Around the blogs

After our post-election hiatus, here are a lot more interesting posts from the blogosphere.  Speaking of the election, there were several thought-provoking ponderings, among them the following:

• Library-Griffon, writing at The Ichneumon, vents about what's coming our way.
• Brigid considers beliefs in the context of politics, and concludes that the former trump the latter.  I couldn't agree more!
• My friend Gay Cynic considers options for resistance.
• Mike Vanderboegh at Sipsey Street Irregulars brings us a very relevant passage by the immortal H. L. Mencken.
• Anthony Martin "wouldn't bet a plug nickel for the survival of the United States of America".  I'm not that pessimistic, but he makes a strong case for his point of view.
• Rev. Donald Sensing believes that "The permanent sunset of the Republican party is begun".
• The Adaptive Curmudgeon has all sorts of fun with political callers.

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In honor of Veterans Day last Sunday, Dr. Grumpy brings us the heart-warming story of a proud four-legged veteran.

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I don't get too much feedback from readers about how they're using (or not using) my series of articles on emergency preparedness (see the list in the sidebar).  I was therefore very pleased to read how another blogger applied one of my articles to helping a friend prepare for Hurricane Sandy.  It's good to know that at least some of you find them useful!

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Joe Huffman uses a cartoon to point out the essential uselessness of the 'security theater' that is the TSA.

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Dustbury looks at the online dating limbo, where a man set up a fake female profile on a dating site and waited for replies.  It didn't take long . . .

He also links to another blogger's list of things her friends should do when she dies.  Interesting, quirky and frequently funny.

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Speaking of death, I came across a sobering but fascinating blog titled 'Diary Of A Sad Widow'.  As a clergyman I had to provide what comfort I could to bereaved people and families, so this subject is of pressing personal interest.  The author is chronicling the first year of her bereavement after her husband died in August.  Here's an example of her writing - deliberately chosen because it expresses the reality of the shock of losing a loved one better than almost anything I've read before.

Widows used to wear veils to block their view of the world; I’m wearing an invisible one.  Everything is fuzzy, the world is out of focus, and the edges blurred.  The color scheme of my life has changed to gray.  Everything is gray.  The knife-sharp blue brightness of the first few weeks is gone.  I’m more in control, less likely to break down without warning.  Our wedding picture still sits on my shelf at work, but I can look at it now without crying or even tearing up.  I have very little emotion now, about anything.  Mostly I just float through the day, a few laughs, a few smiles, none of it really meaning much.

This is not me.  I’m an emotional person, a terrible poker player, someone who can’t hide joy, pain, anger.  I need these emotions.  They are fuel for my life.  I’m running more slowly, everything dulled.  Friends compliment me on how strong I am, how capable, what a great job I’m doing.

I know this is not good, it is dangerous and unhealthy and a trap.  Feeling nothing is suppressing what I need to do, which is to feel everything: grief at your loss, anger at why it wasn’t prevented, sadness at the loss of our marriage, guilt at what I could have done better, joy for the fact that we did find each other, even if for less time than we had hoped.

So often, I was angry with you, for the way you choked back your emotions, for that unwillingness to face things that might be unpleasant or hard. I watched you turn anger into inaction, grief into depression and tried to get you engaged and moving and feeling.  You only trusted the good and happy emotions, never realizing that emotions, just like food, need to be balanced.

Now, here I am, perhaps doing an unwitting homage to you through my new inability to feel much of anything.  I really, really don’t like this.  I’m terribly afraid of being stuck in this state of eternal fall grayness.  I’d prefer anything else; winter with its sharp, cold brightness, spring full of wet, messy starts, summer’s lush, almost overwhelming ripeness.  Anything other than this gray, dull, fuzz.

There's much more at the blog.  Recommended reading.

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Og, the Neanderpundit, opines on possible uses for hibernating chipmunks.

(Gigglesnort!)

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The Senior shares a handy Excel spreadsheet he uses to calculate food storage for emergency preparation purposes.  He also provides a downloadable version.  Very useful.

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The Silicon Graybeard points out that our bureaucratic overlords in Washington are about to regulate our dishwashers into uselessness (much as they're planning to do to our washing machines).  I'm thinking it's about time for tar, feathers and rails . . .

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The Rifleman's Journal offers 'A Short History of Long Range Shooting in the United States'.  It's a lengthy article, but very interesting.  Highly recommended.

