| September 2010 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | ||
I'm deeply saddened by the loss of Steve Irwin. And I couldn't understand exactly how the accident happened. Would he really have intentionally swum right over a deadly stingray? This report may explain it:
"He and the underwater cameraman went out to do some pieces on the reef and coral and stuff good for the kids' show and, unfortunately, he came out over the top of a stingray that was buried in the sand and the barb went up and hit him in the chest."
Buried in this article is this interesting note:
Only about 100,000 residents have returned since the hurricane, and much of the city is uninhabitable. Redevelopment already has stalled as residents complain of getting little or no assistance from FEMA or private insurance companies.
A rather unusual plan has been floated in New Orleans, to the effect that if less than half the residents of a neighborhood return to rebuild, all the property owners there will be bought out by the city, whether they like it or not:
The proposal drew loud "boos" and shouts of anger from residents who crowded a downtown hotel meeting room for its announcement.
"I'm ready to rebuild. I'm not going to let you take everything. I'm ready to fight to get my property together," one man shouted from the back of the room.
Carolyn Parker, a resident of the ruined Lower Ninth, told the panel: "I don't think it's right that you try to take my property.
"Over my dead body," she said. "I didn't die with Katrina."
If a neighborhood is not deemed habitable, or too few residents return, the city could ban redevelopment and turn it into a park or open space. Property owners could be compensated in a proposed federal buyback program that would provide 100 percent of their homes' pre-storm value.
...The concept of getting rid of certain neighborhoods altogether has angered many black residents of the Lower Ninth Ward who fear theirs is among the most likely to be closed.
Odd as it is, the plan sounds like it's worth discussing. With sufficient compensation to the homeowners, this might be preferable to having a bunch of neighborhoods in which the majority of homes have been abandoned.
At this point the plan is for discussion only:
"This report is controversial. It pushes the envelope," the mayor told the crowd. "Let's discuss it, let's debate it, let's analyze it and let's tweak it.
Last January, this site noted reports of how 10-year-old Tilly Smith had saved 100 people on a beach where the tsunami was about to hit:
Tilly shrugged off the attention and modestly said, "Last term, my geography teacher, Mr. Kearney, taught us about earthquakes and how they can cause tsunamis.
Today Tilly, now 11, has been honored :
11-year-old who warned tourists of danger is honoured
Tilly Smith, from Oxshott, Surrey, was on a beach in Phuket with her family on Boxing Day last year when she noticed the sea change in temperament and was reminded of a geography lesson she had attended shortly before the Christmas break.
Convinced she was witnessing the warning signs of a tsunami, Tilly raised the alarm with her parents and hotel staff, and the beach was vacated minutes before the waves struck. She said she had seen "bubbling on the water ... and foam sizzling just like in a frying pan."Her efforts are thought to have resulted in ensuring the safety of the 100-plus people on the beach, and have now been credited by the French children's magazine, Mon Quotidien, whose readers have voted her Child of the Year. Tilly said: "I'm very glad I was able to say on the beach that a tsunami was coming. And I'm glad they listened to me."
I would like to see her teacher honored as well, for describing the warning signs of a tsunami so vividly that Tilly was able to recognize them.
This is one of the craziest stories of the past week. Many of the wealthiest black families in New Orleans are being told that the rebuilding of their homes is "the last priority" and therefore that it isn't being done and may not ever be done.
New Orleans's mayor, C. Ray Nagin, spent an evening at one of the group's meetings recently, hearing of the residents' longing to return home. But despite the group's considerable resources, the plan taking shape to remake the city lumps New Orleans East and its 90,000 residents with the Lower Ninth Ward and other deluged neighborhoods as the last priority of the city as it struggles to rebuild. The Urban Land Institute, a planning group advising the city, recommended that the city begin rebuilding less damaged neighborhoods first, provoking outrage from residents of the flood zones.
There is a concern that the residents may never be permitted to rebuild:
Since September, hundreds of displaced residents from New Orleans East, the neighborhood that was home to the largest concentration of the city's black elite, gather there for a small taste of the camaraderie and community that they sorely miss. But the residents - whose ranks include lawyers, judges and a few elected officials - are also anxiously mobilizing to save their low-lying corner of the city, which some planners argue should revert to marshland.
So far, the group has used its clout to extract a promise that electricity will be turned on in the neighborhood next month, instead of waiting until June. It has also speeded the return of water service. Without either, many residents say, they must wait in Baton Rouge longer even if their neighborhood is open.
This priorities list put together by the city of New Orleans needs to be reconsidered.
"It would kill the black psyche if New Orleans East wasn't rebuilt," said Talmadge Wall, an interior designer who for 15 years has lived with her husband and children in New Orleans East. "Think of what it would mean if the city successfully chased off so many African-Americans who had money, its doctors and successful businesspeople and lawyers and such. People who were aspiring to attain that kind of success would no longer feel like they have a chance."
