FEMA has shown it's complete and utter LACK of any common sense in sorting out the gulf situation. There's lots of characterization going on in the media.. painting the looters as all bad, but in reality most of them are mentally in survivor mode. Some points:
1. These people, if they were able, probably DID put aside food and water. Which is now trapped under 9-20 feet of water in their houses.
2. There is only 1 road out of New orleans right now, and it's DANGEROUS to walk around. It's also on the opposite side of the most affected parts of the city. Put another way.. would you stroll through this with your kids? I'd wait for an escort with guns, thank you.
3. It is essential to get people moved out within 48-72 hours of a disaster. After that, the shock of loosing everything you own wears out and you go into survival mode. The serious moral decay of society is coming out big-time here.
3. These evacuation buses are driving right past thousands of people. Today was the first day that any serious evacuation was happening.
I'm not excusing the behaviour of NOLA people - but I understand it. There's looting, rape and murder happening - at the shelters. 60% of the NOLA police force quite because there's no command/control. You have GOT to protect and provide for yourself and your family somehow.
Most people got clean WATER for the first time since Monday. Even at the Superdome.
If I were FEMA last Tuesday:
1. Get school busses and get accessible people out now. Sort them somewhere else and reduce the need to ship in food. There should be armed escorts getting these people out. They should be swathing the city eastward so they can make effective use of the manpower instead of diluting it.
2. Evacuate all hospitals. Call in every ambulance you can and fly them out of Baton Rouge.
3. Air-drop food and water all over the city. Hell, have the coast guard drop food around as they're going to rescue survivors. It took 4 days to get those "tons and tons" into the city we keep hearing about on the news.
They didn't do that. Instead they:
1. Advised everyone to gather at central locations.. and instantly had supply issues because there's only one friggin road into town.
2. They (Army engineers) thought they could fix a 500' levee of MOVING water in 24 hours. Huh?
3. The advised people to evacuate, but didn't coordinate escorts with the National Guard they had.
4. The police were overwhelmed. Many of them didn't even hear that they were under martial law!
5. The city government left town leaving people with no knowledge of the city to coordinate the effort.
It's just totally wrong. Even an 8 year old could figure it out. If you've got limited access you're not going to be able to provide needed services.
FEMA gets billions of dollars to figure this out and completely botched it. Now they're complaining that people are shooting at them, which is wrong, but these people are mentally in survivor mode and if you don't have food or water then you don't matter.
Posted on interdictor blog earlier:
Three days ago, police and national guard troops told citizens to head toward the Crescent City Connection Bridge to await transportation out of the area. The citizens trekked over to the Convention Center and waited for the buses which they were told would take them to Houston or Alabama or somewhere else, out of this area.
It's been 3 days, and the buses have yet to appear.
Although obviously he has no exact count, he estimates more than 10,000 people are packed into and around and outside the convention center still waiting for the buses. They had no food, no water, and no medicine for the last three days, until today, when the National Guard drove over the bridge above them, and tossed out supplies over the side crashing down to the ground below. Much of the supplies were destroyed from the drop. Many people tried to catch the supplies to protect them before they hit the ground. Some offered to walk all the way around up the bridge and bring the supplies down, but any attempt to approach the police or national guard resulted in weapons being aimed at them.
There are many infants and elderly people among them, as well as many people who were injured jumping out of windows to escape flood water and the like -- all of them in dire straights.
Any attempt to flag down police results in being told to get away at gunpoint. Hour after hour they watch buses pass by filled with people from other areas. Tensions are very high, and there has been at least one murder and several fights. 8 or 9 dead people have been stored in a freezer in the area, and 2 of these dead people are kids.
The people are so desperate that they're doing anything they can think of to impress the authorities enough to bring some buses. These things include standing in single file lines with the eldery in front, women and children next; sweeping up the area and cleaning the windows and anything else that would show the people are not barbarians.
The buses never stop.
