DL Open Thread: Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022
Lee County Apparently Hardest Hit By Hurricane Ian:
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has told CNN that Lee County, home to Fort Myers, was the area hit hardest by Hurricane Ian. And she expects the damage is going to be catastrophic.
“The area that has been hit the hardest — certainly from what we’re hearing right now — is Lee County,” Criswell said. “We know that there was significant storm surge there. We know that their water system has been impacted, and we’re focused right now on getting some search and rescue teams, who have been out since 4:00 this morning, to get into that area and identify who might need assistance, who might need to get rescued.”
She said she couldn’t quantify the amount of damage, “But I can tell you that it is going to be catastrophic. The amount of impact to these communities is going to be significant.”
Biden Signs Disaster Declaration:
President Joe Biden has signed a major disaster declaration for Florida.
The declaration makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota counties.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro To Be Defeated By 76-Year Old Leftist Lion? Bolsonaro has done incalculable damage to Brazil’s eco-system:
A victory would complete a remarkable journey for Mr. da Silva, whom former President Barack Obama once called “the most popular politician on Earth.” When he left office in 2011 after two terms, Mr. da Silva’s approval rating topped 80 percent. But then he became the centerpiece of a sprawling investigation into government bribes that led to nearly 300 arrests, landing him in prison and seemingly destined for obscurity.
Today, the former union leader is back in the spotlight, this time poised to retake the wheel of Latin America’s largest nation, at 217 million people, with a mandate to undo Mr. Bolsonaro’s legacy.
“How did they try to destroy Lula? I spent 580 days in jail because they didn’t want me to run,” Mr. da Silva told a crowd of supporters last week, his famously gravelly voice even hoarser with age and a grueling campaign. “And I stayed calm there, preparing myself like Mandela prepared for 27 years.”
Mr. da Silva has also benefited from a matchup with a deeply unpopular incumbent. Polls show that about half of Brazilians say they would never support Mr. Bolsonaro, who has upset many voters with a torrent of false statements, destructive environmental policies, an embrace of unproven drugs over Covid-19 vaccines and harsh attacks against political rivals, journalists, judges and health professionals.
Did Russia Sabotage Its Own Natural Gas Pipelines? Well, considering that neither pipeline was, you know, piping any natural gas, they’re the most likely suspect:
European Union leaders said the apparent attack on two key pipelines in the Baltic Sea shows the energy conflict between Russia and Europe has entered a potentially dangerous phase and vowed retaliation if evidence emerges the Kremlin was behind what they believe was an unprecedented act of sabotage.
The warning came as natural gas prices, which had been in decline from very high levels in the past month, jumped for the second day in a row, rising about 15 per cent.
The increases were driven by fears other pieces of European energy infrastructure could come under attack and a warning from Kremlin-controlled Gazprom, the world’s largest gas exporter, that gas flows through Ukraine are at risk over a legal dispute with Ukraine’s national gas company.
The parallel pipelines, each about 1,200 kilometres in length, were full at the time of the explosions, but were not actually pumping gas to Germany. Supplies from the older Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which had been delivering most of Germany’s imported gas, were steadily ratcheted down by Gazprom over the course of the war and went to zero in late August.
The newer Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was endorsed by thenGerman chancellor Angela Merkel, was fully built but never went into operation. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suspended its permitting process in February, just before Russia invaded Ukraine.
This tidbit from the Washington Post:
Five European officials with direct knowledge of security discussions said there was a widespread assumption that Russia was behind the incident. Only Russia had the motivation, the submersible equipment and the capability, several of them said, though they cautioned that they did not yet have direct evidence of Russia’s involvement.
“No one on the European side of the ocean is thinking this is anything other than Russian sabotage,” said a senior European environmental official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal thinking about the leak.
Coffee. Beer. Red Wine. Dark Chocolate. All good for you. Not anecdotal. Empirical.
Wilmington Councilperson-At-Large To Resign Next Week. Loretta Walsh, who served from 1985 to 1997, then served from 2004 to the present. She also more or less ran the Sheriff’s Office while Sheriff Mike Walsh spent his time at the track. Council is soliciting applications. Should be some interesting political machinations here.
What do you want to talk about?
How Florida ‘has been particularly good at putting more things in harm’s way.”
An interactive map of Florida’s explosive growth:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/28/florida-population-growth-hurricane-ian-path/
Lol, DE growth is where? I’ll answer….underwater in less than 50 years.
Im sure floridians will all reject the socialism directed their way from Biden.
Don’t pay taxes, get made whole by the Feds.
LOL, what? Floridians pay federal taxes at the same rate as DE and a regressive sales tax to the state as well. Rich people in DE skirt taxes just like rich people here. There is no distinction other than most counties are filled with traditional (bonkers) republican refugees from other states who continue to vote against their own interests (just like DE). And lets not forget the DEGRT. Federal flood insurance rates should be the one means tested law passed by the last progressive caucus before the end of US democracy, though. But Manchin would probably oppose even though his state is relatively immune.
I would love to see Biden head down there and toss paper towels to these folks.
That clip is one of the most memorable things about Trump’s presidency.
You could literally see him thinking in it “Wow, I’m really good at this.”