GWB was harshly criticized for moving too slowly in responding to Katrina. People said he was incompetent or even malicious. As usual, the facts were not of interest to those making such allegations. Today's news confirms reports that GWB was unable to move until permission to do so was received from the Louisiana state governor.
From the Washington Times:
President Bush yesterday sought to federalize hurricane-relief efforts, removing governors from the decision-making process.
"It wouldn't be necessary to get a request from the governor or take other action," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said yesterday.
"This would be," he added, "more of an automatic trigger."
Mr. McClellan was referring to a new, direct line of authority that would allow the president to place the Pentagon in charge of responding to natural disasters, terrorist attacks and outbreaks of disease.
"It may require change of law," Mr. Bush said yesterday. "It's very important for us as we look at the lessons of Katrina to think about other scenarios that might require a well-planned, significant federal response -- right off the bat -- to provide stability."
The irresponsible reaction from the ACLU: attack GWB for seeking to make a power grab.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) accused Mr. Bush of attempting a power grab in the wake of fierce criticism that he responded too slowly to Hurricane Katrina a month ago.
Note that the ACLU does not question GWB's statement that he was not permitted to respond to Katrina because the Lousiana governor wouldn't authorize him to do so. Their opposition to this move confirms that they accept that statement.
But the Libs will keep trying to tell you GWB didn't respond as fast as he should have.
The article continues:
"Using the military in domestic law enforcement is generally a very bad idea," said Timothy Edgar, national security policy counsel for the ACLU. "I'm afraid that it will have unforeseen consequences for civil liberties."
Isn't that something? People in danger of losing their lives evidently doesn't rise, in the eyes of the ACLU, to a threat to "civil liberties."
By taking this position, the ACLU makes itself a danger to the lives of Americans.
CHUCK ROGERS HAS SOME OF THE MOST AMAZING KATRINA PHOTOS I'VE SEEN YET.
Contrary to nonsensical efforts to pin slow FEMA response times on GWB, FEMA response to previous devastating hurricanes was also criticized for being slow:
FEMA has been criticized for its response to Hurricane Katrina because of the time it took to assist storm victims stranded at the Superdome and Morial Convention Center in New Orleans and to others in surrounding parishes.
Many of the problems FEMA is being criticized for now occurred in similar relief efforts in 1989 for Hurricane Hugo, in 1992 for Hurricane Iniki and in 1993 for Hurricane Andrew.
...Hurricane Andrew caused $30 billion in damages, considered then to be the largest economic loss from a natural disaster in U.S. history, according to the General Accounting Office.
..In July 1993, the GAO released a report titled, "Disaster Management: Improving the Nation's Response to Catastrophic Disasters."
"The nation's management of catastrophic disasters was intensely criticized after Hurricane Andrew leveled much of South Florida and Hurricane Iniki destroyed much of the Hawaiian island of Kauai in 1992," the GAO wrote.
"Prior to these storms, other major disasters, such as Hurricane Hugo and the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, also generated intense criticism of the federal response effort."
It added that "catastrophic disasters overwhelm the ability of state, local and voluntary agencies to adequately provide victims with essential services, such as food and water" within a day after the storm has hit.
In previous cases, there was no widespread attempt to seek political gain from the suffering of fellow Americans, by seeking to pin the blame for slow FEMA response on a sitting President.
The Democrat party deserves better leadership.
From reporter David Streitfeld, in the LA Times --
New Orleans Starts Out on the Road to Recovery:
...businesspeople generally were making their way through police and military checkpoints, flashing identification and business-related documents. There was a tie-up on the River Road at the city's western boundary, as the usual convoys of emergency, police and military vehicles, utility trucks and heavy-equipment carriers were joined by a new stream of sedans and SUVs driven by business owners trying to get a look at how their shops and offices fared under the assault of Hurricane Katrina.
Downtown hotels already have been abuzz for several days with cleanup and construction crews. The city made them a priority because officials involved in the reconstruction need a place to stay. A couple of bars in the French Quarter have stayed open serving warm beer almost since the hurricane winds subsided, manned by bartenders who stayed put during the storm.
Heavy industry also got an early start on recovery. Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Avondale shipyard on the opposite bank of the Mississippi got back to work earlier this week, and dockworkers at the Port of New Orleans are scheduled to unload their first post-hurricane container ship — carrying coffee — this morning. Norfolk Southern Corp. restored freight rail service to New Orleans after completing repairs on five miles of washed-out rails on the Lake Pontchartrain railroad bridge. In addition, the first commercial flight landed at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
Speculators Rushing In as the Water Recedes:
The real estate agent has $10 million in the bank, wired by an investor who has instructed her to scoop up houses — any houses. "Flooding no problem," Farris' newspaper ads advise.
