Collective Sigh

All guts, a little glory

It seems like I've spent the last week cleaning up my own messes, undoing my own mistakes, and generally untangling my own screw-ups. And it's been raining since Thursday.

It can get you down a bit, this continual blunder mending (and the gray skies). So, I find it useful to relive some of those moments when things went a bit more successfully and the sun shone brightly on my world.

Have you ever had a moment when you nailed it? You ruled? You rocked? A time when maybe you weren't the king of the world, but at least felt like you were the king of your world?

And best of all, had witnesses who applauded enthusiastically?

I'm not talking Pulitzer prize-winning moments, just a personal triumph that put a huge grin on your face and reverberates even today.

I've had a couple of shining moments; here's my favorite.

Back when I was at the top of my form as a classically-trained soprano who would sing anywhere and everywhere I was asked (including a few times I wasn't asked), I auditioned for some solo work in a community chorus performance of Handel's Messiah. As a personal challenge, and because I'm stubborn, I chose Thus saith the Lord of hosts and But who may abide the day of his coming?.

This recitative and aria are generally performed by a bass, but in Handel's day were performed by whatever voice was available. Besides, I was working on my flexibility and lower range, and the aria presented quite a challenge. We would have a small string ensemble and harpsichord for the performance, and I was determined to do at least some rough justice to the music.

I won the part, and started working furiously on mastering the two pieces.

Our church choir was doing a Christmas music program consisting of many different styles of music that year, and the director asked me to do the above two pieces at that performance. We would only have piano accompaniment, but it gave a chance to perform the pieces in front of an audience that was friendly and supportive. The audience for the community chorus program would be much more discriminating.

When the time came, I stepped in front of the audience in the church, and nodded to the pianist to signal I was ready.

The accompanist was frantically shuffling through a stack of music, trying to find his copy of The Messiah. It's a rather thick score, and hard to miss - he had apparently left it in the choir rehearsal room.

The rehearsal room was more than a few hops, skips, and jumps from the sanctuary and it would have taken a good five minutes for him to scramble back there, find the music, and return to the piano. In the meantime, there would be a rather uncomfortable lull in the program.

I took a deep breath and handed him my music.

Could I do it from memory? I'd worked hard on it; I'd heard the music performed all my life. I cleared my mind of doubts and let it rip.

I nailed it. I triumphed...I soared. I never missed a note, word, or beat. The final measures gave me a chance to spin into my higher range before cascading back down to the gutsy lower levels.

I could feel myself literally glowing with happiness as the choir, then the audience rose to their feet to give me a standing ovation. The choir director walked over to me and kissed my hand.

Yeah, I did it again with the community chorus - with music, this time. I got a lot of congratulations and a good review from the local paper's music critter, er - critic.

But nothing has ever surpassed that moment when I trusted my own memory, intellect, and training - and they came through for me.

I feel better already.

Care to share a triumphant moment in comments?

It ain't working

The occupation of Iraq isn't working for many reasons.

Carl succinctly outlines the three most likely suspects, which basically boil down to 1) culture, 2) culture, and 3) culture.

Go read.

Coming up for air

My new hard drive arrived yesterday and is whirring away happily while I try to restore all my 'stuff'.

As usual, I ran into unexpected problems and spent most of the afternoon and well into the night with the procedure.

So, did anything else happen yesterday?

What we have here is a misinterpretation of God's word

"President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …" And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it.'"

Prime Minister Mazen recounts how President Bush told him: "I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state." (link)

Are you wondering what went wrong in Afghanistan and Iraq, George, even though God spoke to you on the subject?

What is it about the word "you" that you don't understand?

God meant YOU, George - you personally. Report to the nearest recruiting center and do your duty.

Not funny

So I'm reading about the 13-foot Burmese python that burst after trying to swallow a six-foot alligator whole, and my stupid cat brushes up against my leg.

The keyboard doesn't appreciate hot coffee, and neither does the cat.

Serves him right.

Come on, Tammy!

Tropical Storm Tammy to bring rain to N.C.

Tropical Storm Tammy formed just off Florida's east coast Wednesday and was expected to bring rain to North Carolina by Thursday.

It's not often we welcome a tropical weather system, but we are 11-1/2 inches below normal and getting very thirsty.

I've enjoyed the respite from mowing the yard, but enough is enough.

"CITY OF GREENSBORO DECLARES "STAGE III WATER SHORTAGE DANGER"

In response to an increasingly serious drought situation, Greensboro City Manager Ed Kitchen declared today (Monday) that Stage III water restrictions will go into effect beginning at 1:00pm Tuesday, December 8. Stage III restrictions are more stringent than the current Stage II restrictions and prohibit any watering or sprinkling of any lawn, grass, shrubbery, trees or flowers. Vegetable gardens may only be watered by hand held hose, container or drip irrigation system, and any nonessential use of water for commercial or public use is unlawful."

As the news-guy said on the local news last night, "Time to shower with a friend".

I wonder if he has a job today.

Ruh-roh

I fail to see what the military can do about a flu pandemic, as Bush has suggested.

What are they going to do? Shoot all the birds before the virus makes the jump to humans?

Too late...it may have already done so.

Recent research isn't encouraging...

Deadly 1918 Epidemic Linked to Bird Flu, Scientists Say

Two teams of federal and university scientists announced today that they had resurrected the 1918 influenza virus, the cause of one of history's most deadly epidemics, and had found that unlike the viruses that caused more recent flu pandemics of 1957 and 1968, the 1918 virus was actually a bird flu that jumped directly to humans.

The work, being published in the journals Nature and Science, involved getting the complete genetic sequence of the 1918 virus, using techniques of molecular biology to synthesize it, and then using it to infect mice and human lung cells in a specially equipped, secure lab at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

(...)

