18 dead as storms hit the Southeast
The Short Version
As many as 19 people died over the weekend as deadly storms with powerful tornadoes ripped their way across the South from Louisiana to South Carolina. The majority of deaths occurred in Georgia where 14 people were killed in storms on Sunday. Four additional deaths occurred in storms in Mississippi on Saturday. The total amount of damage has yet to be determined, but is expected to be over half a million dollars as entire neighborhoods were flattened.
A Little More Detail
There really is no such thing as an “off” season for tornadoes in the South. While we typically think of Spring as being the time most ripe for the deadly storms, temperature fluctuations in the South keep the possibility of dangerous weather present year-round. Still, the strength of this weekend’s storms, which ran across the entire Southeastern United States, were surprising and managed to catch people off guard.
The first of the deadly storms hit Saturday in Mississippi where four were killed. The storm arrived in the Hattiesburg area before daylight Saturday morning, ripping up trees that were hundreds of years old and completely closing Interstate 59 for a while. Three counties were affected by the tornado as it tore across the Southern part of the state.
Early morning also proved to be the deadliest period in Georgia as a tornado completely flattened a mobile home park in the small town of Adel, killing seven and leaving many more homeless. The tornadoes didn’t stop there, though. Later in the afternoon, another twister hit Albany, where three more were killed.
The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma says that 39 possible tornadoes were reported over the weekend, though not all of those have been confirmed. January has averaged roughly 38 tornadoes each year over the past decade, but rarely do they contain as much destructive energy as those this weekend. Among those confirmed so far, 30 were reported in Georgia, four in Mississippi, and one each in Louisiana and South Carolina.
While the destruction was widespread, only Georgia has declared a state of emergency.
Reasons To Protest
From pipelines to walls, the reasons to protest keep coming
The Short Version
Yesterday, the 45th president invited those behind the Keystone XL pipeline to resubmit a bid for the controversial construction blocked by the Obama administration. He then signed a directive for the US Army Corp of Engineers to expedite studies related to the Dakota Access Pipeline effectively stopped by protestors last year. Today, he will sign orders paving the way for the construction of a wall between the US and Mexico as well as limiting immigration from seven countries. Everywhere we look, the new administration is providing us ample reason to protest.
Down & Dirty Details
Remember all those protests that took place up in  North Dakota last year? Thousands of people took part in a standoff between the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and the government over the Dakota Access Pipeline. While momentum was initially slow to build and media attention often waned, protestors stuck it out until President Obama intervened and instructed the US Army Corp of Engineers to consider alternative routes for the pipeline.
No one was dumb enough to think that the matter was settled, though. A new president had already been elected and had gone on record as favoring more domestic oil and gas drilling in addition to the construction of pipelines from the North. Any victory won back in December was only going to be temporary. Sure enough, the president signed a memo to the Secretary of the Army instructing the Corp of Engineers to:
The full text of the memo can be found here.
Again, no one is surprised; this is exactly what was expected from the new administration. However, the memo is like a wake-up alarm going off for all those who were unsure when their protests might be needed again.
Within the same document-signing session, the president also signed a document inviting the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline to resubmit a proposal. The Keystone XL project had been fully blocked by the Obama administration back in 2014. This move opens the door for the project to be reconsidered. The memo, which is largely full of legal jargon that comes with anything composed in Washington, not only invites TransCanada to resubmit their bid, but authorizes the Secretary of State to approve the bid and the US Army Corp of Engineers to facilitate the construction. The full text of the order can be found here.
Obviously, we’ve not yet seen the orders regarding immigration, but we do know some of the following matters are to be addressed in the signing at the Department of Homeland Security today.
While there is a reasonable chance not all the orders regarding border security and immigration will be ready for signing today, they are almost certainly to be signed at some point this week.
Why Protests Are Necessary
Every last one of these issues establishes an anti-humanitarian foundation for the entire administration. As pipelines have a proven propensity for leaking, they endanger the health and welfare of anyone who lives downstream. Immigration is a necessary humanitarian need for innocent people driven from countries at war as well as those simply looking for a better way of life. The president is so anti-humanitarian that he has even threatened to deny federal funding to the more than 200 Sanctuary Cities scattered across the US. [A current list of the Sanctuary Cities can be found here.]
This is a case of silence yielding consent. When the people of the United States do not speak up on a matter, when we stay in our comfortable chairs and warm houses and do absolutely nothing regarding an issue, Washington then proceeds to do whatever the hell they want. While protests are not always successful, they do at least remind members of Congress that they are answerable to their constituents in the next election. We can replace every last one of them if necessary.
While regular communication with your members of Congress is good, protests emphasize to them just how important an issue is to the American people. Sitting in Washington, D.C. day after day can be numbing. Members of Congress not only lose touch with their direct constiuents, they lose touch with the realities of the nation they represent. They need us to remind them that we’re not only paying attention, but that we actually care about specific issues.
Choose What You Can Do
I know not everyone can do every thing. No one can be at every march. Some of us can’t march at all. The number of issues we care about is larger than we have time to address. A friend posted a link to this article on Medium.com regarding how to #StayOutraged. There is a lot of good advice in that article. It’s going to be a long four years and issue fatigue is going to set in quickly.
Consider what you care about. Find an effective form of protest that works for you. Then, make your opinions known. Loudly. Forcefully.
Let us constantly remind this administration that they do not have a mandate. Despite what the president claims, they lost the popular vote soundly. There is no legitimate evidence of fraud. We need to prove just how strong we are in our opposition to his presidency and, especially, his policies.
Resist.
Dissent.
#StayOutraged
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