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Saturday, Sep 3, 2011 19:04 ET
For Manhattan at least, last week was the weather week that wasn't. But the minor earthquake and weakened Hurricane Irene served as reminders of the caprice of nature and – only a couple of weeks before the 10th anniversary of 9/11 -- the knowledge that at any given moment calamity literally is just around the corner.
Both also should serve as wake-up calls to those know-nothings and kleptocrats who reject the value of government and would like it rendered down to nothingness -- the helpless infant that Eric Cantor, Grover Norquist and their pals wish to see drowned in the bathtub.
I've never been through a major earthquake, although I've experienced some minor tremors, the first early on a New Year's Day in upstate New York while I was still a teenager. Just as you read about in animal behavior books, the dog, lying at the foot of my bed, apparently sensed something was up, jumped off and scurried out of the room mere seconds before the shaking began. Not a word of warning from her. So much for man's best friend.
The 5.8 we had on the afternoon of August 23 was like an aftershock I experienced out in Burbank a number of years ago, while working in post-production on a documentary. It felt like a truck had hit the building. This time, there was a thump and I looked out the window to see if something heavy-duty was rolling down Seventh Avenue. Nothing -- but the apartment kept wobbling up and down. Then another hard thump and more wobbling.
Hours later, just off the phone with my brother and sister in Washington, DC, who had been in a taxi and felt nothing, I noticed that several of the pictures on the walls were now hanging at peculiar angles. That was the extent of damage at my house.
As for Irene, I live in what the city has designated Evacuation Zone C, meaning we would be sent out of the neighborhood if a direct hit by a Category 3 or 4 storm – or maybe an asteroid -- seemed imminent. That didn't happen, but my girlfriend Pat was moved to a hotel in midtown because the television newsroom at which she works needed her close at hand. Graciously, she invited me along.
Monday, Aug 29, 2011 12:01 ET
Mean, ornery and just plain wrong
AP
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Va., listens during a news conference in Washington in July.
Both also should serve as wake-up calls to those know-nothings and kleptocrats who reject the value of government and would like it rendered down to nothingness -- the helpless infant that Eric Cantor, Grover Norquist and their pals wish to see drowned in the bathtub.
I've never been through a major earthquake, although I've experienced some minor tremors, the first early on a New Year's Day in upstate New York while I was still a teenager. Just as you read about in animal behavior books, the dog, lying at the foot of my bed, apparently sensed something was up, jumped off and scurried out of the room mere seconds before the shaking began. Not a word of warning from her. So much for man's best friend.
The 5.8 we had on the afternoon of August 23 was like an aftershock I experienced out in Burbank a number of years ago, while working in post-production on a documentary. It felt like a truck had hit the building. This time, there was a thump and I looked out the window to see if something heavy-duty was rolling down Seventh Avenue. Nothing -- but the apartment kept wobbling up and down. Then another hard thump and more wobbling.
Hours later, just off the phone with my brother and sister in Washington, DC, who had been in a taxi and felt nothing, I noticed that several of the pictures on the walls were now hanging at peculiar angles. That was the extent of damage at my house.
As for Irene, I live in what the city has designated Evacuation Zone C, meaning we would be sent out of the neighborhood if a direct hit by a Category 3 or 4 storm – or maybe an asteroid -- seemed imminent. That didn't happen, but my girlfriend Pat was moved to a hotel in midtown because the television newsroom at which she works needed her close at hand. Graciously, she invited me along.
GOP demands more FEMA funding (and less infrastructure investment)
By Alex Pareene
AP/J. Scott Applewhite/Sarah Jones
Eric Cantor
How Washington's favorite pundits explain why we're doomed
By Alex Pareene
AP/Wikipedia
Clockwise from upper left: John Boehner, Thomas Friedman, Erick Erickson and Harry Reid
Eric Cantor: A debt ceiling shonda
AP
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, center, flanked by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, left, and House Speaker John Boehner, right
Who are polluters' best friends in Congress?
By Natasha Lennard
AP
Bachmann highlighted as a supporter of coal pollution on the Hill.
The report, "Polluting Democracy: Coal Plays Dirty on the Hill," reveals that these Congress members are also among the biggest recipients of funding from the fossil fuel industry on the Hill.
Eric Cantor: The most dangerous whiner in America
Whenever economic disaster looms, you can count on the House majority leader to complain it is someone else's fault
AP
Rep. Eric Cantor
Obama warns GOP leaders: "Don't call my bluff"
By DAVID ESPO and ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press
AP
House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor
The presidential warning, directed at House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., marked an acrimonious end to a two-hour negotiating session at the White House that produced no evident progress toward a compromise.
Page 1 of 6 in Eric Cantor, R-Va. Earlier Articles → Earliest ⇒
Open SalonEric Cantor, R-Vir. in the news
Patch.com
Lance, in an interview with Patch Saturday morning, said that he disagrees with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Vir.) that any federal spending to tackle the hurricane's aftermath should be tied to equal reductions from other parts of the federal ...
Slate Magazine (blog)
Eric Cantor (R-Vir.) told me that the House majority leader -- who's currently in Israel with a delegation of lawmakers -- also won't be able to make it the Beck rally. Though Cantor's attendance was initially announced by Beck (who apparently just ...
Examiner.com
Eric Cantor (R-Vir.), to default the US government. “No, I would not have signed it,” said Perry, insisting, “we got to quit spending money,” showing the kind of extremism that caused Standard & Poors to lower the US credit rating. ...
Examiner.com
Tea Party loyalists like House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Vir.) urged his caucus to reject the bipartisan debt-ceiling compromise which would have sent the government into default. While such problems exist on Capitol Hill, S&P should keep its nose ...
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