Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Power Outages in St. Louis

You can get all the numbers and details in this article by the Belleville News-Democrat, but about 163,000 people remain without power in the St. Louis metro area, many of which are on the Illinois side of the river. Part of the article deals with the extensive efforts of the state to help out the residents of the poorer communities still lacking power, including MREs, ice, and bottled water.

Throwing fuel on the fire in so many ways, Al Sharpton showed up in St. Louis to do what he does best (link includes video).

His idiocy included two knee-slappers: Asking Ameren (the power company in the area) to cut rates by 10%, and accusing the company of restoring service faster to the higher income areas. Thankfully, the NBC affiliate article refutes both of his laughers, noting that the electricity prices are controlled by the Missouri Public Service Commission, and that their workers have been concentrating on the heaviest damage first.

What I find really amusing is how Sharpton spoke as if he had such "solidarity" with the people in need right now. "We work hard, we struggle to pay our bills." Blah blah blah. I'm willing to bet Sharpton hasn't worried about paying any of his bills in quite a while.

Ugh.

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