Before the supplies were pitched off the bridge today, people had to break into buildings in the area to try to find food and water for their families. There was not enough. This spurred many families to break into cars to try to escape the city. There was no police response to the auto thefts until the mob reached the rich area -- Saulet Condos -- once they tried to get cars from there... well then the whole swat teams began showing up with rifles pointed. Snipers got on the roof and told people to get back.
He reports that the conditions are horrendous. Heat, mosquitoes and utter misery. The smell, he says, is "horrific."
Friday, September 02, 2005
Thursday, September 01, 2005
N'Orleans
Been watching this blog: Interdictor, it's run by a NO ISP called directNIC.com. They're still online there.. riding it out. They've even got a webcam, and regular updates. You can watch looters and national guard. It's pretty startling.
The disaster of NOLA is only growing graver.. the entire rescue effort is blown apart. There's cops wandering the streets with no commanders, almost 1/3rd of the force has quite.
Good lord, even the Hospitals can't get help in NOLA.. There's even a doctor are canoing between buildings.
Hello? We can't move 400 patients in less than 4 days! The government can't get it together.. lots more people are going to suffer or die out there. God help them.
The disaster of NOLA is only growing graver.. the entire rescue effort is blown apart. There's cops wandering the streets with no commanders, almost 1/3rd of the force has quite.
Good lord, even the Hospitals can't get help in NOLA.. There's even a doctor are canoing between buildings.
Hello? We can't move 400 patients in less than 4 days! The government can't get it together.. lots more people are going to suffer or die out there. God help them.
Monday, May 02, 2005
The story of Moo moo
Moo Moo was a beautiful Jersey mix yearling steer. Sweet steer was he, now to table he goes.
Moo Moo weighed in at 540 lbs hanging weight and yielded about 275 lbs of Ground Beef, 28 T-Bone steaks (Which is the New York strip), 20 Club Steaks, 24 Tenderloin (Where the Filet Mignon resides), 6 big roasts, 28 ribs, 2 huge Brisquits, and much more. All in total, about 520 lbs of meat.. that's 18 square feet of freezer at the Ranchita.
Special note about this beef, it is all natural non-hormone Grass fed beef. Very tender as well.
I guess I am a sixth generation Texas Rancher in a small way, and I guess I did learn something about beef from my Dad, God bless him!
Moo Moo weighed in at 540 lbs hanging weight and yielded about 275 lbs of Ground Beef, 28 T-Bone steaks (Which is the New York strip), 20 Club Steaks, 24 Tenderloin (Where the Filet Mignon resides), 6 big roasts, 28 ribs, 2 huge Brisquits, and much more. All in total, about 520 lbs of meat.. that's 18 square feet of freezer at the Ranchita.
Special note about this beef, it is all natural non-hormone Grass fed beef. Very tender as well.
I guess I am a sixth generation Texas Rancher in a small way, and I guess I did learn something about beef from my Dad, God bless him!
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Benedict XVI
Well, I never have gotten around to finishing out my post on JPII yet, but I am really astonished at the speed of the Conclave! It's a wonderful thing!
Couple of interesting things on the name:
1. St. Malachi's prophecy of "Glory of the Olives" (he Benedictine's are also known as Olivetians )?
2. St. Benedict prophecy that the last Pope would be a "Benedictine."
The name has, for me, connotations of the story of Benedict, namely for the caves.
The Catholic Encyclopedia has a nice little biography. Choice quotes:
The path continues to ascend, and the side of the ravine, on which it runs, becomes steeper, until we reach a cave above which the mountain now rises almost perpendicularly; while on the right hand it strikes in a rapid descent down to where, in St. Benedict's day, five hundred feet below, lay the blue waters of the lake. The cave has a large triangular-shaped opening and is about ten feet deep. On his way from Enfide, Benedict met a monk, Romanus, whose monastery was on the mountain above the cliff overhanging the cave. Romanus had discussed with Benedict the purpose which had brought him to Subiaco, and had given him the monk's habit. By his advice Benedict became a hermit and for three years, unknown to men, lived in this cave above the lake.
