Wisconsin doppler radar

Radar Loops

2015.07.23 16:22 bugalou Radar Loops

The basis of this subreddit is simple: a repository for interesting radar or satellite loops.
[link]

2017.12.18 03:11 rrab EM Neuroweapon Survival Guide

This resource is created by targets, for targets of electromagnetic assaults, directed energy weapons, and neuroweapons aka psychotronics. CliffsNotes in hierarchical outline format, on staying alive and well, while being targeted by deniable, covert technologies, that civilian accessible institutions widely assume to be mental illness. -=-=- "Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities."
[link]

2023.05.30 23:15 Me_my2 Soooooooo, I found out I can notch pulse doppler without losing radar lock

Soooooooo, I found out I can notch pulse doppler without losing radar lock submitted by Me_my2 to Warthunder [link] [comments]

2023.05.30 22:04 SwannSwanchez Dev Server Datamine 2.26.0.25 -> 2.26.0.34 Part 2

2.26.0.25 -> 2.26.0.34 Part 2

Sensor changes :
Current Dev version : 2.26.0.34
Current Dev-Stable version : 2.25.1.130
Current Live version : 2.25.1.127
submitted by SwannSwanchez to Warthunder [link] [comments]

2023.05.30 03:16 HandStitchedBody Resources related to the May 31, 2013 El Reno Tornado

With the upcoming 10-year anniversary of El Reno May 31, 2013 here are some links to videos and articles about or related to this event, with a focus more on the science, as well as footage links so they can all be in one place for anyone looking. This is by no means remotely exhaustive, and will not include the numerous documentaries or news articles about this event.
Rest in peace to the eight people killed by the tornado and the many others who died due to storm related flooding. Five of the eight killed by the tornado were storm chasers. Three were veteran chasers Paul Samaras, Tim Samaras and Carl Young and the others were amateur chaser Richard Henderson and another unnamed chaser who was only discovered later to have been chasing that day through the work of the El Reno Survey project. You can read a post about that by Skip Talbot here.
Overview
NWS page on the tornadoes and flooding event of May 31st-June 1st, 2013
Wikipedia page
Some Papers/Posts
Crowdsourcing the El Reno 2013 Tornado: A New Approach for Collation and Display of Storm Chaser Imagery for Scientific Applications: This is a paper about the amazing El Reno Survey project and it has many other linked papers in it.
Multiscale overview of the El Reno Tornadic Supercell
The Role of Multiple-Vortex Tornado Structure in Causing Storm Researcher Fatalities
Tornadogenesis and Early Tornado Evolution in the El Reno, Oklahoma, Supercell on 31 May 2013: Details how the main circulation started on/close to the ground. Other papers have been written since on the non-descending nature of tornadoes. Houser, Tornadogenesis (part 1) and Tornadogenesis (part 2) are a few.
Anticipating Deviant Tornado Motion
Doppler Radar Observations of Anticyclonic tornadoes in Cyclonically Rotating, Right-Moving Supercells- Has more information and analysis of the multi-vortex anti-cyclonic tornado that occurred in the rear flank gust front of the parent supercell towards the end of the El Reno track.
Damage survey results and related considerations
Aerial Damage Survey Combined with Mobile Radar Data
Ground-based Damage Survey and Radar Analysis
Some Considerations for the Use of High-Resolution Mobile Radar Data in Tornado Intensity Determination
A couple writings/discussions about the final rating
Chuck Doswell's EF Scale Rating's Brouhaha and More on the EF-Scale Controversy
Old Stormtrack thread that Jeff Snyder participated in. Both this thread and Doswell's writings above were from 2013 so other things have since been gleaned from this event, but both contain most if not all of the more informed reasons for the argument around the rating. Snyder wrote the paper linked above about considerations for using mobile radar in determining tornado intensity the following year.
Adding the Current Proposed Revision to the EF Scale since a lot of those more organized discussions seemed to have stemmed from this event.
(note: I enjoy the science involved in aspects of the rating, but personally find the ratings themselves boring and uninformative as they merely simplify something very complex into a metric (that then is reduced even further into wind speeds) that a lot of times just seem to operate as a function of competition and/or morbid destruction allure. In general reducing everything involved in a tornado to a static thing with defined borders and simplified properties isn't helpful in understanding all the forces themselves or in understanding the complex way those forces interact with everything around them. I recommend reading the damage survey and discussion links above to help understand the reasoning given for this particular rating and the science of the considerations around radar indicated speeds and tornadic intensity along with some more well thought out arguments against the rating this event was given. If for no other reason than to move away from more common subjective-bias based arguments ("i know a huge EF5 when i see one" "obviously from the footage it was a massive wedge EF5 world destroyer") and in to more informed discussions if they must happen.)
VIDEO
Synced: El Reno Sync and El Reno Sync. Neither of course contain all the footage but are especially good to watch just so you can see how radically different it looked at different times depending on where the person was. The second one has a minor sync error that is noted in the pinned comment. Definite major acknowledgement for these syncs goes to the El Reno Survey Project and their Tornado Environmental Display (which sadly seems to no longer function).
Footage: A lot of people's footage can be found on the El Reno Survey Participants page by clicking on the links under the video column, so i won't link those here. Some participants aren't listed or their footage isn't linked and others may not have participated or have posted additional footage so I'll link other unlisted footage I am aware of below. Also note that Pecos Hank's footage is listed under his name (Hank Schyma) in the above link.
Jim Bishop, Reed Timmer (Other footage from him can be seen by looking up Tornado Chasers S02E11-12), Dan Robinson, Allan Gwyn, Brendon Lindsey, Skip Talbot, Melanie Metz and Peggy Willenberg, George Kourounis, Stephen Barabas and Justin Hoyt, Mark Imes, Jason Weingart, Justin Drake and Simon Brewer, Jared Stevenson, Brad Hannon, Derek Watson, Greg McLaughlin and others, Bobby Hines, David Demko and Heidi Farrar, Robin Tanamachi, Daniel Dawson, Greg Johnson and Ricky Forbes and Peter Slack (behind-the-scenes), various Mike Bettes and TWC footage can be found on youtube as well as various documentaries on Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras and Carl Young.
Analysis
NWS Norman's Lessons from the most dangerous tornado in storm observing history
Skip Talbot's essential Safety Lessons from El Reno
Convective Chronicle's El Reno, OK May 31, 2103: A Case Study (haven't watched this yet but everything else they do is brilliant so I'm sure this is too. They use a lot of the papers I've linked above in the PapePosts section as primary resource, so recommended for folks who prefer watching/listening to reading)
Reed Timmer's LIVE case study on the EL RENO TORNADO on May 31, 2013! A meteorological breakdown
Presentations
Jana Houser presentation: Novel Observations of the 2013 El Reno Tornado: Confirming Ground-Up Tornadogenesis through Coupled Rapid-Scan Radar Data and Crowd-Sourced Storm Chaser Videography
John T. Allen presentation: Crowd-Sourcing the Storm: A New Approach for Obtaining and Collating Scientific Tornado Observations
Additional: NWS roundtable put out today discussing the tornadoes on May 19, 20 and 31st of 2013
Again, this is by no means exhaustive and if you have suggestions to add to the list I'm happy to. I'll try and update this post with other things that may come out in the next couple days that might be of particular interest, like the upcoming NWS Norman StoryMap. If there are any issues with any link let me know.
edit: added the Reed Timmer case study
submitted by HandStitchedBody to tornado [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 07:43 Alexanderi_24 Trump Is Nominated, (then loses) in 2024. Who does the GOP nominate in 2028? + lore. (NEW SERIES)

