Update 8-17-04

Hi,

First, Florida storm news:

From Barbara Blitfield Pech: Just to let you know that Miami was safely out of range from today's hurricane, although the most recent TV news is horrifically reminiscent of Andrew and its wrath and destruction in Miami 12 years ago. I will immediately try to reach Bea Massa Brown, a long-time Port Charlotte resident, to offer anything I can, and to give her any sense of "hope" after the evil she has gone through in this storm. As you must know, Charley hit land at 11:00 AM this morning, going into the center of Port Charlotte and destroying the entire town. Again, as an Andrew survivor, there is no way to understand the loss of everything familiar unless, God forbid, you have been there. Sadly, Bea is now. I will keep you, and all, advised on her well being.

Then from Linda Greenberg Zucker: I just spoke with Bea Massa Brown. She lives in Port Charlotte and stayed through the hurricane. They are fine, although the house sustained damage. I just wanted to let everyone know that she is OK.

Back to Barbara: I did get Bea's voice mail this AM, but then our phones went out, so the day was lost. I also remember that Janet Hernandez is in the Ft. Myers area. Has anyone let you know about her? Please pass on my regards, concerns, and best wishes to Bea and Roger, and tell them my voice mail phone offer of a week at the "Pech Palace" is still "valid." Big big thanks.
And from Janet Hernandez: Just to let everyone know that I am now in the Richmond, Virginia area. I was living in the Tampa Bay area and am still in the process of moving. My house is sold, and we'll have a closing on it soon. Meanwhile, I'm staying with my sister and family.
Yes, Hurricane Charley was supposed to hit the Tampa Bay area, but it stopped further south and went into the Ft. Myers area. I live about one hour north of the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, but my home was also less than two miles away from the Gulf of Mexico. I am very thankful it is all right just now, but we should think of those who lost homes, and there were some deaths as well as property damage. Still, this is hurricane season, so there will be more to come. I will be going down to Holiday, Florida soon, for the closing, and to get my stuff -- boxes mostly -- out of the house.
More from Barbara: Wow, that's kinda eerie. I just happen to mention two names, and you have ready replies from both ... seems like a good time to use this "power" for something more lucrative. OK, fast, think of six lottery numbers.
Seriously, I'm glad to know that all is well, and that a few gusts of wind -- or as we "natives" refer to it, the big b.j. -- can't get in the way of our good lives! Best regards to all.

[Rich -- No, Barbara, I wrote Janet at your suggestion -- as I wrote, or tried to write, several other friends in Florida. Though the message from Linda about Bea was coincidence.]
Again from Barbara: Ah, so, basically, you are really telling me that you have no special powers to predict winning lottery numbers. But seriously, it was very nice of you to contact Janet. I did leave a voice mail on Bea's cell phone early Saturday AM, as the first news came in, and I will give them another call sometime in the next days to touch base. Even with minimal damage, the physical and mental stress, and just what they are seeing out their windows, is a living hell that only gets worse as the days, weeks, and months go on. Everything you expect to see in daily travels is just not there, or is so twisted or blown away that it all has the appearance of a bad horror movie storm. To have this thrown in your face at every turn and to have friends and family displaced is just unnerving to say the very least. It took us months, and Miami years, to rebuild and recover from Andrew, an experience I never want, or need, to go through again.

[Rich -- from one of my college friends, Pat Ashton, in Naples, just south of Ft. Myers: Greetings from devastated southwest Florida. Things are horrible north of here, but we survived. Have a huge tree uprooted, that our three-story building is holding up. Lots of debris, but no flood or tidal surge here. And we actually got our power back after about fourteen hours, but most of Naples is still without, including my mom's home, where they have now been without power almost twenty-four hours. Really unpleasant when it is in the ninety degree range and ninety percent humidity! Our friend Doug, who lives just north of us, brought over the contents of his freezer and refrigerator to put in ours. Pics of Punta Gorda and the north Ft. Myers area are unreal. We rode out the storm at friends Paul and Susan's. We watched videos on their mini DVD player in the dark -- four of us plus all six dogs wedged on a sofa. We pretended we were on an airplane.
From another college friend, Steve Ragusea: Regarding Charley in the Keys: At 7:45 PM, I was out swimming in the backyard. The sky, which had been clear blue all day, had turned cloudy an hour-or-so before. As the sun began to set around 8:00, the clouds turned a bright red, then the sky suddenly cleared, again revealing blue sky above. In the south, toward the coming storm, a rainbow appeared across the southern sky. It was windless and lovely.
Now we await gale force winds and heavy rains that will last around twelve hours. The eye appears to be passing about 80-to-90 miles west of our position. Our hurricane shutters are up all around the house, so we can't see much outside, and it's quite dark indoors. If the storm takes out the electric plant in Key West, it'll get a lot darker here for a while. I wonder if it's still lovely outside.
From a third friend, David Addington, in coastal South Carolina: Hardly noticed it. Somehow it passed us by completely.]

