1518 The Five stages of Crisis Management

begins with denial, says Jack Welch in an article in today's Wall Street Journal. Then comes Containment; then Shame-mongering. Fourth stage is blood on the floor, and finally we get to something better in the rebuilding and final stage. Whole article here.

I suppose he could be talking from experience, not as a CEO but a very public divorce and remarriage.

1517 Ophelia and Floyd

Five months ago when we were planning our trip to Germany we needed to decide our airport for the international flight. Remembering that September is hurricane season, and recalling the devastation of Floyd that changed our vacation plans in September 1999, I voted for Chicago O'Hare instead of Charlotte. It's a lovely airport and is a much easier place to be making a transfer, but not during hurricane season.

Floyd caused such devastation in 1999, particularly to the agricultural areas of North Carolina. I still remember seeing lagoons of dead pigs, cattle and chickens. Those of us on the Veterinary Medicine listserv were dashing messages back and forth trying to locate colleagues. Many people were killed and displaced, and two years later there was still controversy about how the recovery money was being spent. President Clinton preempted the governors of several states causing a lot of political wrangling. Over 2 million people were evacuated and there was general chaos, much of it blamed on FEMA. Again, it was the rain and the flooding not the hurricane that caused the worst economic damage, and people all up and down the coast suffered. I see that a number of conservative bloggers are now bringing up the Clinton Administration's poor response to that storm. Just Google "Floyd Clinton FEMA" if you are interested. I'm just thankful I will be flying out of O'Hare, my least favorite airport in the country.

1516 Just Staying Alive

"I think for the most part people have just been trying to stay alive," said Rep. William Jefferson, D-La. "They've been waiting for rescuers. They've been on top of buildings, all the rest of it. They have not been there trying to figure out what to steal. They've been trying to stay alive." Jefferson is quoted on ABC.com on Sept. 2.

Then on September 13, ABC reported that Jefferson had diverted some resources that same day from rescuing people from rooftops to go to his home and removed some of his property.

“Military sources tells ABC News that Jefferson, an eight-term Democratic congressman, asked the National Guard that night to take him on a tour of the flooded portions of his congressional district. A five-ton military truck and a half dozen military police were dispatched.
Lt. Col. Pete Schneider of the Louisiana National Guard tells ABC News that during the tour, Jefferson asked that the truck take him to his home on Marengo Street, in the affluent uptown neighborhood in his congressional district. According to Schneider, this was not part of Jefferson's initial request.”

“The water reached to the third step of Jefferson's house, a military source familiar with the incident told ABC News, and the vehicle pulled up onto Jefferson's front lawn so he wouldn't have to walk in the water. Jefferson went into the house alone, the source says, while the soldiers waited on the porch for about an hour.”

“Finally, according to the source, Jefferson emerged with a laptop computer, three suitcases, and a box about the size of a small refrigerator, which the enlisted men loaded up into the truck.”

He then refused a ride on the helicopter and another truck needed to be sent to get him. Tying up that many rescue resources certainly shows the depth of his concern, doesn‘t it.

1515 License photo

My birthday is coming up so I needed to renew my driver's license. I thought nothing could be worse than my last DL photo. I was wrong.

1514 A filibuster?

I've been busy getting ready for a trip and have only listened with one ear to the Roberts' hearings. But I did get a chuckle out of someone accusing him of filibustering. Biden? The Senators ask these insanely long questions using up big chunks of their allotted time, and then go all legalistic, naggy and self-righteous when he hands it right back to them with. . . long, complex answers. And can't that Dianne Feinstein just put you to sleep?

1513 Parroting Rush

Yesterday a reader accused me of "parroting Rush." I have on occasion listened to Rush Limbaugh, usually if I happen to be in my car in the afternoon. And I listen more often to 15 minutes or so of Glenn Beck in the morning. But like most liberals, this particular reader seems to think Rush has a lot of power--I couldn't possibly, after having been a Democrat for 40 years myself, have noticed any of the successes and shortcomings of those years. I've often said that I wouldn't own a home on Lake Erie if I'd waited for Republicans to push to clean it up. But that doesn't mean that now I'm going to try to destroy business and agriculture and return all Ohio, Michigan, New York, etc. to the pristine wilderness it was before all the evil Europeans arrived.

The other morning I was listening to 1230 in my car instead of 620 and came across an Air America Progressive Talk (for those of you outside the U.S. that is a fledgling left wing a.m. corporation funded by liberals and already in ethics and funding trouble). So I listened to see if left wing radio had anything to offer. Nope. It was mainly hype with very little information. If all I wanted from radio was emotion, entertainment and hyperbole (and this is where Beck wears a little thin), I suppose AA radio could be a choice, but if I'm going to listen to talk radio, I'd prefer more depth. After the jokes and loud bumper music, I'd want something solid. So I listen to those left coast guys at my computer on KRLA 870 instead.