Following Donald Trump's narrow win over Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Republican primary, the election begins to mirror many of the same aspects of the 2020 race yet in the aftermath of former President Trump's election denial and the following January 6th riot, tentions reach a new high. Allong with this, voter dissatisfaction reached a new high itself.
Embattled by legal disputes Donald Trump spends a large part of the campaign in cout often making his campaign tours about his eledged mistreatment of by the justice system, rather than focusing on major issues that resonated with the majority of Americans, such as the economy, allowing many of Biden's more divisive actions to fly under the radar. While this strategies electrified Trump's base, it dose little to encourage democrats, moderates, and suburbanites.
Joe Biden for his part attempts to appeal to working class voters while continuing his previous campaign strategie of "upholding democracy" casting the Trump campaign as opposed to democratic principles.
On election Night Joe Biden takes home a solid victory, building a coalition of college educated whites, blacks, and suburbanites who filp Democratic in 2024. The Biden campaign celeibates, on the other hand Trump of course denies the legitimacy of the election. The subsequent occupations and protests at election centers by Trump supporters, as well as a varriety of low level officials holding up the certification process in Arizona, Wisconsin, and Georgia, holds up the certification of the elections for months On July 23, 2026 Kamala Harris is sworn in as President becoming the first female US. President following Biden's sudden forced resignation following greatly increasing questions about his health.
Biden: 323 electoral votes, 53.7% of the popular vote Trump: 215 electoral votes 44.9% of the popular vote
(2024 Electoral votes inspired by u/FourthEchelon19's "Collapse of MAGA" Post)
View Poll
submitted by Alexanderi_24 to imaginaryelections [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 07:13 photonplay1 Radar Speed Sign

