For the sake of all the people who did not evacuate the Texas Gulf Coast region, and the prisoners who were not evacuated as of middle afternoon, this storm will hopefully not produce the disaster that everyone fears. New Orleans is/was not very densely populated compared to the area north-northwest of Galveston, and the situation could result in massive loss of human lives. The Catch-22 of the phrase "hope for the best, prepare for the worst" applies to this situation in a frightening way. Here's to hoping for the best.
For the people who rode out the storm and are still safe after the storm passes, there will be incredible obstacles to overcome should the storm be anything like the prediction. Veterans of hurricane relief efforts will be welcomed after the area opens back up. I will be going to S.W. LA to help as soon as news reports indicate what assistance is needed (why not clean up hurricane mess all September?). For the rest of you out there, if the aftermath of the storm moves you to compassion then please consider making a donation to one of the charitable donations that helps people after hurricanes, such as the Red Cross or even the Houston Area Salvation Army. The people down there will need all the help they can get.
Other stuff after the flip
All Your Bovine Are Belong To Us
The Feds and Michigan want to tag livestock with RFID's, or radio frequency identification devices. They claim that it will be easier to track the movements of bovine disease. That claim has no demonstrated basis in fact. It's highly likely the deeper reasons for the regulation have nothing to do with the stated ones. The profit of the company that makes the devices surely figures heavily into the regulation, as well as the profit of any vendors. The Bush administration is after all mostly concerned about corporate profit, and the impoverishment of poor people (especially farmers it seems at times).
A lawsuit has been filed by the Virginia-based Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund because of the unnecessary regulation. I just have to say, cows did just fine in the hundreds of years before RFID's. Thanks again to all the idiots who vote Republican. You are clueless, blind, and ignorant, ye who support the beast who lives in D.C. So the Amish believe anyway, as you can read in this excerpt from the article:
Use of a numbering system for their premises and/or electronic numbering system for their animals constitutes some form of a 'mark of the beast' and/or represents an infringement of their 'dominion over cattle and all living things' in violation of their fundamental religious beliefs," according to the farmers' lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
As radio frequency identification devices become a daily part of the electronic age, RFID technology is increasingly coming under fire for allegedly being the mark of Satan. The technology is fast becoming a part of passports and payment cards and is widely expected to replace bar-code labels on consumer goods.
The suit (.pdf) mentions various verses from the Book of Revelation. "He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Revelation 13:16-17
I have always thought the people in charge had a lot of evil inside them. Now we have those who cling to the old faiths warning that it is those who hold power who are the pupils of Satan, and not some unseen threat from beyond the veil. As the minions of the shuggoths rise, and the doors to the tomb of Nyarlthotep are cast open, look into my eyes. Look into my eyes and witness insanity, as I say, "Mooooooo!!"
-
Side note: I can't believe I missed Palin referring to Iraq as the culprits of 9/11. I had the quote right there in front of me. Somehow my eyes just didn't see it. There was so much else to laugh at that I became overwhelmed. I still hate missing giant elephants though.
-
Reading Between The Lines
Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention had its fair share of blissfully ignorant attacks on Barack Obama, and one would expect that from the speech writers who tell the woman what to say. None of them were true, of course. For example, I am sure Obama does not worry about reading terrorists their rights. He's too much like Republicans when it comes to issues involving national security and the rights of suspects. We know this because of his vote on FISA, which retroactively legalized spying on American citizens. Obama has consistently made statements with regard to our militaristic goals that either agree with many Republican ideas, or later come to be quietly adopted by the administration. The man has proven that he believes in authoritarianism, which he has the right to do (but which has not gained him much favor among the hardcore). So attacks were abundant, but attacks filled only with emotional appeal and little or no factual basis.
There was one small part of the speech that most people seemed to miss. When describing herself between attacks on her infinitely more qualified opponents, Sarah Palin told a little joke. "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?" she asked. Her answer was, "Lipstick." During the blown up non-issue surrounding Obama's use of the colloquial phrase "putting lipstick on a pig" this week, basically nobody brought up this part of Palin's RNC speech. If you merge the question and the answer, it leaves Palin calling herself a pit bull who wears lipstick. I wonder if she thinks that's a good thing.
Some facts about pit bulls:
Pit bulls, Rottweilers, and Presa Canarios are the deadliest dogs in the nation. Pit bulls accounted for a third of all human deaths from dog attacks in a 20 year study here in the United States. Children are the most likely victims of dog attacks. Children under the age of 14 account for 42% of dog bite injuries. Most attacks occur within the home, so it's the trusted pet pit bull that injures the family children more than any other dog.
Until Sarah Palin's RNC speech I did not know pit bulls could wear lipstick. The rest of her statement makes complete sense, though. She's most likely to harm the children of her own family, as can be evidenced by her cover up of her daughter's pregnancy, followed by forcing her daughter into an arranged marriage. I can also see the correlation between an animal attacking at random, without the benefit of human education, and Sarah Palin's words concerning her Democratic opponents.
Come on. It's not so much of a stretch. Besides, I have been wondering how I could work veterinary concerns into the whole Vice Presidential analysis gig. See, it's posts like these that force some bloggers to remain anonymous.
* This was not originally my idea, but I wrote my own version. I have a long record of giving credit, but I can't seem to find the original concept.
-
McCain Victory: A multiple Choice Test
[Friday afternoon fun, written in an hour or so and basically a creative fragment]
Quite the opposite of what McCain and Palin believe, or have espoused as their belief, that "Russian aggression" will leave the former Soviet nation isolated, Russia has become more expansionist following the short war with Georgia. The imbecilic proponents of theocracy leading the charge from the right are just plain wrong, in a disastrous sort of way. Award winning columnist William Bradley:
This week, Russia participated for the first time in the OPEC meeting in Vienna. Moscow accepted a standing invitation, sending a deputy premier who is also head of the petro giant Rosneft. OPEC and Russia agreed to begin coordinating on production and price. And key Central Asian energy-producing nations are choosing to work with Russia, rather than the US.
