The Home Page ·  The Integral Worm ·  My Resume ·  My Show Car ·  My White Papers ·  Organizations I Belong To

Contact Me ·  FAQ ·  Useful Links

My Professional Writing Papers

Technical Writing ·  Exposition & Argumentation ·  Non-fiction Creative Essays ·  Grammar and Usage of Standard English ·  The Structure of English ·  Analysis of Shakespeare

Analysis of Literary Language ·  Advanced Professional Papers ·  The History of the English Language ·  First Internship: Tutoring in a Writing Workshop ·  Second Internship: Advanced Instruction: Tutoring Writing

Theories of Communication & Technology (A Second Course in Methodology) ·  Language in Society (A Third Course in Methodology) ·  The Writer's Guild

Journalism

UMBC'S Conservative Newspaper: "The Retriever's Right Eye" ·  UMBC'S University Newspaper: "The Retriever Weekly" ·  Introduction to Journalism ·  Feature Writing ·  Science Writing Papers

Visual Literacy Seminar (A First Seminar in Methodology)

Visual Literacy Paper 1 ·  Visual Literacy Paper 2 ·  Visual Literacy Paper 3 ·  Visual Literacy Paper 4

Presentation of Lohr Chapter 5 ·  Presentation of LDW's Chapters 7 and 8 ·  Presentation of Kress Chapters 1, 2, and 3

Weekly Web Log Journal ·  Hurricane Katrina Personal Journal

Category 4 Hurricane Katrina Slams the Gulf Coast August 29, 2005

Hurricane Katrina Satellite Image 08/29/2005

         This photo was sourced from the Baltimore Sun. The problem for me as the collector of data, I am undated with information on Hurricane Katrina, as we all are and because of this relentless pounding by the media (which bears some similarities to Hurricane Ophelia in her insistence on remaining in the Carolinas) one becomes supersaturated with information to the point of apathy. Note the language used and how it related to Hurricanes in general and what the hurricane survivors must also be feeling at this point in time. (Can we finally move on to something else?)

         A little personal background is in order. I am an ex-native New Yorker (You can take the New Yorker out of New York, but you can't take New York out of the New Yorker) from the town of Westbury, Long Island. For those not familiar with geography, Westbury sits in the dead center of the entire island; north, south, east, west in its central county; Nassau County placing it fifteen minutes from the south shore beaches of the Atlantic Ocean and fifteen minutes from the north shore beaches of the Long Island Sound and the state of Connecticut.

         Okay so as my reader you're now saying, "Thanks for the lesson in geography, who cares?" Here is the relevancy. Most of us are landlubbers. We don't have familiarity with oceans, beaches, boating and hurricanes. Because I lived in Westbury, someone living in say Amityville with a water canal in their backyard would consider me a high-ground landlubber. Basically this meant that I lived on dry land where flooding was not that big of a concern. I also didn't have the experience of the sea up close and personal on a day to day basis. On the other hand, because I was fifteen minutes away from the ocean, I have more familiarity with it than someone living in the state of Kansas.

         I have some personal experience with hurricanes and their furry as many passed through and over Long Island. Some did more damage than others. When I think of Hurricane Hugo, I don't remember anything. Hurricane Gloria, now she's one no Long Islander forgets. The ongoing joke was and still is, "I was blown by Gloria and screwed by LILCO."

         Gloria didn't carry a lot of water like Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was a category four hurricane when she made landfall. Katrina also struck, not directly as the satellite photos shows but indirectly on New Orleans in an area designated as "wetlands," i.e. swamplands or below sea level land. Because of Katrina's power, the sea level rose beyond unexpected levels and the levies that were designed to hold back the sea were engineered for a category three hurricane. The levies were under-engineered for political reasons which I will get into in a different journal entry.

         Gloria was one huge windbag. She brought with her tremendous wind forces and not very much water. LILCO is an acronym for the Long Island Lighting Company, L.I.L.C.O. The demand for electricity was far exceeding the supply by LILCO. LILCO's solution was to build a nuclear power plant in Shoreham, Long Island far out on the island on the north shore. Without consulting before building, LILCO assumed that the power plant would be readily accepted. Such was not the case. It was the eighties and people were still afraid of lessons learned from the Pennsylvania Three Mile Island incident. Supporters of the "no-nuke" philosophy said, "Not in my backyard you don't!" LILCO while constructing the plant was forced to come up with an "evacuation plan" in the event of a nuclear mishap. Long Island is just that a long, narrow island with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants. There's only a few ways off the island. Either by boat, plane, train or by car. To get off by plane there are only three airports, LaGuardia, Kennedy and Islip. By boat, well either you owned your own boat, took a charter and there weren't many of those, or the ferry out at the north shore tip of the island at Orient Point. Obviously ferries are slow and can only take a few cars. Trains, there was only one; Th Long Island Rail Road, (LIRR) which was a commuter train for commuting to and from Manhattan Island or New York City. The primary way off the island in case of evacuation would be by car. There are only three main highways on the island; Northern State Parkway, Southern State Parkway and the Long Island Expressway. These highways aren't even adequate to handle rush hour congestion so in the event of a nuclear disaster, the highways would prove to be an impasse.

         Regardless, LILCO went ahead with its plans on building the nuclear reactor and tried in vain to come up with a working evacuation plan and failed. LILCO actually finished the plant one step short of bringing it online before politicians halted their efforts. The reactor is now used for research purposes. Basically, LILCO built a "white elephant" at a huge expense to itself. Well no company absorbs such a cost and eventually passes on the expense to the consumer. In order to fund the project LILCO made cutbacks in services. What services? Tree trimming around its electrical lines. They reduced the crews and did it only when vitally necessary, i.e. when they received a call from the neighborhood that the power was out because of a fallen tree.

         Then came Gloria. (that used to be "Then came Bronson," but I'd be dating myself.) Her winds disturbed so many trees and broke so many branches that most of Nassau County and Suffolk County lost power. Brooklyn and Queens are not included because thy receive their electrical services from CON-ED who because of their urban nature have all their current carrying lines underground so wind from a hurricane would have no effect. Water would be different. Suffolk County was the worst hit and the most neglected by LILCO. Some portions of Suffolk County didn't have their power restored for three weeks creating problems for storing refrigerated goods such as milk and we all know children have to have milk. In the end, the consumers of LILCO felt as though they had been screwed in order to finance a white elephant they never wanted in the first place, hence the saying, "Blown by Gloria and Screwed by LILCO."

