Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Friday, June 01, 2012
The time is NOW
I would like to start of with a warning that there is profane language in this post.....caused by the senseless killings going on in the NOLA area.
This past week has been especially violent in our country and it's only Thursday.
There's the Seattle killing where the perpetrator had "anger issues". His brother thought it would end this way. Hey, Bro! DO SOMETHING!
a neo-nazi murdered people before taking his own life (coward) in Arizona
The disturbing "zombie" thing in Miami
But the one that hits closest to my heart (actually there are TWO for me) is the cold blooded murder of a FIVE YEAR OLD LITTLE GIRL in Central City at a birthday party for a 10 year old....who was also a victim. Luckily he lived. Can't imagine how fucked up he's gonna be.
The "kids" in the birthday party murder had two handguns and AN AK47. That's an assault rifle, y'all. There were two young men at the party that seem to be their targets. Those two are not cooperating with authorities.
Really, boys. Innocent people died because of whatever you may have done. Blood is on your hands.
Another murder that troubles me is the killing of a man my age - 58 years old - sitting on his stoop (front porch) when a 13 year old kid, accompanied by a 15 year old pull a gun on this man and demand "everything". Before this poor man could respond the little bastard 13 year old shoots the man in the abdomen. He died before the EMTs got there 15 minutes later.
I remember a few months after Katrina when thought about how we had a wonderful potential of rebuilding a New Orleans without the scum, murderers, drug bastards. But in the early months of 2006 the these animals came skulking back - without their parents in many cases.
It wasn't bad at first, but it turned into a tidal wave by 2007. And now - in 2012 things are in really bad shape. There is no respect for life in the minds of these killers: these "kids" would kill anything to get to whatever evil goal they have. I have seen references to "gang activity"
related to crimes committed in the last few months. People have been murdered GANGLAND STYLE.
Hey, there's an FBI webpage for gang activity in Louisiana. Maybe it needs a zap of electricity to wake it up?
It's time for something to happen. We can't just sit around and wring our hands and let these thugs win. I don't know what it will take to take control of the streets of New Orleans other than - as suggested by a commenter on the dreaded NOLA.com website - put a Navy Seal on every corner. It's a sickness that isn't unique to New Orleans. Chicago had 10 fatal shootings over the Memorial Day weekend, with 40 wounded.
Any suggestions?
This past week has been especially violent in our country and it's only Thursday.
There's the Seattle killing where the perpetrator had "anger issues". His brother thought it would end this way. Hey, Bro! DO SOMETHING!
a neo-nazi murdered people before taking his own life (coward) in Arizona
The disturbing "zombie" thing in Miami
But the one that hits closest to my heart (actually there are TWO for me) is the cold blooded murder of a FIVE YEAR OLD LITTLE GIRL in Central City at a birthday party for a 10 year old....who was also a victim. Luckily he lived. Can't imagine how fucked up he's gonna be.
The "kids" in the birthday party murder had two handguns and AN AK47. That's an assault rifle, y'all. There were two young men at the party that seem to be their targets. Those two are not cooperating with authorities.
Another murder that troubles me is the killing of a man my age - 58 years old - sitting on his stoop (front porch) when a 13 year old kid, accompanied by a 15 year old pull a gun on this man and demand "everything". Before this poor man could respond the little bastard 13 year old shoots the man in the abdomen. He died before the EMTs got there 15 minutes later.
I remember a few months after Katrina when thought about how we had a wonderful potential of rebuilding a New Orleans without the scum, murderers, drug bastards. But in the early months of 2006 the these animals came skulking back - without their parents in many cases.
It wasn't bad at first, but it turned into a tidal wave by 2007. And now - in 2012 things are in really bad shape. There is no respect for life in the minds of these killers: these "kids" would kill anything to get to whatever evil goal they have. I have seen references to "gang activity"
related to crimes committed in the last few months. People have been murdered GANGLAND STYLE.
Hey, there's an FBI webpage for gang activity in Louisiana. Maybe it needs a zap of electricity to wake it up?
It's time for something to happen. We can't just sit around and wring our hands and let these thugs win. I don't know what it will take to take control of the streets of New Orleans other than - as suggested by a commenter on the dreaded NOLA.com website - put a Navy Seal on every corner. It's a sickness that isn't unique to New Orleans. Chicago had 10 fatal shootings over the Memorial Day weekend, with 40 wounded.
Any suggestions?
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
R.I.P. Doc Watson
I found Doc Watson in the 70's through the album Will the Circle Be Unbroken. I think discovering Doc gave birth to my love of guitar music. Thank you and R.I.P. Doc.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Hurricane Season
From Sandy Rosenthal at Levees.org.
On the first day of Hurricane Season, June 1, a certain unease creeps into the city of New Orleans.
Residents begin checking the weather forecasts for low depression spots, the harbingers of monster storms. And they start thinking about levees partly because shortly after the devastating flood during Katrina, the New Orleans Times Picayune reported that annual levee inspections in Orleans Parish tended to be quick drive-by affairs ending with lunch for 40-60 people costing the state as much as $900.
While this is true, the same reports went on to suggest that the quickie inspections might have contributed to the catastrophic flooding and that the local Orleans Levee Board (OLB) may be partly responsible. Neither suggestion was ultimately proved true, but the myths persist.
Here is what really happened.
Pre-Katrina, the Army Corps of Engineers was required to administer annual levee inspections of completed federal flood protection levees in Orleans Parish.
ER 1130-2-530, 30 Oct 96 establishes the policy for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of USACE flood control and related structures at civil works water resource projects and of USACE-built flood protection projects operated and maintained by non-Federal sponsors.
