Half A Bubble Off Plumb

Check out this data on Omega-3 and depression. I've been taking Omega-3 supplements regularly for the last month. I feel better. Less depressed. My aggression is no longer directed inward; it's now directed almost entirely at women, where it belongs.

Chip Kidd and My Commitment to My Life

He's earned the right to look this brooding. SOURCE

Last night, I attended a lecture by Chip Kidd, who—along with Stefan Sagmeister, Charles Anderson, and Eduardo Recife—ranks among my top currently-living-and-working graphic designers. (Some of you comic book guys may recognize Chip Kidd's name from his work with DC, like this book.)

To give you an idea of Kidd's sense of humor, the title of his lecture was taken from a article he read about Celine Dion's Vegas show: "There is a style gland that becomes malignant in Nevada." Aside from the humor, though, Kidd's process can be summed up in two points:

1. Always be "on." He stated that whenever he sees something cool, he thinks about what he's working on. Constantly observe what's around you, what it means, what it says. Keep track of ideas that you have and save them up for the right moment.

2. Have a concept, then serve it. Even the most oblique choices come from somewhere, from something.

Perhaps these points are obvious, sure. Nevertheless, the lecture was inspiring and exactly what I needed to hear. After all, hearing Chip Kidd as I embark on the end of my graphic design studies* brings me full circle, as Chip Kidd's voice started me on this journey. Before I started school in 2002, my boss at the time gave me a copy of The Cheese Monkeys as a gift. The novel is set in a Graphic Design 101 class. The teacher is hell, the class is hell, and the insights are astounding. It's quite a fun novel and, as you might imagine, beautifully designed. It set the tone for school.

And now Chip Kidd has set the tone for my graduation. This Monday, I begin my final quarter in school. That means it's time to get my portfolio together and put myself on the line. Up until last night, I've been a mess thinking about it. I had so much inexplicable anxiety about it. Will I get a job? Do I have enough pieces to put together a portfolio? Have I wasted three years of my life canceling plans with friends to do homework? After hearing Kidd speak, all of a sudden, I had a newfound surge of confidence. School forced me to be always "on." School forced me to always have a concept and to support it with my designs and with my explanations of those designs. Chip Kidd reaffirmed those notions by presenting slide after slide of various iterations of covers, exposing how he came to his solutions.

My girlfriend (remember her?) and I returned to my apartment where I had the task of preparing for my first portfolio class on Monday. After weeks of being concerned that I would have enough pieces I felt were good, I put together a portfolio bag filled with over twenty pieces, and I still have three more to print, and they don't all need the crapload of work I thought they would. I was able to stand back and say, without gloating, "Say, that's pretty good." Sure, maybe the color needs tweaking in this one or some kerning here and there could stand a little work, but, damn, I finally feel ready.

So why am I bringing up all of this self-aggrandizing bullshit? Because I have to tell you that for the next three months, I'm busy. Very very very busy. You think I've been busy before? Now I'm totally completely utterly fucking busy. Along with Portfolio, I have one other class that is quite a doozy, and I have a portfolio show come December that I must prepare for. Blogging will be light. Social engagements will be incredibly light. I'm fortunate enough to have Lesley, who finished school this week (congratulations!), to help me trim and mount and bind and adhere. I have to keep my eye on the goal.

I want to issue a blanket apology to all of my friends right now: I'm sorry for the long stretches of time you won't see me in the next three months.

As I complete pieces, I'm going to post them at ARLOdesign.com. I'll also be tweaking (completely redesigning?) that site. Check it weekly starting in about three weeks to see new work.

In the meantime, have one for me. I'll see you on the other side.

