News from Joplin is devastating and heart breaking. When I first heard the town had been hit I opened national radar and saw the line of warnings stretching from Mexico to Canada through our nation’s center. I’m not sure I’d ever seen such before last night.
Batten down your hatches, be alert and prepared. The weather people say our area could be a target for severe weather today. My basement could hold a bunch so if you have no hatches to batten, you’re always welcome here!
Pictures I’ve seen from Joplin are the worst I ever remember.
I have my weather alert radio set to go off if there’s anything in counties to the west and south, but hoping it doesn’t go off. Oldest daughter has basement and is 3 blocks away, so we can be there in minutes. I hope the school kids get to enjoy their last two days without incident.
I heard on the CBS Early show this morning that it was a good thing it happened when it did because the town is 55,000 population but during the week that number swells to 250,000 (IIRC). I thought Joplin is a main hub where alot of people commute to work – but I did not know it was that high in numbers.
So, I guess things could have been worse. But this reporter also stated that 25% of the town is completely destroyed. That is alot of destruction.
I don’t know, but there are many small towns nearby in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri without industry (or much of anything else) so it could be.
My sister lived there and worked at St. John’s hospital several years ago. They moved to KC for his job. She said this morning the KC Star published a map of the path of destruction and it looked like their old home doesn’t exist any longer.
The pictures from Joplin are bad, but as far as “the worst”, for me it was the pictures from Xenia, OH, and Greensburg, KS; Andover also comes to mind. The Joplin coverage was so much more immediate, which adds to the awfulness of the pictures, imho. I turned over to the Weather Channel just as it went live to Joplin, and sat there almost mesmerized by what was unfolding for better than two hours.
I heard Al Roker on MSNBC state that the hospital only got a 30 minute warning and within 5 minutes the windows were blowing out.
But he also said earlier while he was across the street that the sirens only sounded twice and that some were not operational…….I guess we’ll know more later.
I watched a video that was shot in a convenience store that had about 20 people in it. Not much for seeing, but the audio was enough to curl your hair. Someone in it asked if the sirens had gone off. One person said they hadn’t heard a siren, another said yes, “the siren” had gone off. Could be that “operational” was spotty.
I also heard they were expecting an explosion at the hospital. Don’t know where I heard/read that or what it was about.
Saw another video with some Brits in the vehicle, which was an official storm chaser. That’s where I saw the worst of the destruction. One of the guys said the trees were “debarked.” There was absolutely nothing standing. Many tornadoes will take one house and skip the one next door. That definitely didn’t happen in the area where they’d filmed. There were some trees standing, if you want to call them that. Trunks with a few large limbs, but no leaves, no smaller limbs. Looked like those trees you see in an area that’s been flooded to make a lake. Dead.
This article is about the human side of these televangelists predicting the end of the world. Please note the section in the article telling about how many millions this televangelist’s radio empire is worth – it’s in the millions.
Please also note the section where it is stated they do not know yet if they will give any money back – I suspect that would be a big fat NO.
But, should it even be required for money to be returned to people who willingly gave?
I just don’t understand how normal rational people could quit their jobs on some prediction of some televangelist on some radio show. Maybe my God made me too independent thinking??
Here is an article I found about the New Normal Climate……these people are using the phrase – global weirding – in describing what is happening.
As there are so many deniers of Global Warming (heck, I suspect 99% of these deniers think that if it is cold out in the winter there is no such thing as global warming) And there really is no use in trying to explain that it has nothing to do with warm weather vs cold weather but rather how warm the temperature of the entire planet is getting….
But that would take an understanding of Science – and I also suspect those 99% are also the ones ready to abolish all those science classes while on their witch hunt to kill public education.
I don’t think they know what the word voucher even means. Those ardent tea baggers don’t seem to have two brain cells among them. They named themselves Taxed Enough Already at a time taxes are lower than they’ve been for over fifty years.
I suspect what they really meant by Taxed Enough Already is that THEY are taxed enough – these folks really don’t care about how much taxes anyone else pays. They will just keep on demanding those government services because they deserve them – you know.
Here’s my question: If those on Medicare aka national health care are given vouchers, shouldn’t Congress critters get the same? After all, they’re under a ‘national health care plan’ too.
Just an example of another Activist Judge? I wonder what this will do to all those private prison contractors (who are just waiting for the GOP to give them the green light to make all that profit off taxpayers) plans to privatize all the prisons in the US?