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Last but not least, Dr. Whitecoat looks at the controversy over government funding of contraception and asks, 'What about men?'

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That's all for this week.  More soon!

Peter

100 years in 100 seconds

This video shows the fashions that would have been common in East London in the UK over the past century.  It's a fun look at how things changed over time.

Historical or not, my parents would surely have walloped me if I'd worn some of the scruffier fashions on display . . .





Peter

Doofus Of The Day #656

Today's award goes to the Central School in Tierp, Sweden.  The Local reports:

Anna Eriksson, 105, lives in a nursing home near Tierp in eastern Sweden, about 130 kilometres north of Stockholm.

But the Swede's three-digit age didn't stand in the way of her receiving a letter recently from the Central School in Tierp, letting her know the school had a spot for her in a class of children due to turn six next year.

The school's principal, Marinna Eriksson (no relation) confirmed ... that Anna had received the letter, as had more than 60 other local children.

"The addresses for everyone born in '07 were included in complete lists we received from the population registry," Marianna Eriksson told UNT.

When the labels were placed on the letters, however, no one happened to notice that one was addressed to the nursing home of Anna Eriksson, who is also born in '07 – 1907, that is.

"Her daughter got in touch and she and I both thought it was pretty funny. The two of them and I could see the humour in what happened," the principal said.

There's more at the link.

I hope she arrives on the first day of school, waving her letter!  I'm sure the other kids would be giggling fit to beat the band . . .



Peter

"There's none so blind as those who will not see"

That time-honored idiom applies particularly to the world's economic situation right now.  I'm at a loss to understand how so many (including alleged 'experts' like Paul Krugman and other Keynesian hard-liners) continue to parrot the 'party line' that we need to borrow more, tax more and spend more in order to stimulate the economy and overcome the recession.  We've been doing precisely that for a long, long time . . . and the results are what confront us now.

Karl Denninger laid it out (again) very bluntly today.  Bold, italic and underlined print are his emphasis.

The "Money Fairy", that is, deficit spending and/or monetary games such as QE are exactly identical to a tax on the economy.

Again (and I'm going to keep pounding this into people's heads until I start hearing it on CNBS!) if you have 10,000 units of output (e.g. oranges, gallons of gasoline, cars, etc) and there are 10,000 units of currency and credit in total available in the economy to be used, the exchange rate is 1:1.

That is, one unit of currency or credit buys one unit of production.

Now press a computer button (as The Fed and Federal Government do) and increase the number of units of credit and currency (by "borrowing and QEing") in the system by 100% to 20,000.

If [you] happen to have 100 of those units of currency in your home you can now only buy half as many units of output as you could have before.  In the best case, where the government evenly distributes that "created" money through the economy, you're in the same place you were before.  But you never see the "best case"; someone always get privilege, they get more of it than you do, and thus you see a real, tangible loss of ability to buy things.

This is an act of pure redistribution, exactly as if you were taxed.

Were the IRS to instead show up at your door with a gun, shove it up your nose, and demand 50% of every dollar you have in the house, the effect on your ability to buy gallons of gasoline would be very close to identical.

. . .

Whether you raise taxes or spend in deficit doesn't matter ... because both do the same thing.  The fact of the matter is that since 2000 we have been running a monstrous game on the American consumer and investor -- the government "discovered" that it can produce what appears to be a healthy economy without actually doing so!  Much of this came from the fact that through the 1980s and 1990s, even during the Internet's "coming of age", the economy really wasn't all that good and real personal income in purchasing-power adjusted terms wasn't particularly healthy.

Note the very right side of that chart and the deterioration over the last few quarters.  It's getting worse folks, not better, despite what Barack Obama and the crooners on the Tee Vee are telling you.

Look, I'm not making these numbers up.  I'm not blowing smoke up your tail.  All this data is published by our own government; it's right there in your face.  I'm not doing what some people are, and "re-basing" it (e.g. Shadowstats) or claiming to have some proprietary model that nobody else has and therefore I'm "smarter than everyone else."

I'm simply opening my eyes and using the very information that our government's official sources present, and which they claim shows that things are getting better.

They're lying and their own data proves it.

We have become addicted to a "false God" siren song -- that government redistribution and degradation of the economy through intentional destruction of purchasing power is somehow "positive" for the economy.

. . .

There is no solution to the Fiscal Cliff until ... the debt we have accumulated at the Federal Level is paid down.

