Juxtaposition

I am sitting this Thanksgiving morning watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with my daughters and perusing the news, when I came across this story about New York City sending health inspectors to disaster relief food tents.  Aside from the inanity of this story, you have to wonder, what the heck is going on with New York City that they still need these tents.  But onto the story:  

The New York City Department of Health has been dispatching workers to storm-ravaged areas across the five boroughs as part of an outreach to ensure that volunteers are informed on proper food-handling and other safety issues. 

But the presence of health officials has caused some confusion as to where the city is drawing the line between advisement and enforcement. 

Bobby Eustace, an 11-year veteran with the city's fire department tells FoxNews.com that on Sunday he and his fellow firefighters from Ladder 27 in the Bronx were issued a notice of violation for not maintaining restaurant standards in a tent set up in Breezy Point, Queens, to feed victims and first responders. 

“It’s just a little ridiculous. The inspector came up and asked if we were wearing hairnets. I told him, ‘We have helmets. This is a disaster area,’” Eustace told FoxNews.com. “Then he asked is we had gloves and thermometers [for food]. I said, “Yeah, we have rectal and oral. Which one do you want?’ He wasn’t amused.” 

Eustace says that the Health Department worker then checked off a list of violations at the relief tent, including not having an HVAC system and fire extinguisher. 

“He told us that he might come back to see if we fixed the violations. But what can we do? We are just going to keep going until a professional catering company can help take over,” Eustace said, adding that firefighters across the city together have been contributing about $800 a day out of their own pockets to feeding victims in areas hit hard by Sandy.

So firefighters are clearly volunteering their time and money to help victims and Mayor Bloomberg's Nanny State Corps has to go out and get in the way.  That is so blatantly stupid I welcome the mocking that surely must follow.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/21/allegations-surface-nyc-health-inspectors-handing-out-code-violations-to-sandy/#ixzz2Cxs8SzUJ

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Hurrican Ike and FEMA Aid

This is the post I put up on applying for FEMA aid after Hurricane Katrina. I know that almost everyone in Houston/Galveston can't access this, but if you have loved ones in the area, the best use of your time is to collect this information for them.

This is the link to applying for disaster assistance.

This is the FEMA link for Flood Insurance.

The American Insurance Association has a page dedicated to Natural Castrophes as well.

Finally, here is the Texas Department of Insurance page on the Hurricane Ike recovery, which includes links for volunteer activity, as well as links for contacting insurance carriers, Emergency adjusters and the like. It is a pretty good resource.

Galvaston/Houston Prepares for Ike Smackdown

A 20+ foot storm surge will top the Galvastan Island sea wall and the damage will be high.

Ike will strengthen into a dangerous Category 3 hurricane over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico today. Maximum sustained winds will be at least 111 mph, with higher gusts, around the wall of Ike's eye at the time of landfall.

The storm surge has already reached the Texas coast. A massive surge as high as 20 feet above normal tides will slam the coast with locally higher amounts possible in some of the bays, pushed by hurricane-strength winds. The surge will threaten the seawall on Galveston Island, which is as high as 17 feet.

The western end of the island is unprotected by the seawall, and there are several spots in the city where the top of the seawall is much less than 17 feet high.

The surge will push through Galveston Bay as far north as the Houston Ship Canal, flooding low-lying areas between Galveston and Houston.

Even as oil fell below $100 a barrel today, there are concerns for the oil industry in the gulf and for damage to Houston, a major intake location for crude oil from other parts of the world. The wholesale market for gasoline jumped despite the falling oil price as refiners in the Houston area shut down operations in advance of Ike.

Harris County officials urged evacuation (which is a smart thing to do people) and there are concerns of probably injury and potential deaths.

Mississippi Surges Over Nearly a Dozen Levees - NYTimes.com

The flood damages continue to mount.

The swollen Mississippi River continued to spread destruction on Thursday, surging over nearly a dozen levees in the St. Louis area and flooding vast areas of farmland, as the region’s growing crisis pushed corn and soy prices toward record levels.The runaway river claimed one Missouri town late Wednesday night when it broke a levee in Winfield, just outside of St. Louis, leaving a 150-foot hole, deluging the small community and sending a surge of water downstream toward the next levee. Crews of firefighters spent the night evacuating residents, in some cases by boat, as workers fought to contain the river further south.

It is only going to get worse.

Food Prices Will Spike as Result of MidWest Floods

The Financial Times kind of states the obvious.

