September 06, 2005

Not a good weekend on the Gulf Coast, where an area the size of Britain is devastated, and the world seems to use the event as a reason to whale on the United States even more than usual. Nor a good weekend otherwise, with the Chief Justice suddenly cashing in his chips and more muddling around.

Gulf War Three:

World Finally Starts to Provide Aid
Terra Daily
From London to Kuwait City to Manila, governments around the world pledged help in the form of money, food, emergency workers and oil supplies. Some countries suffering major problems of their own, among them Indonesia and Afghanistan, were among those lining up to offer help to the nation that is the world's largest donor of aid.

It is, apparently, the fault of the US that the aid did not start flowing sooner: apparently we have to ASK for aid, although we have never waited ourselves for a head of state to specifically ask for aid, as most of the rest of the world had demanded of the United States. But at the same time, some of the contributions are touching: Afghanistan, dirt-poor and in deep trouble, has given $100,000; the widow's mite indeed. (This is money that we actually need to decline very tactfully, while thanking them profusely - otherwise it is too much like Nathan's parable of the lamb told to King David.) Indonesia, still dealing with the effect of the tsunami, is sending 30 doctors. Some donations are perplexing: Kuwait is giving $500 million in "oil" - although at what price per barrel (theirs or ours) is not known; Qatar is giving $100 million in cash.

Orbital Images
For those who want to see some of the damage in Louisiana and Mississippi, visit this site: a private firm's satellite cameras have stark views of what has happened and is happening.

Picture your own community in a similar crisis. It is no surprise that some of the first large-scale offers of aid came from places like Fargo, North Dakota, with recent memories of flooding disasters.

French Quarter holdouts create 'tribes'
Yahoo! News
"In the absence of information and outside assistance, groups of rich and poor banded together in the French Quarter, forming "tribes" and dividing up the labor. As some went down to the river to do the wash, others remained behind to protect property. In a bar, a bartender put near-perfect stitches into the torn ear of a robbery victim. While mold and contagion grew in the muck that engulfed most of the city, something else sprouted in this most decadent of American neighborhoods - humanity. "Some people became animals," Vasilioas Tryphonas said Sunday morning as he sipped a hot beer in Johnny White's Sports Bar on Bourbon Street. "We became more civilized." .... Even without water and power, most preferred it to the squalor and death in the emergency shelters set up at the Superdome and Convention Center. But what had at first been a refuge soon became an ornate prison. Police came through commandeering drivable vehicles and siphoning gas. Officials took over a hotel and ejected the guests. An officer pumped his shotgun at a group trying to return to their hotel on Chartres Street. "This is our block," he said, pointing the gun down a side street. "Go that way.'" (09/04/05)

This is a typical reaction in all disasters, just as the lawlessness of the looters is. In a city where more than 200 of 1500 police officers have quit or deserted (in some cases, stealing cars to do so) and two have committed suicide, it is not a surprise that these people are having to band together. This should be a lesson: these kind of community "hundreds" or "frithguilds" should be formed BEFORE disaster strikes, and are then much more capable of doing what they need to.

Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?
Red Cross Frequently Asked Questions
"Acess [sic] to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders. The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city. .... The Red Cross shares the nation's anguish over the worsening situation inside the city. We will continue to work under the direction of the military, state and local authorities and to focus all our efforts on our lifesaving mission of feeding and sheltering." [Editor's note: The Salvation Army was also kept OUT. -MLS] (09/02/05)

This is a sneaky little bit of posturing on the part of the Red Cross, who just as much as state and local governments (and the FedGov) should be held to account for their failure to prepare in advance. I don't dispute that it is dangerous for Red Cross workers to be in New Orleans, but they could have been in the area within hours, if they had prepared. Instead, they dithered around, and now blame the Guard and local authorities for their own failures. (Of course, I cannot see any evidence that the "local authorities" - such as the mayor who claims that the CIA is gunning for him - are in control of anything.) And right now, until some level of peace is reestablished in the dead city, I can understand (even if I am frustrated and angry about it) why more people are being kept out. As far as I am concerned, there are far BETTER places to donate money than the American Red Cross, but that has been the case for a decade or more: they are as much a government agency as most of the alphabet organizations floating around. Their behavior after Bloody Tuesday, for example, was disgraceful.

