Free Republic

Tropical Storm Milton is gathering strength in the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to become a hurricane within the next day or so. Unlike many tropical systems, it will move west to east over much of the Gulf of Mexico, so it has plenty of warm water ahead of it. The official hurricane track issued by the National Hurricane Center is a potential worst-case scenario for the Tampa Bay region of Florida, and winds could be 120 mph or greater. My first Sunday morning views of Milton from weather satellites suggest that the storm is showing signs of intensification....

On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby responded to claims in a State Department report that there was a failure to plan for worst-case scenarios during the planning of the withdrawal for Afghanistan by stating that President Joe Biden’s team prepared for “low-probability, high-risk worst-case scenarios” and Biden wanted this from the early going. Host Wolf Blitzer asked, “The State Department [says] that — in this report they said that it was a chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal, saying there was insufficient consideration of what it described as the worst-case scenarios....

Until recently, many strategists had assumed central banks would prefer to live with rising inflation rather than put economic growth at risk. Events in the last few days are causing them to rethink that. “More hawkish central banks last week reminded us that inflation is their prime concern, while activity/growth and markets are lesser considerations,” say Barclays strategists including Matthew Joyce. It’s such concerns that are behind the latest selloff in equities, both in Europe and beyond. Joyce and his colleagues say plunging consumer confidence may indicate a direct impact on growth from the inflation situation, and recommend keeping an...

Former Obama administration car czar Steven Rattner is coming out with a new book that depicts him swashbuckling through the financial crisis and also shows Obama as "out to get" the car companies and the administration making political decisions about how to deal with bankrupt automakers GM and Chrysler. Rattner, a former New York Times reporter...made a mint as a hedge funder, became a massive Democratic donor and returned to D.C. as Obama's point man during the bailout and takeover of GM and Chrysler. He's since been ensnared in a SEC investigation... Key points from the article and excerpts: -When...

N. Korea: The nightmare scenario (time to prepare for the catastrophic end) The nightmare scenario May 27th 2010 From The Economist print edition Time for North Korea’s friends and foes to start preparing for the worst DID the warped Machiavellians of Pyongyang miscalculate when they launched the torpedo that blew apart a South Korean warship two months ago? Proof of one of the worst breaches of the armistice that ended the Korean war 57 years ago has roiled waters far beyond the Korean peninsula. Escalating tensions have even helped rattle global financial markets. Thus far, North Korea’s reckless belligerence has...

SACRAMENTO — With high unemployment continuing to eat at California's tax revenues, and risky budget gimmicks failing to materialize, the state's deficit next year could hit a staggering $25 billion. If worst-case scenarios hold true, several insiders who track the state's financial picture tell the Mercury News, the deficit through June 2011 would be billions higher than previous estimates. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's best-case estimate earlier this week was half that sum, at $12.4 billion. Assembly Republican leader Sam Blakeslee of San Luis Obispo floated a number as high as $20 billion during water negotiations. "It's not outrageous," one budget expert...

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2006 – Military and political officials, foreign nationals and media observed yesterday as Army and Air National Guardsmen from five states and the District of Columbia responded to a mock disaster staged at the D.C. National Guard Armory. Members of the 34th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, from Blackstone, Va., work through the decontamination site after having been in the "hot zone" of a fictitious nuclear incident. "Vital Guardian," held at the D.C. National Guard Armory, was an Army and Air National Guard training exercise to strengthen response to a catastrophic event. Photo by...