Threads 2.
0 09/18/08
Threads
Contents
Editorial
-A Note From My Desk
Page One
-Hurricanes of Galveston.
Page Two
-Galveston Continued
-Hurricane Photos
Page Three
-Under the Umbrella of
Ideology
Page Four
-Anarchy In Philadelphia
-In the News
A NOTE FROM MY DESK:
W
hen I move out,
things will
hopefully get
easier as far as trying to get
the things done that I want to
get done, without worrying
about my parents constantly
breathing down my neck
about something stupid.
This issue is probably the
most difficult one I’ve had to
do since all my free time is
severely limited and I’m
running out of energy (and
motivation) for this thing. I’d
like to keep it going, but I’m
not sure if that will be
possible.
I hope you enjoy this issue; I
spent several late nights
trying to get this one just
right. Maybe I failed.
Kudos.
2.0 “Are you ready to be Liberated?”
The Hurricanes of Galveston Texas
Ike and his very deadly predecessor, the 1900 storm
The deadliest hurricane
Named Hurricanes of 2008
to ever hit the United
States crashed into Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico
Galveston Texas in the names:
afternoon of September Eastern Pacific Names:
Arthur Alma
8, 1900 with no
Bertha Boris
warning. The storm, Cristobal Cristina
estimated to be a Dolly Douglas
Category 4 roared onto Edouard Elida
the highly populated Fay Fausto
Gustav Hernan
island of over 42,000
Hanna Iselle
people early in the Ike Julio
evening. The highest Josephine Karina
point in Galveston at Lowell
the time was only 8.7
feet. With estimated sustained winds of nearly 135 miles per
hour, the storm pushed ahead of it a 15 foot storm surge onto the
large flat sand-bar known as Galveston, before Galveston had a
sea wall. By the next day when the storm would finally pass, 8,000
people would be dead. Bodies would be littered throughout the
debris of the once populous city. Rescuers going into the city by
boat to help with relief efforts had to push bodies out of the way
of their boats in order to get to the city.
The smell of the deceased bodies could be smelled for miles
around. There were so many bodies that burial was not an option.
Many bodies were buried at sea but as the currents brought many
of the bodies back, a new solution was thought of, and the bodies
were burnt instead along with the piles of debris.
Galveston learned a lot from this storm and built a seawall to help
protect the city, the entire island was also raised up to 17 feet
using sand that had been dredged. The raising of the island also
included the raising of over 2,100 of the surviving buildings,
including a 3,100 St. Patrick's Church. These changes greatly
helped Galveston, because in 1915, a storm of about the same
magnitude would hit Galveston again this time only 53 people on
the island lost their lives, which was a great improvement.
 Threads 2.0 09/18/08

Less than a week ago, Galveston was once
again hit with a large storm, Ike. Hurricane Ike
caused extensive damage to the small island,
highly reminiscent of the photos from the 1900
hurricane. Ike however was a slightly weaker
storm than the 1900 storm, roaring in at a
strong category 2 storm which had sustained
winds at 105 miles per hour. Before the storm
reached Galveston, the National Weather
Service stated that if residents did not evacuate
from the island, they would face "certain
death". Due to the large size of the storm,
almost as large as the Gulf of Mexico itself, the
National Weather Service feared that the storm
could be bringing with it nearly a 22 foot storm
surge that could wipe out the island, similar to
the storm surge that came with the 1900 storm.
Hurricane Ike caused nearly $22 Billion in
damages as it went through Galveston, then
onto Houston. One key difference between Ike
and the 1900 storm is that Ike lost a lot of its
energy as it moved through Texas, the 1900
storm continued its path of destruction through
the United States having sustained winds of 40
miles per hour as it went through the Great
Lake states, and having sustained winds of 60
miles per hour as it continued through New
York before finally dissipating.

Black and
white photos
from the 1900
Hurricane,
color photos
from
Hurricane Ike

In the top
right photo;
the bodies of
those who
died in the
1900 storm.
 Threads 2.0 09/18/08
OPINION
Under the Umbrella of Ideology
By: Chadwick Heller
The only thing more devastating than the effects
of guns and bombs, I've always believed, is the
destructive force of an ideology. An ideology is
how a group of people view the world and their
ideal concept of how to live in that world - and
ideology is often political, but not necessarily.
The problem with ideology occurs when those
groups of people feel that they must go out and
create that ideal world they envision, and they go
about it by removing what they feel to be un-
ideal.
Dangerous ideologies can
manifest themselves in
numerous ways through
business, politics, and often
times religion. The four
generally accepted
characteristics of an ideology,
as laid out by Willard A.
Mullins are that in order for
something to be an ideology:
1. It must have power over
cognitions;
2. It must be capable of guiding one's
evaluations;
3. It must provide guidance towards action;
4. And it must be logically coherent.
An ideology can change a person's way of
thinking because what it does is it changes a
person’s worldview. When a person is told over
and over again "they are the enemy" or "they are
no more important than animals" because "they
don't believe the way we do", these words begin
to change the way a person is. Radical Islamic
groups at present are notorious for this type of
behavior, getting children to believe that to have
an honorable death is to become a suicide
bomber for Allah.
Ideologies often "teaches" people how to
differentiate the "us" from the "them", and in
doing so either directs that the "us" stay away
from, convert the, or destroy the "them". The
people under the influence of an ideology can
often times believe it so strongly, they will refuse
to see the other side of any issue, either because
"outsiders don't know" or the ideology has
crippled them in a way that they can no longer
see beyond the parameters of the strict
guidelines of the ideology.
An ideology can be introduced to a person
without that person realizing it. Cults use their
own form of ideology in order to draw in and
retain members. Often times an ideology begins
with a lure, "see how bad this world is, we can
make it better", or "see how hard your life is, we
can make it easier". The lure doesn't have to be
vocalized necessarily, especially when the
ideology is so ingrained into the culture at large
that no matter what a person does they are
constantly being influenced by the ideology.
Although there are a few forms of ideologies that
aren't necessarily dangerous,
these "less dangerous" forms
still have their social
implications. Capitalism,
Democracy, Liberty and Free
Enterprise are all ideologies,
and so is the idea of being
American. On the surface
these all seem alright, but
what have we done in the
name of "Capitalism",
"Democracy", "Liberty", "Free
Enterprise" and "being an
American" in order to 'protect' these ideas from
the attacks of evil 'outsiders'?
Often times there can be a person (or persons)
above an ideology that uses the ideology in order
to blind the people. This ideological blindness is
done in order for the leader (or leaders) at the
top to take advantage, and sometimes use the
people buried in the shroud of the ideology for
their own gain. A good example, many Germans,
and some soldiers even, were not aware of the
atrocities being committed by the Nazi party,
sometimes in their own back yard, even though
the ideology was full of anti-Semitism.
The unfortunate reality is that it is nearly
impossible to completely free oneself from the
umbrella of an ideology; however it is important
to recognize that umbrella is there. Continuing
with the umbrella metaphor, it is OK to actually
shake the hand holding up that ideology and see
what that umbrella is protecting or hiding you
from - perhaps it’s not raining like they've been
saying, instead the sun is out.
 Threads 2.0 09/18/08

Anarchy In Philadelphia IN THE NEWS

By: Chadwick Heller

Looking to buy a cookbook – yes, that cookbook, well in
the heart of Philadelphia there is just the place where you
can get that, along with thousands of other books and
publications that strive for a society free of a dominating
hierarchy.
Less than a block off of Philadelphia's busiest street sits a
small non-profit bookstore that goes by the name Wooden
Shoe Books and Records and is run by a collective of
volunteers. Wooden Shoe Books and Records is the hub of
the Anarchist movement in Philadelphia and carries a wide
selection of books, 'zines, music, pamphlets and t-shirts
that share in the belief that a community can self govern
and sustain itself without any outside domination.
The bookstore has existed, at one place or another, for
nearly 30 years. In 1997 the store burned down, but the
collective of about 35 staffers sought out a new location
for the book store and resurrected it from its ashes.
When the bookstore was restored, so was its reputation
for being the center for social movements in the
Philadelphia area. The book store sponsors many events,
from concerts to speeches, including an appearance by
Howard Zinn.
The bookstore gets it name from an old image of workers
control when French peasants, tired from a long days work
would throw their wooden shoes (because they were too
poor to buy leather shoes) into the gears of the factory
machines. The bookstore was originally founded by
socialists.
BOOK LUST
• Google to release a cell phone to compete
with iPhone
• AIG asks for bail out from Government and
lends AIG $85 Billion.
o The money used was the money
from American tax payers
o The Federal Government had to
print more money for the loan
o This will inevitably cause inflation
• Piracy is a big concern on the Red Sea and
Indian Ocean
• Supreme Court’s Global Influence Waning
• Wisconsin woman stole daughters identity
to attend High School and join cheerleading
squad
• US shoppers expected to cut back on
shopping this upcoming holiday season
• Texas still cleaning up after Hurricane Ike
o Crews from 31 states go to Texas
to help restore power
• WaMu (Washington Mutual) loses 94% of
its stock
• Bill Gates tops US wealth list 15 years in a
row
• Housing Construction drops 6.2% this year.

Some people can't resist the lure of books. Some enjoy to

read them, some enjoy them for aesthetic reasons, but then
there are still others who go beyond just enjoying books, but
are in fact addicted to them. There are three levels of book
enthusiasts, each with their own characteristics. Suggestions?
Critiques?
Book addiction, also known as "bibliomania" is a person who
must have books for no other reason than to just have them.
Submissions?
This is an obsession that can be similar to book collecting, and
is considered a legitimate extension of Obsessive Compulsive Send them to:
Disorder.

People who like books for aesthetic reasons such as the books C.HELLER.RUN@GMAIL.COM
look, texture, volume or other elements of its general
appearance are what is known as "bibliophiles". These people
generally don't read books, as much as they just collect them Thank you.
to essentially look at them.

The third classes of book enthusiasts are often referred to as

[All stories written by me
"bookworms", people who enjoy reading - a lot. These people (Chadwick Heller) – pictures
do not necessarily own a multitude of books, but they do, “borrowed” from online.]
however spend much of their free time buried in one.