Oh really? I remember watching this segment last January on Nova Science NOW.
It's pretty interesting.
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Oh really? I remember watching this segment last January on Nova Science NOW.
It's pretty interesting.
Good articles here ....
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/HurricaneK...C-RSSFeeds0312
and here.
http://www.washtimes.com/national/pruden.htm
It was only a matter of time before this happened, and no (realistic) amount of preparation would've prevented the devastation.
The blame game and fingerpointing were predictable, given the current makeup of the left. I'm more amused by the linkage to global warming.
Maybe they should have all watched the movie "Hard Rain" And they would have known the outcome.
I take it back - I'm more amused by Sean Penn's reaction to this tragedy than anything else. Typical.
I'm more amused by his boat sinking.Quote:
Originally Posted by [AK]Squidly
Quote:
Originally Posted by [AK]Hylander
http://www.morethings.com/log/sean_penn_bailing.jpg
The bulletproof vest thing is fun as well.
Just to clarify, my point isn't about whether or not it could've been prevented. It's that the statement by POTUS was ridiculous on its face, given that pretty much everybody knew that New Orleans would be wiped out by a big hurricane. So, I suppose we're making the same point.Quote:
Originally Posted by [AK]Squidly
I think he meant "I never expected this much damage."
"When The Levee Breaks" - Led Zeppelin
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break, [X2]
When The Levee Breaks I'll have no place to stay.
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan, [X2]
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well.
Don't it make you feel bad
When you're tryin' to find your way home,
You don't know which way to go?
If you're goin' down South
They got no work to do,
If you don't know about Chicago.
Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.
All last night sat on the levee and moaned, [X2]
Thinkin' about me baby and my happy home.
Going, going to Chicago... Going to Chicago... Sorry but I can't take you...
Going down... going down now... going down....
Tragically Hip, "New Orleans is Sinking"
Up to Here, 1989
MP3 available on my site HERE
Bourbon blues on the street loose and complete
Under skies all smoky blue-green
I can Forksake the dixie dead shake
So we dance the sidewalk clean
My memory is muddy what's this river I'm in
New Orleans is sinking and I don't want to swim
Colonel Tom What's wrong? What's Going On
You can't tie yourself up for a deal
He said" Hey North you're south shut you big mouth
You gotta do what you feel is real."
Ain't got no picture postcards ain't go no souvenirs
My baby she don't know me when I'm thinking about thoes years
Pale as a light bulb hanging on a wire
Sucking up to someone just stoke the fire
Picking out the highlights of the scenery
Saw a little cloud looked a little like me
I had My hand in the river
My feet back up on the banks
Looked up to the lord above and said hey man thanks
Some time I fell so good I gotta scream
She says Gordie baby I know exactly what you mean
She said, she said I swear to god she said
My memory is muddy what's this river I'm in
New Orleans is sinking and I don't want to swim
I think that W was just being polite. Right now there's work to be done: people to be helped and big mess to clean up. For grown-ups in a position to help, there's no time to waste on finger-pointing.
But it's what the Democrats do best! ;)
Well, irregardless of who's fault it is, I have been reading more opinions about whether or not to rebuild New Orleans in the same place or not....
It's an interesting topic. You have to wonder if it's really worth it to build in the same place or not. The same thing could happen again next year...
Good article regarding rebuilding: http://slate.msn.com/id/2125810/?nav=ais
Unless the government works mightily to reverse migration, a positive side-effect of the uprooting of thousands of lives will to be to deconcentrate one of the worst pockets of ghetto poverty in the United States.
nice find bribo
also, found a timeline HERE
It's all well and good to predict devastation. It's quite another thing to go to the center of it, view the smashed homes and flooded land.Quote:
Originally Posted by [AK]Sonic Boom
The reality of the situation overwhelms the "book predictions".
I believe that's what W was trying to get across. "Nobody could've *envisioned* or *imagined* this level of devastation." "Nobody could've truly wrapped their mind around what this means, even if they drew little flood lines on a map ahead of time."
Of course he's not as articulate as many would like, and why bother trying to parse his meaning when making fun of him is so much more fun and fits an agenda to boot?
This is a great article, and to the point:
http://www.nationalreview.com/geragh...0509070826.asp
Great article... and one word sums it up... SNAP!!Quote:
Originally Posted by [AK]Squidly
now thats a good read :liplick:
Yeah, I'm sure Anne Rice appreciated that :-) I read her drivel a few days ago. If she loves N.O. so much, I'm sure she could almost finance a levee upgrade herself.
While walking through my predominetly white neighborhood this morning on my way to the farmer's market I took note of all the signs advertising collection points for Hurricane Relief funds and the American Red Cross. Every shop had something in their window. Once I got to the market there was a huge collection point and another at the exit raising funds for the Red Cross. I'm sure it's like this across America. In every small town, in every church, in every school, people are coming together (as Americans always do) to help those in need.