"For God's sake he deliberately chose the hardships of life and the weariness of labour"
... the community came to him and begged him to become its abbot. Benedict was acquainted with the life and discipline of the monastery, and knew that "their manners were diverse from his and therefore that they would never agree together: yet, at length, overcome with their entreaty, he gave his consent" The experiment failed; the monks tried to poison him, and he returned to his cave.
Supposedly, on EWTN they were expecting him to take the name Boniface.
What in the world prompted him to take Benedict?
Couple of interesting things on the name:
1. St. Malachi's prophecy of "Glory of the Olives" (he Benedictine's are also known as Olivetians )?
2. St. Benedict prophecy that the last Pope would be a "Benedictine."
The name has, for me, connotations of the story of Benedict, namely for the caves.
The Catholic Encyclopedia has a nice little biography. Choice quotes:
Supposedly, on EWTN they were expecting him to take the name Boniface.
What in the world prompted him to take Benedict?
Friday, April 08, 2005
Fatima, the Pope, and Revelations Chapter 12
One of the most interesting things I remember about the Pope is his proclamation that Our Lady of Fatima, is in fact the woman of Revelation Chapter 12, v 1. And he also said, if I remember correctly, that we are in the midst of v3 and 4. (Speech on May 13th, 2000 in Fatima)
Trying to locate a link to the speech, but until I do.. there's something interesting about this (NAB, usccb.org).
3 Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems.
4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth.
More on this later..
Trying to locate a link to the speech, but until I do.. there's something interesting about this (NAB, usccb.org).
3 Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems.
4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Justice served Cold
I'm certainly not the first to moan about Justice, certainly not the last. Our American form of Justice is encoded through a unique combination of inalienable rights and Christian morality.
Now, in the moribund 200+ years since our Constitution was set in motion.. some elements of our Government and the few, lonely depraved challengers are cleaning the house of Christian morality. Fair viewpoint.
On the other hand, perhaps it's simply a growing non-Christain group which obligates us to include and modify our laws to accomidate them. Also a valid argument and viewpoint.
But, just like in any complicated design, if you start changing base elements of the design - then you have to add "hacks". A hack meaning a clever though hastily designed solution that "makes it work" - at least for the time being. Duct tape, bailing wire, and Microsoft all come time mind.
The problem is, that our Code of law is being hacked.. and the Design document (Constitution and Bill of Rights) is still the same. The old software addage, "it's a feature not a bug" comes to mind as you read the code of law. We aren't writting good code, and sooner or later it will fail to execute correctly in some unknown edge case.
Example: I'm truly mortified at the outcome of the Schindler-Schiavo case ending in the soon-inevitable death, but I am not surprised. The Florida legislative bill which allowed the death by dehydration and starvation was introduced at the proding of the same lawyer which argued for her death - George Felos.
American justice and due process has, in actuality, occured. The evidence was admitted, a judge allowed or disallowed evidence, a series of motions were made, and a judgement according to the evidence before the court was executed. Even the Supreme court has said, indeed Justice is served. Hot or cold, fair or unfair.
We've been warned time and time again. Outspoken critics lambast our changing system of Justice on a daily, hourly basis. A TV sitcom makes a funny show about it and we all feel vindicated that it's really not THAT SERIOUS. It's just a stupid law, and it'll never apply to me anyway. The chorus of voices is just chatter.
TAKE A LOOK AROUND YOU.
Justice is not the servant of Logic. Truth is not the servant of Logic. In order to have True justice, there must be Truth, which is Logical. Why is Truth logical? Because it is the very nature of Logic that it is based on Truth. Otherwise it makes no sense.
No brainer for the vast majority of common sense humanity. But when the aim of Justice becomes the substitute for God, the punishment becomes harsh. Because, Logically, a crime or sin deserves Death - Truth demands it. Only through God can we obtain penance and forgiveness - not a penitentiary. Because True Justice has no mercy.
