FIRE Vs. FLOOD: US Response
California National Guard and California-based active duty personnel are providing some of the muscle needed to contain the fires, which have driven more than 500,000 people from their homes in 12 counties of California.
Left: Another amazing shot of the - the red dots show where infrared imagers spotted intense heat on the ground - fire.
Sheriff's officials said at least 346,000 homes in San Diego County have been evacuated.
Officials at the National Inter Agency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, are working with representatives from U.S. Northern Command to coordinate requests for Defense Department personnel and assets. Northern Command officials also have people working in Southern California directly with local authorities.
Half a million Californians have been ordered to evacuate their homes and flee the spreading wildfires blazing across southern California Tuesday.
Left: NASA's Earth-observing satellites have been snapping pictures this week of the devastating wildfires that have scorched southern California and burned hundreds out of their homes.
FEMA Administrator David Paulison said that the President's action authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, and lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.
Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding.
Left: Modular airborne firefighting system Air Force Reserve Command and Air National Guard aircrews flying C-130 Hercules aircraft, similar to this one, equipped with modular airborne firefighting systems, or MAFFS, are deploying to California to fight wildfires. The aircraft can drop up to 3000 gallons of retardant covering an area one-quarter of a mile long and 60 feet wide.
Paulison named Michael J. Hall as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.
"We have the money flowing, we have assets going there," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Tuesday on MSNBC." Speaking at a White House briefing Tuesday afternoon, Perino said the administration is communicating "better and earlier" with relevant authorities about the fires, a lesson learned from its response to Hurricane Katrina.
The White House was criticized by some for a slow response to the hurricane when it struck the Gulf Coast in 2005.
What if we put this huge effort in California in the context of global tragedies or even against Katrina? Does the tragedy in California surpass the suffering and carnage of New Orleans or three million dead Congolese, or a million dead Iraqis, or 300, 000 in Darfur, or a hundred years of Palestinian oppression, etcetera? How many more millions have been displaced around the world and forced to flee from their homes in recent years - if not from war because of the encroachment of capital?
Nearly a dozen separate blazes were burning last night across the drought-parched region, fueled by gale-force winds and scorching temperatures.
The devastation wrought by nature is often without the control of man. It is therefore, not preventable in many instances. Still, does a natural phenomenon make its occurrence more tragic than the carnage created by the greed, power and hatred of man?
Left: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was briefed and held a Press Conference on the Canyon Fire and other Los Angeles area fires. Other fires in the Los Angeles area include the Ranch Fire, Session Fire, Buckweed Fire and the October Incident in Los Angeles County; Sedgwick Fire in Santa Barbara County; and the Nightsky Incident in Ventura County.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor declared a state of emergency in seven counties and described the escalating crisis as a "tragedy" for the state.
Too bad we cannot just declare a "state of emergency" in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Palestine, or DRC, or Somalia, or Darfur, or Pakistan, or Central African Republic, or Chechnya, or Bosnia, or Sri Lanka, or Kosovo, or Haiti, or Kashmir, or Colombia, or Papua, or Indonesia, or Mali, or Niger, or Chad, or Mauritania, or Algeria, or Rwanda, or Uganda, or Djibouti, or Burundi, or Ivory Coast, or Sierra Leone, or Liberia, or Burma, or Kyrgyzstan and "evacuate" the people dying en masse. Just too bad isn't it?
The situation remains critical, fire officials say the 12 in-contained large fires have burned more than 335,000 acres. With evacuations underway, hundreds of homes and commercial buildings throughout the area have been damaged or destroyed. Hot, dry and gusty Santa Ana winds continue to be a challenge as firefighters work to contain these blazes.
Are we supposed to factor 500,000 and 335, 000 with some other numbers? How about 200 million divided by six? I am having trouble grasping it. I am trying to weigh the information, to judge the situation and ascertain the depth of the tragedy, but keep banging my head on the side of the monitor.
