Neddy's Palaver

Could save us from evil.
Should we have confidence in the government’s ability to deal with another mass national crisis such as September 11th? Since then, new and more sophisticated technologies have been implemented and the Department of Homeland Security has been created. When the next man-made or natural disaster arrives on our shores, will the American people be ready? If the recent example of the uncoordinated response to Hurricane Katrina is what we can expect, we will be dangerously unprepared. Is there something that can be done to prepare the nation immediately, not in a year or two?

Back in 2002, entrepreneur Charles Jennings decided that emergency crisis responsiveness on the national, regional and local level was barely adequate. After meetings and testing with emergency preparedness officials in Portland, Oregon, Mr. Jennings founded a nonprofit technology consortium; the Regional Alliances for Network and Information Security (RAINS). Engineers working for RAINS were able to create an emergency communications product that goes by the name of Connect & Protect. Connect & Protect is now deployed by government first responders, schools and private security firms.

Russell Shaw writes in “Here’s a private-public sector solution to our disaster communications problem” of an interview with Charles Jennings about this life-saving project:

The central problem with emergency response is that we still rely too much on government to do it. There is no “Big Brother” ready and equipped to save us. … we have developed is a system that redefines the concept of “Emergency Response Agency” - from simply government to something much broader that includes hospitals, schools, building owners, private security firms, and so on. The dirty little secret about emergency responders is that there simply are not enough of them to manage extreme disasters. Given that fact, if you are on your own in an emergency, and are called upon to make life-saving decisions, you would hope to have the best possible set of facts available to you to make that decision. We help provide the basis for such a decision.

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“Soldiers never die until they are forgotten. Tomb Guards never forget” ~~from The Society of the Honor Guard

Who Are the Tomb Guards?
The mission of the Guard of Honor, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is as follows:

* Responsible for maintaining the highest standards and traditions of the United States Army and this Nation while keeping a constant vigil at this national shrine.

* Prevent any desecration or disrespect directed toward the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Here is an interesting fact: There are three Relief’s assigned to the Tomb Guard Platoon, each consisting of nine soldiers, the same as in a Light Infantry Squad. The heights of the soldiers are equal on each Relief, with the tallest assigned to the 1st Relief. Visitors at the Tomb of the Unknowns notice how tall the soldiers are, but an actual Tomb Guard soldier can tell which of the three Reliefs is working . . . . just based on their height.

• 1st Relief 6′2″ to 6′4″
• 2nd Relief 6′ to 6′2″
• 3rd Relief 5′11″ to 6′

The e-mail currently traveling the Internet highway and byways, regarding the duties and requirements of the Honor Guards at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington, Virginia is not entirely factual. It has been embellished in attempts to turn the young soldiers into saints. See FAQs About The Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb of the Unknowns, for the truth. When you learn the real qualifications and dedication, you will be proud and grateful that their are families in these United States of American who are still raising up sons and daughters of such character. Snopes.com has the story of the e-mail.

The Sentinels of the Tomb of the Unknowns

Military District of Washington

The Unknown Soldiers

Always on Guard - The Story of Arlington and Hurricane Isabel

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According to Snopes.com, the good news is that there were no poisonous pythons washed ashore into New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, contrary to photographs circulating on the web. Nor was there a 21-foot crocodile surfing flooded streets of the former “Big Easy“.

Stay out of the water . . . Now this is a Crocodile! Man, can you imagine what else was swimming around down there in that water? Lord have mercy….. This crocodile was found in New Orleans swimming down the street. 21 FT long, 4,500 lbs, around 80 years old minimum. Specialists said that he was looking to eat humans because he was too old to catch animals. This crocodile was killed by the army last Sunday at 3:00 pm, currently he is in the freezer at the Azur hotel. The contents of it’s stomach will be analyzed this Friday at 2:30pm.

Here’s hoping that the Azur Hotel has electricity to keep that croc frozen — otherwise - phew!