Radar Speed Signs utilize advanced Doppler radar technology to accurately measure the speed of approaching vehicles. With large, easy-to-read LED displays, these signs provide real-time feedback to drivers, alerting them to their current speed. By effectively conveying this information, our signs encourage drivers to adjust their speed and comply with posted speed limits.
submitted by photonplay1 to u/photonplay1 [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 18:55 Ck_16 Interesting F-14 AWG-9 Diagrams/Charts to Consider (If these are semi-accurate in game!)

Interesting F-14 AWG-9 Diagrams/Charts to Consider (If these are semi-accurate in game!) submitted by Ck_16 to Warthunder [link] [comments]

2023.05.27 07:00 -NotTakenUsername ESPhome/ESP32 Doppler Radar motion sensor compatibility

Hello! I'm building a project that involves a motion sensor. At first I wanted to use a PIR sensor but I needed more range. As such, I discovered the doppler radar motion sensor. However, I have no clue how compatible it is with the ESPhome. Here is an amazon link to the specific one I'm looking at: https://a.co/d/atswFlq How do I connect this? Bonus if you know anything about how susceptible it is to interference from leaves moving around, wind, and rain and if range is affected by the material put in front of it (particularily PLA vs 1/8in plexiglass) Thank you so much!
submitted by -NotTakenUsername to esp32 [link] [comments]

2023.05.26 23:37 ReaperinIdaho Flash Flood Warning

Flash Flood Warning submitted by ReaperinIdaho to Idaho [link] [comments]

2023.05.26 20:23 soylent_latte The Edmund Fitzgerald

The Edmund Fitzgerald
The Edmund Fitzgerald was a famous Great Lakes freighter that met a tragic fate on November 10, 1975. Its sinking in Lake Superior is one of the most well-known maritime disasters in the history of the Great Lakes. While the exact events leading to the sinking remain somewhat speculative, there are several key aspects and theories that form the inside story of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was a massive iron ore carrier, measuring 729 feet long and weighing over 26,000 tons. It was built in 1958 and owned by the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. The ship primarily transported taconite, a type of iron ore used in steel production, from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to steel mills in Detroit, Michigan, and other cities along the Great Lakes.
On November 9, 1975, the Edmund Fitzgerald left Superior, Wisconsin, with a load of taconite pellets bound for Detroit. The weather conditions were deteriorating rapidly as a strong winter storm, later known as the "Witch of November," swept across Lake Superior. The storm was characterized by hurricane-force winds, towering waves, and reduced visibility.
During the journey, Captain Ernest M. McSorley and his crew of 28 encountered increasingly severe weather. The Fitzgerald was being pursued by another freighter, the Arthur M. Anderson, which reported losing sight of the vessel around 7:10 PM. The last communication from the Fitzgerald came around 7:39 PM, when Captain McSorley reported being in difficulty and taking on wate
Despite efforts by the Arthur M. Anderson and the U.S. Coast Guard to locate and rescue the Edmund Fitzgerald, the ship disappeared from radar and sank in approximately 530 feet of water. All 29 crew members on board perished in the tragedy. The exact cause of the sinking has never been determined conclusively, but several theories have emerged over the years:
Structural Failure: One theory suggests that the Fitzgerald suffered a catastrophic structural failure due to the tremendous stress caused by the severe storm. This hypothesis proposes that the ship's hatches may have failed, leading to rapid flooding and the eventual sinking.
Wave Interaction: Another theory suggests that the Edmund Fitzgerald fell victim to a phenomenon known as a "rogue wave" or a "three sisters wave." Such waves occur when multiple large waves converge, creating an enormous, unpredictable wave that can overwhelm and capsize vessels.
Cargo Shift: Some experts believe that the ship's cargo of taconite pellets may have shifted during the storm, causing a loss of stability and leading to the sinking. This theory suggests that the shifting cargo made the ship more vulnerable to the powerful waves.
Other Factors: Other factors that have been considered include navigational errors, improper ballast, fatigue, or a combination of these elements. The exact sequence of events leading to the sinking remains unknown.
The sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald sparked widespread public interest and led to increased safety measures in the shipping industry on the Great Lakes. The tragedy also gained significant attention through Gordon Lightfoot's iconic song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," which memorialized the event and helped keep the memory of the ship and its crew alive.
To this day, the Edmund Fitzgerald remains on the bottom of Lake Superior, serving as a memorial and a reminder of the risks faced by mariners on the Great Lakes. The exact details of the inside story and the events leading to its sinking may never be fully known, leaving the tragedy surrounded by a sense of mystery and speculation.
https://preview.redd.it/sa86zgxfk92b1.png?width=971&format=png&auto=webp&s=89c0fcd43fb427ba00604c0decf7ce5c08fe0a7f
submitted by soylent_latte to chatGPT_Midjourney [link] [comments]