Proof: An auto mechanic Bob does a shody $50 repair job which results in the death of Mary. Should Bob pay the family of Mary $50 - or should he be put to death in exchange for her death? Shouldn't we kill Bob then?
How many of us are culpable for the death or misery of our neighbors? We buy shoes made by political prisoners or children. Our neighbor lost their job at the Shoe factory because they can't match slave labor wages?
How much injustice can a single American perform in a single day just by eating, shopping, and going to sleep? Some of you agree - even some Athiest - that a great injustice is occuring here. Just because we're ignorant of the misery and death resulting from our choices in shopping doesn't exempt us from Justice. And if Justice it to be metted out in equal portions - then don't we all deserve death?
Therefore, all of Mankind that perpitrates injustice through his own hands or actions, either from ignorance or malveolance is subject to the equal punishmment of Justice.
I submit that the true cost of throwing out God from our Code of Law, is the death of Man. Because without the weight of God through Mercy tipping the scale in Justice, we all do deserve the equitable punishment.
Now, in the moribund 200+ years since our Constitution was set in motion.. some elements of our Government and the few, lonely depraved challengers are cleaning the house of Christian morality. Fair viewpoint.
On the other hand, perhaps it's simply a growing non-Christain group which obligates us to include and modify our laws to accomidate them. Also a valid argument and viewpoint.
But, just like in any complicated design, if you start changing base elements of the design - then you have to add "hacks". A hack meaning a clever though hastily designed solution that "makes it work" - at least for the time being. Duct tape, bailing wire, and Microsoft all come time mind.
The problem is, that our Code of law is being hacked.. and the Design document (Constitution and Bill of Rights) is still the same. The old software addage, "it's a feature not a bug" comes to mind as you read the code of law. We aren't writting good code, and sooner or later it will fail to execute correctly in some unknown edge case.
Example: I'm truly mortified at the outcome of the Schindler-Schiavo case ending in the soon-inevitable death, but I am not surprised. The Florida legislative bill which allowed the death by dehydration and starvation was introduced at the proding of the same lawyer which argued for her death - George Felos.
American justice and due process has, in actuality, occured. The evidence was admitted, a judge allowed or disallowed evidence, a series of motions were made, and a judgement according to the evidence before the court was executed. Even the Supreme court has said, indeed Justice is served. Hot or cold, fair or unfair.
We've been warned time and time again. Outspoken critics lambast our changing system of Justice on a daily, hourly basis. A TV sitcom makes a funny show about it and we all feel vindicated that it's really not THAT SERIOUS. It's just a stupid law, and it'll never apply to me anyway. The chorus of voices is just chatter.
TAKE A LOOK AROUND YOU.
- How many of your friends and relatives end up in Divorce Court?
- How many people do you know who got busted for Drugs?
- How much does it cost to get real Justice, and how much more to people pay to subvert it?
- Why does money matter in Justice, as only the Truth is the actual currency of Justice?
- What percentage of our population must go to Jail before we recognize that we have no true Justice?
- How many of you have dealt with the Death of a loved one - especially in a hospital?
Justice is not the servant of Logic. Truth is not the servant of Logic. In order to have True justice, there must be Truth, which is Logical. Why is Truth logical? Because it is the very nature of Logic that it is based on Truth. Otherwise it makes no sense.
No brainer for the vast majority of common sense humanity. But when the aim of Justice becomes the substitute for God, the punishment becomes harsh. Because, Logically, a crime or sin deserves Death - Truth demands it. Only through God can we obtain penance and forgiveness - not a penitentiary. Because True Justice has no mercy.
Proof: An auto mechanic Bob does a shody $50 repair job which results in the death of Mary. Should Bob pay the family of Mary $50 - or should he be put to death in exchange for her death? Shouldn't we kill Bob then?
How many of us are culpable for the death or misery of our neighbors? We buy shoes made by political prisoners or children. Our neighbor lost their job at the Shoe factory because they can't match slave labor wages?