*For now. I haven't ruled out grad school

Hammerhead Shark Chokes On Chum

Ever wonder what happens when you take a Hammer to a Douchebag? Apparently, if the Douchebag is Tom DeLay and the Hammer is his own unparalleled legacy of corruption and malfeasance, the result is a spectacular splash of crocodile tears. Poor Mr. DeLay. Given his stringent and cocksure denials of any wrongdoing whatsoever, one must, perforce, ask oneself whereto fore came all this to pass? Let's do Tom a solid. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that he's being square with us; an indictment isn't a conviction and the proof is still in the pudding. If DeLay is as pure as the driven snow, what sinister witchcraft is responsible for the manufacture (from absolute scratch) of a smear-machine so colossal? Which is more credulous: the possibility that (a) a single Texas politician is a stinky douchebag, or (b) millions of citizens of a modern democratic superpower are so befuddled and walleyed that they cannot distinguish fact from fiction? Sadly, both are distressing in their own way... and both have occurred repeatedly. However, while corrupt Texans are a mainstay of American life, large-scale swindles of the American populace are usually epoch-altering events (e.g. Vietraq, Dubya, Enron, Disco); they are also fairly characterized as being orchestrated by a cabal of Machiavellian villains within the corridors of power. For DeLay to be the lone victim of such a gargantuan effort does not merely strain the limits of credulity, it obliterates them. Which is why his interview with Brit "Butt-Face" Hume on Fox can only be viewed as farce. Watch the video. Brit, as he is known to do with such GOP reptiles, feverishly attempts to unveil what he hopes is a nugget of innocence beneath a mountain of guilt – to no avail. Meanwhile, El Douchebag, after whinging about his victimization, actually tries to spin his indictment as a positive development for his party.

Kyrie Eleison.

APOLOGY: The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The misuse of this cliché serves as proof that I am not to be taken seriously. I'm an intellectual minimus.

Curling in Turin

Are you ready for some luge? With the best damn month of the year only a few hours away, one cannot help but anticipate a cornucopia of fresh joys just over the horizon. Specifically, I'm talking about the XX Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. Since they'll be commencing in February, now is the time to square away the pre-Olympic chores: (a) buy all the paraphernalia and logo-stitched active wear you can afford; (b) reconnoiter the local watering holes in search of the perfect barstool from which to watch ski jumping; (c) use whatever powers of linguistic legerdemain you possess to determine which of your friends is amenable to the idea of getting sloppy drunk while ogling 8 year-old figure skaters; (d) unroll your old poster of Bonnie Blair, stick it to the Formica paneling on your walls with wads of chewed Hubba Bubba, and let the awesome enormity of her thighs inspire the Olympic Spirit within your concave breast; and (e) steel yourself for the spectacle of obese American patriots slipping in whoopsy-doodle slapstick arcs on sheets of Italian black ice as grotesquely trendy European snobs point, laugh, and ridicule our fallen brethren. But don't worry. We'll still kick everyone's ass.

Goodbye Heaven

Giant Squid

The Gulf Coast is suffering the penance of the damned. Tom "The Douchebag" DeLay is under criminal indictment. Our heat sponge planet is about to confront an irreversible plague. I am therefore announcing, with all due solemnity and dark pomp, that from this point forward I fully intend to ingest any and all high-grade pharmaceuticals known to have "recreational" side-effects that come within my reach and grasp. Furthermore, I vow to thoroughly debauch every winsome trollop willing to grant me both the opportunity and invitation to do so. The threats of this world have become legion; and like the copulating hordes in steerage, I intend to plummet into the watery depths of our collective doom in paroxysms of blasted ecstasy.

The final tragedy is that I count no drug dealers or loose women among my acquaintances.

...one of the weakest and most baseless indictments in American history.

PSYCHE!

The guy poised to replace DeLay.

UPDATE: Before Fox News starts stirring up the bullshit, CapitolBuzz asks you to proclaim from on high: "[DISTRICT ATTORNEY RONNIE] EARLE HAS PROSECUTED FOUR TIMES AS MANY DEMOCRATS AS REPUBLICANS"

Don Adams 1923–2005

I'm a little late posting this. Would you believe I was too busy with work? I missed it by that much. Sorry about that, Chief.

Moment of silence for Don Adams.

ARLOdesign.com Beta

Great, now I have three cyber-mouths to feed.

After four years of domain-name ownership, something substantial finally resides in the root documents folder of this here server.

Behold: ARLOdesign.com.

There's not much content. However, next quarter—my final quarter in school—I'm building my portfolio, and as I complete items, I plan to add them to the site. And I'll build on the design. I like the simplicity, but it's lacking a little oomph.

And not only on the surface is it pretty rough. Sometimes things don't load and you have to hit refresh. I'm not an Actionscript guru, and it's the first time I've used PHP for anything substantial. Kick the tires and let me know if it breaks.

Okay, it's 3:30am. Good night.

FOLLOW UP: 10th Planet(?)

Back in July, we discussed naming the new planet in our solar system. We came up with some good names (I liked "Bukakeon" myself). I had all but forgotten about it when I stumbled upon a New Scientist article that discusses it: it's called Sedna. Unfortunately, though, Sedna may not even be a planet.