So I run it through my mind once more just to give the benefit of doubt to all those decrying this tragedy. Especially, because emotion is a quirky specie and there is no objective way of measuring it. Otherwise, how can one explain the pouring of amity to California as opposed to the lackadaisical reaction to New Orleans? Just can't understand these weird feelings and their sources.
However, the personal is not the universal. Do not let treatises and philosophical tracts fool you. It is all about base guts and us. Albeit, wars are mostly, removed - the people dying become mere statistics after a while - and become handy material in meeting publishing quota. War escapes and is beyond especially, when one has spent years dealing with the subject of death and destruction in an intellectual manner, never having actually, fired an M-16, Uzy or Kalashnikov - therefore, experienced as a far off process.
Intellectualizing pain and suffering, for instance of the Palestinians is fine and well. But smoke out my favorite Hollywood Honk and you'll have hell to pay. It's best to view the situation through the lens of modernity. These stars are akin of the prophets, saints and heroes of the past. The media of film, music and literature has replaced religion in modern times. It is therefore, appropriate to place such importance to this cadre of spirituality - fun and entertainment.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California Governor declared a state of emergency in seven counties and described the escalating crisis as a tragedy for the state.
"I thank President Bush for granting my request to declare a federal state of emergency in California. The people of California need all the help they can get at this tragic time and this action will allow our citizens to get the assistance they need."
The Governor sent a letter to President Bush requesting direct federal assistance, debris removal and emergency protective measures, including: firefighting, evacuation operations, and sheltering of displaced people and animals for the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura due to the Southern California wildfires.
Left: Chertoff Says FEMA is Prepared
But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the federal government learned a few lessons after critics blasted its slow response to the devastating 2005 hurricane.
"We sprang into action yesterday," Chertoff said at a brief press conference Tuesday, before departing Reagan Washington National Airport for Southern California.
"So we've been monitoring the situation continuously. The president's been on top of it. We've been on top of it. And we're going to continue to stay ahead of this, as far as we can."
We can be assured that the response to the afluent entertainment capital and myth making center of the US will not be treated in the same manner as New Orleans after it met its disaster and tragedy.
Left: "It was nuclear winter. It was like Armageddon. It looked like the end of the world," Mitch Mendler, a San Diego firefighter, said as he and his crew stopped at a shopping center parking lot to refill their water truck from a hydrant near a restaurant. "I lost count" of how many homes burned.
The fire did not spare the posh and exclusive sectors of the area. By Tuesday morning, more than 5000 acres in Malibu had burned including more than a dozen homes, a church and a luxury faux castle, part of a shopping mall and a fire station. This is sad, however it is dwarfed in comparison to the routine death and destruction facing so many crisis areas of the world. Yes, but!
But since this unfortunate incident involves American icons such as Mel Gibson, Tom and Rita Hanks, Goldie Hawn, Whoppie Goldberg, Tanya Tucker, Victoria Principal, Jennifer Aniston, Bill Murray, Cindy Crawford, Kelsey Grammer, David Charvet, Kurt Russell, Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges, Mel Brooks, Tatum O’Neal, Rob Reiner, Linda Ronstadt, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Sting, Mark Hamill, Olivia Newton-John, Sean Penn, Robin Wright Penn, David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Duchovny, James Cameron, Pamela Anderson, Val Kilmer, Jim Carrey and Diana Ross, well then let's be dramatic about it and add a little social context.
The residents understand the danger. They understand the importance of getting a head start or a jump on fires such as this that move very quickly and are erratic, so the residents there have been cooperating. Too darn bad we can't warn victims of wars in the same manner and "EVACUATE" them.
I have an idea. How about a new peace movement under the banner of "EVACUATE VICTIMS & ENEMIES NOW (EVEN)?" Then we can all say that we are EVEN!
WE'RE EVEN~!!!
"The devastation wrought by nature is often without the control of man. It is therefore, not preventable in many instances. Still, does a natural phenomenon make its occurrence more tragic than the carnage created by the greed, power and hatred of man?"
