Text Message from New Orleans: "
An operative who's been reporting on the disaster in New Orleans sent us a text message this morning:
I have a rehnquist joke for you - he's actually been dead for 4 days but fema just found him.Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.
RELATED:
Rehnquist, R.I.P. [Wonkette]
Finally [Wonkette]
(Via Wonkette.)
On Sunday, DHS chief Michael Chertoff told 'Meet the Press's' Tim Russert that one reason for the delay in getting federal aid to Katrina victims was that 'everyone' thought the crisis had passed when the storm left: 'I remember on Tuesday morning picking up newspapers and I saw headlines, 'New Orleans Dodged The Bullet.'' We're wondering what papers the Chertoff household gets, because these are the headlines that greeted most people Tuesday morning:
The Newseum has over 400 frontpages archived but we suspect that the one with the 'New Orleans Dodged The Bullet' hed exists primarily in Chertoff's mind. Hurricane Katrina [Newseum]
Transcript for September 4; Michael Chertoff, Marc Morial, Mike Tidwell, Mark Fischetti, David Wessel, Haley Barbour & Aaron Broussard [MSNBC]Thanks to the NewsDesigner for a cleaner frontpage pic!
"
(Via Wonkette.)
Kevin Drum expressed some amazement today at the fact that the ABC News poll puts Bush's approval for handling of Katrina at 46%, vs. 47% disapproval. As Kevin says, 'Even if you're a more forgiving sort than I am, what exactly has he done that deserves approval?'
True. But there's a factor here that I think is always neglected in these polls: There's always a thin line between what we believe and what we wish to be true, or need to believe to be true. Unless you've given up completely on the Bush presidency, you naturally want to think the president and the government are doing the best job they can do with the disaster, because to believe otherwise is kind of terrifying. After Sept. 11, Bush's ratings went sky-high not so much because he did anything particularly distinctive in response, but simply because you have no choice but to trust the president under such circumstances. Similarly, especially if your own family is affected by the war in Iraq, you have to believe that the president is making the right choices and started the war on the best intelligence and on honestly held beliefs. It's simply a fact of human nature that people have an easier time believing the thing that makes them feel a little more comfortable and secure in their previous assumptions and their trust.
Jon Stewart put it well in his interview with Christopher Hitchens, when Hitchens obnoxiously asked if Stewart was really saying that he was 'on the President's side,' responding, 'No, I need to believe that the president is on my side.'
And that's a fact about public opinion that I believe Bush and Rove understand better than anyone. Whether they learned it only after Sept. 11, or knew it all along (the interview with fired Bush ghostwriter Mickey Herskowitz that came out right before the election suggests that Bush had an early instinct that what he calls 'political capital' could be created not just by persuasion, but by creating extreme situations -- notably war -- in which people essentially have no choice but to defer their trust to the president), they know it now.
And this is part of the story of the Bush presidency: at each point they have created situations in which to believe the worst about the president requires a difficult and unsettling surrender of your own assumptions and sense of security. It's easy and comfortable to believe that the president gets blowjobs from interns, and even to get comfortably outraged about it. But it's much more difficult to accept that he would lead us into war on false pretenses, or countenance the betrayal of a covert agent for political gain, or treat the federal disaster management agency as a 'turkey farm' for cronies of cronies who washed out at their previous trivial jobs, or ignore warnings of a terrorist threat, or...
That's also part of the disconnect or polarization in American politics. Those of us who at some point crossed over the river -- we've come to grips with the fact that our lives and our assumptions are in some degree of peril because of the president, in a way that we never felt about Nixon, Reagan or Bush I -- will believe anything, and have trouble understanding those who haven't crossed over, who still want to believe where it's possible to believe.
It's why it's extremely important not to fall into the trap of 'let's not be political at a time of crisis.' This is a moment where the unthinkable finally becomes real for a lot of people. Because it is real.
(crossposted at tpmcafe.com)
"(Via The Decembrist.)
The Video: http://media.putfile.com/OlbermannSwings
The Text: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8514671/
Definitely see the video if you can. It is editorializing, and
everybody's saying the same thing these days, but he says it better
than many.
im brown, on the metro and messin with your head: "Ever since Sept 11, but especially after the London subway bombings, i have been getting 'the look' on public transportation and at airports. To put it mildly, my days of picking up girls on a plane are over. Shit, getting up to piss on a plane causes at least one lady on a plane to piss herself. It's like a chain reaction."
(Via Best of Craigslist.)
Zakariya Abdel Aziz, chairman of the judges' group, warned that election safeguards needed to be put in place. If that did not happen, the election could "subject the office of president to danger, and subject it to the Ukrainian model," he said, alluding to the mass protests in Ukraine last year over charges of election fraud. "The committee and its president must take note of this and revert back to law."
But the government message has found itself struggling for time on the airwaves against angry criticisms like Ms. Landrieu's, and anguished cries for help, like that of Mr. Broussard, the local official who broke down sobbing on NBC.
"The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything," Mr. Broussard said. "His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, 'Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?' And he said, 'Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday.' And she drowned Friday night."
"Nobody's coming to get us," he said through his tears.
"Nobody's coming to get us," Mr. Broussard said, his head sagging. "The secretary has promised. Everybody's promised. They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences. For God's sake, shut up and send us somebody."
Aides: assistant Army secretary forced out
March 6, 2002 Posted: 11:02 PM EST (0402 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) --The assistant secretary of the Army resigned Wednesday, with congressional aides saying Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had him fired for questioning proposed budget cuts for the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Pentagon said Assistant Secretary of the Army Mike Parker resigned from his post and expressed appreciation for his contributions. But congressional aides said Rumsfeld wanted Parker fired after his testimony to Congress last week.
The White House declined comment. But a senior Bush administration official would not dispute the report that Parker, a former congressman from Mississippi, had been asked to leave.
"The administration expects its staff to support its budget," the official told CNN.
The head of the Army's civil works division, Parker was "terribly honest" in his testimony to the Senate Budget Committee, congressional aides said.
Parker said Bush's proposal to provide the Army Corps of Engineers with approximately $4 billion -- down about 10 percent -- was not the right number. The corps had requested more than $6 billion. The assistant secretary told lawmakers that the cuts would mean canceling $190 million in already contracted projects.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota, the committee's chairman, called the decision to let Parker go "a serious mistake."
"Assistant Secretary Parker came before the Budget Committee and answered questions put to him honestly and directly," Conrad said. "That is precisely his responsibility in our constitutional system.
"The administration will cost itself credibility with Congress if it attempts to suppress the truth from its own representatives who testify before Congress."
A senior Bush aide said that when the budget is final, you "want everybody to support it." Parker, the aide said, "doesn't appear to agree with the president's budget."
Find this article at:
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/03/06/army.secretary/
Parting Shots: Axe Murders and a Reality-Show Lawsuit: "
Woah, where did the week go? We got so many other stories we want to tell you about, but it's already 6:00, so we're just going to give 'em to you fast and dirty. Not that there's anything wrong with fast and dirty...
• The cops arrested a man in connection with the brutal murder of two Germans in late July. After what seems to have been an extremely light grilling by the fuzz, the killer broke down and admitted that he hadn't bought a house from the couple, but instead strangled and axed them to death, and then dumped their rotting carcases in a well somewhere near the puszta.