2023.05.26 00:57 ReaperinIdaho Special Weather Statement

Special Weather Statement submitted by ReaperinIdaho to TwinFalls [link] [comments]

2023.05.24 13:29 SwannSwanchez Dev Server Datamine 2.26.0.20 -> 2.26.0.25 Part 1

2.26.0.20 -> 2.26.0.25 Part 1

Sensor changes :
Naval changes :
Ground changes :
Aircraft weapons :
Aircraft missiles :
Current Dev version : 2.26.0.25
Current Dev-Stable version : 2.25.1.119
Current Live version : 2.25.1.119
submitted by SwannSwanchez to Warthunder [link] [comments]

2023.05.21 07:17 Harbinger23 This is the Special Weather statement responsible for the cancellation.

This is the Special Weather statement responsible for the cancellation. submitted by Harbinger23 to CruelWorldFest [link] [comments]

2023.05.20 06:05 crocaducks Does anyone else have radar issues on alternate history Spain?

For some reason on alternate history Spain my radar just simply does not function right; Pulse Doppler won’t work in head on’s, normal radar won’t track people at all, and missiles just fail to track 90% of the time. (Plane: f4j)
submitted by crocaducks to Warthunder [link] [comments]

2023.05.18 10:02 AmeteurKnifeBro Request: Reflect radar back at the source with an altered frequency.

I'm tinkering with an idea to fool police radar. Currently, the basic idea is a spinning bar with retroreflectors on the receding faces. The goal is for the radar gun to read the speed of the spinning retroreflectors rather than the speed of the car. There are some drawbacks with this design. The biggest is that the bar would need to spin very fast in order to reduce the measured speed significantly.
Is there a way to achieve this effect without without such fast-moving parts? Possibly using multiple reflections off of slower-moving parts? Possibly using some other method other than the Doppler effect to change the frequency that I'm not aware of?
Any powered radar emitters would be classified as illegal jammers, and thus are a non-option.
EDIT: The question I'm asking is how best to achieve frequency-shifted retroreflection. Respectfully, I already know the science behind radar and laser speed enforcement, and I appreciate your opinions on the purpose of policing in modern society, but these things are best left to other subreddits.
submitted by AmeteurKnifeBro to Optics [link] [comments]

2023.05.17 16:59 ZV2Cox Sounds like these poor chickens were just trying to get to the other side (another dumb Kelo-Kombo headline)

Sounds like these poor chickens were just trying to get to the other side (another dumb Kelo-Kombo headline) submitted by ZV2Cox to SiouxFalls [link] [comments]

2023.05.13 07:00 Hassan_Q range doppler plot from radar raw data. Infineon Position2go Module

I am trying to make a range doppler plot in MATLAB from raw data I have acquired from a Infineon Position2go FMCW radar module. The resulting plot resolution is too low. How can I make the plot clearer.
The application is to identify humans with machine learning.
The data is acquired as follows: 16 chirps in a single reading 64 samples per chirp
submitted by Hassan_Q to rfelectronics [link] [comments]

2023.05.12 02:33 wairdone How would the Sea Harrier FA.2 perform in-game?

How would the Sea Harrier FA.2 perform in-game?
https://preview.redd.it/qa6jp9lqpaza1.png?width=967&format=png&auto=webp&s=fb4150e923f5e4019eeaece4ddb2782df856863a
The Sea Harrier FA.2 is a variant of the Sea Harrier family with various improvements over its predecessor, including...
- A new and improved Ferranti Blue Vixen Pulse Doppler Radar - The ability to carry new weaponry, such as Sea Eagle AShM's, Martel and ALARM AGM's and up to 4 AMRAAM's
The ability to carry AMRAAM's alone may result in this vehicle getting a relatively high BR, perhaps up to 12.0+. This is bad news as this variant sees no aerodynamic improvements over the regular Sea Harrier FRS.1.
How d you think it would perform in-game if added?
submitted by wairdone to Warthunder [link] [comments]

2023.05.08 04:26 mogfir Any of our Iowa meteorologists able to explain this weird Doppler radar?