Consumers were warned to expect even sharper increases in global food prices after US officials said that some of the country’s best farmland was facing its worst flooding for 15 years.

Agriculture officials and traders said the damage could push up worldwide corn and soyabean prices, which have spiralled in recent days as floods have swamped crops in parts of Iowa, the US’s biggest corn-producing state.

The warning comes at a time when high food prices are already sparking protests across the developing world.

Corn futures in Chicago this week rose to record highs of more than $8 a bushel on fears that up to 5m acres of the crop could be lost, while soyabean prices hit a record of $15.93 a bushel.

Tom Jennings, acting director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, said: “The price of corn and the price of beans could rise more. If we lose a lot of corn the prices will continue to go up.”

The floods will no doubt destroy parts of this year's crop.

However, it is important to note that the periodic flooding of teh Mississippi and Missouri River valleys and their tributaries is what made the midwest such fertile farming area in teh fist place. Sure, it provides little solace, but it is nature.

Flooding Will Be a Test/Mess for Weeks to Come

Iowa City and other cities along the Mississippi are going to be tested to the limit over the next couple of days as the midwest flooding moves down stream.

In 1993, the floods along the Mississippi and Missouri were record high marks, this year looks like it will be worse. In 1993,

The Mississippi River at St. Louis crested at 49.6 feet (15.1 m) on August 1, nearly 20 feet (6 m) above flood stage and had a peak flow rate of 1,080,000 ft³/s (30,600 m³/s). At this rate, a bowl the size of Busch Memorial Stadium would be filled to the brim in 69 seconds.

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"A Flood is a Flood"

so says the Louisiana State Supreme Court in a ruling on a case involving insurance coverage for homes damaged in the Wake of Katrina, the levee breach and a massive case load.

The Louisiana Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected arguments that homeowner insurance policies should have covered damages caused by levee breaches during Hurricane Katrina, saying the disaster clearly involved a "flood" not covered by such policies.

The state's high court reversed decisions by state trial and appeals courts that said the definition of the word "flood" was ambiguous in New Orleans resident Joseph Sher's hazard insurance policy with Lafayette Insurance Co.

snip

The high court ruled that Sher's homeowner policy was not ambiguous in excluding coverage for a flood. The court said the lower courts should have looked at the "plain, ordinary and generally prevailing definition" of the word "flood."

"Contrary to the court of appeal's reasoning, this definition (of 'flood') does not change or depend on whether the event is a natural disaster or a man-made one -- in either case, a large amount of water covers an area that is usually dry," the Supreme Court opinion said.

'A flood is a flood'

Justice Chet Traylor of Winnsboro, writing the majority decision, went a step further, saying the flooding in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was not caused by man, only aided by human errors.

"The flood was caused by Hurricane Katrina, not by man," Traylor wrote. "The levees did not cause the flood, they, whether through faulty design, faulty construction, or some other reason, failed to prevent the flood."

No homeowners insurance policy I know of covers flood damage. That is why when you live in an area prone to flooding, you get flood insurance from the federal government. If you live in an area that is under sea level, you are foolish to not have flood insurance.

Of course, one wonders if these people will attempt to sue the Army Corps of Engineers and/or any companies tasked with maintaining the levees. Based on this excerpt of the opinion, it would appear that such a suit might be more successful, if the plaintiffs can prove negligence.

British Flooding: A "Humanitarian Crisis"

It certainly does not look good in Britain as some rivers in England rose three feet in 12 hours. The Thames was expected to crest today, but new rains yesterday may add more water to the already straining river banks.

Who Turned on The Heater?

It is just plain hot out west.

How fortuitous for Al Gore's concert series this weekend.

Foot and A Half of Rain in Texas Overnight

Overnight last nigh, 18 inches of rain fell on parts of Texas, creating serious flooding and other hazards.

All I can say is Wow!!

The midwest is getting slapped around with rain, meanwhile parts of the southeast are in major drought conditions. Weird.

An Inconvenient Truth In Schools

One Candadian teen reports having seen the Al Gore diatribe four (4) times in school:

First it was his world history class. Then he saw it in his economics class. And his world issues class. And his environment class. In total, 18-year-old McKenzie, a Northern Ontario high schooler, says he has had the film An Inconvenient Truth shown to him by four different teachers this year.

"I really don't understand why they keep showing it," says McKenzie (his parents asked that his last name not be used). "I've spoken to the principal about it, and he said that teachers are instructed to present it as a debate. But every time we've seen it, well, one teacher said this is basically a two-sided debate, but this movie really gives you the best idea of what's going on."

