God Spare New Orleans

[wolf]

Is the airport actually viable? Are the runways intact and inspected? And is the transportation infrastructure intact to be able to get stuff FROM the airport, or would a bunch of quartermasters be sitting around scratching their asses watching food spoil because you can't get it to where it's needed?

[tw]

Originally Posted by wolf

Is the airport actually viable? Are the runways intact and inspected? And is the transportation infrastructure intact to be able to get stuff FROM the airport, ...

I had already been looking at that on satellite pictures. The airport in Kenner and roads southeast to the Mississippi side of New Orleans were unflooded ground. For example, this map from the NY Times entitled The Impact of Katrina provides details. A free registration may be required to view the satellite map. Click on "Levee System" to see land and roads that were above water into New Orleans.

But don't worry. George Jr said he is going to fix it. Just keep waiting for food and water. It's coming.....

Again, learn from history. The George Jr response before, during, and after 11 September was woefully underwhelming. Even George Jr administration officials could not decide to ground all airliners. That was initiated by Boston Center, NYC, and then by someone who did not have the authority and was on his first week on the job in Herndon Center - all while the Transportation Secretary, FAA Director and Cheney all made no decisions (that the 11 September Commission could confirm). Top George Jr administration officials even lied to the 11 September Commission about their actions. The 11 September report says they lied. Cheney never even authorized US military aircraft to shoot down attacking airliners - even though he said he did. George Jr, well, he read a children's book in FL.

The Tsunami response was to have the US military waiting for most of the week before George Jr finally authorized a rescue mission. Literally, the entire world had to embarrass the US before George Jr ever responded to a Tsunami disaster. Another action well recorded in history.

George Jr's response in New Orleans is only consistent with 11 September and the Tsunami. A Hurricane hit Monday. He lied about 400 trucks enroute. Food, water, and National Guard did not arrive until Friday. Even Nightline on Thursday had to publicly embarrass the Director of FEMA before food, water, and National Guard finally were deployed on ..... Friday.

My criticisms of George Jr have long been based only on facts; on basic principles of management. Based upon his history, the pathetic response to New Orleans has been also how the George Jr administration responded to 11 September and to the Indian Ocean Tsunami. But again, show me. Show me where any of this is in error. History teaches us, again, that MBAs are horrible leaders. One would have to be living in a Communist Stalinist country to forgive George Jr for what he has now done ... done for the third time.

Oh... but he finally ordered the USS Comfort out of Baltimore harbor. No problem. It will arrive 12 days after the hurricane. Of course every victim could have been flown by C5A and C17 to hospitals elsewhere that were better equipped. George Jr forgot to mention that part when he bragged that the USS Comfort was enroute. Classic MBA spin.

I hate to say I've telling you so. But again, I don't waste time with pictures of crying people or other silly emotions. I go after a devil in the details. Go back to my first posts. They still hold water ... including the part about how local officials were in denial of a Category 5 storm. That weekend, the casinos and conventions went on as normal when everyone should have been leaving town hastily.

An interview with a casino worker said he did not know the storm was coming. He had worked all week in a casino. Even casino management was in denial. Basic concepts of quality - attitude and knowledge. Top management in casinos and in government did exactly as William Edward Deming defines as bad management. Same errors that also murdered seven Challenger and seven Columbia astronauts. Same management that somehow could not find C5A and C17s to rescue dying Americans. You tell me who is the enemy of America. Non-Americans are invited to comment about why American leadership has also soured American foreign relations. It's all the same thing.

The sky over New Orleans should have been packed with transport aircraft like it was Chicago or Dallas / Ft Worth. Residents should have been able to look up at any second to see 6 planes in landing patterns. But that means George Jr has to order assistance. Even Air Force One was not packed to the wings with food and water. But that 747 was loaded with press photographers - and promises that aid was coming.

[sproglet]

Originally Posted by tw

Non-Americans are invited to comment about why American leadership has also soured American foreign relations. It's all the same thing.

I think many countries (the UK included) were stunned to learn Dubya had been elected into a second term of office, even more so that his incompetent cronies seem to fuck-up with impunity, safe in the knowledge their jobs are protected.

If there's been one good thing to come out of this recent disaster, then it's the possibility of the population being shaken from their ennui and catching a glimpse of the bigger picture.

Historically, this has been the stuff of revolutions & civil war.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by tw

An interview with a casino worker said he did not know the storm was coming. He had worked all week in a casino. Even casino management was in denial.

I don't see how you get that ... I worked in a nuthouse all week, well outside of the storm zone, didn't watch the news ... but I still knew a big goddamned storm was going to hit New Orleans or thereabouts.

Anybody that clueless needs to be out of the gene pool.

Originally Posted by wolf

Anybody that clueless needs to be out of the gene pool.