Any of our Iowa meteorologists able to explain this weird Doppler radar?
Never seen anything like it. This odd rectangle of a shape formed in the storm over Carbon, IA. I can only guess what or how this could happen.
submitted by mogfir to Iowa [link] [comments]

2023.05.06 12:09 Kaitlyn_Boucher Project Black Spot, Ubon RTAFB '69-'70

I hope this is the right subreddit in which to post something like this. My father, now deceased, was assigned to Project Black Spot at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base from January 1969 until February 1970. I'm not bound by the Official Secrets Act, and now that he's dead, they can't come down on him. His account of a particular incident differs completely from the official USAF records of the project, and I've been unable to find anything on the internet that confirms what he saw. Some people have come close, but they either haven't written it down or don't know about it.
Project Black Spot involved taking two AC-123 aircraft and, after making them into bombers, modifying them with Doppler radar, FLIR, and laser guided bombing capability, things that may seem rather pedestrian today, but at the time these two aircraft were the first to make use of FLIR in locating targets. My father was the NCOIC (non-commissioned officer in charge) of the night shift at the avionics shop, and he was responsible for making sure these systems worked. This was a lot of responsibility for someone who had just enlisted in 1966, someone who arrived in Thailand as a sergeant and left as a staff sergeant.
Various accounts available online concerning the project, probably drawn from official USAF sources, mention a "munitions incident on March 19, 1969. What actually happened, according to my father, was a loss of one of the aircraft to enemy anti-aircraft fire on approach to land at Ubon. He said that the tail of the aircraft was destroyed, and it crash landed on the runway with the loss of all crew aboard. This was a story he told me several times, usually when he got in the mood to talk about his time in the Air Force. Later in life when I questioned him about it, he would cry and refuse to talk about it. It was clearly something that he was still grieving over near the end of his life. By then, he would just say that he lost some friends in that crash, start to cry, and wave me away. My father was not a liar, and wouldn't even tell a white lie to make someone feel better. It wasn't in his nature.
Years ago, maybe around a decade ago, I found out that these aircraft were supposedly flown to Davis-Monathan AFB in Arizona, which is apparently the USAF boneyard for old aircraft. So, I called the base and asked some questions about the aircraft. I was told they would contact me later. I thought, "Sure you will." But they did! A couple of hours later, I got a call from a major who identified himself as the public relations officer for the air base, and he made it very clear that the official story was true, that the two aircraft made it back to the States and were sitting in Arizona. I was really rather intimidated by the call and said something along the lines of, "Oh, he must have been mistaken, then. Old people say the darndest things!" Then I went along with his story and thanked him. I found the whole thing rather odd.
After he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, we got his DD-214 to file with the VA for benefits, and reading it, I found that he was awarded some kind of campaign medal for being in Korea before and after the crew of the USS Pueblo were released by the North Koreans. He said he'd never been in Korea, and my mother said that he was in the US during the entire Pueblo incident. The rest of his DD-214 doesn't reflect at all what schools he went to or what he did. His official passport was never stamped, either, although I don't know what that could mean.
I know this may sound kind of mundane, but it got me thinking that if the USAF is willing to continue covering this up decades after the fact, there must be plenty of other things they're covering up that no one talks about.
Maybe I'm mistaken. Old people with dementia do say some of the strangest things, right?
Edit: I'd like to thank everyone who responded positively to this story. I really had no idea how it would be taken. I felt it was important to get it out there for several reasons. This particular story isn't mentioned on the internet or official USAF records AFAIK, and I wanted people to know that men died in a crash because they were shot down by antiaircraft fire, not some malfunction or accident. The base at Ubon was surrounded by hostile forces, Viet Cong and their Laotian counterparts. I don't have conclusive proof, and I doubt it's forthcoming from the Air Force any time soon, but I believe my father's story. He didn't drink alcohol, and he didn't use drugs, so what he told me came straight from his unimpaired human memory. Those planes had to be turned around in 15 minutes so they could go back and use cluster bombs to bomb the Ho Chi Minh Trail, regardless of whether it was in Vietnam, Laos, or another country. I imagine he was standing there on the flight line, getting ready to jump on the plane and start the usual diagnostic testing along with the other ground crew, those who would refuel the aircraft, those who would load more bombs on it, the mechanics who checked the engines, etc., and they saw it crash. Maybe someone who saw it is still alive. Maybe the wives, sons and daughters of the men who died that day will read this. I'm ambivalent about that, because they may not necessarily want to know this. They may have compartmentalized this in their minds and dealt with it, and maybe they don't want to hear another possibility. I've thought about this, and if this causes anyone any distress, I'm very sorry.
Also, it's very easy for me to feel someone else's pain, and the pain my father felt from this incident was real, very deep, and for me, palpable. He wasn't able to talk about it in life, but I can do it for him after his death. It helps me let go of him, in a way. I don't know if anyone would understand that, or if I'm articulating it properly.
After the war he had what is now called PTSD. I don't know if it was because of the crash or because the airbase was routinely shelled by enemy forces. He wanted nothing to do with the Air Force and would not discuss his service, use the GI Bill, and wanted nothing to do with the VA. One of his biggest fears was being recalled back to active service while he was in the ready reserve. It terrified him. When I naively asked him why he didn't become an officer, as he had over two years of college, he said he wouldn't because they didn't have to let officers leave the service. He enlisted in the USAF because he was notified that he was to be inducted into the Army, and wanted a better chance to survive, so he chose the Air Force. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, his time in the Air Force profoundly affected him for the worse. They wanted him to re-enlist, and offered him a promotion to Technical Sergeant, but he just wanted out. He'd done his four years plus a couple of months extra, and he was done with it. the Black Spot program wound down a few months after he left anyway.
submitted by Kaitlyn_Boucher to SpecialAccess [link] [comments]

