Common sense vs government

Another thing about government: something happens to people, perfectly normal people, when they work for the government. It seems like common sense is gradually driven out of them. They do things that, to the layman, seem almost inexplicable.

Here's an example. 1,000 firemen who headed towards New Orleans after the Mayor asked for help have been waylaid by FEMA. From the Salt Lake Tribune

The firefighters, several of whom are from Utah, were told to bring backpacks, sleeping bags, first-aid kits and Meals Ready to Eat. They were told to prepare for "austere conditions." Many of them came with awkward fire gear and expected to wade in floodwaters, sift through rubble and save lives.

"They've got people here who are search-and-rescue certified, paramedics, haz-mat certified," said a Texas firefighter. "We're sitting in here having a sexual-harassment class while there are still [victims] in Louisiana who haven't been contacted yet."

Again, my mouth is hanging open in disbelief.

End of small government?

The other night Jeremy Paxman asked the panel if the response to Hurricane Katrina meant the era of big (see below) small government is over. It took me a few seconds to push my tongue back and close my mouth. What? Government's bureaucratically bogged down response to a major disaster is an endorsement for its greater involvement in the lives of its citizens?

Protecting the citizens is government's primary function. That means protecting the citizens from foreign enemies, home-grown criminals and, as far as possible, nature. It seems to me that the question should be, "Have we imposed so many other burdens on government that it can no longer fulfill its primary function"?

Bill Gates runs a fairly successful software company. How would he do if he were put in charge of a furniture manufacturing company? Maybe he wouldn't be so successful. Maybe he's only be good managing in the software industry. It's possible and I think many people would agree that it's possible.

So, why do we believe we can find people who can manage an organization responsible for defense, education, agriculture, parklands, etc.? Even at the state level this seems pretty much impossible, never mind at the Federal level. Isn't it time to ponder whether the era of big government is over?

UPDATE: 7:15 Sep 9 Thanks to a tip, I realize I mistakenly wrote "big" where I meant "small" in the first sentence above. Duh! That means the whole point I was trying to make was destroyed by my own mistake.

Americans blame . . .

If you read all of that poll data you'll see the only people Americans are really looking to blame for anything are the gas (petrol) companies. 79% of Americans think the gas companies are taking advantage of the hurricane to jack up the price of filling up the Chevrolet. You can always count on the American public.

Okay, I was having a bit of fun when I wrote that last paragraph, but there's a serious side here too. The American public is not looking to find fault with anyone because (a) the situation is still grave and (b) most people probably believe everyone's doing their best, even if they're not doing a great job. The gas companies, however, are perceived to be cashing in on what is a national crisis, which explains why more people find fault with them than anyone directly involved in the relief effort.

Who's responsible?

A new Gallop poll indicates that the American public is not fully tuned into the "It's Bush's fault" mantra.

Who do you think is MOST responsible for the problems in New Orleans after the hurricane?

	George W. Bush	Federal agencies	State/ local officials	No one to blame	No opinion
2005 Sep 5-6	13%	18	25	38	6

Good God! Just 13%. I would almost guarantee that a poll here would find that a greater percentage blame Bush for the hurricane, never mind the relief effort failures.

(New) Folsom Prison Blues

I sort of missed this one thanks to Katrina. Police in California have arrested 4 committed Islamists who planned on attacking the United States government, the Israeli government and local synagogues in the Los Angeles area.

The potential for carnage was great, said Randy Parsons, the acting assistant director in charge of the FBI in Los Angeles.

"Had these individuals gone undetected, their plan had the potential to inflict significant casualties within the city and county of Los Angeles."

Investigators found evidence at the homes of Washington and Patterson that showed intended targets included the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles, the El-Al Airlines offices at LAX, Los Angeles area military installations, synagogues and locations where events were planned for the upcoming Jewish high holy days.

And, these men were Americans. Not agents from abroad, but three American citizens and one green card holder. This all started at the New Folsom Prison in California, according to Daniel Pipes.

American prisons are comparable to the banlieues in France, the principal recruiting grounds for a criminal form of Islam. As Frank Gaffney observes, "The alleged New Folsom State plot had better rouse us out of our stupor." Will it? Senate hearings in 2003 on prison jihadism yielded distressingly few results.

This arrest sounds like a warning that a category 5 hurricane is heading towards the US, but it could hit any city any time. I hope the government does a better job tracking this one.

{Found through Warren Bell's post at the Corner.}

Helping America

John O'Shea is not happy that the Irish government is sending troops (along with €1m) to the US to help with hurricane relief efforts. He has a point, which is essentially that the US doesn't really need Ireland's help. Despite everything that has gone wrong with the relief effort, I think it's pretty obvious that the US will cope far better than the many African countries that O'Shea has spent his life trying to help.

