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After brushing by the southern tip of Florida just last weekend, Hurricane Rita plunged into the Gulf of Mexico and has been gaining strength ever since. With landfall predicted to be square in the middle of the Texas coastline, people everywhere have already started leaving the area. The island of Galveston has already been under mandatory evacuation orders since yesterday, and all reports show that the island is virtually lifeless.
Here in Houston, about 50 miles away, the sense of panic is growing stronger every hour. Yesterday, I left work to start picking up supplies like water and batteries and such. I came away empty-handed. Items were flying off the shelves just as fast as they were stocked.
I’m still not sure about whether I should just up and leave. There are so many things to consider. Since we have two children, the possibility of being without power for extended periods, flooding or even damage to our house could make things really complicated. I know that cellular service has been spotty in the last 24 hours and traffic around town has grown to monumental proportions. Reading the news, it would seem that this is possibly the worst storm in recent history, dwarfing Hurricane Katrina that devastated Louisiana and Mississippi just three weeks ago.
But when I look around the neighborhood, I don’t see anyone boarding up their windows, I don’t see anyone packing up and leaving. In fact, on the way home today, I saw people at a park, sitting by a pond talking. I saw people riding their bikes down the street. I saw people going to restaurants.
One thing I heard on the radio was that the fact that it’s been sunny and hot all week might be misleading people into a false sense of security. But is there really anything to panic about? Could we just be overreacting in light of what happened with Katrina? Or is this a real threat that could endanger thousands of lives?
UPDATE - As everyone should know by now, Rita managed to not only calm herself, but miss Houston almost entirely, bringing us nothing more than a little wind and rain. Unfortunately, lives were still lost, including the 23 people on a bus that exploded on the way to Dallas. Most of the deaths were actually attributed to the heat and traffic during the evacuation before the storm even made landfall.
Talk about a man seizing the moment. Kanye West, already known for being unusually candid and frank on truly important issues, lit the media on fire last week.
During NBC's fundraising concert for Hurricane Katrina victims, he took advantage of his live television segment to express his own perspective and emotion on what's happening in New Orleans. He even made the concession that he had gone shopping and tried to ignore the news before finally deciding to make as much of a donation as he could. It was a spontaneous, heartfelt moment and even though he stammered through it, he came across as absolutely sincere compared to Mike Myer's canned words.
As for Mike Myers, I'm not sure whether to feel sorry for him or just lose all respect for him. His failure to acknowledge what was happening right next to him by continuing to read his written lines was an uneasy moment at best. That is until West dropped the bomb.
"George Bush doesn't care about black people."
Notice he didn't say "President" Bush. No, he called the man out by his first name. Nice.
So...just like that *snaps*, it's settled.
Bush declares victory. Kerry concedes. Just as backwards as that sounds, so is this entire election and its outcome. No dispute, no argument, just lie down and take it.
Not a chance.
From BoingBoing:
"Get over it," he said, "The way you feel now is exactly how I felt when Nixon won a second term -- crushed. I just couldn't believe America was that stupid. But remember what happened to Nixon that term."
Maybe Osama bin Laden got just want he wanted with that last tape, scaring folks into thinking that Bush was indeed their protector. I think he just guaranteed that he'll live for another four years, because we all know that Bush, being a self-proclaimed war president, can't wage a war without an enemy.
Maybe Kerry shot himself in the foot by parading his military experience too much, to the point that the Bush campaign was able to cast doubt and even discredit a decorated veteran. Or maybe he just wasn't arrogant enough for most people's liking, considering that we're now becoming a nation of gas-guzzling, SUV-driving, super-size-eating, money-grubbing pigs.
Either way, if you voted for Bush, you are undoubtedly a fool. Not in the childish, Mr. T sense of the word, but in the most miserable, tragic sense. The saying that Bush once so horribly attempted, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." was never more fitting than now in regards to 51% of the American people. Not only have you been lied to, you've been led to believe that those lies are in fact acceptable. As the president would most likely have you believe--the ends justify the means.