         I worked for Beck/Arnley the automotive after-market importer of auto parts at the time, which was a big name in the industry. The media told us to stay home if you didn't have to go out and I did. We also prepared for the worse by storing containers of fresh water, loaves of bread and canned goods to eat, once again in case the power went out and didn't come back for a while. We made sure we had flashlights, batteries, candles toilet paper, first aid supplies, extra medical prescriptions and any other necessities one would bring on a camping trip. If the power went down for a long time, say two weeks, we'd have to resort to a camping type of lifestyle. We knew how to prepare for disasters especially hurricanes.

         Gloria passed over and was basically a nonevent for the residents of Westbury and Melville which was where Beck/Arnley had it's corporate headquarters also positioned in the center of the island but ten miles east of Westbury in Suffolk County. Fred Muller laughed at me the next day when I returned to work because he came to work on the day of the hurricane and said it was no big deal. Fred was in his sixties and a child of the Great Depression or a Depression child. He was not about to let anything interfere in his ability to get paid for the day. I thought he was an idiot because even though the media had pumped up the whole arrival of Hurricane Gloria is subscribed to the philosophy better to be prepared for anything and live another day.

         What does this have to do with the picture? Well I know that hurricanes can carry a great deal of water and can create flooding in low-lying areas. So if you don't have to go out, you don't. If you live in a low-lying area prone to flooding, you get out before the hurricane arrives. This is usually what they do in Key West and the Carolina Outer Banks. Flooding I also have experience with from when I lived in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. In order to get into Chestnut Hill from my work place out around City Line, I had to go through Montgomery County and Lafayette Hill named after the French General that helped with the American Revolution. I had to pass through a town that had the word, "marsh" in it, much like the name "Whitemarsh" here in Maryland. Now any town that has the name "marsh" in it alerts a thinking person that this town is built on a low-lying area prone to flooding. In a land grab the developers built a town in the center of a marsh or a wetland. Why is it called a wetland? Because it's always wet. In this town there was a small stream and one day we had a freak storm which resembled an on land hurricane. Seventy to ninety mile per hour winds and tremendous rains. Hence conditions fro flash flooding. When I tried to get home I had to navigate around many fallen trees and when I arrived at the marsh area the stream in the area had overflowed its banks and flooded out all the roads back to Chestnut Hill. I had to go back out of the area, onto the Skukill Expressway go all the way to Center City, Philadelphia and work my way back through the city streets to get to the northwest portion of the city where I lived. I also know what flood-waters can do first hand, but I have never seen as much water as captured in this photograph first hand.

         When I lived in Long Island I had a friend who lived in Amityville, Long Island. Yes, it is the home of the "Amityville Horror" and she actually lived a few houses away from that house in her childhood. Her new home had a private canal in its backyard and not a commercial canal like the Amityville Horror house. Also the house being the Horror of Amityville was actually a misnomer for my friend actually turned out to be the real "Amityville Horror, but that's another essay.

         When I knew her, (now you understand were the implied "horror may come in") we had a huge unexpected freak storm that earned the name the "Northeaster." As I was driving home on the Northern State Parkway I happened to glance at the sky to the south. Being in the center of the island, our skies were clear. But to the south there as an ominous yellow sky. There's nothing that strikes fear into a mariner's heart more than a yellow sky because they know they are in for a huge devastating storm. I didn't think anything of it as a landlubber. The next day I received a phone call from my friend telling me the details of the "Northeaster." She said the canal in her backyard had risen above its banks as it sometimes will do in a bad storm, but this one caused them alarm. The sea rose almost to the bottom of the back door. Now that may not sound like a lot, but these houses are built with the idea that sometimes the ocean level does rise in storms so the houses are built no extra tall foundations. You don't notice it again if you're a landlubber. The house had four tall steps leading to it in the front and back and after the incident was described to me I finally took notice of the house. It was an old farmhouse that had been there many years. It had been there a long time because the builders took into consideration that the sea rises from time to time therefore one cannot build the foundation flat on the ground. It requires an elevated foundation for such times as when the sea tries to take back what rightfully belongs to her.

         Because the sea level rose to the back door they became afraid that the process might continue and because the entire area is a marina surrounded by canals there was a possibility that they may not be able to get out with cars due to highway flooding. Hence the problem becomes how high will the sea rise and how long can you tread water. This was a freak storm as I mentioned, so no one had a warning it was coming. The damage was minimal for most and isolated to mariner problems such as boats ending up on top of the docks instead of residing in the canal where they first rested.

         Out of curiosity I did a search on Long Island Hurricanes. I found a site that could demonstrate exactly how much of Long Island’s South Shore from Brooklyn to the tip of the island could be submerged based on the category rating of the storm, plus provided that the center of the storm hit that particular area of the island. The individual maps were broken down into squares of about 12 miles. According to http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/38hurricane/storm_surge_maps.html
my friend’s neighborhood would be under water if a category 1 hurricane hit directly an very likely Merrick Road, the first main road running east/west would most likely be submerged. A good category 3 would submerge the 2nd main road running east/west, Sunrise Highway. If a category 4 hit, both these main east/west arteries would be gone and the 3rd main artery running east/west would have a scenic view of the Atlantic Ocean. That’s a lot of real estate lost.

         The point is that water at levels like this is quite unexpected. The fact that the photographer came across a Red Cross Rescue vehicle might be ironic or might be sending yet another ridiculous message by the media. An unthinking person looks at the photo and wonders why the vehicle isn't on high land where it can be used more effectively after the storm? A thinking person looking at the image understands that the driver was out doing his or her job, probably responding to calls for help by people who were beginning to panic with the onset of the floodwaters. Unfortunately as is with many rescue attempts it is very easy to get caught up in the very disaster one is trying to rescue others from as I learned in my attempts to get back to Chestnut Hill. It is also easy to get caught up in the false belief in that one is safe where they are because flood waters, hurricanes, and winds haven't been devastated this area in the past, the media blows everything out of proportion for the purpose of sensationalism; for the sole purpose of selling papers and increasing viewer ratings, so why should this event be any different.