Money is money to capitalists. Even the giant Clear Channel, home to so much right talk, is offering some Air America shows. Is this a great country or what?

1512 Women can stop poverty

As the nation and world watched "poor blacks" (as liberals called them) gathering after Katrina, some of us noticed something else. Mostly, we saw women and children. Young women, old women; thin women, fat women; women in groups, women alone; healthy women, disabled women; well dressed manicured women, and shabby, ill-kempt women. Poverty in New Orleans and anywhere else in the USA is in the control of women, because it only takes three things to wipe out most systemic poverty. 1) Finish high school, 2) get married before starting a family 3) have your first child after age 21. Very few women who do this live in poverty. If they build a good marriage, they have a solid economic base; if the marriage fails, they are better prepared to face adversity with an education. They will be better role models for their daughters. The Democrats would lose their political base if serious inroads were made by black women in controlling their own destiny rather than looking to Uncle Sam to be a negligent step father. This is why for the last 40 years the War on Poverty has been preaching not abstinence, marriage and education, but more money for more programs to help the poor stay poor. As New Orleans rebuilds, you won't hear any politician, local, state or federal, say "our old programs to help the poor failed," they'll just say they were underfunded, like the levees.

Update to my comment: Dan Quale was right.

William Galston, once an assistant to President Clinton, put the matter simply. To avoid poverty, do three things: finish high school, marry before having a child, and produce the child after you are 20 years old. Only 8% of people who do all three will be poor; of those who fail to do them, 79% will be poor. And their lives did not improve if their mother had acquired a stepfather. See the article by James Q Wilson in City Journal. These statistics do not apply just to blacks.

1511 They may never

get around to reporting in the MSM why the Red Cross and Salvation Army didn't aid the evacuees trapped in the Superdome and the Convention Center worries the Anchoress. Some people are still saying, "If it is true. . ." however, you can go to the FAQ page at the Red Cross site and they tell you why. And the Director Marty Evans has been on national TV and has reported it. It's sort of old news, so I'm not sure why the MSM would say anything at this late date. I reported it on my blog on September 6, and I checked the page after seeing her on Fox and she was also on Larry King on CNN. I'd call that MSm at least (small media since it isn't the NYT). I'm guessing it has also been in the Wall Street Journal, although I haven't diligently checked it. The page says:

"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."

Every authority noted in the FAQ, "National Guard", "local authorities" and "state Homeland Security Department" clearly explains this was not FEMA at fault (although it may be in their training guidelines). Considering the chaos that erupted after the flooding brought more people to the already full facilities, it's possible that this decision, while it looked awful on TV, was the best they could do at the time.

Obviously, the whole situation would have looked very different to the world if cameras had shown immediate relief in the heat while people waited for buses. And we'll never know if that immediate relief might have made the situation worse by bringing people back in. The locals believed it would and THEY made the call.

1510 Hurricanes can bring new life

Some of the victims of Hurricane Katrina may be starting a new and more successful life in another state or city. It happened to Alexander Hamilton.

On August 31, 1772 a hurricane struck St. Croix where the orphaned teenage Alexander Hamilton lived and worked. He wrote a letter to his father (who had abandoned his family some years before) describing the devastation. Hugh Knox a Presbyterian minister and journalist printed it in the local newspaper. As Chernow says in his biography, “Hamilton did not know it, but he had just written his way out of poverty (p.37).“ Knox started a subscription fund to send Hamilton to the colonies for an education and the rest is history, our history. It reads, in part:

“Good God! what horror and destruction. Its impossible for me to describe or you to form any idea of it. It seemed as if a total dissolution of nature was taking place. The roaring of the sea and wind, fiery meteors flying about it in the air, the prodigious glare of almost perpetual lightning, the crash of the falling houses, and the ear-piercing shrieks of the distressed, were sufficient to strike astonishment into Angels. A great part of the buildings throughout the Island are leveled to the ground, almost all the rest very much shattered; several persons killed and numbers utterly ruined; whole families running about the streets, unknowing where to find a place of shelter; the sick exposed to the keenness of water and air without a bed to lie upon, or a dry covering to their bodies; and our harbours entirely bare. In a word, misery, in all its most hideous shapes, spread over the whole face of the country. A strong smell of gunpowder added somewhat to the terrors of the night; and it was observed that the rain was surprisingly salt. Indeed the water is so brackish and full of sulphur that there is hardly any drinking it. My reflections and feelings on this frightful and melancholy occasion, are set forth in the following self-discourse. Where now, oh! vile worm, is all thy boasted fortitude and resolution? What is become of thine arrogance and self-sufficiency? Why dost thou tremble and stand aghast? How humble, how helpless, how contemptible you now appear. And for why? The jarring of elements . the discord of clouds? Oh! impotent presumptuous fool! how durst thou offend that Omnipotence, whose nod alone were sufficient to quell the destruction that hovers over thee, or crush thee into atoms? . . .Death comes rushing on in triumph, veiled in a mantle of tenfold darkness. His unrelenting scythe, pointed and ready for the stroke. . . See thy wretched helpless state and learn to know thyself. . . Despise thyself and adore thy God. . . . O ye who revel in affluence see the afflictions of humanity and bestow your superfluity to ease them. . . Succour the miserable and lay up a treasure in heaven.” Royal Danish American Gazette, October 3, 1772

