The Storm Sandy

Looking at the photos of Sandy's wrath I recall images of Japan after last year's tsunami.  Water everywhere.  Houses everywhere.  Debris everywhere.  A mess.  And it's cold.

 

I feel for the people impacted.  It isn't easy and won't be for some time.  Hang in there.

 

 

As with any natural disaster (I say this having watched many over the years, especially the aftermath of the tsunami), parts of the recovery effort will go well. Others will be challenging.  Long term will be the most problematic.  Hopefully, lessons will be learned and applied towards a next time which I hope never happens.

 

This was a very big storm that hit almost the entire east coast. of course with the worst in the New York/New Jersey area.  It will take time.

Edited by Bergermeister - 11/5/12 at 1:20am

 

 

Sad that the private companies which Mittens wants to move more responsibility to actually are largely behind the current spate of problems that then lead to frustration and anger that gets pointed at officials and FEMA.

 

Example:

 

Wireless companies didn't strengthen their networks; indeed, they strove to not do so.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/04/wireless-cell-service-sandy_n_2072287.html

 

 

Cuomo and Bloomberg are pretty angry at the power companies for slow work.

 

Yea those two know two things about getting a power grid back up. Jack and Shit.

 

And a more rational take.

 

Poor Berg...when faced with the massive failure of the State in this disaster must attempt to misdirect to the minor problems in the private sector (and falsely claim that they are "largely behind the problems that then lead to frustration and anger"), and then immediately connect this negativity to Mitt Romney.

 

Looks like Berg is suffering from Romney Derangement Syndrome.

Sandy damaged a lot of polling places.  Hope they can figure something out quickly so that many Americans can do that which is essential to our democracy: exercise their right to vote.

 

Christie is allowing fax and email voting...  How is that to work?  Sounds nice; he seems to honestly want people to vote, unlike some in his party who run other states.

 

What about New York?

Police arrest man for buying gasoline.

I think the problem was that it was not in a gas can. 150 gallons of gas in 5 gallon buckets doesn't sound safe.

 

Hmmm. Why? So?

 

So your argument is that he wouldn't have been arrested if he had 150 gallons of gas in government-approved gas cans?

Yes, endangering others is a crime.  The last thing we need is someone accidentally causing a fire by transporting these liquids in a dangerous manner.

Yes. Many states have laws WRT approved containers for transporting gas. The article doesn't really make it clear what the charge was for. I really don't want to read about the neighborhood that went up in flames because 150 gallons caught on fire.

 

Having said that it's clear the black market finds a work around to price fixing. Big surprise.

 

 

 

Gas Lines, Gouging, and Hurricane Sandy: Keeping Prices Low Means Nobody Gets Fuel

 

I really don't want to read about people continuing to go without heat or electricity because their own government keeps impeding relief efforts.

 

But what if he was arrested because of the quantity rather than the method of storage? The article leaves much to the imagination.

 

Of course no one wants to see that. The problem here is there a few assumptions at play:

 

1. That the risk or probability of such a thing is or was high.
2. That safety is a black & white issue vs. a continuum.
3. That there are not other concerns that are now elevated in related to some of these alleged safety concerns.

 

In the end though, this kind of problem wouldn't really be a problem if they repealed the fucking price "gouging" laws.

 

 

 

Good thing too. If anything these price "gouging" laws are doing more damage that some guy buying extra gasoline in 5 gallon buckets.

Here's an article with a little more information:

 

NY Man Charged in Gas Hoarding Case

 

The article title mentions hoarding, but the article itself says:

 

 

 

So again, it's unclear why, specifically they were busted.

Oh really? Is that why the unions are blocking out of state workers from helping out. Because Mittens be behind it? 'cause you know those extra union fees go to support Mitt (or something).

A report from Long Island:

 

double posted

Edited by sammi jo - 11/25/12 at 11:40am

OCCUPY SANDY!

 

Here's an aspect of the aftermath of Hurricane/Storm Sandy which, typically and expectedly, has been roundly ignored/censoredby the US corporate weasel media. The reasons are pretty obvious - this presents Occupy members in a good light, which is blatantly against the corporate media's unwritten rule for reporting on Occupy. This was established as soon as people started camping out in city parks, and it was an incessant barrage about hygiene, designed to disenfranchise anyone who protested war profiteering, greed, $multi-trillion dollar corporate welfare, Wall Street parasitism, serial crime, indentured servitude and the rest of capitalism's failures and less-than-civilized aspects. However, slightly more rational media overseas (even the uber-conservative UK government propaganda outlet, "Auntie Beeb", aka the BBC) have been reporting on this. Quote below:

 

 

 

 

 

These people, >50,000 volunteers associated with OWS, are giving their time and effort to help the victims of the storm. How many Wall Street banksters have been putting in their own time to help, that is,  when they're not scamming people out of their homes with fraudulent foreclosures etc. etc. etc., or brokering major drug deals etc? Doubtfully any.

 

 

Are we still clinging to the idea that big government is the solution?

For disaster relief? Yes. Absolutely. Show me one example, any example, anywhere on earth where lack of government disaster relief has helped.

You see, "big government" is this great catch-all catchphrase that really helps get the angry white men all riled up and randy. But what you call big government, most people just call government, and disaster relief is one aspect of responsible government that cannot be compromised. Without it we are relying on business -- whose business it is to make a profit -- for help. There is no room for profit in disaster relief.

Moral support? WTF?! You guys may want to "fact check" the results of FEMA et. al.