Well, for once you and I are in complete agreement. I NEVER watch the news, but I still knew all about the hurricane in advance way up here in Colorado. What? Was that casino worker deaf and blind? You mean to tell me that not a single patron of the establishment he worked in happened to mention ever so casually as he lugged his winnings or empty bank account (more likely) out the door, "gotta go now, there's a hurricane coming?" Not a single co-worker ever mentioned in passing that they were going to go home and pack up their car just in case? The dude never so much as passed a newspaper stand on his way to or from work with the glaring headline, "GET OUT NOW!" Give me a break!

Onyx, to answer your question about why people just didn't start walking out. A number of them did, but others were elderly or Mom's with infants and tiny children and many were sick or handicapped. Pretty difficult for such folks to go out on the lawless streets of the city and just start walking in all that heat with nowhere to go and no money once they got there.

I agree that if I had children to feed, I'd have gotten them food any way I could, but doing so would have meant joining a group of young punks with guns who reportedly were not above rape as well as pillage, and the grocery shelves had probably already been cleared out well in advance, anyhow.

[tw]

Originally Posted by marichiko

I NEVER watch the news, but I still knew all about the hurricane in advance way up here in Colorado. What? Was that casino worker deaf and blind? You mean to tell me that not a single patron of the establishment he worked in happened to mention ever so casually as he lugged his winnings or empty bank account (more likely) out the door, "gotta go now, there's a hurricane coming?" Not a single co-worker ever mentioned in passing that they were going to go home and pack up their car just in case? The dude never so much as passed a newspaper stand on his way to or from work with the glaring headline, "GET OUT NOW!" Give me a break!

I had the same response which is why I did not post this example days previously. However, the point is not that the casino worker was that myopic. The point is that his employer was so negligent - had improper attitude and knowledge - as to keep running the casino / convention that weekend. The point is that 85% of all problems are directly traceable to top management. That management is responsible for the correct attitude and knowledge. A responsible management would have been boarding up the casino that weekend. Instead, the employees were working as if nothing bad was expected.

I am also struck by an interview with a Scottish couple who flew in Saturday. They kept asking if this 'ocean storm' was a problem. They were told (by people not defined) that the storm was no problem. Now appreciate a Scottish couple that has little comprehension of what Category 5 means. But when they asked residents, such as their airline, such as the limo driver; the locals were not concerned. That is damning.

Meanwhile, as that Scottish couple was arriving, Delta airline on Saturday were already pulling out the last of the airplanes and staff. There would be no more Delta flights in or out on and after Sunday because Delta management conveyed attitude and knowledge to their people.

I am also struck by what the Louisiana Governor kept getting from Michael Brown when she kept warning about the impending disaster in New Orleans. His response was, well, I saw his response to Ted Koppel's repeated questions on Nightline even 3 days after the hurricane. According to the Governor, Michael Brown's response was, loosely interpreted as, "Don't worry. Be happy."

Now maybe his actual response was or was not. But I have a difficult time believing Michael Brown since Ted Koppel on Nightline demonstrated a Federal official, three days after the hurricane, and still in denial. He did not even know that people were not being fed in the Superdome and Convention Center? He desperately tried to avoid admitting that he knew maybe 100,000 people could not get out of New Orleans. 85% of all problems are directly traceable to top management. Even a former FEMA Director said on TV that given planning that already existed, then one could only assume the problems were only in top management.

The quote from that casino worker only demonstrates how much in denial top management really was both before and after the disaster. And yet some 50% of Americans still say George Jr was doing a good job. Where does this denial really start?

[tw]

Originally Posted by OynxCougar

1) If troops (cops, rescuers, whatever) with guns can get in to "control the crowd", why can't the crowd get out to food/shelter/water/supplies?

With only rare exceptions, there was no National Guard in New Orleans until Friday. Friday is when the National Guard and food first arrived at the Convention Center. 125 Special Forces sat north of New Orleans simply waiting for a mission. At a minimum, each soldier could have been deputized and assigned to New Orleans policemen. But that calls for intelligence in FEMA and the George Jr White House.

Previously quoted was a statement from the State Police spokesman of New Orleans cops literally resigning. This can only happen when they have zero support - as demonstrated in Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". There was no National Guard, et al. Ted Koppel interview makes it woefully obvious why. Did you hear the WWL-AM radio interview of New Orleans Mayor Nagin? Why not? Why do you think at the end of that interview he started crying? Do you really understand how pathetic this president and his FEMA people really were?

Now 'the powers that be' are spinning it - blaming others - because just like on 11 September, the administration did nothing - nada - zero. Let me remind you that is a fact. On 11 September, the administration did not one useful action. Some even lied to the September 11 Commission about doing things they did not do.

