5:12 pm CDT
Category 5 Hurricane Cindy Hits Washington DC; Bush Evacuates to Colorado


100,000 Anti-War Protesters March in Washington

1:36 pm CDT
Phil Donahue Kicks Bill O'Reilly's Nazi Ass

O'Reilly bravely banned Donohue from his show after the following exchange:
ENJOY THE VIDEO HERE

1:33 pm CDT
Today

It is sunny in Austin today; the only unusual thing is the high wind. Outside my window I can see the shrubs rustling--the most minimal effect possible of the monster storm that hit the shores of East Texas and Louisiana last night. Much better than the original forecast of (at best) a tropical storm or (at worst) a category one hurricane hitting us today.

We are, however, experiencing a category one problem of shortages. Food, bottled water, and gasoline are not as readily available as usual. This is due to the large influx of coastal evacuees into the area; as fast as grocery store shelves and gas pumps can be replenished they are depleted again by evacuees and panicky residents.

Disturbances have been reported at local grocery stores as a result of these shortages. For instance, yesterday, police were called to a Super Wal-Mart (near where I live) when it ran out of eggs. I do not know exactly what happened, but I can picture a group of people fighting over the last carton of eggs and the eggs falling to the floor and breaking. "Now look what you've done!" one person shouts. To which the other replies, "What I've done?! Why you--" Whereupon a brawl breaks out that spreads throughout the store.

I hear conflicting stories about how long the gas shortage will last. Yesterday a convenience store clerk said it would be three weeks before they received more gas, but in this morning's paper officials were quoted as saying the shortages will not continue past the weekend. So I don't know; it is difficult to sort out panic-driven rumor from political rhetoric meant to prevent panic ...

12:54 pm CDT
Why is Bush at NorthCom?

Michel Chossudovsky writes:

There are indications that the Bush Administration is preparing to enact far-reaching emergency procedures in response to Hurricane Rita, which could potentially lead the country into a situation of Martial Law.

Following his visit to Texas on September 23, President Bush traveled together with DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff to The Peterson Air Force Base, at the headquarters of US Northern Command in Colorado Springs.

...

President Bush is the Commander in Chief and what is unfolding at the Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs is the planning behind closed doors of a major military operation on US soil.

Moreover, this operation is being launched on the same day as major antiwar demonstrations across America ...

READ MORE HERE

7:22 pm CDT
Has the Oil Storm Begun?

Well, I just got back from a search for gas. That was fun.

My tank was down to three-quarters full, therefore I decided it might be a good idea to top it off in case it got difficult to find gas.

Well, it's already difficult to find gas. I drove through one service station after another with signs on the pumps saying "No Regular Unleaded" or "Diesel Only" or "Out of Gas."

At one of those stations, an Exxon Tiger Mart with "Diesel Only" on its pumps, I was told by a clerk that it would be three weeks before there would be another delivery of gas, the reason being (I was told) that the governor has ordered most gas be shipped to South Texas.

Holy shit.

Well, I finally found a place on a far-flung back street where a gas truck was just finishing a delivery. I drove up to the pump just as the convenience store clerk was removing the "No Regular Unleaded" sign from the pumps.

Now I have a full tank. And I can keep it full throughout the weekend with no problem; we have all the groceries etc. we need, thus will not need to drive anywhere.

But what will happen next week when I start commuting to my day job in Austin again? Mass transit does not serve the particular suburb where I live, therefore I may find myself stuck, unable to drive, unable to work, unable to make a living ...

Holy shit.

Am I panicking unnecessarily? I hope so, but I've a very bad feeling that, before the hurricane has hit, the Oil Storm has already begun ...

11:18 am CDT
Today

Hurricane Rita has changed direction again. It appears now that Houston and Galveston will not receive a direct hit; that will happen instead to Port Arthur and Beaumont.

