Hurricane Katrina

Woke up this morning and turned on CNN (like I usually do) and saw that Katrina is now a cat. 5 packing winds of 175 MPH and making a beeline for New Orleans. Under this scenario New Orleans is going to cease to exist. The average elevation of the city is 6 ft. below sea level, and the predicted storm surge is 25 ft. As of Monday afternoon New Orleans simply won't be there. They are wisely putting the entire city under a mandatory evacuation order (including my cousin her husband and my niece, who are currently on their way to Atlanta) but not everyone is going to get out. I fear that the death toll from this is going to dwarf 9/11. They will never find all the bodies. Unless something miraculous happens in the next 24 hours we are going to experience the greatest disaster to ever occur on American soil

Aside from the dire predictions something else to consider, most of the oil imported into this country goes through the port of Southern Louisiana so we are going to see a major disruption in oil supplies in this country. Bin Laden and co. have spoken frequently of disrupting the oil flow into the U.S. but they could never dream of doing something on this scale. By Monday afternoon the price of oil is going to shoot up to $80 a barrel and stay there. I would predict that there will be real pressure to tap into the strategic oil reserve by the middle of the week. But in the meantime, do yourself a favor and fill up this afternoon!

Christian hit-man service

So the most entertaining man in the world, Pat Robertson, wants to kill Hugo Chavez. How Christian of him!! This as an integral part of his deep conviction in the "culture of life" no doubt. I have an idea, since the world would be better off without both of these men let's send Paddy down to South America to finish the job. When he comes back let us as a nation close the doors, turn off all the lights, be real quiet, and pretend nobodys home. Mabye we'll catch a break and he'll run off to Fiji or something.

Updates coming...soon

As you have no doubt noticed I have not updated my blog in a few days. This has more to do with me being on the road than actual laziness.(a first perhaps) Anyhow I am back home now so stay tuned because in the next few days you can read about my trip to Canada, a new political column, neighborhood news for the greater Murray Hill- Lake Park-North Avenue-UWM metropolitan area, and a brand new regular feature that at least one of you saw coming. So keep checking The View From Murray Hill for all the new posts in the coming days.

Wilderness survival

Camping up on Halfmoon Pond here in Grafton. Only night, and with four people. However we have used two truckloads of crap, and several trips back and forth to the house and store. D-day required less planning.

The love that dare not speak its name

I really hope this story makes the national news because there are few things that I enjoy more than watching Pat Robertson blow a gasket. I may endure several days of The 700 Club to see it.

To sum up, in today's Boston Globe (one of the finest dailys out there) there was a story about a pair of swans living in the pond in Boston Common. (big-ass park in the center of Boston) These birds had pair bonded and had become local celebs of sorts, so much so that they were named Romeo and Juliet. Turns out in a Sapphic twist of irony that they are both female. Thats right, the most celebrated animal couple in Boston turns out to be a same-sex one!

I think the city should go all out for this. Since Massachusetts is the only state to allow gay marriages they should have a big wedding in the common, and then they could be the grand marshalls of next year's pride parade!

Two female swans, do you think there is a market for bird porn?

Peter Jennings 1938-2005

Peter Jennings died yesterday, and I am hardly the first to say this but it is truly the end of an era. Much has been made of the explosion in the media since the internet started gaining traction, and how in this new epoch the weight the nightly news broadcasts carries has waned considerably. All of this is true but Jennings carried a sense of gravitas about him, something that is sorely lacking in modern journalism. When you finished watching World News Tonight you felt you had a rough idea as to what happend in the world on that day, and how it fit into the wider picture of the times you lived in. That somehow, in that half-hour, you had learned something and this additional knowledge made you a better person. You did not and could not glean that same feeling after viewing the other national newscasts nor from any of the 24-hour news networks. Jennings spent most of his career overseas in London, Rome, the Middle East, and wherever else the news was breaking. The knowledge he gained in those years beyond American shores came through in his broadcasts, and while many other anchors struggled with equally unpronouncable names and concepts, Jennings cut through the fog and gave his viewers a sense of clarity.