Love & War

Okay, so here's an article about U.S. troops exchanging gruesome photos and video from Iraq and Afghanistan for access to internet porn. (Click here for the grisly war material). It reminded me of what Chris Hedges wrote:

The violent breakup of Yugoslavia, which was preceded by economic collapse, began in 1991. lt was the same year that the government decided to permit hard-core sex films to be broadcast on public stations and that the first locally made pornographic film was produced. While the old Communist Yugoslavia did not censor love scenes in its state-run film industry, it condemned pornography as the exploitation of women and banned its production. The first graphic pictures of mutilated and dead from the war, along with the racial diatribes against Muslims and Croats, hit the airwaves at the same time Yugoslavs were allowed to watch porno films. The war was, like the sex films, about the lifting of taboos, about new forms of entertainment to mask the economic and political collapse of Yugoslavia. War and sex were the stimulants to divert a society that was collapsing.

But maybe I'm wrong to think of the War on Iraq Terror in such terms. After all, everything changed on 9/11 – including human nature. Am I right? You bet I am.

Christian Victomology Fellowship

What do I think? Well, I'm glad you asked. I think that the incredulity of certain Christians surrounding a recent district court ruling on the unconstitutionality of the Pledge of Alliance is beautifully ironic. The king-hell talking point of right-wing Christians has been (of late) that Christianity is "under attack" – by the judiciary, by the secular left, by the Grinch. The questions I have for these poor, beleaguered Christians are as follows:

Q: Why where Christians persecuted during the Roman Empire?
Q: Were the Romans justified in persecuting Christians?

The answer to the first question is well documented and fairly widely understood. Christians, in their contempt for idolatry, would refuse to engage in activities during which religious tributes to the Gods were customary – which included most all aspects of Roman civic life, from service in the army to attendance at the games. When someone sneezed, a normal citizen of the empire would say, "Jupiter bless you"; but if the sneezer happened to be a Christian, such a polite entreaty would be met with a stern rebuke. As there were many Gods worshipped throughout the pagan world, one more was simply not regarded as a problem. Religious tolerance (excepting, for political reasons, some Egyptian Gods) was the hallmark of the Empire. The Christians, however, became increasingly associated with intolerance. If a statue of Zeus inspired the court, a Christian would've been the one found in contempt. If they played basketball in ancient Rome, it would've been the lonely Christian player who refused to sing the National Anthem. Just so with the Pledge of Allegiance. Now, of course, the situation is reversed – as it has been for hundreds of years. Were the Romans in the right when they persecuted a fledging and minority Christian community for undermining the civic and martial strength of their society? Can you eat your cake and have it too?

Takin' It In The Rear

A funny thing happened today. I woke up with a terrible, debilitating head cold. Sometime during the early afternoon hours, while I was sucking on an anesthetic lozenge in a recumbent slump on my couch, the police came knocking on my door. A sixteen year-old kid without a driver’s license (let alone insurance) had slammed into the rear of my parked car. What really makes this little incident a true delight is that I only have liability insurance. The police, God bless ‘em, were sure in a chipper mood as they repeatedly informed me that I was totally screwed and would have the devil’s own time trying collect any money for damages (“…this kid’s got nothing. All we can do is issue him some tickets.” Etc.).

I did learn a valuable lesson from this. If you’re ever confronted with unwelcome and downright shitty news, it actually helps to be feeling like crap. I was far too exhausted by my cold to indulge in any kind of emotional tantrums; a temper of retrained sangfroid was maintained throughout.

But alas, the purpose of this post is to let the world know that I have an extra ticket to the sigur ros concert this Wednesday at The Chicago Theatre (7:30 p.m.). If you or anyone you know is available to use it, send me an e-mail, or let me know in the comments, and, well... ‘tis yours. (Please note: the winner of the ticket will be sitting next to me for the duration of the concert. Take this into account before you ask for the damn thing.)

Additionally: If anyone can recommend a competent & trustworthy body shop in the Chicago area, please do so!

Open Thread Thursday

I'd like to thank display name for reminding me that it's supposed to be Open Thread Thursday. Dammit. Sorry. Enjoy. And go comment on display name's comments at Commenting in America.

Life Imitates The Onion

From The Onion, about 19 months ago:

What part of this don't you understand? If two blades is good, and three blades is better, obviously five blades would make us the best fucking razor that ever existed. Comprende? We didn't claw our way to the top of the razor game by clinging to the two-blade industry standard. We got here by taking chances. Well, five blades is the biggest chance of all.

