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Saturday, September 03, 2005They say the Lord helps him who helps himself. In NO, a fair portion of the rioters seemed to have helped themselves. But how well did they go about it? Marcus rightly points out that with all there was to steal, the worst of the complainers didn't display much enterprise. If you can steal a stereo from a Wal-Mart, why not a flashlight? I'll let Marcus take it from here:Looters and criminals among the survivors, who now seem to have been the most enterprising among them, found guns, drugs, jewelry, TVs and expensive sneakers. Umm. Could no one find porta potties? Toilet paper? Soap? Disinfectent sprays?Read the whole thing to find out why and how the "Bush is racist 'cause my life ain't perfect" crowd is making both America and their own circumstances worse. 
posted by gbarto at 11:16 PM Friday, September 02, 2005I see that Amazon has now collected close to $4 million for the Red Cross. It's not 9/11, but considering the late start, that's still quite a bit. And donations are coming in fast.At 4:55 (PDT), it was $3,992,903.99 with 40328 payments ($99 avg). At 5:02, they've past the $4 million mark, with $4,010,690.97 in 40546 payments ($99 avg). Incredible.
posted by gbarto at 4:51 PM Thursday, September 01, 2005Part of the problem in New Orleans:Tourist Debbie Durso of Washington, Mich., said she asked a police officer for assistance and his response was, "'Go to hell — it's every man for himself.'" Here's that man's boss: "We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who are getting beaten," Compass said. "Tourists are walking in that direction and they are getting preyed upon." Here's how New Orleans officials are responding: New Orleans' top emergency management official called that [federal] effort a "national disgrace" and questioned when reinforcements would actually reach the increasingly lawless city. And here's what the people are doing: A military helicopter tried to land at the convention center several times to drop off food and water. But the rushing crowd forced the choppers to back off. Troopers then tossed the supplies to the crowd from 10 feet off the ground and flew away.And I haven't even mentioned the rapists and looters. There are already discussions going on the web (check out the Corner, link at left) about how New Orleans peculiar governing structures left no single authority with any control over or even knowledge about the maintenance of the levies. Bottom line, this looks like a horrible tragedy exacerbated by a lot of human idiocy at all levels. But looking back on 9/11, the folks of New Orleans, from the mayor on down, sure ain't New Yorkers. Some of this is unfair. In New York, everything happened at once. Responsible people didn't have time to evacuate; they had to stay put and maintain order. In NO, by contrast, those left either couldn't or wouldn't leave - the lawless and the helpless. Let's hope they get it together soon. But before the whining starts about "Where was Bush?" we might suggest that states that think they should have their own abortion, death penalty, gambling and other laws can also take responsibility for their own public safety, having some structures in place to at least keep things under control till the feds arrive. If the NO police were protecting the populace, not cursing them out or joining in the looting, order could be better maintained pending the arrival of the feds. It's also worth pointing out before the finger-pointing starts that Mississippi and Alabama seem to be handling things much better. If Nagin and Blanco lay blame at Bush's feet, someone might point out that Haley Barbour and the folks of Biloxi didn't seem to have the same issues on the same scale.
posted by gbarto at 7:15 PM Hmm. I see that Google has a link for Katrina relief. Surprise, it's at Amazon. Now for the generic Red Cross page! As I noted before, there are lots of ways to give on this big ol' internet. We shouldn't expect Amazon to go nuts making it easier for us to give without thinking. But it's nice when they do.
posted by gbarto at 7:00 PM Wednesday, August 31, 2005Geez. I thought I was harsh on the looters - "I would be hard pressed to feel bad for these people if on arriving home they discovered they no longer had a house in which to stash their contraband."Instantman says they should be shot. I'm not sure I'd go quite that far. On the other hand, if I were on the jury for a storeowner who shot someone pillaging his store, it's unlikely I'd vote to convict. If I ever run for office, this post will be used by my opponent to prove I'm wishy-washy on looting.
posted by gbarto at 12:19 PM Hurricaine help - You can help! Amazon and others have really let us down, not offering the same service for Katrina that they offered for 9/11 and the tsunami. It's their right, of course, and I can understand why cooler heads at the Amazon shop might fear that their site would become a "disaster of the week" donations center. Still, like Target's Salavation Army Santa decision, this is going to be a disappointment for some. Amazon traditionally has given the donations they collect to the Red Cross. If I were Amazon, I would seek permission to set up a Red Cross page and give them a button just like the one the TurkeyBlog has to the left. Toss up some generic language about, "When disaster strikes, the Red Cross is there. Help today." And bang, when one of these things hit, Amazon's ready to go, the blogworld's ready to go and Amazon, instead of having meetings about whether to act, can just be known as the good guys who are there to direct your contribution whenever you feel the need to help. Not bad branding, I'd say, if the rules and regs for corporations directing donations don't make it too awful an undertaking. Still, before we snuffle too much over Amazon's failure to make it ultra-easy to give, it's worth pointing out that there are plenty of places on this big old internet for finding what you need, even a place to freely give your own money! Instapundit's been collecting links, as have many others. Go here to see who bloggers are recommending you give through.