         My newest lesson is in poverty and being a city dweller. In order to complete my degree I live at a well-below poverty income and cannot afford to insure my car. I have to depend on mass transportation for everything or my own two-feet as do many poor city dwellers. This is one of the reasons the poor congregate in large cities. You can't survive in the suburbs or the country without your own transportation. In the city one relies and depends on mass transportation which inherently unreliable. Busses don't show up, they show up early, they show up late and so do light rails, trains and planes. This is true of all cities. Only New York City has the best on time statistics and even it has its bad days. Ask me sometime about getting trapped in Penn Station during a summer power blackout. Talk about succumbing to heat exhaustion, but again that's another story in itself. The point is, now as a poor person it is easy to see and understand how city residents get caught in cites when there are natural disasters. They sometimes do not have the means to get out (money) and sometimes have nowhere to go (no family to take them in temporarily or permanently). That's why they stay where they are. They figure they at least have a fighting chance in their own surroundings no matter how inadequate they are.

         Lastly, something that came up on talk radio is that even if one was properly prepared and had all these provisions in the event of a disaster, if those provisions are in one's domicile and a hurricane, tornado, forest fire or whatever comes and damages your place of residence, so go all your provisions. "The best laid plans of mice and men..." A caller on the radio said he has such provisions in a shed about an hour from where he lives. But that doesn't work either because one many not have the ability to get out to those provisions beforehand or the area where they are kept could easily be hit harder. So what's the solution? Well preparing oneself is the first step. The government will not always be there to provide.

         This photo was sourced from the Baltimore Sun on Tuesday, September 6, 2005 from their collection of Hurricane Katrina images. First, in the caption the word “flush” is used which has interesting implications. When we think of the word “flush,” images come to mind of attempting to evacuate something which is harmful, no longer useful or unwanted.

         Images that come to mind are “flushing the toilet,” as we dispose of feces and urine both of which we know we have no need for and must dispose of. “Flushing a decapitator” also comes to mind. Here a medical technician flushes a decapitator in order to remove any old blood to draw new, fresh blood. As an old auto mechanic, one “flushes” the hydraulics on an automobile braking system when the system has been rebuilt to remove the old contaminated brake fluid and replaces it with fresh, new brake fluid. The same is done when one adds new anti-freeze to the automobile’s cooling system. The old fluids, which are no longer useful are disposed of. Here the image portrays that people of color are exclusively the looters and that the New Orleans police are “flushing” or disposing of people that are not useful to society.

         Second, it is interesting to note that the officer appears to be a Caucasian and that the looter is probably Hispanic. This seems to imply that only Caucasians are on the right side of the law and that people of color are on the wrong side of the law. The image seems to suggest that the looters in New Orleans were only people of color. Images of this nature only fuel racial bias in the minds of those who cannot formulate their own opinions from what they read.

         Third, there is an implication of police brutality inherent in this photograph. As we can see the looter is struggling to get away. On a quick glance, the aluminum framing of the window and something protruding from the palm of the officer’s hand implies that the officer may be holding a night stick in order to subdue the looter. When one scrutinizes the image, it becomes clear that we really don’t know if there is anything in the officer’s hand at all. It may be an illusion of light and shadow leading us to think that there is something in his hand.

         Regardless as to whether there is something in the officer’s hand, the officer’s use of force is justified because obviously from the looter’s legs, the looter is attempting to get away. It may be true that the looter has done nothing wrong, but if he was doing nothing wrong, then why was he running and why is he struggling to get away? We see objects floating in the water, so our minds assume that these were the objects the looter was attempting to steal. It is possible that these objects were floating in the water previous to this photograph, but probably no likely. The objects are probably the officer’s justification for stopping the man. The man’s attempt to get away is an admission of some sort of guilt. Everything in this image is highly suspect, but on the other hand considering the number of lawsuits out there based on racial bias, I’m sure the officer is quite careful to stop those who are most likely suspect.

         This photo was sourced from the Baltimore Sun on Tuesday, September 6, 2005 from their collection of Hurricane Katrina images. The caption on the first image with the White police officer and the Hispanic man read, "New Orleans police flush out looters on Canal Street on Tuesday, August 30, 2005." This new image showing U.S. marshals and New Orleans State Police checking out a van used by four white young males where the caption reads, "U.S. Marshals and New Orleans State Police detain a group caught driving a stolen vehicle loaded with stolen goods in downtown New Orleans." Here the word detained is used. The word detained is also used when an officer hands out a routine traffic ticket or has reason to suspect that someone has does something wrong.

         The implication regardless of the caption stating that the van is stolen and that there are stolen goods inside is that there is the possibility that the young white men have done nothing wrong. The implication in the first photograph with the Hispanic man is that he without a doubt has done something wrong. Not only does this demonstrate racial bias on the part of the newspaper but also bad reporting. One of the many lessons taught in Journalism 101 is that a reporter is never to say that someone has done something wrong until the person has been to trial and has been convicted guilty. Before such time everything is alleged, meaning that there is the possibility that the defendant is not guilty.

         This is yellow journalism and only fuels racial bias in the minds of people who are illiterate. Illiterate people will come away with the idea that only people of color are stealing and taking advantage of the situation in New Orleans. If people regardless of their skin color were taking food, toilet paper, medical supplies or other necessities I couldn't care less. Considering that electricity in most of the city is down, this means no one can access their money, something they probably didn't think of in preparation for the hurricane, nor did they think ahead to have these things stored away. Even if they did think ahead to be prepared for such a disaster, these provisions may be under water at this point making them useless. I have a problem with people stealing computers, televisions, and stereo systems. Obviously these items would be completely useless with the absence of electricity so therefore they are stealing these items for profit and not necessity. If they were stealing a portable radio and batteries to go with it, I could understand and look the other way.

         What the newspapers are suggesting is that only people of color are taking advantage of the situation in New Orleans and see it as an opportunity to make money at someone else's expense. What I would refer to as Small Time Opportunists. As a literate person I know this is not the truth. I know that white people, most likely young white males are also taking advantage of the situation. The reason I suggest young males is because young women, middle aged and elderly people are more likely to steal provisions and items of necessity with the thought in their mind of tomorrow's continued survival while the young male is likely to think of opportunity. I base this statement on statistics law enforcers use in order to profile wrong doer's.