Until that happens we are simply trying to cheat math and all attempts to do so will further destroy purchasing power and thus hurt the economy and personal economic outcomes in aggregate for Americans.  The simple fact is that arithmetic is not a political process and always produces the same answer no matter how fervently you wish it would not or how often you choose to lie to yourself.

There's more at the link.  Essential reading.

All this borrowing and spending are, of course, the only things that have enabled our 'entitlement society' to go on - yet they can't possibly continue to do so.  The chief economist of Wells Fargo pointed out last year:

"(We've had) forty years of political promises to give people certain entitlements, certain benefits. And we've now come to understand that the United States is in a very difficult position than it was in the early post-World War II period. We're not the dominant economy. And our pace of growth has moderated. Our ability to finance this is all limited."

Unfortunately, our politicians (of both major parties) resolutely refuse to confront this reality . . . and so do most of those who elect them.  That's why last week's elections had the outcome they did.  Americans don't want to hear the truth - it's too uncomfortable - so they continue to elect politicians and parties who promise them the biggest benefits, the most 'freebies'.  Nevertheless, reality - mathematical inevitability - will, sooner or later (probably the former), catch up with us . . . and when it does, the disintegration of our society is by no means an impossibility.

Mark Steyn gets it.

If you add up the total debt — state, local, the works — every man, woman, and child in this country owes 200 grand (which is rather more than the average Greek does). Every American family owes about three-quarters of a million bucks ... In 2009, the Democrats became the first government in the history of the planet to establish annual trillion-dollar deficits as a permanent feature of life. Before the end of Obama’s second term, the federal debt alone will hit $20 trillion. That ought to have been the central fact of this election — that Americans are the brokest brokey-broke losers who ever lived, and it’s time to do something about it.

. . .

In the course of his first term, Obama increased the federal debt by just shy of $6 trillion and in return grew the economy by $905 billion. So, as Lance Roberts at Street Talk Live pointed out, in order to generate every dollar of economic growth the United States had to borrow about five dollars and 60 cents. There’s no one out there on the planet — whether it’s “the rich” or the Chinese — who can afford to carry on bankrolling that rate of return. According to one CBO analysis, U.S.-government spending is sustainable as long as the rest of the world is prepared to sink 19 percent of its GDP into U.S. Treasury debt. We already know the answer to that: In order to avoid the public humiliation of a failed bond auction, the U.S. Treasury sells 70 percent of the debt it issues to the Federal Reserve — which is to say the left hand of the U.S. government is borrowing money from the right hand of the U.S. government. It’s government as a Nigerian e-mail scam, with Ben Bernanke playing the role of the dictator’s widow with $4 trillion under her bed that she’s willing to wire to Timmy Geithner as soon as he sends her his bank-account details.

If that’s all a bit too technical, here’s the gist: There’s nothing holding the joint up.

. . .

Americans as a whole have joined the rest of the Western world in voting themselves a lifestyle they are not willing to earn. The longer any course correction is postponed the more convulsive it will be. Alas, on [November 6th], the electorate opted to defer it for another four years. I doubt they’ll get that long.

Again, more at the link. Read it and weep.

Peter

"They were like any other drunk - aggressive and unreasonable but much, much bigger"

That's got to be the Quote Of The Week from Metro UK, which reports:

Fifty wild elephants went on a drunken rampage after downing 18 containers of mahua, a powerful alcoholic brew, in India.

The trunk and disorderly mammals ransacked a shop, three houses and ruined crops in the eastern village of Dumurkota, India.

Police say the gang of over-the-limit tuskers downed more than 500 litres [about 132 US gallons] of  moonshine alcohol, managing to drink the place dry in a matter of minutes.

The unruly mob demolished dozens of houses in their desperate hunt for more booze after hoovering up the hard stuff in record time.

Local police officer Asish Samanat said the drunken elephants were more 'aggressive' than usual after their mammoth drinking session.

'They were like any other drunk - aggressive and unreasonable but much, much bigger.'

There's more at the link.

An Indian report about the incident quoted the police as adding that "They will more than likely have a dragon of a hangover tomorrow".  No s***, Sherlock!  Elephants' size and weight may serve to moderate the effect of alcohol, but an average of over 2½ gallons of moonshine apiece is enough for even them to tie one on in spectacular fashion!



