Report: Only Way Nation Will Pay Attention To Climate Change Is If Julia Roberts Dies In Hurricane...The Onion
- If you've not heard the news yet, unemployment rose to 7.9% in October. Out of the last 40 months, the unemployment rate has been under 8% for just 2 months. It's also higher than the rate he "inherited" from Pres. Bush.
- Unemployment for blacks rose to 14.3% from 13.4%..
- The long-term unemployment rate is now over 40% or 5 million people. That includes people out of work longer than 27 consecutive weeks.
- Food stamp growth is 75 times that of job growth.
- Yesterday, I went down to the Jersey shore to help a friend clean up her house. Fortunately for her and most of her neighbors, the damage was specific to their garages (with the exception of those homes with rooms on the first floor). I saw a lot of sand in the streets and a lot of refrigerators and carpeting being tossed (in this particular shore community, home owners were allowed to return yesterday). I also did not see much government help. It was Americans helping Americans.
- I only bring this up because of what I read in the NY Post this morning regarding the significant damage done to lower Manhattan, Staten Island and some other boroughs. As thousands of New Yorkers were raiding dumpsters to put food on their tables, Mayor Bloomberg not only decided to endorse Obama (and that's fine, but he based his endorsement on Obama's alleged leadership in fighting global warming. That's hilarious on its face), but he also decided to still hold the NY Marathon on Sunday. When I first heard he wanted to still hold the marathon, my first inclination was to agree with him. My reaction was based on the getting back to "normalcy" as quickly as possible. But that was until what I learned about how many New Yorkers are still suffering. Even more disturbing, massive generators are parked in Central Park to serve the marathon. These generators could provide power to over 400 homes. Moreover, the generators are now running 24/7, but not supplying power to anyone. In addition to this disgraceful action, resources (like NYPD officers, transportation officials, etc.) are being diverted to help in the marathon. A veteran police Lt. said, "How can you run a marathon when people are starving in Manhattan?" And if that is not bad enough, the upper level lanes of the Verrazano Bridge are being closed for the marathon. This will exasperate the already insane traffic for all New Yorkers. That's in addition to the insanity New Yorkers are now facing with the subway system, buses, commuter rails, commuter buses, ferry boats, bridges and tunnels (now open) and taxis (many were flooded because large numbers are parked in Hoboken, NJ, that is still flooded. Bottom line: if things improve by Sunday, many New Yorkers will still be suffering. In my opinion, watching a marathon is low on the priority scale right now. It's also an even that can be rescheduled.
- And for those who still blame Sandy on global warming (like the knucklehead, Al Gore), here are some facts. Extreme weather has plagued the earth for billions of years. In 1955, two hurricanes hit NYC causing significant flooding. New England has been hit by category 5 hurricanes (the highest level) in 1938 (that hurricane killed 700 people), 1944, 1960, 1976, 1985, 1991, and 1996. Everything has to do with the NATURAL CYCLES of the earth and nothing to do with global warming. We've also had severe hurricanes in the 1800's. The above image about global cooling came out in 1977. Union News, NY Post & Wikipedia
- A lesson all of us on the East Coast have learned in the last week is all the new technology--cell phones, computers, the Internet---are all useless. In other words, life returns to what life was like prior to the 1980's. But what has not changed is people helping each other. Americans have been doing that for over 200 years. And when Pres. Obama told the nation the government will be there for you, tell that to the millions still suffering. Again, it always comes down to each one of us and local government agencies and first responders. One would have thought many Americans learned that lesson after Katrina hit New Orleans. The conspicuous failures were exposed in local governments (Mayor Nagin and the governor of La.) not by the feds.
- A Decatur, Alabama, utilities crew learned a hard lesson this week. They sent some of their crews to New Jersey to help get power back on. They were told by New Jersey unions to go back to Alabama because the Alabama crews are not unionized. 48 News
- Bengazi, Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi---is a scandal and a disgrace.