McKenzie says he has educated himself enough about both sides of the climate- change controversy to know that the Al Gore movie is too one-sided to be taught as fact. Even scientists who back Mr. Gore's message admit they're uncomfortable with liberties the politician takes with "science" in the film. But, McKenzie says most of his classmates are credulous. His teachers are not much more discerning. "They don't know there's another side to the argument," he says. McKenzie's mother was outraged to find out that Mr. Gore's film was being presented as fact in her son's classroom. "This is just being poured into kids' brains instead of letting them know there's a debate going on," she says. "An educational system falls down when they start taking one side."

Four classes for one movie?

Talk about liberal bias.

Did KS Gov. Sebelius Make Tornado Response Political

By now, most people know about the tragedy in Greensburg, KS, where a tornado essentially destroyed the small town. Over the weekend, the story was that the KS National Guard was so understaffed and underequipped because of Iraq deployments, that the guard units were ineffective. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D) commented on the slow federal response to the disaster, echoing criticisms leveled against the Bush Administration's response to Hurricane Katrina.

Now Bryan Preston, at Hot Air, has a story, which he admits he has not confirmed, that Sebelius got marching orders to make the federal response a political issue about ineptitude and Iraq from DNC Chairman Howard Dean. Shortly after making her harsh comments about the feds, Sebelius reportedly telephoned Kansas Senator Sam Brownback (R) to apologize.

Read the whole thing. Hopefully Bryan can get some confirmation one way or the other. If this is true, it is dispicable and utterly without shame.

Update (1:33pm): Betsy Newmark has some links and comments:

I suspect that the facts of the story won't matter to anyone. It will enter the political bloodstream as a liberal truth that the war prevented the National Guard from responding properly to Greensburg. The truth won't get in the way of political hit job.

Gateway Pundit has more reaction from the townspeople, who are apparently overwhelmed with the assistance they have received.

Upon further review, I am thinking that the typical American response of helping neighbors in need kicked in on a level about par with every other disaster. But then again, I am beginning to think that charity and caring are in the eye of the beholder more than an objective truth.

The Sun is Causing Global Warming

Well, I don't know that for sure, but it does seem odd that climatologists are not accounting for the very high solar activity in their global warming models. Coyote Blog asks the question too. Mars is warming up too, must be all that flying around of Al Gore in private planes.

Flood Insurance Overhaul

Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Judy Biggert (R-IL) are working on a bill that would reform the National Flood Insurance Program, which following Hurricane Katrina is some $20 Billion in the red.

The lawmakers introduced legislation this week that would lift the program’s borrowing authority to $21.5 billion from $20.775 billion, enough to cover claims still trickling in from Katrina victims.

It also would increase the cap on coverage for a home to $335,000 from $250,000; abolish subsidized coverage for vacation homes; and raise the maximum premium increases from 10 to 15 percent — reforms the insurance industry believes will enhance the program’s viability over the long term.

snip

In addition to eliminating the subsidies for vacation homes, the bill would have wiped away all of NFIP’s debts and allowed 25 percent annual premium hikes on properties that had suffered repeated losses.

It had the full support of the Senate Banking Committee but was blocked by Louisiana’s two senators, Mary Landrieu (D) and David Vitter (R), who believed it would be too onerous for Gulf Coast policyholders.

Now I am all for improving the program to make it more solvent. But let's be honest about the "onerous" burden placed on Gulf Coast policyholders. We are talking about Louisiana policyholders, many of them poor. But federal law requires

Homeowners with a federally backed mortgage who live in an area with a 1 percent annual risk of flooding are required to buy flood insurance.

If you live in a flood plain you should have flood insurance. But the problem is that unlike a lot of insurances, floods are a serious risk in some areas of hte country, like say parts of New Orleans, which sits under sea level.

So in order to prevent a burden on poor people, we are going to saddle the entire federal government with a bad debt. That is not a particularly solid system of fiscal management.

Hugo vs. Katrina--"Character Counts"

Michael Graham compares what happened during the aftermath of Katrina with was happened in teh aftermath of 1989's Hurricane Hugo which hammered Charleston, South Carolina.

Hurricane Hugo gave the people of South Carolina the opportunity to rise, or fall, to the challenge. The character of South Carolina was revealed in the months and years that followed, and the result is the prosperous, thriving Charleston of today.