People like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Kanye West surround themselves with hatred and it shows. They hang out with simple minded thugs that stear clear of any view point that differs from their own. They see the world in their own close-minded way... one full of hate and victimization. They say that the white man needs to do more than tolerate blacks... that we must fully accept and integrate them into our society... Yet do they accept us? No. At every chance, the leaders of the black community rise their fists in anger over any perceived hint of racism. Then you take the media that loves to show that the government is a cancer (a cancer that can only be cured by allowing it to grow into all aspects of every Americans life until it becomes a life of it's own). They allow these idiots to be interviewed on national television. The give them a podium to spread their hate.
They say that white people don't like blacks. They say the government hates the poor. They say that we abbadoned the black man in his time of need.
A majority of the displaced people in New Orleans have been on the government teat for decades. For the first time in their lives they were asked to look out for themselves. They were told to bring enough food and water with them to the Superdome for a few days. They were told to evacuate. The city said, 'we can't help everyone right now, we need you to hold on for a few days until we get to you.' And what did they do? Loot, Kill, Rape. Without the government to provide for them, they fell apart.
And now... once we've seen the barbarity of those that are the largest burden on our society... the anchor to our great ship... what do we do? Do we expect them to learn a lesson? Do we hope they pick themselves off and help rebuild? Are we asking them to go back to New Orleans and help rebuild their city? Nope. We simple help out where we can. We are generous to a fault. We send them money, atm cards, food, clothes, sandals. And we do so without asking anything in return? We never ask those in need, before or after the storm, to repay their debt to society.
</rant>
So, how dare the hate-mongers like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton find fault in this great country!
Did you actually watch the Nova segment in my original post? They did considerably more to illustrate the point, using actual New Orleans disaster preparedness officials, than draw little flood lines on a map ahead of time.Quote:
Originally Posted by [AK]Squidly
According to the story, they estimated as many as 50,000 dead and 1,000,000 homeless. Walter Maestri, a disaster official, used a surveyors scale to show what the city would look like under 22 feet of water. "We'd be like fishes if we weren't dead."
They flat-out predicted the devastation and the dead. I still stand by my original point. Everyone, who had half a brain in their heads knew this was going to happen.
I'm not pointing fingers yet and I'm just as concerned as anyone else about getting things back on track.
Not to down-play the people who died as a result of Katrina, but the 659 dead so far is dramatically lower than the 10,000 originally predicted and well short of the 25,000 body bags that were delivered.
Maybe President Bush missed the PBS special. You know he is a busy guy. (I think Survivor was on that night, too!)
I agree with Bribo, but I still think New Orleans should be moved more in-land.
Even if not that many people were killed, I hate to see all the law suits, and insurance claims that are going to follow this mess...
Yes you are, otherwise there's no point to this. The big fat finger is right there in your topic.Quote:
Originally Posted by [AK]Sonic Boom
Yep, the President was unable to adequately describe the awful destruction in 5 words or less.
Yeah, studies have been around for literally decades. New Orleans was doomed in the event of a direct hit by a Cat 4 or 5 and everyone knew it.
Plans were in place at the state and local level to evacuate people and they were not implemented - and in some cases the federal aid was ACTIVELY BLOCKED by the state and local governments.
A bigger question is raised by the post that *I* contributed to this thread... if everyone knew that this day would eventually come, why didn't the LOCALS do something about it? Slap a Mardi Gras tax on the tourists and shore up those levees, and provide for fool proof evactuation for everyone. Hell, build a monorail if you have to. The answer is of course corruption - on the state and local level. The press is giving these guys a big fat pass, and a quick glance at party affiliation reveals the reason why.
AND.. why no mention of the Environmental Groups who sued to stop upgrades of the levees?
Quote:
The national Sierra Club was one of several environmental groups who sued the Army Corps of Engineers to stop a 1996 plan to raise and fortify Mississippi River levees.
The Army Corps was planning to upgrade 303 miles of levees along the river in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. This was needed, a Corps spokesman told the Baton Rouge, La., newspaper The Advocate, because “a failure could wreak catastrophic consequences on Louisiana and Mississippi which the states would be decades in overcoming, if they overcame them at all.”
But a suit filed by environmental groups at the U.S. District Court in New Orleans claimed the Corps had not looked at “the impact on bottomland hardwood wetlands.” The lawsuit stated, “Bottomland hardwood forests must be protected and restored if the Louisiana black bear is to survive as a species, and if we are to ensure continued support for source population of all birds breeding in the lower Mississippi River valley.” In addition to the Sierra Club, other parties to the suit were the group American Rivers, the Mississippi River Basin Alliance, and the Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi Wildlife Federations.
Both of you raise valid points and I'm doing my level-best to keep an open mind on the subject. It may not always be possible to be entirely objective and I acknowledge that... but I'm trying.
Interesting things will unfold in the next twelve months.
Here's another great article, from MSNBC of all places.
Where was the levee board? Spending millions for casino overpasses and ornamental fountains.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9342186/
If thats the case why would anyone live there if everyone "knew" this was going to happen? Did they want to go through this then? I highly doubt that. I grew up in California do you kow how many people have predicted that there will be a major earthquake and California will more less fall off into the ocean. Should we blame the meteorlogists since they said it wasn't even going to hit new Orleans? Why not call this what it is a terrible tragedy that was underestimated by everyone from local residents to the local, state and federal governments and do what we can to prevent something like this from reocurring.Quote:
Originally Posted by [AK]Sonic Boom