• The British government is hoping to tackle the problem of out-of-control fly-away Brit stag animals by issuing a set of useful guidelines, including 'Know the local laws and customs, for example acceptable behaviour and alcohol laws.' Hahahahahahaahahahahahahahaah, oh that's rich. [times online]
• The Hungarian government is promising to slash spending on administration, and to keep the deficit in check during its dicey-looking re-election drive. Hahahahahahaahahahahahahahaah, oh that's even better. [portfolio.hu]
• Something called Endemol, which is the owner of the license for reality show 'Big Brother,' is suing the creators of the Hungarian reality show 'Való Világ' ('Real World') for stealing their idea. Attila Árpa, 'the father of Való Világ,' doesn't deny copying the concept but says Endemol has no chance of winning. We smell a new reality show!
• An 83-year-old woman had her leg crushed under the tire of a bus after her arm got stuck in the door, and the driver didn't notice. She was dragged for 12 meters. According to tabloid Színes Bulvár Lap (offline) the injured néni isn't angry with the driver, because he has visited her in the hospital.
• According to the French daily Le Figaro, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) included Hungary on a 'blacklist' of countries where they had found problems with air safety. Hungarian aviation authorities countered by saying that the ICAO hasn't written such lists since last November, because it is 'against their principles.' Super!
• The parents of a five-year-old girl who was paralyzed after receiving a required immunization shot as an infant sued the state and won. But a new law that will become effective on October 30th will shift the responsibility from the state to the manufacturer of the medicine in such cases.
• In the process of turning Budapest's Madách tér (Madách square) into London, Steven Spielberg's crew removed stickers publicizing conservative opposition party Fidesz's National Consultation Board from the front of the organization's office. Meanwhile, the director of the acclaimed Holocaust epic 'Shindler's List' will allegedly compensate businesses affected by this weekend's shooting of 'Munich.' [index.hu]
• Lajos Koltai's supposedly so-so Holocaust epic 'Sorstalanság' ('Fateless') will be among the foreign films from which the American Film Academy will choose the Oscar nominees in January, having been officials put into competition by the Hungarian government. [index.hu]
• A bicyclist tried to rape a 24-year-old woman jogging on a bicycle path in the Southeastern town of Békéscsaba on Sunday. The woman managed to escape. Police have asked the help of civilians in finding the attacker, but are not urging motorists to run over any bicyclists they see. [index.hu]
• Two siblings, a 12-year-old and a 15-year-old, have been missing since yesterday afternoon, when they took off from their father's home near the eastern town of Nyíregyháza in the old man's Skoda. [index.hu]
"(Via Pestiside.)
I imagine most of you have seen all this crap from several other sources as well, but here are the links that made me cringe this morning:
Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La: But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street levee. Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Two key U.S. senators said on Friday they will launch a bipartisan coverup of what they described as an 'immense, but probably unavoidable failure' of the government response to Hurricane Katrina.Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who heads the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the panel's other top-ranking Republican, said they hope to shift as much blame as possible to lower-ranking officials and career federal employees -- ideally at an obscure government agency that few Americans have ever heard of.'
In keeping with recent congressional practice, we will try to shield the president and the senior members of his administration from directly responsibility for this fiasco, although a few token resignations may be required this time around,' the pair said in a joint statement. 'Our primary focus, however, will be on figuring out how to throw billions of dollars in additional funding to the very same agencies that failed so spectacularly this past week.'
Guard Troops Descend on New Orleans
Bill Wattenburg said that he has lobbied the administration and the military to immediately begin [a food drop program as was done in Afghanistan, Bosnia and in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami.] He said he was told that the military was prepared to begin, but that it was awaiting a request from FEMA. 'We know very well how to do this, and it's just incomprehensible that we're not,' Wattenburg said.
Firefighting gear stockpile unused
Nine stockpiles of fire-and-rescue equipment strategically placed around the country to be used in the event of a catastrophe still have not been pressed into service in New Orleans, five days after Hurricane Katrina, CNN has learned. Responding to a CNN inquiry, Department of Homeland Security spokesman Marc Short said Friday the gear has not been moved because none of the governors in the hurricane-ravaged area has requested it.
Daley 'shocked' as feds reject aid
A visibly angry Mayor Daley said the city had offered emergency, medical and technical help to the federal government as early as Sunday to assist people in the areas stricken by Hurricane Katrina, but as of Friday, the only things the feds said they wanted was a single tank truck.City personnel are willing to operate self-sufficiently and would not depend on local authorities for food, water, shelter and other supplies, he said.
'Questions Linger' about the speed with which troops were deployed
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard last Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday.
Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?
Access to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders.The state Homeland Security Department had requested -- and continues to request -- that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.
Eighteen-year-old Jabbor Gibson jumped aboard the bus as it sat abandoned on a street in New Orleans and took control. 'I just took the bus and drove all the way here...seven hours straight,' Gibson admitted. 'I hadn't ever drove a bus.' The teen packed it full of complete strangers and drove to Houston. He beat thousands of evacuees slated to arrive there.Authorities eventually allowed the renegade passengers inside the dome. But the 18-year-old who ensured their safety could find himself in a world of trouble for stealing the school bus.
'I dont care if I get blamed for it,' Gibson said, 'as long as I saved my people.'
Volunteers with 500 boats sent home:
They then specifically asked the DWF agent that they (and other citizens in the flotillia) be allowed to go to the hospitals and help evacuate the sick and the doctors and nurses stranded there. They offered to bring these people back to Lafayette, in our own vehicles, in order to ensure that they received proper and prompt medical care.The DWF agent did not want to hear this and ordered them home -- ALL FIVE HUNDRED BOATS. They complied with the DWF agent's orders, turned around and headed back to Lafayette along with half of the flotillia. However, two friends were pulling a smaller 15ft alumaweld with a 25 hp. The DWF agents let them through to proceed to the rescue operation launch site.
The function of the military is to control the media:
Leroy Fouchea, [...] then offered to show reporters the dead bodies of a man in a wheelchair, a young man who he said he dragged inside just hours earlier, and the limp forms of two infants, one just four months old, the other six months old. [...] 'They died right here, in America, waiting for food,' Fouchea said as he walked toward Hall D, where the bodies were put to get them out of the searing heat.A National Guardsman refused entry.
'It doesn't need to be seen, it's a make-shift morgue in there,' he told a Reuters photographer. 'We're not letting anyone in there anymore. If you want to take pictures of dead bodies, go to Iraq.'
Evacuation Disrupted by False Gunshot Report
Laura Brown, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman in Washington, said she had no such report. 'We're controlling every single aircraft in that airspace and none of them reported being fired on,' she said, adding that the FAA was in contact with the military as well as civilian aircraft.
According to Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeremy Grishamn, a spokesman for the amphibious assault ship Bataan, the vessel kept its helicopters at sea Thursday night after several military helicopters reported being shot at from the ground.[ They go on to describe it as an 'insurgency'! What the fuck! ]
See Geraldo freak out on Hannity (QuickTime) More of this sort of thing at Crooks And Liars. Also, The Rebellion of the Talking Heads, since it is news when reporters start actually reporting.