"This is huge, huge, huge," said John Oxford, a professor of virology at St. Bartholmew's and the Royal London Hospital, who was not part of the research team. "It's a huge breakthrough to be able to put a searchlight on a virus that killed 50 million people. I can't think of anything bigger that's happened in virology for many years."

The 1918 flu showed how terrible that disease could be. It had been "like a dark angel hovering over us," Dr. Oxford said. The virus spread and killed with terrifying speed, preferentially striking the young and the healthy. Alfred C. Crosby, author of "America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918," wrote that it "killed more humans than any other disease in a similar duration in the history of the world."

Living back in the sticks, we're not sure what killed my maternal grandfather. But it seems quite likely he was one of those 50-million-plus fatalities.

If Bush wants assistance from the military, the best thing he could do is stop this insanity in Iraq so researchers will have the money to find a vaccine and cure.

FEMA - the gift that keeps on giving

Housing promises to evacuees fall short

FEMA pulling funding for hotel stipends as more shelters close

Two weeks before President Bush's mid-October goal for moving Hurricane Katrina victims out of shelters, more than 100,000 people still reside in such makeshift housing, and 400,000 more are in hotel rooms costing up to $100 a night.

Housing options promised by the federal government a month ago have largely failed to materialize. Cruise ships and trailer parks have so far proved in large part to be unworkable, while an American Red Cross program -- paid for by the federal government -- that allows storm victims to stay in motels or hotels is scheduled to expire Oct. 15. It is projected to cost the Federal Emergency Management Agency as much as $168 million.

Finding housing for a large, displaced population is proving to be a nightmare for the Bushies. All their "privatizing" alternatives are floundering, from vouchers to 'faith-based' shelters, to ignoring the problem and hoping it will go away.

Kiss that evacuee vote goodbye.

And make no mistake...this will happen again; if not tomorrow, perhaps a year or a decade from now.

There will be more hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes - who knows what Mother Nature has in store for us? Who knows what bin Laden has in store for us?

The only thing we know for certain is the Bush administration doesn't have a clue how to deal with disaster, be it natural or man-made.

I wonder how long it will take before BushCo concedes that FDR had the right idea for putting large numbers of the unemployed to work and at the same time improving the infrastructure and environment?

Unemployed and even unskilled workers combined with the expertise of military engineers, organizations like Habitat For Humanity and the Friends Disaster Service could construct homes, schools, parks, streets, sidewalks, playgrounds, clinics - you name it. They build quickly, efficiently, inexpensively, and with quality. And they could probably do it a hundred times over, all over the Katrina- and Rita-devastated area.

Don't hold your breath - we'll have to wait for the next Democratic president and Democratically-controlled Congress for that kind of thinking.

Meanwhile a city of RVs awaits families in Louisiana, which as everyone knows is exactly what the South needs - more trailer parks and more tornado bulls-eyes.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency once envisioned "cities" of 500 to 600 RVs scattered across the South to house evacuees uprooted from their homes by Katrina. But those plans have bogged down as FEMA has tried to make its way through a maze of bureaucratic hurdles to lease land, comply with local zoning laws and overcome local opposition to "FEMA cities" within their borders.

(...)

In search of temporary housing immediately after the hurricane, FEMA officials went on a $1.5 billion spending spree, buying out entire dealerships of recreational vehicles and signing contracts for more than $500 million with one manufacturer of mobile homes. But the plan to create "cities" of 500 to 600 RVs across the South has run into major logistical and political problems.

(...)

Policymakers say that warehousing tens of thousands of people in trailer park communities until New Orleans and other cities are rebuilt could lead to the creation of dysfunctional "FEMAvilles," as residents of past encampments have called them. Democrats go further, warning that they may become known as "Bushvilles," just as Depression-era shantytowns were called "Hoovervilles."

Bushvilles, indeed. My partisan political side welcomes communities of Bushvilles scattered around the Red States.

But these are people; people with families who can't be cooped up in RV's for very long without going completely stir-crazy. It's certainly possible for one or two people to live comfortably in an RV or even a small single-wide trailer, but keep in mind when an advertisement says "sleeps eight!" it actually means sleeps "sleeps eight if you put three very good friends in a shortened double bed, three more in a pull-out sofa, and two in a twin bed".

Senator Paul Sarbanes sums it up -

"The scope of this disaster calls for changes in how we think about disaster assistance," Sarbanes wrote the White House. "Hundreds of thousands of people may need housing assistance for 18 months or even longer. We cannot rely on FEMA, an emergency response agency, to provide on-going housing assistance to this large number of families," he said.

We definitely need new thinking from this adminstration. All they've given us for five years is stinkin' thinkin'.

Six Democratic War Vets Seek House Seats

Lawyer Patrick Murphy and five other veterans of the Iraq war are asking questions about President Bush's policies in Iraq as part of their broader Democratic campaigns to win congressional seats in next year's elections.

Given their experience in Iraq, the six Democrats in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia say they are eminently qualified to pose the tough questions. Their reservations mirror public opinion, with an increasing number of Americans expressing concern about the mission and favoring a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Nice to read of this. Now, where are the headlines about Republican war vets seeking office?

Hmmm?

Monday, Monday

...can't trust that day.

My Monday has started off with a bang. I turned on the computer, and it informed me 'Hard drive detects imminent failure'.

This can't be good.

I suppose I could use the Future Under Bush Administration Regulations (FUBAR) system and hope the hard drive will fix itself while I tell everyone what a great job I'm doing and let the blank CD-R's sit idly on the shelf.