An so a homeless, illegitimate immigrant rides out a hurricane to be come the founding father of the United States government.

1509 If the Democrats design the memorial

Dr. Phat Tony is speculating about how Democrats will design a politically correct memorial for Katrina victims, based on how some want the 9/11 tragedy memorialized.

"Of course we’ll need to set up a memorial for the dead, but instead of showing the heroics of the people that came to save the stranded, it will have to be the politically correct. It will depict police officers of all races throwing dice at Las Vegas, people of all nationalities looting from stores, and buses of all colors flooded in a parking lot."

1508 Forth born?

Weren't we all?

I took one of those internet tests to predict my birth order (I was third of four). The answer was "forth born." Forth means onward in time, place or order; out into notice or view, but it doesn't mean 4th (fourth). So I think we are all "forth born."

Makes me think of the lovely rose bush I saw at the Park of Roses in June labeled "Forth of July."

1507 Brain Pattern

Your Brain's Pattern

You're a simple thinker, and this is actually a very good thing. You don't complicate matters when you don't have to. You look for the simplest explanation or solution, and you go with that. As a result, your mind is uncluttered and free of stress.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

1506 Ophelia, don't come back home

Was it somethin' that somebody said?
Mama, you know we broke the rules
Was somebody up against the law?
Honey, you know I'd die for you

Boards on the window
Mail by the door
What would anybody leave so quickly for?
Ophelia
Where have you gone?

The Band

1505 The Fear Factor

Yesterday I heard the Katrina disaster figures being revised from tens of thousands to hundreds to "we just don't know." We don't know yet how many people died, and of that number, how many died because they couldn't or didn't get out of the way of the hurricane, or how many might have died of heart attack or stroke brought on by fright. We know several died in Florida when it was a category one, and over a hundred in Mississippi. But here's an interesting article about the "fear factor."

"Recently, a report issued by a group called the Chernobyl Forum, a committee made up of several different UN-related organizations, gave a far less alarming assessment [of the Chernobyl catastrophe in the Ukraine]. While Chernobyl remains a far greater disaster than Three Mile Island [1979], the new report estimates the eventual total death toll as a result of Chernobyl to be about 4,000 -- terrible, but far less devastating than the initial estimates (and some recent ones).

The current death toll from radiation since the event is 56 total: 47 emergency responders and 9 children who died of thyroid cancer. The rest of the predicted 3,940 deaths are supposed to occur over an indeterminate future interval, due to other types of cancer, almost all predicted to strike the emergency responders, not the local inhabitants. . .

The UN report emphasizes a factor that the anti-nuclear and other activist groups always ignore: the greatest threat from the Chernobyl accident, and even more so in the case of Three Mile Island earlier, was the fear factor, the "mental health impact," as the report terms it. Somewhere between 200,000 and 350,000 people were evacuated from the area over the subsequent years, although three out of four of the reactors resumed operation before the end of 1986. The earth and water near the facility were heavily contaminated, but again, the report noted that, for the overwhelming majority, stress and anxiety -- the fear of radiation effects, the loss of homes and livelihoods -- were more serious problems than the actual radiation."
Facts and Fears

There are a lot of people making a living by keeping us fearful about everything--going out at night, shampooing our hair, using deodorant, drinking tap water, using microwave ovens, pesticides and herbicides, airbags in automobiles, and yes, natural disasters. The Katrina disaster actually was tracked and predicted, both in the short term (last week of August 2005) and the long term (rerouting the Mississippi River, creating levees and destroying coastal areas). The city had dodged a bullet for 200 years. As has California and the "big one." If everyone had taken heed of all the reports and the money appropriated had actually been spent and not pocketed, apparently there would have been no New Orleans because that area would have been uninhabitable from the natural flooding and rehabilitated marshes. If they don't find thousands of bodies, if it turns out not to be the immediate death toll, the fear mongers will be coming at us with stats that will run the next 50 years for death and disease. They need us to be frightened, or they are out of work. Their jobs haven't been outsourced to China. . . yet.