Snopes.com also reports that stories of the offshore oil rigs having been turn into “snake rigs“, by assorted species of poisonous vipers, are also more Internet chicanery. The bad news is there are reports, such as this one from today’s WaPo, that residents are seeing more poisonous water moccasins (cottonmouths) than ever before - inside their homes! Now that is a bummer!

It was the snakes that did in Etonia Alfred, 47, who arrived at the bus depot with her son, Jordan Gray, 4. Although her sister, nephew, brother and father caught buses out of town just before the hurricane hit, she and her son missed the last bus that left from a high school near their home. She rode out the storm, but her house and its contents were destroyed. Jordan’s father, Jackie Gray, welcomed them in after the storm, but the lack of electricity and air conditioning and the snakes inside the house were more than Alfred could bear. A big water moccasin raised its head in greeting when she walked into Gray’s utility room on Monday. (www.washingtonpost.com)

As someone who has spent some years living in the coastal deep South, even along the Gulf of Mexico, I would be fearful of such creatures too. I have seen my share of those frightening serpents, and I am happy that they are not found as far north as I now live in Virginia. However, my granddaughter, Rachel Parselmouth, would probably find them interesting.

“The Rumor Mill” by Anne Applebaum of WaPo has more tidbits. Tracked at WizBang’s Carnival of Trackbacks XXXI and Mudville Gazette.

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In Tupelo, Mississippi
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, collapsed the levee system along the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers. Rain and flooding caused the catastrophic failure of thirteen levees. Thousands of acres of land were swamped, encompassing 26,000 square miles of three states. There were more than a thousand deaths and almost a million people became homeless. The rain and floods which lasted from April until June ruined more than five million acres of farmland. Some believe that the Great Mississippi Flood changed America forever.

John Lee Hooper recounts the story in “Tupelo Blues“, 1959. 4.7mb MP3

Did ya read about the flood? Happened long time ago, In Tupelo, Mississippi. There were thou’and o’ lives, Destroyed.

It rained, it rained, Both night and day. The poor people was worried. Had no place to go. Could hear many people, tryin’ “Lord! Have mercy! ‘Cause you’re the only one, That we can turn to” Happened a long time ago. A little town, Way back in Mississippi, In Tupelo

There was women, and there was chillun, They were screamin’ an’ cryin’, Cryin’, “Lord, have mercy! You’re the only one now, that we can turn to.”

Way back down in Mississippi, a little country town. I know ya read about it, ‘Cause I’ll never forget it. The mighty flood in Tupelo, Mississippi. Been years ago. Oh-hmm, Lord, have mercy! Wasn’t that a mighty time? Tupelo’s gone.

~~John Lee Hooker, from the album “The Country Blues Of John Lee Hooker”, Riverside 1959

Linked at Mudville Gazette’s Open Post.

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“Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans“? Louis Armstrong did a version of this song.

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
And miss it each night and day
I know I’m not wrong… this feeling’s gettin’ stronger
The longer, I stay away
Miss them moss covered vines…the tall sugar pines
Where mockin’ birds used to sing
And I’d like to see that lazy Mississippi…hurryin’ into spring

The moonlight on the bayou…….a Creole tune…. that fills the air
I dream… about Magnolias in bloom……and I’m wishin’ I was there

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
When that’s where you left your heart
And there’s one thing more…I miss the one I care for
More than I miss New Orleans

The moonlight on the bayou…….a Creole tune…. that fills the air
I dream… about Magnolias in bloom……and I’m wishin’ I was there

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
When that’s where you left your heart
And there’s one thing more…I miss the one I care for
More…..more than I miss…….New Orleans

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All the towns and people seem to fade into a bad dream. Many, many years ago Steve Goodman wrote and recorded these lyrics to the song, “The City of New Orleans” (mp3 clip). Goodman then convinced Arlo Guthrie to record it, by buying him a beer, and Arlo’s version became his biggest hit and the most popular version (mp3 from goldenfiddle.com).

