Milt Stevens, Simi Valley, CA, USA
A large part of Challenger #23 deals with the aftermath of Katrina. Of course, the media had lots of coverage on Katrina, and nobody could doubt it was a world class disaster. However, the media coverage only lasted between one and two weeks before they got bored and went away. The articles in Challenger get the idea across that this is an ongoing disaster. It didn’t just end in two weeks. I suppose it might be compared to the Blitz in London where bodies were being discovered for years afterward. Except that the citizens of London had more chance to prepare for it.
As far as FEMA’s incompetence is concerned, it isn’t exactly a new thing or limited to the Bush administration. Elsewhere I’ve explained why I think, FEMA was never worth anything. I first became aware of them after the 1994 earthquake in Los Angeles. They arrived with a whole bunch of people and a whole bunch of equipment. Some of their gear was pretty good. At one location my colleagues and I visited, they had all sorts of boxed equipment like about 50 PCs, color printers, plotters, etc. None of their people knew how to connect any of it, and this was in the pre-LAN era. We offered to set the whole place up in exchange for a couple of PCs and a color printer. They declined our offer, and as far as I know, they never got their computers set up.
A couple of years later, FEMA came back with a bunch of money to loan to people with earthquake damage in South-Central Los Angeles. The epicenter of the 1994 quake was in the Northwestern San Fernando Valley. That’s a long way from South-Central, and there wasn’t any earthquake damage in South-Central. That didn’t even slow them down. Once they had determined to loan money, they were going to loan money no matter what. By analogy, I suppose you can expect FEMA to show up in Shreveport in a couple of years with lots of money to loan. Take it, it’s cheap money.
As Greg Benford says, science has become the emblem of truth in our society. From studying the commercials, I have noticed this has even had an influence on cat food. There is a cat food named Science Diet. They say it has all the nutrients every cat needs. Unfortunately, it has one minor problem. Cats won’t eat it. There seems to be a difference between the nutrients cats need and the nutrients cats want. I can sort of see the problem. I don’t like all the stuff I’m supposed to eat any better than the cat does. Even at that, science has enlightened us in a way. Now I can share a pizza with a cat knowing that it is equally bad for both of us.
Joe Green gives an interesting account of five days with John W. Campbell. His article made me realize something I hadn’t thought of before. Campbell was only 61 when he died. When I was John Campbell’s age I’d already been dead for two years. That’s a sobering thought.
As far as FEMA’s incompetence is concerned, it isn’t exactly a new thing or limited to the Bush administration. Elsewhere I’ve explained why I think, FEMA was never worth anything. I first became aware of them after the 1994 earthquake in Los Angeles. They arrived with a whole bunch of people and a whole bunch of equipment. Some of their gear was pretty good. At one location my colleagues and I visited, they had all sorts of boxed equipment like about 50 PCs, color printers, plotters, etc. None of their people knew how to connect any of it, and this was in the pre-LAN era. We offered to set the whole place up in exchange for a couple of PCs and a color printer. They declined our offer, and as far as I know, they never got their computers set up.
A couple of years later, FEMA came back with a bunch of money to loan to people with earthquake damage in South-Central Los Angeles. The epicenter of the 1994 quake was in the Northwestern San Fernando Valley. That’s a long way from South-Central, and there wasn’t any earthquake damage in South-Central. That didn’t even slow them down. Once they had determined to loan money, they were going to loan money no matter what. By analogy, I suppose you can expect FEMA to show up in Shreveport in a couple of years with lots of money to loan. Take it, it’s cheap money.
As Greg Benford says, science has become the emblem of truth in our society. From studying the commercials, I have noticed this has even had an influence on cat food. There is a cat food named Science Diet. They say it has all the nutrients every cat needs. Unfortunately, it has one minor problem. Cats won’t eat it. There seems to be a difference between the nutrients cats need and the nutrients cats want. I can sort of see the problem. I don’t like all the stuff I’m supposed to eat any better than the cat does. Even at that, science has enlightened us in a way. Now I can share a pizza with a cat knowing that it is equally bad for both of us.
Joe Green gives an interesting account of five days with John W. Campbell. His article made me realize something I hadn’t thought of before. Campbell was only 61 when he died. When I was John Campbell’s age I’d already been dead for two years. That’s a sobering thought.
Indeed.
posted by ;-p at 4:19 PM
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