I saw news clips of British planes heading to the US with meals ready to eat (MRE's), which makes sense to me. There are hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the US and it's possible that the supply of MRE's to hand would be insufficient. I read that Germany is sending pumps, which look like they could be of some use in New Orleans. And, it's possible that the water treatment equipment Ireland is sending could be truly needed, I don't know.

However, from what we've seen over the past ten days, the help the US really needed from the EU was mediation. Some of those Norwegians who helped broker the Oslo Accords might have been able to bring their skills to bear and get the various levels of government in America to work together.

Magic marker strategy

Here's a plan for dealing with people who don't want to evacuate.

Mr. Judkins is one of the officials in charge of evacuating the Hampton Roads region around Newport News, Va. These coastal communities, unlike New Orleans, are not below sea level, but they're much better prepared for a hurricane. Officials have plans to run school buses and borrow other buses to evacuate those without cars, and they keep registries of the people who need special help.

Instead of relying on a "Good Samaritan" policy - the fantasy in New Orleans that everyone would take care of the neighbors - the Virginia rescue workers go door to door. If people resist the plea to leave, Mr. Judkins told The Daily Press in Newport News, rescue workers give them Magic Markers and ask them to write their Social Security numbers on their body parts so they can be identified.

"It's cold, but it's effective," Mr. Judkins explained.

I thought the whole article was good.

{Found through NRO}

Benefits of Iraq war

Guardsman Jason believes that the National Guard's response to Hurricane Katrina has been great and, in fact, better thanks to having been used in Iraq.

I would argue that despite the absence of part of the LAARNG in Iraq, the overall quality of the response, and the rapidity with which it was able to be delivered, is perhaps BETTER as a result of the war in Iraq. And our nation benefits indirectly from the leadership and logistics lessons learned by our National Guard officers and NCOs as a result of their widespread deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Kudos to the LAARNG for not going in prematurely. This is one operation where you absolutely needed overwhelming force, and to go in like a bolt of lightning. Good work, brothers and sisters.

We were all too "emotional", as Condoleezza Rice said. The past day or so I've been wondering if the eventual evaluation of the relief effort might show that it was far better than the current accepted wisdom. Jason obviously thinks so.

Chernobyl - not so bad after all

It seems that the effects of the Chernobyl disaster have not been as bad as had been feared. This morning's NY Times reports that a new study indicates that

contrary to previous forecasts, there had been no observed rise in the incidence of leukemia, a blood cancer widely associated with radiation exposure - except for a small increase among workers who were in the contaminated plant. Nor has there been the expected detectable decrease in fertility or increase in birth defects.

This has serious implications for people like Adi Roche. The report recommends cutting back on all the benefits that have flooded into the region because these have become "a major barrier to the region's recovery".

[S]even million people in what are now Russia, Ukraine and Belarus still receive some kind of Chernobyl benefits, from monthly stipends to university entrance preference to therapeutic annual vacations.

Surely it makes little sense to continue with the Chernobyl Children's Project in the face of this request to wind it up. Yet, I can imagine that this will be very difficult to accept if you've spent the past 15 years working on these projects.

One thing that could have been done

I've been thinking about this a lot the past day or two. Someone should have gone into New Orleans to wait with the people in the Superdome (or the Convention Center, whatever). I don't think the Mayor was in the Superdome and I know the Governor wasn't. It would have been better to have a political leader's spouse as they weren't needed to lead the relief effort. Ideally, Laura Bush should have gone in to live with those people as they were living, vowing not to leave until the last citizens of New Orleans were on their way.

I know this is fantasy and after the fact, but imagine how the situation would have been transformed if Laura Bush was living in the same awful conditions. It would have put paid to all this talk of race and government not caring. Mrs. Bush's presence would have not been simply a political stunt, although Bush's ratings would be in the 80s if Laura Bush had been in the Superdome. It would have sent a signal to everyone in New Orleans that all of America cared and that help would be there as fast as possible. It may well have defused much of the anger that is not helping the relief at all.

Refugees?

I was watching Meet the Press yesterday and the former Mayor of New Orleans, Marc Morial, objected to the use of the word "refugee" for those needing help in New Orleans (& elsewhere, presumably). Other black leaders have also raised the same objection.

Watson and others also took issue with the word "refugee" being used to describe hurricane victims.

"'Refugee' calls up to mind people that come from different lands and have to be taken care of. These are American citizens," Watson said.