Rise and stand real still and cover your heart with your hand when you hear “Don’t you know me I’m your native son, I’m the train they call The City of New Orleans, I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.”

Nighttime on The City of New Orleans,
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.
Half way home, we’ll be there by morning
Through the Mississippi darkness
Rolling down to the sea.
And all the towns and people seem
To fade into a bad dream
And the steel rails still ain’t heard the news.
The conductor sings his song again,
The passengers will please refrain
This train’s got the disappearing railroad blues.

Good night, America, how are you?
Don’t you know me I’m your native son,
I’m the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

From 1947 to 1971, the “City of New Orleans” train ran the 500 miles or so from Chicago to New Orleans, in 19 hours. It travelled through the Illinois countryside until it reached the “Mississipi darkness rolling down to the the sea …“. It still runs today under the management of Amtrak. (Linked at basil’s blog lunch and WizBang’s Carnival of Trackbacks.)

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Live from Poydras Street, New Orleans!

Six blocks from the Mississippi River, on the 10th and 11th floors of a skyscraper a New Orleans blogger, Michael Barnett, has been holded up reporting on Kristina since the beginning. His five person staff has food, water, a diesel generator, a camera and they are armed. Their blog has been renamed: “The Survival of New Orleans Blog” (also here). During the aftermath of the storm’s fury they had a live Webcam running. There is a page of photographs. (CNet News.com)

Saturday 9:05 pm PDT: “Hmm. This could actually be a nasty storm.”

Sunday 6 a.m. PDT: “Come on with it then, storm. Bring me what ya got. Let’s see who wins.”

Monday Morning: “… as long as no flooding occurs, the city should be fine. There’s really nothing to say…Imagine a low rumbling turbine engine for several hours, lots of wind and debris… .”

Tuesday Morning: “I do not want to be an alarmist, but people who have the means to leave the greater New Orleans area need to do so. The infrastructure required to maintain a city is down. It could be a long time before it’s back up. There will be too many people fighting for exceptionally scarce resources.”

Wednesday Morning: The chaos began as he described the scene on the camcorder; “You’re watching the flood progress … and the looting of a hotel. We’re seriously considering trying to restore some order to this city since the government has totally given up (and probably couldn’t do anything anyway). The police have been looting according to reports, and the honest ones are under siege at their precincts as automatic gunfire was unloaded at one near the Quarter. I know it’s dangerous, … if there’s a chance of slowing down this Planet of the Apes deterioration, someone’s got to take the first step. I mean, it’s Lord of the Flies out there right now. There’s no order at all. No respect for private property, no respect for life.”

Wednesday Afternoon: “The police are looting. Some of the looting might be ‘legitimate’ …. They have broken into ATMs and safes: confirmed. We have eyewitnesses to this. They have taken dozens of SUVs from dealerships ostensibly for official use. They have also looted gun stores and pawn shops for all the small arms, supposedly to prevent ‘criminals’ from doing so. But who knows their true intentions.”

Thursday Early Morning: “Security has become a major concern now, because the NOPD is ineffective and the looters (and) terrorists are roaming the streets. It is a zoo out there though, make no mistake. It’s the wild kingdom…That doesn’t mean there’s murder on every street corner. But what it does mean is that the rule of law has collapsed, that there is no order, and that property rights cannot and are not being enforced. Anyone who is on the streets is in immediate danger of being robbed and killed. It’s that bad.”

Friday Morning: “This place is completely coming apart. The hopelessness on the street breaks the heart. The old, the tired, the sick seem resigned to their presumed fate. Death.”

Friday Late Morning: There are signs of relief. “This convoy coming down the street is loaded with supplies. I see MREs and water and I assume ice, …. OK, so the troops used to restore order went in first and now the supplies are coming …. Hope is on the way for the people at the Convention Center. Finally.”

Linked at basil’s blog “All Day Picnic“.