Forwarded storm humor from one of these friends: Based on our experiences with Hurricane Andrew in 1992, we recommend that you follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan:
Step 1. Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least three days.
Step 2. Put these supplies into your car.
Step 3. Drive to Nebraska.

Next, another high school memory from Dennis Pizzimenti: An entry in the category of positive group experiences. During the spring, we hitchhiked to Long Beach from East Rockaway Road. We always got there, but it wasn't dependable transportation. Until we came up with "The Signs."
We hitched in pairs. The first guy held a sign that stated "STOP AT JOE'S." The second guy stood about 50 feet behind, holding his thumb out and displaying a sign that said, "HI, I'M JOE."
People loved it. The rides came quickly. We passed the signs to the next pair. The last two brought them to the beach for the ride home. We quickly realized that the signs were so good that we could pick our ride to the beach. By the third Saturday, we'd only flash the signs for convertibles or air-conditioned cars.

[Rich -- And another one from me: Bill Brady, Charlie Gleichman, and I were working backstage during afternoon study hall senior year. Bill and Charlie were trying to do something to rewire the dimmer board, when suddenly there was a loud "Crack!" and the screwdriver they were using flew 20 feet across the stage, its tip melted down. Plus, the dimmer board was dead. After making sure they were both OK, and that no one else had heard the noise, the three of us slipped back to study hall, swearing to say nothing. Later, we learned that we'd not only blown a foot-long fuse -- that had to be replaced by a janitor in a room I never knew existed in South's basement -- we also discovered the dimmer board wasn't the only thing on that circuit. The fuse protected the school elevator, which almost no one was allowed to use. Except Mr. Bergen, who'd been trapped for several hours.]

Further political humor from Donald Faber: Here's a companion piece to my earlier e-link:
http://homepage.mac.com/krousen/Bush%20site/index.html

Finally, homework -- an excerpt from Monopoly or Democracy? an article by Ted Turner. It was first published on Friday, May 30, 2003 in The Washington Post and recently has been making the Internet rounds: On Monday the Federal Communications Commission is expected to adopt dramatic rule changes that will extend the market dominance of the five media corporations that control most of what Americans read, see, and hear. I am a major shareholder in the largest of those five corporations, yet -- speaking only for myself and not for AOL Time Warner -- I oppose these rules. They will stifle debate, inhibit new ideas, and shut out smaller businesses trying to compete. If these rules had been in place in 1970, it would have been virtually impossible for me to start Turner Broadcasting or, 10 years later, to launch CNN.
If a young media entrepreneur were trying to get started today under these proposed rules, he or she wouldn't be able to buy a UHF station, as I did. They're all bought up. But even if someone did manage to buy a TV station, that wouldn't be enough. To compete, you have to have good programming and good distribution. Today both are owned by conglomerates that keep the best for themselves and leave the worst for you -- if they sell anything to you at all ...
Why should the country care? When you lose small businesses, you lose big ideas. People who own their own businesses are their own bosses. They are independent thinkers. They know they can't compete by imitating the big guys; they have to innovate. So they are less obsessed with earnings than they are with ideas. They're willing to take risks ... Large media corporations are far more profit-focused and risk-averse ... They kill local programming because it's expensive, and they push national programming because it's cheap -- even if it runs counter to local interests and community values.
The full article at: http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0530-08.htm


Rich