Political Storm
Somebody has to pay for this. By preference, it should be polticians and media barons, with both their bank accounts and their careers.
The media and politicians have combined into the perfect political storm to induce complete panic over a simple hurricane. I've weathered many hurricanes and tropical storms from within my own home--which is where I am right now.
The evacuation plan was intended for areas affected by storm surge--the coast, in other words. But the governor, the collective mayors of Houston and surrounding suburbs, and most of all the congential idiots who run FEMA, have created absolute chaos and mass hysteria over a simple storm. My 90-year old grandparents were caught up in this mess, stuck in the parking lot formerly known as I-45 at 1 a.m. this morning in a broken down car. They were there solely for the reason that the above-mentioned political mouthbreathers forced evacuation of their city, which is forty miles inland and 40 feet above sea level, in order to cover their own political posteriors.
Houston has been effectively shut down since noon Wednesday. No one could get to work because of the stampeding masses. Now all of these people will have to make their way back into town. Business will not resume until Tuesday at the earliest, more probably Wednesday or Thursday. That's hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue that simply ceased to exist, and for no good reason.
The blame for this entire shameful episode lies completely within the laps of the mass media and the politicans; the former for being scare-mongering ratings-scalpers, the latter for a disgusting display of selfish ass-covering. They saw the political fallout from Katrina, and the media wanted it to happen again, while the polticians would go to any lengths to cover their own asses against it--up to and including inducing panic. But Houston is not built in a toilet bowl. It's not New Orleans, and it's weathered many, many hurricanes. And will weather many more, I'm sure.
The lives of those 24 elderly people--and the additional deaths that will almost certainly result from this fiasco of an "evacuation"--are their responsiblity, and appropriate civil and criminal charges should be filed.
But of course, that won't happen. It never does.
As of this moment, I am ashamed to be a citizen of Houston and of Texas. I've never had cause to say that before, but I certainly do now.
The media and politicians have combined into the perfect political storm to induce complete panic over a simple hurricane. I've weathered many hurricanes and tropical storms from within my own home--which is where I am right now.
The evacuation plan was intended for areas affected by storm surge--the coast, in other words. But the governor, the collective mayors of Houston and surrounding suburbs, and most of all the congential idiots who run FEMA, have created absolute chaos and mass hysteria over a simple storm. My 90-year old grandparents were caught up in this mess, stuck in the parking lot formerly known as I-45 at 1 a.m. this morning in a broken down car. They were there solely for the reason that the above-mentioned political mouthbreathers forced evacuation of their city, which is forty miles inland and 40 feet above sea level, in order to cover their own political posteriors.
Houston has been effectively shut down since noon Wednesday. No one could get to work because of the stampeding masses. Now all of these people will have to make their way back into town. Business will not resume until Tuesday at the earliest, more probably Wednesday or Thursday. That's hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue that simply ceased to exist, and for no good reason.
The blame for this entire shameful episode lies completely within the laps of the mass media and the politicans; the former for being scare-mongering ratings-scalpers, the latter for a disgusting display of selfish ass-covering. They saw the political fallout from Katrina, and the media wanted it to happen again, while the polticians would go to any lengths to cover their own asses against it--up to and including inducing panic. But Houston is not built in a toilet bowl. It's not New Orleans, and it's weathered many, many hurricanes. And will weather many more, I'm sure.
The lives of those 24 elderly people--and the additional deaths that will almost certainly result from this fiasco of an "evacuation"--are their responsiblity, and appropriate civil and criminal charges should be filed.
But of course, that won't happen. It never does.
As of this moment, I am ashamed to be a citizen of Houston and of Texas. I've never had cause to say that before, but I certainly do now.
posted by Jar(egg)head at 11:40
3 Comments:
For all my friends in Houston
Hurricane Drink Recipe:
2 ounces amber rum
1/4 cup passion fruit juice, or 1 tablespoon passion fruit syrup
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon grenadine
Juice of 1/2 lime
Cherries and orange slice to garnish
Ice cubes
*Yes I know a pussE drink, but during a hurricane it becomes manley.
Favorite Pastimes
Hurricane Horse Shoes
Hurricane Football
My advice, insure you have plenty of ice. If electricity goes out the beer gets warm.
Enjoy the show, sorry it's hitting on a weekend
At least you get a few days off.. we only got a half day for our cat 4 hurricane. :-p We watched it from the porch, which was very entertaining. Since Rita is down to a cat 3 now, I would suggest a picnic. Most of the nicer parks should be pretty empty now. We played some street football during the last couple of cat 3s. Frisbees should be considered disposable.
I can't emphasize just how important the ice thing is. You really don't want to let the beer get warm. Proper preparation is very important!
My give-a-dam busted during last years' hurricane season. After hosting the "Blow Me Charlie" party with my hubby Banduar, everything else has been panic driven hype. I know from experience how even just 1 hurricane "shutdown" day can affect a retail store, oh say like Michael's... and it takes weeks, if not longer to get back on track, especially if it is during "peak-season". Such a waste, especially when nothing happens. Nothing happened 3-4 times last season, but our store prepped for it each time, and each time it got harder to snap back from all the lost production time.
Perhaps all these media and politically induced panic-attacks will encourage stricter building codes akin to those in south Florida (post Andrew) where buildings like our condo can withstand Cat 5; since they are so interested in saving lives... I mean asses.
So stop all your panicked calls to us late in the night if you hear anything less than a 4 is on it's way to us. And NO we will not be evacuating, we will be sleeping through it. Even if we could get out of Florida... which is unlikely as we are at the southern tip and gas runs out fast these days... we sank anchor here, and we'll go down with the ship (but she's built hardy). We've experienced worse afternoon showers than some of the Cat 3's we've seen, so take it easy... we are... and like they say.... plenty of ice... no one likes cold drinks!
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