On top of that Russia sent strategic bombers into Venezuela, within striking distance of the United States. Would somebody please tell John "Too Mean And Dishonest To Be Real" McCain and his talking Barbie doll to stop rattling sabers that they don't even have their hands on yet? They do not speak for me, they do not speak for the United States, and they certainly do not speak with intelligence.
<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;">Multiple Choice</span>:
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Scenario One</span>
McCain is elected and there is no further conflict between the United States and Russia. Instead much of the world turns away from our nation because of the extreme right-wing fundamentalist Christians in control of the Presidency. Contrary to what some Christians believe has been laid down before America by God, the approval of the entire world is not just a given. The United States originally had to earn the respect of other nations, and will now have to do so again. A McCain, or (shudder) Palin, Presidency would lead us further away from regaining that respect rather than moving us closer to it.
In this scenario the United States, and not Russia, finds itself increasingly isolated in global affairs. As the disastrous and failed economic policies (drip down) that have hung around far too long diminishes the purchasing power of consumers, the strength of the economy, and ultimatly the dollar. More and more energy deals that once bolstered our lifestyle are granted to competitors rather than to us. The quality of life for citizens here deteriorates until the United States becomes an economic afterthought with a huge arsenal, a mouse on the socioeconomic scale that has a tooth to bite with. Terrorism becomes a redundant notion, as the United States won't be worth blowing up anymore.
The air in most places becomes toxic. The rivers all become polluted. The oceans rise and the continent shrinks. Storms of all kinds, droughts, and forest fires all intensify. The ecological disruption begins to make the land barren, and wildlife species decline in population significantly. Hunger and starvation becomes widespread as the land will no longer sustain healthy crops, and the seas become depleted of fish. The blame for the fall of the American Empire will rest squarely on the shoulders of the people who voted for the McCain presidency, the straw that broke the camel's back.
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Scenario Two</span>
McCain is elected, and discontent between the United States and Russia intensifies. The Office of the President pushes through NATO approval for all of the nations that Russia has objected to, and the situation escalates into a severe diplomatic crisis. Russia begins limited strikes on the NATO applicants. Washington does not have the military resources to respond because of all of the other conflicts the McCain-Palin administration has pushed for our nation to carry out and carry on.
Years of progress toward constructing friendly relations between America and the former states of the Soviet Union fade into oblivion. The ranks of the enemies of our government swells exponentially as the truth of all the empty promises and abandoned obligations dawn on the small nations drawn into the neo-con web of deceit. A new Cold War begins, but this time one in which the United States has virtually no allies. In the new Cold War the United States is seen as an aggressive, renegade nation. The United States becomes known globally as the leading violator of human rights.
The quality of life here in the states slips further down the toilet, helped along by terrorist attacks from the ancestors of all the people our nation ever wronged over the course of history. The prison population balloons as civil discontent and hunger drive people to break the law, both in an effort to survive and out of sheer hopelessness. American cities eventually have to be patrolled by soldiers day and night. Papers are required for any sort of travel, and checkpoints are everywhere. Our cities become desperate, savage places populated only by the poor, which by that time will be 98% of the population. The law becomes a tool to protect only wealthy people, such as President Palin, and everyone else is considered suspect under the law.
The empire quivers in its death throes for a couple of decades. Our beautiful mountains look down on what once was America and wonder how such a proud people could pollute and delude themselves out of existence. The oceans rise as the ice caps melt. The continent shrinks. It becomes dangerous to breathe the air in urban and rural areas alike, depending on wind currents. The water flowing to the sea no longer provides life to the creatures who drink from it, but rather death. Massive hurricanes and tornadoes, new dust bowls and constant fires become the norm of the land. Nothing will grow, and animals everywhere devolve into miserable shadows of their former existences. There simply will not be enough food to go around. Historians will place some blame on the McCain-Palin administration, because the shallow actions of those people can easily be explained. History never does understand why the American people did it to themselves.
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Scenario Three</span>
Tensions intensify between the United States and Russia because of the McCain-Palin doctrine of absolute war. The situation between the nations rapidly escalates into a full fledged war. Nuclear weapons fly, but Fermi's Fire and nuclear winter somehow do not take place. When it's over the United States will have only a very small home defense force to defend it. Russia, also horrifically destroyed, will still have a vast standing army. An invasion of the United States takes place, and resistance is quickly squashed. The United States becomes a part of the world's newest hyperpower, Russia, a nation that is proud to finally achieve the westernization it only aspired to during the years of Katherine the Great.
Interestingly, after an intense cleanup effort to decontaminate the radioactive regions lasting decades, life begins to improve for the residents of North America for the first time since the turn of the millennium. Eventually, even more decades later, prosperity and happiness returns, driven by a universal desire to never allow the world to go through such a horror again. Nuclear weapons are banned globally, too late for the late United States. The human race reaches all new heghts of culture and learning, and sets it sights on the stars.
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Scenario Four</span>
The American people elect Barack Obama. Disaster is averted. The world struggles on, but struggles mostly in the right direction. Great strides are made in environmental preservation. The economy slowly churns toward a more egalitarian balance. United States citizens graduate from college in record numbers, and the numbers of people seeking advanced degrees in science and engineering skyrockets. Huge advancements in technology are made, and dependence on fossil fuels becomes a thing of the past. Decades later the world working together as a whole develops the drive that will take our people to the closest star. Nothing is ever the same after that, in a good way.
Answer:
Er, uh, four?
-
Good night, Daily Kos.
Stay safe, citizens of the world.