[lbo-talk] No Way Out

[Carl Remick]

>From: Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu>
>
>>So far, the evacuations have gone as planned down here, with the  notable 
>>and sizeable exception that there is total, absolute  gridlock on the 
>>major interstates leading out of the Houston  metroplex.  People are 
>>sitting out in 100 degree heat in their cars  with the windows rolled 
>>down, trying to conserve gas (becasue there  isn't any), and moving about 
>>20-30 miles in 11 hours, with little  water....
>>  - Deborah (west Houston)
>
>The poor without cars and money are stuck again:
>
><blockquote>Posted on Thu, Sep. 22, 2005
>No way out: Tears, anger as some try to flee and many poor are stuck
>DEBORAH HASTINGS
>Associated Press
><http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/12715593.htm>

The odd thing is, the affluent escaping in cars don't seem to be much better 
off than the poor stuck back in Houston.  They're without fuel, without 
water, virtually immobile and completely exposed should the hurricane 
strike.  Houston Mayor Bill White was quoted as saying that "being on the 
highway is a deathtrap."  I suppose this is not the appropriate time to 
savor the irony of Houston, a world capital of the petro/auto culture, 
suffering a near-fatal car thrombosis aggravated by an acute gas deficiency.

Carl