and now the news. and now the news with more syllables.

these are the top four headlines (out of five) in the u.s. news section of my earthlink start-up page:

• Hurricane Rita Lashes Florida Keys
• Rita strengthens into hurricane as it lashes Florida Keys with wind and heavy rain
• Galveston Calls for Voluntary Evacuations
• As Rita takes track across Florida and Gulf, Galveston calls for voluntary evacuations

i don't know why the lengthier headlines don't follow the same capitalization rules as the shorter ones; maybe those headlines are aware of how throughly unnecessary they are and are too ashamed to draw any extra attention to themselves. i did peek at all four articles just to make sure and, yes, they are redundant. no cake for you, earthlink! and if the blame lies more with the ap press feed, then it goes to bed without dessert as well.

i did learn from the last article that oil companies are evacuating employees from oil and gas platforms, including some that are already undergoing repairs for damage they sustained during katrina. while it makes my palms a titch sweaty to think about what we'll be spending on heating oil this winter, in a grander-scheme sort of way this beating the drilling rigs and refineries have been taking could be a good thing. more people will conserve fuel or take advantage of public transportation, and maybe someone will finally figure out a way to wean us off of that black tar for good. i'm not numb to the negatives, though; my household can afford a spike in heating costs, and a lot of households can't. here in massachusetts we have the citizens energy corporation, which helps supply heating oil to low-income and elderly residents, and i'm sure other states have similar programs. but with the cost being as high as it is, they aren't likely to be able to help as many people as they usually can, and i think a lot of people who might have donated won't be willing to because they'll be paying so much themselves. shoddy attitude, sure, but the one that tends to win out. this is the problem with nature taking the initiative in thinning the herd--the survivors are the ones who managed to be the most self-serving. positive attribute when you live in the jungle, but less positive when you live in what we keep telling ourselves is a civilized, humanistic society. i've said it before and i'll keep saying it, there are way too many of us, but even from a purely ecological standpoint i would have to be concerned about the character of the ones who pulled through, because they're going to shape things from that point on. i keep hoping for some kind of karma-sucking supervirus that will only kill assholes, but all i get is a whole lot of unjust nothing.

can you guess a person's age based on their idealism, the way you can count the rings of a tree? people twice my age tell me i'll outgrow my current inclinations, and i'm convinced that such statements are driven by sour grapes and schadenfreude, but i could be wrong. time will tell, i suppose.

see what happens when i read the news on rainy days? i babble like the world's mopiest brook. but there, i'm finished. yell at the ap for absentmindedly brow-beating us, help someone who needs help, and tell me to shut the hell up.