The Oppenheimer Report 8/29/11

I woke up last Saturday morning, eagerly awaiting footage of the ravages of Hurricane Irene, which was crawling up the Eastern Seaboard, only to find that it had made landfall on the North Caroline coast as a Category One. After listening to Chad Meyers on CNN frothing at the bit and crying “The sky is falling,” and then listening to Mayor Bloomberg’s press conferences in NYC, I was expecting the worse. Spoke to my nephew the weather guy, who works in Virginia, and he was not all that impressed by the hype Irene was getting. Certainly she was a big storm, I believe something like 800 miles wide, but as my nephew pointed out, sometimes the big, slow moving ones aren’t the most dangerous. The infamous Hurricane Andrew, which so devastated southern Florida in 1992, was smaller in size but much more powerful in force. Of course all hurricanes are dangerous and destructive, and certainly this storm was no exception. Excessive rain was a major factor, and who knew Vermont would get hammered with flash floods? I figured most of the flooding would be coastal but it seems that flash flooding inland was a big problem as well. Here’s a fun fact: with all the precipitation from Irene, 23 inches of rain have now fallen in Philadelphia in the past month. I like NJ Governor Chris Christie: “Get the hell off the shore!” Seems like a no nonsense guy, and apparently he’s getting NJ back on financial track. Maybe he should run for president. As I finish this report on Monday night, I just heard on the news that around 5 Million people are without power. Prattsville, NY looked like it was completely underwater.

Whenever there’s a hurricane, I am always astounded by the locals who chose to ride it out. The people in Key West are notorious for their stubborn refusal to evacuate. If ever there comes a serious storm surge, those people will be toast. There were reports that some Philadelphia streets were flooded up to the to tops of street signs. One remark about casualties. I do not discount the severity of this storm, and as of this evening, the death toll from Irene is up to 25. I was reading the NY Times the other day, and buried on the back page was a story about a recent mosque bombing, I think in Iraq, and about the same number of people were killed. And that happens a lot over there.

What else … Visionary Apple CEO Steve Jobs stepped down last week, citing health issues, and Tim Cook will take over the reins. Japan is spitting out Prime Ministers like watermelon seeds. Former Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda is the new guy in town and I think he’s number five or six in as many years. Before Irene trumped it, the big story was the “liberation” of Libya. As another oppressive dictator is chased out, one wonders what the new leaders will be like. I doubt they could be much worse. Gaddafi has fled to Algeria, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he receives a lethal dose of lead poisoning someday soon. By the way how DO you spell his name; I've seen it spelled 4 different ways? Notorious polygamist and convicted sex offender, Warren “The Prophet” Jeffs is in a coma, on injured reserve in a Texas hospital. That’s what he gets for going on a hunger strike. Megrahi, that much-despised Lockerbie bomber is in a coma. Good riddance to him. Syrian despot Assad is killing his countrymen at an alarming rate (about 2200 so far) as the world looks on, and I’m guessing he’s heading for the same hotel in Algeria where Gaddafi’s staying. Canadian NDP party leader Jack Layton died, rather suddenly, last week. After three decades of public service, Layton played an important role recently in thwarting the attempted Liberal coup of Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. Apparently he was a standup guy and well respected by many Canadians.

Today was the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Goodnight Irene.

Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED