how did we let this happen ???

how can the only superpower in the world be suffering such a blow in this disaster ?? how come the government didn't have the navy positioned off the coast ?? why were there not tens of thousands of national guard on spot ?? all of these questions are being asked about the largest natural disaster in united states history.. just how do you prepare for something you've never seen before ??

i'm reminded of all of the handwringing we had after 9/11.. how could we have let this happen ?? how were we not prepared ?? i look ahead to the next natural disaster we have on the radar - a major quake in california decimating the state.. just how would we prepare for that disaster ??

i think that we've got to take a closer look at people in general.. the single largest thing that could have been done to prevent this disaster would have been to evacuate the area. if everyone would have left, as instructed, there would be no 'human' tragedy. there would be horrific economic damage and ruin, but the human drama would not be unfolding as it is.. so is it the government's responsibility to evacuate people from a potential disaster area ?? or is it just the government's responsibility to provide the information to the public ? there were countless reports of police going door to door having people sign releases because they were going to stay behind.. at what point are people responsible for their own actions in this country ?

federal, state and local authorities set up the superdome for people to utilize to ride out the storm.. the superdome then turned in to a zoo, with people being murdered, raped, assaulted - all by the people the authorities are trying to save.. then the looting came, and citizens are brazenly stealing firearms, jewelry and electronics.. these are the citizens who are under duress.. the ones we're trying to save.. and now, these citizens are shooting at rescue workers.. the people the rescue workers are there to save are shooting at them..

all of this, of course, is the governments fault.. the mayor of new orleans went forward last night with a profanity laced tirade against the state and federal authorities for not helping enough.. is this the leadership we need in a crisis ??

what isn't reported is that supplies and people were prepositioned in many locations, but the extent of the destruction was unprecidented, blocking roads, washing out bridges..

there are many common sense things that needed to be done better- communication infrastructure is a failure. no cell towers, no land lines.. satellite phones and police/military radio are really the only initial means for communication.. there are lots of lessons to learn.. but according to the people on the ground, it's all at the feet of the government. this political charging of a natural disaster is sickening.. jesse jackson, jr has even come out ranting on the president's failure.. but no mention of the failure of the democratic mayor of governor..

the lesson to learn here is this: when you are told to evacuate, you would do well to follow those orders. walk out if you have to, but a natrural disaster cares not if you are rich, poor, fat, thin, black, white, republican or democrat..

cindy blames bush for katrina..

we all knew it was just a matter of time.. but on cindy's last day in crawford, she made it official.. (from the huffington post)

"Well, George and I are leaving Crawford today. George is finished playing golf and telling his fables in San Diego, so he will be heading to Louisiana to see the devastation that his environmental policies and his killing policies have caused."

i'm certain that she really feels that way.. george summoned up the power of the 'universe' and spun katrina across florida and in to the gulf coast.. if you need any further proof that this crackpot media whore is out for something other than her son, now you have it.. let's recap.. first, the universe chose her for this.. next, she channeled her son's spirit from heaven, and all he had to say was that bush was an idiot.. then, she takes on moveon.org as her official handlers, calling off interviews when she gets questions she doesn't like.. . after that, she admits on national tv that she has 6 other moms on her side.. and now she is making eyes at al sharpton and blaming katrina on g-dub. the fact this woman gets any media coverage at all is borderline sickening.. the fact that the overwhelming majority of people who disagree with her point of view get no voice in the media is not so surprising really..

i can scream media bias again, but that's a tired arguement, right ?? so let me show you what you get vs. what is actually happening.. look at this. if this doesn't show you what a phony she is and what kind of nonsense the media is feeding you, nothing will..

Nikon D200

nikon appears poised to announce it's d200 camera in early september. this camera looks to be a good. as a nikon guy, it has my attention. 12.4 megapixels, new cmos of 23.7 x 15.7mm, 2.5" 230,000 dot display, 52ms shutter release lag. also has usb 2.0 so you can place your files on a flash drive.

it's official, katrina is bush's fault..

RFK Jr.: Bush, Barbour to Blame for Katrina

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is blaming Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, along with President Bush, for causing Hurricane Katrina.

"As Hurricane Katrina dismantles Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, it’s worth recalling the central role that Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour played in derailing the Kyoto Protocol and kiboshing President Bush’s iron-clad campaign promise to regulate CO2," Kennedy blogged Tuesday on HuffingtonPost.com.

The influential Democrat's enviro-conspiracy theory had the sinister Gov. Barbour engineering Bush's energy policy on behalf of "the president’s major donors from the fossil fuel industry."Kennedy charges that in March 2001, the former Republican National Committee chairman issued "an urgent memo to the White House" on CO2 emissions.

With that, the president dropped his pro-environment campaign promise like a hot potato.

Because of Bush and Barbour's CO2 folly, said Kennedy: "Now we are all learning what it’s like to reap the whirlwind of fossil fuel dependence which Barbour and his cronies have encouraged."

RFK, Jr., even suggested that Katrina's last minute detour through Mississippi was a bit of Divine payback, declaring:

"Perhaps it was Barbour’s memo that caused Katrina, at the last moment, to spare New Orleans and save its worst flailings for the Mississippi coast."
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didn't we all know it all along ?

bushwhacked.. from the right..

g-dub is getting attacked from the right on his poor record concerning immigration. paelocon dinosaur pat buchanan has called for a republican legislator to move for impeachment of g-dub. now, more folks on the right are calling for the same thing. george has been in bed with the hispanic vote from day one. there is a republican strategy that is trying to secure the hispanic vote for the future, in essence, securing majority rule.. one thing republican strategists did not count on was a strong backlash from their base. that is exactly what is happening. the republicans have been, at least in a verbal sense, leapfrogged by the democrats.. the democratic governors of both arizona and new mexico have lent strong words (not backed by consistent actions, however) to fixing the border problem. again, the republicans are playing catch up. this country has grown tired of the endless illegal assault from the south.. there are now an estimated 20 million illegal immigrants in this country.. 20 MILLION. this is crushing the state economies.. it is sucking up federal money.. it is burning up taxpayer money to pay for services to non-citizens. it has got to stop. the republicans missed the calling on the minute men.. they have missed the calling to enforce existing immigration law and they are going to pay dearly in the next election cycle.. the bad news is that the other side of the aisle is even WORSE.. i'm concerned americans will stay home and not vote, allowing an even worse policy to slide in to place.. the ted kennedy side of the house openly long for open borders, with no immigration restraints.. further diluting the soverignty of the united states.. more poor illegals = more government assistance = more of a shift to socialist policy = more leaning on the UN for guidance and direction.. it's just sickening.

..more video observations

ok, i'm stuck.. this is like watching a series of car accidents in slow motion.. how have we made it this far since the demise of the keyboard/guitar.. ? i mean, how can you be a rockstar keyboard player if you are hidden behind all of those keys ?? the only answer is to place it on a stick and hold it like a guitar.. sliced bread, ball point pen, keyboartar, i mean gutiarboard.. what has happened to stand up keyboard man ?

and how great must it have been to be kool of kool and the gang.. ? 'this is the night you'll see the light.. ' i will keep repeating that to myself.. but really, how do you get named after a menthol cigarette anyway..

and it's a shame that the leather pants w/ white tennis shoes combo has seemingly evaporated from the fashion sense of todays hipsters.. they could really learn a thing or two from watching some classic styx videos.. speaking of having too much time on my hands.. this video might be the worst in the history of ever.. but now they're suggesting that i sail away.. where is eric cartman when you need him anyway..

things have taken a turn for the better music wise.. kool & the gang -> styx -> eric clapton-> doobie brothers

blackwater seems like such an appropriate song right now..

choreography & the 80's

ok, i can admit that at 9:30 at night i'm a bit too lazy to move the laptop, get off the couch and walk across the room to get my remote.. the price i pay for this laziness is the ongoing exposure to vh1's tuesday 2-play. (and this is a dear price indeed) mixed in with the heart, steve winwood and van halen have been a few reminders of a very strange 80's video phenomenon.. now understand, as a child of the 80's i feel as if i was pretty in tune with all that was hip back then.. parachute pants (had em), z cavaricci (had em), miami vice (watched it), zodiacs (had a bunch).. i feel pretty in touch with my time spent in the 80's.. this one thing, however, has escaped me.. and i must admit, i am now transfixed by it... what is IT? IT is the amount of unnecessary, unadultrated, unabashed, over the top dance choreography shoe-horned in to these videos from the 80's.. now i don't know about you, but i have NEVER seen people walking down the street just fall in to line and start snapping their fingers and kicking their legs around when a certain song came on(let alone a bunch of zombies).. but these videos would have you believe that is how the 80's were lived.. groups of people, falling in to formation and getting down to the worst dance moves ever created.. michael jackson, paula abdul, madonna, even the MOODY BLUES have choreographed dancers getting down to horrible songs.. maybe it's an allergic reaction to the music, i'm just not sure.. i am sure that today this choreographed nonsense is left to cheerleaders and boy bands.. oh, and the yuck monkeys in rap videos.. and i'm pretty sure we're all better off for it..

more bad news for new orleans..

Water rising at 17th St. canal
Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.
Mayor Ray Nagin has announced that the attempt to plug a breach in the 17th Street canal at the Hammond Highway bridge has failed and the rising water is about to overwhelm the pumps on that canal.The result is that water will begin rising rapidly again, and could reach as high as 3 feet above sea level. In New Orleans and Jefferson Parish, that means floodwaters could rise as high as 15 feet in the next few hours.Nagin urged residents to try to find higher ground as soon as possible.

tragic

all of new orleans to be evacuated..

the water keeps pouring in to new orleans.. the latest word is that the governor of louisiana is calling for the total evacuation of the city of new orleans... from the AP:

With conditions in the hurricane-ravaged city of New Orleans rapidly deteriorating, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Tuesday that people now huddled in the Superdome and other rescue centers need to be evacuated...

Because of two levees that broke Tuesday, the city was rapidly filling with water and the prospect of having power was a long time off, the governor said. She also said the storm severed a major water main, leaving the city without drinkable water.

this combined with out of control looting has turned new orleans into a total disaster area.. hospitals are now being evacuated due to the rising water.. one positive note - the super walmart in kenner has made a point to be open to supply the impacted area.. gotta give those guys some credit

and i will curse..

just thinking out loud, but these events bring an interesting correlation to a post i made on 8/4 related to a verse in genesis.. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you.. Gen 12:3

on 8/15, after extreme pressure from the united states, israel withdrew from God given land in gaza.. the united states continues pressure on israel to unilaterally withdraw from the west bank in the face of continuing terror from the PA.

i will state once again, i think it's dangerous business for the united states to be forcing israel to withraw from God given land..

new orleans, filling up..

there are reports that new orleans has declared marshal law.. that would be unprecedented. (this has been confirmed - citizens have been told that they have no civil rights as of now & the national guard is controlling the city) the latest reports out of new orleans are that more levees are breaking and areas that once appeared to be clear are now flooding.. the lakeview levee sent water all through the neighborhoods around uno.. right along robert e. lee and around the lakefront arena for you panic fans.. now a large section of the 17th street canal levee as failed and has sent water through mid-city, carrolton, gentilly, city park and more.. from the AP:

In downtown New Orleans, streets that were relatively clear in the hours after the storm were filled with 1 to 1 1/2 feet of water Tuesday morning.
Water was knee-deep around the Superdome. Canal Street was literally a canal. Water lapped at the edge of the French Quarter.
Little islands of red ants floated in the gasoline-fouled waters through downtown. The Hyatt Hotel and other high-rise around the Superdome had rows and rows of shattered windows.

apparently pontchartrain is emptying in to the city, which is going to create a serious environmental disaster.. there are no estimates when the flow of water will stop, meaning that the whole city could be submerged by day end if it keeps up.

there are reports of dead bodies floating in the flood waters.. barges are reportedly being brought in to try to generate electricity & there is growing concern around providing clean water to people, especially as the summer heat starts to come back.. this could be very, very bad..

katrina's march from the sea..

what was 'good' for new orleans looks to be utter catastrophe for mississippi. new orleans, once again dodged the direct hit they've feared for decades.. that being said, much of the city is underwater, the water is still rising and the timeline for getting power back to the town is estimated to be weeks. tomorrow morning is going to bring more pictures of the damage, and i'm certain those images are going to be shocking. it's ironic that the french quarter was spared, yet many residential neighborhoods are under 8+ feet of water. the latest reports tonite are indicating that water level is still rising in new orleans. all of that water will have to be pumped out, so new orleans' problems may just be starting. there will be significant fresh water issues, including contamination and disease if that water isn't moved out quickly.

to the east, i'm afraid things are going to be unfortunate. the last estimate i saw was 50 dead in mississippi alone. there has been no look in to plaquemines parrish and st. bernard parrish.. with the track of the storm, these two will have taken the worst of it in louisiana. most of those areas are not far above sea level and are surrounded by water.. i pray that that the folks that rode it out in those areas made it through safely. the reports from earlier indicated that people were having to ride out the storm on their roof due to the water being so high..

mississippi looks to have taken the absolute worst part of this storm. gulfport fire marshall is indicating 75% of all structures have significant roof damage if any roof left at all. biloxi had a tragic apartment death count - up to 50 people were killed when an apartment complex collapsed.. it appears as if things will be found to be worse in the morning.

the next concern after search and rescue will be to prevent looting - mississippi's governor came out with a powerful statement on that - authorizing the full force of the law against looters - comparing them to grave robbers. after that, the southern heat will kick in and make the clean up effort nothing short of miserable.

i'm afraid that we haven't seen the true impact of this storm yet. i have a feeling that tomorrow will bring some tragic news. pray for the folks in the south.

a soldier's point of view..