Halliburton hired for storm cleanup. So at least there's that."
(Via jwz.)
FEMA head fired from last job -- head of Nat'l. Arabian Horse Ass'n.: "Xeni Jardin:
'
(Via Boing Boing.)
"Soft Not-Power"
Begin forwarded message:
> From: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
> Date: September 3, 2005 4:35:59 PM EDT
> To: Ip Ip <ip@v2.listbox.com>
> Subject: [IP] Reactions From The World Press BBC selection
> Reply-To: dave@farber.net
>
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@adelphia.net>
> Date: September 3, 2005 4:27:45 PM EDT
> To: dave@farber.net
> Subject: Reactions From The World Press
>
>
> Story from BBC NEWS:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4211320.stm
>
> Press dismay at Katrina chaos
> Newspapers around the world see Hurricane Katrina's chaotic
> aftermath as a defining moment for the presidency of George W Bush.
>
> While there is clear sympathy for the disaster's victims, many
> commentators place the blame for the delayed rescue effort squarely
> on Mr Bush's administration.
>
> Mexico's El Universal
>
> The slowness with which the USA's federal emergency services have
> joined the rescue operation has already generated great political
> tension... There is no doubt that the lack of well-timed responses
> to assist the population will have political costs for President
> Bush's Republican Party in the next federal elections.
>
>
> Colombia's El Colombiano
>
> It is now urgent that the world's leaders take heed of nature's
> warning, look at the evidence and realise that the climate, on a
> global scale, is changing. This is already known from scientific
> reports, but they continue to ignore it, to play it down, or not to
> care about it.
>
>
> Argentina's Clarin
>
> Katrina had more than the power of the wind and water, because,
> now, when they have subsided, it can still reveal the emptiness of
> an era, one that is represented by President George W Bush more
> than anyone.
>
>
> Spain's El Pais
>
> Up until Monday, Bush was the president of the war in Iraq and
> 9/11. Today there are few doubts that he will also pass into
> history as the president who didn't know how to prevent the
> destruction of New Orleans and who abandoned its inhabitants to
> their fate for days. And the worst is yet to come.
>
>
> Spain's La Razon
>
> Proving that even the gods are mortal, it is clear that the USA's
> international image is being damaged in a way that it has never
> known before. The country will probably be able to recuperate from
> the destruction, but its pride has already been profoundly wounded.
>
>
> France's Liberation
>
> Bush had already been slow to react when the World Trade Center
> collapsed. Four years later, he was no quicker to get the measure
> of Katrina - a cruel lack of leadership at a time when this second
> major shock for 21st century America is adding to the crisis of
> confidence for the world's leading power and to international
> disorder. As happened with 9/11, the country is displaying its
> vulnerability to the eyes of the world.
>
>
> France's Le Progres
>
> Katrina has shown that the emperor has no clothes. The world's
> superpower is powerless when confronted with nature's fury.
>
>
> Switzerland's Le Temps
>
> The sea walls would not have burst in New Orleans if the funds
> meant for strengthening them had not been cut to help the war
> effort in Iraq and the war on terror... And rescue work would have
> been more effective if a section of National Guard from the areas
> affected had not been sent to Baghdad and Kabul... And would George
> Bush have left his holiday ranch more quickly if the disaster had
> not first struck the most disadvantaged populations of the black
> south?
>
>
> Ireland's The Irish Times
>
> This is a defining moment for Mr Bush, just as much as 9/11 was. So
> far his reputation for prompt and firm crisis management has fallen
> far short of what is required.
>
>
> Saudi Arabia's Saudi Gazette
>
> The episode illustrates that when the normal day-to-day activity of
> society disintegrates, the collapse of civilisation is only a few
> paces behind. We all walk on the edge of the abyss.
>
>
> Musib Na'imi in Iran's Al-Vefagh
>
> About 10,000 US National Guard troops were deployed [in New
> Orleans] and were granted the authority to fire at and kill whom
> they wanted, upon the pretext of restoring order. This decision is
> an indication of the US administration's militarist mentality,
> which regards killing as the only way to control even its own
> citizens.
>
>
> Samih Sa'ab in Lebanon's Al-Nahar
>
> The destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina... has proved that even
> the No 1 superpower in the world is helpless in facing nature's
> 'terrorism'.
>
>
> Pakistan's The Nation
>
> To augment the tragedy, the government of the world's richest
> nation defied the general expectation that at the first sign of the
> storm it would muster an armada of ships, boats and helicopters for
> the rescue operation. For nearly three days it sat smugly apathetic
> to the people's plight, their need for food, medicine and other
> basic necessities.
>
>
> Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po
>
> This disaster is a heavy blow to the United States, and a lesson
> which deserves deep thought... [It] is a warning to the Bush
> administration that the United States must clear its head and truly
> assume its responsibility to protect nature and the environment in
> which humankind lives.
>
>
> Hong Kong's South China Morning Post
>
> Even if our money may not be needed, at the least we should be
> offering moral support. Our skills in dealing with storms may be
> useful to help Americans prevent other such tragedies. We should be
> offering this help rather than shrugging off what should be our
> humanitarian duty.
>
>
> Ambrose Murunga in Kenya's Daily Nation
>
> My first reaction when television images of the survivors of
> Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans came through the channels was that
> the producers must be showing the wrong clip. The images, and even
> the disproportionately high number of visibly impoverished blacks
> among the refugees, could easily have been a re-enactment of a
> scene from the pigeonholed African continent.
>
>
> BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television,
> press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more
> than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several
> bureaus abroad.
>
>
> Published: 2005/09/03 15:18:54 GMT
>
> © BBC MMV
>
> -------------------------------------
> Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-
> people/
>
Some notion of the extent of the problem.
-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
Date: Saturday, Sep 3, 2005 6:08 am
Subject: [IP] Hurricane Katrina Analysis - CFR Global Health Program
Begin forwarded message:
From: AMBOLLC@aol.com
Date: September 2, 2005 7:58:52 PM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Subject: For IP, if you wish: Hurricane Katrina Analysis - CFR Global Health Program
From: SRosenstein@cfr.org
Date: September 2, 2005 6:53:40 PM EDT
To: SRosenstein@cfr.org
Subject: Hurricane Katrina Analysis - CFR Global Health Program
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As we head into Labor Day Weekend most of us are heartbroken by news from
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The Council on Foreign Relations Global Health Program has been watching the situation closely, with a special eye on possible disease situations. We would like to bring some key
points to your attention. This transmission is going out on Friday,
September 2: It is possible that the situation will have changed markedly
by the time some of you read this, as you may not be checking your e-mail
until after the holiday.
We would first like to draw your attention to the extraordinary work being
done by the staff of the New Orleans Times Picayune. You can see the newspaper, which is currently only able to publish online, here:
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/katrina/
Friends on the Picayune staff tell us that the newspaper offices and printing presses were overwhelmed in the flooding, forcing the entire staff
to relocate to facilities at LSU in Baton Rouge. There, the exhausted staff
has been living 4-6 to a room in the dorms, or on cots in the makeshift newsroom, covering the demise of their fair city. If there is justice in the world, these folks will win the Pulitzer Prize for Community Service Journalism.
