SoFla Swamped!

Where's the Dirt?

Some of us are well aware that although we are 90% water, anyone can drown in a bucket of water. In the sci-fi movie Waterworld, there is little land to be found, so our leading man has morphed into an amphibious creature reminiscent of a bygone evolutionary stage when we were all part fish part ape.

What We Got

South Florida had a watershed moment yesterday with the arrival of a much needed rain storm. The H2O was in abundance as metropolitanites waddled to a standstill in traffic jams that were nothing less than perfectly swampy.

Towels for Clunkers

Miami is practically at sea level so when a big deluge is delivered all water-hell breaks loose. Any swamp-minded motorist can attest to the torrent of confusion that come with the unexpected cats n dogs. Who wants to get wet when fully dressed for the holidays.

Dry as a Desert in the Swamp

Water is a necessary thing. We are naturally drawn to it and the creatures that inhabit the great underneath beyond our dehumidified comfort. We are so thrilled by the spectacle of marine life that seems so foreign to us yet eerily familiar as the primordial soup of our very origins.

Vacate of Annihilate

Here are a few convincing reasons why fish-man decided he might be better off on dry land.

Better than the Real Thing

So even though we here in SoFla and can just go to the beach, most folk prefer the convenience and security that only man-made water can deliver.

Down the Drain

Break out the sump pumps, when it rains it puddles... and much of Miami's hectic hustle and bustle is severely dampened to a grinding standstill. We really can't cope with anything but sunshine... and that's blasted sun is a challenge also.

Water is for Quitters

My dear mother-in-law has always maintained that water is bad for you and not really necessary for a health lifestyle. She never touches the stuff. At 82 years old on high-heals and drives pink convertible, a stiff brandy is all she thirsts for.

The Not So Distant Future

What do you think?
Some science based folk will tell you that all this will be under water in 50 years. That's not a very long time. Just the same, relax, stay dry, or wet of you prefer, enjoy the swampyness that is water from the sky.



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Hellacious Haiti

Just two hours away from Miami on the Island of Hispañola the Haitian people are royally screwed.



All the hand-me-downs in Little Haiti will not change the tragedy that has afflicted the tiny island nation for generations. It is one thing to deal with natural disasters but quit another to be victimized repeatedly by predatory world banks and bush-style foreign policy. It is overwhelming for a people steeped in the superstitions of the tropics.



Rising waters and lowered expectations make for the knock-out one-two punch. You just don't bounce back so easy.



The United Nations steps up to the razor-wire. Is it too little, too late?



Blue Gold arrives in single size servings. The empty bottles could make a suitable raft.



From Medecines Sans Frontieres:

"Between September 1 and 7, Haiti was hit by Hurricane Gustav, Tropical Storm Hanna, and Hurricane Ike; 25,000 to 30,000 houses are reported to have been destroyed and 500 people are reported dead..."



....meanwhile back home in the USA some of us carry on like clowns without a clue.

UPDATE:
Go to 'buildings n food' for totally impressive photos of Ike's revenge.

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Delusional Deluge: it's raining euphemisms

Always on the lookout for a blue-gold story.... Rebecca Wakefield of the Sun Post has the gist on our local BS situation:

It’s much worse than you think, but that’s not so bad

"... South Florida has major problems with water. We’re a big, swampy, subtropical sandbar, plagued by poor drainage and a shallow water table. We’ve always got either too much or too little water.

...The late, great George Carlin had an observation about how we like to kid ourselves with comforting BS. He talked about how we got from the term “shell shock” to describe what happens to soldiers in combat, to today’s euphemistic “post-traumatic stress disorder.”



This surreal-estate promo photo would have us believe there are no problems.

brown people's blue gold

Where there is BlueGold there are corporatist piranhas.
Tropical central america is probably one of the wettest places on earth, but I'll wager that our neighbors to the south are more thirsty than ever. The rush to privatize our fresh water supplies is a affront to global human rights. When was the last time you had a sip of tap water?



Water Privatization in El Salvador and the Global War on Terror
Researched by Andrea Lochtefeld

Salvadoran police violently captured community leaders and residents at a July 2007 demonstration against the privatization of El Salvador’s water supply and distribution systems. Close range shooting of rubber bullets and tear gas was used against community members for protesting the rising cost, and diminishing access and quality of local water under privatization. Fourteen were arrested and charged with terrorism, a charge that can hold a 60 year prison sentence, under El Salvador’s new “Anti-terrorism Law,” which is based on the US Patriot Act. While criminalization of political expression and social protest signals an alarming danger to the peace and human rights secured by Salvadorans since its brutal 12-year civil war, the US government publicly supports the Salvadoran government and the passage of the draconian anti-terrorism law...


And let's not forget something to put all that private water into.... the ubiquitous single-size plastic bottle/trash.

Gray Water Dry Humor

It's time again for "Tallahassee to the Rescue". When you hear the term "aquifer replenishment" among the proposed uses of "gray water" that means putting used water back in our drinking supply. Waste water treatment is very expensive and basically runs on oil fuel. For such a wet place miami-dade is drying faster than a salted slug in the high noon sun.


MIAMI -- South Florida counties and cities will have to stop pumping wastewater into the ocean and reuse most of it instead, under a bill that Florida lawmakers passed unanimously Wednesday. Gov. Charlie Crist has said he will sign the Wastewater Disposal Bill into law.


We got allot of new toilets flushing....