Before reaching those cities, the eye of the hurricane will pass directly through the thickest cluster of oil rigs along the Texas coast. (SEE THIS MAP) This is the worst possible place in the US for the storm to hit. Here in Austin, gas stations are already running out of gas. What will the situation be like next week? How much will gas cost? Will we even be able to get gas?

Returning to the subject of the storm itself: The farther east it moves, the less impact it will have in Austin. We are expecting rain and 50-mph wind gusts throughout the weekend, but not the tropical storm nightmare that was predicted earlier.

Meanwhile, the long, slow, miserable evacuation continues. Here in Austin, I-35 and US 290 are clogged with evacuees from Houston; there are reports of stranded cars along 290, due to their having run out of gas or broken down. Those cars belong to the lucky evacuees, however; at least they made it out of the danger zone. There are still a number of people stranded on highways closer to Houston--a potential "death trap," according to the mayor of Houston.

Actually, for 25 persons, the evacuation has already become a death trap. On US 59, a woman died of a heat-related illness while stuck in gridlocked traffic. And this morning, south of Dallas on I-45, a bus full of elderly evacuees blew up, killing 24 people, some of whom used oxygen tanks. Apparently, the brakes overheated, causing a fire on the bus; this in turn caused the oxygen tanks to begin blowing up. Horrible.

There have also been a number of traffic-related fistfights, as well as pandemonium at the gas pumps. Seems that some stations have attempted to ration the gas, asking customers to pump no more than $30 worth, but of course some people go ahead and pump as much as $100 worth into their SUVs, RVs, and extra containers, leading to shouting and shoving matches between customers. Humanity at its most impressive.

I can well understand why so many people decided to turn around and take their chances with the hurricane, rather than risk the evacuation.

You would think, wouldn't you, that after years of planning for a major emergency in a major US city--an emergency we have been repeatedly told was inevitable--it would have occurred to someone whose job it is to think of such things to place gasoline trucks and school buses along the highways to deal with cars running out of gas or breaking down, but apparently no one thought about it.

And why on earth did it take two days to open up a few inbound lanes to speed up the traffic flow out of Houston? I can understand it taking a few hours to implement such a thing, but two days?!

And the situation at Houston's airports is not much better, because most of the security screeners didn't even show up for work, having decided to evacuate rather than perform the vitally important national security job of confiscating nail clippers and examining breasts. Yes, these are people who take their jobs very seriously. As a result, hundreds of people have been forced to stand in line for endless hours waiting to be screened before their can catch their flights to safety.

You would think that, under these potentially catastrophic conditions, someone at Homeland Security would weigh the high risk of keeping these people waiting for flights while a deadly storm approaches against the low risk of someone trying to sneak a bomb or a box cutter on board a plane, and come to the decision either to bypass screening altogether or at least speed up the process. But no, nothing will do but every last individual, from little old ladies in wheelchairs to crying babies, be treated as if they are potential terrorists. Unbelievable.

And I don't even want to think about what FEMA is up to right now. They're probably already cutting emergency communication lines and doing God-knows-what to increase the misery and death that will result from this storm.

Hurricane Rita: Will FEMA Block Aid & Take Guns?

3:42 pm CDT
Shelter Info for Rita Evacuees

LINK

3:41 pm CDT
An Epic Traffic Jam

Last night I called my friend Scott Gilbert to see if he's evacuating Houston. He's not; he does not live in flood plain, thus decided he would rather ride out the storm than get involved in the traffic nightmare leading out of the city.

The traffic does indeed sound terrible. My son-in-law's cousin decided late last night to evacuate, and after finally finding a gas station with gas joined the mass exodus. As of this morning, she had made very little progress and was beginning to worry about running out of gas. This has happened to many people; as a result, police are taking gas into the area and the governor has called on the Pentagon for assistance. What a mess ...

Houston Residents Struggle to Get Inland

9:06 am CDT
This Morning's Weather Report

Overnight Hurricane Rita's path shifted to the east, with the result that the storm is no longer expected to strike Matagorda, but rather, Galveston, with devastating effect. Computer models show Galveston being almost entirely flooded.

