$3 gas is here!

Chuck Rudy wrote:
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I have watched the coverage of the disaster in disbelief. I know its easy to second-guess and be an armchair quarterback, but there is something seriously wrong here.
I've watched the reporters at the NO convention center beg for help for days. Same story in other places. Since I've been watching, there has been no plan, no one in charge. I listened as the Red Cross director explained how they pre-positioned supplies and personnel BEFORE the storm hit. And I watched as FEMA and politicians balked and fidgeted when asked why they weren't as well prepared.
What the hell are we paying FEMA and Homeland Security for? Aren't they supposed to be preparing for large disasters (terror attacks)? Aren't they supposed to be ready instantly? They KNEW Katrina was coming. They KNEW New Orleans could experience exactly what happened. For Christ's sake, how can they be prepared for an unanticipated terror event, or several events?
Sure, it is a major diaster. The infrastructure is gone. But six days to get significant federal help? People dying of dehydration, heat, and lack of medical care at an evacuation center they were told to go to? The reporters seem to have gotten to those places.
There are some smart and experienced people here whose opinions I respect. Personally, I'd take every freaking bureaucrat from New Orleans to DC, toss em into a flooded New Orleans street, and just leave em there. Am I alone in feeling this way?
What the hell is going on here?

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Clearly to spend our tax dollars. And a fanciful job they do too.
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Haven't you heard the stories of advance notice of 9/11 too?
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How many days since the levy broke?
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That is beyond sad, but it is the GOVERNOR that mobilizes the National Guard.
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Jerry Irvine wrote:
    Gary wrote:
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ACOE knew of the breeches Tuesday morning, so they probably occurred Monday night sometime.
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I'm talking basic resources for a designated evacuation site. If there was nothing there and nothing coming, why send people to it?
Its not just the Feds by any means.
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It was the Mayor of NO that sent them there. What amazes me is they knew this was coming and 100,000 people had no way out. What happened to all the public transport busses, school busses, city cars and trucks? Why were they not used to get these people out. Remember this is a storm the city government said they had made plans for for decades. As far as this new racism lets blame someone else game remember the Mayor of NO is black! Second even having this discussion now is a disgrace to all of us. Lets get the people taken care of and the immediate emergency handled. We have forever to debate the what ifs.
Dennis
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I saw pictures of them captured parked at home in the later flood. They were NOT mobilized.
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Point.

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Point.

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POINT!
The first one to drop the ball was the governor of Louisiana. No amount of his yelling profanities will change the fact he is the one that screwed up at the start.
Randy http://vernarockets.com /

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I believe the governor of Louisiana is a she, and the mayor of New Orleans that yelled the profanities.

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You are correct sir!
Either way, the protocol is for the local and state officials to alert the Federal government to a possible need, not wait for them to come and ask.
The thing that blew me away this morning was the lady governor telling Fox she didn't know there were people in the Super Dome... right away, because her power was out. Oy Vey!
Obviously, she leaves much to be desired as state leader.
Randy http://vernarockets.com /

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Is last Sunday, August 28th (you know, the day before the hurricane made landfall) about the right time for her to have issued the disaster assistance request?
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf
Maybe Bush didn't get this request in his mail until after he cut his vacation short.
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Mike Pearson <see .sig> wrote:
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That looks mostly like a request to pay for things and clean up the mess.
As I recall from Government class many years ago, The President can't deploy troops to a state without the Governor of that state making a formal request. I may have missed it, but I didn't see a request for federal troops in that document. Also, it is unlawful to employ any part of the US Military as a posse comitatus. This prevents the US Military from acting in any police enforcement role within the borders of the US.
Mario

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THAT, was the problem.
SHE stated this morning on Fox that she had no idea, that she had the authority to do that. No idea! I have to wonder, what does she know? She dropped the ball first, plain and simple.
The next thing we'll see is all the culpables scurrying for cover as they point the finger in all other directions.
Randy http://vernarockets.com /

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What the hell?
She is "commander-in-chief!!
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All due respect, that is grounds for impeachment!!
No wonder the mayor of New Orleans was yelling. When this is all over, we need to buy him a beer and launch a rocket from downtown.
Jerry
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It was the MAYOR screaming profanities, and now you know why.
Jerry