FEMA directing donations to various groups, including Pat Robertson
SPLOID
"Millions of Americans and people around the world have rushed to donate money to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which is shaping up to be one of the worst U.S. disasters in history, if not the worst. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is the lead federal agency in the rescue & recovery operation at work in New Orleans and the Mississippi gulf coast. FEMA has released to the media and on its Web site a list of suggested charities to help the storm's hundreds of thousands of victims. The Red Cross is first on the list. The Rev. Pat Robertson's "Operation Blessing" is next on the list.." (09/01/05)

Another reason to castrate the government, apparently - Robertson is an embarrassment to his religion and the nation, but I dare say that many other organizations have similar problems: I'd still give money to Robertson's group before I would the Red Cross (and no, I am not suggesting any readers give money to either the ARC or Operation Blessing: there are THOUSANDS of organizations better to give money to, that you can have more confidence in how the money is spent.

God used Katrina to purge wickedness, says pastor
Agape Press
"Two Christian leaders in New Orleans are testifying to God's mercy in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. One suggests that the death toll could have been much higher had it not been for God's mercy -- and the other that God may have used the hurricane to purge wickedness from the city. .... Rev. Bill Shanks, pastor of New Covenant Fellowship of New Orleans, also sees God's mercy in the aftermath of Katrina -- but in a different way. Shanks says the hurricane has wiped out much of the rampant sin common to the city. The pastor explains that for years he has warned people that unless Christians in New Orleans took a strong stand against such things as local abortion clinics, the yearly Mardi Gras celebrations, and the annual event known as "Southern Decadence" -- an annual six-day "gay pride" event scheduled to be hosted by the city this week -- God's judgment would be felt. "New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion -- it's free of all of those things now," Shanks says. "God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there -- and now we're going to start over again.' .... Shanks heeded warnings to evacuate New Orleans, and is currently staying with friends in the Jackson, Mississippi, area." (09/02/05)

Another typical, post-disaster reaction, and if not as deadly as the looting, still not much help. To blame (or honor) God for a natural disaster, or even for man's response to it, is not justified by the Scriptures that these people claim to follow: and works to destroy human responsibility for their own actions even more than the non-religious world does.

Halliburton hired for storm cleanup
Houston Chronicle
"The Navy has hired Houston-based Halliburton Co. to restore electric power, repair roofs and remove debris at three naval facilities in Mississippi damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Halliburton subsidiary KBR will also perform damage assessments at other naval installations in New Orleans as soon as it is safe to do so." (09/01/05)

Just a bit of irony, isn't it? Only experienced "beltway bandit" firms like KBR have the ability to respond in a way acceptable under the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) - imposed NOT by the military bureaucracy but by the Congress itself, to better control the pork-barreling.

New Orleans begins grisly cleanup
Yahoo News
"With the last weary refugees rescued from the Superdome and convention center, New Orleans turned its attention Sunday to gathering up and counting the dead across a ghastly landscape awash in perhaps thousands of corpses. .... "We need to prepare the country for what's coming," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said on "Fox News Sunday." "We are going to uncover people who died, maybe hiding in houses, got caught by the flood. ... It is going to be about as ugly of a scene as I think you can imagine." Chertoff said rescuers searching house to house have encountered a significant number of people who have said they don't want to evacuate. "That is not a reasonable alternative," he said. "We are not going to be able to have people sitting in houses in the city of New Orleans for weeks and months while we de-water and clean this city. " .... Texas Gov. Rick Perry warned Saturday that his enormous state was running out of room, with more than 220,000 hurricane refugees camped out there and more coming. Emergency workers at the Astrodome were told to expect 10,000 new arrivals daily for the next three days .... The last 300 refugees at the Superdome were evacuated Saturday evening, eliciting cheers from members of the Texas National Guard who had been standing watch over the facility for nearly a week as some 20,000 hurricane survivors waited for rescue." (09/04/05)