Originally Posted by OynxCougar

2) Why aren't people simply leaving the Superdome? Seems to me MORE people are being rescued offsite, by the coast guard or whoever, than are being rescued from the superdome and convention center. I'd be a walking/swimming/crawling fool before I stand/sit/whine that no one is coming to rescue me.

Where do you think the Coast Guard, et al were delivering the 'rescued' to? The Superdome and Convention Center. Rescuers were doing what FEMA instructed. Why would the rescued have to rescue themselves? Why would people who have had no food or water for three days leave the only location rumored to be safe and where the food and water was suppose to be coming ... anytime now? Even the president said that food and water was coming. Or course, he lied. But how did those people know?

Look, top management of FEMA and the president of the US were lying. Where were those 400 trucks of food and water from Monday? One with an engineer's attitude immediately suspects a lie. The president provides no useful information so that news services could confirm that 400 truck claim. At what point do the majority of Americans acknowledge that this president is clearly a mental midget?

The people in the Superdome and Convention Center were doing what they were told because it was their only hope of living. Thank god for people like the press who reported this problem for days. Finally even FEMA learned of the problem three days later because they feared what you might think.

Originally Posted by OynxCougar

3) If people are being prevented from leaving, WHY are they being prevented from simply walking to somewhere safe, with supplies?

First off, there was no place with supplies to go to. There were no supplies being delivered for days. Second there were few known safe places. I am particularly struck by an Ohio girl who wandered for days with a group of fellow casino employees constantly running into life threatening situations. Once the reporter loaned her a cell phone, she called her dad in OH, begging him to come and get her out - and of course crying. They, like most all people, could not get out, found the city full of danger, AND for days no National Guard and no supplies were available.

I am particularly struck that almost 50% of this nation (in polls) says that George Jr did a good job in New Orleans. Michael Brown is his man. Responsible managers (ie Gen George Patten) would have been on the phone repeatedly every day getting reports and, most important, demanding to know directly from Michael Brown what FEMA needed this hour. Clearly the President did not do what any good manager does. But then this president was an MBA who never ran a successful organization; never even brought in one oil well. George Jr did exactly what MBAs do.

In hindsight, you would think that people would have started walking to the airport some ten miles away in the 90+ degree sun. Well, I ride a bicycle only ten miles and people actually think that is a major accomplishment - when fed and watered. Eight miles on a bike is about equal to one mile of walking which is actually considered a challenge to many people. But now you want them to walk ten miles to an airport down roads they don't know are open let alone safe? You want them to walk to someplace that has just as much no food and water? At least they had sun shade where they were. You want them to walk after not having water for three days? People die after three days of no water. Now you expect them to walk ten plus miles to something that may not even exist?

Most people did what they were told. They assumed top management was working for them. They did not understand that George Jr was spinning this crisis as he did 11 September and the Tsunami response. In fact, a challenger to every Cellar dweller who did not agree with my analysis of the Tsunami. Fess up now. Tell me George Jr was responsible back then? So many even in the Cellar are in denial of what is required from the boss.

In 11 September, the George Jr administration did not one action to avert or responsibly respond during the 11 September attacks. That made woefully obvious from the September 11 Commission report. Most people just assumed aid was coming to New Orleans as they had been told. Many believed a president who said that 400 trucks with food and water were enroute. So, of course, those people did not walk out.

Now you want to believe they will walk ten miles in 90 degree heat to someplace they don't even know is safe - after not eating or drinking for three days?

The devil is in those details - such as no water for three days. One detail that is woefully obvious is outright criminal neglect of New Orleans by Pres George Jr and by his personal agent on the scene - Michael Brown, Director of FEMA. Brown was a George Jr appointee without any experience in anything closely resembling emergency management. He is classic of what MBAs promote - people without any dirt under their fingernails - but a political supporter.

If you did not see the Nightline interview, then you don't appreciate how much outright lying and denial was Michael Brown. He respresents what other George Jr appointees did during 11 September. Did you see how Koppel literally seethed as Michael Brown avoided every damning question.

[tw]

We have a classic example of the George Jr administration. Those lines of C5A, 747, C17, C130, and C141 transport planes in Louis Armstrong International unloading food and water, then removing victims to hospitals and shelter elsewhere. Where are those pictures? Right there next to all the promises from George Jr about 400 trucks and the rebuilding of Trent Lott's porch. Most telling are pictures that don't exist such as tens of thousands of National Guardsmen delivering food and water to the Superdome and Convention Center. The most informative pictures are the ones that could never exist - thank you Mr President.

[bargalunan]

Originally Posted by tw

almost 50% of this nation (in polls) says that George Jr did a good job in New Orleans.

I feel better when I remember we can doubt polls validity...