Flap Your Lips Friday
Posted by Michelle Moquin on November 2nd, 2012
Good morning!
It’s been pretty quiet in blogsville. What’s everyone been up to?
I have been watching the news and I am still really concerned about the devastating affects of Hurricane Sandy. Today I just want to check in with all my readers and ask how you are doing.
I realize many of you affected from the storm read here, so I wanted to at least tell you again that you are in my thoughts and prayers, and I am HOPEing that you are safe and with your loved ones.
But the reality is, although the storm has subsided, what is left in the wake is very far from normal. And, it is going to take a very long time before things return to any normalcy. And for some of you, and perhaps many, your home is not a place that you can return to. My heart goes out to you and yours.
This is the latest, and it is not good. I HOPE that much more will be done for all of you in the coming weeks and months.
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath: Anger Mounts Over Gas Shortages, Power Outages, Relief Supplies
NEW YORK, Nov 2 (Reuters) – Four days after superstorm Sandy smashed into the U.S. Northeast, rescuers on Friday were still discovering the extent of the death and devastation in New York and the New Jersey shore, and anger mounted over gasoline shortages, power outages and waits for relief supplies.
The total killed in one of the biggest storms to hit the United States jumped by a third on Thursday, to 98. In New York City, 40 people have been found dead, half of them in Staten Island, which was overrun by a wall of water on Monday.
Among the dead in Staten Island were two brothers, aged 2 and 4, who were swept from their mother’s arms after her car stalled in rising flood waters. Their bodies were found near each other in a marshy area on Thursday.
(SCROLL DOWN FOR LIVE UPDATES)
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Federal Emergency Management Agency Deputy Administrator Richard Serino planned to visit Staten Island on Friday amid angry claims by some survivors that the borough had been ignored.
Scenes of angry storm victims could complicate matters for politicians, from President Barack Obama just four days before the general election, to governors and mayors in the most heavily populated region in the United States. Obama so far has received praise for his handling of Sandy.
“They forgot about us,” said Theresa Connor, 42, describing her Staten Island neighborhood as having been “annihilated.” “And (Mayor Michael) Bloomberg said New York is fine. The marathon is on!”
Citing the boost it brings to the city’s economy, New York Mayor Bloomberg decided to hold the world’s largest marathon on Sunday, as scheduled.
Adding to heated tempers, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut drivers were also confronting a shortage of gasoline. Even before dawn on Friday, long lines of cars snaked around gasoline stations around the area, and police were in place at many spots to keep the peace between furious, frustrated drivers.
In one instance, a man was charged in the New York City borough of Queens with threatening another driver with a gun after he tried to cut in on a line of cars waiting for gas.
COLDER WEATHER AHEAD
Forecasts for colder temperatures only added to the tension, since many in New Jersey and elsewhere have been using fuel-powered generators to run lights and heaters while waiting for utilities to repair downed power lines.
At a Hess Station on late Thursday night in Fairfield, New Jersey, people waited more than three hours to fill-up their cars and gas cans. Four police officers directed traffic.
“This is a pretty apocalyptic situation. How far do we have to go to get gas – Tennessee?” said Ricardo Meehleib, 30, as he waited in line.
While power was expected to be returned throughout Manhattan by Saturday, it could be another week or more in suburbs and more distant towns along the coast. About 4.5 million homes and businesses in 15 U.S. states remain without power.
Fury has been escalating throughout New York at Bloomberg’s decision to proceed with the marathon on Sunday, vowing the event – which attracts more than 40,000 runners – would not divert any resources storm victims.
“If they take one first responder from Staten Island to cover this marathon, I will scream,” New York City Councilman James Oddo said on his Twitter account.
Staten Island, which lies across New York Harbor from lower Manhattan, is home to about 500,000 residents, many blue-collar workers whose families have lived there for generations.
In New Jersey, where at least 13 people were killed, entire neighborhoods in oceanside towns were swallowed by seawater and much of the Atlantic City boardwalk was destroyed.
“There’s nothing more precious to people than their homes. Those are where their families are, their memories and possessions of their lives, and there’s also a sense of safety to home,” New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said.
“That sense of safety was violated with water rushing into people’s homes at an enormous rate of speed and people having to literally swim, climb, jump for their lives,” he said.
COSTLY CATASTROPHE
The financial cost of the storm promised to be staggering. Disaster modeling company Eqecat estimated Sandy caused up to $20 billion in insured losses and $50 billion in economic losses, double its previous forecast.
At the high end of the range, Sandy would rank as the fourth costliest U.S. catastrophe ever, according to the Insurance Information Institute, behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
In blacked-out New York City neighborhoods, some residents complained about a lack of police and expressed fears about crime. Some were also concerned about traffic safety.
“People feel safe during the day but as soon as the sun sets, people are extremely scared. The fact that Guardian Angels are on the streets trying to restore law just shows how out of control the situation is in lower Manhattan,” said Wolfgang Ban, a restaurant owner in Manhattan’s Alphabet City neighborhood.
The Guardian Angels are a group of anti-crime volunteers.
Sandy started as a late-season hurricane in the Caribbean, where it killed 69 people, before smashing ashore in the United States with 80-mile-per-hour (130-kph) winds. It stretched from the Carolinas to Connecticut and was the largest storm by area to hit the United States in decades.
The presidential campaign has returned to full swing after being on hold for several days because of the storm. Obama, locked in a tight race with Republican challenger Mitt Romney head of next Tuesday’s election, appeared to gain politically from his disaster relief performance.
Christie, a vocal Romney supporter, praised Obama, and Bloomberg, a political independent, endorsed Obama on Thursday.
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Readers: On the upside, I have been reading about some of the amazing animal rescues, and as you all know, I feel that our four-legged ones are part of the family too. So I too HOPE that your animals are safe and sound with you.
