarke County. (8/8/2018)
Clayton County. (7/31/2018)
Clinton County. (10/15/2017)
Davis County. (8/3/2018)
Decatur County. ( 7/5/2018)
Delaware County. (7/31/2018)
Des Moines County. (8/1/2018)
Emmet County. (8/19/2018)
Fayette County. (8/2/2018)
Floyd County. (9/25/2018 update)
Franklin County, (8/14/2017)
Greene County. (9/6/2018)
Guthrie County. (9/16/2018)
Hamilton County. (4/2/2018)
Hancock County. (8/7/2018)
Hardin County. (4/2/2018)
Henry County. (7/9/2018)
Howard County. (8/2/2018)
Iowa County. (8/2/2018)
Jasper County. (8/5/2018)
Jefferson County. (8/1/2018)
Keokuk County. (8/2/2018)
Kossuth County. (8/18/2018)
Lee County. (8/1/2018)
Louisa County. (8/1/2018)
Lucas County. (8/5/2018)
Lyon County. (4/2/2018)
Madison County. (8/8/2018)
Marion County. (5/23/2017)
Mitchell County. (8/7/2018)
Monticello County. (1/13/2017)
Muscatine County. (8/1/2018)
Palo Alto County. (9/6/2018)
Pocahontas County. (9/6/2018)
Poweshiek and Webster counties. (2/7/2017)
Ringgold County. (8/8/2018)
Sioux County. (8/26/2018 update)
Tama County. (7/6/2018)
Taylor County. (9/16/2018)
Union County.  (9/10/2017)
Wapello County. (8/3/2018)
Washington County. (4/2/2018)
Wayne County. (8/5/2018)
Webster County. (8/9/2018)
Winnebago County. (12/17/2017)
Winneshiek County. (8/2/2018)
Worth County. (8/7/2018)
Wright County. (8/8/2017)

Kansas
Clark County. (3/21/2017)
Comanche County. (12/22/2018)
Mitchell County.  (1/29/2017)
Sumner County. (10/1/2017)

Kentucky
Bell County. (6/4/2018)
Hancock County,. (10/21/2017)
Jackson County. (12/9/2017)
Knox and Whitley counties. (2/17/2017)
Lee County. (12/9/2017)
Letcher County.  (6/29/2017)
Martin County. (3/22/2018)
Perry County. (10/10/2017)
Rowan County. (6/4/2018)

Louisiana
Calcasieu Parish,. (5/22/2017)
St. Martin Parish. (4/26/2017)

Maine
Piscataquis County. (7/3/2017)

Michigan
Lake County. (9/16/2018)
Macomb County. (11/29/2017)
St. Joseph County. (6/5/2017)

Minnesota
Chisago County. (6/20/2018)
Itasca County. (5/12/2018)
Lac qui Parle County.  (7/2/2017)
Mower County. (5/12/2018)
Nobles County. (1/26/2018)

Mississippi
Pontotoc County.  (7/19/2017)

Missouri
Butler County. (7/22/2018)

Nebraska
Sioux County. (12/22/2018)

New Jersey
7th Congressional District. (4/14/2017)

New York
Broome County. (2/14/2019)
Cayuga County. (2/13/2019)
Cortland County. (2/14/2019)
Essex County. (11/29/2017 update)
Franklin County. (2/9/2019)
Fulton County. (2/10/2019)
Herkimer County. (2/10/2019)
Orange County. (2/15/2019)
Oswego County. (2/11/2019)
Otsego County. (2/12/2019)
Putnam County. (2/27/2018)
Renssalaer County. (2/13/2019)
St. Lawrrence County. (2/8/2019)
Seneca County. (2/14/2019)
Sullivan County. (2/15/2019)
Warren County. (2/11/2019)
Washington County. (2/11/2019)
19th Congressional District. (3/26/2017)

North Carolina
Robeson County. (12/1/2017)
Union County. (3/9/2017)

North Dakota
Sargent County. (10/22/2017)

Ohio
Adams County. (12/9/2017)
Ashtabula County. (2/18/2019)
Belmont County. (7/17/2018)
Columbiana County, (12/11/2017)
Defiance County. (3/21/2017)
Gallia County. (2/23/2019)
Guernsey County. (2/27/2019)
Highland County. (3/19/2017)
Huron County. (6/19/2017)
Jackson County. (6/6/2017)
Jefferson County. (2/20/2019)
Lawrence County. (2/25/2018)
Marion County. (7/14/2018)
Meigs County. (2/22/2019)
Morgan County. (10/10/2017)
Muskingum County. (2/26/2019)
Shelby County. (3/2/2018)
Trumbull County. (4/3/2017)
Van Wert County.  (4/12/2017)
Wayne County. (5/6/2018)

