by Lee Newcom
I am in the Los Angeles area tending to my mother, in the hospital suddenly for surgery. A couple of hours ago it felt like a giant strode onto the grounds and gave the building a kick in the foundation. I am from Southern California and earthquakes here are as accepted as tornadoes in Illinois. This 5.8 quake was no big deal and the only thing broken is apparently the psyche of a few cows in Chino, a rural dairy area where the quake was centered, though it was well felt from San Diego to points north of L.A.
Why am I commenting?
The now wall-to-wall news coverage on the news channels is just amusing. St. Barak has not made any lame walk today so the earthquake is it. Man-on-the-street interviews, "Well, you see I was in the pharmacy aisle at Wal Mart and suddenly the Advil box fell off the shelf and I saw my life pass before my eyes." I haven't seen a camera crew here in the hospital yet but I am rehearsing just in case, "I ran to the hospital bed side and my elderly mother grasped my hand in desperate fear!" (Truth is she and I kind of looked askance, wondering if the building was going to fall over, then laughed.)
Oh, and all the news channels are breathlessly telling you not to use the cell phones because the circuits are are all clogged up with all the people calling. Of course the the breathless coverage is causing those calls. There will now be a couple of dozen after-shocks, probably for the next 24-48 hours, which will be dutifully red-flagged as breaking news when they happen.
Go back to sleep folks. Everything is OK here. His divineness will probably reroute to LA now to assess the damage and let us know how Bush/McCain and Global Warming caused the earthquake and the rich need to pay their fair share of the cows counseling needs so children everywhere will have milk. I am trying to find a stretcher to take mom to the street, so maybe she will be healed as he and Michelle pass by.