You mean they have to actually provide health care services to these inmates? Why the nerve of those judges.
Seeing these pictures and reading about the devastation makes me just want to cry – but first I’ll be thankful my family, friends and fellow bloggers are safe and well. And hoping any friends and families of fellow bloggers near Joplin are safe and well.
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the security of our own little corner of the world that we forget such devastation from natural disasters can and does happen.
I truly believe we as a society need to get back to just being thankful when we can awake in the morning and know we have another day to make a difference.
Do you think between President Obama visiting Ireland, and the devastation of yesterday’s storms Pawlenty will have the best ‘news cycle’ to announce his presidency? Maybe so! He isn’t a good speaker so maybe reading about it tomorrow or later in the week will be more dynamic than hearing him say it.
This piece from the ever-increasingly conservative Wall Street Journal talks about Pawlenty.
“As governor he fought Democrats in a budget battle that led to a government shutdown, and battled public-employee unions in a long transit strike. As Stanley Kurtz wrote recently on National Review Online, he is “Scott Walker with experience,” a reference to the new Wisconsin GOP governor, who recently caused a much bigger ruckus by doing some of the same things Mr. Pawlenty had already done in Minnesota.
As a former Catholic who has become an evangelical Christian, Mr. Pawlenty has bonds with the Christian conservatives so important in the early states of Iowa and South Carolina.”
The thing that pops out the most at me is the fact that Pawlenty is now an Evangelical Christian – IIRC – so is Scott Walker and many other Republicans who are on this witch hunt with a budget axe.
While I am all for getting our spending under control – I do not want it done by a bunch of Evangelical Christians who have an agenda that I find very narrow-minded and all too heavy towards getting ready for the holy war with those ‘heathens’ they deem unworthy to share our country – even though these heathens are American citizens also.
I guess these Evangelical Christians should read and understand the factual Constitution – instead of the rewritten version these folks seem to prefer.
I happened to catch President Obama’s speech in Ireland (I came in the middle of it, so I don’t know how much I missed).
Let me just say – President Obama makes such a good impression for the US when he is visiting overseas. The people in Dublin (where he made the speech) were packed crowds and all seemed genuinely happy to see Obama.
I wonder how annoyed the Mean Girls Club of the Republicans (yes, those are boys in that club) are at the fact that Obama has ancestors from Ireland on his mother’s side?
It seems that everytime Obama turns around, something is good is being said about him and I suspect that makes all the little boys in the GOP want to stomp their feet some more. Or maybe they will just all say some really nasty things about Obama – which is nothing new, that’s what the Mean Girls Club do in every junior high – isn’t it?
It’s no different than the say they treated Clinton. Now they have the “black” thing to deal with, which makes them even angrier, because they can’t say it or even allude to it. Must be tough to be a racist R. LOL
Authentically black? OMG I wonder just how many whites can claim to be authentically white? Who is Cain? I haven’t been watching closely the past few days.
Here is article about Herman Cain. I also heard he was on Fox News with Chris Wallace and when Wallaced asked Cain about the Palestinians right to return – Cain obviously did not know what Wallace was referring to. When Wallace expanded further into what Cain thought about the Israel and Palestinian situation (of which Obama just spoke about a few days ago) – Cain was obviousy clueless.
here is a link to the NPR story about Chris Wallace and Herman Cain discussing the Palestinian right to return issue.
BTW – if you read the first link I posted about Herman Cain – this is the guy that wants the Cain doctrine to be – if you mess with Israel, you mess with the United States.
Also BTW – Herman Cain is also one of these Republicans who ‘wants to take our country back’.. Exactly where do these buffoons think the country went?
This guy sounds like just another knee-jerk Conservative Republican that follows the holy-rollers into giving Israel carte blanche and the USA is supposed to be their attack dog – again.
I don’t know about you – but I’m tired of these holy rollers pushing for their version of the Rapture when Israel is once again back home and then Jesus can come back and really throw all the heathens into the fiery pits of Hell.
I thought Cain was the Godfather’s guy, but didn’t want to appear totally clueless to all my PPP friends. đŸ™‚ I was unaware he was black. Not that it matters to me. Godfather’s Pizza will still be my favorite pizza.