Chertoff is wrong, of course. If the city is to live again after this, it will be because a lot of people are staying and rebuilding, even if not so cleanly and bureaucratically as Chertoff wants. There is no reason why people who properly prepared (and surely there MUST be some of these in New Orleans) cannot survive, recover, and even thrive in the current conditions. And reclamation and restoration efforts, even now, need people to do the work. (Chertoff apparently thinks it will all be done by contract labor brought in form outside?) And even martial law can't force their evacuation legally (which isn't to say that he may not attempt to use force anyway). A quarter of a million people doesn't seem like much to a state with 25 million residents, but Perry knows that most of the New Orleans refugees aren't going to accept being shipped to where housing is available in Midland-Odessa, or Lubbock, or similar "uncivilized" places: they will demand Houston, or maybe Dallas or San Antonio: as much like New Orleans as possible - just as very few Viet or Cuban refugees move to places like Rawlins, Wyoming or Glasgow, Montana. Too many people want to blame the National Guard for (1) not doing anything, or (2) doing what THEY (from 1000 miles away in the safety of their undamaged community) think the Guard should do - the situation in the Superdome is an example of that. Guard personnel, especially medical person, made hundreds of trips into and out of the Superbowl to bring supplies, treat people, and try to restore some order to the dark, powerless, maze and the thugs and their victims. At least one soldier was shot inside the Superbowl. So to claim that all the Guard did was prevent people from leaving the Superbowl is not just wrong, but harmful. Given the fact that this was/is a war zone, it is not wrong for them to have control exit as well as entry, so that buses and trucks were not overwhelmed as we saw happened early on, or as the next story reports. The Guard are NOT the bad guys in this situation, folks!

Note: I normally leave in comments from other editors of news, where I use a news digest as the source for "The Price of Liberty" news and commentary. However, today, rather than responding as I really wish to the completely wrong-headed and ill-thought-out comments, I am omitting them.

Taking refuge in the Astrodome
ABC News
" Thousands of refugees of Hurricane Katrina were transported to the Astrodome in Houston this week. In an extreme act of looting, one group actually stole a bus to escape ravaged areas in Louisiana. Eighteen-year-old Jabbor Gibson jumped aboard the bus as it sat abandoned on a street in New Orleans and took control. About 100 people packed into the stolen bus. They were the first to enter the Houston Astrodome, but they weren't exactly welcomed. The big yellow school bus wasn't expected or approved to pass through the stadium's gates. Randy Nathan, who was on the bus, said they were desperate to get out of town. "If it weren't for him right there," he said, "we'd still be in New Orleans underwater. He got the bus for us." Authorities eventually allowed the renegade passengers inside the dome. But the 18-year-old who ensured their safety could find himself in a world of trouble for stealing the school bus. "I don't care if I get blamed for it," Gibson said, "as long as I saved my people." [Updates to this story indicate Gibson has indeed been charged with a crime.] (09/01/05)

It is fine to claim that Gibson saved all these people, but he very well may have condemned an equal number of people to die, by his act of theft. To say otherwise is to accept a situational ethical standard that ultimately justifies the murders, rapes, and looting which has destroyed this city, and will destroy our society. Let Gibson face a jury, as he should, to determine what the effects of his crime are, and whether he should be punished or not, instead of instantly hailing him a hero or second-guessing him. For one thing, these people that Gibson rescued (and Gibson himself) have already demonstrated their lack of morality: they did not prepare themselves for a disaster that the media (by their own admission) have been warning about for years, they refused opportunities for evacuation BEFORE the disaster, and the only thing that they could organize themselves to do was band together to steal someone else's bus and then flee 350 miles in panic, rather than simply go to a safe place nearer at hand.

