JClark
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Donnie, I have several blacks working on my crew, and six that are from NOLA. I've been pointing them to the right spots, and bringing to them news reports. Right now, every one of them is very pissed at Nagin and Blanco. I expect that a substantial number of those displaced will also have the same feelings, especially if they have access to the Net, and see the difference between the media reporting and the data miners and blogs on the Net.
I said back in 1994, that one day, the Net would become a powerful force in politics, and mostly to the detriment of established politicians, once widespread access to the net becomes a reality. Ten years ago, minority access to the Net was minimal. This situation is being remedied quickly, and as minorites gain more access and education into the means of mining the Net for information, things will soon become very uncomfortable to those folks in power, that have long been used to power, and keeping it by widespread use of disinformation.
Power to the People! Long Live the Net!
Boats
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Good God, that's the wurst pun I've heard yet, Helmet!
Boats, who can't believe no one beat me to this one
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From one of the members of the Harpoon Users League List:
For all of you who blamed the federal government including me
This is a post from a fellow over in Merritt Is, FL, a reporter who's been researching what went on before the storm hit:
I think all of Nagin's pomp and posturing is going to bite him hard in the near future as the lies and distortions of his interviews are coming to light.
On Friday night before the storm hit, Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center took the unprecedented action of calling Nagin and Blanco personally to plead with them to begin MANDATORY evacuation of New Orleans and they said they'd take it under consideration. This was after the NOAA buoy 240 miles south had recorded 68' waves before it was destroyed.
President Bush spent Friday afternoon and evening in meetings with his advisors and administrators drafting all of the paperwork required for a state to request federal assistance (and not be in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act or having to enact the Insurgency Act).
Just before midnight Friday evening the President called Governor Blanco and pleaded with her to sign the request papers so the federal government and the military could legally begin mobilization and call up.
He was told that they didn't think it necessary for the federal government to be involved yet. After the President's final call to the governor she held meetings with her staff to discuss the political ramifications of bringing federal forces. It was decided that if they allowed federal assistance it would make it look as if they had failed so it was agreed upon that the feds would not be invited in.
Saturday before the storm hit the President again called Blanco and Nagin requesting they please sign the papers requesting federal assistance, that they declare the state an emergency area, and begin mandatory evacuation.
After a personal plea from the President, Mayor Nagin agreed to order an evacuation, but it would not be a full mandatory evacuation, and the governor still refused to sign the papers requesting and authorizing federal action.
In frustration the President declared the area a national disaster area before the state of Louisiana did so he could legally begin some advanced preparations. Rumor has it that the President's legal advisers were looking into the ramifications of using the insurgency act to bypass the Constitutional requirement that a state request federal aid before the federal government can move into state with troops - but that had not been done since 1906 and the Constitutionality of it was called into question to use before the disaster.
Throw in that over half the federal aid of the past decade to New Orleans for levee construction, maintenance, and repair was diverted to fund a marina and support the gambling ships.
Toss in the investigation that will look into why the emergency preparedness plan submitted to the federal government for funding and published on the city's website was never implemented and in fact may have been bogus for the purpose of gaining additional federal funding as we now learn that the organizations identified in the plan were never contacted or coordinating into any planning - though the document implies that they were.
The suffering people of New Orleans need to be asking some hard questions as do we all, but they better start with why Blanco refused to even sign the multi-state mutual aid pack activation documents until Wednesday which further delayed the legal deployment of National Guard from adjoining states.
Or maybe ask why Nagin keeps harping that the President should have commandeered 500 Greyhound busses to help him when according to his own emergency plan and documents he claimed to have over 500 busses at his disposal to use between the local school busses and the city transportation busses - but he never raised a finger to prepare them or activate them.
This is a sad time for all of us to see that a major city has all but been destroyed and thousands of people have died with hundreds of thousands more suffering, but it's certainly not a time for people to be pointing fingers and trying to find a bigger dog to blame for local corruption and incompetence. Pray to God for the survivors that they can start their lives anew as fast as possible and we learn from all the mistakes to avoid them in the future.
