A roundup from some of my reads.
An Etherealgirl’s Adventures in Cyberland has been following opinion and news on New Orleans and is just as miserable and angry as I am. She points to the Time Photo Essay, and some of the coverage at Daily Kos (see the video from Hannity and Colmes – “Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera were livid about the situation in NOLA as they appeared on H&C. When Hannity tried his usual spin job and said “let’s get this in perspective,” Smith chopped him off at the knees and started yelling at him saying, “This is perspective!” It was shocking.” What’s happening is even worse than the hurricane itself – people are locked in, starving, no sanitation, with checkpoints at the bridges turning people back.
Raven’s Retreat finds the government reponse to Katrina unacceptable, and urges them to “get off their asses and help those people.”
PusBoy knows about where Bush’s bread is buttered. He quotes from Yahoo news: “Asked if U.S. oil companies should forfeit profits during the crisis, Bush said instead American corporations should contribute cash to hurricane relief funds.” Pusboy notes that the “donations” would not begin to approach the levels of record profits. I agree with his two-word summary.
Richard at Love Ministries posts on the responsiblities of caring, loving people. ” “It would be unloving, and thus, antispiritual, to say that an important event or issue is “political,” and hence, to imply that it is somehow “outside” of spirituality. For spirituality is life, and everything in life, that has to do with justice, fairness, the poor, society, the nation, and the world. So, when a compassionate person sees the betrayal of people, the abandonment of Love, she is called by Love to expose that ignorance. Loving and conscientious people all throughout history have spoken against tyrants, warmongers, greedmongers, and other corrupt types, especially those in power.”
Lovebevvy at Honey I’m Fabulous seems to be working on the blog, or she has disappeared. Drop me line, wouldja hon?
Gentle Breezes displays a photo of some people on a roof in New Orleans. “Help” is written on the roof in chalk, and they are waving American flags. “About sums it up, eh.. (snip) Now will you tell me, with most of the country being run by incompetent men, why do they give the killer hurricane the name of a woman? Seems to me it should be called George.” She also recommends the BuzzFlash article “Incompetence, Lying and the Betrayal of a Nation: It’s Deja Vu All Over Again — And More Death and Chaos from “The Master of Disaster,” George W. Bush.”
Just Rambling wonders how prepared any of us are for a real emergency, and what we would do (for instance) if we couldn’t afford to buy the gas that was available.
Where the Dolphins Play isn’t surprised that the conservative christian group Repent America issued a statement that God “destroyed” New Orleans for its wickedness, citing a gay-themed event that was supposed to take place there. What next – will Falwell and Robertson chime in too? Sick.
And so, my ever-reliable Grateful Bear has devoted a long post to arguing against the idea of the hurricane as an expression of God’s wrath upon the wicked. I think that it is incredibly pathological that such would be needed, but evidently… He also points to Tony Campolo’s article at BeliefNet – here is a snippet: “Instead of looking for God in the earthquake or the tsunami, in the roaring forest fires blazing in the western states, or in the mighty winds of Katrina, it would be best to seek out a quiet place and heed the promptings of God’s still small voice. That voice will inspire us to bring some of God’s goodness to bear in the lives of those who suffer.”
Mousemusings wonders what Homeland Security actually does. She also points out that prochoicers need to contact the FDA to give them feedback on the morning after pill, which would reduce the number of abortions. If we can control condoms we can control this. A tip from me – you can ask your doctor for a prescription of birth control pills, even if you don’t use them. Find out from your doctor – don’t guess! – what would be the dosage of those pills to use as morning-after pills. Save them for an emergency and make a note of the expiration date. Remember that oral methods of birth prevention do not protect against disease.
Total Information Awareness quotes mondro dentro’s comment at TPM Cafe – and it’s good enough to re-quote: “I don’t think people are yet grasping that America’s cities just simply do not fit into the Republican narrative. Consider: They are full of the poor and minorities. They vote Democratic. They epitomise Modernity and it’s discontents. They consume large amounts of government resources. They are home to the cultural and economic elites most strongly in opposition to a rightist agenda. They are dens of iniquity. From this perspective, the rightist power elite and their base, consciously or not, simply do not care if the cities are destroyed. Indeed, I think many believe, again, perhaps only unconsciously, that the future of America is to be a cityless, suburban, libertarian paradise. A sort of hyper-real post-modern recapitulation of frontier American life. ..So, if you want to know why our cities are not protected, in my view that’s why. It’s not a bug. It’s a feature.”
Oh, and – take a look at this
Anyone have the current deficit amount?
Out national debt, a worse can of worms, is up to $7.9 trillion. In this fiscal year alone, the government has already had to pay more than $315 billion of your money on interest payments to the holders of the national debt (guess who?). Payment of this interest is the third largest expense in the federal budget (for comparision, NASA at $15 billion, Education at $61 billion, and Department of Transportation at $56 billion).
Hard times ahead, friends.