When the hard drive fails, I could take it to CompUSA and borrow a lot of money to pay some geeky teenager to get it back in running order. Of course, the hard drive would be blank - all the data lost.

Or I could prepare for the imminent disaster by making backup CD's, make a note of all the plug-ins, programs, etc. that I consider indispensable, and handle it myself for free- just as I've always done.

Wow, what a concept.

At it again, this time in Waveland

The Seabees, last seen here putting FEMA to shame by building quick,temporary housing for pennies have also come to the rescue of abused children in Waveland, Mississippi:

For nearly a decade, the private nonprofit shelter in Waveland has cared for children who have been beaten, starved, burned, raped or lived through some other atrocity.

Hope Haven is a temporary stop as children wait for a spot in the state's crowded foster care system.

Hurricane Katrina's storm surge swallowed the backyard playground and shoved about 7 feet of water through the small home, forcing the children, from teenagers to infants, to look for a new start - again.

However, a group of Navy Seabees from Port Hueneme, Calif., is working to restore Hope Haven, hoping the children will soon be able to come back.

"My troops know that abused children lived here," said Chief Charlie Luna. "They know that this will be a nice place for them to come back to, when we're done."

(...)

Director Terry Latham estimates the shelter sustained more than $100,000 in damage.

"We lost everything inside the shelter, and in our storage and activity buildings," he said. "We just got a new van through grant money, and we lost that."

(...)

Shortly after the storm plowed through Waveland, Latham - a retired Navy chief - was covered in mud when he saw the green trucks rolling through the debris-choked street.

"They were looking for Hope Haven," he said. "I would have danced naked in the street to get them to stop."

The 17 members of NMCB-4 are working 12-hour days to install new sheetrock and tile.

Latham decided the $3,000 estimate from a local company to repair the privacy fence was too much, so the Seabees picked up the pieces and put the old one back together.

"The children who lived here have no other place to go," Sgt. 1st Class Tia Potter said. "For me, it's very important to put this place back together again."

The Seabees should finish their work sometime next week, and Latham said he hopes Hope Haven will be operating again in about 60 days.

Dubya has half a right idea when he considers a military role in disaster response.

The first responders should always be local and state; after all, they know the territory and resources best. But the military, with their equipment, knowledge, and manpower are best equipped to carry out many tasks.

FEMA - if it's managed correctly - should deploy their people to assess needs and develop the capacity to communicate those needs to the appropriate agency. It requires a bit more than a web site, toll-free telephone number, and friends in high places.

(with apologies to Bryan and the Air Force engineers; I'm sure they're working hard also, and promise to post any articles I find!)

More compare and contrast

FEMA's evacuee housing plans fall short

After Hurricane Katrina left hundreds of thousands of people homeless, the Federal Emergency Management Agency signed contracts for more than $2 billion in temporary housing, including more than 125,000 trailers and mobile homes. But just 109 Louisiana families are living in those units.

A month after the disaster, the federal government's temporary housing effort is stumbling.

The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that FEMA is freezing many orders for trailers, although the agency disputes that.

In a week, Navy Seabees build temporary housing for 74 families

With a pneumatic hammer that can spit a nail into plywood in a microsecond, Seabee Builder Jason Speck and a couple of his buddies can install a floor in a 32-foot-long cabin in no time at all.

"That one took 10 minutes," Speck, of Chamberlain, S.D., said one afternoon this week. "We can go a lot faster if they keep enough material coming to us."

The cabin will house one of 74 families that will become part of a village that 26 U.S. Navy Seabees are building in a former public park in Pass Christian.

(...)

In the village taking shape, each family will live in a 32-by-16-foot cabinlike unit raised about three feet off the ground on wood pilings. The cabins have wooden floors and walls and insulated plastic roofs supported by a lumber framework. They can be heated or air-conditioned. Each has a front and back door and stairs leading to hastily constructed streets.

A bank has set up an office in a recreational vehicle across the street. A school bus is expected to show up Monday to take children to three area schools that have reopened. Another team of Seabees is finishing two large storage buildings for showers and laundry services.

The three communities, when completed, will house about 200 families that will be encouraged to stay as long as it takes to arrange for permanent homes, Rafferty said.

No such units are scheduled for construction in Louisiana, said Navy Master Chief Matthew Cabral. "We haven't been asked," he said.

Navy Chief Troy Emery of Norfolk, Va., said the crew can build quickly because the sections of each housing unit are prefabricated at a nearby Seabee base in Long Beach and need only be fastened in place.

"The motivation for these guys is all around," said Emery, 39, whose wife grew up in Long Beach. "Just look at these wrecked homes. They want to work hard. They're happy to do it."

Note to FEMA: You can contact the Seabees here or call 757-462-7992.

FYI - when it says "click here", it means move the mouse so the cursor is on the word "here" and click.

And you'll have to dial a "1" before dialing that phone number.

Oh, and "FYI" means "For Your Information".

I'm in the wrong business

Fixing roofs on Gulf Coast proves costly for taxpayers

Across the hurricane ravaged Gulf Coast, thousands upon thousands of blue tarps are being nailed to wind-damaged roofs, a visible sign of government assistance.

The blue sheeting — a godsend to residents whose homes are threatened by rain — is rapidly becoming the largest roofing project in the nation's history.

It isn't coming cheap.

Knight Ridder has found that a lack of oversight, generous contracting deals and poor planning mean that government agencies are shelling out as much as 10 times what the temporary fix would normally cost.

The government is paying contractors an average of $2,480 for less than two hours of work to cover each damaged roof — even though it's also giving them endless supplies of blue sheeting for free.

