CURRENT MOON

Monday, July 31, 2006

Midwest Heatwave


So, here on what is fondly referred to as the "East Coast," I dashed home from work and ran outside to water my plants and my lawn. The heat wave that has been killing people and livestock in the West is coming to the East. I'm cheap, so I'm basically into triage. I'm letting the annuals, except for the coleus in my front yard, go and am trying to water the rhododendrons, azaleas, and other perennials enough to keep them alive. I've spend, oh, dogs' dollars, fixing up my front lawn, so I'm watering that, too.

The NYT reports that the heatwave that was killing people and livestock last week in California is moving towards the midwest.

What I find, and I'm sorry if I'm naive, but what I'll go on finding amazing is the fact that our leadership -- in the WH, in the Senate, in the Congress, in Richmond, is so disinterested in this heat wave.

What those crazy people who believed in global warming kept predicting is coming to pass. Read the national press, check out the WH webpage, read the liberal blogs. NO ONE CARES. People are dying. Livestock are dying. Crops are dying. People will be going hungry this winter. AND NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE.

Waiter? Over here! I'd like my check now, please. I'll take a final side order of leadership. Thanks!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I've given up on the lawn and the plants. Of course, we've had some rain, so that helps. This whole heat wave is frightening.

Anonymous said...

I live in the midwest and we've had many days over 105, plus so much dust and pollen the doctors' offices are overlowing with allergy patients... Much talk here of the disaster this is for farmers but it doesn't seem to make enough headlines nationally, or get any practical response from government to curtail energy usage.

Luck to your plants. I assume you are using "grey water" such as from dishwashing,for the plants. Every little bit helps.

cgreen

Interrobang said...

29C here in the microclimate (85F, and that's down a bit), with 77% humidity, and a Humidex of 42C/107F.

I don't have an air conditioner.

Can we please start going after corporations for over-air conditioning their premises yet? Nobody needs to have a shopping mall the approximate temperature of a chest freezer in cookie-sheet summer weather, office buildings' thermostats do not need to be set on "refrigerate," and so on. They use far more power than even the most ostentatious overconsuming McMansion, and I never hear a word about corporate conservation efforts, not even here where the utility is publically-owned, so conservation gets pushed a fair bit.