Shame on you for not considering that there is another truth other than what your government tells you. For not putting forth a check and forcing this administration to provide a balance. For being complacent and settling for just good enough. Shame on you all.
Related links
CNN.com - Bush wins; Kerry concedes - Nov 3, 2004There were several instances during the second presidential debate that I burst out in laughter and gazed at the television in astonishment. Not only did the president break the rules of the format by interrupting and running over the moderator, but you could even say he broke the rules of making sense.
"Rumors on the Internets"
As a part of his response to a question about a possible draft, the president may have inadvertently started rumors that there is more than one Internet. Or maybe he's referring to the Internet2 project? Yeah, that's it...right?"Battling green eye shades"
Apparently this is a term that refers to accountants (or more accurately, the glasses they've been known to wear). But I suspect that unless you regularly associate with accountants--which I'm sure most people don't--this just comes from out of nowhere."A hydrogen automobile--hydrogen-generated automobile"
While I get that the president was referring to a hydrogen-powered automobile, it just furthers the notion that he has trouble being coherent when under pressure. Or it could be that he let the cat out of the bag that the government has found a way to construct a vehicle--with solid, moving parts--entirely from a gas. Like riding on a puff of wind!"A catastrophic plan"
Okay, this is an odd one. The president used the correct term in talking about health care policies, but the funny thing is that it just sounds wrong. And to those who don't have health insurance (which could be a whole lot of folks) this sounds like yet another mental slip-up."The Dred Scott case"
Is this the best our president could do to illustrate his knowledge of our judges and judicial system? It's clearly a desperate attempt to pander to the St. Louis audience. That and the idea that slavery might somehow still be a relevant issue. Simple evasion maneuver.If you haven't already, now is the time to get involved in the democratic process, maybe more than any other instance in the last couple of decades. Many will say that it's one of our hard-won freedoms and an honorable privilege. And that's absolutely true, but it's more than that--it's your duty.
Voting is a civic duty that none of us are required to participate in, and unfortunately, it can have detrimental effects on our society when we don't.
You know, there are certain civic duties that we all have to succumb to at one point or another. Some are constant, like taxes, and others are rare, like jury duty. Voting is a civic duty that none of us are required to participate in, and unfortunately, it can have detrimental effects on our society when we don't. I can understand why voting isn't mandatory, because an election where the voters are pressured to choose--when perhaps there is no candidate to their liking--is not a fair election. On the flipside, an election that is decided largely because of voter apathy can hardly be fair either.
I have my opinions, you have yours. Maybe we agree, maybe we don't. One of the greatest things about this nation is that we have the right to do so, but with that right comes a huge responsibility. The responsibility to make sure you're being represented, being heard and taking a stand for what you believe in. You have to do your part. In fact, you should feel compelled to do your part, as I am right now. I've only been able to vote twice since I turned eighteen and I went to the polls and made myself heard. While it was utterly discouraging to see what happened in the 2000 election, I still plan to get out there and vote this November.
But I'm not going to vote because it's tradition, or routine, and certainly not because it's the new hip thing and all the other kids are doing it. I'm going to vote because I have a vested interest in what becomes of this election. Not only for myself, but for my family, especially my children. I have to take into account what kind of world I'm going to leave to them. Any parent would, or at least should. As many have already said, this is going to be one of the most important elections of our lifetime. There is so much at stake, so much riding on who ends up in the White House next January that I don't see how anyone couldn't take it seriously.
The fact that probably half of the eligible population of this nation chooses not to voice it's opinion is disheartening. Much of that comes from those who've just turned of age, those who've failed to register, and those who don't see it as making a difference. I should know, I'm having a hard time understanding why my wife is considering not voting. But you know, even if you don't have kids or other family to consider, do it for yourself. Our government is just that--ours. It doesn't just belong to me, or my neighbor, but to all of us, including you, including the candidates themselves. Take ownership.
