Hello Again!

Hey I'm currently in New Jersey for the training school that MSC is putting me through. I'll be here 2 weeks before I finally get assigned to a ship. The school actually has a wireless signal so I can only access it while @ the school (the hotel doesn't have a signal), just letting you know I'm still alive.

Thanks for the thoughts!

Not Here

As of Sunday Evening, September 18, 2005, I will not be able to come online for a while. I am flying to Norfolk, Virginia to be employed with MSC and once I'm finished with the new employee orientation, I will be sent to a ship just about immediately. I'll be on that ship for at least 4 months straight, so everyone wish me luck.

I'm sorry for leaving you all like this, no hard feelings?

Bear Flag League

I am now a member of the Bear Flag League:


I would like to thank them for allowing me to join, I hope I will not disappoint ;)

I was right

Recently I've been getting a lot of search result hits for "FEMA Debit Card misuse".

Now I know why.

I guess I was right all along.

It wasn't big screen televisions, it was Louis Vutton handbags.

I'm in Purgatory

The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very High
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Moderate
Level 2 (Lustful)	High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Low
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante's Divine Comedy Inferno Test

State of Louisiana EOP 2005

Excerpts and commentary from The State of Louisiana Emergency Operations Plan:

The American Red Cross (ARC) has a primary response function to mitigate suffering by providing emergency mass care, food, clothing, shelter, first aid, supplementary nursing care and aid to individual families. The ARC may also furnish medical care, health items, essential household furnishings, occupational supplies, equipment, and emergency rental for housing, transportation and temporary repairs.

So apparently, their State Department of Homeland Security violated its own EOP.

The Governor is responsible for the coordinated delivery of all emergency services, public, quasi‑volunteer, and private, during a natural, technological and/or national security emergency/disaster situation. The Governor has delegated the LOHSEP Director the authority to implement this plan, and to direct State‑level emergency operations through the regularly constituted governmental structure

governer blanco was in charge of the whole thing and is responsible for how emergency efforts are panned out in her state.

In the event of an emergency/disaster, the needed elements of State government will be in the State EOC located at 7667 Independence Boulevard in Baton Rouge. Should the primary EOC become inoperative, isolated, and/or unusable, the LOHSEP Director shall issue relocation instructions to deployment teams for the preparation of the alternate State EOC at Camp Beauregard or at another location to be determined at the time

No comment needed, just pointing out where all emergency services were...waiting.

Local governments are responsible under all applicable laws, executive orders, proclamations, rules, regulations, and ordinances for emergency management within their respective jurisdiction. Local emergency management organizations shall function from designated EOC's and are subject to the direction and control of the executive heads of government, in coordination with the Governor and the LOHSEP Director.

another way of saying that New Orleans was also responsible for its own fate.

Rudolph Guliani vs Ray Nagin

Mayor Ray Nagin missed a golden opportunity to garnish national public support (even though obviously he wasn't the only city affected).

He missed cues from (I'm quoting MSNBC-or was it CNN- here)"The nation's mayor" in how he dealt with the tragedy that occured 4 years ago yesterday.

What did Rudolph Guliani do? He didn't foist blame anywhere about the disaster response. What did he do? He never complained about what his city needed. What did he do? He moved in and got stuff done. He went EVERYWHERE in New York, especially at Ground Zero, kept up appearances and assured all who were watching that The Mayor was present and keeping order.

What did Ray Nagin do? He kept pointing fingers at people. What did he do? He kept screaming about "come help us we need this". What did he do?
He left to go to Baton Rouge. He used his position as mayor to get 100 VIP's out of the city ahead of his own constituents in the Superdome. I don't recall seeing ANY television footage of him at the Superdome nor convention center.

End of the World as we know it

And yet, I feel fine:


That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and
snakes, an aeroplane and Lenny Bruce is not afraid.
Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn - world
serves its own needs, dummy serve your own needs. Feed
it off an aux speak, grunt, no, strength, the Ladder
start to clatter with fear fight down height. Wire
in a fire, representing seven games, and a government
for hire at a combat site. Left of west and coming in
a hurry with the furys breathing down your neck. Team
by team reporters baffled, trumped, tethered cropped.
Look at that low playing. Fine, then. Uh oh,
overflow, population, common food, but it'll do to Save
yourself, serve yourself. World serves its own needs,
listen to your heart bleed dummy with the rapture and
the revered and the right, right. You vitriolic,
patriotic, slam, fight, bright light, feeling pretty
psyched.

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

Six o'clock - TV hour. Don't get caught in foreign
towers. Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself
churn. Lock it in, uniforming, book burning, blood
letting. Every motive escalate. Automotive incinerate.
Light a candle, light a motive. Step down, step down.
Watch your heel crush, crushed, uh-oh, this means no
fear cavalier. Renegade steer clear! A tournament,
tournament, a tournament of lies. Offer me solutions,
offer me alternatives and I decline.

