I saw a good quote in a Metafilter thread attributed to the poster's atmospherics professor:
"Great White Sharks exist for only two purposes: To eat and to make little Great White Sharks. And hurricanes exist for only one purpose: To disperse heat from the equatorial regions towards the polar regions."
That is, in the simplest of terms, the reason we're seeing the South flooded right now (look at the pictures in the previous entry) is due to global warming… which means it's going to get a whole lot worse, since pollution continues to rise dramatically and energy consumption goes up yearly. I think it's also worth quoting Walter Maestri who is the emergency management chief in Jefferson Parrish, Louisiana. Last year Bush cut the funding for flood control measures to prioritize war.
"It appears that the money has been moved in the presidents budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose thats the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees cant be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."
Every death that happens in Louisiana and Mississippi and every bit of property damage might have been averted if the money to defend against this type of disaster had not been diverted into Halliburton and the other corporate friends of the administration — and those who voted blindly to support the war share in that blame. With a $1.4 trillion projected cost, is the Iraq War really worth it? Is it more important than ensuring the safety and prosperity — and future — of Americans? Along those lines, let me also quote from a story from a month ago:
"When members of the Louisiana National Guard left for Iraq in October, they took a lot equipment with them. Dozens of high water vehicles, humvees, refuelers and generators are now abroad, and in the event of a major natural disaster that, could be a problem."
Too bad the National Guard got drafted for Iraq service…
How messed up is it that Venezuela — who Bush names as the South American “axis of evil” leader and has mulled invading — can offer relief aid of food and fuel to Americans while Bush laughs it up and plays guitar with Mark Wills (see the picture in the previous entry). Hell, Venezuela has even offered free eye surgery to Americans without healthcare.
I've linked this story before, but with Morgan Stanley predicting a 90% chance of economic armageddon, and with President Bush having mood swings described as “paranoia bordering on schizophrenia” coupled with “pre-senile dementia“, one has to wonder what steps can be taken to medically relieve someone from office… I mean, on Star Trek the chief medical officer could relieve the captain of duty if he was unfit to command — is there a person with that power in the United States, Why oh why couldn't Bush just have a slightly more humorous disorder?
or does it take some vigilante patriot voting from the rooftops?
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