A recent study was about American cities, which will begin to be under water by 2050, and include 13 from Florida, and one each from New York State and South Carolina.

The Florida cities, which will start to be under water, have a combined population of 2.8 million. They are Miami Gardens, Hollywood, Miami, Sunrise, Hialeah, Pompano. Miami Beach, Davie, St. Petersburg, Miramar, Coral Springs, Pembrook Pines and Fort Lauderdale.

The other cities are New York City with a population of 8.3 million and Charleston, SC, whose population is 134,385.

Ever since the study came out some weather computer models have had to be adjusted as now it appears the cities will be under water sooner than 2050. Also it is expected that oceans will be warmer and hotter and the hurricanes that hit the Gulf of Mexico will be far worse than Harvey that hit Houston and Michael, which slammed the Panhandle.

Highland had its own Chinatown Story

It was about 30 years ago and I was interviewing a local high school senior who did not sound right. He sounded troubled. About a month later I called his father in the evening. I told him my concerns about his son, and then he told me a story I had never heard.

The student’s parents had separated. The father had a girl friend. The father had had a vasectomy, as he only wanted to have two children. He already had two. What could go wrong? A lot.

The girlfriend got pregnant, but whoever got her pregnant could not be the father, could it?

The girl had the baby and it looked just like the father. The father saw the baby and knew he was not the father. The parent was his high school son, who had been seduced, the father said, by the girlfriend.

Within a day, the girlfriend and the baby had to leave the house.

Did the father’s family ever have another problematic situation and the answer is yes.

IBM has made a 30 percent increase
In the last three months IBM stock has made a 30 percent move and its price is up to $143. It is also making countless announcements about its Block chain service.

IBM was one of the last big High Tech companies to get into the cloud, and appears to be the first into Block chain.

Last Monday, the stock brokerage houses issued their previews on how IBM’s stock will do on Tuesday, April 16 at 4 p.m. when it announces its quarterly report. It may be worth your time to follow this announcement that came out Tuesday. The quarterly announcement may suggest that now is a good time to buy the stock. Credit Suisse has a target price of $173 on IBM. IBM stock pays a dividend of $6.28 or 4.35%.

The cocktail books of the Waldorf’s Oscar Tschirky are still selling
Oscar Tschirky, Oscar of the Waldorf, died in 1950 in his hometown of New Paltz. When he passed away, he was the world famous Maitre d’Hotel of the Waldorf Astoria. He was the creator of Veal Oscar, the Waldorf Salad, Russian Dressing, and possibly Eggs Benedict. His cookbook, “The Cook Book of the Waldorf,” which was first printed in 1896, is still in print, with the latest reprint in 2018. He liked to have a drink, and at the end of Prohibition in 1934 wrote, “100 Famous Cocktails.”
Both books can be purchased on the internet at ABEbooks.

If you want to see Oscar, he has a good place at the New Paltz Cemetery, along side many chefs from the Waldorf. Also on Tschirky Drive, you can see the Culinarian Home. I was told that he had a cocktail during prohibition.

Alaska is a big global warming story
Al Roker of NBC News recently was in Alaska, and the New York Times sent a team of writers and photographers all the way up there because Alaska just had a record warm winter. So warm that the Yukon River, the second longest river in North America, began to melt in early March, when for ages it did not to start to melt until late May.

There was not much snow, and the sunlight did not reflect off the snow, but instead heated it. The ice up in Alaska is normally frozen, but the ocean ice was breaking up. This was not the winter to walk on the ice. Eighty years ago river rats from Highland use to walk at night across the frozen Hudson, the ice cutter would come through and in the dark, not everyone was able to see the break in the ice. There were drownings. This winter there were ice scares in Alaska but no known drownings.

The rising oceans may force a village to move from its long time island home off of Alaska as in a few years the island could be under water.

The 2019 hurricane predictions are out, and they suggest that this will be a a less formidable year than the last two years, but suggest that the forecast may change as this country approaches the start of hurricane season on June 1.