How much injustice can a single American perform in a single day just by eating, shopping, and going to sleep? Some of you agree - even some Athiest - that a great injustice is occuring here. Just because we're ignorant of the misery and death resulting from our choices in shopping doesn't exempt us from Justice. And if Justice it to be metted out in equal portions - then don't we all deserve death?
Therefore, all of Mankind that perpitrates injustice through his own hands or actions, either from ignorance or malveolance is subject to the equal punishmment of Justice.
I submit that the true cost of throwing out God from our Code of Law, is the death of Man. Because without the weight of God through Mercy tipping the scale in Justice, we all do deserve the equitable punishment.
Monday, March 21, 2005
Pressing Issues
I have resisted writing about this.. but I am somehow duty-bound to write it anyway: The Schiavo conflict.
Wait wait, don't run - because I'm not going to convince you using rhetoric. Nor logic. Nope, I'm just going to quote the press... ready?
Schiavo recovery impossible, experts agree
Choice quotes:
"Terri Schiavo, at the center of an emotional and political storm over whether she should be allowed to die"
“Survival beyond 10 years is unusual. The chance for survival of greater than 15 years is approximately 1 in 15,000 to 1 in 75,000,” (Ed. Note: Terri Schiavo collapsed in 1990)
"Dr. Ronald Cranford, a neurologist and bioethicist at the University of Minnesota Medical School, said reflexes can fool non-specialists."
This is because in such patients, the cerebral cortex has been destroyed, said Dr. Lawrence Schneiderman, a physician and bioethicist at the University of California, San Diego.
“The rest of your brain, particularly the brain stem, can survive for fifteen or twenty minutes without oxygen,” added Schneiderman, who signed a friend of the court brief in July of last year supporting Michael Schiavo.
Ok, fair enough. Those two people are the only Doctors mentioned in the article. So, two experts agree. A quick google for "Dr Lawrence Schneidermann Euthanasia" on google reveals...
So there you have it.. two experts make it unanimous among the medical profession. Obviously, Reuters is doing a fine, fine job in balanced Journalism. Make your own decisions.
Wait wait, don't run - because I'm not going to convince you using rhetoric. Nor logic. Nope, I'm just going to quote the press... ready?
Schiavo recovery impossible, experts agree
Choice quotes:
"Terri Schiavo, at the center of an emotional and political storm over whether she should be allowed to die"
“Survival beyond 10 years is unusual. The chance for survival of greater than 15 years is approximately 1 in 15,000 to 1 in 75,000,” (Ed. Note: Terri Schiavo collapsed in 1990)
"Dr. Ronald Cranford, a neurologist and bioethicist at the University of Minnesota Medical School, said reflexes can fool non-specialists."
This is because in such patients, the cerebral cortex has been destroyed, said Dr. Lawrence Schneiderman, a physician and bioethicist at the University of California, San Diego.
“The rest of your brain, particularly the brain stem, can survive for fifteen or twenty minutes without oxygen,” added Schneiderman, who signed a friend of the court brief in July of last year supporting Michael Schiavo.
Ok, fair enough. Those two people are the only Doctors mentioned in the article. So, two experts agree. A quick google for "Dr Lawrence Schneidermann Euthanasia" on google reveals...
- Dr. Ronald Cranford was a member of the board of the former Euthanasia Society of America, which eventually merged with Partnership for Caring
- Dr. Ronald Cranford, the euthanasia advocate who hopes to help Pete Busalacchi
take care of Christine when she is brought to Minnesota - Cranford calls himself, "Dr. Humane Death."
- Dr. Lawrence Schneiderman of UC San Diego at La Jolla writes that one of the "unexpected yet undeniable" consequences of Oregon's assisted-dying law is that state's leadership in excellent and compassionate palliative care.
- "Medical Futility" (video)
So there you have it.. two experts make it unanimous among the medical profession. Obviously, Reuters is doing a fine, fine job in balanced Journalism. Make your own decisions.
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