Via Gizmodo, from ShavingStuff.com (yes, if there's a subject, someone blogs about it), yesterday:

You're never going to believe this. Gillette has leap-frogged the Schick Quattro into the unchartered world of five blades. Five Blades! Did you hear me? FIVE BLADES!

Hey, they wrote off the Mach3, and I use one now and love it.

Actually, I might try the Gillette Fusion if only for the hidden sixth blade on the back for shaving under the nose and squaring off sideburns, two details that are pretty difficult with Mach3.

There. I blogged about shaving, like you really care. At least I didn't blog about the iPod nano.

BTW: Let's hope that life doesn't imitate this Onion article in any way that I have to see.

You're A Jackass. Period.

Charles Krauthammer, noted for being a failed psychiatrist and a resident cadaver/panelist at Fox News, has excreted yet another column. This time, he exhorts the American people for making "...it impossible for any politician to make any responsible energy policy over the last 30 years". How, exactly, have we sabotaged the ever-so-pure intentions of politicians? He doesn't say. He does, however, contend that this selfsame fault of ours "augmented, aided and abetted" the suffering of those whose lives were mangled by hurricane Katrina. An undiscerning reader might be tempted to dismiss this bizarre conflation of causal relationships as the overheated byproduct of a man who's brain has been leased out for an indeterminate period for the sole purpose of operating as a wholesale shit factory; but they would be wrong. It has always been The Krauthammer Way to make haughty pronouncements relating directly to "that-about-which-Krauthammer-knows-fuck-all", for example:

There is no relationship between global warming and the frequency and intensity of Atlantic hurricanes. Period.

Why, that's an interesting – and forceful – position. Does he back it up with any germane data? Nope. I suppose we're supposed to accept it simply because he wrote it: a reasonable expectation had he previously participated in and published any relevant studies on the subject. But he hasn't. (C'mon Chas. Even George Will published a book. Yeah, it was on baseball, but at least is was a freakin' book.) Mike Tidwell, however, has published a few books in his time – and he takes a rather different view on the subject of global warming (see Katrina No More). But Krauthammer isn't interested in facts. And that's the point. A few days ago, the New York Times published an interesting article (Political Science) on the gut-rape of Science by political hacks and bullshit artists. Now there's another, better, article on the relationship between facts (as understood by scientists) and media [Undoing Darwin by Chris Mooney and Matthew C. Nisbet (Columbia Journalism Review)]. Check it out.

Krauthammer, meanwhile, is free to piss-gargle my nutsack.

ADDITIONALLY: Fresh News About Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Turn that Frown Upside-Down. Mr. Brown has left Clowntown.

AP:

[FEMA Director Michael] Brown will be replaced by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad w. Allen, who was overseeing New Orleans relief and rescue efforts.

Brown has been under fire because of the administration's slow response to the magnitude of the hurricane. On Thursday, questions were raised about whether he padded his resume to highlight his previous emergency management background.

Less than an hour before Brown's removal came to light, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Brown had not resigned and the president had not asked for his resignation.

Two questions:

How does a government official pad his resume? If the FBI can have mile-high files on millions of non-threatening people, how can the government not check the references of a candidate for a high-level executive position? (Oh, right. Cronyism.)

The second, more important question: Brown needs to be fired. Bush should fire him. No one in this country would blame Bush if he fires Brown. So why not? This administration is so afraid to admit defeat that they stubbornly stick to their ridiculous guns. You made a mistake hiring Brown, Mr. President. Fire his ass. I'll applaud you, for once, for doing the right thing, for once.

A Creative Commons Hypocrisy

A project I'm working on for school, when completed, will be licensed with the same Creative Commons license that this site employs. In order to use that cool double-C copyright-ish symbol, I downloaded the Creative Commons logo font. Now, as I try to make PDFs of my artwork, Acrobat is telling me that this font restricts embedding. How is it that an organization that is working hard to promote freely sharing information and assets in our society is restricting the way I use their font? That's just silly and hypocritical.

National Distraction Ascendant

Autumn. The finest season of the year. Sure the Autumnal Equinox doesn't occur until September 22, but an even more important harbinger of a season of pure joy will commence this very weekend – NFL football. Chicken wings, pints of domestic beer, crunchy jackets and footwear designed for the "urban hiker". Does it get any better? Of course doesn't, you ferry. What's that? You think sports and cider and falling leaves are beneath you? Well, too bad for you. America is going to reclaim the Astrodome and the Superdome – their rightful purpose awaits. And you, little missy, can go give yourself a Lysol douche for all I care.