New Orleans left to the dead and dying
ABC News
"Thousands more bedraggled refugees were bused and airlifted to salvation Saturday, leaving the heart of New Orleans to the dead and dying, the elderly and frail stranded too many days without food, water or medical care. No one knows how many were killed by Hurricane Katrina's floods and how many more succumbed waiting to be rescued. But the bodies are everywhere: hidden in attics, floating among the ruined city, crumpled on wheelchairs, abandoned on highways. And the dying goes on at the convention center and an airport triage center, where bodies were kept in a refrigerated truck." (09/03/05)

As of Sunday evening, death tolls were still listed only in the low hundreds: and much of this is sheer speculation and hype by the media, especially the television networks, repeating the panicked claims of politicians. If there are so many thousands of dead "hidden in attics" then they are hidden: no one is yet going through the attics. There MAY be 10,000, but there may be only a fraction of that: NO ONE KNOWS at this time. I am reminded of the claims after Bloody Tuesday, when reports of dead in the WTC peaked at 10,000, but final tolls were about 1/3 of that. The inability of the New Orleans area to care for itself apparently was well-known long before Katrina, and for this, we can place at least some of the blame ultimately on many of these people who are presently dead or missing: people who have surrendered responsibility for their lives to government at various levels. The New Orleans area, with a population of about 1.5 million, normally will have about 21,000 deaths a year: or about 400 a week. Because of New Orleans' unique economy (what a mess that was), I would guess they had a capacity of about 800-1000. But since, defying common sense, they put these in basements (in New Orleans?) and on ground floors, these facilities are gone - a stupid act not just on the part of government but on the part of medical administrators, private and public hospitals, and a lot of other people. When coupled with lawless, combat conditions, it makes the situation hideous and sickening. Will we learn our lesson?

Pro athletes urge colleagues to donate to Katrina victims
ESPN news
"Baltimore Ravens cornerback Deion Sanders challenged all professional athletes to donate at least $1,000 apiece through payroll deductions to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Flanked by teammates and Louisiana natives Ed Reed and Alan Ricard, Sanders on Friday called for each team in the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball, as well as other pro sports, to help him reach a goal of $1.5 million to $3 million for the cause. ... On Thursday, Louisiana native Warrick Dunn [of the Atlanta Falcons] made an emotional plea to NFL players to contribute at least $5,000 apiece to relief efforts, saying players have a moral obligation to help. [Dunn] said the Saints shouldn't have to give, but getting the 53 players on the 31 other teams to donate the $5,000 would boost the relief effort by more than $8.2 million." (09/03/05)

If Afghanistan giving $100,000 is the widow's mite, what is this? $1K from athletes that average $500,000? Dunn's appeal for $5K is much better than a chintzy effort like this, but of course, is far better than that of other professional entertainers (the various "concert" artists) who put on concerts and make expenses and a lot more, while getting their fans to actually give the money. Still, this kind of voluntary giving, even if pitiful compared to their ability, is far better than the government involuntarily taking $400 from each of us in tax money (or borrowing) to give to contractors in disaster-based pork barreling (DBPB).

Troops begin combat operations in New Orleans
Army Times
"Combat operations are underway on the streets "to take this city back" in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "This place is going to look like Little Somalia," Brig. Gen. Gary Jones, commander of the Louisiana National Guard's Joint Task Force told Army Times Friday as hundreds of armed troops under his charge prepared to launch a massive citywide security mission from a staging area outside the Louisiana Superdome. "We're going to go out and take this city back. This will be a combat operation to get this city under control."Jones said the military first needs to establish security throughout the city. Military and police officials have said there are several large areas of the city are in a full state of anarchy. .... While some fight the insurgency in the city, other carry on with rescue and evacuation operations. Helicopters are still pulling hundreds of stranded people from rooftops of flooded homes. .... Numerous soldiers also told Army Times that they have been shot at by armed civilians in New Orleans. Spokesmen for the Joint Task Force Headquarters at the Superdome were unaware of any servicemen being wounded in the streets, although one soldier is recovering from a gunshot wound sustained during a struggle with a civilian in the dome Wednesday night. "I never thought that at a National Guardsman I would be shot at by other Americans," said Spc. Philip Baccus of the 527th Engineer Battalion. "And I never thought I'd have to carry a rifle when on a hurricane relief mission. This is a disgrace.'" (09/02/05)