Gary wrote:
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Gary, I agree 100%! It's an embarassment to me as an American that this situation has been handled so poorly. Why are the bureaucrats and politicans all acting as if this was a big surprise? Don't they watch the Weather Channel??? I do, and I clearly heard them say over and over that New Orleans would be wiped out, that the levees would break and the entire city would be flooded. Somebody in government should have said, "Holy #@%~, this is serious! We better get started NOW!" The president should have dropped everything and made sure this was being taken care of, and if he didn't, his advisors should have told him to.
Why did the government tell people to go to the Superdome if it wasn't set up to handle refugees, and why did they just leave them there? Why does the government keep insisting they can't get help to them, when obviously the reporters aren't having trouble getting there? Why are police preventing people from crossing bridges that lead to dry ground?
Somebody dropped the ball, big time. Probably several "somebodies".
M

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote:
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Hit the nail right on the head Ray. Couldn't have said it any better.
When this is all said and done, then the shock will kick in :(
Ted Novak TRA#5512 IEAS#75

Gary wrote: <snip> > > What the hell are we paying FEMA and Homeland Security for? Aren't > they supposed to be preparing for large disasters (terror attacks)? > Aren't they supposed to be ready instantly? They KNEW Katrina > was coming. They KNEW New Orleans could experience exactly > what happened. For Christ's sake, how can they be prepared for an > unanticipated terror event, or several events?
The politicians are stuffed shirts, if they were indeed worth being paid they'd be in the private sector. We have our trust in the wrong kind of people. As followers of CYA, they are in cover mode constantly so they have a reason to be in their office another day.
There should be a San Francisco plan for the 'Big one", a NYC plan for several emergencies within and without, a Los Angelas plan, a plan for every coastal city in the south and lower east coast, a DC plan, Nuc plant plans, chemical plant plans....there should be evacuation plans and emergency contingency plans and loss of infrastructure plans for any predicted scenario.
As a 'for instance' why was only one side of the interstate used for evacuation? A plan should be in place to use all lanes to exit, state police covering up signs and blocking off ramps. Local traffic can use local roads, speed is necessary for escape.
It is obvious we cannot rely on the Security 'czar' or fema to think things through and take charge or even have a coherrant plan for a disaster affecting a region. And forget about being ready for terrorist attacks, the hurricane gave plenty of warning. Someone had to take charge, some who tried were not trained (governors and mayors are not trained) to be in charge in an emergency, others just failed woefully. In the final analysis, you need your own escape plan, with several contingencies to adapt to in the event your initial plan fails.
This was a terrible disaster followed by a comedy of errors.
> > Sure, it is a major diaster. The infrastructure is gone. But six days to > get significant federal help? People dying of dehydration, heat, and lack > of medical care at an evacuation center they were told to go to? The > reporters seem to have gotten to those places.
> > There are some smart and experienced people here whose opinions > I respect. Personally, I'd take every freaking bureaucrat from > New Orleans to DC, toss em into a flooded New Orleans street, > and just leave em there. Am I alone in feeling this way? > > What the hell is going on here? >
Chuck

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NGO

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True.
Which points to the fact you better have your own plan in case of an emergency. They have spent 40 years teaching many people to be dependant on the government, as Jerry says, "Nanny State."
The govt. at every level should do all they can to help in any catastrophe but we as individuals need to be aware of our own circumstances no matter what they are, i.e. weather, food water, gasoline, etc. and take our own steps to protect ourselves and as many fellow citizens as possible. If that happens, it will lessen the severity and aid the recovery of any thing that comes along.
Alabama gets hit by hurricanes as often, (Frederick, Hugo, Ivan) as any place and we have to be ready. We don't get a substantial snow or ice storm very often but when we do, it's never good. Our neighborhood is always without power or a way to get to the nearest store for many days. In a subdivision of about 400 people, all average working Joes, we all see to it that everyone has food, water, medicine. There are many generators to power central heating units. Almost all of the homes have wood burning fireplaces and pretty much everyone has a stock pile. We listen to the weather closely. WE do it. The city, county, state, do help at times but we don't wait for them to come to us.
N.O. is a huge problem for many reasons, not the least of which is water that won't go away but clearly, many people thought someone was going to instantly, magically, come along to take care of them. The attitude of, "I don't need to take care of myself, the government will do it" doesn't work at times like these. There are many reasons that didn't happen but as they search for someone to blame, they need to start with themselves and then take it on up the line.
There's going to be lots to figure out with this one. Maybe you start by trying to figure out why anyone lives in a city that's always below sea level.
Randy http://vernarockets.com /

snipped-for-privacy@charter.net wrote:
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Amen to that!
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Very true.
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Same reason people live in areas that are always threatened by hurricanes, and areas that are always threatened by tornadoes, and areas that are always threatened by earthquakes, etc. Once established, no one is going to abandon these cities until some catastrophe forces them to do so.