Now this is scary – Mr. Herman Cain thinks that compromise is killing our country.
I wonder if Mr. Herman Cain has looked into his mirror and has thought that if we were still under the Founding Fathers’ Constitution – he, being a black man, would only be considered 3/5 of a person?
Do you think Mr. Herman Cain would even realize that somewhere along the way through history, a compromise must have been made where a black man would even be allowed to have voting rights and the chance to run for president of the USA.
But, sad to say, this kind of bravado talk of never compromising does resonate with that certain population of Republicans – usually the Religious Right is all for that uncompromising line of B.S.
And those Religious Rightees are also the ones that are very pro-Israel – at all costs – even when Israel is in the wrong, we are supposed to be their attack dog.
That is one area I very much disagree with the Religious Right. I will stand by an ally when they are in the right – but when they are in the wrong, then they need to be told to back off.
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
News from Joplin is devastating and heart breaking. When I first heard the town had been hit I opened national radar and saw the line of warnings stretching from Mexico to Canada through our nation’s center. I’m not sure I’d ever seen such before last night.
Batten down your hatches, be alert and prepared. The weather people say our area could be a target for severe weather today. My basement could hold a bunch so if you have no hatches to batten, you’re always welcome here!
Pictures I’ve seen from Joplin are the worst I ever remember.
I have my weather alert radio set to go off if there’s anything in counties to the west and south, but hoping it doesn’t go off. Oldest daughter has basement and is 3 blocks away, so we can be there in minutes. I hope the school kids get to enjoy their last two days without incident.
I heard on the CBS Early show this morning that it was a good thing it happened when it did because the town is 55,000 population but during the week that number swells to 250,000 (IIRC). I thought Joplin is a main hub where alot of people commute to work – but I did not know it was that high in numbers.
So, I guess things could have been worse. But this reporter also stated that 25% of the town is completely destroyed. That is alot of destruction.
BTW – Does anyone know if that 250,000 number during the week is correct? That sounded awfully high to me….
But I don’t have any family or friends in or around Joplin. The last time I went through Joplin was more than 15 years ago.
I don’t know, but there are many small towns nearby in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri without industry (or much of anything else) so it could be.
My sister lived there and worked at St. John’s hospital several years ago. They moved to KC for his job. She said this morning the KC Star published a map of the path of destruction and it looked like their old home doesn’t exist any longer.
Makes me wonder how much Wichita’s population increases during the working week.
St. John’s Hospital was the worst hit – IIRC
The pictures from Joplin are bad, but as far as “the worst”, for me it was the pictures from Xenia, OH, and Greensburg, KS; Andover also comes to mind. The Joplin coverage was so much more immediate, which adds to the awfulness of the pictures, imho. I turned over to the Weather Channel just as it went live to Joplin, and sat there almost mesmerized by what was unfolding for better than two hours.
I heard Al Roker on MSNBC state that the hospital only got a 30 minute warning and within 5 minutes the windows were blowing out.
But he also said earlier while he was across the street that the sirens only sounded twice and that some were not operational…….I guess we’ll know more later.
I watched a video that was shot in a convenience store that had about 20 people in it. Not much for seeing, but the audio was enough to curl your hair. Someone in it asked if the sirens had gone off. One person said they hadn’t heard a siren, another said yes, “the siren” had gone off. Could be that “operational” was spotty.
I also heard they were expecting an explosion at the hospital. Don’t know where I heard/read that or what it was about.
Saw another video with some Brits in the vehicle, which was an official storm chaser. That’s where I saw the worst of the destruction. One of the guys said the trees were “debarked.” There was absolutely nothing standing. Many tornadoes will take one house and skip the one next door. That definitely didn’t happen in the area where they’d filmed. There were some trees standing, if you want to call them that. Trunks with a few large limbs, but no leaves, no smaller limbs. Looked like those trees you see in an area that’s been flooded to make a lake. Dead.
This article is about the human side of these televangelists predicting the end of the world. Please note the section in the article telling about how many millions this televangelist’s radio empire is worth – it’s in the millions.
Please also note the section where it is stated they do not know yet if they will give any money back – I suspect that would be a big fat NO.
But, should it even be required for money to be returned to people who willingly gave?
I just don’t understand how normal rational people could quit their jobs on some prediction of some televangelist on some radio show. Maybe my God made me too independent thinking??