(....)

n normal circumstances, Lowery said, his company would charge $300 to tarp a 2000-square-foot roof in Austin. For that same size job, the government is paying $2,980 to $3,500, or about 10 times as much, plus additional administrative fees that can't be readily calculated.

We had our roof entirely re-shingled several years ago, plus venting in the soffits for about $1700.00.

I must contact the local community college and sign up for Plastic Tarp 101.

Downsizing

At this rate, there won't be any troops left to support.

Army in Worst Recruiting Slump in Decades

The Army has not published official figures yet, but it apparently finished the 12-month counting period that ends Friday with about 73,000 recruits. Its goal was 80,000. A gap of 7,000 enlistees would be the largest -- in absolute number as well as in percentage terms -- since 1979, according to Army records.

The Army National Guard and the Army Reserve, which are smaller than the regular Army, had even worse results.

Decline in Iraqi Troops' Readiness Cited

The number of Iraqi army battalions that can fight insurgents without U.S. and coalition help has dropped from three to one, top U.S. generals told Congress yesterday, adding that the security situation in Iraq is too uncertain to predict large-scale American troop withdrawals anytime soon.

The Ballad of Tom DeLay

(sung to the tune of “The Ballad of Jed Clampett”

(with apologies to Flatt & Scruggs)

Come and listen to my story ‘bout a man named Tom
Poor exterminator, couldn’t get the job done
Wasting his time settin’ off the bug bombs
So they said, “Hey, Tom! Join the war in Vietnam!”
(Shucks, he said...No room for me...Damned coloreds.)

The next thing you know, ol’ Tom’s in D.C.
Scoopin’ up the money, twistin’ arms with glee
His brain began a-twitchin’ and he hatched an evil plan
I wanna make the state of Texas more Republican!
(Execute libruls...Guns for white folk...Tax the poor.)

Tom grabbed a state map with the colors red and blue
The blue faded into red, the districts he re-drew.
“That’s the way God tells me Texas oughta be!”
So he called a few tycoons and scooped up the money.
(EPA regulations?...No problem...That’ll be a thousand bucks)

The money went to TRMPAC, a fund supposed to be
For Republicans in Texas to win majority
But the money went astray, now Tom is in a whirl
Spewing out the venom at the D.A., Ronnie Earle.
(Vicious partisan attack dog...It’s the Democrat’s fault...Did I mention vicious partisan attack dog?)

Well, now Tom’s determined to save his own skin
The penalty for conspiracy is two years in the pen.
So what if he is dragging down the whole dang GOP
As long as he stays out of jail he’ll gladly cop a plea.
(The Democrats made me do it...They do it, too, and I’m gonna start namin’ names...Get me Karl Rove...Whaddya mean he’s unavailable?)

House majority leader's position in jeopardy.

kar-ma - n - The total effect of a person's actions and conduct during the successive phases of the person's existence, regarded as determining the person's destiny.

As always, Juanita has the best thoughts on Tom DeLay:

By the way, remember Tom's plan to party-down at the Republican National Convention with cruise ships in New York Harbor? Well, we might be in luck --- here's some we paid for but aren't using. I mean, we could party in his honor. I'll bring the chips if you'll bring the dip. No, on second thought, leave Tom at home.

On third thought, lets' just send Tom to prison.

Conservation

Scottie McClellan -

"We'll also be sending out notices to staff about -- reminding them to turn off lights and printers and copiers and computers when they leave the office."

My folks used to holler stuff like that at me, too, usually followed by "WHAT, WHERE YOU BORN IN A BARN?"

I'm impressed; I didn't know the White House printers and lights and copiers and computers ran on oil.

In the meantime, Dubya practices fuel conservation:

Bush's gas-guzzling motorcade was whizzing all over town yesterday -- and today he flies off in his fuel-gulping 747 for his seventh trip to the Gulf Coast since Katrina struck a month ago.

(...)

Mark Silva of the Chicago Tribune was yesterday's pool reporter, and he faithfully tracked Bush's fuel consumption.

"For the day's procession to the Energy Department to assess the nation's energy resources: Two armored limousines, three stretch utility vans, six black SUVs and a partridge-like medical truck.

"But no stop-and-go fuel consumption here: A very fast motorcade blew through all traffic lights south and across the Tidal Basin, then east on Independence to the east side entrance of the great cement-walled hall of Energy."

The rest of us should avoid unnecessary driving so Bush doesn't have to.

''I've overseen over 150 presidentially declared disasters. I know what I'm doing, and I think I do a pretty darn good job of it,'' he said.

Becuz my preznit sed so?

Wow, I thought - Brownie was appointed in 2003 and we've had over 150 presidentially declared disasters in this country since then?

Technically, I suppose so - IF you count jurisdications where a disaster took place.

Since January 2003 -

* Feb. 2003 Winter Storms/Flooding; 39 jurisdictions declared
* Sept. 2003 Hurricane Isabel (winds, flooding); 100 jurisdictions declared
* Nov. 2003 Flood; Southwestern Virginia; 6 jurisdictions declared
* May 2004 Flood; Southwestern Virginia; 3 jurisdictions declared
* Sept. 2004 Flood; Central Virginia; 12 jurisdictions declared
* Oct. 2004 Flood; Southwestern Virginia; 10 jurisdictions declared

That doesn't include the year 2005, nor do I have the time or energy to look up every one of them; however, for the most part the main FEMA activity for each of these disasters seems to have been providing a toll-free telephone number or referring victims to the USDA Office of Rural Development website.

Is Brown STILL padding his resume'?

As to Isabel related winds and flooding - which makes up 100 out of the "over 150" jurisdictions, the Virginian-Pilot has a few choice words -

When Hurricane Isabel wrecked Hampton Roads in 2003, the Federal Emergency Management Agency was far slower than it should have been, poorly coordinated and ill-prepared. It eventually did some good at a time when we most needed it, but the cities provided the emergency response that mattered.