Boats
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Thank goodness they take after their beautiful mother.
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Ain't that the truth? If I were a broke dick ex Gunny, I'd hate like hell for my kids to look like me either
Boats
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Thanks Boats...my blood pressure is as high as ever!
I get the image of those elderly people, and I think of my mother and the condition she was in during her last days, and I think if she would of had to try and keep from drowning...it makes me mad, frustrated and makes me want to cry for those people. And yet, it's Bush's fault. It's FEMA's fault (Insert dripping sarcasm here). Lord I want off this planet. 
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Donnie, do a little research, and find exactly what FEMA is. You'll find out that FEMA has around 2,500 employees. All of them are in an advisory capacity to local and state governments, and to act as a coordination interface between these bodies and the federal government. FEMA is not an army of disaster prevention and assistance people just waiting for the next big one. Responsibility for disasters start right at the local level, and in cases like Katrina, the legal framework is set down so that the state can request the federal government to step in and manage the problem. What happened in Lousiana, is that that sorry state doesn't like the Feds messing with it at all, and really didn't want a Republican administration showing the world how well and truly Baton Rouge and New Orleans politicians had screwed things up. The whole place is a cesspool of corruption, and it's just a damn shame the wrong people had to die for their sins.
Boats, who is STILL PISSED
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I'll add some more to your frustration level...from Froggy Ruminations:
Everybody in this world has to rely on something or someone in order to survive. The choice that each of us makes when deciding who or what we do put our trust in is an important one. In the Gulf Coast this decision has proven to mean the difference between life and death.
New Orleans was declared a disaster area by President Bush days BEFORE the storm even made landfall, and it was at his urging that the Mayor of New Orleans declared a MANDATORY evacuation of the city. Once the decision was made to make the evacuation mandatory, the City of New Orleans had the OBLIGATION to provide resources to transport those citizens who were too ill, elderly, or vulnerable to get themselves to safe harbor. As we now know, the City and the State of Louisiana completely and utterly failed in their duty to their own citizens. It is a basic tenet of disaster relief that agencies must evacuate rescue vehicles and critical supplies from the affected area so that they are available for use in the aftermath. This did not happen. In addtion to these buses, city firetrucks, police cars, and other critical life saving tools were left to the elements and are now useless to help anyone.
Leaving aside the people who did heed the warnings, let’s discuss those who decided to stay behind. I can understand why someone would not want to leave their home despite the awareness of New Orleans’ unique vulnerabilities and disaster potential. What I cannot comprehend is the mindset that leads those people to somehow expect that someone else is going to provide them with food, water, diapers, formula, and their medications. FEMA guidelines state that victims of disasters should be able to sustain themselves for a minimum of 72 hours but “preferably a week”. That this would be prudent should be clear to anyone whether FEMA says so or not. This seemingly natural inclination to take responsibility for one’s own life, health, and financial security is shockingly absent in large portions of our society. This is not a crisis driven response, it is a perpetual state of being.
During times of normalcy the “safety net” while bursting at the seams, supports a vast portion of our citizenry at a subsistence level. This support while intended to be compassionate is in practice a form of enslavement. This dependence which has been cultivated over many years is now revealed in the starkest possible light, and it is heartbreaking to witness. The people languishing last week on a thousand street corners and freeway onramps seem to be waiting in vain for George Bush to personally pluck them out, dust them off, send them through the line at Hometown Buffet, and deposit them at the Holiday Inn. This description does not perfectly capture the essence of any individual, but I think it aptly describes the refugees as a group. It is especially painful to watch these people’s illusions of external support shattered so decisively under conditions that can only be described as inhuman. I do not begrudge them one ounce of frustration, fear, or anxiety, it’s just that much of this horrific experience was completely unnecessary.