Williams County. (3/21/2017)
Wyandot County. (5/4/2018)

Oklahoma

Bryan County. (5/5/2017)
Nowata County. (5/5/2018)

Oregon

Douglas County. (5/17/2017)

Pennsylvania

Beaver County. (2/8/2019)
Cambria County (Johnstown). (6/3/2017)

Dauphin County. (4/22/2017)

Erie County. (10/11/2018 update)
Fayette County. (7/25/2018)

Greene County. (5/3/2017)
Lawrence County. (2/5/2019)

UPDATE. Luzerne County. (1/14/2017)
Mercer County. (2/9/2019)

Northampton County. (7/20/2017)
Wayne County. (3/1/2018)

Williamsport. (1/24/2017)

8th Congressional District. (4/18/2017)

South Carolina

Spartanburg County. (6/5/2017)

South Dakota

Lawrence County,. (4/27/2017)

Tennessee
Campbell County. (12/10/2017)
Lake County. (12/22/2018)
Marion County. (4/1/2017)
Maury County. (10/31/2017)
Roane County. (5/1/2018)
Union County.  (5/30/2017)

Texas
Gaines County. (4/26/2017)
Shackelford County. (2/26/2018)

Washington
Grays Harbor County. (8/20/2017)

West Virginia
Berkeley County. (3/25/2018)
Boone County. (3/23/2018)
Cabell County.  (8/4/2017)
Fayette County.  (1/24/2017)
Greenbrief County. (12/14/2018)
Jackson County. (6/18/2017)
Marshall County. (2/7/2018)
Mason County. (12/16/2017)
McDowell County. (7/10/2017)
Mingo County. (3/25/2018)
Summers County. (3/25/2018)
Wayne County. (3/24/2018)
Wood County. (1/15/2019)

Wisconsin
6th congressional district. (1/27/2018)
Adams County. (2/6/2017)
Buffalo County. (3/19/2017)
Burnett County. (2/24/2018)
Clark County,. (8/13/2018)
Crawford County. (5/14/2018)
Fond du Lac County. (3/7/2018)
Grant County. (5/16/2018)
Green Lake County. (1/26/2018)
Jackson County. (3/8/2018)
Johnson Creek. (1/21/2017)
Juneau County. (2/23/2017)
Lafayette County. (5/16/2018)
Manitowoc County. (8/10/2017)
Monroe County. (3/8/2018)
Oconto County. (7/24/2018)
Oneida County. (4/24/2017)
Pepin County. (12/21/2017)
Price County. (12/23/2018 update)
Richland County. (11/10/2017)
Sauk County. (5/14/2018)
Sawyer County. (3/20/2017)
Taylor County.  (12/23/2018 update)
Vernon County. (5/14/2018)
Waushara County. (2/6/2017)
Winnebago County. (11/27/2017)
Wood County. (3/8/2018)

Disappearing cities and villages of the Buckeye State: Canton, Ohio

It all started here.

The New York Times, 3/28/2018

Canton, an hour south of Cleveland in the heart of a region that has suffered hundreds of thousands of lost jobs in manufacturing during the past 50 years, needed something big to help boost the local economy. The Pro Football Hall of Fame needed local support to become something more than a museum near a declining stadium. The Hall attracts 225,000 visitors annually, but many of them come on a single weekend in early August.

Source: Wikipedia

Canton's population peaked at 116,912 in 1950. Its 2017 estimated population is 70,909 -- a drop of 46,003 (39%).

Located 59 miles south/southeast of Cleveland, 24 miles south/southeast of Akron, and 58 miles southwest of Youngstown, the City of Canton is the county seat of Stark County. The county's population peaked at 378,098 in 2000, and its current estimated population is 372,542, a drop of 1.5%.

Other disappearing cities of the Buckeye State:
Akron. (2/28/2019)
Cambridge. (2/27/2019)
Cleveland. (1/2/2019)
East Liverpool. (2/18/2019)
Gallipolis. (2/23/2019)
Ironton. (2/24/2019)
Martins Ferry. (2/21/2019)
Pomeroy. (2/22/2019)
Portsmouth. (2/25/2019)
Steubenville. (2/20/2019)
Warren. (1/18/2019)
Youngstown. (1/9/2019)
Zanesville. (2/26/2019)

Disappearing cities and boroughs of the Keystone State

Other U.S. disappearing cities