Borrowed from frontpagemag.com
The following letter was written in response to a public "Die-In" held at the front gate of Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, this past April. Its author, Marc Fencil, would have been on campus at the time, but, as a Marine, he was stationed in Iraq. OU's official student publication, The Post, ran his letter on April 8, 2005. We were as inspired by his forthright invitation to the antiwar protestors as we are grateful for his service. If only every college student -- let alone professor -- were endowed with as much patriotism and common sense. -- The Editors.


To the editor:
It's a shame that I'm here in Iraq with the Marines right now and not back at Ohio University completing my senior year and joining in blissful ignorance with the enlightened, war-seasoned protesters who participated in the recent "die-in" at College Gate. It would appear that all the action is back home, but why don't we make sure? That's right, this is an open invitation for you to cut your hair, take a shower, get in shape and come on over! If Michael Moore can shave and lose enough weight to fit into a pair of camouflage utilities, then he can come too!

Make sure you all say your goodbyes to your loved ones though, because you won't be seeing them for at least the next nine months. You need to get here quick because I don't want you to miss a thing. You missed last month's discovery of a basement full of suicide vests from the former regime (I'm sure Saddam's henchmen just wore them because they were trendy though). You weren't here for the opening of a brand new school we built either. You might also notice women exercising their new freedom of walking to the market unaccompanied by their husbands.

There is a man here, we just call him al-Zarqawi, but we think he'd be delighted to sit down and give you some advice on how you can further disrespect the victims of Sept. 11 and the 1,600 of America's bravest who have laid down their lives for a safer world. Of course he'll still call you "infidel" but since you already agree that there is no real evil in the world, I see no reason for you to be afraid. Besides, didn't you say that radical Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance?

I'm warning you though -it's not going to be all fun and games over here. You might have bad dreams for the next several nights after you zip up the body bag over a friend's disfigured face. I know you think that nothing, even a world free of terror for one's children, is worth dying for, but bear with me here. We're going to live in conditions you've never dreamt about. You should get here soon though, because the temperatures are going to be over 130 degrees very soon and we will be carrying full combat loads (we're still going to work though). When it's all over, I promise you can go back to your coffee houses and preach about social justice and peace while you continue to live outside of reality.

If you decide to decline my offer, then at least you should sleep well tonight knowing that men wearing black facemasks and carrying AK-47s yelling "Allahu Akbar" over here are proud of you and are forever indebted to you for advancing their cause of terror. While you ponder this, I'll get back to the real "die-in" over here. I don't mind.

Marc Fencil, a senior majoring in political science, criminology and Spanish at Ohio University, is currently serving in Iraq. Send him an e-mail at marc.g.fencil.1@ohiou.edu.

National Weather Service Statement

The National Weather Service has issued a special statement outlining the damage that might be caused if Hurricane Katrina makes landfall as a strong Category 4 or Category 5 storm. “Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks, perhaps longer,” says the statement. “At least one-half of well-constructed homes will have roof and wall failure. All gabled roofs will fail, leaving those homes severely damaged or destroyed. The statement says the majority of industrial buildings will become “non-functional,” with partial or complete wall and roof failure. “All wood-framed low-rising apartments will sustain major damage, including some wall and roof failure,” the statement said. “Concrete block low-rise apartments will sustain major damage, including some wall and roof failure.” The statement says high-rise office and apartment buildings will sway dangerously, “a few to the point of total collapse.” And all their windows will blow out. Airborne debris will be widespread, and may include heavy items — household appliances and light cars and trucks —and even sport utility vehicles and trucks will be moved. “The blown debris will create additional destruction,” the statement said. “Persons, pets and livestock exposed to the winds will face certain death if struck.” Power outages will last for weeks because most power poles will be down and transformers will be destroyed. Most trees will be snapped or uprooted and even the heartiest, if they survive, will be stripped of all leaves.

this is sounding worse and worse..

a hurricane at pat o's

REPORTS FROM AN AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT INDICATE THATTHE MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 175 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. KATRINA IS A POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE.

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new orleans is one of my favorite cities anywhere.. unfortunately, hurricane katrina looks to be headed right for the crescent city -- which means big trouble for the big easy. if you've never been, the city is all under sea level and is kept dry by a levee and canal system that protects and 'drains' the city. if this storm hits at it's current strength (175 mpg winds) there are estimates of up to a 30 foot storm surge.. which would swamp the city (literally) by cresting the tops of the levee system. there is the real possibility of over 20 feet of standing water in new orleans - with no where to drain. all of that water would have to be pumped out, since the city is under sea level. (think of a bowl, protected by levee's surrounded by the mississippi and lake pontchartrain) there would be standing water in new orleans proper for, what could be, weeks on end. every drop of water that comes in to new orleans must be pumped out. exacerbating the problem is that over 100,000 people in new orleans don't have their own transportation.. so they're stuck. this could be pretty ugly unless this thing loses some power or veers off course.. which is too bad.. i love my new orleans... love it lots.