On the rhetorical front, these issues are being cast somehow as a racist plot to destroy the black people of New Orleans. I saw Jesse Jackson on TV say about the impromptu refugee camp he visited with a film crew on I-10, “This is the hull of a slave ship.” Race hustlers like Jackson and Al Sharpton cravenly use the terror of their people in a state of crisis to perpetuate their own “honorary” positions as “leaders” in the community. This is done by shifting the blame for their plight from the mindset of victimhood and dependence to evil white Republicans like the President who in the execrable words of Kanye West, “…doesn’t care about black people” and who gave authorities, “permission to go down there and shoot us.” (h/t SixMeat)
Perhaps this time the survivors will come to realize that it was their own who betrayed them. They have been sold program after program by the politicians that they have elected, but there is no program conceived by man that can protect someone from a hurricane. The politicians responsible for this nightmare were elected by these pitiable people, and turned they their backs on them at the first opportunity. Jeff Goldstein is hoping for a dialogue to take place in this country by which identity politics can finally be exposed for the soul stealing scam that it is. I just hope that after this is all said and done, the lesson learned will be that when the chips are down don’t look for Uncle Sam, look in the mirror.
http://froggyruminations.blogspot.com/
Boats
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Want your blood pressure to go up even higher? Go read this...Hell, for those of you who won't take the time to click, I'll paste it!
Louisana State Government blocked Red Cross from Superdome
Must read of the day: Hugh Hewitt interviews Fox News Channel's Major Garrett about the Louisiana State Government blocking the Red Cross from accessing the Superdome.
Entire transcript of interview at Radio Blogger. Here's just the opener:
Major Garrett: Well, the Red Cross, Hugh, had pre-positioned a literal vanguard of trucks with water, food, blankets and hygiene items. They're not really big into medical response items, but those are the three biggies that we saw people at the New Orleans Superdome, and the convention center, needing most accutely. And all of us in America, I think, reasonably asked ourselves, geez. You know, I watch hurricanes all the time. And I see correspondents standing among rubble and refugees and evacuaees. But I always either see that Red Cross or Salvation Army truck nearby. Why don't I see that?
Hugh Hewitt: And the answer is?
MG: The answer is the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security, that is the state agency responsible for that state's homeland security, told the Red Cross explicitly, you cannot come.
Wow. Un-freakin-believable.
Posted by Blackfive | September 08, 2005 | Permalink
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Comments
I could understand keeping the Red Cross and other organizations out of New Orleans IF there was an implementable and ongoing effort to evacuate people from the dome and other loacations. But there wasn't, so keeping out aid from those people still stranded and likely to be stranded beyond the limits of existing supplies amounts to attempted murder on a huge scale. When this whole mess gets stabilized, I hope the people of Louisiana get som answers on this.
Posted by: Chris Van Dis | Sep 8, 2005 11:24:24 AM
Major Garrett’s story ---the blocking of Red Cross aid--- is a HUGE story. But it doesn’t answer the next obvious question:
Why wasn't the Superdome and the Convention Center evacuted sooner?
The answer is security… more specifically security that was the SOLE responsibility of the state of Louisiana and NO.
Here’s Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief, National Guard Bureau on Saturday 9/3/05 with the details:
“We waited until we had enough force in place to do an overwhelming force. Went in with police powers, 1,000 National Guard military policemen under the command and control of the adjutant general of the State of Louisiana, Major General Landreneau, yesterday shortly after noon stormed the convention center, for lack of a better term, and there was absolutely no opposition, complete cooperation, and we attribute that to an excellent plan, superbly executed with great military precision. It was rather complex. It was executed absolutely flawlessly in that there was no violent resistance, no one injured, no one shot, even though there were stabbed, even though there were weapons in the area. There were no soldiers injured and we did not have to fire a shot.