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I have already noted my pessimism about the rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina’s massive destruction. I predicted that the people would not return to rebuild their homes and lives. However, there is a part of the greater New Orleans complex that probably should be rebuilt and that is the shipping ports. The country can live perfectly well not having a rowdy Mardi Gras celebration, but without the ports of South Louisiana and New Orleans, which lay north and south of the city of New Orleans, we and the rest of the world would experience economic disaster.

These ports at the delta of the great Mississippi River have been important throughout the history of the United States. Today they are important to the world’s economy as well. A large portion of the agricultural commodities from the bread basket of the midwestern states exit these ports on their way to the world’s markets and a large portion of the materials necessary for America’s industrialization come into these ports. The delta ports will be rebuilt and a city will surround them, but it will not be the City of New Orleans that once was. See Katrina the Prophesied Storm.

The road southwest from New Orleans into the heart of Cajun country rolls past chemical plants, oil refineries, pipelines, and storage tanks, crisscrossing a network of manmade waterways and natural rivers and lakes. In this land of levees, canals, bridges, and bayous, nearly all industry and residents are connected in one way or another to the maritime and energy industries.

Transected by the Mississippi River, which carries 40 percent of all U.S. exports, southern Louisiana is also home to the Port of Southern Louisiana — the busiest port in the world in terms of tonnage — as well as the Port of New Orleans. Combined, these two facilities account for 60 percent of all U.S. grain exports.

In addition, the region is a hub for both offshore oil and gas drilling operations and the offloading of petroleum from foreign tankers, as well as a strong industrial base for the refining, distribution, and storage of petroleum products. Southern Louisiana accounts for significant production of military and civilian jet fuel. (January 1, 2005, Clifford S. Barney, John Borden, GeoIntelligence)

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From: Gregory S. Henderson MD, PhD
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 20:21:55 -0500
Subject: Re: thoughts and prayers

Thanks to all of you who have sent your notes of concern and your prayers. … I am writing this note on Tuesday at 2PM . I wanted to update all of you as to the situation here. I don’t know how much information you are getting but I am certain it is more than we are getting. Be advised that almost everything I am telling you is from direct observation or rumor from reasonable sources. They are allowing limited internet access, so I hope to send this dispatch today.

I am now a temporary resident of the Ritz Carleton Hotel in New Orleans. I figured if it was my time to go, I wanted to go in a place with a good wine list. In addition, this hotel is in a very old building on Canal Street that could and did sustain little damage. Many of the other hotels sustained significant loss of windows, and we expect that many of the guests may be evacuated here.

Things were obviously bad yesterday, but they are much worse today.

Overnight the water arrived. Now Canal Street (true to its origins) is indeed a canal. The first floor of all downtown buildings is underwater. I have heard that Charity Hospital and Tulane are limited in their ability to care for patients because of water. Ochsner is the only hospital that remains fully functional. However, I spoke with them today and they too are on generator and losing food and water fast. The city now has no clean water, no sewerage system, no electricity, and no real communications.

Bodies are still being recovered floating in the floods. We are worried about a cholera epidemic. Even the police are without effective communications. We have a group of armed police here with us at the hotel that are admirably trying to exert some local law enforcement. This is tough because looting is now rampant. Most of it is not malicious looting.

These are poor and desperate people with no housing and no medical care and no food or water trying to take care of themselves and their families. Unfortunately, the people are armed and dangerous. We hear gunshots frequently. Most of Canal street is occupied by armed looters who have a low threshold for discharging their weapons. We hear gunshots frequently. The looters are using makeshift boats made of pieces of styrofoam to access. We are still waiting for a significant national guard presence.

The health care situation here has dramatically worsened overnight. Many people in the hotel are elderly and small children. Many other guests have Have unusual diseases. They are unfortunately. … There are ID physicians in at this hotel attending an HiV convention. We have commandered the world famous French Quarter Bar to turn into an makeshift clinic. There is a team of about 7 doctors and PA and pharmacists. We anticipate that this will be the major medical facility in the central business district and French Quarter.