The people of New Orleans had the same opportunity. They responded by re-electing the worst big-city mayor in America, committing so much violent crime that the National Guard was forced onto city streets, and blaming their problems on racism by Bush, who is sending more than $110 billion to the Gulf Coast.

The billions will be spent, but the problem of New Orleans won't be fixed. The real lesson of Hugo and Katrina one year later is this: Character counts.

BREITBART.COM - Audits Show Millions in Katrina Aid Wasted

Via Breitbart
Given the incompetence demonstrated by FEMA and DHS during the Katrina landfall and aftermath, this simple seems like a non-starter as far as news. However, all taxpayers should be interested in the Audits.

At a time when governments spend money like it doesn't exist, it seems to me that more audits need to be done and better accounting rules put in place, not unlike those for corporations.

BREITBART.COM - Audits Show Millions in Katrina Aid Wasted

Jindal Aims to Make Blanco Another Katrina Casualty

Jindal Aims to Make Blanco Another Katrina Casualty

Relief Fatigue

This editorial from the Sacramento Bee is urging help for the earthquake relief in Pakistan as winter begins to set in there. What struck me was this line:

But while there is an understandable case of compassion fatigue among donors

I hadn't thought of relief fatique, but let's look at the major natural disasters in the past year:

December 2004--Asian Tsunami
August/September 2005--Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
October 2005--Hurricane Wilma
October 2005--Pakistan Earthquake

It has not been a good year and to say that it has been expensive would be a major understatement. In addition, something most poeple haven't thought of, but the IRS is going to be hundreds of millions, if not billions, short in tax revenue thanks to the charitable donation deduction.

Wilma's Aftermath a la NY Times

According to the New York Times, millions in Florida are still without basics two days after the hurricane barrelled through the state.

A day after Hurricane Wilma struck, leaving at least six dead, power had been restored to several hundred thousand households and businesses by Tuesday evening. But 3.1 million still had no electricity, including about 93 percent of customers in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. Eleven other counties also reported power failures, many of them widespread. Officials at Florida Power and Light said some customers might have to wait four weeks.

Wow, 48 hours after a hurricane and no power in the state? Such a travesty!!! Hang em all!!

Have we become a society so used to immediate gratification of every need, that any delay, no matter how reasonable under the circumstances warrants incredulity by the press? Hurrican Wilma body slams Florida on Monday. On Tuesday, some power has been resotred!! That is pretty damn fast work and I am impressed.

Of course, the Grey Lady couldn't help but start to play the class card:

In Miami-Dade County, where only 6 of 11 ice and water stations opened around the promised time of 2 p.m., Mayor Carlos Alvarez promised that the rest would open by day's end and said that all things considered, the delay was not bad.

snip

Across the state in Naples, just north of where the hurricane made landfall early Monday, ice and water distribution appeared to be going more smoothly. At one station, members of several National Guard units were operating with assembly line precision. By 9 a.m., hundreds of cars, from Mercedes Benzes to jalopies, had lined up on a road leading into the parking lot of Barron Collier High School.

snip

The storm clogged the streets of Naples, one of the wealthiest cities in the country, with fallen shrubs and trees. But even as the wind was dying down Monday afternoon, yellow frontloaders were pushing and shoving and lifting away debris, and by Tuesday afternoon the main streets and most residential byways were clear.

No mention is made of the fact that the people in Naples knew sometime on Thursday or Friday of last week that they were going to hit and, I don't know, made preparations. I am not surprised that Naples was prepared, the rich people spent money to make sure they were prepared--why is that such a bad thing? I just seems to me that if you prepare for the worst and the worst happens, you can respond better. If you don't prepare and the worst happens, response time slows down.

Aside from money, there is the issue of scope. Naples is a relatively small city, Miami is something on the order to ten times larger, the larger the city, the bigger the logisltical headaches.

Florida has a long history with hurricanes and is making pretty good headway in response to Wilma. As a nation, we have learned much in this hurricane season, hopefully people will learn patience along with perseverance.

Linked to the OTB Traffic Jam, the Political Teen, and Jo's Cafe

Wilma Strengthens to Category 5 Hurricane

I went to bed last night and the thing was a strong Category 1. I wake up this morning to a Category 5 nightmare, in like six hours. What the _____?

Gotta call my parents who live in North Florida. They got lucky last year, but this year I am not so sure. My mom is a nurse, so she may stick around. My dad would probably stay at the hospital with her since he can be of use.

This one is probably going to make landfall on the Florida peninsula.