Harvey. One can only be heartened by the many, many pictures of strangers helping strangers, asking nothing but to help someone in dire straits. One can only wonder how long it will be before former president Jimmy Carter and his Habitat for Humanity crew are seen brandishing saws and hammers somewhere in southeast TX.
This story in The New Yorker describes the pros and cons of Houston's development and expansion. The title speaks for itself, "Hurricane Harvey, and Public and Private Disaster in Houston." City tidbits. Houston: "[a] locked circular labyrinth when flooded...over 10,000 square miles...larger than NJ...[nearly] 6 million residents...largely unregulated...diverse...minimal zoning... drastically inhibited drainage [due to development]...flat...50 feet above sea level...fourth largest US city...average rainfall of 50 inches [surpassed by Harvey in less than 72 hours]...scrappy sense of humor...very Texan largesse...[vast] settler of refugees."
This article from Slate notes the nation-wide impact of the storm. "Economies derive their power and influence from their connections to other cities, countries, and markets. And Houston is one of the more connected. It is one of the global capitals of the energy and energy services industries"
From afar, foreign correspondent Anne Applebaum writes about how local news, via the internet, provides essential immediate news and what might well happen as Harvey's destruction becomes yesterday's old news.
Identity politics. This article, written by James Baker III and Andrew Young, from the Wall Street Journal, "Identity politics are tearing America apart," begins with the painfully obvious observation, "Political leaders should focus on the common good. Floodwaters and rotting bridges don’t discriminate." Neither do vulnerable levies and dams.
Harvey's massive rainfall has caused rotting levies to fail and dam spillways forced open less the dams fail. Infrastructure upkeep/repair requires ongoing monies that have not been sufficiently forthcoming from federal, state, and/or local governments. You get what you pay for -- or else.
For untold millions, that "else" has arrived. The article continues, "Somehow, the drumbeat of dissonance seems harsher today. America’s national ideal of “e pluribus unum”—out of many, one—threatens to become a hollow slogan...The country faces a stark choice. Its citizens can continue screaming at each other, sometimes over largely symbolic issues. Or they can again do what the citizens of this country have done best in the past—work together on the real problems that confront everyone."
Watching Good Samaritans, sometimes risking their lives to save total strangers, one has to believe that the dissonance begins in the halls of government where being re-elected is often more important than alleviating current/future human suffering.
Heart-warming human interest stories about Harvey from this week's Optimist. People selflessly helping, sometimes saving, others. Link here.
The president's non-smile. Has anyone seen a truly smiling Trump? Something, that is, besides the smirk that always seems to say, "See this? Can you believe ...." Add your own situation. As in the smirk that looked out behind the convicted, but now-pardoned, AZ sheriff, Joe Arpaio. Trump seeming to say, "You can bet this one is going to play so well with my base, so well!"
North Korea. Kim Jong Un has now fired a missile over Japan, which prompted the appropriate, necessary and immediate response from the leaders in the US, South Korea, and Japan. Washington Post story here.
The North said the launch was in response to the scheduled, ongoing US -- South Korean military exercises. The South Korean air force launched two fighter jets that fired precision guided bombs at per-determimed targets in the South. Initial reports from the Japanese defense ministry said that after traveling 1,600+ miles this missile (like several others) broke apart before plunging into the Pacific Ocean.
The 5 myths about missiles from the Washington Post story.
- For deterrence, countries must display functional weapons.
- The U.S. could destroy an enemy’s arsenal on the ground.
- The U.S. could shoot down enemy warheads in flight.
- Deterrence can’t work against a country like North Korea.
- First-generation nuclear weapons are hard to make.
US Attic #2. The Smithsonian Museum is often billed as the nation's attic with a seemingly numberless collection, both what is on display plus those "behind the curtains." Carla Hayden wants Americans to learn about our other, our #2 attic: the Library of Congress. Ms. Hayden is only our 14th Librarian of Congress; 45 presidents, but only 14 people have headed the world's largest library. She is also the first woman and first African American to hold the position.
If you have never visited, you should put this on your list of places to experience on your next visit to the nation's capital. The building is impressive, even though you cannot, of course, walk through the entire collection.
What's in a name? One of last week's Denver stories concerned Michael Scanlon, a Coloradan who wants to have the "Colorado Broncos," rather than the "Denver Broncos." He has formed the Colorado Broncos LLC and is on a mission to collect 76,000 petition signatures favoring the name change, as in the (multi-state/city) New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, and Arizona Cardinals. Good luck with that, sir.
Statues in India. In the New Yorker, Steve Coll wrote "Things to think about when taking down statues." India has its problems, too. What to do with all those statues commemorating people/events when India was the Raj, crown jewel of the British Empire. The rise of Hindu nationalism has given rise to statue controversies not unlike our own current debates.
Reading, non-fiction. Notes on a Foreign Country, Suzy Hansen. Ms. Hansen left the US, moved to Istanbul, and discovered America. In reporting/writing from Istanbul after 9/11, the author finds there is much she does not know about America.
Regular order. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) believes it is time for Congress to return to "regular order." He writes, "Congress will return from recess next week facing continued gridlock as we lurch from one self-created crisis to another. We are proving inadequate not only to our most difficult problems but also to routine duties...we [in Congress] have to respect each other or at least respect the fact that we need each other." This necessarily means achieve necessary compromise take place by force the Congress to operate as intended through its long-established committee system.
The GOP & the Democrats. The president proceeds to implement his policies and Michael Gerson writes about "'Trump forces' and the smashing of GOP orthodoxy." It would seem that one consequence of November's election should be a critical, thorough re-evaluation of what each party stands for -- and who's in charge of each.
Myanmar violence. Sadly, even the presence of a politically powerful, world famous former Nobel prize winner has not been enough to forestall violence between the Myanmar's minority Islamist group and the majority Buddhists. The nation's military still holds the keys to power. Link here.
2017, Hollywood's floppy summer. This was not a good movie summer, worst in 25 years. So bad that the Labor Day weekend's blockbuster was 40 years old, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Perhaps those friendly aliens could give us a key to solving our manifold earthly problems.
Dreamers. The future status of 800,000+ young Hispanics (minor children brought to the US by their parents) became an immediate political question as the president announced his intention to let the DACA program expire. But, as is his wont, he will try to lay blame on the Congress by giving them 6 months to fix the situation; they will then "own" whatever fallout occurs. If the House and Senate want, they could use this program as the opening wedge in re-claiming the legislative initiative, by passing the change with the promise to override any potential presidential veto.
Labor Day, 2017. Columnist E.J.Dionne recounts the April 11, 1948, debate between Robert Taft, aka Mr. Republican, and Walter Reuther, head of the then-powerful United Auto Workers. Taft made arguments not unlike today's "trickle down" economics, tax cuts were the key to job and wage growth. Reuther begged to differ, famously warning, “There’s a direct relationship between the ballot box and the bread box." Which Dionne thinks still holds water and will lead many of President Trump's supporters to question his not-so-new economic policies as they fail to produce his promised economic changes.
Thank you for reading. Enjoy these last weeks of summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment