Wha’ Happened This Week? So You’re Never LATE TO THE PARTY.
(Talking about which, don’t forget to vote on Tuesday! And read last week’s PROPOSITIONS post for a cheat-sheet on those suckers.)
1. There was a storm. People made a lot of Grease jokes. But, like, badly… because everyone knew in their heart of hearts that it was too soon to mock Sandy: residents all up and down the Eastern seaboard are still without power and many are dealing with traumas from flooding to evacuation to coffeelessness. Seriously, these tips from a Katrina survivor make it clear this ain’t no laughing matter. And when gas starts running out, you really gotta consider if the zombie apocalypse is nigh.
The beautiful part, though, is the awesome stories of those staving off the apocalypse using only the power of their power (see above). Or the power of their kindness, really. This might be a New Yorkers thing or an American thing but I’d like to think it’s a human thing. All my Facebook friends in NYC are sharing their homes, their info on where to volunteer, and their moral support with one another. YOU GUYSSSSS. Then there’s all the courageous citizens who helped patients during a horrific episode when the back-up generators failed at the Langone NYU Hospital. And the Metro Transit Authority that waived fares all week. And the members of the Twitterverse who’ve used it as a lighthouse for victims afloat & rescue-workers wading through the muck. UPDATE: And when Twitter fails, the real world message board prevails!
No, no, but seriously folks: even the Republicans & Democrats are, this close to the election, coming together and it’s really uncynically heartwarming. Waterlogged NJ Governer Chris Christie admirably put partisanship aside & praised Obama for the super speedy relief efforts the president sent his peeps; their bromance flourishes. And both presidential candidates stepped off the campaign trail in the wake of Sandy to focus on the emergency & honor the victims of devastation… until Romney jumped back on it a day later, abracadabra-ing his political rally into a “storm relief event” that smelled a bit fishy. Really, y’all, he’s in a tight spot ‘cuz the one thing you don’t want when you’re known for saying that the government agency that helps out during national emergencies is “immoral”… is a national emergency.
But OY, clearly everyone’s getting EXHAUSTED by the election (this adorable 4-year-old made the nation nod emphatically) and it’s TEARING FAMILIES APART:
2. So this week there was FINALLY some discussion of climate change, as leaders attempted to separate the scientific from the political. And scientists attempted to jazz it up <—- that’s a video you should totally watch if you wanna know how climate change is like steroids, which you do.
3. And, for a completely unrelated Frankenstorm threatening to make landfall, this week saw the mashup of massive weather systems Disney & Lucasfilm when Disney bought George Lucas’ company for $4.05 billion — and the cries of dismay & delight on social media briefly out-yelled both the hurricane & the election chatter. Really, the shake-up could be great or crappy for the future of the cherished Star Wars empire, but speculation is boring. Instead, in honor of my dad who’s one of the inventors of the theory of Dark Matter, I submit to those of you pining to discuss the dark side a competition going around the internet to help scientists solve the mystery of what Dark Matter actually is. Good luck 🙂
Quote of the week a la George Bernard Shaw:
Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.
The Smarty at the Party 