Meanwhile, the Global Health Program sees parallels between such things as
the tsunami response, major epidemic outbreaks, refugee crises, and the U.S. government response to Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath.
First, a lot of the early media coverage focused on repeating the same stock footage over and over of lootings. The looters were nearly all black,
and you could well imagine that many viewers were thinking, �How could those people behave that way?� The image of black looters, harking to riots in the past and �lawlessness�, may have sparked a temporary downturn
in American concern. From that moment the call was not for rescue, but for
�law and order�. We are only now returning to a serious rescue mode, in light of public outcry regarding the estimated 20,000 people stranded without food, water, medicine, or hygiene in the New Orleans Convention Center. In our experience such shifts of external public opinion, however
transient they may be, have enormous outcomes on the ground, where minutes
may have life-and-death consequences.
Across the region we have some of the worst poverty in America, and most of
that poverty has a black face. Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana: these
are states that consistently, since the Civil War, have ranked in the bottom five states in America for virtually every social achievement, from
education and infant mortality to police corruption. Government, for many
of the region�s poor, has had one of two faces: corruption or overt neglect. New Orleans has had one of the highest murder rates in the nation
for decades and a notoriously corrupt police force. In our experience dealing with catastrophes and epidemics overseas, there is a DIRECT
correlation between the historic relationship between government and its people, and the willingness of the populace to believe in and correctly respond to government instructions. Of course tens of thousands of people
failed to evacuate: why believe the government this time? And of course those folks who are slowly starving and baking in New Orleans assume that
government has abandoned them.
I found myself recalling the way the Chinese people responded to the SARS
epidemic. Because they knew that their government had lied to them many times in the past and had covered up cases in the capital, people turned away from official government sources of information. Rumors spread like wildfire via cell phone text messaging, spawning a mass exodus from Beijing
of tens of thousands of people. The medical system in China is notoriously
corrupt and the peasants stay away from hospitals unless it is a matter of
life and death. When government told the masses to go to the hospitals if
they had fevers, the Chinese refused. The SARS situation spiraled out of control in large part because the people had long-standing, sound reasons
for distrusting their government. Public health collapses if the bond of trust between government and its people breaks, or never exists. I saw the
same thing with plague in India in �94.
Perhaps the single most crucial difference between New York�s response to
9/11 and New Orleans� and the hurricane region�s response to the current crisis is communication and its corollary, leadership. Though cell phones
were disrupted and emergency responders in Lower Manhattan lost contact during the morning of 9/11, the people of New York knew immediately what was going on. We did not lose electricity citywide, TVs, radios. Mayor Giuliani rose to the occasion brilliantly, making full use of every press
conference and broadcast opportunity to honestly assess the situation, telling New Yorkers what the government did, and did not, know. New Yorkers were frightened, of course, but they knew what was going on and they could see, minute by minute, what was being done in their behalf.
In contrast, none of the people now trapped in New Orleans or wandering around in shock along the Mississippi/Alabama coastal communities have any
idea what is going on. They have no electricity, and therefore no
television or radio. Information is entirely rumors. When reporters
interview them, these desperate souls are grilling the journalists for news. This means that the comfort of observed leadership is completely absent. No matter what the Mayor of New Orleans says, his people cannot hear him. They do not see the vast destruction. I doubt more than a handful
of the folks trapped inside New Orleans at this moment have any idea how massive the damage to the Gulf Coast is.
Worse, there is real danger that the only overt sign of leadership will be
military, in the form of anti-looting enforcement and armed personnel. While bringing law and order to the situation is essential, the absence of
obvious civilian leadership and information means many local refugees will
view themselves as an occupied or policed population. Given overtones of racism, this could be explosive.
Looking forward, based again on my years of covering Third World disasters,
here are my concerns:
1.) The Mississippi Delta region is the natural ecological home
of a long list of infectious microbial diseases. It is America�s
tropical region, more akin ecologically to Haiti or parts of Africa
than to Boston or Los Angeles. The most massive Yellow Fever
epidemics in the Americas all swept, in the 19th Century, up the
Mississippi from the delta region. Malaria was not eradicated from
the area until after World War II. Isolated cases of dengue fever,
another mosquito-borne disease, have been spotted in the region over
the last ten years. Not only are all the mosquitoes that
traditionally carry these microbes still thriving in the area, but
the Aedes albopictus mosquito � a large, aggressive monster, was
introduced to the Americas from Asia about 15 years ago, and now
thrives in the Gulf area. (See:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/arbor/albopic_new.htm .) Most of
these troublesome mosquito species reproduce rapidly in precisely the
conditions now present, post-hurricane. Some prefer massive stands of
still, warm, polluted water: that would be New Orleans. Some, such as
albopictus and Yellow Fever carrier Aedes aegypti (see:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/dengue/ae-aegypti-feeding.htm ) like
small pools of unsalted water, such as fresh rainwater that
accumulates in tree stumps and debris. One of their favorite breeding
sites is the dark, warm, water-filled cavity of an abandoned tire,
for example. America�s commitment to mosquito control has been
declining steadily since we eradicated malaria, and even fear of West
Nile Virus didn�t spawn a massive re-commitment to funding mosquito
abatement programs. Worse, to my knowledge nobody has ever had much
success in clearing mosquitoes from the sort of massive water-soaked
ecology that now is New Orleans, nor the scale of water-pooling
debris found along the Gulf tri-state area. It is perhaps ironic that
the only real experience with this scale of insect control for the
last two decades has been in developing countries: the CDC and State
health folks should be reaching out to PAHO and the insect control
expertises of Africa and the Caribbean right now. If we cannot manage
to get ahead of the insects, there could very well be a disease
crisis ahead.
2.) For years the CDC has warned about Vibrio cholerae
(http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/cholera_g.htm ), Vibrio
vulnificus and other gastrointestinal organisms found in shellfish
and some fish caught in the Gulf of Mexico. The old New Orleans
mantra has been that Tabasco kills �em, so chow down the raw oysters
and forgettaboutit. But we would not be the least surprised to see a
surge in algal blooms and their vibrio passengers over the next two
weeks both inside New Orleans and along the Gulf. Consider this: the
hurricane must have disrupted all of the coral reefs in the region,
and killed millions of fish. All that rot is now floating around in
the Gulf. It is food for algal blooms. The vibrio live in the blooms.