Fabulous quote!
No. Just the opposite, in my book.
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"Money" has no value - people do.
The wind damage and flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina focused on New Orleans, and especially on the people who had been unable to escape the city before it flooded. Images of poor and predominantly black people crowded into the Super-dome and Convention Center supported the impression that Katrina had disproportionately affected poor, black neighborhoods.
An survey of FEMA storm damage data shows that the storm’s impact was disproportionately borne by the region’s African American community, by people who rented their homes, and by the poor and unemployed.
1. More than a third of the region’s 1.7 million residents lived in areas that suffered flooding or moderate to catastrophic storm damage, according to FEMA. The majority of people living in damaged areas were in the City of New Orleans (over 350,000), with additional concentrations in suburban Jefferson Parish (175,000) and St. Bernard Parish (53,000) and along the Mississippi Coast (54,000).
2. In the region as a whole, the disparities in storm damage are shown in the following comparisons (arranged in order of the degree of disparity):
• By race. Damaged areas were 45.8% black, compared to 26.4% in undamaged areas.
• By housing tenure. 45.7% of homes in damaged areas were occupied by renters, compared to 30.9% in undamaged communities.
• By poverty and employment status. 20.9% of households had incomes below the poverty line in damaged areas, compared to 15.3% in undamaged areas. 7.6% of persons in the labor force were unemployed in damaged areas (before the storm), compared to 6.0% in undamaged areas.
3. These comparisons are heavily influenced by the experience of the City of New Orleans. Outside the city, there were actually smaller shares of African American, poor, and unemployed residents in the damaged areas.
4. Closer inspection of neighborhoods within New Orleans shows that some affluent white neighborhoods were hard hit, while some poor minority neighborhoods were spared. Yet if the post-Katrina city were limited to the population previously living in areas that were undamaged by the storm – that is, if nobody were able to return to damaged neighborhoods – New Orleans is at risk of losing more than 80% of its black population. This means that policy choices affecting who can return, to which neighborhoods, and with what forms of public and private assistance, will greatly affect the future character of the city.
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"As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had the same thought: in their behavior toward creatures, most of mankind are Nazis"
--Isaac Bashevis
Did it ever occur that FEMA and local emergency organizations learned from Katrina and hence improved their response?
U.S. domestic budgets and foreign policy budgets and military budgets are all uniquely separate and are not a zero-sum game in the U.S. economy. Therefore $1 billion spent on foreign policy is not $1 billion lost on domestic policy. Comparing the effort to aid Caleefornia, as the governator calls it, to aid to Congolese or Iraqis is comparing apples to oranges.
In fact, FEMA is a national organization not an international organization. Even if it had the resources, it doesn't have the charter to aid other countries.
And to support my argument even further...I would say the U.S. is expending a rather large effort in aiding Iraq:
"In April 2003, Congress approved approximately $2.5 billion largely for immediate relief aid..."State.gov
"As of February 2006, we have disbursed $10.5 of the $18.4 billion, funding projects in the security, economic, and political spheres." State.gov
"[P]rojects envisioned for Iraq include: 10,045 schools, 154 border forts, 97 fire stations, 34 post offices, and 102 railroad stations. More than 3,000 projects have already been completed, and almost a thousand are currently underway." Rebuild Iraq Expo, 2007 newsletter
I'm sure your response will include references to corruption, corporate greed, etc. The fact that they all exist is undeniable. However, the great thing about democracy and specifically the American model is the unique relationship between free press and the judicial system. The free press does a great job of identifying and investigating the cases then the judicial system steps in and prosecutes the offenders. Of course it isn't a perfect system, but what is?
Foremost, it is ludicrous to suggest that the effort in Iraq is somehow benevolent in any form. Even the most conservative circles within the administration have stated that the project was an attempt to hijack oil resources aligned to reaches for a geopolitical grab.