Peter

Navigating in tight spots

The US Navy is about to enter upon carrier deck trials of the Northrop Grumman X-47B technology demonstrator (shown below - image courtesy of Northrop Grumman).  It's an unmanned, stealthy strike and reconnaissance platform, designed to demonstrate that UAV's can successfully operate from the cramped, challenging confines of carrier decks without needing pilots.  If the trials are successful, a successor aircraft is likely to enter service during the next decade.

Part of the challenge facing the X-47B is to make its way around a crowded flight deck, moving around other aircraft and obstacles without running into them, turning its potentially damaging jet exhaust towards people and delicate equipment, etc.  To do this, a strap-on aircraft direction device is worn by a crew member, who uses it to issue instructions to the UAV as to where and how to move.  It's known as the Control Display Unit (CDU).  Here's a video clip demonstrating how it'll work.

The X-47B goes to sea next year to commence carrier deck trials.  This technology is a critical component in making them work.

Peter

The world's economy: slip-sliding away . . .

The inevitable is getting closer and closer.  The economy of the Eurozone as a whole officially slipped into recession today, according to Reuters.

The French and German economies both managed 0.2 percent growth in the July-to-September period but their resilience could not save the 17-nation bloc from contraction as the likes of The Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Austria shrank.

Economic output in the euro zone fell 0.1 percent in the quarter, following a 0.2 percent drop in the second quarter.

Those two quarters of contraction put the euro zone's 9.4 trillion euro ($12 trillion) economy back into recession, although Italy and Spain have been contracting for a year already and Greece is suffering an outright depression.

A rebound in Europe is still far off. The debt crisis that began in Greece in late 2009 is still reverberating around the globe and holding back a lasting recovery.

. . .

Most economists expect Germany to contract in the fourth quarter for the first time since the end of 2011. And where Germany goes, France is likely to follow.

There's more at the link.

Liberal and progressive economists in Europe are blaming spending cuts and austerity programs for the renewed recession, but this is, of course, ridiculous.  The Eurozone, like the USA and other countries, has plunged headlong into debt over many years.  That debt is now a millstone around its neck, soaking up vast resources to pay the interest on it even as more and more borrowing is necessary to fund social programs.  The only cure is to stop spending money the Eurozone doesn't have, stop printing money like there's no tomorrow, and return to a balanced economic program;  but that would mean cutting back on entitlement programs and social safety networks.  That would spell disaster at the polls for politicians, who will do literally anything - including spend their economies into ruin - rather than accept that fate.  The people of Europe, too, are unwilling to hear any message that they must accept a reduction in the amount of money the state spends on them.  Anti-austerity protests and riots broke out (again) all over the Eurozone today.

I expect the same to happen in this country when (as must inevitably happen one day, probably soon) our government runs out of money to fund the free stuff it's been handing out so liberally to buy political support.  Meanwhile, our own economic future appears bleaker by the day.  The Christmas shopping season is off to a very dubious start, and I think it's unlikely to improve.  If you see breathless news stories about how much money people are spending, I strongly advise you to take them with, not a few grains, but a few pounds of salt.  I'm hearing very worried noises from friends and fellow bloggers who work in a number of large consumer-oriented companies, none of whom are at all happy with the current state of affairs.

This Christmas, I suggest we give each other gifts that will be useful in an economically bleak future.  We'll be all the more grateful for them before long.

Peter

Death (almost) live on YouTube

It seems that assassination and social media have become bedfellows, so to speak.  Wired magazine reports:

The Israel Defense Forces didn’t just kill Hamas military leader Ahmed al-Jabari on Wednesday as he was driving his car down the street in Gaza. They killed him and then instantly posted the strike to YouTube. Then they tweeted a warning to all of Jabari’s comrades: “We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead.”

The Jabari hit is part of the biggest assault the IDF has launched in more than three years on Gaza, with more than 20 targets hit. And it’s being accompanied by one of the most aggressive social media offensives ever launched by any military. Several days before Jabari’s elimination, the IDF began liveblogging the rocket attacks on southern Israel coming from Gaza. Once “Operation Pillar of Defense” began, the IDF put up a Facebook page, a Flickr feed, and, of course, a stream of Twitter taunts — all relying on the same white-on-red English-language graphics. “Ahmed Jabari: Eliminated,” reads a tweet from 2:21 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday.

. . .