Added Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md.: "They are not refugees. I hate that word."

For what it's worth I heard Rush Limbaugh object to the use of the word refugee on Thursday or Friday of last week. At least we have some agreement on the issue, which is probably not the most crucial at this time.

I've used the word without thinking that there was any "color" connotations. Although most of the refugees we've seen in recent years have been either African or Asian (post-Tsunami), I remember the word being used fairly often during the wars in former Yugoslavia during the 1990s.

I (and many others) have been misusing the word. The definition requires some political dimension for a person to be a refugee. According to Dictionary.com a refugee is, "one who flees in search of refuge, as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution". Merriam-Webster Online says, "one that flees; especially : a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution".

Again, it's not the most pressing issue.

Knackeragua

Whatever about black political leaders raising the issue of race with regards to the relief effort, I'm outraged when I hear it or read it here. All that sanctimony that just shouts, "we're better than those people". Well, I don't think so.

The editorial in today's Irish Examiner, is a great example of this.

Could the fact that the population of New Orleans is predominantly both black and poor explain why the city's anti-flood defences were ill-prepared?

You want to suggest that poor areas are more prone to suffer in natural disasters, I'm ready to listen. But, to suggest that the people of the United States are so bigoted that they'd deliberately allow their fellow citizens suffer and die because they're black is outrageous. I'm sure there'll be a lengthy inquiry into why those levees failed on Tuesday, but I'm just as sure that the issue of the skin color of the people of New Orleans will not feature. Poverty? Probably, but not race.

I know that the United States has struggled with racial issues. And, despite the progress in the 20th century, race is still a problem, but it's nothing like it was and I'm not sure it was ever as bad as is suggested in this question.

What's more, is that Irish people have their own prejudices. Okay, maybe the people aren't black, but I've heard more than one middle class Dubliner refer to "knackeragua" (or whatever) when talking about the tough, poor urban neighborhoods. To outsiders it may be difficult to distinguish between the people who live in these areas from the rest of the city's population, but one thing I've learned is that middle class Dubliners can as sure as if the others were a different skin color. They can tell by the look, the style or the walk when someone comes from one of those neighborhoods they never venture into.

If there were a disaster that wiped out the social infrastructure on the east coast of Ireland, I'm sure those who live in "knackeragua" would suffer most. It's unfortunate, but true.

It's not because they're black

When I hear a black Congresswoman say that the relief effort is failing the people in New Orleans because they're black, I wince, but I'm sure she's wrong. The government - local/state/federal - has failed the people of New Orleans, but not because they're black.

I thought Secretary of State Rice said it best yesterday.

"That Americans would somehow, in a color—affected way, decide who to help and who not to help—I just don't believe it,"

. . . Rice said of any racial implications: "I think everybody's very emotional. It's hard to watch pictures of any American going through this. And yes, the African-American community has obviously been very heavily affected."

It is distressing and the government - at all levels - has, for whatever reason, failed. However, I'm sure the reason has nothing to do with race.

Levee fiefdoms

In for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose. I'm going to further erode my credentials as a strict states rights supporter.

In The Corner yesterday, there was an e-mail from Politics & Government teacher from a Louisiana college. He was talking about who owns and is in charge of the levees.

Rather [than] one agency that is in charge of flood prevention, there are scores. Building in redundancies would have required more boards, which would have lessened the political power of those on the existing boards. I seriously doubt that even now, after this catastrophe, that we in Louisiana will see this system change because the structure is mandated by the Louisiana Constitution. Any change requires not just statewide approval, but must also be approved by a majority of voter in Orleans Parish. Given how many local politicians whose fiefdoms would disappear, that will not happen, and so we will see this disaster occur again.

Let me say right now that if the Federal taxpayer is going to rebuild the city of New Orleans he also better become the sole owner of those levees. There can be no more fiefdoms and other sources of confusion.

Ideology

Some of what I've read on the internet, including one or two comments below here, have me shaking my head. The local/state vs federal government issue is NOT important right now. What's important is that some government body take command and restore order and guarantee the safety of the people of the Gulf Coast region. That has got to be the Federal Government. Some of what I've read reminds me of the attitude of those who insisted laisser faire would resolve the Irish famine.

I believe in states rights and limited government, but this is a catastrophe. Who (beyond mother nature) caused this catastrophe can wait until the crisis has passed. Whether fit individuals in New Orleans (& elsewhere) are doing enough for themselves is also irrelevant now. All those people need to be evacuated now. This is not the time to be claiming the ideological moral high ground.