Moreover, It may not be the business of the US government to help alleviate the crisis centers around the world however, how do you explain its lackadaisical response to Katrina. New Orleans is not a foreign country - or maybe it is?
There are large pet sanctuaries being set up in California - funded by the polity - while the people of New Orleans could not find readily available shelter for some time after the storm.
Although, I must agree with you that no system is perfect. This is the reason that many of us warn against turning men and their dynamics into godly fixtures within society. Instead we urge men to look beyond and above to seek the guidance of love, charity and forgiveness, which is abundantly, extended by the creator.
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"As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had the same thought: in their behavior toward creatures, most of mankind are Nazis"
--Isaac Bashevis
I respectfully disagree with you Mr. Gang. In the article itself and in your comment above, it is clear that in the case of the fires in Southern California, there are many, many examples of love and charity. Yet once again individuals on this forum find ways to associate this case with 'evil America' so they can further their tired and ineffectual tirades against the U.S.
Its incredible how you have managed to take an admittedly favorable response to one natural disaster, compared it negatively to the response of an earlier disaster then make an even further stretch to connect it to Congolese and Iraqi suffering.
"...It may not be the business of the US government to help alleviate the crisis centers around the world however, how do you explain its lackadaisical response to Katrina. New Orleans is not a foreign country - or maybe it is?"
I don't need to explain the lackadaisical response to Katrina because it was dealt with legally and logistically and the fruits of that reaction is evident with the successful response in Caleefornia. Investigations ensued and changes were made and lessons were learned.
Also keep in mind that response to natural disaster was not just federal but local as well and the local response to Katrina was just as disorganized and unprepared as the federal response.
Its a shame you hate the U.S. so much, yet you take complete advantage of its benefits, namely free speech. Its even further depressing that you spend so much of your hate and energy kicking and screaming about the perceived injustices of the great Satan, instead of mobilizing your energy in a positive, effective, productive manner.
You could be leveraging this mouthpiece of a blog by organizing petitions against FEMA. You could be organizing a lobby to counter THE LOBBY this forum loves to mention so often.
But history has shown that hate is much easier and more appealing to some than is compassion and positive action. I think if you sought the love, forgiveness and charity abundantly extended by your creator, you'd find no need for your seething hatred of the U.S.
They can't be that ineffectual if the likes of you believe you have to come here and attempt (rather poorly, I might add) to counter them.
The federal response, in terms of shipping in armed thugs, was exceptionally well prepared... disturbingly so.
Yawn. You obviously adopt the old "keep repeating a lie" approach. Your country does not have free speech when you can be arrested for giving out Ron Paul videos or for hanging the national flag upside down. The free speech that you use to bolster your utterly lame line of argument is a myth... it does not exist and has not existed for quite some time.
My, you are free and easy with your advise. If you don't like what this mouthpiece of a blog has to say, why not take yourself off to LGF - it is more likely to be to your liking.
Hatred of the U.S. is in effect hatred of the administration and the so-called elites that pull their strings. It is not hatred of the American people per se. A good proportion of the world simply does not like what the United States stands for, a sizeable percentage of the global population doesn't buy the "freedom" bullshit so frequently peddled by those whose hackles are raised by the fact that someone out there doesn't think that the United States is the paragon of perfection. Wake up and smell the fascism.
..."patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." -Samuel Johnson April 7, 1775.
It is apparent you embrace a patriotism, mired by pseudo accusations of hatred and betrayal from untold circles having no evidence to sustain such charges.