Some people asked why didn't we go in sooner. Had we gone in with less force it may have been challenged, innocents may have been caught in a fight between the Guard military police and those who did not want to be processed or apprehended, and we would put innocents' lives at risk. As soon as we could mass the appropriate force, which we flew in from all over the states at the rate of 1,400 a day, they were immediately moved off the tail gates of C-130 aircraft flown by the Air National Guard, moved right to the scene, briefed, rehearsed, and then they went in and took this convention center down…
The delay was in, if you want to call it a delay. I really don't call it a delay, I'll be honest about that. When we first went in there law enforcement was not the highest priority, saving lives was. You have to remember how this thing started. Before the hurricane hit there were 5,000 National Guardsmen in Mississippi and 5,000 National Guardsmen -- excuse me. Let me correct the record. There were 2,500 National Guardsmen in Mississippi and almost 4,000 National Guardsmen in Louisiana that were sheltered and taken out of the affected area so as soon as the storm passed they could immediately go into the area and start their search and lifesaving work, and stand up their command and control apparatus, and start standing up the vital functions that would be required such as providing food, water, shelter and security for the people of the town. So it was phased in. There was no delay.
The real issue, particularly in New Orleans, is that no one anticipated the disintegration or the erosion of the civilian police force in New Orleans. Once that assessment was made, that the normal 1500 man police force in New Orleans was substantially degraded, which contributed obviously to less police presence and less police capability, then the requirement became obvious and that's when we started flowing military police into the theater.
Two days ago we flowed 1400 military policemen in. Yesterday, 1400 more. Today 1400 more. Today there are 7,000 citizen soldiers -- Army National Guard, badge-carrying military policemen and other soldiers trained in support to civil law enforcement -- that are on the streets, available to the mayor, provided by the governor to the mayor to assist the New Orleans police department…
Q: General, you mentioned a disintegration of the New Orleans Police Department. Do you know how many officers are still on duty?
GEN. BLUM: I would rather not say. I think you'd be better to refer that question to the mayor of New Orleans. I have my own estimate. I would say they are significantly degraded and they have less than one-third of their original capability.
Q: So is it fair to say it is the National Guard that's keeping law and order in New Orleans?
GEN. BLUM: No. As long as there's one uniformed police officer in the city of New Orleans, we will send as many National Guard soldiers to augment, support and work in support of that lone law enforcement officer as necessary. So if hypothetically there's only one left, who's in charge? It's still that lone police officer supported by the National Guard in their role as military support to law enforcement.
We are not in the lead. We have no need nor intention of imposing martial law or having the military police the United States of America.
Q: What happened to the other police, general?
GEN. BLUM: Again, that can be best addressed, but what was told to me by the Mayor day before yesterday is many of them lost their homes, many of them lost ability to get to the precinct, many of them who did show up found what they were dealing with so overwhelming and dangerous or threatening to them as an individual that they made the personal decision to not risk their life until the situation made more sense to them. That was an individual decision, it was not the police chief's decision or the mayor's decision. I think that the mayor and police chief are working right now to reconstitute the New Orleans Police Department, but that question would much better be addressed to them for detail.”
http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/200...50903-3850.html
Posted by: Reg Jones | Sep 8, 2005 11:31:07 AM
It’s understandable as to why the Red Cross was prevented from entering the Astrodome. It simply wasn’t secure and the potential for more violence was significant. This is a HUGE wake up call to communities with large gang and criminal populations. Neighborhoods have got to stop letting the anarchists intimidate them and start holding the local law enforcement accountable by reporting them.
Ya'll need to start reading Commander Salamander and Blackfives blogs more often. These dudes know their stuff, think the problem through, and research. The milbloggers are seriously into a good intel net, guys, and they come up with stuf days before anyone else in the media come out without, unless the cameraman trips over the story.
Boats
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Donnie, it isn't all that bad. This just means three days of rain, rain, and more rain, and will make my task at work utterly miserable. I expect that I will be rather wet when I get home tomorrow morning at 0430. Thankfully, the storm year is almost over. The REALLY worrisome thing, is a tropical wave sitting over the Yucatan and the Gulf of Campeche right now. It would really suck if this decided to head towards the Big Sleazy.