"Category 4"

Hurricane Katrina was described as a Category 4 hurricane by the National Hurricane Center. Yesterday I saw a home video of New Orleans during the storm made by a storm chaser. During the filming you could hear the guy say (from memory), "This is a category 4? I was in Hurricane Charley last year and that was a category 4, but compared with this that was really just like chasing a thunderstorm. This one is huge."

I wonder if the classification system itself is lacking and that this may have contributed to the lack of preparedness. If you read this page from the NHC you'll see no mention of the breadth of the storm. There has to be some explanation for the vast difference between Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Charley.

Chaos in New Orleans

I don't know the geography of the New Orleans area, but reading this blog gives a good idea that the problems are definitely wider spread than what we're seeing on t.v. The camera crews are pretty restricted.

I'm sort of surprised to read that people in the Algiers section have working phones.

We've all seen the signs hanging from some buildings asking for help. However, it seems some people in some buildings won't hang signs for fear of notifying the marauders that they're there.

My niece along with at least 15 others are trapped in their apartment building in New Orleans. They are mostly students at Loyola, Tulane, etc, who were not evacuated. There is at least one elderly couple in the building who may last much longer; my niece reported that they've stopped eating and they are very concerned. We have not heard from our niece since the hurricane, except as they were able to scavenge for food and water, they found a working cellphone, and that is how we know that for now, they are alive. They don't think that anyone knows that they are there. They cannot go out to get help, because there has been several incidents of shooting/looting in the area. My niece is not from the area, and has only been there for the last two weeks; she just started law school at Loyola. She reported to us that the building looks vacant, and they are afraid to hang signs out because of the looting.

Time to crack heads

I'm not sure if there's a word in this Washington Times editorial that I disagre with. Here's my favorite part:

The government must treat the battlefield of Katrina as it would any other field of engagement: Protect and provide for the innocent and eliminate the enemy, and do it now, before we lose New Orleans. Send the 40,000 troops Gov. Kathleen Blanco has requested. If looters fire on the troops, the troops should answer with suppressing fire. If the United States can project power anywhere in the world in a matter of hours, it can defend New Orleans and the coast of Mississippi.

Overwhelmed

The more I see and read of the Gulf Coast the more I don't know what to think. It's almost the complete opposite (for me, anyway) of what happened on September 11. On September 11, it all started with fright and confusion that gradually gave way to a calm acceptance of what had happened and what had to be done.

In this case it just seems to get worse by the hour. What started out as a wet and windy storm has now exploded beyond anything I would have imagined. Civil order is only hanging on in New Orleans, there are refugees (refugees - in America!) walking out of the city, and there is still no communication at all with people in some areas.

I can't come up with a single acceptable explanation for anyone in the city of New Orleans to be without food, water and shelter by the end of today. Federal troops, national guardsmen, police from other jurisdictions all should be employed to restore order and provide supplies. This is the third day now. How long can it take? Commandeer trucks and planes if necessary, but get supplies and personnel there.

Racist?

According to a report in today's Irish Examiner, parts of the post-primary education system are 'institutionally racist'. This is the the finding of a Trinity College Master's Degree Student. First of all, I'm not sure why a student's thesis is news. I don't remember any news coverage when I "published" my thesis in 1992 nor did any of my classmates' theses make headlines. But, whatever.

Let's look at Joe O'Brien's thesis. "The research was carried out among 18 teacher educators from five university education departments". So, what we have (and all we have) are the views of 18 college lecturers. No immigrants themselves seem to have been part of this. Here's what 9 of those lecturers identified as evidence of institutional racism:

• A limited view of Irish identity in the curriculum.
• A predominantly Christian influence in schools.
• Inadequate English language provision to non-Irish students.
• The compulsory study of Irish language.
• A lack of support for the mother tongue of students.

Now, where in any of these is there any "racism"? Okay, possibly in the first item, but after that? The Christian influence? What? I see loads of Nigerians and Filipinos at Mass every Sunday. If anything, the Christian influence acts as a brake on racism.

Inadequate English language provision? Lack of support for the mother tongue of students? The compulsory study of Irish? Surely Latvians, Poles, Romanians, Spaniards and other "white" non-nationals face these same difficulties.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not really trying to get on Mr. O'Brien's case. I haven't actually seen his paper. My problem is with the Examiner. Shouldn't they be a little more cautious when tossing around words like "racist"? I don't think there's any doubt that Ireland is only really coming to grips with the influx of non-nationals. I'm sure the education system is struggling a bit. But, institutional racism? Gimme a break. A student, 18 lecturers and possibly an agenda is a pretty flimsy basis for such a charge.