3.) One word: sewage. The longer the region goes without proper
systems for control of human waste, the greater the probability of
transmission not only of cholera, but a long list of dysentery and
gastrointestinal agents. Evacuating every human being from New
Orleans will, of course, help, but there will remain potential
disaster all along the tri-state coastline. Members of the Infectious
Diseases Society of America, which has mobilized scientists and
physicians nationwide in readiness to respond should an outbreak
occur, have compiled this list of possible organisms to be concerned
about at this time:
Enteric:
Typhoid (depends on likelihood of carriers- fairly plausible)
Cholera
Enterohemorrhagic E coli
Enterotoxogenic E coli
Enteroinvasive E coli
Campylobacter
Shigella
Vibrio parahemolyticus and vulnificus (including contamination of
gulf shellfish)
Clostridium perfringens
Bacillus cereus
Salmonella
Staphylococcal intoxication
Rotavirus
Norovirus
Giardia
Cryptosporidium
Cyclosporidium
Other enteric-spread:
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis E
Polio (very high herd immunity)
Coxsackie and other Enteroviruses
Rabies
Leptospirosis
Botulism
Vector borne:
West Nile Virus (likely to be highly problematic)
Eastern Equine Encephalitis
St. Louis Encephalitis
LaCross Encephalitis
Dengue fever (real risk)
Malaria
Typhus fever (remote likelihood, last outbreak 1921)
Murine Typhus (not often major)
Trench (Quintana) fever
Relapsing fever (Borrelia recurrentis)
Plague (unlikely, non-endemic area)
Respiratory and close contact:
Meningiococcus
Tuberculosis
Measles, mumps (herd immunity likely very high)
Pertussis (herd immunity modestly high among high-risk age
groups)
4.) Pharmaceutical supplies are a bewildering problem: why has
nobody broke into pharmacies around New Orleans to get essential
supplies for the refugees, and hospitals? We have dead diabetics, and
probably epileptics seizing, CVD patients in need of nitro, and
children who could benefit from proper antibiotics.
5.) One past hurricane in the region produced so much debris that
the cleared garbage filled an abandoned coal mine. We have never in
history tried to dispose of this much waste. It is hoped that before
any officials rush off thinking of how to burn or dump a few hundred
thousand boats, houses and buildings, some careful consideration is
given to recycling that material for construction of future levees,
dams, and foundations. Looking at aerial images of the coastline one
sees an entire forest worth of lumber, and the world�s largest cement
quarry. No doubt tens of thousands of the now-unemployed of the
region could be hired for a reclamation effort that would be rational
in scale and intent. It would be horrible if all that debris were
simply dumped or burned without any thought to its utility.
6.) The mental health of hundreds of thousands of people must now
be a priority. Uprooted, homeless, jobless, rootless and in many
cases grieving for lost loved ones: These people will all suffer for
a very long time. A key to their recovery is, again, a lesson from
9/11: information. Whether they are �housed� in the Houston
Astrodome, are in tents in Biloxi or end up a diaspora of Gulf
refugees flung all across America, these people will for months be
starving for information about their homes and communities. The poor
will not be logging onto computers somewhere to read bulletins from
FEMA. These people will rely primarily on broadcast information, and
it is essential that the leaders of the three states and key mayors
create reliable information sources for people to turn to. The Times
Picayune online will, of course, be the primary go-to site for middle
class Gulf refugees and expatriates, but to what outlet will a
million poor folks turn? Knowing what is going on �back home� is
essential to mental health recovery. We have been in disasters in
poor countries where wild rumors flowed among the poor for months,
each one sparking a fresh round of anxiety and fear. If government
cannot inform, there is no government.
7.) America, and this government, is going to witness an enormous
political backlash from these events, stemming primarily from the
African American community, if steps are not boldly taken to
demonstrate less judgment, and greater assistance, for the black poor
of the region. Cries of racism will be heard. In every disaster we
have been engaged in we have witnessed a similar sense by the victims
of disasters that they were being singled out, and ignored by their
government, because of their ethnicity, religion or race. The onus is
on government to prove them wrong.
8.) Much more thought needs to be given immediately to the needs
of medical and psychiatric responders located just outside of the
region. The patient flow they are now receiving is minuscule compared
to the tidal wave coming their way, whether they are in Baton Rouge,
Jacksonville or Houston. FEMA and HHS need to get a massive and
steady flow of supplies their way, and coordinate tertiary care needs
according to the skills base in each hospital. If it hasn�t already,
HRSA needs to issue clear waivers immediately for Medicaid coverage
for the poor, so that no hospital in the region, private or public,
has an excuse for turning people away.
Finally, we would like to share with you (see below) a letter that went out
to physicians and scientists nationwide today, from the Infectious Diseases
Society of America (IDSA). If you cut through the acronyms and jargon you
can see the point: they are mobilizing.
Laurie Garrett
Senior Fellow for Global Health
Council on Foreign Relations
58 E. 68th St.
NY, NY 10021
(212) 434-9794 or (212) 434-9749
lgarrett@cfr.org
www.lauriegarrett.com
Research Associate, Scott Rosenstein, SRosenstein@cfr.org
Dear Colleague,
All of us have been shocked and dismayed by the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. We sympathize with those affected and would like to provide assistance and relief both as individuals and as a Society.
Over the last 48 hours, IDSA and HIVMA leaders and staff have been in contact with infectious diseases physicians in the affected areas, with staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), with local
health officials, and with others in order to determine how our Society and
members can be of greatest help in this rapidly evolving situation.
Sections of the IDSA and HIVMA websites (www.idsociety.org and
www.hivma.org) have been set aside to provide current information regarding
opportunities as we learn of them and to provide information on relevant infectious diseases in this situation.
1. Physicians to provide primary care are needed in all of the affected
areas. The websites provide links to the medical societies of the three affected states who are seeking volunteer physicians, as well as to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is also seeking
volunteers. Volunteers should not report directly to the affected areas unless directed by a voluntary agency. Self-dispatched volunteers can put
themselves and others in harms' way and hamper rescue efforts.
2. As the situation evolves, we expect that there will be an increasing
need to provide infectious disease patient consultations. IDSA has offered
the expertise of its members to help in this regard. To do so, Health and
Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has asked NIAID and IDSA to
coordinate provision of a telephone/e-mail ID consult service. NIAID will
be the clearinghouse for calls from consulting physicians, who will then be
linked to ID consultants. If you are interested in participating in this activity, please provide your contact information on the IDSA website.
3. We are evaluating the potential use of the Emerging Infections Network in the affected areas to identify outbreaks of infection early in
their course.
4. HIVMA is working to ensure that persons with HIV/AIDS from the hurricane-affected areas have access to HIV medications and medical care financed through public programs like Medicaid and the Ryan White CARE Act,
without burdensome eligibility or residency requirements. HIVMA will also
be posting information about state and local policies that have been implemented to further these goals.
We will provide additional information regarding relief activities on the
website as it becomes available. Your comments and suggestions are welcome,
as is first-hand information regarding infectious disease and public health
experiences in the affected areas.
Best regards,
Walter E. Stamm, MD
IDSA President
_____________________________
Scott A. Rosenstein, MA, MPH
Research Associate, Global Health
Council on Foreign Relations
58 East 68th St.
New York, NY 10021
http://www.cfr.org
phone: (212) 434-9749
fax: (212) 434-9827
email: srosenstein@cfr.org
-------------------------------------
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
Google Plans To Destroy Unindexed Information: "linolium writes 'Executives at Google, the rapidly growing online-search company that promises to 'organize the world's information,' announced Monday the latest step in their expansion effort: a far-reaching plan to destroy all the information it is unable to index. 'Book burning is just the beginning,' said Google co-founder Larry Page. 'This fall, we'll unveil Google Sound, which will record and index all the noise on Earth. Is your baby sleeping soundly? Does your high-school sweetheart still talk about you? Google will have the answers.''"
(Via Slashdot.)
