Oh Nature, How Did We Upset You So?

Muskrats, beavers, gophers and other rodents are to blame for the flooding of hundreds of homes in Fernley, NV. It is estimated that it will cost "tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars" to repair the canal... pork barrel? Keep in mind that this is only a city of 20,000 and they get an average of 5 inches of rain a year. 5 inches... what kinda of messed up engineering project leads to flooding with only 5 inches of rain?

Meanwhile in the Florida Keys, an Eagle Ray leaped to it's death in order to take out Judy Kay Zagorski, of Pigeon, MI. While the supervisor of the Theater of the Sea in Islamorada says, "Rays jump to escape a predator, give birth and shake off parasites...They do not attack people." Well it would appear that she was wrong. Perhaps the Ray was after the supervisor for keeping fellow Rays in captivity or just for promoting lies about the species. Then again, Judy might have done something much more horrible the ray died on impact with her face... this murder suicide could possible be due to a bizarre love triangle, but no octopus has yet come forward.

Nature is also to blame for high gas prices. If only more animals would die and become fossil fuel faster, then we wouldn't have this problem either! 64% of Americans have cut back on their driving, and 19% reduced their driving enough to have a significant impact on their lives. If prices keep going up, Mother Earth will finally get her way and we might stop driving all together!

Totally unrelated... Sen. Chuck Hagel... I love you. Chuck recently wrote that the United States needs independent leadership and possibly another political party. I've been telling everyone that the vast majority of the "youth vote" (ie. 18-40) are fiscally conservative but are socially moderate. Thus not really jiving with either of the big two parties, but they all feel that their vote would be wasted if they go independent. There is also a negative aura about voting Libertarian... so we need a new 3rd party! "Independent candidate for the presidency, or a bipartisan unity ticket ... could be appealing to Americans," Hagel writes. I agree... but the parties are not willing to consider this because they are stupid (ie. care more about winning than the American people.)

Your Government At Work...

Ah yes, the truth comes out... Red Light Cameras are only there for a source of income not to increase public safety! Companies pitch cities that these cameras will reduce accidents and bring in revenue. While yes, there is a "small but measurable reduction in injuries nationwide in accidents at intersections monitored by cameras... there was an increase in some kinds of collisions." In addition, as drivers learn where the cameras are, they are more careful leading to less light running and thus less revenue collected. "Sometimes, as in Dallas, cameras generate so little revenue that they can’t even pay for themselves." So what did Dallas do? Shut them off! Guess safety was not worth the cost?