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

The other night I dreamt of knives, continental
drift divide. Mountains sit in a line, Leonard
Bernstein. Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester
Bangs. Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom! You
symbiotic, patriotic, slam bug net, right? Right.

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel
fine...fine...
(Credits to R.E.M.)

I am the eagle

What military aircraft are you? F-15 Eagle You are an F-15. Your record in combat is spotless; you've never been defeated. You possess good looks, but are not flashy about it. You prefer to let your reputation do the talking. You are fast, agile, and loud, but reaching the end of your stardom.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Correction

In recent times, the victims of Hurricane Katrina have often been called refugees, a controversial term. Many have suggested that it is because of race. I disagree. I think they are called refugees mainly because of a misunderstanding. Dictionary.com has the definition of refugee:

Refugee:

From Houghton Miffilin:

()

One who flees in search of refuge, as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution.

From Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law:

Main Entry: ref·u·gee
Pronunciation: "re-fyu-'jEFunction: noun
: an individual seeking refuge or asylum; especially : an individual who has left his or her native country and is unwilling or unable to return to it because of persecution or fear of persecution (as because of race, religion, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion)

The main point is that a refugee is a displaced person who has crossed international borders.
The proper term for these poor unfortunate souls would be displaced persons, or evacuees.

I apologize for any misunderstandings that I may have caused and/or hurt feelings (although unwarranted) that may have ensued because of any misuse I have had of the term when posting here, or commenting elsewhere.

Second String US Squad holds Guatemala

U.S. Extends Shutout Streak

Marcus Hahnemann kept the sixth consecutive
clean sheet for the U.S. in World Cup qualifying.
© InternationalSportsImages.com

After clinching a spot in the 2006 World Cup by defeating Mexico, Bruce Arena (the US Men's National Team Manager) chose to field the second-stringers in what appeared to be a well-fought match with some excitement, but with little to show for it. Both sides ended up with some exciting chances on goal, each side having one of their shots hit the post (Guatemala had a shot bounce off the side goalpost, USA had a shot hit the crossbar), with more than a few chances as well. Guatemala and the USA both pick up a point each, with team USA holding its lead in the standings only on a technicality. Mexico and USA both have 19 points in the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) final round standings for World Cup 2006 qualifiers, but with USA holding a better record on goals for and against.

Also, Mexico qualifies to the World Cup with a 5-0 win over Panama.

Katrina tops Bush

Report: 400,000 jobs lost to Katrina

Hurricane Katrina did what Dubya could never do, "The economic impact from Hurricane Katrina will wipe out 400,000 jobs, cost consumers 40 percent more for gasoline this month and slash previous estimates for growth this year" according to the post-gazette.


All satire aside, in the same story :
"FEMA, which has been spending $2 billion a day, will give $2,000 debit cards to stranded evacuees without insurance or any means of survival, such as those in the Houston Astrodome and other shelters. Bolton estimated as many as one million people may get the cards."
I wonder if they are going to buy big screen televisions with these friggin cards. It should have "FOOD AND NECESSITIES" stamped all over it to make sure they aren't misused. And people wonder why oftentimes we don't give money straight to bums on the street? Damn booze-hounds.

And interestingly, in the same story, the CBO report actually stated there would be more jobs lost than it seems, but there would be jobs created due to the reconstruction efforts:

It said the job loss would have been higher -- as many as 729,900 people no longer are working because of storm damage -- save for the eventual new construction, which will boost the need for construction workers and a range of goods and services, from plywood and concrete to engineering and finance, that will accompany the effort.

US Soccer Fans

need I say more?

Chief Justice Rehnquist passes on

Breaking news, Chief Justice William Rehnquist (1924-2005) died tonight of thyroid cancer.
Godspeed, my thoughts and prayers are with his family and with President Bush and the rest of Congress for the next appointee to the Supreme Court.

USA BEATS MEXICO

The United States' Gregg Berhalter (3) and Mexico's Francisco
Fonseca (17) collide during the first half. (AP)

Joining an elite group of countries around the world, USA defeats Mexico in Columbus, Ohio 2-0 to clinch a spot in FIFA World cup 2006 in Germany. According to ESPN:

It was the first time since 1934 that the Americans were the first team into the World Cup for North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Early on in the game, USA showed its prowess by coming out strong, showing a few early chances while stuffing Mexico's chances completely. Both teams came out playing a little jerky, not showing much action in the first half. Every time a team would attempt to get some flow and a good pass upfield for a chance on goal, a leg would pop out and knock it aside. Both teams showing strong defence in the face of their arch-rival. When the second-half started, both teams started stepping up, each getting a few early chances (even Kasey Keller had to make a save or two). Then, in the 55th minute, off of a free kick chance, Oguchi Onyewu headed the ball so it directly hits the post, bouncing up right at Steve Ralston, who easily knocked it in. Then, just 2 minutes after that, off of a corner kick, Claudio Reyna received the ball and easily knocked it forward to Demarcus Beasley, who slid it just past the Mexican Goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez' outstretched fingers right into the corner of the net, clinching the 2-0 victory.