         The young men in the photo, judging from their dress are most likely white suburban young men who probably have no need for the goods in the truck nor the truck itself and are taking advantage of the catastrophe as an opportunity to make an easy buck.

         This is also a sad demonstration as to how the media deliberately reports in such a way as to lend credence to its own agenda and attempts to twist the illiterate general public into thinking what the media wants it to think. Unfortunately, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is going to lead in the media for a long time because the philosophy of the media is, "If it bleeds, it leads."

         Out of the two images I have greater empathy for the Hispanic man than I do for the four suburban white males. If the objects floating in the water were stolen by the Hispanic man I think that he is more of a victim of the system because what he was carrying appear as objects of necessity and that he was apprehended specifically because he is Hispanic. Even though we cannot see the objects the four white suburban males took, based on appearances (even though appearances can be deceiving) and the statement that they were using a stolen van, the white males are small time opportunists taking advantage of the situation of lawlessness.

         This image was sourced from the Baltimore Sun, Thursday, September 8, 2005. The traders must have made out well in this disaster. The words “buy, Buy, BUY!” must have been heard clear across the floor. My only assumption is that I’m supposed to feel anger or to loathe these men as they make their living from others misfortunes. Unfortunately, I feel nothing from it. As it was once said to me, “It’s nothing personal, it’s just business.”

         While taking Information Systems IFSM438 Project Management, we had a guest speaker who was the president of his company who talked to us about business. He operates a pharmaceutical firm and has a net worth of 70 million a year. “I’m a business man, I seek out opportunity. I’m responsible for many people who depend on me to turn a profit in order to support them and their families.” He revealed the secret to his success. “I’m an opportunist. I watch the Weather Channel seven days a week and as many hours as I am awake. I look for natural disasters. When I spot them, I determine what pharmaceuticals will be required in that area, get on the phone and place as many orders as my capital will allow and then ship those products to those areas. Some say ‘what you do is evil,’ I see it as opportunity, it’s the capitalist way.”

         As bad as this sounds, he’s right, it is opportunity. For the best and for the worst, opportunity is the nature of capitalism. When one visits other countries and has seen other economies, one comes to realize that capitalism provides the greatest opportunities to make a living even at the expense of someone else’s calamity.

         In the movie “91/2 Weeks,” the lead actor was also a floor trader. In his apartment he kept a rack of televisions in order to see what was going on around the world. As with our guest in Project Management, he too was scanning for information that he could generate into opportunity.

         The media would like us to walk away with the attitude that this is evil, but the media plays the exact same game. The media subscribes to the saying, “If it bleeds, it leads.” The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is going to generate millions of stories for moths to come and there will be those readers and viewer who will never tire from the information. For the media, their only concern is ratings and how many papers did we sell. So how is what the media does in order to improve ratings and sell papers any different than what the day traders do? There is no difference, but the media would like us to think that they are the good guys and that we’re just keeping the public informed, but the day traders are evil because they are making money hand over fist based on someone else’s misfortune.

,/p>

         This image was sourced from the Baltimore Sun, Thursday, September 8, 2005. Note the use of the phrase “a special brand of Neighborhood watch.” “Brand": as though shooting looters is a commodity for purchase advertised, and marketed is what the average reader absorbs. After consulting the Oxford’s Dictionary I came away with the actual meaning: a stigma; mark of disgrace.

         Who is it the publisher would like us to think is the disgrace? The looters, or the person who posted the sign. I think the publisher would like us to label the homeowner with the “stigma.” I, on the other hand, agree with the homeowner and find the stigma should be placed where it belongs and on the looters. The message I get from this is the homeowner is saying, “I’m mad as Hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” In a place of lawlessness I agree that the homeowner has the right to protect himself and to protect that which he or she has worked so hard for. This is a first amendment right. When the government breaks down and no longer performs its most essential function; the function to protect its citizens, I believe as an American, he or she has the right to defend themselves and their property. This is regardless of whether it’s the breakdown of government at the federal, state, or local level.

         The purpose of the first amendment was placed there in case of government’s failure to respond to the wishes of the people; when the government turned so tyrannical that it becomes a autocracy. The founding fathers deliberately built this clause in for this was the primary reason for the divide with England. The citizen has the right to form a state militia if necessary. Government is not there to provide but is there to protect its citizens and when it no longer listens to its citizens, the people have the right to take back their country. The homeowner is at least taking the first step in a lawless state and warning those with evil intentions what to expect. “You have been warned.”

         This image was sourced from the Baltimore Sun, Thursday, September 8, 2005. One of the wholly useful purposes of the Internet is utilizing as a tool to find tidbits and fragments of things in your mind that are trivial and long forgotten. With the aid of a search engine one can dump in the trace of a thought and most likely somewhere in the world, someone remembers everything about it and has posted it on some server somewhere. One of those tidbits is the lines of this song, something about, “bopping em’ in the head with a stomp. Bop! The Louisiana law gonna get ya Amos!!!” The words in bold font are the actual search words. The result of my search was the lyrics to this long forgotten song from the early 70’s.

         There was also a TV program back in the early sixties where the main character was I guess a game warden or something running around in one of these in the Everglades. That boat was just so cool. It’s strange how all this stuff is coming back to me having not thought about it in years. There hasn’t been a large focus on Louisiana since Credence Clearwater Revival.

         My only focus on Louisiana was when I met a woman online back in 2000 who lived there. She lived in an area known as Sportsman’s Paradise (note they didn’t call it Hunter’s Paradise for political correctness, but that’s what the area was) in the northern portion of the state. Eventually I learned that her father had died a year before and the anniversary of his death was hot on her heels. Evidently she was going through a state of mourning but it was also obvious that she disliked the man because she never talked about him. He very well may have been a Klansman and might have been ashamed of it. She was born in Texas but lived most of her life in Louisiana where her father was a farmer of some kind and a landowner. This came out when she was forced to take care of some legal obligations in her father’s affairs. Evidently things were so bad somewhere that the farm was completely left alone and she was being forced, probably by the state to take some kind of action.