POLITICS: Religious Idiotarians Weigh In: "I just knew some of the world’s religious idiotarians would not be able to resist using Hurricane Katrina to prove to everyone else once again what moral cretins they are. For starters there is Franklin Graham: ‘This happens when we take God out of our schools and God out of our society.’
Actually, this is what happens when storms form over large bodies of warm water in summer and smash into populated areas near that warm water. Hurricanes are older than Christianity. They are older than human beings.
Anyway, I'd like to ask Mr. Graham why he thinks Katrina struck the south, which is the most God-fearing part of our country? Why didn’t God send an earthquake to Portland, Oregon, which is known as the ‘least churched’ city in the United States?
My favorite, though, is from Muhammad Yousef Al-Mlaifi in Kuwait. He wrote an article called The Terrorist Katrina is One of the Soldiers of Allah, But Not an Adherent of Al-Qaeda. What a card that guy is.‘As I watched the horrible sights of this wondrous storm, I was reminded of the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah [in the compilations] of Al-Bukhari and Abu Daoud. The Hadith says: 'The wind is of the wind of Allah, it comes from mercy or for the sake of torment. When you see it, do not curse it, [but rather] ask Allah for the good that is in it, and ask Allah for shelter from its evil.' Afterwards, I was [also] reminded of the words of the Prophet Muhammad: 'Do not curse the wind, as it is the fruit of Allah's planning. He who curses something that should not be cursed - the curse will come back to him.'
'When the satellite channels reported on the scope of the terrifying destruction in America [caused by] this wind, I was reminded of the words of [Prophet Muhammad]: 'The wind sends torment to one group of people, and sends mercy to others.' I do not think - and only Allah [really] knows - that this wind, which completely wiped out American cities in these days, is a wind of mercy and blessing. It is almost certain that this is a wind of torment and evil that Allah has sent to this American empire. Out of my absolute belief in the truth of the words of the Prophet Muhammad, this wind is the fruit of the planning [of Allah], as is stated in the text of the Hadith of the Prophet.
Hey, Muhammad. Remember when we liberated your country from Saddam Hussein’s atheistic totalitarian regime back in 1991? You're welcome.(Written by: Michael_J_Totten)
"(Via SuicideGirls: News Wire.)
Thursday Sept 1, 2005
"
Posting a little out of phase due to Labor Day holiday, and will return on Tuesday, but some things worth commenting on about the aftermath of Katrina.
People are emailing me to ask is this the start of the Long Emergency?
It is certainly an event of great significance. The effects of damage to our oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico is already being felt in rocketing gasoline prices and a burgeoning supply crisis, especially in the southeast. The home heating situation is becoming a crisis before householders even turn their furnaces on. Half the houses in America are heated with natural gas, which is now clocking in at $12 a unit (1000 cubic feet). It was $3 a unit in 2003. It could go to $16. Connect the dots.
The crisis at the gasoline pumps will thunder through the economy, most ominously in the bubble suburban sprawl-building sector, which adds up to over 40 percent of business activity in the US. How many people will now contemplate buying a new McHouse 32 miles outside Atlanta (or Dallas, or Kansas City, or Washington), and what will happen in the production home-building industry as a result?
What will happen in the financial sector when the no-money-down-interest-only mortgage racket ceases to generate ever more hallucinated tradable debt? What will happen to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two federal governments sponsored entities at the center of that racket, and to their sponsor, whose treasury certificates are held by nervous foreign investors? And finally what happens to a dollar hammered by high energy costs and repatriated treasury certificates?
Turning to New Orleans. . . viewing the hurricane damage on TV, it is hard not to conclude that most of the building stock in the city is irreparably ruined. One can't help feeling that the city we knew and love is really gone forever. Some kind urban settlement will remain, but New Orleans' downtown of hotel towers and megastructures may be the first comprehensive ruin of the Modernist city. Much of the stuff just outside New Orleans, and along the Gulf Coast, was largely post-war suburban fabric -- collector boulevards with their complements of fry pits, malls, muffler shops and subdivisions. We'd hope that the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana will not undertake to rebuild them they way they were. The era of easy motoring is over now, and to rebuild suburban sprawl would be a double tragedy.
Of the desperate behavior seen in New Orleans this week, I don't have much to say right now. The significance of it is largely self-evident. The suffering of the people stuck in the Superdome is very impressive, though. One wonders at the failure of FEMA to airdrop water and food to those stuck on highway overpasses and in high-rise buildings such as Mercy Hospital. On the agenda next, I'm sorry to say: cholera and typhoid fever. I'll be back here on Tuesday.
-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
Date: Friday, Sep 2, 2005 6:31 am
Subject: [IP] It's not as though nobody knew it was coming
Begin forwarded message:
From: George Sadowsky <george.sadowsky@attglobal.net>
Date: September 1, 2005 11:57:25 PM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Subject: It's not as though nobody knew it was coming
Dave - for IP if you wish.
http://www.hurricane.lsu.edu/_in_the_news/houston.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Houston Chronicle December 1, 2001
KEEPING ITS HEAD ABOVE WATER
New Orleans faces doomsday scenario
By ERIC BERGER
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle Science Writer
New Orleans is sinking.
And its main buffer from a hurricane, the
protective Mississippi River delta, is quickly
eroding away, leaving the historic city perilously
close to disaster.
So vulnerable, in fact, that earlier this year the
Federal Emergency Management Agency ranked the
potential damage to New Orleans as among the three
likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing
this country.
The other two? A massive earthquake in San
Francisco, and, almost prophetically, a terrorist
attack on New York City.
The New Orleans hurricane scenario may be the
deadliest of all.
In the face of an approaching storm, scientists
say, the city's less-than-adequate evacuation
routes would strand 250,000 people or more, and
probably kill one of 10 left behind as the city
drowned under 20 feet of water. Thousands of
refugees could land in Houston.
Economically, the toll would be shattering.
Southern Louisiana produces one-third of the
country's seafood, one-fifth of its oil and one-
quarter of its natural gas. The city's tourism,
lifeblood of the French Quarter, would cease to
exist. The Big Easy might never recover.
And, given New Orleans' precarious perch, some
academics wonder if it should be rebuilt at all.
It's been 36 years since Hurricane Betsy buried
New Orleans 8 feet deep. Since then a
deteriorating ecosystem and increased development
have left the city in an ever more precarious
position. Yet the problem went unaddressed for
decades by a laissez-faire government, experts
said.
"To some extent, I think we've been lulled to
sleep," said Marc Levitan, director of Louisiana
State University's hurricane center.
Hurricane season ended Friday, and for the second
straight year no hurricanes hit the United States.
But the season nonetheless continued a long-term
trend of more active seasons, forecasters said.
Tropical Storm Allison became this country's most
destructive tropical storm ever.
Yet despite the damage Allison wrought upon
Houston, dropping more than 3 feet of water in
some areas, a few days later much of the city
returned to normal as bloated bayous drained into
the Gulf of Mexico.
The same storm dumped a mere 5 inches on New
Orleans, nearly overwhelming the city's pump
system. If an Allison-type storm were to strike
New Orleans, or a Category 3 storm or greater with
at least 111 mph winds, the results would be
cataclysmic, New Orleans planners said.
"Any significant water that comes into this city
is a dangerous threat," Walter Maestri, Jefferson
Parish emergency management director, told
Scientific American for an October article.
