Frankenstorm

[Prospero]

Oh dear you do NOT get it... and dialoguing with you is rather pointless.

But let me say again - I was mentioning that an evangelical leader (a televangelist - so not quite a fringe church) was spewing the now familiar prejudiced bilge we get from these sorts of Christians. Check out remarks by the likes of Jerry Falwell n the past. We simply DO NOT have that kind of lunatic Christian in the Uk in any significant way... like that stupid ass fool in Florida The "Reverend" Jones whose Koran burning sparked the death of many innocents. I never characterised all Christians in any way. Most are good decent people.

As I've said before, the "storm barreling towards Tampa" was the subject of a light hearted jest accompanied by a satirical song. It was hardly the Frankenstorm that just hit the Easter seaboard. This thread started with a genuine expression of concern from me for the people of all sorts threatened by this storm. Any hate I may have is directed at the bigots who hijack religion for their own ends. (and outside of this thread for the racists and other right wing reactionaries who I perceive to threaten a country I love.)

And as for the UK's political record. I'm happy to debate that in detail. Does not pertain to the election as it is. I have not "hoped it will go unnoticed". What an asburd remark. Nr does my participation here suggest I beleive the UK is a better country that the US. A nonsensical thing to draw from my remarks.

(But on that topic yes we do have quite a lot of people from Ethnic minorities in the UK government - past and present. A Muslim woman who was chairman of the Tory Party until a few weeks ago. A Jew who was PM - has there ever been a Jewish President? A Jewish man who is now leader of our main opposition party. Two Mslims ministers in the last Labour Government. And many other Jewish, black and Muslim politicians etc etc. But as i say not relevent to a critique of US politics really.)

There are racist elements to may aspects of your election that are quite unique and not replicated in the UK (the birther nonsense, the attempt by Republican states to exclude black and hispanics from voting, the vile placards of Obama as an ape proudly carried by some Tea Party members etc etc)

I have never attacked America at all. I have often said here that I love the country. I have family and many friends there. It is you who called it "shitty old America". What is shitty in America is the conspiracy by right wingers to destroy much of what makes it great - to turn back the clock, to restrict women's rights etc etc....

I'm done with your stupid remarks now.

[zerrrr]

Want everyone to know that ConEd is turning power on in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Hopefully all of Manhattan will be up and running by tomorrow morning.

[housekeeper]

Want everyone to know that ConEd is turning power on in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Hopefully all of Manhattan will be up and running by tomorrow morning.

My power was on when I got home this evening, heat came on a couple of hours later. What I read this afternoon was east of Broadway south of Brooklyn bridge would have power restored today, so I can perhaps get into my office space Monday, the rest of Manhattan was supposed to be tomorrow, but they were a day early and not a minute to soon for me.

I'm completely exhausted, Miss Sally was a real ball buster, need to start getting caught up starting tomorrow as I was in the dark all week. Very trying, but NY has the best recovery teams anywhere in the world and I once again offer thanks to all the hard city workers. My prayers go out to the East Village residents, got to start remembering all of my friends now from AC on up the coast and within' my neighborhood, see if I can turn around and help out. Dodged another bullet this time and shit a couple of bricks, that bitch was too close for comfort...

[Prospero]

The Hideous Inequality Exposed by Hurricane Sandy


By David Rohde - Reuters

DAVID ROHDE - David Rohde is a columnist for Reuters, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and a former reporter for The New York Times. His forthcoming book, Beyond War: Reimagining American Influence in the New Middle East will be published in March 2013.

A hotel bellman said he was worried about his mother uptown. A maid said she had been calling her family in Queens. A garage attendant said he hadn't been able to contact his only relative - a sister in New Jersey - since the storm hit. Asked where he weathered the hurricane, his answer was simple.

"I slept in my car," he said.

Sandy humbled every one of the 19 million people in the New York City metropolitan area. But it humbled some more than others in an increasingly economically divided city.