         This was a strange online affair or Internet relationship. I didn’t know her exact address, or her new name. I knew her maiden name. She had remarried three times and was again a divorcee. I think she was afraid to provide me with too much information as people are weird on the Internet and we’ve all heard stories. Still locating her would not have been a tough task because she provided enough information eventually that I could pinpoint exactly which town she lived out of and frequented for provisions and I told her exactly which town. To her surprise she didn’t realize even with trying to secure her identity that she had given her global position away. To meet her would have been a simple task because towns like that are so small everyone knows everyone else. On the other hand, because they are so small they are very protective of each other and recognize strangers immediately. One person may have spilled their guts and told me where she lived, yet another may have blown me off with a great deal of hostility and suspicion, saying, “What business is it of yours stranger.” Believe me they do talk like that out there, it isn’t just a movie script thing. They know who belongs and who doesn’t and they will protect each other against strangers. If this became the scenario, no doubt that person would call her lickity split and warn her about me being there. Bottom line it was interesting knowing where she was, but also quite dangerous if something timely happened to her, I’d become a suspect. Deep South Law is nothing like Long Island Law or Manhattan law. They will protect their own kind and tear into a stranger.

         I’ve never had inkling to travel to Louisiana or New Orleans. I’m a New Yorker and I believe the Deep South has no need for me and I have no need for the Deep South. It may be bigoted, but there’s nothing there I can’t get somewhere else. I see it as, “Who needs to pour salt into the wound.” In some ways the Deep South has never recovered from the “War Between the States,” as they call it, and even to this day there are still those who hold animosity towards the North, especially New York.

         Back in my “Hippie Wanna-Be” days back in the mid-seventies, a group of friends talked during a bar room session about going down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. The conversation came up because one friend had been talking to someone else and he was bragging about all his exploits in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. The stories sound fun, but my interest resided with just to travel around with my friends. I really didn’t care where we went, it was more of a matter of socializing. Much later in life, New Orleans came up again as a travel spot with a different person. She had some bizarre need to see the Gay Parade that just by coincidence was to be the same week Katrina struck. Don’t get me wrong, I would never allude that Katrina was the “Hand of God” striking out against the sinners as he might have done at Sodom and Gomorra. Once again I would have went, but only for the sole purpose of socializing. Destinations on my “Travel Wish List” are China, Tibet, and India to learn more about Eastern Philosophy, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Israel would be another to entrench myself in Judaism.

         The boat the men are in is referred to as an “airboat.” It has a huge airplane propeller, usually attached to a Volkswagen air-cooled engine and the boats are practically flat on the bottom. With the propeller up above instead of the water like a normal boat allows the boat to go into vegetation that would normally bring an outboard engine boat to a halt. All the rotting stuff in the water would quickly gum up the blades, preventing them from turning. The flat bottom allows the boat to go into water no deeper than a bathtub similar to a gondola in the canals of Venice, Italy. These boats are specifically designed to operate in swamps, like the Louisiana bayou, and the Florida Everglades.

         As with most cities, there are places that you don’t venture in to after nightfall. During the day, we have all seen people who we have thought to ourselves, “I wouldn’t want to meet that person in a dark alley.” For me, these are men who I wouldn’t want to meet up with in broad daylight. This looks like one tough crew of guys. Oh, I’m sure they are probably quite law abiding and are really out rescuing people who are trapped in their homes, but they are rescuing their own kind. They have the same regional accents, they dress the same, they speak with the same jargon, some are probably extended family in some way. As an outsider though, they would scare the hell out of me. They usually don’t take kindly to a “Yankee” accent, and they will be quick to let you know also. If this photo was taken in the forties or fifties, I could imaging these guys in white hood and white robes; Klansman. I don’t know if that was the intention of the photographer, or if I am subsuming to my own bias while looking at this photo. These men do not instill confidence or warmness in my heart. They chill me to the bone, which may be the photographer’s intention.

         This image was sourced from the Baltimore Sun, Thursday, September 8, 2005. There was no caption at all for this image. This leaves the viewer unencumbered with a caption telling them what to think, but as with all images, the photographer is making a statement otherwise they would have not shot the picture.

         Whether the photographer is making a statement or asking a question is unknown. The statement that the photographer is making could be that, “Hurricane Katrina was an act vengeance by God.” The question the photographer may be asking is, “Was Hurricane Katrina an act of God?” It is interesting that whatever was behind the “Crucifixion of Christ” has been devastated, yet the religious icon was left standing. Some people without the aid of this image were already claiming that Hurricane Katrina was an act of God, showing his displeasure with the Gay community. These people constructed this correlation from the facts that Hurricane New Orleans at the same time the yearly Gay celebration was to be held within the city. Their claim is that it was God rising up letting us know of his displeasure with the decadence and depravity displayed publicly during the event. Might be, might not be. We have no definitive answer any more than we have a definitive answer to the existence or nonexistence of God or that man or woman was created in God’s image.

         Now with Hurricane Rita poised to strike New Orleans, other people cite the two hurricanes as God expressing his displeasure with the decision of President Bush to go to war with Iraq. These people are using the two hurricanes as symbolism representing a message from God that he is on the side of the Muslims and not the Judeo-Christians. Who is to say that God takes sides in any conflicts of man? Who is to say that God has any influence in the affairs of human beings or for that matter anything in nature or the universe in its entirety. For all we know, if it did create the universe as we know it, once the deed was done, it may reside on the other side of what we call the known universe and cannot do anything within what we understand as the universe without destroying it. For all we know the universe may have been an experiment that got away from the experimenter. A reaction out of control and it has no way of controlling the outcome. For all we know once the universe was born it may have shouted out at that critical moment, “You’re on your own,” and went back to sleep to awaken when all entropy equals enthalpy.

         We know by the study of physics that energy is neither created nor destroyed by simply changes form. We also know that with each change in energy form that there is a loss of energy in the conversion. Therefore when entropy equals enthalpy throughout the universe, there will be no more changes of energy form. Energy will have dissipated to zero. Once energy dissipates to zero the universe will fail to exist. There will be no more chemical reactions, there will be no more light, sound, vibrations or heat. Temperature will equalize to absolute zero. Maybe this is what Cathy Klarmann meant when she shouted at the top of her lungs in the Malibu nightclub, “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I ever marry you.”

         On the other hand, applying my first philosophy teacher’s critical thinking skills to this image, “This image is meaning-less. It has no meaning. The image is devoid of meaning. It has whatever meaning you assign to it. It means whatever the viewer wants it to mean. No one answer to the image’s is either correct or incorrect.” This seems to sound more and more like the argument between the pet shopkeeper and the customer in Monty Python’s "Dead Parrot Sketch."