Back in 2003, FEMA’s slow-going here was sharply criticized by struggling cities and desperate citizens. But nobody died in Hampton Roads because FEMA couldn’t get its act together.

Isabel wasn’t a Hurricane Katrina, by any means. But FEMA isn’t itself, either.

The hurricane that devastated the Gulf Coast last week shows that the transformation of FEMA’s leadership from bumbling bureaucracy to dangerous incompetent is substantially complete.

If Brown's idea of "what he was doing" was drowning FEMA in the neo-con bathtub, he is certainly correct in saying "I think I do a pretty darn good job of it".

Huh?

FEMA Plans to Reimburse Faith Groups for Aid

After weeks of prodding by Republican lawmakers and the American Red Cross, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said yesterday that it will use taxpayer money to reimburse churches and other religious organizations that have opened their doors to provide shelter, food and supplies to survivors of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

(snip)

For churches, synagogues and mosques that have taken in hurricane survivors, FEMA's decision presents a quandary. Some said they were eager to get the money and had begun tallying their costs, from electric bills to worn carpets. Others said they probably would not apply for the funds, fearing donations would dry up if the public came to believe they were receiving government handouts.

Isn't it odd that Republican lawmakers, who urge permanent repeal of the estate tax so that wealthy individuals might be more inclined to charitable giving aren't worried about charitable giving to faith-based groups?

Perhaps the Rev. Robert E. Reccord, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board says it best -

"Volunteer labor is just that: volunteer. We would never ask the government to pay for it."

I just don't get this; is it me, or have Republican lawmakers, the Red Cross and FEMA totally misunderstood the nature of America's faith community?

The Quaker meeting I belong to has built or repaired hundreds of homes in impoverished and Mother Nature damaged areas. We've never asked to be reimbursed by local, state, or federal government and I am certain would never accept reimbursement.

It's just something we do.

It will be interesting to see which faith-based groups form a line for FEMA money.

In my mind, at least, it will separate the true faith groups from the scavengers.

Lots of kids left behind

Several states are asking their schools to take a day or two off to conserve fuel.

Isn't that special?

Let's take a look at the announcement for Georgia schools:

Georgia Gov. Sonny Purdue has requested that all public schools in the state declare “early snow days” Monday and Tuesday to save energy in the face of a fuel shortage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Beverly L.Hall announced that APS will comply with the governor’s request, and that all APS schools will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, and school-related activities will be cancelled for these days. Additionally, the Central Office will be closed.

Please note that athletic activities scheduled for this weekend will take place as previously scheduled. Classes will resume on Wednesday, September 28, and the Central Office will re-open.

Note that last paragraph.

"Athletic activities scheduled for this weekend will take place as previously scheduled".

Start your engines, sports fans, and take off by the thousands for those away games. Sit idling in line as you wait for a parking spot, then drive all the way back home.

I guess it's too much to ask the schools to reschedule their sports schedules and leave the schools open for book-larnin'?

The everyday citizen athlete

I admit to being a bit of a sports freak.

I wouldn’t stay on my feet very long in a trivia contest, but I do like to keep up with who’s on top, who’s on the bottom, who’s injured, and who’s indicted.

So, early in the morning or late at night I occasionally flip on ESPN to find out about all of the above.

Instead of sports news, I very often find a poker game.

I know I’m a hopeless old fogey and way out of the pop-cultural mainstream, but would someone please tell me, exactly, what it is about poker that makes it a sport?

I’ve played many a hand of poker myself and enjoy an occasional game, though I normally end up losing my shirt (literally and figuratively). I never once in my life thought of myself as a ‘athlete’ while playing - more like a person throwing my money down the toilet.

How does a ‘poker athlete’ train? Besides learning the basics of the game? I suppose some acting lessons might help; they sure would help someone like me who can’t hide her glee when dealt a good hand.

That “bluffing ability”, so prized by the big poker hotshots, is exactly the same quality you find in a flinty-eyed octogenarian bargaining for a cracked vase at a yard sale.

But for the ultimate heresy, I’ll also ask – “How is NASCAR a sport?”

(Ducking various thrown objects)

I understand a driver needs good reflexes, the ability to handle stress, and a pretty good dose of endurance. However, any of those qualities can be put to the test by anyone who drives on an interstate highway. I’ve frankly always considered auto racing as more a test of engineering skills than a sport.

I know a fellow who builds engines for one of the more famous racing teams. He works in what is essentially a state-of-the-art laboratory; clean as a whistle like my house never is, with every technological advance. It’s guys like him (and others like him) who win the races, but you’ll never see them being doused with champagne or kissed by the purty gals. Or making the big mega-bucks.

If a driver really wants a test of his/her reflexes, ability to handle stress, and endurance, let them loose on an interstate during a hurricane evacuation. I doubt if any of those drivers fleeing Houston thought of themselves as ‘athletes’, especially when they tried to make a pit stop and there was no bathroom, food, or fuel available.

I’d like to see that – a NASCAR race where the driver slips smartly into pit row, and nobody is home.

Speaking of bathrooms, how do all those finely-tuned poker and driver athletes handle the “call of nature”?

The same way you or I do, if we’re smart – they go before they leave home.

Or they wet their pants.

Perhaps we should all take a cue from ESPN and consider our everyday activities as exciting and glorious sports.

How about “Ninety-Nine Cent Ground Beef Agility Trials”? “Job Interview Jitter Handling”? “Rush Hour Reflex Test and Temper-Holding?” “Stomach Flu Clean-up Derby?”