This program, called the Inspections of Completed Works by the federal sponsor (Corps) was designed to insure that the local sponsor (Orleans Levee Board) was complying with its federally mandated levee maintenance.
Before the 2005 flood, the OLB's maintenance activity included mainly cutting the grass on levee embankments and removing unwanted vegetation and debris. But, the OLB also performed other activities like checking concrete surfaces for open cracks, and inspecting for ruts, depressions and erosion on earthen levees.
To be clear, responsibility for the annual inspections belonged solely to the Army Corps. It would obviously be a conflict of interest for the OLB to inspect its own work. The Army Corps's inspections should perhaps be thought of as independent annual quality audits of the OLB's year-round maintenance activity.
Additionally, the Corps of Engineers' annual inspections were not designed to verify structural stability and performance and thus, could not have been expected to uncover potential problems with levees' and flood walls' ability to function. In other words, they were not a factor in the flooding as concluded by the preeminent report for information relating to the 2005 flood - the Decision-Making Chronology Report of 2008.
The drive-by levee inspections are therefore, a red herring in the story about the New Orleans flood.
To our knowledge, the Army Corps of Engineers has not directly supported the myth of the levee inspections. The myth apparently took wings on its own, months before the major levee investigations were completed; and in a post-flood environment of anger, grief and a rush to pass judgement.
After the levee failure investigations all concurred that design and construction flaws, not mother nature, was responsible for the flood, Congress responded by passing the first ever country-wide levee safety legislation which may affect the 55% of the nation's population protected by levees. The legislation ordered national policy changes in levee safety and levee building.
And even though annual levee maintenance inspections were irrelevant in the New Orleans Flood, the Army Corps also overhauled its annual inspections protocols nationwide. Now using global positioning and other modern technology, the Army Corps' annual inspections of completed works are more formal, more uniform and pay greater attention to all components of the levee system.
In the meantime, those annual lunches, which were intended as a social occasion for Army Corps personnel to meet staffers from the Orleans Levee Board, are a thing of the past.
Hopefully, myths and misinformation regarding the pre-Katrina levee inspections, and their role in the catastrophic flooding of August 2005, will also soon become a thing of the past.
This article was written with assistance from H.J. Bosworth, Jr., P.E., civil engineer and lead researcher for Levees.org.
On the first day of Hurricane Season, June 1, a certain unease creeps into the city of New Orleans.
Residents begin checking the weather forecasts for low depression spots, the harbingers of monster storms. And they start thinking about levees partly because shortly after the devastating flood during Katrina, the New Orleans Times Picayune reported that annual levee inspections in Orleans Parish tended to be quick drive-by affairs ending with lunch for 40-60 people costing the state as much as $900.
While this is true, the same reports went on to suggest that the quickie inspections might have contributed to the catastrophic flooding and that the local Orleans Levee Board (OLB) may be partly responsible. Neither suggestion was ultimately proved true, but the myths persist.
Here is what really happened.
Pre-Katrina, the Army Corps of Engineers was required to administer annual levee inspections of completed federal flood protection levees in Orleans Parish.
ER 1130-2-530, 30 Oct 96 establishes the policy for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of USACE flood control and related structures at civil works water resource projects and of USACE-built flood protection projects operated and maintained by non-Federal sponsors.
This program, called the Inspections of Completed Works by the federal sponsor (Corps) was designed to insure that the local sponsor (Orleans Levee Board) was complying with its federally mandated levee maintenance.
Before the 2005 flood, the OLB's maintenance activity included mainly cutting the grass on levee embankments and removing unwanted vegetation and debris. But, the OLB also performed other activities like checking concrete surfaces for open cracks, and inspecting for ruts, depressions and erosion on earthen levees.
To be clear, responsibility for the annual inspections belonged solely to the Army Corps. It would obviously be a conflict of interest for the OLB to inspect its own work. The Army Corps's inspections should perhaps be thought of as independent annual quality audits of the OLB's year-round maintenance activity.
Additionally, the Corps of Engineers' annual inspections were not designed to verify structural stability and performance and thus, could not have been expected to uncover potential problems with levees' and flood walls' ability to function. In other words, they were not a factor in the flooding as concluded by the preeminent report for information relating to the 2005 flood - the Decision-Making Chronology Report of 2008.
The drive-by levee inspections are therefore, a red herring in the story about the New Orleans flood.
To our knowledge, the Army Corps of Engineers has not directly supported the myth of the levee inspections. The myth apparently took wings on its own, months before the major levee investigations were completed; and in a post-flood environment of anger, grief and a rush to pass judgement.
After the levee failure investigations all concurred that design and construction flaws, not mother nature, was responsible for the flood, Congress responded by passing the first ever country-wide levee safety legislation which may affect the 55% of the nation's population protected by levees. The legislation ordered national policy changes in levee safety and levee building.
And even though annual levee maintenance inspections were irrelevant in the New Orleans Flood, the Army Corps also overhauled its annual inspections protocols nationwide. Now using global positioning and other modern technology, the Army Corps' annual inspections of completed works are more formal, more uniform and pay greater attention to all components of the levee system.
In the meantime, those annual lunches, which were intended as a social occasion for Army Corps personnel to meet staffers from the Orleans Levee Board, are a thing of the past.
Hopefully, myths and misinformation regarding the pre-Katrina levee inspections, and their role in the catastrophic flooding of August 2005, will also soon become a thing of the past.
This article was written with assistance from H.J. Bosworth, Jr., P.E., civil engineer and lead researcher for Levees.org.
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