Here are my picks for the week ahead (yes, pure wishful thinking):

CHICAGO over Washington
PHILADELPHIA over Atlanta
CINCINNATI over Cleveland
ARIZONA over NY Giants
DENVER over Miami
NEW ORLEANS over Carolina
KANSAS CITY over NY Jets
GREEN BAY over Detroit
SEATTLE over Jacksonville
MINNESOTA over Tampa Bay
PITTSBURGH over Tennessee
SAN DIEGO over Dallas
NEW ENGLAND over Oakland
ST. LOUIS over San Francisco
BUFFALO over Houston
INDIANAPOLIS over Baltimore

The only question left unanswered is which NFL Kickoff performance needs must be Tivo'd, The Rolling "I-think-you're-full-of-shit" Stones or Kanye "George-Bush-doesn't-care-about-black-people" West? Hmmm... That's a tough one.

Welcome to Oceania

This is not about dignity. It is about spin control, and the evil, heartless bastards covering their asses. Let's see how many times the numbers change over the next few days. Also, keeping the press out makes me worry for the survivors who are still stuck there: I wouldn't put one lousy scummy thing past our lousy scummy overlords and their lousy scummy minions and cronies.

It makes me sick. I suppose its possible that our so-called leaders might be removed from office at some point here, but I know its too much to hope that they'll all end up rotting in Sing-Sing--which is better than any of them deserves.

So long, little buddy.

It may seem superficial, considering current events, but all the same;

Moment of silence for Bob Denver.

Dear Web Designers:

You are doing beautiful things, but I'm getting sick of diagonal lines.

You are designers. Design something else.

Sincerely,
Arlo Bryan Guthrie

UPDATE: What was blitheringly glaringly obvious to me seemed to go over the heads of some folks. I explain this post more specifically in the comments.

Quotapollooza

Tim Russert:

Second-guessing is easy, but it is also, I think, a requirement of those in a free society to challenge their government, when the primary function of the government is to protect its citizens and they haven’t been protected

Matthew Yglesias

Apparently, the president of the United States doesn't "think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." That's false, of course, but the tragic reality is that none of the relevant policymakers do seem to have anticipated this. And that's insane.

Tom @ corrente:

This is the best George W. Bush's government can do to protect you right now. This is apparently the very best they can do. This is a helluva way to take care of "homeland security," huh? The guard units that are supposed to help us all in these situations are thousands of miles away and the agency that is supposed to be in charge of such matters is politicized to the point of incompetence.

Freepers:

When a truckload of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) finally arrived in to help feed the masses, that have not had any food or water; you would think that these people would be grateful.

That seems to be not the case in the eyes of some people. Yes, that is right, there are some people that have refused to have anything to do with the MREs. A case in point, a woman that was hollering the loudest about not having anything to eat, was handed an MRE and refused it. The reason? It had not been heated.

From the comment string of the Freeper column referenced above:

I don't know what sort of MRE's were distributed but most of the dinner entrees are indeed unfit to eat without being heated. I am not defending the rabble but the 'ready to eat' portion of MRE needs to have the fine print read.

Again, from the comments, the payoff… wait for it…

I saw 2 people on foxnews last night. the woman said the food wasn;t heated and that "nobody could eat that stuff". I'm sure she has no problem eating greasy KFC.

Scott Mehno (just because I understand his pain):

…with all the usual hubris [Peggy Noonan] has learned to pack in her pristine diatribes she obviously believes are making a difference in somebody’s life, Ms. Noonan patriotically chastises the victims she’s just had executed: ‘I wonder,’ she writes ‘if the cruel and stupid young people who are doing the looting know the power they have to damage the country, I wonder, if they knew it they’d stop it.’

Let’s turn that question around a moment for our own big finish. I wonder, Ms. Noonan, if the readers who swallow your self-righteous pap realize you write this nonsense from an ivory tower light-years removed from the poor people fighting for their very lives in the underwater hellhole formerly known as New Orleans, I wonder, if they’d beg you to stop.

I'm just pissed. Pissed like hell.

Kos breaks it down. What the Hell is wrong with these people?

What kind of an asshole tells me I'm blaming America first? (I only link to this dick because he commented here.) I love America. It's the sixth best country in the world to live in. The last time I checked, I'm not only allowed to criticize the President for how his team has dealt with this horrible situation, I'm encouraged to do so. I'm surprised Conservatives haven't started blaming poor black people for the chaos. Oh wait, they have.

