Bear- The thing about tornadoes, is that there was absolutely no way that you can predict where they are going. Anyhow, I am glad that you got through your travails in good shape.
BTW, how are you feeling?
Phoenix32890 wrote:
I don't know how much this offer came from real generosity on Castro's part, or that he was just attempting to embarrass the US.
Somehow I felt right from the beginning that this was probably Castro's main objective.
I'm sure Castro's generous offer was made partly out of a desire to embarrass the United States, but that's not difficult considering recent history between the two countries.
Geography...Well of course you can be forgiven for not knowing were London is. Its in Ohio. My problem would be locating Ohio. But even thats not too difficult given a high speed modem
Thomas wrote:Walter Hinteler wrote: In the light of the disaster, immediately after the devastating storm surge of 1953, first steps of the works begun which is known as the 'Delta Project'.
Today's New York Times has an article about it. This is how it starts:
Quote:On a cold winter night in 1953, the Netherlands suffered a terrifying blow as old dikes and seawalls gave way during a violent storm.
Flooding killed nearly 2,000 people and forced the evacuation of 70,000 others. Icy waters turned villages and farm districts into lakes dotted with dead cows.
Ultimately, the waters destroyed more than 4,000 buildings.
The plight of New Orleans has also prompted The Netherlands to review anti-flood measures in regions below sea level to ensure they would be adequate in an emergency: they do.
Phoenix32890 wrote:http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/09/05/katrina.cuba/
Quote:HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) -- Cuban President Fidel Castro told more than 1,500 doctors Sunday night that American officials had made "absolutely no response" to his offer to send them to the U.S. Gulf Coast to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Castro, a longtime adversary of the United States, initially offered to send 1,100 doctors and at least 26 tons of supplies and equipment, but the Communist leader announced Sunday during a televised speech that he had increased the number of physicians to 1,586. Each doctor would carry about 27 pounds of medicine.
"You could all be there right now lending your services, but 48 hours have passed since we made this offer, and we have received absolutely no response," Castro said at Havana's Palace of the Revolution
That certainly is a "sticky wicket". IMO, if the US can handle the problem themselves, and with their allies, they should stay away from accepting help from Cuba.
I don't know how much this offer came from real generosity on Castro's part, or that he was just attempting to embarrass the US.
If the help is needed, why not accept it. Picking and choosing who should help is rather short sighted. Then again, even Canada's offer of help was refused.
Well, besides some 25 tons of food, all other German offered (and already send) help was refused as well - although the US ambassador here had asked for it on Sunday!!!
(Which lead to an enormous decrease of money donations (which were already lower than with the tsunami catastrophy.)
As one who lived in New Orleans, there are thousands upon thousands of people down there who are living in old shotgun houses and use public transportation cause they dont really need cars . The shape of New Orleans (on the river bend), has led to the saying that
"Nawlins is the only city where you can meet up with yourself No matter where you wanna go, you will be back in the same spot where you started after a bus ride or a brisk walk".
The original question posed is ridiculous. Ive been away for a few days so Im only catching up and I will read earlier posts. If Amsterdam or Dhaka, ot Alexandria were wiped out by flood (or San Fran or LA wiped out by quakes), Im sure noone would consider NOT REBUILDING. NAwlins is a precious piece of the South and theres no place like it. To even post such a consideration should have been met with a firm "Yeh we are gonna rebuild, just get outta the way if you cant help".
Most of NAwlins, was originally on high ground( the French quarter has been mostly spared even after this).However, Years of sediment starvation and pumping brine has lowered certain areas so that the levees at lake Pontchartrain(and spruced up levees over the natural river levees) were necessary, especially after the "BIG one" of the late 1920's. However, the insides of many of the lake levees were just full of unselected rubble and were not stable . They needed reinforcing and , in some cases, rebuilding
The resulting loss of life in New Orleans is , to me, a continuing evidence of the inability of the present administration to "get it". We are being led by incompetence , and this incompetence doesnt appear to be educable.
Prior to the storm,Congress wrote, and GEorgeII signed, a pork laden Hiway bill that included a large piece of tripe for a major bridge spanning a series of unpopulated islands in ALaska, yet, for the last 3 years, needed repairs to the Pontchartrain levees were deferred and found "unneeded" ,even though engineering models from LSU and Tulanes water resources centers clearly showed that this side of the city was a time bomb. Now we will have a huge bill to rebuild.We need some people in places of influence in DC who can translate to the boobs that run the show that "some sort of emergency planning is required, and we dont seem to have learned a cup of spit from the 9/11 attacks".
Heard a report by a German radio journalist, who accomponied a US-Marines helicopter all day long yesterday.
The commander of that helicopter (a major, who had been until Staurday with his crew in Iraq) said [transscripted]:
"... Quite a few are angry, because the seem to think, the government - we - didn't help enough, although we flight 24 on 24. ... They like these German food better than our own stuff, which we can't deliver plenty enough. I don't know, why we didn't want more or don't get more."
source: live report on WDR2 at September, 6, 12:18 UTC
Farmerman I wondered where you were, as this strikes me as a situation where you have expertise and I was looking forward to your input.
Can you pop over here and bless me with some of your knowledge? thanks
http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=58944&highlight=
Phoenix32890 wrote:Intrepid wrote:If the help is needed, why not accept it.
Apparently the US and her allies are all pitching in, so that Castro's help would not be necessary. It would be very short sighted to accept help from a country with which there has been so much hostility over the last few decades. The diplomatic ramifications would be quite serious.
Perhaps this would be an opportunity to use diplomatic ramifications to change things. To me, that is not short sighted, it is the right thing to do.
Intrepid- Personally, I think that the government is right about Cuba. One does not deal with a police state.
It would be a tremendous opportunity to show that we consider ourselves human beings not superpeople and soften our arrogant image worldwide, which is course is exactly why that avenue won't be pursued.
Nope.....not even gonna mention Iraq
"The diplomatic ramifications would be quite serious."
best to avoid any goodwill breaking out
Phoenix32890 wrote:Intrepid- Personally, I think that the government is right about Cuba. One does not deal with a police state.
And what about the other coutries? Not all are "police states". (Germany doesn't even have a Homeland Security!)
Phoenix, its really difficult to understand what it is that Fidel Castro has done to upset America. He has seen off so many US presidents, and so many attempts to kill him you have to admire the man. Who was President at the time of the Revolution? George Washington or was it Eisenhower?
Then Kennedy
Johnson
Nixon
Ford
Carter
Reagan
Bush snr
Clinton
Bush jnr
Fidel has blown cigar smoke in all their faces
Steve- If you admire Castro, there is nothing more that I can say to you. I don't.
Sure, he has been around through many US presidencies. He is a dictator. A dictator rules, through force, until either is killed, dies, or overthrown. And THAT is what you consider admirable?