Combat operation is the only proper way to approach this - and unfortunately, New Orleans has demonstrated that it is, in its death, as much a third-world city as Port-au-Prince or Mogadischu or Monrovia: its own people, either through their government or on their own, have shown that they cannot defend themselves against the thugs in their own community, and the JTF has no choice but to treat this like a combat mission. Yesterday, a group of thugs opened fire on a dozen CONTRACTORS being escorted across a bridge as the contractors inspected the area where they need to begin work to get areas of the city opened up for work to begin, and police (whether the remnants or New Orleans' "finest" or some volunteer Guard military police or other volunteer police, the story did not say) returned fire, killing five bandits. (No doubt, these dead will be hailed by some as some bizarre kind of heroes for shooting at people working to restore their city, and the Guard will be blamed for shooting back.) The Guard didn't start the shooting: it was the looters and other low-life scum that started shooting at rescue helicopters and trucks bringing food and water into the community: food and water that these murderers hadn't thought to store for themselves BEFORE the emergency. The engineer is right, and the disgrace is not his or his commanders: but the people of New Orleans and Louisiana who think that government exists to care for them from cradle to grave and can't take care of themselves. The Red Cross can blame the National Guard for not letting them in: if I were a National Guard commander, I'll let 'em go, and get themselves killed. These men and women of the Guard are once more, whether rightly or wrongly, going into harm's way for the ungrateful and often wicked people of their nation - and once again, getting condemned for it. I can understand people having a problem with the continuing occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Guard troops there - for I have a problem with that myself. But I cannot understand how anyone can condemn the Guard for entering New Orleans to restore order with weapons, and for treating it as a combat zone.

Mama's Note: It remains to be seen, however, if these National Guard troops will be used to drive out or harm those citizens who are prepared to stay with their property and actually help with the rebuilding efforts. I hope not.

Looking Ahead

Health Wrap: Ready for the Big One? Are We Ready? The Next One WILL Happen
Terra Daily
In early 2001 the Federal Emergency Management Agency listed what it believed were the three most likely disasters to face the United States in coming years. One was a terrorist attack on New York City. The second was a hurricane-spawned flood of New Orleans. Kind of makes you want to know what the third one is, doesn't it? The third is a major earthquake in San Francisco. The first two have come to pass in under five years. And in both cases, the postmortems have had two main elements: How could this have been prevented, and could it have been handled better once it occurred?

Unlike many articles, this is not a blanket attack on the administration, or even government: it looks at failure on the part of government AND private firms and agencies, and individuals. WE as people are not prepared. This is even though San Francisco and Los Angeles are better prepared, on a family-by-family basis, than any other city: 1 in 3 SF families have emergency kits on-hand; 1 in 2 LA area families have an evacuation plan. Are YOU ready for not just a local disaster, but for a disaster that might happen 250 miles away and have a significant impact on your daily life?

Mama's Note: An often neglected part of this kind of necessary preparation is consideration of prescription medications that might be required during an emergency. This is extremely difficult to predict or plan for sometimes, mostly because many medications cannot be obtained except on a month to month basis. This is especially critical for patients with chronic pain, because their medicine is so tightly controlled. Government would far rather people suffer horribly than to risk the slightest chance that someone might get and use these things for other than their intended purpose - thought those pain patients are going to be very diligent to prevent it, trust me!

Medication also cannot be stored long term without risk of damage and loss of effectiveness. If you can get a two week or a month's supply of medication ahead, carefully rotate it each time you get a new supply so only the freshest is being stored. Keep this supply in a place that will be handy, but not subject to extremes of heat and light exposure. The refrigerator is an ideal place to store most medications, and an easily remembered place in the event of an emergency. Keep it all in a single (freezer type) plastic bag for easy transport. Check with your pharmacist to find out if any of your medication should NOT be kept in the cold that way, of course, and make other provision for it according to their recommendation.

US Politics and News

Rehnquist is Dead: Roberts Nominated to Replace Him
BBC News
US President George Bush has nominated John Roberts to succeed Chief Justice William Rehnquist who died on Saturday. Mr Roberts had originally been nominated to replace another Supreme Court judge who is retiring, and was awaiting Senate confirmation. Mr Rehnquist, a conservative appointed chief justice by President Reagan in 1986, died at the age of 80 on Saturday from thyroid cancer.