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/22/may-21-judgment-day-may-22_n_865298.html
BTW – I wonder if all those millions these televangelist is worth has been all tax free?
Here is an article I found about the New Normal Climate……these people are using the phrase – global weirding – in describing what is happening.
As there are so many deniers of Global Warming (heck, I suspect 99% of these deniers think that if it is cold out in the winter there is no such thing as global warming) And there really is no use in trying to explain that it has nothing to do with warm weather vs cold weather but rather how warm the temperature of the entire planet is getting….
But that would take an understanding of Science – and I also suspect those 99% are also the ones ready to abolish all those science classes while on their witch hunt to kill public education.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=us-weather-extremes-show-new-normal
Exactly the one I read. Thanks, Indy!
In keeping with the thread topic cartoon – here is an article showing how polling on the Medicare cuts are playing on Main Street USA.
Now the question is – will the GOP keep lockstepping off that cliff?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/21/medicare-cuts-lose-election-poll_n_864989.html
I suspect they’ll say they’re not killing Medicare and their constituents will believe them.
Do you think their constituents will buy this particular line of B.S.?
Maybe the 18% blind-loyalty supporters – but those who can figure out that $6,000 voucher will not cover much.
but maybe not those who can figure out that $6,000 voucher won’t cover much…
Or those with family members who can help them understand the true facts.
I don’t think they know what the word voucher even means. Those ardent tea baggers don’t seem to have two brain cells among them. They named themselves Taxed Enough Already at a time taxes are lower than they’ve been for over fifty years.
You do make a good point.
I suspect what they really meant by Taxed Enough Already is that THEY are taxed enough – these folks really don’t care about how much taxes anyone else pays. They will just keep on demanding those government services because they deserve them – you know.
Here’s my question: If those on Medicare aka national health care are given vouchers, shouldn’t Congress critters get the same? After all, they’re under a ‘national health care plan’ too.
Sounds good to me wicked. But I don’t think we should hold our breaths on that one – do you?
Just an example of another Activist Judge? I wonder what this will do to all those private prison contractors (who are just waiting for the GOP to give them the green light to make all that profit off taxpayers) plans to privatize all the prisons in the US?
You mean they have to actually provide health care services to these inmates? Why the nerve of those judges.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/23/supreme-court-orders-cali_n_865503.html
Is this a bad penny that keeps coming back – or is it just one huge insatiable ego?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/23/donald-trump-for-president_n_865466.html
Trump wants to run – and win – but only on his terms, which means no financial disclosure and none of that messy personal stuff.
In other words, he’s a hypocrite.
Seeing these pictures and reading about the devastation makes me just want to cry – but first I’ll be thankful my family, friends and fellow bloggers are safe and well. And hoping any friends and families of fellow bloggers near Joplin are safe and well.
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the security of our own little corner of the world that we forget such devastation from natural disasters can and does happen.
I truly believe we as a society need to get back to just being thankful when we can awake in the morning and know we have another day to make a difference.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43132174/ns/weather/
Do you think between President Obama visiting Ireland, and the devastation of yesterday’s storms Pawlenty will have the best ‘news cycle’ to announce his presidency? Maybe so! He isn’t a good speaker so maybe reading about it tomorrow or later in the week will be more dynamic than hearing him say it.
This piece from the ever-increasingly conservative Wall Street Journal talks about Pawlenty.
“As governor he fought Democrats in a budget battle that led to a government shutdown, and battled public-employee unions in a long transit strike. As Stanley Kurtz wrote recently on National Review Online, he is “Scott Walker with experience,” a reference to the new Wisconsin GOP governor, who recently caused a much bigger ruckus by doing some of the same things Mr. Pawlenty had already done in Minnesota.
As a former Catholic who has become an evangelical Christian, Mr. Pawlenty has bonds with the Christian conservatives so important in the early states of Iowa and South Carolina.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303654804576341131524623852.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
The thing that pops out the most at me is the fact that Pawlenty is now an Evangelical Christian – IIRC – so is Scott Walker and many other Republicans who are on this witch hunt with a budget axe.
While I am all for getting our spending under control – I do not want it done by a bunch of Evangelical Christians who have an agenda that I find very narrow-minded and all too heavy towards getting ready for the holy war with those ‘heathens’ they deem unworthy to share our country – even though these heathens are American citizens also.