“I believe the video is aimed to deliver three different messages to three different audiences,” emails Gabriella Blum, a professor of international law and international conflict management at Harvard Law School. “A warning to militants in Gaza (we can get you anywhere, anytime); an appeasing message to the Israeli public (we will not remain helpless in the face of repeated rocket attacks), and a reassuring message to those concerned about the use of targeted killings, especially for its potential collateral damage (we can do this with utmost precision).”

There's more at the link.  Here's the video in question.

It's chilling to think that more and more wars might be fought in this way . . . death and destruction, live in technicolor!  So much for 'civilized' warfare (not that there's any such thing, of course).

Peter

EDITED TO ADD:  The first video clip was taken down by YouTube.  I found a second (well, half a dozen copies, actually), so I've replaced the link;  and if YouTube goes on being silly about this, I daresay I'll be able to find others on the Web.

A typing elephant?

Reader M. C. sent me this photograph today, which she'd apparently received via e-mail.  She asked whether it was real, and whether I knew anything about it.

I didn't, and the text on the typewritten page shown in the copy she sent me was too small to read.  I therefore searched for matching images on the Internet, and came across an article at Retronaut showing several pictures of a gigantic Underwood typewriter made for the 1939-40 New York World's Fair.  Here's one of them.

The article also included a larger version of the picture she'd sent me, which showed the typewritten text more clearly.  Using it to look for more information, I found that the elephant had been brought to the World's Fair by one Frank Buck, an animal collector with a flair for florid publicity.  He set up 'Frank Buck's Jungleland' for the duration of the Fair.  Here's a souvenir program cover, courtesy of Wikipedia.

I don't know who thought of pairing a giant animal with a giant typewriter for publicity purposes, but they did.  So there you are, M. C. - mystery solved!

Peter

Gotta love the Internet . . .

An e-mail alerted me today to the existence of something called 'Veet for Men Hair Removal Gel Creme', available on Amazon.  The fun part isn't the product - it's the user reviews!  It seems people have let their imagination run riot.  The top-rated review reads, in part:

After having been told my danglies looked like an elderly rastafarian I decided to take the plunge and buy some of this as previous shaving attempts had only been mildly succesful and I nearly put my back out trying to reach the more difficult bits. Being a bit of a romantic I thought I would do the deed on the missus's birthday as a bit of a treat.

I ordered it well in advance and working in the North sea I considerd myself a bit above some of the characters writing the previous reviews and wrote them off as soft office types...oh my fellow sufferers how wrong I was. I waited until the other half was tucked up in bed and after giving some vague hints about a special surprise I went down to the bathroom. Initially all went well and I applied the gel and stood waiting for something to happen.

I didn't have long to wait. At first there was a gentle warmth which in a matter of seconds was replaced by an intense burning and a feeling I can only describe as like being given a barbed wire wedgie by two people intent on hitting the ceiling with my head. Religion hadn't featured much in my life until that night but I suddenly became willing to convert to any religion to stop the violent burning ... Struggling to not bite through my bottom lip I tried to wash the gel of in the sink and only succeeded in blocking the plughole with a mat of hair. Through the haze of tears I struggled out of the bathroom across the hall into the kitchen by this time walking was not really possible and I crawled the final yard to the fridge in the hope of some form of cold relief. I yanked the freezer drawer out and found a tub of ice cream, tore the lid of and positioned it under me.

There's more at the link, and many more reviews (over a thousand of them) may be found linked on the product's Amazon.com page.  Funny, after reading them, I have no desire whatsoever to purchase (let alone use) this product . . .





Peter

Doofus Of The Day #655

Today's award goes to the cargo handler(s) and crane operator(s) involved in this incident.

That's a Downer EDI Rail GT46C ACe locomotive - now an eight-figure loss lying on the quay . . .





Peter

"The Art of Demolition"

That's the title of this video clip from Controlled Demolition, Inc.  It's about ten minutes of explosive demolition of all sorts of structures, set to music.  Some is at normal speed, some is in slow motion - some is even in reverse, showing buildings magically re-constructing themselves out of a cloud of smoke and dust!  I found it strangely fascinating.  Try it in full-screen mode.

Interesting perspective.

Peter

A microcosm of our national economic problems?

Reuters has published a very interesting analysis of the economic woes facing the city of San Bernadino in California.  Their slow but steady progression over the years might serve as a model for what's happened in many other parts of the United States as well.  Here's an excerpt.