Hours before the storm arrived on Monday night, restaurants, corner grocery stores and hotels were open in the Union Square area of Manhattan. (My wife and I moved to a hotel there after being ordered to evacuate our apartment in lower Manhattan.) Instead of heading home to their families as the winds picked up, the city's army of cashiers, waiters and other service workers remained in place.

Divides between the rich and the poor are nothing new in New York, but the storm brought them vividly to the surface. There were residents like me who could invest all of their time and energy into protecting their families. And there were New Yorkers who could not.

Those with a car could flee. Those with wealth could move into a hotel. Those with steady jobs could decline to come into work. But the city's cooks, doormen, maintenance men, taxi drivers and maids left their loved ones at home.

New census data shows that the city is the most economically divided it has been in a decade, according to the New York Times. As has occurred across the country, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Twenty-one percent of the city is in poverty, and the median household income decreased by $821 annually. Per the Times: "Median income for the lowest fifth was $8,844, down $463 from 2010. For the highest, it was $223,285, up $1,919."

Manhattan, the city's wealthiest and most gentrified borough, is an extreme example. Inequality here rivals parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Last year the wealthiest 20 percent of Manhattan residents made $391,022 a year on average, according to census data. The poorest 20 percent made $9,681.

All told, Manhattan's richest fifth made 40 times more money than its poorest fifth, up from 38 times in 2010. Only a handful of developing countries - such as Namibia and Sierra Leone - have higher inequality rates.

In the Union Square area, New York's privileged - including myself - could have dinner, order a food delivery and pick up supplies an hour or two before Sandy made landfall. The cooks, cashiers and hotel workers who stayed at work instead of rushing home made that possible.

They were a diverse group. Some were young people in their twenties. Others were middle-aged Americans who had never landed white-collar jobs. Most were immigrants.

On the other end of the wealth spectrum, New York's age-old excesses emerged. Some families brought their nannies to the hotel to help care for their children through the hurricane. Others panicked when the power went off. All the while, waiters, maids and doormen continued to help them.

The storm affected the affluent as well. Tourists and business people from Boston, California, Britain and Japan were stranded in our hotel. They found themselves without power, water or transportation, and completely at the mercy of strangers.

But the city's heroes were the tens of thousands of policemen, firefighters, utility workers and paramedics who labored all night for $40,000 to $90,000 a year. And the local politicians who focused on performance, not partisanship, such as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Newark Mayor Corey Booker.

Twenty-four hours after the disaster, ugly political lines were already being drawn. Democrats pounced on a statement by Mitt Romney in a Republican primary debate last year that disaster response should be shifted to the states and, where possible, privatized. Michael Brown, the much criticized director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under George W. Bush, argued that the Obama administration had responded more quickly to Hurricane Sandy than it did to the terrorist attack in Benghazi.

"One thing he's gonna be asked is, why did he jump on this so quickly and go back to D.C. so quickly when in ... Benghazi, he went to Las Vegas?" Brown was quoted as saying to a Denver alternative newspaper. "This is like the inverse of Benghazi."

Over the next few days, Obama's and Romney's reactions to the storm will be parsed. The role of the federal government in covering the costs of the disaster will be praised and assailed. Politicians, as always, will jockey for advantage.

The storm showed many things about New York. It exposed the city's vulnerabilities. It also displayed its strengths. And to me, it showed New York's growing economic divide. I'm sure that many of the people who remained at work yesterday chose to do so voluntarily. But I fear that many of them did not.

[kensterling]

Still no power beachside here at the Jersey shore. Looks like it's going to be awhile. A bit further down the coast they have it even worse. So hard to complain about no power! Not good for escort biz though.

[zerrrr]

Just a note that there are still major problems in the Rockaways and Coney Island. If you know of any friends, TS/TV/CD or otherwise, please check in on them.

[Wendy Summers]

Where are you Wendy?

I've had a few friends that were told 7-10 days, but got service back yesterday. They are from the suburbs North and West, though.

Hoping for the same good news for you.

I don't get too specific regarding where I live since I've had bad stalkers in the past. I was in the direct path, but I'm far enough away from the coast to have avoided flooding -- the wind did the bad damage in my area. My power & heat finally came back Monday Night.