         Customer: “He's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! He's expired and gone to meet 'his maker! He's a stiff! Bereft of life, He rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed him to the perch he'd be pushing up the daisies! His metabolic processes are now history! He's off the twig! He's kicked the bucket, He's shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir of the invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!"

         This image was sourced from the Baltimore Sun, Thursday, September 8, 2005. The caption for this image is nondescript and nonjudgmental which is what is expected of journalism. Journalism job is supposed to provide us with nothing but the facts in order to allow us to formulate our opinions versus forming opinions for us and feeding us those opinions.

         There appear to be three elderly women in this shot. The black woman with the blue bathing cap, the white woman in the plaid bathrobe and the white woman in the white T-shirt with the American flag printed on it. The subject of the photograph is the white woman in the bathrobe. She seems to be gesturing to someone in order to get their attention or calling someone or responding to someone’s question as she looks to her left. It is difficult to tell exactly what she is doing or where her attention is focused.

         The image is meant to elicit a response of sympathy for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It forces us to think of our own family members and that this could be any one of them in a similar situation due to any other disaster whether by the hand of man or nature. This image is also being used as a plea for help from the rest of the country for the victims of Katrina. Images like this are used all the time on infomercials at 4 a.m. These infomercials beg to make donations to various organizations by using images of underprivileged children. These images are used to deliberately “pull at our heartstrings.” Even those who are aware of the purpose of these images will throw money at the problem anyway. In some ways it is difficult not to as one is sitting in their home in a comfortable life. For those who are leading a similarly horrible life, what runs through their minds is, “My life is just as horrible if not more so, so why doesn’t anyone throw money at my problems?”

         Yes I can feel sympathetic to their plight and yes I can understand that some people would require assistance in order to evacuate. On the other hand, the Mayor of New Orleans added to the calamity of this disaster as a leader of the city by not doing his job; leading. He made a wealth of errors and did little in seeing to the safety of his citizens nor has he apologized for his series of errors. The Mayor of New Orleans has continued to bash Bush and FEMA for actions that he as a leader should have carried out regardless, instead of waiting for the Calvary to arrive (FEMA). Nearly 2000 buses sat in their parking lots when they could have been used for evacuation when the reports said that Hurricane Katrina was going to make landfall on New Orleans. It is true and highly likely that all of the 2000 buses were not functional but out of 2000 for argument sake at least 1600 of them probably were. Not all of them were broken down and waiting for repairs and even with 1600 buses it is possible and likely that there were not 1600 qualified people licensed to operate the buses. In this case the Mayor should have immediately investigated this reported back to him what the situation was so the Mayor could put out an announcement for anyone with a CDL license report to so and so for the purpose of driving evacuation buses. In addition, AMTRAC offered assistance in evacuating the citizens of New Orleans and the Mayor refused. We are going to be receiving information on this disaster for a long time to come.

         This image was sourced from the Baltimore Sun, Thursday, September 8, 2005. This image was before the “Race Baiters” Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton began screaming racism to the actions or inaction of President Bush and FEMA.

         This image is difficult disseminate because it shows three white rescue workers helping a elderly black woman out of her house through a window due to flooding. It is a well known fact that the liberal media is completely against every action made by President Bush and that the liberal media is still licking its wounds after loosing the Presidential election of 2004. The message could be to demonstrate that the media is not biased. This was issued after they were caught displaying two similar images; one with white people carrying goods and with a caption, “People find goods...” in contrast to an image of black people carrying the same goods with the caption, People looting goods….” It could be that the media received so much heat for the first group of images that they tried to make amends by issuing this image to cover their butts.

         I believe that rescue workers do not think in terms of racial bias, otherwise they would not be rescue workers. I also believe that rescue workers go through extensive psychological testing to determine if they are biased in any particular way. There are three of them and they seem to be doing their very best to help the woman to safety with as little harm as possible.

         It is well known that New Orleans is a city with a predominantly poor black population. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton used this situation to appeal to the senses and sensibilities of the illiterate black population. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton feed on calamities such as this to push the “victim mentality.” These leaders rely on their credibility, power and race to put out false information in the hope that those who are illiterate will take what they say and never investigate their allegations.

         The newest of these allegations is by Al Sharpton. He claims that the federal government planted bombs at the base of the levies and set them off when Hurricane Katrina came in order to eliminate a large black urban population in order to reduce dependency on government social assistance programs. There is no definitive proof but their argument is that the government and the media are covering up the proof. One could make a similar claim and say that Islamo-fascists blew up the levies. The newest speculative claim is that the Japanese have an electro-magnetic satellite device that can control the weather and are responsible for the two hurricanes that have hit New Orleans. The reason would be in retaliation for their loss in World War II.

         For all we know Art Bell may have alien theorists calling in claiming that it’s an attack by extra-terrestrials trying to take over New Orleans so they can hold their own Gay parade. For all we know they could be asexual beings. It just goes to show that anyone can say almost anything and there is a group of people who are so illiterate that they will blindly follow them like lemmings into the river.

         This image was sourced from the Baltimore Sun, Thursday, September 8, 2005. There were dead animals everywhere. The deer pictured here is one of the more unusual pictures. Most of what the media showed us was dead dogs. The media must really think the general public is a bunch of idiots. They must be applying the reasoning that we can draw more sympathy showing images for dead dogs because dogs are “man’s best friend.”

         I do feel bad about the loss of life especially the helpless. This would extend further than just poor ground dwelling animals but would also include such victims such as the twenty-nine elderly people who were left in the nursing home to die. That was an unforgivable act and there was no excuse for what those authoritarian’s did who ran the nursing home. The animals had no choice and it is a shame they died, but things like this have happened for thousands of years and will continue to happen for thousands more. The dinosaurs probably met their demise the same way. It’s just the nature of the life/death cycle.

         Sometimes it seems that the media thinks that the public has death wish or a bloodlust for such images. They feed us images like this as though we are Roman Citizens in the Digital Age. When is enough too much? Now with all the other important events that are going on in the world, the media still has its reporters and cameras focused on New Orleans in an attempt to milk this disaster for everything it’s worth. Very little is reported about the coastal towns of Alabama and Mississippi. I’m sure they also had their doom and gloom also, but little is heard about what happened there. All the news is about New Orleans.