2023.05.05 22:27 Techn0dad Unusual returns over coast

Unusual returns over coast
Any guesses on this radar return? Well-defined doppler and correlation, but almost nothing on intensity. Unfortunately, I did not have classification on. It's possible that this is bird flocking, but odd to see it extend so far over water.
https://preview.redd.it/nin8f2f0o2ya1.png?width=1912&format=png&auto=webp&s=3399964f0e3c94a25f2e298b59ef5c28710889a5
submitted by Techn0dad to Radarscope [link] [comments]

2023.05.04 14:10 frankum1 New launch monitor - Skytrak+

https://shop.skytrakgolf.com/skytrak-plus.html
SkyTrak has long been the leader in at-home golf. The next evolution is a leap forward. The new SkyTrak+ brings major advancements in its core technology by adding a dual doppler radar system and proprietary machine learning software - to offer unmatched accuracy in its class. The radar addition brings club data to the forefront of the experience - giving SkyTrak users a vital data point for game improvement. More big innovation comes in the new and improved SkyTrak ShotOptimizer and Shot Score functionality. You can now measure yourself against optimal shots and golfers of all skill levels pulled from our database of millions of golf shots.
With over 70,000+ members, access to over 100,000 golf courses (including Pebble Beach Golf Links, Bandon Dunes, Torrey Pines and many more), and the best gameplay simulation software in the industry, the SkyTrak+ will instantly transport you to courses all around the world that you can play with your friends from the comfort of your home.
PREORDER PRICE: $2999 (no idea if this will increase later)
Dual Doppler Radar for Club Data Measurement
Improved Photometric Camera System for More Accuracy
submitted by frankum1 to golf [link] [comments]

2023.05.03 15:58 Manoj_Malhotra The Republican push to weaken child labor laws, explained - Vox