For once, the President seems to have acted quickly and decisively, and I expect many conservatives, concerned about the “stealth” nature of Mr. Roberts, to go ballistic (as well as the usual liberal groups who have been trying to tar and feather him on all sorts of issues and past history). But with Katrina demanding most attention and October (start of the Supreme Court’s annual session) racing upon us, President Bush can push for a quick confirmation process – already well underway. I would guess that Justice O’Connor will continue to work, while another candidate to replace her is picked and picked on.

Rehnquist Obituary
BBC News
During nearly two decades as chief justice of the United States, William Rehnquist presided over an increasingly conservative Supreme Court. While Rehnquist often presented a solemn and austere figure, behind the scenes, he was described by colleagues as a down-to-earth person with a good sense of humour. William Rehnquist was diagnosed with thyroid cancer last autumn.

You know, the mainstream media can’t even get it right in an obit, can they? Justice Rehnquist himself might have been moderately conservative and “constructionist” as a justice, but his court has seen the judicial system, led by the Rehnquist Court, gain more power than ever, and lead the nation into an ever-growing bureaucratic and statist nightmare completely unlike what MOST of those at Philadelphia in 1787, and virtually ALL of those at Philadelphia in 1776, could have imagined or wanted. The Beebe didn’t even address this growing unconstitutional (or at least “extra-constitutional”) power, instead wasting column inches on Justice Rehnquist presiding over Pres. Clinton’s impeachment, and swearing in presidents.

Our Right to Defend Ourselves: other than the Gulf

Arkansas:Home invasion shooting
Texarkana Gazette
"Police are investigating a home invasion shooting that left a Texarkana resident dead. James Douglas Harrison, 48, a former resident of the Randy Sams Shelter for the Homeless in Texarkana, was killed about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when he was shot while allegedly breaking into a home in De Queen .... . There were several points where he had tried to make entry into the house. The homeowner had fought him back once and when he (Harrison) tried to get back in, the homeowner shot him," Cravens said." (09/02/05)

Expect to see a lot more of this in the war-torn Central Gulf and adjacent states. I wonder just what this man was doing.

Arizona: Homeowner shoots intruder
East Valley Tribune
" A homeowner shot and killed a man who police believe was breaking into a home at 6:30 a.m. Saturday in the 100 block of South 96th Street in Mesa, Chagolla said. The intruder was armed with a knife. No names were released." (09/04/05)

Again, a wise homeowner ready and able to defend himself and his family is kept from harm. By his own actions, not that of the police.

U.S. changes passport plan for travelers entering from Canada, Mexico
Seattle Times
"The government has delayed a Dec. 31, 2005, deadline for the first phase of a plan to require Americans traveling to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and the other allied nations to show a passport or other secure document. The departments of State and Homeland Security said they expect to officially adopt the new policy - which drew complaints from travelers, the affected nations and even President Bush - by the end of the year. But they pushed back by a year the date when the requirements would begin to affect travelers, and said they would work to come up with an alternative document that would be cheaper and easier to obtain than a passport. Under the new timeline, all who travel by air or sea from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Bermuda and South and Central America will have to show a passport or one of four other secure documents by Dec. 31, 2006. Travelers crossing land borders, namely from Mexico and Canada, will have to comply with the rules by Dec. 31, 2007." (09/02/05)

Hopefully we will see more and more delays in this: it is a foolish idea.

Nathan Barton, now hiding again in the vastness of the Black Hills, is trying to be a christian, libertarian, engineer, rabblerouser, and family man. The comments herein and choice of news stories to cover are his own, and not necessarily those of FND, RRND, any other organization, or TPOL or anyone else associated with them. News stories are taken from the FND/RRND digest published by the International Society for Individual Liberty, from leads provided by readers and friends, and from Nathan's own search of the news feed sources available in hardcopy, by radio and on-line. Grouchiness is par for the course. Be sure to visit my blog, Liberty's Outpost.

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