Posts Tagged ‘hundred-year events’
Tuesday Night
* As I looked at these pictures of the babies being evacuated, I had a depressing thought. What are the financial situations of these babies’ parents? Are they poor? Do they have insurance? Are they on Medicaid? Medicaid is a health program that pays for medical services for those who cannot afford them. It is jointly funded by the federal and state governments. In some ways, I’d be happy if you were learning this information for the first time right now; the reason being that you don’t have to rely on Medicaid. Regardless, I suspect that if you had some “Medicaid” in your pocket last night, you’d have gladly given it to these precious babies to ensure their health and safety. It’s a good thing. If one of those babies were poor, I don’t suspect you’d want to punish her because her dad got laid off from his manufacturing job or because leukemia killed her older brother and bankrupted her parents just in time for her birth. If you don’t like these examples, tough shit; they’re how people get poor in the United States of America in 2012. I don’t want you to like them.
* This is a climate emergency. It is a moment of crisis, which is also a point of leverage. What should happen is a collective call for an immediate crash course on the climate crisis. Repairs combined with a hardening of infrastructure, acceleration of the build-out and installation of clean energy systems that are robust (including feed-in tariffs), a shut down of all high carbon emitting sources of energy within the next ten years, and massive outlays for research. It should be branded and aggressively promoted by every environmentally aware politician, activist, celebrity, and business leader. This requires institutional backing from the environmental groups, and a willingness to prioritize policymaking in the face of emergencies over business as usual.
But don’t worry, if we blow it this time, we’ll get another chance. And another. And another.
* Yes, Hurricane Sandy is a good reason to worry about climate change. Why Democrats Are Right to Politicize Sandy.
* More on the Nate Silver Backlash. And more. BREAKING: All the major election models continue to agree Obama will win.
* In endorsement after endorsement, the basic argument is that President Obama hasn’t been able to persuade House or Senate Republicans to work with him. If Obama is reelected, it’s a safe bet that they’ll continue to refuse to work with him. So vote Romney!
* And from the always-look-on-the-bright-side department: How Disney Could Make Star Wars Episode VII Awesome. I don’t think a recast or Pixarification is really viable, so I think we’ve got to skip ahead to Star Wars: The Next Generation. #bargaining
Written by gerrycanavan
October 30, 2012 at 8:21 pm
Posted in Look at what I found on the Internet
Tagged with apocalypse, bargaining, bipartisanship is bunk, class struggle, climate change, Disney, ecology, Episode 7, general election 2012, hundred-year events, Hurricane Sandy, income inequality, Medicaid, Mitt Romney, Nate Silver, New Jersey, New York, Pixar, politics, polls, poverty, Star Wars, there is no such as a natural disaster
Some Quick Sandy Links
Written by gerrycanavan
October 30, 2012 at 9:02 am
Posted in Look at what I found on the Internet
Tagged with blackouts, climate change, hundred-year events, Hurricane Sandy, natural disasters, New Jersey, New York, the new normal, the subway
A Few Links from the Week
* Krugman says Obama’s big job speech was okay. I agree! If nothing else, perhaps bipartisan austerity is really done.
* But he’s still screwing up on judges in a big way.
* This is the second year in a row Binghamton has recorded a 1-in-100 year rain event. If only there were some sort of scientific theory that could explain these abnormal weather patterns.
* Just great: GOP debate audience cheers Perry’s execution record.
* TPM v. Anonymous. Weird times.
* Scientists have finally invented psychohistory.
* And from Reddit: a brief history of banking.
Written by gerrycanavan
September 9, 2011 at 10:11 pm
Posted in Look at what I found on the Internet
Tagged with Anonymous, austerity, banking, Barack Obama, charts, climate change, death penalty, ecology, floods, Foundation series, hacking, hundred-year events, Isaac Asimov, judges, Krugman, psychohistory, Rick Perry, science fiction, Talking Points Memo, Texas, the courts
Hundred-Year Events At Least Twice a Year
Written by gerrycanavan
August 25, 2011 at 8:31 pm
Posted in Look at what I found on the Internet
Tagged with floods, hundred-year events, hurricanes, New Jersey