Just don’t expect to see them in the Olympics (or on ESPN) any time soon.

And don’t expect the big bucks, either.

Homeland health security

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, medical personnel set up triage units throughout the affected areas and shelters to screen for health problems, but often the victims couldn't give a coherent medical history.

Last week, Dr. Joseph Mirro of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis was reconstructing complicated chemotherapies for 80 evacuated children with cancer. Their treatments are precisely timed -- they can't be just started over. He tracked down some oncologists who fled flooded New Orleans with treatment records, but relied heavily on parents' recall and own notes of their children's treatments.

(snip)

One bright exception is that even though the New Orleans VA Medical Center flooded, electronic medical records for 50,000 patients of that hospital and surrounding veterans' outpatient clinics survived.

On September 1, three days after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, a Veterans Affairs Department computer specialist was airlifted from New Orleans carrying backup tapes of all the records, which by the next night had been re-entered into computers in Houston.

"Every single thing on that computer was saved," said Charlie Gephart, records chief for the South-Central VA Healthcare Network.

Moreover, evacuees could access some records even at the height of the disaster, Gephart said. His office put patient prescriptions and other data tracked at a separate location onto a secure Web site as an interim solution.

The federal government hopes to provide most Americans computerized medical records within 10 years. During those ten years, it's a safe bet there will be more disasters, man-made and natural, necessitating quick access to accurate medical information.

Harris Interactive research (PDF) shows only relatively small minorities of American physicians are using electronic records or prescribing, and the United States lags behind other English speaking countries in this regard. A survey of physicians conducted for the Harvard School of Public Health and the Commonwealth Fund’s International Health Care Symposium in 2000, found that the use of electronic systems is much more advanced in Britain, New Zealand and Australia than in the United States. The data for Canadian usage were also low, similar to those in the U.S. The biggest differences between countries, by far, were in the use of electronic systems by primary care physicians rather than by specialists.

I should note quickly that any electronic records database should never be outsourced to the private sector, especially not to companies which have played fast and loose with credit information.

Not only has the lack of electronic records caused serious delays in delivering medical care, but Katrina has also highlighted the plight of those who are uninsured or have lost insurance purchased through their employment.

...the federal government is relaxing Medicaid rules in an effort to spread medical coverage to low-income people who fled the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, officials announced Friday.

The move is designed to cut red tape in the program's application process and make it easier for some of the estimated 1 million Katrina evacuees to get government health insurance.

The federal government shares the cost of Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program with states, though individual states run both programs. The mass evacuations that followed Katrina last week threw the system into some disarray as beneficiaries and their families fled to many other states.

If this country ever decides to join the rest of the industrialized world and institute universal health coverage, these disaster-related diasporas and sudden unemployment losses won’t pose a problem for our health care system. Knowing that their medical information is available to any doctor providing treatment and not worrying about paying for it provides real homeland security - not just for those who are devastated by a catastrophe, but for everyone.

Saving the pets and encouraging evacuation

It's early days yet and the worst may be coming in some areas; however, it seems Rita preparation has gone better than Katrina. There are still some notable lessons to be learned, of course, but much of the evacuation success has to be due to some people being allowed to take their pets.

Hoping to avoid the catastrophe that hit New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina, the mayor of Galveston has devlared that her residents may take their pets along on the evacuation buses if the animals are in cages.

"We found that so many people didn't want to leave New Orleans because they didn't want to leave their pets behind," said Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas.

Smart lady. I would have to be confronted with an imminent and excruciating death before I'd abandon my "babies".

One organization helping to care for the evacuated pets is Best Friends Animal Society. Along with other animal rights groups, they have been providing food and shelter for many abandoned or displaced animals.

Congress has recognized the problem -

Congressmen Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Christopher Shays (R-CT) introduced legislation to ensure that in any future disaster, federal officials will not separate people from their household pets and service animals such as seeing-eye dogs The Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act requires local and state emergency preparedness authorities to include in their evacuation plans how they will accommodate household pets or service animals in case of a disaster. Local and state authorities must submit these plans in order to qualify for grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"The grassroots animal welfare groups in Texas are hard at work," said (Hurricane Relief Director Paul Berry), "and I'm here to find out how our disaster relief team can support their efforts. We have a lot of knowledgeable volunteers who are ready to pitch in."

Berry also will coordinate Best Friends efforts with the other national animal welfare groups that have been working in the Hurricane Katrina disaster zone.

People are a lot more likely to flee for their lives if they can take their loved ones - human or animal - along with them.

God's final word on the subject

The Columbia Christians For LIfe made a bit of weird news lately by proclaiming -

"Satellite picture of Hurricane Katrina at NOAA.com looks like a 6-week unborn human child as it comes ashore the Gulf Coast, vicinity states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida at 12:32 PM, Monday, August 29, 2005"

Well.... Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you. (Habakkuk 1:5)

The Collective Sigh Oceanographic Institute has issued a statement as follows:

Satellite picture of Hurricane Rita looks like a diaphragm as it comes ashore the Gulf Cost, vicinity states of Louisiana and Texas at 11:45 PM GMT on September 23, 2005.

Has the Lord spoken, or what?

Bush Waives Saudi Trafficking Sanctions

Laura Bush, November 17, 2001 -

Afghan women know, through hard experience, what the rest of the world is discovering: The brutal oppression of women is a central goal of the terrorists.

Seems like she forgot to tell George.

September 21, 2005 - President Bush decided Wednesday to waive any financial sanctions on Saudi Arabia, Washington's closest Arab ally in the war on terrorism, for failing to do enough to stop the modern-day slave trade in prostitutes, child sex workers and forced laborers.