Disclaimer: Please note Vox is a liberal leaning news organization.
Earlier this week Republican state lawmakers in Wisconsin circulated a new bill that would allow workers as young as 14 years old to serve alcohol in bars and restaurants, down from the state’s current age minimum of 18 years old. The legislative proposal “creates a simple solution” to workforce staffing issues, said the Republican bill sponsors in a memo they circulated to colleagues on Monday.
Wisconsin is not the only state looking to loosen labor laws affecting minors, and over the last few months there’s been Republican-led bills in states like Arkansas, Ohio, and Iowa aimed at making it easier for teenagers to work in more jobs and for more hours in the day. These efforts have overlapped with shockingexposés in the New York Times and Washington Post thatuncovered exploited migrant children working illegally in American jobs.
As the Wisconsin lawmakers suggested, these new bills are partly a reaction to the competitive labor market and struggles businesses have been facing to fill open positions. But they’re also rooted in longstanding conservative opposition to workplace regulation, and some labor advocates worry they’re just the opening salvo to a broader attack on government safety rules.
What are the new state laws being proposed?
Over the last two years, at least 10 states have introduced or enacted laws to change the rules governing teenage work requirements.
In 2022, New Hampshire and New Jersey passed laws extending the hours teenagers could work. New Hampshire lawmakers also relaxed rules for busing tables where alcohol is served, allowing 14-year-olds now to do it, down from the previous minimum of 15 years old. New Jersey lawmakers bumped up the number of hoursteens can work during the summer (to 40 hours a week for 14- and 15-year-olds and 50 for 16- and 17-year-olds.)
This year lawmakers have advanced more bills in states like Georgia, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Iowa.
Some rule changes — like allowing teens to work later in the summer — sound fairly innocuous, but others have caused more concern, like a proposal in Minnesota to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work on construction sites, and one in Iowa that would allow 14-year-olds to work in meat coolers. Others worry about a general slippery slope of loosening child labor laws, and sending a message to employers that enforcement will be even more relaxed than it already is.
For example, even though a federal labor investigation recently found 10 children working illegally in Arkansas for a company that cleans hazardous meatpacking equipment, in March, Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed the “Youth Hiring Act” — a law eliminating Arkansas’ requirement that 14- and 15-year-olds get work permits. The work permits, which Republicans called an “arbitrary” burden, had required proof of age, parent permission, and an employer’s signature.
While work permits are not mandated under federal law, critics of the Youth Hiring Act said they provided an important paper trail of youth employment, and reminded Arkansas businesses of their legal obligations.
In Iowa, lawmakers are advancing a controversial bill that allows young teens to work in some currently prohibited fields, if it’s deemed part of a school or employer training program. Supporters of the bill say more hazardous jobs like heavy manufacturing and construction would still be barred from teen employment, but new exceptions for minors would include fields like demolition and manufacturing. The bill would also permit 16- and 17-year-olds to serve alcohol in restaurants, if their parents granted permission. Democratic lawmakers have voiced concern about the risks this poses to youth workers, especially since the bill would also extend the hours a teen could work into the night.
The federal government provides a floor of protection against child labor, and that hasn’t changed — yet
The federal government regulates youth employment primarily under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a law Congress passed in 1938. The FLSA bars “oppressive child labor” and sets a floor on standards, wages, and hours for teen jobs. Those standards include:
Minors of any age can work in virtually any business that’s entirely owned by their parents, except for youth under age 16, who can’t work in mining or manufacturing.
No minor can work in an occupation deemed hazardous, like roofing or forest fire fighting.
Children under 14 can work in FLSA exempt-jobs like delivering newspapers, acting, and babysitting.
On school days, 14- and 15-year-olds can work for up to three hours outside of school hours. On days when school is not in session, they can work up to eight hours.
During the summer months 14- and 15-year-olds can work until 9 pm, though during the traditional school year they can only work between 7 am and 7 pm.
The FLSA doesn’t regulate things like job breaks or benefits, but does allow for an employer to pay youth workers a minimum wage of $4.25 during their first 90 days on the job. The FLSA also has a much weaker set of protections for children working in agriculture.
Most minors are covered under FLSA, and states can pass their own protections on top, so long as they don’t conflict with the federal government’s. For example, it’s common for states to limit the hours 16-year-olds can work, and require all minors to get “work permits” to get jobs, but these are not federal rules.
Many of the legislative fights lately concern efforts to roll back some of those state protections, or to impose changes that apply to the narrow set of employers exempt from FLSA. However, there’s also been some conservative rumbling about changing the federal rules, too. In Ohio, for example, Republican lawmakers approved a bill allowing 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 pm, rather than 7 pm, during the school year with parent permission, and passed a concurrent resolution urging Congress to amend the FLSA to bring it in line with Ohio’s change.
Enforcement of federal youth labor laws hasn’t been great
The Department of Labor is responsible for enforcing the FLSA, but the underfunded agency has been struggling greatly on that front. Earlier this year the agency announced the number of minors employed in jobs that violate child labor laws in fiscal year 2022 increased 37 percent over fiscal year 2021, and 283 percent over fiscal year 2015.
Congress has held the Labor Department’s budget flat for years, leading to a 12 percent loss in Wage and Hour division staff between 2010 and 2019. The department’s Office of the Solicitor has also lost more than 100 attorneys over the last decade, for these same budgetary reasons.
In February the Labor Department reported findings from 14 separate child labor investigations, including one that found Packers Sanitation Services, Inc. had been illegally employing over 100 teens between the ages of 13 and 17 in hazardous occupations. Federal investigators found the use of child labor “systemic” across eight states.