Boats
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ANOTHER tropical depression!, #16!
http://radar.weather.gov/radar/latest/DS.p19r0/si.kmlb.shtml
Go to the long range loop. This won't be a full blown hurrican, but for sure, we're going to get about 3 days of really crappy weather...30 knot winds, about 10 inches of rain overall.
On the other hand, it will at least leavy the Gulf Coast alone.
Boats
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Yah, they're after all right.
Boats
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Thoughts & Prayers with ya Shep, she'll be just fine, this is one of those things all rotor heads live for, the opportunity to put the talent of Helo Flying to work to save lives...
God Bless...
Doc
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What Doc said...
Tough to have the main part of your life jerked away from you, and right of you to worry. But she's on the side of the good guys, and God will surely know she's there to save live. We're here for you, man.
Boats
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Oh and what really chapped my ass was seeing some smug foreign commentators on TV saying that this shows the US is a horrible country because we can't control our country during a disaster. That's ludicrous, what's going on violencewise and all that is pretty much contained to New Orleans itself, and it makes the news, but the fact is that 3 states got hit pretty hard. Some are even using the term,"What used to be Mississsippi." but there aren't gunfights going on there.
The area hit is roughtly the total land area size of all of Great Britain. Now imagine Great Britain being totally devastated like that and only having riots and a military response needed in one city...the world would call that typical British stiff-upper-lipness with an abberation in (fill in the blank with a British city of similiar size), but have it happen here on that scale and we're denigrated and mocked because part of one city is acting like it's Mogadishu on a hot day...
What a world.
(again)
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Nah...not the Brits...but imagine if it happened to Frace?
Boats
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I knew I'd find the goods, and the milblogs found it!
http://www.freewillblog.com/index.php/weblog/comments/6027/
Feel free to pass that on to anyone you care to
Boats, who's chewing nails and spitting tacks right now
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Gunny, it took me a while to reply to your post, but you are on target. I'm with you 100%. What the hell happened to the great City of New Orleans emergency management repsonse? What did they prepare for? What did Betsy and Camille warn them about? What a bunch of bread and circus, vote buying sorry no good sonsabeaches! And the Mayor has the nerve to rant against the Prez? What an asshole! He couldn't get elected dogcatcher here, not even if he offered to be bait! I humbly submit, that you take a close look at the racial and political makeup of the local government. It was THEIR people they let down, not only from the standpoint of being constituents, but of the same race! The core of New Orleans is a welfare island, pure and simple...ask any mailman. And before someone tosses down the bigot flag, that dog ain't gonna hunt. A helluva lot of those people there were white as well. And the reason why they didn't get out, wasn't simply because the poor people didn't have a car...God knows I've seen enough welfare moms driving Beamers, it was because New Orleans will get you around cheaply. They counted on their mayor to take care of them, just like he always did, just like every mayor for the past 35 years.
When I left New Orleans, it was a strong, vibrant city. It had it's blemishes, but nothing remotely like today. Maybe this is a blessing...those lazy SOBs might actually have to work to rebuild the housing they burnt down. And the people who want an opportunity to make it right, will certainly be afforded the opportunity and the aid to get it done. I'll bet you dimes to donuts, you'll see the goats separated from the sheep REAL fast, when the rebuilding phase starts.
Sorry for the rant, but this just pisses me off no end, to hear endless rants about how it's all Bush and the Republicans fault this has happened. It's local government, people, who had the wherewithal to prevent this.
Boats, who always feels a bit better after he vents some spleen, and, for what it's worth, lives quite happily in a "mixed" neighborhood, and wouldn't live anywhere else...well, unless he hits the Lotto
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No, Shep, they need a limited time left to BREATHE!
Boats
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When I was a kid growing up in New Orleans, I could get on the city bus by myself, and go to my grandmothers house in the city...at the age of 8. My parents didn't think a thing of it. Back in those days, the NOPD and the Mob had a partnership worked out. The Mob got to run their gambling, prostitution, loan sharking and other illegal activities with little or no interference, and in return the City was guaranteed safe by the Mob. I saw with my own eyes, in 1959, at a Mardi Gras parade, a man passed out across the hood of a car. His wallet was sticking out of his coat, and NO ONE dared touch it. Things changed though...