"Even though I have to plan for it, I don't even
want to think about the loss of life a huge
hurricane would cause."
New Orleans is essentially a bowl ringed by levees
that protect the city from the Mississippi River
to its south and Lake Pontchartrain to the north.
The bottom of the bowl is 14 feet below sea level,
and efforts to keep it dry are only digging a
deeper hole.
During routine rainfalls the city's dozens of
pumps push water uphill into the lake. This, in
turn, draws water from the ground, further drying
the ground and sinking it deeper, a problem known
as subsidence.
This problem also faces Houston as water wells
have sucked the ground dry. Houston's solution is
a plan to convert to surface drinking water. For
New Orleans, eliminating pumping during a rainfall
is not an option, so the city continues to sink.
A big storm, scientists said, would likely block
four of five evacuation routes long before it hit.
Those left behind would have no power or
transportation, and little food or medicine, and
no prospects for a return to normal any time soon.
"The bowl would be full," Levitan said. "There's
simply no place for the water to drain."
Estimates for pumping the city dry after a huge
storm vary from six to 16 weeks. Hundreds of
thousands would be homeless, their residences
destroyed.
The only solution, scientists, politicians and
other Louisiana officials agree, is to take large-
scale steps to minimize the risks, such as
rebuilding the protective delta.
Every two miles of marsh between New Orleans and
the Gulf reduces a storm surge -- which in some
cases is 20 feet or higher -- by half a foot.
In 1990, the Breaux Act, named for its author,
Sen. John Breaux, D-La., created a task force of
several federal agencies to address the severe
wetlands loss in coastal Louisiana. The act has
brought about $40 million a year for wetland
restoration projects, but it hasn't been enough.
"It's kind of been like trying to give aspirin to
a cancer patient," said Len Bahr, director of
Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster's coastal activities
office.
The state loses about 25 square miles of land a
year, the equivalent of about one football field
every 15 minutes. The fishing industry, without
marshes, swamps and fertile wetlands, could lose a
projected $37 billion by the year 2050.
University of New Orleans researchers studied the
impact of Breaux Act projects on the vanishing
wetlands and estimated that only 2 percent of the
loss has been averted. Clearly, Bahr said, there
is a need for something much bigger. There is some
evidence this finally may be happening.
A consortium of local, state and federal agencies
is studying a $2 billion to $3 billion plan to
divert sediment from the Mississippi River back
into the delta. Because the river is leveed all
the way to the Gulf, where sediment is dumped into
deep water, nothing is left to replenish the
receding delta.
Other possible projects include restoration of
barrier reefs and perhaps a large gate to prevent
Lake Pontchartrain from overflowing and drowning
the city.
All are multibillion-dollar projects. A plan to
restore the Florida Everglades attracted $4
billion in federal funding, but the state had to
match it dollar for dollar. In Louisiana, so far,
there's only been a willingness to match 15 or 25
cents.
"Our state still looks for a 100 percent federal
bailout, but that's just not going to happen,"
said University of New Orleans geologist Shea
Penland, a delta expert.
"We have an image and credibility problem. We have
to convince our country that they need to take us
seriously, that they can trust us to do a science-
based restoration program."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-------------------------------------http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
Comparative government...
-----Original Message-----
From: "David Farber" <dave@farber.net>
Date: Friday, Sep 2, 2005 9:53 am
Subject: [IP] more on Katrina and lessons from abroad
-----Original Message-----
From: "Paul Saffo"<psaffo@iftf.org>
Sent: 02/09/05 9:37:40 AM
To: "dave@farber.net"<dave@farber.net>
Cc: "Paul Saffo"<psaffo@iftf.org>
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Katrina and lessons from abroad
Dave-
There is a very good interview on The World ( www.theworld.org ) with
Georg Schulz (sp?), a senior minister in the Ministry of
Transportation,Public Works and Water Management in Delft, the
Netherlands about dikes. He points out that the 1952 event changed
they way they thought about their dikes. Schulz is delightfully Dutch
-- utterly direct and pragmatic. Do listen to the entire interview,
but here is an excerpt to whet your curiosity:
--------------
"If you look at the dikes in New Orleans... the safety level of the
dikes in New Orleans is for a once in 100 year event ... But... our
sea dikes have a 1 in 10,000 year safety level. A safty level about
100 times those in New Orleans..."
When asked about the cost of the Dutch dikes, he replied,
"If you look at the economic damage you have, then the investments
in the dikes are easily justified..."
----------------
So utterly, crushingly obvious...
-p
On Sep 2, 2005, at 3:17 AM, David Farber wrote:
>
[Message truncated. Tap Edit->Mark for Download to get remaining portion.]
-------------------------------------
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
Averatec 3700 12-inch notebook under $1000: "
Averatec is expanding its ‘thin-and-light’ notebook line with the 3700 laptop model, designed with a sleek new look
at 1-inch thick and 4.2 pounds. Standard configurations will have 512MB base memory, a 60 or 80GB hard drive,
integrated media reader, 802.11b/g, and a built-in DVD burner or combo DVD+CD-RW optical drive, and will start under
$1,000.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.
"(Via engadget.com.)
Charlie Stross on Katrina economic impact questions: "Xeni Jardin:
Snip:The actual estimates for insured structural damage caused by Hurricane Katrina are currently around US $25-30Bn. The current loss of life estimates are in the hundreds (although I'd be unsurprised if the eventual death toll does not eventually top 9/11 by quite a margin). But the economic damage from closing the Port of Southern Louisiana for up to three months is huge -- plausibly equal to 5% of the US balance of trade with the rest of the world. I can't put a figure on that total, but I'd be surprised if it isn't an order of magnitude more than the $25-30Bn insurance costs, and possibly even higher than the cost to date of the Iraq war and occupation ($200Bn). A couple of hundred billion here, a couple of hundred billion there -- pretty soon we're talking real money.LinkWhat are the likely consequences (locally and globally) of blowing a 5% of GDP sized hole under the waterline of the US economy?
"
(Via Boing Boing.)
Science: Australian Science Makes the Regenerating Mouse: "FruFox writes 'Australiam scientists have created mice which can regenerate absolutely any tissue excpet for the tissues of the brain. Heart, lungs, entire limbs, you name it. This is the first time this has been seen in mammals. The potential implications are positively mammoth. I thought this warranted attention. :)'"
(Via MirrorDot.)
CULTURE: Pop Idol - Vulgar, Also Democratic: "The Chinese version of Pop Idol has a great name - Super Girl 2005, which just gets better when you hear the full version - Mongolian Cow Sour Yoghurt Super Girl Contest 2005. It's popular with the people, but not so much with some factions of state media.
snip
The China Daily asked: ‘How come an imitation of a democratic system ends up selecting the singer who has the least ability to carry a tune?’
(Written by: dem_z)
"(Via SuicideGirls: News Wire.)
"The real issue - that I don't think the nation is paying attention to - is that through the city of New Orleans, through the Gulf of Mexico, we probably deal with almost a third of the nation's domestic oil that is produced. And that will most likely be shut down," Mr. Nagin said.
"So, this can have a significant impact on oil prices going forward," he added.