(snip)

In addition to Saudi Arabia, Ecuador and Kuwait — another U.S. ally in the Middle East — were given a complete pass on any sanctions, (State Department spokeswoman Darla Jordan) said. Despite periodic differences, oil-rich Saudi Arabia and the United States have a tight alliance built on economic and military cooperation.

Ah, the sweet siren song of economic and military cooperation!

As we struggle with the devastation caused by Katrina and await the onslaught of Rita, it's a good time to review the words of General Wesley Clark:

In my view, global warming's impact on climate change will impact human populations in three ways: displacement, disaster and political tensions.

First, warmer temperatures thin arctic ice sheets, raising sea levels. Higher water levels will dislocate 100 million people currently living in coastal areas.

Disasters will come with warming sea temperatures and changes in salinity levels which lead to stronger and more frequent hurricanes which means storms such as Rita and Katrina, more tornadoes, and extensive droughts. Furthermore, these massive storms could strike not just the Gulf Coast, but the Pacific Coast as well, causing vast destruction. Shifts in precipitation patterns will impact agricultural capacities and complicate access to drinking water.

Dislocation and disaster will force people and nations to compete for land, food, and water. Although these effects will not imperil American security per se, many other nations will be forced into a state of strife while coping with these changes, causing tension between countries and providing a destabilizing force in the world stretching to the limits treaties, traditions, and relationships between and among nations.

Drowning what's left of federal government in a bathtub isn't the answer, neither is showering businesses with tax incentives or turning vast areas of the country into a conservative petrie dish.

Along with a new New Deal, we must work to elect leaders who take global warming seriously, and don't turn up their nose at the conclusions of every respected scientist in the world.

Rita threatens

With a Category 5 hurricane bearing down on the Texas coast, there's good news and bad news for Texans.

Good news - George W. Bush is no longer your governor.

Bad news - George W. Bush is president of the United States.

Good news - Uncle Karl has no doubt threatened the life of any FEMA employee caught slacking off or not hyper-organized.

Bad news - You are about to become part of Gee Dub's "Gulf Opportunity Zone", that great neo-con lab experiment. Watch out for a blizzard of tax credits, vouchers, lower wages, homesteaders, and the like. And be prepared for multiple photo op visits from 'favorite son'.

When FEMA, the Red Cross, and any other relief groups who feel the need to improve their image finish with Texas, perhaps they'll mosey eastward and spread the leftovers with those they missed earlier in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Ya'll stay safe and dry.

The light of God surrounds you; the love of God enfolds you; the power of God protects you; the presence of God watches over you; wherever you are, God is. - James Dillet Freeman

Cheerleading

If you look inside the 9/26/2005 print edition of TIME magazine, you'll find a selection letters from readers.

Responding to TIME's coverage of the Katrina catastrope, Suzann Soliday of Fresno, California writes:

How dare anyone blame the president for this disaster. The left-wingers have criticized the Bush Administration constantly. How can anyone - politician or member of the news media - not support our government? The critics have gone too far. We must work together, and those who can't must stay out of the way. I am tired of the divide in this country.

You see, Ms. Soliday, it's not JUST the Katrina disaster, but a whole trail of destruction all over the world. And it's not JUST St. George, but the whole host of incompetent, deluded advisors who give the poor boy incredibly bad advice.

We left-wingers are simply following the stellar example set by the right-wingers during the Clinton administration; strike early and often. And we actually have reality-based, valid reasons.

As Bill Maher said of our Fearless Leader, "On your watch, we've lost almost all of our allies, the surplus, four airliners, two Trade Centers, a piece of the Pentagon and the City of New Orleans".

Opposing the Bush administration isn't hard at all, Ms. Soliday. In fact, we left-wingers are quite pleased to be divided from you and the rest of the sheep cheerleading for President Catastrophe.

Crossed up Red Cross?

Here's my question about the Red Cross:

Over here, you have water, food, money, clothing, and medicine.

Over there, you have a bunch of people who are dying of thirst, hunger, illnesses, and are destitute.

Why would you let some FEMA twerp keep you from delivering the much-needed aid?

I understand the Red Cross has to operate within the law and according to regulations. But if you're a relief organization and you're prevented from completing your mission - why aren't you screaming to high heaven about it?

The Red Cross does good work; I'm not demanding my money back. But if they want any more of it, they've got to stop operating as an arm of the incompetent FEMA.

The blame game is necessary

From the NYT -

Federal officials are often unable to give local governments permission to proceed with fundamental tasks to get their towns running again.

I know our Fearless Leaders have told us this isn't the time for playing the blame game or pointing fingers or in any way dissing Republican incompetence, but excuse me....why the hell not?

Why are federal officials unable to give permission to local governments for basic rebuilding?

Are they mute?

Are they useless?

Are they stupid?

You KNOW what is happening...the experienced, qualified people in the lower rungs who would like to keep their jobs are required to receive permission from their superior, who is required to receive the okay from THEIR superiors, and somewhere there's a very inferior superior that doesn't need to be in any sort of position of authority.

THAT'S the guy or gal we want fired immediately and replaced with someone qualified for the job; preferably someone from the ranks who is left over from the James Lee Witt regime and remembers what FEMA's mission is supposed to be.

In the meantime, the very same Poor Planning and Corruption Hobble Reconstruction of Iraq

No wonder Bush sneered at "nation building" during his 2000 campaign. The ignorant do tend to sneer at things that are way over their heads.

Accountability is for girlie-men

Before the NYTimes goes under the "TimeSelect" subscription-only Cone of Silence, you must read Krugman's Not the New Deal. Quotable quotes -indeed, prophecies - abound.

***

Were you inspired by Our Preznit's words last night? Since I can't bear to watch him, I read the transcript later.