And so have the media. I know some of the media are reporting important facts about why this situation is so terrible, but most aren't. Liberal media, my ass.

So I should be ashamed of myself for politicizing the tragedy? Fuck you. A natural disaster is always political. It affects the economy. It affects sociology. It affects culture. Most specifically to politics, though, it exposes weaknesses in the system, and Katrina has exposed a shitload of them. When you accuse me of politicizing the tragedy, you're asking me to ignore the problems, to be just as ignorant as you. I want the people of Louisiana and Mississippi to be treated with respect, whether they are rich whites or poor blacks. Cutting funding for levees to fight a waste of a war? Ignoring the weather reports and not mobilizing rescue teams? Watching Spamalot when your country needs you now more than ever? Disprespectful to every American no matter where they live. Decisions like that come to bite a politician in the ass, and everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, should be ready to sink their teeth in right now.

Finally, I should mention that the image near the top of every page used to link to FEMA. Now it links to The Salvation Army. Here's why.

Please please please give. McCormick-Tribune Foundation is matching the first $2,000,000 they receive.

How Much Is Enough?

Ah, Wilderness! Bill O’Reilly found the time tonight to forcefully yelp, “looters should be shot on sight”. The President spent 3/4 of his news conference discussing oil and his lunch with Alan Greenspan. Meanwhile, nonplussed viewers of “Mainstream Media” were treated to footage of dehydrated, starving, dying people screaming for help. We’re being implored on all sides to support the privatization of our own security and relief; tax dollars apparently support only a super-retarded (i.e. slow) emergency response. But the President is confident and understands the situation.

What we need now, more than ever, are platitudes. We need rhetoric and sophistry like never before. Without it, the ability of this sterling government of ours to protect us from harm will surely be compromised. The promise of a permanent Republican majority will be jeopardized. The neo-cons will... uh... You see, the President thinks about these things every day. If the global warming crowd... Umm... It’s people like Michael Moore who... [pause] Okay. I give up. I’m throwing in the towel. It’s useless to even try.

Animals sure are cute.

He Understands Your Pain

Bush knows stuff:

US President George Bush has admitted there is "frustration" at the speed of the relief effort following Hurricane Katrina's hit on the Gulf Coast.

"I fully understand people wanting things to have happened yesterday. I mean I understand the anxiety of people on the ground..."

It's time for me to admit that I was wrong. For years I've thought that the President was dumb. He's not. Actually, he's, like, really super-dooper smart. He understands that when the American people turn to him in a time of crisis, we want to know whether he is aware that there is a crisis. Take Hurricane Katrina for example. America needed to be reassured that the President understood that there was, in fact, a hurricane. The President knows this. He knows this because he's a smartie. "There was a hurricane. I understand that. I'm aware of your concerns. I look forward to discussing with the American people my confidence in the ability of our country to recover. I have that confidence." Thank you, sir. Thank you for assuring us that you understand. That you're awake. It's good to know that you're getting the information. Now the country can get back to reeling in pain and crying out for help. That's real leadership.

Compassionate Conservative

Yet another delayed reaction from the president.

Photo Of The Day

(Source)

The consensus is clear. Oil production and refinery capacity have taken a serious blow. The financial effects will be felt with acuity by the entire nation in the near future. People are already feeling the effects of a Nation Guard heavily committed to babysitting Iraq as well as a federal budget that has been suckled dry by our military adventures in that region. People wondered what in the name of Shazam we were meant to collectively sacrifice in the name of Middle Eastern oil security. Here you go:

Bush administration policy changes and budget cuts […] are sapping FEMA’s long-term ability to cushion the blow of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tornados, wildfires, and other natural disasters.

Or, put another way, you may not be able to drive your Hummer across a bridge once an oil rig has slammed into it.

An oil rig tore free of its moorings as Hurricane Katrina lashed the Alabama coast, before surging downriver and smashing into a suspension bridge, witnesses said Monday.

The platform broke free from the Bender shipbuilding and repair yard in Mobile during the morning as the then Category Four Hurricane walloped the southern US coast.

An oil rig that broke loose during Hurricane Katrina 29 August 2005 is wedged under the Cochrane Bridge in Mobile, Alabama. The rig tore free of its moorings as Hurricane Katrina lashed the Alabama coast before surging downriver and smashing into the suspension bridge. AFP photo by Stan Honda.

The runaway rig then drifted through the choppy waters of the Mobile River before hitting the Cochrane/Africatown USA road bridge.

(Gracias eponymagain)