This polemical form of patriotism essentially, is a false patriotism. "Let us take a patriot, where we can meet him; and, that we may not flatter ourselves by false appearances, distinguish those marks which are certain, from those which may deceive; for a man may have the external appearance of a patriot, without the constituent qualities; as false coins have often lustre, though they want weight." (Johnson, The Patriot)
You hallow at a theoretical freedom of speech yet would turn it hollow by striking its use by others you disagree with. "It is the quality of patriotism to be jealous and watchful, to observe all secret machinations, and to see publick dangers at a distance. The true lover of his country is ready to communicate his fears, and to sound the alarm, whenever he perceives the approach of mischief. But he sounds no alarm, when there is no enemy; he never terrifies his countrymen till he is terrified himself. The patriotism, therefore, may be justly doubted of him, who professes to be disturbed by incredibilities..." (ibid) Men like you sir, thrive on fomenting fear by inventing great Satan[s] at every turn. In each age and period there always appears these foes through which scoundrels may usurp power by galvanizing a false sense of security through their stewardship.
Indeed your heart may be in the right place. I have no objective means to discern your love for your country. Albeit, "it is unpleasant to represent our affairs to our own disadvantage; yet it is necessary to show the evils which we desire to be removed." (ibid)
Nevertheless, do not shoot the messenger or accuse her of sedition. Instead offer him a seat to rest and a drink of water to quench his thirst. For he has journeyed a long way to bring you tidings and news. Be grateful for his efforts. Do not become his assassin simply because you are ill-prepared or incapable of meeting reality.
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"As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had the same thought: in their behavior toward creatures, most of mankind are Nazis"
--Isaac Bashevis
I am not concerned about your opinion on the sincerity of my patriotism. It is self-evident to those who know me and who I care what they think of me.
"The true lover of his country is ready to communicate his fears, and to sound the alarm, whenever he perceives the approach of mischief."
That is exactly what I've been doing, which has been frustrating the loudest proponents on this forum. As I've said repeatedly to Mr. Bacon; the tone and delivery of his arguments ruin his chances of doing any good for his cause. His tone and verbiage clearly demonstrate a deep and irrational hatred rather than a pointed and passionate disagreement. Yes, the alarm I sound is for something far worse than mere mischief; hate.
"But he sounds no alarm, when there is no enemy;"
Read my comments regarding Iran's auto export industry. I sound no alarm there because the article was well reported and had a positive rapport in the comment section. You will find that I'm not here to antagonize. Quite the opposite. The whole purpose of a public forum such as this blog is for a gathering and interaction of a wide variety of views and opinions. Yet twice now I've been invited to leave simply because I have opinions different from others here. Is this the spirit of this forum? Just say the word and if its so I'll leave you to your little world of hate, dispassion, and irrationality. If you are so intimidated and angered by hearing a different side of the story than just say the word and this shall be my last post and you can claim another fake victory against THE LOBBY, the Zionists and any other groups I've wrongly been associated with by writers on this forum.
"it is unpleasant to represent our affairs to our own disadvantage; yet it is necessary to show the evils which we desire to be removed."
'Representing our affairs to our own disadvantage' and representing our affairs inaccurately, inflamed, and sensationally are two different matters altogether. I joined this forum because I am concerned with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I agree and have stated as such on this forum that Israel's behavior is illegal and highly immoral. I believe that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the epicenter to the current conflict in all of the Middle East and unless it can be resolved we will have unending conflict in that region and ultimately the entire globe as we are now seeing. However, I just made my point to you much more effectively than had I gone off on a temper tantrum using racial slurs, slanderous comments, etc.
"Do not become his assassin simply because you are ill-prepared or incapable of meeting reality."
The only assassins here are you and Mr. Bacon attempting to assassinate my character for the sole reason that I respectfully disagree primarily with your lack of decorum and ineffective delivery of your case. The favorable comments you receive on this forum all seem to be from like-minded individuals who share in your hatred of all things Israeli and/or American. The minute someone steps up and says 'wait a second, isn't there a better way to make your point than to resort to tools of hate?' they are accosted.
But again, all you need to do is tell me I'm not welcome here because I represent something you disagree with and something you can't bear to have your readers exposed to and I'll back away and let you have the last word and sweet victory against rational thought and effective debate. There are plenty of other constructive forums I can participate in and not have to tolerate such imbecilic behavior.