Where all that "debt" really came from....1776-2008

I love it when GOPers are on tv in front of their elephant logo

Shows me just when I need to hit the mute button..



That should be a "New Rule"

Sorry, but Bloomberg is being an ass

This would be the perfect time for a presidential visit

He has his own security & vehicles
There is not much traffic to snarl (as is the usual happening)
The visit would not be a very long one

The people of NY probably would welcome a brief visit

Chucky Toad and his Magical Mystery Map

Starving Biafrans, flooded-out Bangladeshis were in the news when I was a kid

In fact we were always being asked to donate to this drought/famine or disaster or another all over the under-developed world.

Schools I attended, regularly collected money to help these people.

They lived in a precarious part of the world..devoid of stable governments, and seemingly right in the path of one disaster after another.

Our teachers always reminded us how lucky we were to live in a peaceful place with the ability to protect us from famines, and how lucky we were to have people to help us get over things like tornadoes & hurricanes, fires, floods and all the other possibilities.


What separated us from those Biafrans & Bangladeshis (and all the others we donated to) was our INFRASTRUCTURE and government.

"Weather" is everywhere, and so is the possibility of fires & local disasters, but we had the satisfaction of knowing that "somebody" would always be there to help us....without having to go begging to the rest of the world for handouts.

We have seen, quite recently, what happens when no one comes to help (see Haiti earthquake), and to some degree New Orleans after Katrina. Haiti has more or less been left to the celebrities who try their best to help and the NGOs who have been trying to help forever, with little success. Their government is unable/unwilling to do what needs to be done.

Today on MSNBC, there was a graphic shown that represented dollar amounts for "repairs" after Katrina..$106 Billion..but then I wondered how much that would be if New Orleans had actually BEEN "restored".. Seven long years after the fact, there are still large swaths of land that look like it happened weeks ago.

What's different about "Sandy", is that it involved 1/5 or more of our population, and the lack of attention to our aging/stressed infrastructure is coming into a greater focus for us all..

I'm sure the subway system is great, BUT it's ONE HUNDRED & EIGHT years old.. Our "wires" are still basically strung from "poles" above ground, like they were when we first got widespread electrification..and these poles+wires are toppled with regularity by falling trees.

Too many of the communities built within the last 50 years or so have probably been built way too close to coastlines. (and out here, in fire-prone, fragile canyons & hillsides)

Money always changes hands when variances are needed, and developers who really really really want to build in areas that probably would be best left as public beachfront parks and open access to all, will almost always find the right pockets to line with cash in order to get those variances.

With ferocious storms seeming to be on the rise . and the cost of repairing damages, only to put the same people (or new, richer ones) into harms way over and over again, it seems to me that there needs to be some serious attention paid to what is in the best interest of the general public...and to the extreme costs of pretending that things are the same as they "used to be"..

Politicians of all "flavors" seem to be suddenly worried about handing down debt to "the children", but what's worse may just be handing down a wrecked, inefficient infrastructure to them in a more "dangerous" and fragile world..

"Sending money back to 'the states'.."

M'kay..

CA , NY, PA, and other blue states send in a LOT more money, so naturally, THEY will be getting a LOT of that money sent "back" to them...right?? right??? right???

Well then , why not have the states just stop sending ANY money to the "govt", and just eliminate it altogether..?

States that are "broke" can just bootstrap themselves through their issues..

and richer states can ....well....just stay rich..

Next week when Mittens loses, he and Ann can put those canned goods

and other stuff in with their 14-year stockpile of food they probably have in barrels at each of their mansions//

the LAST thing that the RC wants to do is to sort through hand-me-down clothes & dented cans of pickled beets & expired cake mixes

FEMA, Firefighters, EMS, road crews, transit workers, nurses, etc

Those public service workers who attract scorn from right wingers..

Those public service workers whose pensions need cutting, whose wages need scaling back

Those public service workers who are expected to brave the elements & save people/property and restore creature comforts..but who do not deserve them, themselves.

And , many who are not public service employees , but who also work outside in the elements & in danger.. their service is only appreciated when they are saving the day, but when push comes to shove, republicans still begrudge them a living wage, benefits, and a comfortable retirement

For a short time, they will be treated well and praised, but the first time there is even a whiff of a need to raise taxes to PAY for that protection, they will once again, be thrown in the gutter.....until the next crisis.

"...deep trough over Appalachia..."...."a high pressure system was centered north"

Although Sandy is only a cat 1, the pressure is very low and the storm itself is huge since it's merged with another one..

It could mimic the 1938 hurricane except that now we can see it on tv and know it's coming. back then they had no idea what a monster was heading their way..




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_New_England_hurricane

How the times have changed.. In 1978 my doctor tried to convince me to HAVE an abortion (Kansas)

I was pregnant with our 3rd, just 3 months after the 2nd, and I had a history of abruption with the first one.

His words to me.. I'll never forget them..

"This is not a very smart thing to do so soon after your 2nd C-section..with your history.. Let's take care of this right away"..

I declined..and 4 1/2 months later I had another abruption, and our 3rd son..we both survived, but my doctor convinced me to have a tubal ligation..

Two Code Blue deliveries in 5 years convinced me