Reply to John Mark on Desay 501 - if you mean the DS 5701 desay I recently bought this from Radio Shack on a trip to the States. Tried it out over there and seemed to work fine on R1&2 discs but got it home and didnt like R2 so assume it somehow reset itself!?
Have found the hack and have tried it and works fine
1. Open tray
2. Press setup
2. Go across to 'preferences'
3. key in 1, 3, 8 then 9
4. Choose your code using arrow keys (up/down) - choose '0' for multi region.
Hope this works if you have the 5701 desay
Reply: Lost DS 501 Remote Poster: Dr. Nagasaki Portubi support_usa@desaygroup.net www.desay.com 4059684782
Hi, I'm an admin for DESAY website.
Your claim is important to us!
however, our DS-501 dvd players are the cheapest pieces of crap that we make, and there is no support available for them whatsoever. You received an instruction manual with the player, so be thankful for that.
kind words always,
DESAY group
dijxhou row
12d1 bejing
POLITICS: The Flying Spaghetti Monster Deserves Equal Time: "Earlier this month, President Bush ignited a flurry of debate and eye rolling when he announced that 'intelligent design' should be taught in schools alongside the 'theory' of evolution. 'Intelligent design' proponents essentially state that life is simply too complex to be explained by evolution.
Biological marvels like the optical precision of an eye, the little spinning motors that propel bacteria and the cascade of proteins that cause blood to clot, they say, point to the hand of a higher being at work in the world.
In one often-cited argument, Michael J. Behe, a professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University and a leading design theorist, compares complex biological phenomena like blood clotting to a mousetrap: Take away any one piece - the spring, the baseboard, the metal piece that snags the mouse - and the mousetrap stops being able to catch mice.
Similarly, Dr. Behe argues, if any one of the more than 20 proteins involved in blood clotting is missing or deficient, as happens in hemophilia, for instance, clots will not form properly.
Such all-or-none systems, Dr. Behe and other design proponents say, could not have arisen through the incremental changes that evolution says allowed life to progress to the big brains and the sophisticated abilities of humans from primitive bacteria.
Not surprisingly, the vast majority of scientists are perplexed that such a theory could hold any weight with anyone at all, or that its presence in public schools is even being considered. But the Kansas Board of Education, in a move widely believed to facilitate the teaching of 'intelligent design,' has decided to eliminate the requirement of teaching of evolution altogether. While this decision doesn't mandate the teaching of intelligent design or creationism either, it does leave the curriculum choices to each local school board, and it does confuse the hell out of teachers.
'Do we touch on those areas? What about students who do not want to hear this viewpoint?' says Tammy Stauber, an eighth-grade science teacher. 'Should they be allowed to leave the classroom, or is it mandatory that they have to listen to the teacher?'
The board's decision means students will no longer face questions on state tests about evolution
Other states, including Texas, California, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Nebraska and New Hampshire, have witnessed battles between evolutionists and creationists in the last several years.
But the Kansas decision seems to be a major victory for those who believe that the Bible's book of Genesis, not the theory of evolution, explains the origin of man.
'You can't apply the scientific method to evolution,' says Gary Demar of the group American Vision. 'It's never been observed. You can't repeat the experiment. And so what's being sold as science, in terms of evolution, really isn't science in terms of the way they define it.'
If the decision stands, some Kansas students will continue to learn about evolution, while others may learn about creationism. But the courts could intervene and rule that the school board's decision violates the separation of church and state.
In response to this open-ended approach to the last several billion years of life (or thousands, depending on your viewpoint), a group of citizens proclaiming themselves to belong to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster have written an open letter to the Kansas School Board requesting, logically, that their viewpoint is just as valid as any other and thus should be given a chance to be taught in public schools.
Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him.
It is for this reason that I’m writing you today, to formally request that this alternative theory be taught in your schools, along with the other two theories. In fact, I will go so far as to say, if you do not agree to do this, we will be forced to proceed with legal action. I’m sure you see where we are coming from. If the Intelligent Design theory is not based on faith, but instead another scientific theory, as is claimed, then you must also allow our theory to be taught, as it is also based on science, not on faith.
Some find that hard to believe, so it may be helpful to tell you a little more about our beliefs. We have evidence that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. None of us, of course, were around to see it, but we have written accounts of it. We have several lengthy volumes explaining all details of His power. Also, you may be surprised to hear that there are over 10 million of us, and growing. We tend to be very secretive, as many people claim our beliefs are not substantiated by observable evidence. What these people don’t understand is that He built the world to make us think the earth is older than it really is. For example, a scientist may perform a carbon-dating process on an artifact. He finds that approximately 75% of the Carbon-14 has decayed by electron emission to Nitrogen-14, and infers that this artifact is approximately 10,000 years old, as the half-life of Carbon-14 appears to be 5,730 years. But what our scientist does not realize is that every time he makes a measurement, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage. We have numerous texts that describe in detail how this can be possible and the reasons why He does this. He is of course invisible and can pass through normal matter with ease.
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster additionally believes that, in order to be fully respectful to their being, this theory should be taught wearing full pirate regalia. This makes perfect sense, of course, given that pirates are true chosen ones and their decline has angered the Flying Spaghetti Monster so much that he has responded with climactic rage. 
Bobby Henderson - a science geek who has represented the voice of FSM supporters - has received several responses from the Kansas School Board in response to his demands, though (not surprisingly) solely from those board members who have fought for actual science:
Response from Mrs. Carol Rupe - District 8 - Received 8/16/05
From: Carol Rupe
To: bobby.henderson@gmail.com
Date: Aug 16, 2005 8:19 AM
Subject: Kansas State Board of Education
Dear Mr. Henderson,
In the midst of the sad circumstances of having our science standards lowered, you and your legion of fellow FSM followers have offered wonderful comic relief. Rather than the form letters which we often receive on other topics, each FSM letter has been clever and unique. I responded to several at first, but now there have just been too many. I am a member of the Kansas State Board of Education and have voted repeatedly to maintain excellent science standards. Last week was the vote to send a new draft (written by the 6 conservative members) out for external review. The four of us on the board who are moderates were in the minority on the vote. The group of science teachers and university professors who had written the original standards (before they were changed) have now asked that their names be withdrawn from the document. The new version changes the very definition of science from 'seeking natural explanations' to 'seeking logical explanations'. That is why I think FSMism is able to be included. It is as 'logical' as any other theory.
The final vote on the standards will be in October. We will be in Lawrence, Kansas for that meeting. Those of us who are moderates on the board are trying to have the meeting in the Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas. We think that would be an appropriate setting for the occasion. We welcome you to be in attendance.
We have received thousands of emails from scientists around the world. At first, they all tried to explain good science to us. After the vote last week, however, they have resorted to calling us hillbillies and morons. And those are the nice letters!
Thank you for adding levity to this situation. You have developed quite a following. I was wondering if we could reverse the effects of global warming if we started breeding pirates.
Sincerely,
Carol Rupe
P.S. I ordered a Kansas Museum of Science t-shirt. I may just have to wear it to a board meeting.
I say all hail the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Because, come on, we all know that pirates rule and this nation's children should be forced to know that too.
(Written by: MissTyrios)
"(Via SuicideGirls: News Wire.)
