Gongol.com Archives: October 2016

Brian Gongol


October 7, 2016

Weather and Disasters Hurricane Matthew's low pressure: 938 mb

That's 27.70 inches of mercury, or a drop of 2.22" from the standard pressure at sea level, which is 29.92 inches of mercury. For perspective, using the conversion of 1" Hg to 13.57" of water column, this says that under normal conditions, atmospheric pressure would be enough to push a column of water 33.83' up a vacuum tube. At the center of Hurricane Matthew, there's only enough atmospheric pressure to push a water column 31.32' up into a vacuum. There is so much less air pressure above the eye of this storm that water loses about 2.5' of lift into a vacuum. That's a tremendous difference -- illustrating just what a powerful storm this is.

News "Six reasons conservatives should not vote for Donald Trump"

A corollary: "The Honorable Alternative: A conservative case for Johnson/Weld in 2016"

News Chicago now examining rules to dial back police force

Oversight matters

News "Nightwatch" continues at the USAF

We don't want to think about nuclear war, but the Air Force still has to be prepared for it to happen

The United States of America Another foreign-policy option

Donald Trump has no real foreign policy. Hillary Clinton was the chief executive of the Obama foreign policy, which does not appear to have given us a more stable, peaceful world. Gary Johnson offers an alternative, and while it is probably more engagement-averse than most Americans might expect, it's also safe to assume that most Presidents end up drawn into more engagements than they expect -- not fewer. So starting from a low baseline, a Johnson administration might still find itself drawn into more than expected. Given the alternatives, it's worth serious consideration.


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