posted by gbarto at 12:03 PM France's immigrant problem: Chirac Wants More Public Housing in FranceThis comes in response to three horrific fires in immigrant tenements. Forty-eight (48) African immigrants were killed in the fires. Crowding conditions in the tenements resembled Victorian England. Buildings weren't up to code. Etc.Unfortunately, what France really needs is coherent thought on the immigration issue. Fifty years ago, the first thing Algerian schoolchildren learned about in history was "Nos ancêtres, les Gauloises" - Our ancestors, the Gauls - the same way as any other children whose education was funded by the French government. That approach didn't turn out too well, but neither has the current one. Unless the French government can fit its immigrants into the French patrimony as well as the territory of France, these problems will persist as surely as wage slavery for Chinese and Koreans in the Bay Area. The whole of the West has gone on a multi-culti binge where we've simultaneously "celebrated" other cultures and let in more people than we were willing or able to admit into our own. The latest from Paris is sad and horrible, and it is in some measure France's problem. But it points to a larger problem the whole of the West faces, from Britain with its suicide bombers to Germany where Muslim girls have died in honor killings to the U.S. where we worry endlessly about the plight of illegals even as we force legal immigrants into the underground economy if their families' financial circumstances shift such that they need even a few bucks more than their families can send from home. If we don't have a space for immigrants to enter into our societies as full human beings, we shouldn't admit them. If it's unconscionable to turn them away, then we need to decide how much we're willing to give and give up to make space, from opening labor markets to making real provision for housing. But to pretend to admitting people to our societies only to hand them over to these subcultures where the West is across the street or down the block but still inaccessible... it's a blot on the Land of Opportunity, a blot on the devise, Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, and an invitation to disaster for both the people allowed in on false premises and the societies that would host them.
posted by gbarto at 11:19 AM Louisiana... Haven't had much to say on the subject. The TurkeyGal is from NO and has family in the state. And since we had no news, there wasn't much to do but cross the fingers. Just heard from Baton Rouge, though. Her folks now have power again, though getting a dial tone is well-nigh impossible. We're keeping our fingers crossed for the rest of the state but, we'll see. Haven't been in touch with anyone else in the region for the last two days and so send prayers and hopes for the best.
posted by gbarto at 11:03 AM Tuesday, August 30, 2005Proud to be an American?Looters take advantage of tragedy On New Orleans’ Canal Street, which actually resembled a canal, dozens of looters ripped open the steel gates on clothing and jewelry stores, some packing plastic garbage cans with loot to float down the street. One man, who had about 10 pairs of jeans draped over his left arm, was asked if he was salvaging things from his store.While extending my most heartfelt sympathies to those who have lost their homes, I would be hard pressed to feel bad for these people if on arriving home they discovered they no longer had a house in which to stash their contraband.
posted by gbarto at 6:48 PM Monday, August 29, 2005Not in my nameI hadn't gotten around to mentioning Fred Phelps - busy week - but realize I'd expect any Muslim claiming to inhabit the 21st c. and not the 14th to draw a line. Here's AOL/AP on this guy: The Rev. Fred Phelps, founder of Westboro Baptist in Kansas, contends that American soldiers are being killed in Iraq as vengeance from God for protecting a country that harbors gays. The church, which is not affiliated with a larger denomination, is made up mostly of Phelps' children, grandchildren and in-laws.He actually showed up at soldiers' funerals to tell the friends and family of soldiers that they had died in vain for an evil country. And he claims to be a Christian. Plainly another guy who'd rather read between the lines on Paul's homophobia (though if this idiot has a wife and family, he must be too weak to follow that gentleman's finest counsel on women and marriage) than contemplate the things Christ actually said and did as best we know them. Mr. Phelps had intended to go to more funerals, but the dragging of his knuckles impedes his ability to travel large distances. Which is a shame, otherwise we'd give him directions to Saudi Arabia, a state whose homosexual policies he ought to love. Granted, they aren't Christian. But I'm going right up to the edge of the judge not lest ye be judged line to suggest that Mr. Phelps isn't going to make the top ten for following in the footsteps of the Savior category, either. I hope and pray I'm wrong, but something in my gut says that were Christ to return and heal an AIDS victim, Mr. Phelps would be lined up with the elders looking for a reason why it was a tainted miracle. His conduct is un-Christian and immoral, representing a paranoid vengeance fantasy that glorifies the death our Savior sought to conquer. It is abomination. The beauty of the Christ is that wherever He went, whatever He saw, He never let his eyes be taken from the mission of saving humanity and He never failed to perceive the humanity of even the lowest to come before him. The media will try to convince people that Phelps represents what heartfelt believers stand for in their ongoing war with the idea of faith. Let us hope people are wiser than to listen. And let us hope further that this bizarre strain of Christianity that makes anti-homosexuality its highest sacrament soon runs its course so that people of faith may again be associated with the loving, forgiveness and compassion that we, struggling sinners all, owe our fellow man, sharing as we all do in a gift of redemption to which we could barely aspire but which Christ freely gave in His finest of miracles.
