Ocean’s 16: Tidal flooding in coastal areas is the result of oceans rising at an increasing rate caused by the burning of fossil fuels, according to two scientific reports released yesterday. The reports say oceans are rising at the fastest rate since the founding of ancient Rome.

The primary study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Coastal flooding is killing trees and vegetation with salt water and beginning to creep into areas where people live. The study predicts that at current rates the oceans will rise by three or four feet by the year 2100. Some scientists say what we are seeing into 2200 and beyond is the end of great coastal cities.

It’s Political: As Nevada Republicans hold their caucuses today one of the interesting things to watch will be the redistribution of support left on the field by Jeb Bush. This is the beginning of Marco Rubio’s shot at being the party’s voice of reason to replace The Donald. Rubio said, “If we nominate someone that forty to fifty percent of our party can’t stand, we are going to lose.”

With 30 convention delegates at stake, Donald Trump has a wide lead in the polls. He has so far locked up 67 delegates and needs 1,170 to win the nomination. Ted Cruz has 11 delegates and Rubio, 10.

As Trump’s detractors progress from “Can you believe this?” to “This is really happening,” political analysts are pouring out pixels and ink on how the Republican Party and maybe even the whole country are headed for disaster.

Harvard political theorist Danielle Allen writes in The Washington Post, “Donald Trump has no respect for the basic rights that are the foundation of constitutional democracy, nor for the requirements of decency necessary to sustain democratic citizenship. Nor can any democracy survive without an expectation that the people require reasonable arguments that bring the truth to light, and Trump has nothing but contempt for our intelligence.”

World: At least 10 million residents of New Delhi are without water after activists protesting the caste system sabotaged a primary water canal. It could take three or four days to turn the water back on. Ironically, the protesters are the upper-caste Jats who want more of the jobs and education opportunities that have been mostly reserved for the lower castes since 1991.

Rehab: Melissa Click, the University of Missouri assistant professor who shouted, “I need some muscle over here,” when confronted last year by a student video journalist at a campus protest, is working with a public relations company to rehabilitate her image.

Click told the NY Times, “When I watch it, I am embarrassed and sorry. I see someone dealing with a high-stress situation who gets flustered. I see a moment where I feel like I’m not representing my best self, and I see somebody who’s trying to do her best to help marginalized students.” It’s a contrition laced with the language of professional crisis management.

The university has suspended her and unfortunately for Click, a new video surfaced in which she is shouting obscenities at the police during a protest at last fall’s Columbus Day parade. The University’s interim chancellor said, “Her conduct and behavior are appalling,” which isn’t good because Click is trying to become a tenured professor.

Kicker While He’s Down: In an article headlined “How Jeb Bush Spent $130 Million Running for President With Nothing to Show for It,” the NY Times picks apart the Bush campaign by the numbers. The Bushies spent nearly $5,000 on pizza and $48,000 in Las Vegas where staff members were fond of staying at the Bellagio, the Wynn, and the Venetian.

Most of the spending was legitimate advertising and campaign stuff, but that’s no fun to report. Campaigners also spent $15,800 on parking valets and $94,000 on what’s listed as “Clubbing” — “tabs at the Yale Club, the Union League Club of Chicago, Nantucket’s Westmore Club, and more than two dozen other haunts of the well heeled and racquetball-inclined.”

Also notable, they spent $88,000 on “branding,” which presumably included putting the exclamation mark on Jeb!

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