The American media is frequently described as having a narrow and parochial view, this could not be said of anything that Peter Jennings put his hands on. Jennings tried to give his viewiers a picture of the whole world not just of the American nation. He tried to take the experiences of peoples in lands far away both in distance and mind, and apply them to our own lives. He was equally adept at holding a mirror up to the nation itself and giving us a better picture of ourselves and the times that we lived in. It was to his credit that during his tenure at ABC News, World News Tonight consistantly lead the ratings race when poor progamming choices had made ABC a bottom feeder among the broadcast networks. Jennings approached the news not just as a list of the occourances of the day but as a rough draft of history, and a historian of modern times is how he will be remembered.

Not bad for a high school dropout.

Novak has a tantrum

Did anyone see Inside Politics yesterday? (8/4/05) Conservative hack Bob Novak stormed off in a hissy fit (Having been a middle school special ed. teacher I know a hissy fit when I see one) He was discussing Kathrine Harris' senate prospects with James Carville when he suddenly said "that's bullshit", stood up, took off his microphone, and stormed off the set. I wish I had been TIVOing it because I could watch that over and over. This is what happens when wingnuts like Novak are held to the fire. They can't defend their positions with fact and logic so they fall back on obscenities to deflect anyone who dares question them. Just like when V.P. He Who Must Not be Named told off Vermont sen. Leahy, Novak has proven to be just another Republican infant who will cry until he gets his bottle. For the party of "family values" these people sure have potty mouths.

This would never happen on Faux News because there right wingers are put up against cardboard cut-outs of liberals so that they can tee off without having to justify their opinions with pesky things like...facts. The reverse cannot be said of CNN because whatever you think of cry baby Novak, and Bay Buchannan they are ardent defenders of the right wing. CNN suggested that Novak take some "time off" but don't be surprised if after he outs a few more CIA spooks he shows up on Faux where he will be safe from the hassle of having to defend his opinions against the big bad mean liberals.

Dumbledore you ignorant slut

Finished the Half-Blood Prince about a week ago, and I am still fuming. Didn't everyone see that Snape had never surrendered his allegiance to Cheney...oops...Voldemort. How could Dumbledore have been so naive? Of course there are plenty of other theories, that Dumbledore has a horcrux somewhere, that Snape really is a good guy and only killed Dumbledore because of his oath to protect Malfoy. However I equate Dumbledore's death with Obi Wan's, where the mentor must die so that the hero can rise. And if Rowling writes anything approaching that Dumbledore isn't really dead because Harry has him in his heart, I am going to fly to Scotland and personally deliver a beat-down.

Summer vacation

Hey the Dear Leader and I finally have something in common. We are both taking the month of August off. I know I am on vacation because I don't have anything better to do, looking at the state of the nation and the world I can see how the Dear Leader would come to the same conclusion!

There is also a new report today that Al Queda (remember them?) is planning to use suicide bombers inside the United States. Hmmm...Al Queida determined to strike inside the United States, Chimpy taking the month of August off, as long as I am experiencing deja vu can I get my hair back?

Freeloader

Eating like a pig, and drinking like a fish, and I haven't seen an ATM in more than week now. God I love mooching off Mom and Dad.

Braves on TBS

Is there a better baseball announcing team than Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren? Yeah I live in Milwaukee, and I enjoy Bob Ucker as much as anybody else, but there is something about the lilting southern accent of Caray on play by play partnered with the slightly graveled Van Wieren doing color. I like Don Sutton, Joe Simpson, and sonny boy Chip Caray as well, but there is just something about the original. Ron Gant has been sniffing around TBS from time to time, clearly auditioning for any future openings in the Braves announcing team...he has a way to go.

News

As most of you know I am a commercial avation buff, specifically (I guess obssessed is the correct word) with crashes. An Air France A340-300 from Paris (CDG) to Toronto (YYZ) went off the runway while landing in Toronto, and burst into flames when it hit a ravine. The amazing part is that at this point there seems to be no fatalities. Watching CNN right now, looking at shots of the wreckage, if that is true than it is truly miraculous. Even more so that today is the anniversary of Delta 191, an L-1011 that went down in Dallas, also in really bad weather...creepy

Juiced!!

Did anyone tell Raffy that lying to Congress is a federal offense? His lawyer should have mentioned that.