I guess these Evangelical Christians should read and understand the factual Constitution – instead of the rewritten version these folks seem to prefer.
I happened to catch President Obama’s speech in Ireland (I came in the middle of it, so I don’t know how much I missed).
Let me just say – President Obama makes such a good impression for the US when he is visiting overseas. The people in Dublin (where he made the speech) were packed crowds and all seemed genuinely happy to see Obama.
I wonder how annoyed the Mean Girls Club of the Republicans (yes, those are boys in that club) are at the fact that Obama has ancestors from Ireland on his mother’s side?
It seems that everytime Obama turns around, something is good is being said about him and I suspect that makes all the little boys in the GOP want to stomp their feet some more. Or maybe they will just all say some really nasty things about Obama – which is nothing new, that’s what the Mean Girls Club do in every junior high – isn’t it?
BTW – while picturing the male Republicans being the Mean Girls Club – tutus, tights and ballet slippers make a better detailed picture.
I hear they prefer pink….cause it’s a form of red.
President Obama spoke in Ireland at the same time Pawlenty spoke in Iowa.
Which one do you think drew the larger crowd?
I’m sorry, but Tim Pawlenty is like watching paint dry……..or maybe the paint would win in that contest.
It’s no different than the say they treated Clinton. Now they have the “black” thing to deal with, which makes them even angrier, because they can’t say it or even allude to it. Must be tough to be a racist R. LOL
Authentically black? OMG I wonder just how many whites can claim to be authentically white? Who is Cain? I haven’t been watching closely the past few days.
Herman Cain is the Godfather’s Pizza guy – I think he has done other things, but this is what sticks out in my mind.
Here is article about Herman Cain. I also heard he was on Fox News with Chris Wallace and when Wallaced asked Cain about the Palestinians right to return – Cain obviously did not know what Wallace was referring to. When Wallace expanded further into what Cain thought about the Israel and Palestinian situation (of which Obama just spoke about a few days ago) – Cain was obviousy clueless.
I’ll try to find the link to that story..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110522/pl_nm/us_campaign_cain_3
here is a link to the NPR story about Chris Wallace and Herman Cain discussing the Palestinian right to return issue.
BTW – if you read the first link I posted about Herman Cain – this is the guy that wants the Cain doctrine to be – if you mess with Israel, you mess with the United States.
Also BTW – Herman Cain is also one of these Republicans who ‘wants to take our country back’.. Exactly where do these buffoons think the country went?
This guy sounds like just another knee-jerk Conservative Republican that follows the holy-rollers into giving Israel carte blanche and the USA is supposed to be their attack dog – again.
I don’t know about you – but I’m tired of these holy rollers pushing for their version of the Rapture when Israel is once again back home and then Jesus can come back and really throw all the heathens into the fiery pits of Hell.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/05/23/136586652/herman-cain-wasnt-able-on-palestinian-right-of-return-question?sc=emaf
I thought Cain was the Godfather’s guy, but didn’t want to appear totally clueless to all my PPP friends. đŸ™‚ I was unaware he was black. Not that it matters to me. Godfather’s Pizza will still be my favorite pizza.
In case anyone is interested – that televangelist that predicted the Rapture for Saturday (and missed entirely) will be speaking tonight ……
Do you think donations will be accepted for the next big date???
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/23/harold-camping-to-speak-t_n_865746.html
Seriously folks, if this is all these Christians can do – then God help them.
But it does bring in the money – obviously.
Now this is scary – Mr. Herman Cain thinks that compromise is killing our country.
I wonder if Mr. Herman Cain has looked into his mirror and has thought that if we were still under the Founding Fathers’ Constitution – he, being a black man, would only be considered 3/5 of a person?
Do you think Mr. Herman Cain would even realize that somewhere along the way through history, a compromise must have been made where a black man would even be allowed to have voting rights and the chance to run for president of the USA.
But, sad to say, this kind of bravado talk of never compromising does resonate with that certain population of Republicans – usually the Religious Right is all for that uncompromising line of B.S.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/23/herman-cain-compromise-_n_865853.html
And those Religious Rightees are also the ones that are very pro-Israel – at all costs – even when Israel is in the wrong, we are supposed to be their attack dog.
That is one area I very much disagree with the Religious Right. I will stand by an ally when they are in the right – but when they are in the wrong, then they need to be told to back off.