The old guard got booted out, the people who once enjoyed living in the city, moved to the outlying areas and parishes, and gave the inner city to the Donkey Party and the animals who got their bread at every election. Crime in the city has been simply incredible. Not long ago, felons knew that a loophole in the law, meant that if you committed armed robbery, you got a lesser sentence for killing the poor bastard, than you would for simply robbing him and letting him go. That led to tour busses in the Quarter telling people to carry at least $20 on them in cash at all times to throw at the thieves. And then came crack...More or less, the people living in the inner city are one step away from barbarism. And before anyone screams "prejudice!", the inner city is a huge melting pot of white, black, Cuban, Haitian, Vietnamese, etc. Anyone who can scrape up the money to do so, gets the hell out of the city as soon as they can.
It comes at no surprise that the inner city is burning like it is, and the looting and violence is increasing to savage proportions. What needs to happen now, is for the Guard to fix bayonets, form up, walk the streets, and everyone who doesn't hit the deck to get flex-cuffed, gets some serious justice. I hate what the politicians did to my home town. What it became, is not what I grew up in. Their incompetency is more and more evident every day, as chaos reigns in the Big Sleazy.
Byron
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OG, you're talking about re-building literally tens of thousands of homes and businesses, including all the infrastructure that will be submerged in salt water for weeks. Everything that's been in the water, is going to have to be replaced. Wood structures, condemned for sure. Brick structures, all wiring and electrical equipment. Street lights. Sub-stations. All the power lines that were blown down or torn down. On the Gulf Coast, a lot of homes and businesses are simply gone. The biggest employer on the Gulf Coast, the casinos, are out of action, and will be for months. The State of Mississippi is losing $500,000 a day in revenue just from the casinos, money that the state will never get back. You have to have lived in the area, understand what is lost, to even remotely comprehend the effort and length of time it's going to take to get this area even remotely back to normal, if that's even possible. And in the meantime, you're looking at 500,000 people who have no place to live, and no means of making a living. This makes the 1907 earthquake in San Francisco look puny in comparison.
Boats
Uh -- guys.<soapbox>
I doubt seriously if there are any construction unions in the hurricane area. None of the states involved are big on unions. Steelworkers and such may be represented there, but general construction is probably all non-union.
Cutting back a little on gasoline usage across the country makes sense, but folks are already doing that, in response to higher prices. At least, everyone I know is driving less. We don't need to start widespread rationing of stuff to compensate for demand in the Katrina area.
We damn sure don't need the guv'mint to step in with a vast social program like the WPA. All we'd get out of that is a passel of bureaucrats and vast quantities of Leftie sniveling -- as some have already alluded to.
Most of the damage is covered by insurance and our very own private sector is more than capable of repairing the damage. Naturally, our insurance rates will go up and prices for commodities needed for reconstruction will fluctuate for awhile. It's called private enterprise.
Some folks won't get a piece of the pie. Some will be cheated by unscrupulous contractors. The proper role of guv'mint is to minimize that sort of thing, not to arrange for the work.
</soapbox>
Jim
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It's not the oil rigs...it's the refineries that are shut down, and need to be brought back on line, and the pipe lines that need to be inspected for damage before they start pumping crude up the line.
