Jeb's claim to fame in this department was the superb handling of 2 or 3 hurricanes directly before the 2004 election. The Bush brothers' performance in regard to said hurricanes may have made all the difference in the outcome of the presidential election, and no one knew that better than them.

Probably true. But, you can't belittle the results even if the motivation is false. He did a good job. He gets the credit.

I never said otherwise.

My bad. I read more than what was printed.

100% certainty. Lets fire the NWS and hire you. You get rich and we save money.

Bot

You saw the data. There was just about 100% certaintly that the hurricane would hit the gulf coast, somewhere between Texas and the Florida panhandle.

Once it turned north, as predicted, there was nary a doubt. What the hell do we need the multitude of weather forcasters and bouys and all the associated gear if nobody wishes to use the data. I agree, let's fire the NWS and just sit there and wait until the $hit hits the fan. This is called the head in the sand approach.

For you, especially, it doesn't fit.

Any storm track is a probability field. There are several models, each witha different track and different intensity and probability. If the probability field encompassed the entire Gulf Coast uniformly, would you have the entire Gulf Coast call out the reserves and evacuate the entire population? What would be the liklihood of success?

But we know that the storm path was a probability field with increased probability in some places and decreased in others. At what probability band would you alert the NG? At hwat band would you suggest preparation to leave? When would you order mandatory evaculation? If it cost say, $200/person/day to abandon an area, would that estimation affect your recommendation? Why or why not?

Bot

You have seen the models. I have seen the models. The probability field was close to 100% for the Gulf coast. Now, the exact location of the impact could not have been predicted three days in advance, and attempting to stage any response to a specific area in advance of the arrival of the storm would be futile.

However, and I've already told you this, the Feds could have begun preparations to marshall personnel and equipment so that it could be moving within hours of a telephone call. Quite a bit of this equipment has to come from long distances and having it ready to go would be a significant leap in terms of climbing the ladder and getting on top of the relief effort.

The Feds had more than sufficient knowledge of the power of this storm and could have begun preparations for a response many days prior to the point at which they did so. I'm not advocating any mandatory evacuation prior to the point where the impact location is nearly 100% certain.........somewhere about 36 hours prior to landfall is about the soonest that you can have this certainty, IMHO.

At the point where the storm was certain to hit Louisiana and Mississippi (about 36 hours prior), I would have had the national guard on full alert and ready to move as soon as the storm passed.

The National guard is put on alert by the Governor of the states effacted...and well in the case of LA we know what a do nothing she was...since the press is avoiding Missisippi for some reason I am curious about what happened there.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
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1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Do you actually believe this tripe, or is this the usual 'point-scoring' reparte we've come to expect from the man from Trollhattan? Is the "Left" (or "Right") an immutable entity, temporally unchanged no matter history's lessons? Most of the (mostly CPUSA) folks who adored Stalin long past the due date are all dead now, so why should the rest of us "Left-types" continue to pay for their willful ignorance? For the most part, I think history will lump today's rightwing Libertarians with yesterday's hardcore Communist advocates, particularly for their stubborn insistence on adhering to their precious "theories", even when reality proves them utter failures time and time again. History has consistently tought us that humans desire a fair degree of personal liberty AND also cannot adequately function societally without a fair degree of public ownership and a commonwealth approach to addressing the needs of ALL citizens.

Not true. Some of the earliest critics of Soviet Communism were Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman who lived with Petr Kropotkin in Russia just after the Revolution. They were deported from the US for opposing WWII and holding left wing anarchist ideas.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

The governors call out the NG, not the Fed. The govs declare emergencies, the Fed reacts.

Bot

Yes true. Read the NY Times and any number of prominant leftist "thinkers" of the period. Only a very few criticized Lenin or Stalin. Most thought in terms of omelettes and eggs.

B

Clearly all too true, unfortunately.

Democrats aren't any better. Lets face it. Both parties have one huge flaw in common. The race of the members. They are made up of humans and so share the same flaws. If you believe the Dems care a hoot about you and I, you need to put down the crack pipe. They care only about being re-elected and themselves in general. I wish people wouldn't go around saying that Dems or Reps are the one answer because neither are.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
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