If you can and feel like checking in, I would love to hear from some of you so that I know you are okay. Again, you are all in my heart and thoughts and I am sending you my very best.
Peace & Love…
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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November 2nd, 2012 at 7:58 pm
Looks like Christie Christy is now willing to say if you got business you didn’t build the roads that your customers travel on to get to you.
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:15 am
Since the leaders of the Rethuglican Party hate just about everything upon which this country was founded, it certainly is NO surprise that they are now trying to steal votes in Ohio. Despite the Right yelling “sour grapes” every time it’s brought up, the electronic voter fraud in ’04 stole Ohio for King George II. Now, they’re trying it again. SHAMEFUL!
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:16 am
Michelle with your help and Madaline’s I believe as you said it will be over soon. I have voted today.
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:17 am
Michelle, I hear the republicans are preparing for defeat in Ohio by claiming the machines are flipping votes for Obama. How can the machines owned by a company that Mitt’s son has lots of stock in flipp votes against his father?
GOPoers sure have a propensity for thinking illogically-or listening to others who plant these ideas so easily in their non-thinking heads.
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:18 am
The republicans are out in droves trying to discourage voters from areas that are usually heavily Democratic.
Sounds like WE need the UN to come in and monitor Our voting to make sure it’s on the up and up! :(
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:19 am
How can the republicans get away with this? I went to vote today and it was just a mess.
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:20 am
I think it’s time that we Ohioans put some pressure on Columbus to do away with electronic voting machines altogether and videotape ballot counting!!!
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:20 am
Looks like Election Night is going to be the most watch event on television..and the next night..and the next night…and the next night…
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:20 am
BUT THIS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING. EVERYONE KNEW IN OHIO THAT TAGG ROMNEY OWNED THE MACHINES AND IF YOU THINK THERE IS ANY ROMNEY THAT IS HONEST, THINK AGAIN,THEY ARE ALL LIARS.
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:22 am
My business depends on a lot of government help to get my customers to me. I am not stupid. Romney will not get my vote.
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:23 am
Is there some way that this “electronic voting patch’ can be audited by an impartial observer, not Secretay of State Jon Husted’s office?
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:24 am
David: You don’t sound like one of those small business owners that the GOP keeps saying isn’t supporting President Obama
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:24 am
Not only that my county just announced today that they have to “test” experimental software tomorrow on the orders of Jon “scummier than Blackwell” Husted. AFTER 4 weeks have voting has already occurred.
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:25 am
Here we go again. They’ll willing to lie and now they’re willing to steal it again. If people only knew half of what went on in Ohio in the past, they’d be in the streets. Wake up! If we put up with this again, WE are the only ones to blame.
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:25 am
The Republicans stole the Presidency twice for Bush (Florida 2000, Ohio 2004), so what’s the next move? Try to convince fact-challenged voters that Obama is the one who is an illegitimate president and that Democrats are committing voter fraud! (Not to mention screaming that all the disasters created by the Bush/Cheney junta are somehow Obama’s fault.)
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:26 am
The plot has THICKENED!!! Romney OWNS voting machines in Ohio AND 24 other states!!! Undoubtedly a “Conflict of Interest”!!!!!!!!!!! http://www.change.org/petitions/attorney-general-eric-holder-investigate-tagg-romney-owning-voting-machines-in-ohio . 12,000 responses to Atty. General needed. Thanks!!
Call Dept Of Justice at 202-353-1555 to share your concerns about Tagg Romney purchasing ALL voting machines in Ohio and HOW this an ABSOLUTE “Conflict of Interest”!!!!!!!!!!!! 25 states?!?!?!
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:27 am
Scott, Bush was never President. Ask any Republican about 2001 – 2009 and they can’t remember a thing. It never happened. When you talk to a Republican about 9/11 the only one they remember was the one that happened this year where 4 people died. They can’t remember the one in 2001 where 3000+ died and another 4000 soldiers died going to war in Iraq under false pretenses.
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:27 am
The Friday before the general election, huh? Didn’t think we’d get this far. I thought the world would just explode from the countless political ads, talking-head punditry and inane, misleading polls. But, the final push is here. Mitt Romney is within striking distance of President Obama in some polls and he is leading in others. The get-out-the-vote will be critical and that is something the Republicans have reportedly worked on very hard this cycle to counteract the Democrats strength.
Our stories are below, including the latest endorsements from POWs for Romney, the latest on the Virginia Senate race and the three counties in Michigan that could carry the Bay State for their native son. That, and a lot more to come on HumanEvents.com, today and all weekend.
Talk to you all on election eve,
– Adam Tragone, Managing Editor
November 3rd, 2012 at 12:29 am
Loved reading this:
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Here Are The Jobs
Nov 2, 2012 | By ThinkProgress War Room
32 Months, 5.4 MILLION Jobs
This morning brought some unexpectedly good news. Beating expectations, the final jobs report before the election showed that the economy created 184,000 private sector jobs last month. This means that the economy has had 32 straight months — nearly three years — of private sector job creation, making for more than 5.4 MILLION jobs.
The unemployment rate remained essentially unchanged, moving up just .08 percent. Due to rounding, however, the headline rate went from 7.8 percent to 7.9 percent. This slight increase was mostly attributable to more than 500,000 people rejoining the labor force.
Yesterday also brought good news on the economy. Consumer confidence hit its highest level since February 2008. And Chrysler and GM had their best October in five years. Mitt Romney, of course, would have let Detroit go bankrupt.
As the election approaches, it’s important to understand Obama’s real record on jobs. Here’s something that should put it into perspective, net private sector job creation (which means including the millions of jobs lost when Obama first came into office) under Obama and Bush: