I'm sure I'm not the only one annoyed by the sensationalism surrounding Hurricane Ike. As I commented to someone who was watching the pre-landfall coverage, "News organizations just love things like this." All-day coverage where they can just repeat the same scant information over and over again? Score! No doubt they pant at the thought of sending some reporter to stand in front of the crashing waves, in the pouring rain, and report on how windy it is and some people are riding out the waves, and some spectacularly retarded people decided to go surfing.

The scare-mongering was so intense that gas-lines started forming around the country by people afraid gasoline was going to run out -- and, naturally, this in fact caused some stations to run out. Prices sky-rocketed, because since Katrina gasoline sellers and resellers are happy to use any weather-related excuse to raise prices.