posted by gbarto at 3:35 AM Sunday, August 28, 2005Another Victory In Store for the Signage Industry?Cicero points to an idiocy that is one part California AG Bill Lockyer's, one part the citizens' of California. At issue, are French fries carcinogenic? Here's a clue: In a universe with entropy, everything's carcinogenic because anything we come in contact with is part of the process that makes our systems ultimately go off the rails. The real question is how carcinogenic. The answer to that is that we don't know. Historically, people didn't live long enough to die from cancer because something went wrong on a larger scale before cellular aging and mutation could take their toll. It amazes me the fuss we make over things that might limit our lives to 75 years while yearning for the good old pre-chemical days when the lifespan was in the 40s. As to this idiocy, there are two parties: Bill Lockyer, the AG, is looking for a high-profile stand up for the people moment while Schwarzenegger's numbers are down. There are any number of problems he could take on instead; there are any number of other times he could have saved us from the perils of French fries. He's an opportunistic idiot. The second party to the idiocy is the folks who support all the "save us from everything" nonsense that is so popular nationwide, but especially in California. One day, I'm taking a camera into a department store so all the non-Californians can see how we waste money and trees in order to shut up so-called consumer advocates: If you go into a Ross, or a Marshall's, or even more upscale places, the landscape is dotted with 5 x 3 signs reading: "Prop. 65 Warning: There are chemicals present that have been determined to be carcinogenic by the State of California" or similar language. Rather than fussing with idiots like Lockyer, some stores have posted the signs on, I kid you not, every other aisle endcap. If Chopra's ideas about attention are right, we're all going to die of cancer out here because you can't go shopping without the word "cancer" being thrummed into your subconscious. Now we're going to teach the kiddies to associate McDonald's with cancer and sell a few more signs? Just what California needs. I wonder how many children with leukemia we could treat with the money spent buying the signs, posting the signs and enforcing their posting. They always want to spend the money for B1 bombers on health insurance for the homeless. If that's a real topic, then it's also high time to think through how much good can't be done because of money wasted on idiotic do-gooder labeling initiatives. By the way, if you read the papers, you know about the French fry thing now. If you don't, you're not likely to read the label at McDonald's either. Either way, Bill Lockyer should shut up and sit down.
posted by gbarto at 12:29 PM Everything you ever wanted to know about aircraft engine types over at Chizumatic, where Den Beste's been pondering real-life aircraft and the fantastic flying machines of anime. The post is: 20050824. Short bit: Porco shoots up the rear engine, and the little girls shout "Oh no, we're going to crash!" The gunner says, "No, we won't; we have another engine!" But the little girls were right; Porco also shot up both radiators, and the front engine's coolant was draining away fast. That sucker was going down...Interesting stuff.
posted by gbarto at 11:43 AM Time To Sell Your UPS? On August 19, I ordered a CD from Barnes and Noble in Campbell, CA. They said it was for home shipment only. I said that was fine. On August 23, the package shipped from New York. On August 25, UPS apparently started looking for directions. That's what the UPS web site says: DIRECTIONS TO THE RECEIVER'S LOCATION ARE NEEDED FOR DELIVERY. UPS IS ATTEMPTING TO OBTAIN THIS INFORMATION.For some reason, though, they didn't bother to call the contact number associated with the shipment. Or at least they didn't leave a message. They also apparently didn't ask the drivers who have brought at least a half-dozen boxes to the address in the last year. Instead, they mailed a postcard - on the 26th. The post card arrived on August 27 - it only took one day! - and asked me to pick up the package in Sunnyvale, CA. Distance from my home to the Campbell Barnes and Noble: 14.1 miles (26 minutes) Distance from my home to the UPS pick-up: 26.6 miles (40 minutes) (according to Yahoo maps) That's service! There was also an 800 number to call to update your shipment. According to the machine, at 10 a.m. California time on Sunday, they were experiencing high call volume and couldn't take my call. They asked me to call back later. Wouldn't it be nice if the message just said, "We pretty much shut down Sundays, if there's a problem with your shipment, we're sure it can wait an extra day"? Hurray for the U.S. mail? I know that there can be a lot of hassles in the shipping biz, and I shouldn't be too severe with UPS, but there's a contrast to be shown here. On August 21, I ordered a CD from Amazon. On August 22, it left Richmond, VA. And on August 25, the US Postal Service deposited it in my mailbox. Is the USPS really more on the ball than UPS? Well, you'll have to ask them why they used the U.S. mail to find me when they couldn't. As for me, I'll be calling UPS tomorrow at their convenience (which already makes me think I might as well have been dealing with the U.S. mail) to straighten this out, while doing my best not to suggest they could have mailed the CD instead of the postcard and we wouldn't need to be talking.
posted by gbarto at 9:50 AM |
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