I think New Orleans is going to be succesfully rebuilt.
Howard Dean uses the occasion of Hurrican Katrina to attack Republicans. So does Al Gore.
When leading Dems use occasions of pain and suffering to seek to inflict addtional pain and suffering on fellow Americans, they make things worse rather than better. They kick America when it's down.
The Democrat party deserves better leadership.
Rabbi Aryeh Spero has a great article today: "IN KATRINA I DIDN'T SEE RACISM, I SAW BROTHERHOOD":
In New Orleans, beginning Tuesday morning, I saw men in helicopters risking their lives to save stranded flood victims from rooftops. The rescuers were White, the stranded Black. I saw Caucasians navigating their small, private boats in violent, swirling, toxic floodwaters to find fellow citizens trapped in their houses. Those they saved were Black.
I saw Brotherhood. New York Congressman Charlie Rangel saw Racism.
Yes, there are Two Americas. One is the real America, where virtually every White person I know sends money, food or clothes to those in need -- now and in other crises -- regardless of color. This America is colorblind.
The other is the America fantasized and manufactured by Charlie Rangel, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who constantly cry “racism!” even in situations where it does not exist, even when undeniable images illustrate love, compassion and concern. These three men, together with today’s NAACP, want to continue the notion of Racist America. It is their Mantra, their calling card. Their power, money, and continued media appearances depend on it.
CLINTON'S DISASTER RESPONSE TOOK LONGER THAN BUSH'S:
Critics say President Bush's personal response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster was too little, too late - with an Air Force One flyover the day after New Orleans' levees broke and a trip to Baton Rouge two days later.
President Clinton, on other the other hand, got glowing reviews for responding to his administration's biggest disaster, the Oklahoma City bombing - even though he took a day longer to arrive on the scene than Bush did last week.
LOUSIANA'S PORK-BARREL PROJECTS DIDN'T INCLUDE FUNDS FOR A LEVEE. Louisiana had put over $540 million worth of pork projects into the recently-passed $24 billion transportation bill. The money wasn't allocated towards the levee they needed.
MAJORITY OF NEW ORLEANS EVACUATION COMPLETE.
Here are a few quotes:
5.) George Bush had nothing to do with the hurricane contingency plans for New Orleans. Those are drawn up by New Orleans and Louisiana. In any event, the plans were perfectly good: mandatory evacuation. It is in no way at all George Bush's fault that about 20 percent of New Orleans neglected to follow the plan. It is not his fault that many persons in New Orleans were too confused to realize how dangerous the hurricane would be. They were certainly warned. It's not George Bush's fault that there were sick people and old people and people without cars in New Orleans. His job description does not include making sure every adult in America has a car, is in good health, has good sense, and is mobile.
...8.) George Bush is rushing every bit of help he can to New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama as soon as he can. He is not a magician. It takes time to organize huge convoys of food and now they are starting to arrive. That they get in at all considering the lawlessness of the city is a miracle of bravery and organization
....10.) If the energy the news media puts into blaming Bush for an Act of God worsened by stupendous incompetence by the New Orleans city authorities and the malevolence of the criminals of the city were directed to helping the morale of the nation, we would all be a lot better off.
...12.) The entire episode is a dramatic lesson in the breathtaking callousness of government officials at the ground level. Imagine if Hillary Clinton had gotten her way and they were in charge of your health care.
...What special abilities does the media have for deciding how much blame goes to the federal government as opposed to the city government of New Orleans for the aftereffects of Katrina?
Read the whole thing.
A recent poll finds that 72% feel that gas companies are doing price scalping in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. But Rand Simberg discusses how higher gas prices are essential to 1) get the gas to the people who need it, and 2) get people to stop using so much gas when it's in short supply:
With every disaster or crisis, it seems that the public, press and politicians require a remedial course in Economics 101.
...Let's recap, briefly, for those who never took the class, or have forgotten it. It's really simple. In any locality, when the supply of a particular item is reduced with no change in demand, or the demand for it increased with no change in supply, or supply is decreased with a demand increase, prices will go up.
This is a signal to the market. To those demanding the product, it is a signal that the supply is relatively short, and that they should perhaps rethink the level of their demand, if possible. To the suppliers, it is a signal that more of the resources must be brought to market. In both cases, it will result in a change in behavior on both parties that will restore the balance between supply and demand. Moreover, it does so in a useful, quantitative way. It tells the supplier how much expense, risk and effort she should expend to increase the supply. This calculation may even bring new suppliers into the market. It also indicates the degree to which it is sensible for the consumer to change their demand. When by fiat we pretend that the price has not gone up, it's like covering up the signposts, and we shouldn't be surprised when those supplying no longer attempt to increase the supply, and those demanding can't be bothered to reduce their usage of that particular commodity.
Read the whole thing.
