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Rain. Rain Go Away.

Rain, Rain Go Away
by Jeff Jordan         




No news really but our weather prognosticators made it official. We had record rainfall in the month of September. Please notice the month isn't over yet. It isn't news because anyone living down here s well aware that it has been raining a lot. This week alone we were awakened most mornings by thunder and lightning followed by a downpour. 

Our problem is that the ground is so saturated that all of the rain is running off. Good for the lakes and rivers except they are running high on their banks already. Besides the flooding problems, numbers of trees have been toppled because of high winds and the inability of the over-saturated soil and shallow root structure to anchor the trees. 

In the case of the City of Milwaukee, the runoff caused one of our infrequent treatment plant's overflows. This means the sewer waste is pumped directly into Lake Michigan. You would think that we would be a bit distressed with this wet and gloomy state. However, we watch the evening news and see what is happening in the Bahamas and realize we really don't have any problems.

Speaking Of Island Nations With Problems: 

Someone once said that the reason the Irish fight amongst each other so much is to assure the battle involves a high-quality opponent.

The current situation in the United Kingdom called Brexit is spinning out of control. It revolves around an issue referred to as the "backstop".

Historically, Ireland resolved it's problem with civil warfare between the British loyalists and the opposition. The "troubles" were dealt with an agreement back in the nineties.  Under this agreement  the border between Northern and Southern Ireland is open. Brexit endangers this because it will create a closed trade border between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. To us, this may be confusing. But the reality is that the EU has to establish this trade barrier or it can't control the EU standards on imported goods. 

Believe it or not, the Harley you buy in the US is not the same as the one you buy in the EU. (Essentially the method of controlling emissions is different.) This just an example of the regulations that are imposed on British goods that would normally pass from Northern Ireland to Southern Ireland without question. However, given the exit of the UK from the EU. Northern Ireland could import non-complying goods and then redistribute them. It is also true for goods flowing from north to south. Mostly there is more concern for food products than motorcycles.

Since Boris Johnson, the current prime minister of the UK, is considered the British version of Donald Trump, you can expect a proposal for a wall to solve the problem.

The bigger fear, from the standpoint of the UK is that this could end up with Irish Independence from the crown and it's assumed that the next to go would be Scotland. Stay tuned. It's even more fun than our political problems.


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