         I heard that many of the aquatic animals escaped from the aquarium, which was probably a short-lived sense of freedom. We don’t hear anymore bout that. Most likely most of the animals that did escape probably died from the toxicity of the water.

         The deer probably ended up on the balcony in an effort to get away from the water, but when the water level continued to rise most likely it drowned. The dog on the window ledge probably has a different story as a survivor. The dog probably got tired of treading water and got lucky enough to somehow pull itself up onto the ledge. I don’t see any evidence that would indicate that it was placed there or worked its way through the window from inside the building. These are sad images, but are they really necessary?

         This image was sourced from the Baltimore Sun, Thursday, September 8, 2005. This image is quite typical of what the media does. It attempts to rile people up to hatred and action. Most of us know that the media has no love for President Bush or the military. The media searches for every opportunity it can get to show President Bush and the military in the worst light possible. I know that the caption says state police, but still the suggestion the photo engraves in our minds is soldiers on patrol. This image is no exception.

         Most us are aware that New Orleans is predominantly a “black city.” What I mean is that the majority of the residents of New Orleans are black. When we look at the people in the image, most of the people are of color. I don’t see a single white person in the picture. The implication I receive from this image conjures image of October 19, 1939, when Hitler established a Jewish ghetto in Lublin, the center of a Jewish "reserve" in eastern Poland. Next, Dr. Frank ordered all Jews over the age of ten in the General Government area, Cracow, to wear armbands marked with the Star of David on November 23, 1939. On December 11, 1939, a forced labor program was instituted for all Jews in the General Government area. These are some of the events that the photojournalist seems to be attempting to raise in our minds.

         I can’t make the soldiers out very well, but appears to me that they are at ease and don’t appear particularly menacing. The state police are more likely bored having to patrol around watching citizens sitting around suffering from a lack of amenities. An image like this is an excellent way of starting race riots for those who are not literate will draw the wrong conclusion form this image and may not even bother to read the caption. The photograph is “just reporting the news as it does show all the filth, garbage and people sitting around who are probably as bored as the state police and just want to be somewhere else other than where they are now.

         This a dismal image and demonstrate a lack of preparedness on the part of Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco in not having an emergency plan in place considering that we now live in a Post 911 world. One would believe that a city the size of New Orleans would have some sort of evacuation plan in place in case of disaster, but apparently that is not the case. This only demonstrates that we have to see to our own survival and security in the event of any type of disaster whether it’s a natural disaster or a terrorist attack.

         In my own non-fiction essays, Uncomfortably Numb (The Evolution of a Peace-Dove to a War-Hawk) and A Question of Balance: Security versus Privacy, I presented a wealth of procedures I use in an effort to see to my own personal protection and emergency precautions. None of this thinking and planning was a result of Post 911. It all began a long time ago back when I lived on Long Island and learned to have necessities at home for power failures such as the blackout of 1965, the several snowstorms we had, hurricanes, and just frequenting New York City. All of my preparations came to a head in 1999 when the next hint of doom and gloom hovering over the horizon was Y2K, which fortunately was a bust. What does go through my mind is what would have happened if there hadn’t been such a huge preparation for the largest computer crash in history? Would the outcome been New Orleans on a global scale?

         This image was sourced from the Baltimore Sun, Thursday, September 8, 2005. The caption says, “Robert Dick watches Ohio Army National Guard…,” but Mr. Dick’s eyes and face are focused on the ground. I wonder whether anyone noticed this? There’s trash strewn everywhere and Mr. Dick is quite lucky that he has a chair to sit on. Most people probably escaped with nothing more than the clothes on their back. These people are leading a very tough life right now as can be noted by the ice coolers in various places and by the comforter lying in front of Mr. Dick. The Hurricane Katrina survivors are living like homeless people. Typical amenities of modern life most likely are few. As far as showering, these people are probably on rotational shifts, using the locker rooms normally used by the sports teams that typically hold their events in the Superdome. There can be no doubt that they must also be quite bored with nothing to occupy their minds; no radio, no television, nothing to read, no cards, absolutely nothing. The weather down there must be extremely hot and humid with no escape to any reasonable level of comfort.

         The soldiers walking by must be just as bored and probably sympathetic. There’s little they can do because the soldiers are subject to a chain of command and can do only what they are told to do. Many of them have probably returned from Iraq, only to find a city in America as torn as the cities of Iraq.

         From all the garbage strewn everywhere it is obvious that none of the leaders were prepared for this. It is a whole comedy of errors in which the common people suffer for decisions made by leaders. From the mayor of New Orleans, Mayor Gavin Nagin, to the governor of Louisiana, Governor Kathleen Blanco, to the FEMA Relief Chief, Michael Brown, all of these leaders failed miserably to ensure to the safety of the citizens. At least President Bush stepped in and fired Brown for his lack of an appropriate response, and inserted Thad W. Allen who has experience handling hurricane disasters in Florida. Brown should have never been promoted to the position in the first place due to a lack of experience of handling disasters on such a scale. It was just assumed that Brown could do the job. At least Governor Blanco and Michael Brown have apologized publicly for their errors, but Mayor Nagin has still not publicly apologized for his calamity of errors and continues to blame FEMA and President Bush.

         As of September 27, 2005, Congress has begun hearings to find out why FEMA’s response was so slow. What we’re finding is Michael Brown has been set up as the whipping boy or the scapegoat. We’re never going to get to the bottom of this by this method. We are only hearing one side of the story. Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin don’t have to report to these hearings because it’s a federal matter and the Fed cannot subpoena state officials. On the other hand, if Blanco and Nagin were true leaders, they would step forward and offer their versions on a voluntary basis. To date this has not happen, and probably won’t happen because the problem probably lies with Nagin and Blanco. These two leaders were probably the reason why the response was so slow. Neither one, more than likely, did not request assistance because they didn’t properly assess the situation or were being provided false information. Louisiana has one of the most corrupt city and state governments in the country. We now understand that the police chief of New Orleans abandoned his post because so many of his officers were also abandoning their posts as the aftermath of Katrina ensued.