Our biggest adventure today was raiding the Walgreens on Canal under police escort. The pharmacy was dark and fool of water. We basically scooped the entire drug sets into garbage bags nd removed them. All under police esort. The looters had to be held back at gunpoint. After a dose of prophylactic Cipro I hope to be fine.

In all we are faring well. We have set up a hospital in the the French Qarter bar in the hotel, and will start admitting patients today. Many with be from the hotel, but many with not. We are anticipating to dealing with multiple medical problems, medications and and acute injuries. Infection and perhaps even cholera are anticipated major problems. Food and water shortages are iminent.

The biggest question to all of us is where is the national guard. We hear jet fighters nd helicopters, but no real armed presence, and hence the rampant looting. There is no Red Cross and no salvation army.

In a sort of cliché way, this is an edifying experience. Once is rapidly focused away from the transient and material to the bare necessities of life. It has been challenging to me to learn how to be a primary care phyisican. We are under martial law so return to our homes is impossible.

I don’t know how long it will be and this is my greatest fear. Despite it all, this is a soul edify experience. The greatest pain is to think about the loss. And how long the rebuid will. And the horror of so many dead eople .

PLEASE SEND THIS DISPATCH TO ALL YOU THINK MAY BE INTERSTED IN A DISPATCH From the front. I will send more according to your interest. Hopefully their collective prayers will be answered. By the way suture packs, sterile gloves and stethoscopes will be needed as the Ritz turns into a MASH

Greg Henderson

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THE CRESCENT CITY on the delta lived on borrowed time always. However, that troubled no one, as New Orleans was a place that care forgot. It was founded by the swashbuckling pirates and smugglers of another age, whose ghosts haunted their Mississippi lair forever. The city defiantly survived hurricanes and a great war’s starvation time. Its residents in later years were bohemian artists, street musicians and others whose roots could not be planted deeply, as there was no deep but the river. There were spectacles of madness at Mardi Gras time and a French Quarter where soulful horn music sounded on every street corner. Jazz came to be born in New Orleans along with a man named Satchmo. All who understood New Orleans knew that it was an erstwhile habitation that really belonged to Ole Miss. The people were intimate with the supernatural and sang and danced at the funerals of family and friends. Today, New Orleans is at the bottom of the river, but the city will live on in the memories of those who experienced the music, the creole food and the city’s French ambiance. There will be ornate wrought iron enough reclaimed from the delta’s overflowing waters to reproduce a remembrance of what was, but the people will not return. They will build new lives elsewhere, knowing that they are strong, but not as strong as Ole Miss. They will not soon forget the floods and starvation times. Fare thee well, beignets and coffee, trolleys, shrimp boats, smugglers and jugglers and all that was New Orleans during its sultry happy days of summer.

AMONG other outrages committed … at New Orleans is the feeding of the starving people …. We illustrate the scene on page 380 (picture). In accordance with notice, Captain John Clark commenced the distribution of the beef this morning, and issued eight hundred liberal rations for hungry families. A sight more fearful and harrowing I do not wish ever again to witness, and it is no discredit to Captain Clark to say that, in the association with the destitute which his position renders necessary, he is frequently deeply moved. I noticed to-day that the sight of so much want increased the amount of the allowance to each family to an extent which had not entered into his previous calculations.

At the hour appointed to issue the beef there were thousands of eager, hungry men, women, and children crowded around the Custom-home. A very large majority of the people were women, all carrying either baskets or napkins. Some were old and tottering with infirmity; others carried, wearily enough, a babe at the breast; and many, God help them! bore the evidence of another claim on their support soon to come.

The sun was pouring down his rays with an intensity greater than we have before experienced since our arrival, and the poor creatures struggled and jammed each other to get into the office; and finally getting to the desk, trembled from head to foot, and almost fell upon the floor from sheer exhaustion. ~~Harper’s Weekly, June 14, 1862

Linked at The Galvin Opinion.

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