I am inspired and confident that not only will Karl Rove make Michael Brown look like a genius, he will make Haliburton look like a frugal non-profit.

***

Just as the Republicans used the remains of the twin towers as a rallying point for the Global Struggle Against Violent Non-Christian Extremism, so will Katrina become the boogey-man for the 2006 and 2008 elections. We will be urged not to 'change horses in midstream' and 'stay the course' in the great Rove-led reconstruction of New Orleans and the Gulf coast.

Take that to the bank.

Accountability

A lot of criticism has been directed at the eleven House members who voted against the (total) $62 million Katrina relief bill.

There may be some of those eleven who are pond-scum and just don't want to see money spent on poor black people, but there is at least one voted "no" for good reason.

Virginia Foxx (R-NC) -

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, drew criticism after she was one of just 11 House members to vote against the emergency aid. The bill, she said, lacked accountability measures for how the money would be spent.

"I want to know that there are safeguards and that there won't be abuses, and I have to do what I think is the right thing to do," she said.

The emergency-appropriations bill for Katrina, less than three pages long, contained no specific guidelines for how the money was to be spent.

Maybe she also doesn't want to spend money on poor black people, but she's right - there's no accountability.

We might as well make out the check to BushCo and say "have fun, boys".

Exactly right

Houston hits the nail on the head.

So - Bush, DHS, and FEMA thought they could continue with business as usual because New Orleans dodged a bullet?

Mississippi sure as hell didn't dodge any bullets, and everybody and his brother knew it even before the storm hit New Orleans or the levees were breached.

So much for that excuse.

The Catastrophe President

On November 4, 2000, Saturday Night Live presented a "glimpse of the future" under the presidency of George W. Bush.

Dubya (Will Ferrell) is seen hiding under the Oval Office desk, but he is finally coaxed out to sheepishly address the nation with - "Sorry about that war", and "I broke the Hoover Dam".

Turns out that was nothing like reality.

From Bill Maher's note to Dubya -

On your watch, we've lost almost all of our allies, the surplus, four airliners, two Trade Centers, a piece of the Pentagon and the City of New Orleans...Maybe you're just not lucky!

Those living anywhere in the vicinity or down-river of the Hoover Dam may want to take note.

My kingdom for a camera!

If the kid hadn't taken my camera off to college with her - and if I had the foresight to have it with me - I would have the most glorious picture to post.

As I drove home from work today, I followed an old red Bronco. It's most distinguishing characteristic was the spare tire mounted on the back.

Let me tell you - this spare tire was worse than useless. It was flat as a pancake, had totally rusted rims, and about a foot of tread hanging off one side.

I felt this guy must have a lot of faith in his four good tires - what if he hit a piece of metal or glass in the road?

And then I saw it....the little circular sticker on the bumber - "W-04".

Please feel free to make your snarkiest analogy.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out

Embattled FEMA Director Mike Brown Resigns

...and while you're at it, hold the door open for a few more to make an exit.

Management style

Monday morning is not my best time for tracking down links; however, somewhere** in all the post-Katrina "what went wrong" coverage, I read that when Bush was (finally) confronted with the bad news he turned to a subordinate and said "Fix it".

After which he went about keeping his life in "balance", getting regular naps, exercise, whatever; trusting that his underlings would take care of any problems.

This, we are told, is his "management style", which has worked just fine for him all his life.

When he didn't want to be be drafted during the Vietnam era, someone "fixed it" through family ties and political influence.

When he wanted out of the Air National Guard, someone stepped in again to "fix it".

The little problems with DUI? Fixed.

When he didn't have a job, someone with those family ties always came to the rescue and "fixed it".

Unsuccessful at running a business? No problem - fixed.

Over a year ago, the Washington Post looked at the management style in reference to Abu Ghraib:

President Bush has long prided himself for focusing on big goals rather than on niggling details and delegating significant responsibility to his aides. But his belated attention to the brutality at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison has revealed vulnerabilities in a management style that had brought him personal and political success.

Bush's aides say the graphic images documenting the abuse of detainees took him by surprise. But as they tell it, the president and his staff received many clues over the past year that there might be a problem -- for example, periodic reports from the International Committee of the Red Cross -- and did nothing because they had been assured the Pentagon was on the case.

It seems the same thing happened with the response to the Katrina aftermath.

I 'bolded' the passage in the above WaPo piece, because I've been thinking about this hand-off, don't-bother-me-with-details, "fix it" management approach.

It only works when the actual "fixers" are competent.

My hot water heater sprung a leak several days ago, and I had a choice of several 'management styles' during this mini-crisis.

Being reasonably intelligent and knowledgeable of the way life works and the assets available to me, I did NOT turn to my Chihuahuas and say "fix it".

I know these little buggers; they aren't qualified or capable to do much besides eat, sleep, beg for a belly-rub, and wag their silly little tails.

George Bush, accustomed to a lifetime of capable, willing "fixers" wouldn't know that his underlings - especially those a bit down the food chain - were capable of just wagging their tails.

He would assume that simply because he gave the order, "Fix it", all would work out just fine for him and he wouldn't miss his nap.

What a grand way to go through life, with cheerful assurance that all your problems can be resolved with two little words! And if your "fixers" fail you...it's not your fault - YOU gave the order, didn't you?

********

**Update: Found it. Last page of Newsweek's magnificently titled "How Bush Blew It" -

With each tale, "the president just shook his head, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing," says Jindal, a conservative Republican and Bush appointee who lost a close race to Blanco. Repeatedly, the president turned to his aides and said, "Fix it."

The incident took place on Air Force One on Friday, Sept. 2nd, five days after Katrina made landfall.