Blow Hard

Well, the vacation from the blog is over for now.

Let's see what wisdom I can share today.

By now, unless you have been in a cave somewhere, you have heard about Hurricane Ike and the damage it brought along with it.

My first problem is the name. I suspect many think of President Eisenhower, Dwight David, 1890–1969, American general and 34th President of the United States, b. Denison, Tex. His nickname was Ike.

I think out of respect the storm should have had a different name.

I guess a case could be made that it was named after Ike Turner (formerly of Ike & Tina Turner). I understand he did a lot of "blow" so maybe that is the connection.

The second thing that bugs me is the mandatory evacuation that was ordered.

Mandatory
Function: adjective

Text: forcing one's compliance or participation by or as if by law

Synonyms: compulsory, forced, imperative, incumbent, involuntary, necessary, nonelective, obligatory, peremptory, required.

Many people ignored the mandatory evacuation order and stayed and now expect someone to come rescue them.

Authorities Save Nearly 2,000 Residents Who Ignored Evacuation Orders.

Those people should be ignored and no effort should be made to help them.

That's called thinning the herd. We need to let nature eliminate a lot of human morons.

At the very least, if the law happens on some fool that chose to ignore a mandatory order to evacuate, then they should be sent to a shelter called the nearest jail.

They committed a crime and now they deserve to do time.

The next thing that I have issue with is telling everyone to evacuate and then letting the news media like Geraldo stay and broadcast. To me, that is an oxymoron.

Speaking of morons I did find it quite amusing to see the news people holding their little hand held Wind Anemometers.

The funniest though had to be Geraldo getting blown over into the water. That should be a You Tube gem for years to come.

My last comment today about Ike, as well as Hanna, is the fact that according to the weather experts they were supposed to be category 4 or 5 storms when they hit.

Neither were, so a lot of people that made popcorn and sat down in front of their TVs to watch were disappointed.

More has to be done to ensure the accuracy of these reports.


Speaking of jail time for people involved with Ike or any storm:

Ike skews gas; some stations ask $5 a gallon

HOUSTON -Pump prices jumped above $5 per gallon in some parts of the country Sunday as Hurricane Ike, which caused less destruction than feared, left refineries and pipelines idled and destroyed at least 10 offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Far beyond areas struck directly by high winds and flooding, Ike left behind it a bizarre pattern of prices at gas pumps, with disparities of more than $1 a gallon in some states, and even on some blocks.

"We're on the other side of the looking glass," said Claire Raines, who lives near Knoxville, Tenn. "I just passed three gas stations with prices that ran from about $3.50 to close to $5 within walking distance."

Average prices exceeded $4 per gallon in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Hawaii and Alaska, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.

A station in Knoxville, Tenn., was asking $5.19 for a gallon of regular gas. In Nashville, about 180 miles away, gas was going for $3.50.

Something like this should be punished as well, but it won't be.

That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.