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Gone with the Water

From an article in the October 2004 issue of National Geographic magazine:

It was a broiling August afternoon in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Big Easy, the City That Care Forgot. Those who ventured outside moved as if they were swimming in tupelo honey. Those inside paid silent homage to the man who invented air-conditioning as they watched TV "storm teams" warn of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing surprising there: Hurricanes in August are as much a part of life in this town as hangovers on Ash Wednesday.

But the next day the storm gathered steam and drew a bead on the city. As the whirling maelstrom approached the coast, more than a million people evacuated to higher ground. Some 200,000 remained, however?the car-less, the homeless, the aged and infirm, and those die-hard New Orleanians who look for any excuse to throw a party.

Sound familiar? Read on:

Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

Fortunately the casualty rate doesn't seem to be this high for NOLA, but the rest sounds spot on.

When did this calamity happen? It hasn't?yet. But the doomsday scenario is not far-fetched. The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation, up there with a large earthquake in California or a terrorist attack on New York City. Even the Red Cross no longer opens hurricane shelters in the city, claiming the risk to its workers is too great.

Pretty good for a year in advance. Imagine what would have happened if the Louisiana state government, and the City of New Orleans had made some realistic emergency plans based on this sort of projection.

Like it should have been their priority, since they're the ones directly on the scene - right? As it turned out, wrong!

I hear people saying we don't need this warI say there's some things worth fighting forWhat about our freedom and this piece of groundWe didn't get to keep 'em by backing downThey say we don't realize the mess we're getting...

Rick Rescorla Was a Soldier

If you were to tread one post for 9-11, the Chief suggests strongly that this would be the one! Rick Resorla was security head for Morgan Stanley in the WTC. He predicted an attack on the building through the parking garage before it happened. After security on that was beefed up, he actually predicted air attack via crashing airliners as the next method to be used.

As if that isn't enough, there is an exceptional record of service and heroism in the life of this Cornwall born naturalized American that is well worth remembering as exemplifying the best. He served with distinction in the Royal Army, and then in the US Army 7th Cav in Viet-nam.

Check Greyhawk's post in the Mudville Gazette out - it's well worth it. Check out the links there, and don't forget to sign the petition for Rick to get the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

UPDATE: History Channel tonight running an excellent program "THE MAN WHO PREDICTED 9-11" - about Rick Rescorla. By the way, you can see Rick Rescorla's picture on the cover of the book We Were Soldiers Once, and Young.

A Soldier, indeed.

From Pat Buchanan: Katrina has exposed the limits of federal power and the absence of a serious set of national priorities. In New Orleans, those who relied on government ? the New Orleans police, the mayor, Gov. Blanco, FEMA ?...

CSPAN's In Depth program from Book TV has now video archived the Harvey Mansfield show from this past weekend. Sure it's three hours long, but while the interview starts slowly (my kingdom for Brian Lamb!) you soon find out why...

Bush Administration Wins Appeal on Padilla

In a victory for the Bush administration, a federal appeals court ruled Friday that the government can continue to hold indefinitely an American accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb."

This decision is fully in line with long-standing precedent where US citizens who had been engaged as enemy combatants in WW-I and WW-II were held as POW's without any access or recourse to the civilian judicial system. Any other outcome would also be insane from the viewpoint of national security.

"The exceedingly important question before us is whether the President of the United States possesses the authority to detain militarily a citizen of this country who is closely associated with al-Qaida, an entity with which the United States is at war," Judge J. Michael Luttig wrote. "We conclude that the President does possess such authority."

This decision also happens to highlight a judge who may go to SCOTUS. This would be a welcome addition to them:

Luttig, who has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court, was joined in his opinion by Judges M. Blane Michael and William B. Traxler Jr.

Kaus has it about right: Sure, the Bushies are using the federalism issue, and Louisiana's potentially bruised feelings, as an excuse--especially when they talk about how "it would have been perceived" if Bush had seized control of the relief effort...

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