1504 Someone else asleep at the switch?

Neuro-Conservative tweaks the nose of the New York Times (do papers have a nose, or just a nose for news?)

"[Everyone knew except] New York Times readers the day before Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast. Because the Times did not run a single article on Katrina on Sunday the 28th! Readers of the paper of record only learned of the storm's potential with their Monday morning coffee, as Katrina was making landfall.

Remember (as NY Times editors won't)-- George Bush was already actively preparing the federal response, and urging the governor and heel-dragging mayor to order an evacuation on Saturday the 27th, as detailed in the New Orleans Times-Picayune" Neuro-Conservative

1503 What if it had been a sea of white faces?

No "what if" to it. It actually was and is a story about NAAAs (Not African American Americans). The media just couldn't get 20,000 NAAAs all in one place at one time. They still can't get to many of the ravaged areas in rural and small town Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and even parts of Florida.

So they did the best they could and didn't mean to conspire with Jesse and Kanye and Bobby Kennedy to make this look like a race issue. They kept their crews where they were relatively safe and where they could be flown in and out. But that wasn't where the NAAAs were, you see. So all the viewing world saw was black people waiting on their city and state planners to get them out. That plan really worked pretty well when you think of it. Eighty percent of the city evacuated and another 20,000+ went to a shelter. The chaos started after a levee was breached, and it was a levee that was up to the current standard for a category three hurricane, and it flooded first a working class and integrated neighborhood. What we saw on our TV screens was people coming out of their homes who had refused to go to shelters or to evacuate or who couldn't because of disabilities or age. Since the population is nearly 70% African American, that's what the cameras showed. There are still hold-outs in New Orleans who won't leave. But a lot of those are NAAAs so they won't really get much attention; you'll only see the military or police talking to them through the window.

Because the media couldn't find any NAAAs in large groups, it is saying really stupid things like "The department of Homeland Security facing its first major catastrophe since it was created. . ." (today's Columbus Dispatch), completely discounting all the hurricanes in Florida last year, which must be forgotten because 1) the capable, prepared Governor of Florida is a Bush, and 2) most of the displaced, injured and dead in Florida were NAAAs. Therefore, the 2004 hurricane season was not a catastrophe--it didn't even count on Michael Brown's resume as "practice."

Will the media ever stop editorializing on the thoughts, attitudes, understanding and emotions of the various goverment officials from Bush to the levee supervisors to the police and just report? Will they every stop saying the President (the Congress was on "break") was on vacation? NAAA.

1502 Happy Anniversary

September 11, 1960

1501 Does he get his money back?

Pay attention, this is confusing. In January 2005 a judge granted the surrogate mother of triplets custody of three babies she had contracted for $20,000 to carry for 63 year old James Flynn and his 60 year old fiance. The babies were born to surrogate Danielle Bimber and sperm donor Flynn in 2003. Apparently he and his lady friend didn't show much interest in the kids, so Bimber sued for custody. However, biologically they were not hers--the Indiana agency which arranged this travesty used the eggs of Jennifer Rice of Texas, who first also sued for parental rights, but dropped out. However, now an Ohio Appeals Court has awarded the children to Ms. Rice, the egg donor, who didn't carry them in a pregnancy nor has she raised them as a quasi foster/adoptive mom. This case involves courts in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Aren't we so pleased that we have the wisdom of the courts [sarcasm alert] to settle battles over children who when they are fertilized embryos can be bargained for, frozen for future use or disposal, sold, or snuffed out with "Plan B." When they finally manage to see the light of day they become pawns in a giant game of negligent semi-parental clowns, greedy attorneys, and judges who think they are Solomon.

In January the best interest of the children was this (in Pennsylvania).

But in September, it was all different in Ohio.

Then there's the Indiana blunder and the lawyer who didn't file the right papers.

1500 Defending Nagin

Today I've been wondering if the body count stays low, will Nagin be credited with making the right decision about sending people to the Superdome and not out of the city on buses. Blogger Cobb is defending Mayor Nagin and makes some valid points. Read it here.

1499 Hi-jacks and Hi-jinx

A California cowboy asks Democrats to please take back their party:

"I know there are millions of center left Democrats who think that President Bush is doing a terrible job. That's fine, but they don't think he is Hitler, or that he wants only poor black people to die in a natural disaster. They think that although John Roberts wouldn't be their first choice, he is a good man and is an extremely qualified justice. They don't like the war in Iraq but they understand that we are there now, and we can't cut and run. We must win this war on the enemies turf. These people used to be the backbone and voice of the Democratic Party, no longer." Read Roughstock Journal here for who's taken it over.

Howard Dean is acting more unhinged and bizarre than usual. Gary Gross' comments are in blue in this exchange between Dean and Blitzer at Boxer Watch.