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Hurricane Helene Is Another Climate Catastrophe - The Monday AM Quickie 9/30/24

By Jacob Silverman —

This week's RIP goes to Kris Kristofferson, who Rolling Stone memorably eulogized as an American Renaissance man. He was also a great leftist. -Jacob

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THE BIG NEWS

In Latest Climate Catastrophe, Hurricane Helene Devastates Southeastern US

Hurricane Helene smashed into Florida on Friday before tracing a path up through Georgia and the Carolinas, leaving at least 93 people dead, hundreds missing, and millions of people without power. Across the southeastern US, unknown numbers of people still await rescue, evacuation, medical care, or the restoration of basic services. Reporters in Tampa Bay, where the hurricane made landfall, called it the worst storm the city had seen in more than 100 years. In South Carolina, about 45 percent of homes and businesses didn't have power on Friday, according to the AP.

Whole towns were cut off from neighboring communities as rivers overflowed their banks, storm surge reached record highs, and roads and highways washed away or were closed. Videos from towns like Asheville, North Carolina, showed stunningly high floodwaters that soaked downtowns and destroyed numerous homes. With widespread infrastructure damage, some 100,000 people in Asheville don't have access to clean water, and the situation may not be fixed for weeks.

Like everywhere else in the world, the US is facing more frequent and more intense natural disasters due to the effects of climate change. Even climate-change deniers in typically red Florida are being faced with the hard facts of environmental destruction and spiraling homeowners insurance rates. (Zillow is now showing "climate risks" in property listings.) Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who as governor banned state officials from referring to climate change, said over the weekend that "something is changing... we've got to figure this out." Asked if he was acknowledging the impact of climate change, Scott said, "Absolutely, something's changed, and the climate's clearly changing."

We know exactly what's changed. Unfortunately, the Republican Party hasn't kept up.

In Massive Escalation, Israel Assassinates Hezbollah's Nasrallah And Kills Hundreds of Lebanese

On Friday, Israeli warplanes dropped dozens of US-supplied bombs on an apartment complex in south Beirut, leveling whole buildings and killing hundreds of innocent people. The real target, apparently, was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was in a bunker beneath one of the buildings. He was later reported dead – of asphyxiation, his body recovered intact. The strike also killed an Iranian general.

Israel's assassination of Nasrallah is a monumental blow to Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group and political party, but it has also reinforced the perception, especially among Middle Eastern leaders, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no interest in peace, no desire to slow down his war machine, and indeed would like the conflict to expand – no matter how many times President Joe Biden says he wants to prevent an "all-out war."

As Hezbollah volleyed missiles over the southern Lebanese border, its sponsor Iran promised a "regional response" while Jordan's foreign minister begged for Israeli officials to offer a plan beyond constant warfare. Israel continued bombing Lebanon throughout the weekend, including striking deep in Beirut. More than 1,000 Lebanese people have died in Israeli air strikes in the last two weeks. Israel also struck Houthi targets in Yemen yesterday, killing four people and wounding dozens.

QUICKEST QUICKIES

  • Insurers Stiffed Florida Homeowners Over Hurricane Ian Damage Whistleblowers from inside the insurance industry claim that insurers used fraudulent damage reports to deceive tens of thousands of Florida homeowners seeking relief in the wake of Hurricane Ian. The storm devastated southwest Florida two years ago and became the most economically damaging hurricane in the state's history. Many homeowners are still waiting for adequate repayment from their insurers. via 60 Minutes.
  • The Eric Adams Indictment Drama Is Only Beginning At a church service yesterday, recently indicted New York City Mayor Eric Adams vowed, "I'm not going to resign. I'm going to reign." Meanwhile, the mayor "quietly" signed an executive order to change the line of succession for the position of first deputy mayor. Sheena Wright, the current first deputy mayor, married David Banks, NYC's schools chancellor, over the weekend. Both have been implicated in federal investigations related to the mayor, and Banks said he would leave his post at the end of 2024. via Gloria Pazmino/X, NYT, and Pix 11.
  • Alex Jones' Assets May Be Auctioned To His Enemies Alex Jones, the bankrupt conspiratorial radio host who owes $1.5 billion in defamation damages to families of Sandy Hook shooting victims, will soon be forced to liquidate his assets, including his InfoWars media empire. Now, some liberal activists and other liberal interest groups are considering buying InfoWars – its media archives, its social media handles, its website – and using it to somehow further discredit Jones and the lunatic fringe he represents. But others worry that an anonymous backer will swoop in, win the bidding, and reinstall Jones in his grubby perch. via Semafor.
  • Trump Is Laying the Groundwork to Reject the Election Results There's hardly a speech or an interview in which Donald Trump doesn't claim the voting system is rigged against him. But he's also preparing to dispute the 2024 election results in more substantive ways, such as through "more than 100 preemptive lawsuits" that his team and other Republicans have filed to challenge voting rules across the country. The RNC has also built up an army of thousands of "poll watchers" who will undoubtedly supply specious future anecdotes about ballot-box stuffing in swing states. via Axios.

SOME NUMBER

1 million

That's how many Lebanese people may soon be displaced as Israel continues to launch air strikes in the country, according to Lebanese officials. Lebanon's overall population is less than 6 million, and already an estimated 50,000 refugees have gone into Syria.

ON THE SHOW TODAY

9/30: Happy Monday! Sam and Emma speaks with Manisha Sinha, Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut, to discuss her recent book The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920.

DON'T MISS MR CLIPS‌

This Is A Libertarian FAIL

Trying to incite the murder of the vice president might attract the attention of the FBI, and it doesn't make you a free speech martyr.

Netanyahu's UN Speech Sparks Outrage As Israel Continues Lebanon Assault

Israel's chief genocidaire lectured world leaders as his country's warplanes killed hundreds of people in Lebanon.

PARTING WORDS

"The amount of damage this Israeli government has done. Thirty years of efforts to convince people that peace is possible – this Israeli government killed it. The amount of dehumanization, hatred, bitterness will take generations to navigate through. So ultimately the question is, we want peace and we've laid out a plan for peace. Ask any Israeli official what is their plan for peace and you'll get nothing... We have no partner for peace in Israel."

-- Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi speaking yesterday at the United Nations. Safadi said that all 57 Muslim Arab countries were willing to guarantee Israel's security but that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed no interest in peace or a two-state solution.

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