The Post-Partisan Emporium

  Our Fragile Infrastructure: Lessons from Hurricane Helene Ellen Brown Buncombe County North Carolina – damage after Hurricane Helene floods. NCDOTcommunications, CC BY 2.0  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0,  via Wikimedia Commons Asheville, North Carolina is known for its historic architecture, vibrant arts scene and as a gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was  a favorite escape  for “climate migrants” moving from California, Arizona, and other climate-challenged vicinities, until a “500 year flood” ravaged the city this fall. Hurricane Helene was a wakeup call not just for stricken North Carolina residents but for people across the country following their  tragic stories  in the media and in the podcasts now  favored by young voters  for news. “Preppers” well equipped with supplies watched in helpless disbelief as homes washed away in a wall of water and mud, taking emergency supplies in the storm.  Streets turned into...

  A Bridge Too Far Infrastructure as metaphor RADIO FAR SIDE Unless you’ve been sleeping under a bridge, then you’ve heard that a container ship lost power on March 26th, and drifted into a support pylon on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore harbor, which set off a catastrophic collapse of the bridge, port traffic, and one of the city’s primary commuter routes. Baltimore was founded by a 1632 charter from Charles I, to Cecil Calvert, Baron Baltimore of Ireland. The name Baltimore comes from the Irish " Baile an Tí Mhóir ," meaning “city of the Big House,” and “big house” is a term used by slaves on the plantations for the main residence, or the master’s house. It is also a common slang term for a prison, or similarly to a central or primary government structure. Wait, it gets better. This event couldn’t be more packed with symbolism if David Lynch had directed the scene. A Singapore-registered container vessel named  “MV Dali”  appears to have succumbed to tainted ...