While the Department of Labor has over 600 additional child labor investigations open, critics note the penalties for violating FLSA are weak, thus the law itself may be a weak deterrent. The penalty for Packers Sanitation, for example, was a mere $1.5 million.
In the wake of the New York Times investigating companies illegally employing youth migrant workers in dangerous jobs, the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services launched a new joint task force to investigate the problem, and pledged to try and better vet sponsors of unaccompanied children.
Lawmakers are also scrambling to react with bills in Congress to increase civil penalties for child labor law violations, though for now nothing has moved forward.
Conservatives and business groups have long objected to youth employment restrictions and they’re behind the new bills today, too
Some conservatives have long seen child labor laws as government overreach, dictating rules for minors that should be left up to individual families. Others simply oppose most forms of government regulation. And still others see youth labor restrictions as an unnecessary barrier at a time when companies are struggling to hire workers.
Conservative billionaire Charles Koch and his late brother David Koch have long used their fortunes to support rolling back child labor restrictions. In 1980, David Koch ran for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket and pledged to “abolish” child labor laws, income taxes, and Medicare. In 1982, Ronald Reagan’s administration proposed the first major change to federal child labor laws in 40 years, to expand the hours and types of jobs 14- and 15-year-olds could work, and make it easier for employers to pay students less than minimum wage.
Tesnim Zekeria from Popular Information highlighted some of the more recent Koch-funded efforts to weaken support for child labor laws, including an essay, “A Case Against Child Labor Prohibitions”published in 2014 from the Koch-funded Cato Institute that argued depriving work opportunities to poor children in developing countries “only limits their options further and throws them into worse alternatives.”
In 2016, a Koch-funded conservative nonprofit, the Foundation for Economic Education, published “Let the Kids Work” where the author argued children taking jobs would help them develop a work ethic, a professional network, and skills and discipline to build character. In 2019, another academic tied to the Koch-funded Commonwealth Foundation argued in Forbes to eliminate the minimum wage for teenagers.
Last week the Washington Post reported on a Florida-based conservative think tank, the Foundation for Government Accountability, that has played a leading role in the recent spate of bills winding through state legislatures. In March, the Arkansas state representative who sponsored the state’s “Youth Hiring Act” said the bill “came to me from the Foundation [for] Government Accountability.” The Post also found the Florida think tank helped a Missouri lawmaker craft and edit their child labor bill.
Other conservative causes the Foundation for Government Accountability focuses on include blocking Medicaid expansion and adding new restrictions to welfare programs like food stamps. On their website they proclaim they help “free individuals from the trap of government dependence and to let them experience the power of work.”
Yet another conservative group pushing new bills to weaken child labor rules is the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the primary lobbying arm for small businesses. The American Prospect and Workday magazines reported on its advocacy role and its reliance on the tight labor market as justification. “Our members’ inability to fill workplace vacancies has catapulted to the top concern currently facing the success of their businesses,” said NFIB in 2021 testimony it submitted in support of Ohio’s proposed bill.
The Foundation for Government Accountability also points to the worker shortage as justification. In a white paper the group published in 2022, they emphasized that teenagers “are a critical source of labor for businesses struggling to find help” and underscored that parents should get to decide whether their kids worked or not, linking their advocacy to a broader political push on the right for “parents’ rights.”
According to an analysis by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, between 2001 and 2021, the share of 16- to 19-year-olds not working increased by 22.4 percent, which the think tank said is “almost entirely explained” by the higher share of young people prioritizing education during those years.
The risks of loosening youth employment rules
Immigration advocates say the loosening of child labor rules poses the greatest threat to migrant children, who are already more vulnerable to exploitation. The number of unaccompanied children entering the United States rose to 128,904 in 2022, per federal data.
Ending work permits, some advocates warn, will make it even harder to track the landscape of child labor in the United States. The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey only asks about employment status for those 16 and older. Some children are paid in cash, and the available data on youth employment — especially in agriculture — is notoriously incomplete.
“We don’t have very good estimates of the number of independent child migrants that are working in the United States,” Eric Edmonds, an economist at Dartmouth who studies youth trafficking and child labor, told The Dispatch in March. “My guess is that the number of independent child migrants that are working are a fraction of a percent of the number of children working in the United States.”
Labor experts warn that the weakening of child labor laws also threatens other workplace regulations, as well as the wages of all workers. Many of the same conservative organizations pushing these rules have also taken aim at union rights and environmental safety standards.
For now, many of these efforts have picked up steam by skating under the radar, and seizing on the fact that many parents hold favorable opinions generally of teen work. A recent national poll led by the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health found only 29 percent of parents considered themselves very informed about their state’s laws for teen employment, but over 60 percent said teen jobs helped promote time management skills, and over 75 percent said they help teach money management.
In March the Des Moines RegisteMediacom Iowa Poll surveyed state residents on the bill pending in the Iowa legislature to relax child labor laws, and found 50 percent favored the bill, 42 percent opposed it, and 8 percent were unsure. Republicans and men were likely to support the bill, while Democrats and a plurality of women opposed it. Among parents of those with children under 18, the pollsters found 57 percent backed it.
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