As the temperatures across the region dropped, roads became increasingly treacherous and utility companies moved thousands of crews into place to deal with the possibility of widespread power outages.
Throughout the day, which for many was a rainy sloshy mess, people rushed to stores to stock up on supplies, drivers lined up at gas stations to fill their tanks and local authorities from New York City to Maine activated their plans to battle the snow as it began to pile up.
With the storm moving up the East and the worst weather not expected until Friday night, Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts took the unusual step of banning all cars from the roads in the state starting at 4 p.m. The governor of Connecticut, Dannel P. Malloy, also ordered all but emergency vehicles off the state’s highways.
This is what Sandy looked like from New York City.
Do you remember that I mentioned that there was this plant, in New England, that made an injectable steroid compound? That compound got infected with a fungus that I’d never heard of before. The number of deaths from this infection is now 28. There’ve been 377 infections. Again, let me say, we need more not less government oversight in order to prevent things like this from happening again.
Every now and then, in this 24/7, gotcha media environment that we live, in people get on camera that shouldn’t. People simply get airtime who shouldn’t be given the time of day. For reasons that are unclear, somebody decided to interview Michael “heckuva job” Brown about FEMA’s response to hurricane Sandy. Michael Brown thought that the Obama administration was “premature.” Basically, they operated too fast. In our society, there are some people that should be seen and not heard. (To be honest, some people should not be seen or heard.)
Today, was the first time I’d heard in conjunction with Hurricane Sandy a real discussion about climate change. Look for Fox News push back tomorrow.
I’m not sure what to make out of Mitt Romney’s latest ad that is airing in Ohio. Basically, the ad suggests that Jeep, a subsidiary of Chrysler, is shipping jobs to China.
Here’s what Romney said last Thursday in Ohio: “I saw a story today that one of the great manufacturers in this state, Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China. I will fight for every good job in America, I’m going to fight to make sure trade is fair.”
This was completely wrong. Bloomberg News had reported that Fiat, the majority owner of Chrysler, was planning to once again start building Jeeps in China, after production had been on hold since 2009.
The article made clear that Chrysler was was “adding Jeep production sites rather than shifting output from North America to China,” but some blogs, such as the Washington Examiner’s Washington Secrets,misinterpreted the article and reported: “Jeep, the rugged brand President Obama once said symbolized American freedom, is considering giving up on the United States and shifting production to China.”
After Romney made his comments, Chrysler issued a statement firmly denying that any North American production was being moved to China:
“Jeep has no intention of shifting production of its Jeep models out of North America to China. It’s simply reviewing the opportunities to return Jeep output to China for the world’s largest auto market. U.S. Jeep assembly lines will continue to stay in operation. A careful and unbiased reading of the Bloomberg take would have saved unnecessary fantasies and extravagant comments.”
In response, a Romney spokesman explained: “The larger point that the governor made is that rather than creating jobs here, the foreign owner, handpicked by President Obama, is planning to add jobs overseas.”
This is a strange bit of spin, given that all international automakers build cars in other overseas markets. In this case, one could argue it is a sign of the company’s growing strength that it is returning to a major overseas market that it had abandoned. (Moreover, Chrysler is planning to add to its Jeep workforce in the United States in 2013.)
By ecthompsonmd|2012-10-31T20:18:54-04:00October 31st, 2012|Elections, Environment|Comments Off on Wednesday Evening News Roundup
Hurricane Sandy churned relentlessly through the Atlantic Ocean on Monday on the way to carving what forecasters agreed would be a devastating path on land that is expected to paralyze life for millions of people in more than a half-dozen states, with extensive evacuations, once-in-a-generation flooding, widespread power failures and mass transit disruptions.
The huge storm, which picked up speed over the water on Monday morning, was producing sustained winds of 90 miles per hour by 11 a.m., up from 75 m.p.h. on Sunday night. The center of Hurricane Sandy made its expected turn toward the New Jersey coast early on Monday. The National Hurricane Center said the center of the storm was now moving north-northwest at 28 m.p.h. At 2 p.m., the center said that the center of the storm was about 110 miles from Atlantic City, where the boardwalk had been damaged, and 175 miles from New York City.
Crane Collapsing in NY City because of Hurricane Sandy’s high winds.
First responders in Atlantic County and Atlantic City have been ordered to return to shelter and cease operations, per the Atlantic County Office of Emergency Management.
The water level at Steel Pier has risen sharply, nearly two feet in the past 90 minutes, according to the National Data Buoy Center.
President Obama declared New Jersey a disaster area, hours before Hurricane Sandy is to make landfall in South Jersey, opening up Federal Emergency Management Agency aid to help reimburse the relief effort.
By ecthompsonmd|2012-10-29T22:08:01-04:00October 29th, 2012|Environment|Comments Off on Hurricane Sandy
