Looking for Katrina's silver lining? Check out the long lines of traffic snaking out of Houston 2 days before Rita's landfall. Looks like some lessons were learned well.
Best of luck to Houston. Hopefully, Rita will decrease in intensity before landfall also.
Hurricane Rita is barreling toward the Gulf Coast. Would the person with whom God is angry please turn himself/herself in to the appropriate authorities. I'm just kidding, the Taliban isn't.
Ok, but on a serious note, if Allah is so angry with us, why aren't we living in squalor in the middle of an ugly desert surrounded by highly armed and well trained men trying to kill us? Not yet, you say? Pessimist.
We'll rebuild whatever gets knocked down. No thanks on the burqas.
Scammers thrive on greed AND misery. Helpful article from CNN on Hurricane Katrina relief scams. Make sure that your money is going to help, not being stolen.
Now estimates are saying that the death toll may be substantially lower. With everything else so screwed up, it would be nice to know that the death estimates were as screwed up as the preparations. A cynic would say that the easy way to make a bundle would be to overestimate the losses. Just a thought.
Just a few quick points this morning:
1. Be worried about the right things to be worried about - America's Chemical Makers' Statement on the Impact of Hurricane Katrina. The fact that they felt compelled to make one scares the hell out of me.
2. Here we go with the economic "fallout" - "Katrina may trigger recession," from the Monterey Herald. They may be right.
3. We can all do our part. I'm in for $25.00. American Red Cross Donation Page, Click here to give.
I'll run the poop post tomorrow. Don't miss it.
When every complex idea falls short, get back to the basics.
Wondering what Hurricane Katrina has demonstrated over the last four days? Let's review.
In times of extreme disruption and danger, it is naive to think that the government is capable of providing for every need. Ask the people stuck in New Orleans. I've watched in shock as third world chaos has spread throughout the city. There has been a complete societal collapse. We could - and as I'm known to do, I probably will - discuss in detail exactly how the handout society breeds a helplessness that manifests in inability to think clearly.
We are trained to think in certain ways. If we come to believe that everything must go through the government, in crisis, we will seek out the government. The government in New Orleans collapsed when its police force ceded power and retreated. There was no government to do anything.
The end result was a mayor pleading with people to walk a short distance to be rescued. All people had to do was to leave the convention center and walk a short distance and they would have found help. Some could not and for them I feel great sympathy. It must be hell to be physically unable to care for oneself in that kind of chaos. The dead man in the wheelchair brought on a melancholy that knocked me back a step. I was sad and horrified at once.
And another thing: some people didn't want to walk that distance out of a fear for their lives. Ask yourself this question: Do you really believe that the people toting the firepower in New Orleans right now actually filled out the paperwork and did their three day wait for the guns? Someone reading this just thought - "Yeah, but this is an extreme circumstance." DUH. That is precisely when I want moral, ethical and law abiding citizens armed like the 101st Airborne division.
That pesky little Second Amendment comes in quite handy at times like these. Setting that aside, how many people avoid owning firearms because of the intrusion of government and the legal liability of owning them? Yep, this, ladies and gentlemen, is the single best argument I can imagine for doing away with silly laws that serve only to disarm the people least likely to do harm with weapons. I'll also wager that survivors of the Superdome and Convention Center will be far more sympathetic to the NRA in the future.
Let's talk cleanup. This is an environmental catastrophe. Over the next few days, I'll be blogging about what I do know and I can assure you that I know about toxic and crap filled water, compliments of my stint trying to clean up the waters around the Virgin Islands. The level of the catastrophe may not be known immediately either. Consider this: I've seen small service station/junkyard combinations that have become Superfund cleanup sites. How many pollutants are in the water filling New Orleans right now?
I'm saving the comments on sewage for a different entry, because if there is one thing in which I have become an expert, it is poop in the water. I had an E-coli infection compliments of a sewage bypass that I was photographing on St. Croix. Just my little lecture on the bugs in the water is enough to make you cringe. Don't miss that post.
Societal breakdown. Yep, that's in effect here too. What on earth prompted shooting at rescuers? Why in the hell didn't we put the Navy Seals in New Orleans to work doing what they do best? Posse Commitatus. Right, the solution to the breakdown that we are witnessing is not the short term "kill them all, let God sort them out" solution that appears so attractive with low-lifes that try to kill rescue workers. This kind of breakdown requires a return to some basic principles as well. I say we dump them in Cuba. Hey, it worked for Castro in reverse.
Seriously, a return to a society that is more connected is the only solution. How? No clue. I'm working on it, but I suspect the guys at CATO will beat me to it.
Energy. OK, remember that post where I said to invest in the new techs? Well? There you have it.
My biggest reaction to all of this is that I am overloaded with information. From Anderson Cooper having a nervous breakdown (which, in fairness, I may have had in his shoes) to Shep Smith doing the "Officer, Officer" questioning on the interstate, I'm fried. This is so immense that it is impossible to comprehend. I do not know how they will rebuild New Orleans. And to the folks in Mississippi, God be with you. I've been through a dozen hurricanes and in my life I have never seen anything like the pictures out of Mississippi. Unbelievable.
That's it for today. I'll be back to blogging on a daily schedule tomorrow. See you then.
Time to put the chips down and have a serious talk. When the doctor looked at me and said: "You're morbidly obese," I was pissed. My first question was aimed at clarifying "morbidly." The medical essence of the term is that the "morbidly obese" person is putting themselves at risk of death from weight related illnesses.
Not good.
Then comes the story of the woman who is PO'd at her doctor Read the full story.
She's angry. I wasn't there, so I don't know how the doctor presented the facts, but the key word is "facts." I went on a medication to control my blood pressure and decided to lose some weight. It's coming along slowly and not much fun. I don't know what this woman decided to do about her weight.
Of one thing I am certain, though. Suing the doctor (it isn't clear that she is suing or will) or turning him over to the ethics board won't save any lives. I hope she's losing some weight. Otherwise, the any money from any future lawsuits will be worthless to her. Dead people can't open bank accounts.
And I have a great doctor if anyone is interested in getting into shape.
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