         Reports we received about lawlessness in the Superdome are now proving to be incorrect. There weren’t 200 people killed in the Superdome but so far 10. One was a suicide. One has a homicide, apparently someone was pushed from a balcony in the Superdome and the other deaths were heart attacks. Once again, the media is found sensationalizing the news without getting their reporters out there to collect the facts. This seems to be a symptomatic problem when most of the media is controlled by so few companies. Relating back to what we are leaning in this class, as this phenomenon continues and the media refuses to retract false claims and false reporting, we are probably going to see an increase of independent news writers who will use the Internet as their medium of choice to report the news. We may find that after a while we are no longer receiving our news from papers so as the “old gray lady” and will be turning more to Internet sites such as World Net Daily, Drudge Report, Michael Savage and the Savage Nation to list a few.

         The whole disaster is an exercise and a warning to the rest of us that no matter what has happened since 911, local, state, and the federal government will not be there with an adequate response in the even of a natural disaster or a terrorist attack. It is our own responsibility to see to our own safety and to take care of those around us.

         This image was sourced from the Baltimore Sun, Thursday, September 8, 2005. I’m fully aware this is an inappropriate thing to say because of all the damage and disruption to people’s lives but, this image looks exactly like Venice, Italy from the air. I know full well those aren’t canals down there but from the aerial view, the area looks like canals. I’ve been to Venice and the similarity in appearance is astounding. The difference is Venice was designed to be this way so the buildings aren’t under water. Venice has its flooding now also but then again it was designed to have water canals. New Orleans was not.

         All of that water we see I the picture has to be toxic. Later we learned that it was. The homes and buildings down there weren’t designed with the though of flooding, not like the old farm house back in Amityville that I mentioned in my first journal. The buildings of New Orleans weren’t designed with elevated foundations. New Orleans expected the levies to do their job without being aware that they were build to reduced standards do to political interference on the part of the Sierra Club and other environmental activists. The levies were built to lower standards and were never really fully completed by the Army Core of Engineers because of a series of lawsuits by ecology activists. Originally, the Core of Engineers was going to build the levies to withstand category 5 hurricanes, which only makes sense especially for a Federal project. In engineering, since the collapse of the bridge “Galloping Girdy,” engineers have learned to consider vibration and wind flex in their engineering designs plus miscalculations so there is always a 10+ factor built in to any projects today. The 10+ factor or rule is no matter what one calculates for structural strength in the calculations, multiply it by 10 and overbuild to protect yourself. This provides a little extra insurance for human error in calculations, and freak factors I guess you could call them. Based on this, one would build the levies for the purpose of a water level rise expected for the strongest category 5 hurricane regardless if one ever struck or not. Now if there were to be some freak accident like a meteor crash or … I have no idea what to say here because in the past few years we have seen so many unexpected things like planes being used as bombs, tsunami’s, and terrorist bombings, it’s becoming difficult to consider what next. The point being is that engineering structures are purposely overbuilt, but within reason to conserve costs, to withstand a given amount of freak accident stuff.

         It’s unfortunate this happened, but then again for New Orleans, it doesn’t seem that unusual because New Orleans politics is known for a tremendous amount of graft and corruption. It’s probably going to take years to unravel what actually happened. Hopefully the citizens of New Orleans and Louisiana will remember what happened and how their officials responded in their of need and will vote these political leaders out of office. On the other hand because of the problems they have in New Orleans, it doesn’t mean putting Nagin or Blanco out of work will result in less corrupt politicians taking office. They could end up with worse politicians.

         This image was sourced from the Baltimore Sun, Thursday, September 8, 2005. In this image we see the Army National Guard walking in front of floats that are in storage for Mardi Gras for next year’s parade. This image demonstrates the entire dichotomy of New Orleans and how the whole place has none of its priorities straight. The soldiers are everywhere. This isn’t a problem for me. This city is in some serious need of law and order at this point. It seems from the reports coming out now that some sense of order has been restored, but the first few days after Hurricane Katrina, many of the police officers abandoned their posts. From the continuing pressure of the officers not returning to work, the New Orleans police chief also abandoned his post. Without the police there to maintain order and with the advent of small time opportunists taking advantage of a bad situation, it is not surprising the military was sent in to maintain order. That may not be true as they could have been sent in to help with the relief effort. The press would like us to think that an order of marshal law was instituted, but we have heard nothing to that effect.

         On a quick look, I get the impression that the city is once again gearing up for Mardi Gras. Now that I think about this, I may have been taken in by the journalist’s trap. I’m going to assume due to the sophistication of these floats and their artistic complexity that they weren’t prepared yesterday and that they remain in a storage garage year after year. That means that these floats were built years ago. The journalist would like us to believe that even with al the chaos in New Orleans, that the city is now focusing on its cash cow, Mardi Gras. It is more likely that the soldiers were passing through to somewhere else in the building and just happen to be walking through the building where the floats are kept and secondly, happened to walk right in front of them when the photographer was there. It’s possible that the city and some people are making Mardi Gras preparations because their livelihood depends on Mardi Gras, but I find it rather difficult to accept that the focus is on the festival and not on clean-up for rehabitation.

         Mayor Nagin is absolutely a poor leader by all standards. New Orleans hardly had running water, electricity wasn’t completely restored, and the EPA was repeatedly issuing warnings about the toxicity of the water, while Nagin was broadcasting announcements that it was safe to return to the city. This is just tremendously irresponsible. It wasn’t till the advent of Hurricane Rita coming that Mayor Nagin thought twice and began sending out a new message for everyone to stay where they were for the moment. With another hurricane coming that obviously was a good idea because the levies could break once again and the new hurricane did produce more flooding as was expected.

         This mayor is crazy though. In a few more weeks I won’t be surprised that he just broadcasts outright lies telling the rest of the nation that everything is just great down here in New Orleans, “Come on down for Mardi Gras!” Why is obvious, Mardi Gras is a huge tourist attraction for that city and a very long celebration. Without it, there will be a tremendous loss of income; income that no doubt will be vitally necessary to rejuvenate and ensure the survival of many businesses in New Orleans. Mardi Gras has always been vitally necessary for the economy of New Orleans, but now it will be more so. Considering from what we are learning, many insurance companies aren’t paying out exactly what people thought they were paying out homeowners, flood, disaster insurance, they are going to have to pay out of pocket expenses they won’t b able to afford. What better way to get it but from other portions of the country and beyond through tourism.