Boats
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People, I don't know how much you've been following the news about New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. As bad as Camille was, as bad as Andrew was, both of them put together can't begin to match the utter devastation that's been brought to this city. 80% of this city is underwater...hundreds of thousands of it's residents, and those of the Gulf Coast now have no where to come home to, nor a way to secure an income, or take care of their families. It will be at least two weeks to close the levees that keep the city dry from Lake Pontchartrain in the north, and the Mississippin in the south. That entire city, save for the French Quarter, is under water. The famed St. Charles streetcars will be under 12 feet of water by tomorrow or the next day. Countless homes are under water, and every possession that these people own, save the clothes on their backs, is gone...just, gone. They may not even be allowed back in town for at least a month, maybe longer. This is a major city. It's not one little town, it's a tragedy of epic proportions, greater than anything this nation has seen since the Civil War. Every city east of New Orleans, all the way to Mobile, has suffered terribly at the hands of Katrina, the evil bitch.
My friends, please keep these people in your prayers. They will need every bit of help they can get. I suggest you send your contributions to the Salvation Army. No one does disaster relief better than them. And if you can't help with a little cash, then by all means take a moment to pray for their succor.
Byron, who knows that every house he grew up in as a kid, is gone...just, gone.
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The three best things in life are a good landing, a good orgasm, and, a good bowel movement. The night carrier landing is one of the few opportunities in life where you get to experience all three at the same time.
Pretty much says it all for me....
Doc
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I got a good friend, who used to fly RA-5Cs over greater downtown Hanoi and the suburbs of Hanoi, straight, level, and alone....oh, and at the speed of heat, and armed only with a camera. He uses that quote as his sig line at times.
Big, Big, BIG titanium ones.
Boats
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It's not just New Orleans that faces catastrophe...it's the southeastern parishes, from Grand Isle, to New Iberia, Lafayetee, Breax Bridge, Houma, and the entirety of Arcadian Lousiana, the home of my paternal forebearers. None of this land is more than mere feet above sea level. No building can withstand 175 mph sustained winds...with gusts around 200. Hurricane Camille literally destroyed Bay St. Lous and Gulfport, Miss. The people in New Orleans itself are at huge risk, what with being around 7 feet below the level of the Mississippi, and 4 below Lake Pontchartrain..betwixt the devil and the deep blue sea. If New Orleans suffers a direct strike, it will be a huge disaster, one that could make the devastation South Florida felt from Andrew look like a picnic.
Time to start praying for the people of Southeast Lousiana....
Boats
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It IS small...for a Tomcat, with wings out full, you have about 15 feet either side before you hit aircraft spotted on both sides of the touchdown spot. And it's a measly 300 feet to stop 30 tons of aircraft doing 140 knots. The wires, all four of them are about 40 feet apart, and the three wire gets you a top score on the greenie board. Of course, to get an "Okay", the highest score, you have to have an on the money approach, line up, sink rate, little if any wing dipping, and near perfect touch on the throttles. Them Air Farce pilots think it's tough when they land their birds on a 1500 foot runway....hawk...spit
Boats
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I wouldn't live anywhere else but Florida, but sometimes it really sucks. I'm just glad as hell that this year so far, isn't a repeat of last year. Glad to hear you came through it OK, Gunny. Now, let's everyone take a minute to think about the folks in SE Louisiana and New Orleans are facing. The Big Sleazy just might get a good washing out this time. I just hope the good Cajun people in Acadiana come through OK.
Boats
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Thats Lt. Colonel Kurilla
Imagine, an 0-5 leading from the front, laying down fire to cover his men. If this guy doesn't get some serious metal on his chest, then someone is screwing up big time. I strongly suggest that anyone who likes Michael Yon, to also read Froggy Ruminations, written by a SEAL officer. He writes like he's putting rounds down range at a tango...dead on target.http://froggyruminations.blogspot.com/
Boats
I get the image of those elderly people, and I think of my mother and the condition she was in during her last days, and I think if she would of had to try and keep from drowning...it makes me mad, frustrated and makes me want to cry for those people. And yet, it's Bush's fault. It's FEMA's fault (Insert dripping sarcasm here). Lord I want off this planet. 
Nursing home bodies removed
in Ready Room
Posted
Simple solution that maintains the rights of the individual: If someone refuses to move, then require them to sign a form stating that they assume all responsibility for themselves, and will go straight to hell if they show up on Opra afterwards
Byron