This change in the storm's path will probably lessen its impact on the Austin area, where we are, but it will still have an impact. If the storm maintains its hurricane status this far inland (a real possibility, according to local forecasters), it could carry a tremendous wallop when it tears through Texas ...

8:47 pm CDT
Oil Storm

Being in the path of Hurricane Rita, I have been preoccupied today with the immediate physical effects the storm may visit on our lives. We are 150 miles from the coast, just close enough that the storm could give us a lot of grief by the time it moves inland and becomes a tropical storm. Flooding in particular is an ever-present danger in this part of Texas, and tropical storm-force winds and/or tornadoes are also of great concern. Therefore, we have made sure to be well provisioned and have taken various other precautions: removing things from the patio that could be blown away, moving artwork and other irreplaceables out of my studio should the windows shatter and rain pour in, and so on. I also made a point of filling up my car at the gas station. Today, it cost me $2.60 a gallon; tomorrow, who knows? And that brings me to the effects this hurricane will have on the rest of the nation long after the storm itself has passed ...

Rita May Be National Disaster: Oil CEO

Rita Could Equal $5 Gas

5:54 pm CDT
Here Comes Rita

Hurricane Rita is now a category 5 storm. Here in Central Texas, we are receiving large numbers of evacuees; this is expected to cause shortages of essential items in area grocery stores, therefore we are being told to stock up on enough food and water for at least a week. As we are only a four-hour drive from the coast, there will likely be severe weather here beginning in 48 hours; flooding, tornadoes, and power outages are possible. Therefore, people are also being advised to stock up on batteries and other emergency-type items.

The mood, then, is apocalyptic. My wife just called from check-out line at the store to say that people are literally running with their grocery carts and the shelves are rapidly becoming empty. Luckily, she got there in time, so we are well stocked ...

8:47 pm CDT
Oil Storm

Being in the storm's path, I have been preoccupied today with the immediate physical effects it may visit on our lives. We are not on the coast, but just close enough that the storm could give us a lot of grief by the time it moves inland and becomes a tropical storm. Flooding in particular is an ever-present danger in this part of Texas, and tropical storm-force winds and/or tornadoes are also of great concern. Therefore, we have made sure to be well provisioned and have taken various other precautions: removing things from the patio that could be blown away, moving artwork and other irreplaceables out of my studio should the windows shatter and rain pour in, and so on.

I also made a point of filling up my car at the gas station. Today, it cost me $2.60 a gallon; tomorrow, who knows? And that brings me to the effects this hurricane will have on the rest of the nation long after the storm itself has passed ...

Rita May Be National Disaster: Oil CEO

Rita Could Equal $5 Gas

3:33 pm CDT
Hurricane Rita

At this writing, it appears that Hurricane Rita will make landfall on the Texas coast this Saturday. It will undoubtedly affect the weather here in my neck of the woods--Austin--although it remains to be seen how much. Depends on how strong the storm becomes and where exactly it hits.

3:15 pm CDT
Taser Report

Police Taser Mentally Disabeled Man Waiting for a Bus

2:49 pm CDT
It happened near a statue of Mahatma Gandhi _

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan said Tuesday she was hurt slightly in a scuffle that erupted when police broke up a rally as she was at the microphone _

Anti-War Mother's Speech Cut Short

NYPD Unplugs Cindy Sheehan

NYPD Blew It: Cindy Unplugged

Stonefruit: Camp Casey Attacked (Crawford and NYC)

See video of the shameful incident HERE.

2:43 pm CDT
"Civil Rights" Publication Defends Racists

Texas Civil Rights Review Attacks Alex Jones, Defends Plan of San Diego

2:40 pm CDT
British Provocateurs Caught Red Handed

Basra Bizarre: SAS Commandos Arrested and Sprung

British Troops Caught in Basra False Flag Op