When this sun-drenched exurb east of Los Angeles filed for bankruptcy protection in August, the city attorney suggested fraudulent accounting was the root of the problem.

The mayor blamed a dysfunctional city council and greedy police and fire unions. The unions blamed the mayor. Even now, there is little agreement on how the city got into this crisis or how it can extricate itself.

"It's total political chaos," said John Husing, a former San Bernardino resident and regional economist. "There is no solution. They'll never fix anything."

Yet on close examination, the city's decades-long journey from prosperous, middle-class community to bankrupt, crime-ridden, foreclosure-blighted basket case is straightforward — and alarmingly similar to the path traveled by many municipalities around America's largest state. San Bernardino succumbed to a vicious circle of self-interests among city workers, local politicians and state pension overseers.

Little by little, over many years, the salaries and retirement benefits of San Bernardino's city workers — and especially its police and firemen — grew richer and richer, even as the city lost its major employers and gradually got poorer and poorer.

. . .

No single deal or decision involving benefits and wages over the years killed the city. But cumulatively, they built a pension-fueled financial time-bomb that finally exploded.

. . .

And while California has the biggest pension debt in the United States in dollar terms, it's not the worst off. Illinois and Kentucky plans are battling for the dubious distinction of having the lowest ratio of assets to liabilities, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

The chronic mismanagement in San Bernardino, though, is a common feature of local government in California and around the United States. Much power over municipal finance lies in the hands of those with the most at stake — city employees, elected officials and others who depend directly on government for their livelihood. And California is moving to put even more responsibility and funds, not less, in their hands.

There's much more at the link.  Recommended reading.

Peter

The Firebird grows larger

Last year I wrote about a new Northrop Grumman optionally-piloted surveillance aircraft, dubbed the 'Firebird'.

The prototype was a single-seat aircraft, but a new version (shown below - photograph courtesy of Northrop Grumman) has since been developed with two seats.  According to Aviation Week, it made its first flight on November 12th.

Flown by two Northrop test pilots, the OPV made its first flight from Mojave, Calif., on Nov. 12. Powered by a single Lycoming TEO-540E piston engine, the twin-boom configured aircraft climbed to 3,880 ft. and reached a maximum speed of 100 kt. during a short, 6-min. circuit.

Some 30% larger than the Firebird demonstrator unveiled in 2011, the production-ready variant is 35.5 ft. in length and has a wingspan of 72.2 ft. The second pilot position was added at the request of the customer, adding a new dimension to the concept of a purpose-designed UAV with the option of an onboard pilot ... According to Northrop, the addition of the second seat now gives users the option of a co-pilot and/or sensor systems operator position, while retaining the original goal of providing a low-cost platform for persistent surveillance.

If not being operated in piloted mode, the Firebird UAV is designed to be commanded by a ground station to operate in either line-of-sight (LOS) unmanned mode or beyond-LOS mode.

There's more at the link.

If you like, you could think of this as a larger equivalent to a General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, but with a two-person cockpit.  The new-model Firebird will go into limited production, with two aircraft being built every year for the next five years.  That makes it basically a hand-built rather than production-line aircraft, and means each individual plane can be modified extensively to meet changing requirements.  I'll be watching to see whether the (so far unnamed) customer is identified, and where these aircraft turn up.  Wherever it is, I'm sure they're going to be doing interesting things.

Peter

Edible deodorant???

I've heard of (heck, I've experienced!) certain foods (*cough*garlic*cough*) producing a characteristic body odor (and some, like beans, doing so by means of . . . er . . . gastrointestinal by-products, shall we say?), but I've never heard of edible deodorant!  Yahoo! Shine reports:

Deo Perfume Candy promises to satiate your sweet cravings while making you smell just as sweet. And, yes, dieters, it's also available in sugar-free.

. . .

Four pieces of the tangerine-flavoured candy — considered a single serving — is recommended for a 145-pound person. The sweet-smelling effect should last for 6 hours.

There's more at the link, and more information about the 'deodorant candy' at its Web site.

I don't think I'm going to try this stuff.  With my luck, I'd get so used to eating my deodorant that one morning, in a half-awake daze, I'd guzzle half a stick of Arrid and dehydrate my gastrointestinal tract for a week!





Peter

A very useful emergency information resource

Fellow blogger Greylocke is putting together a thumb-drive-size package of critical information files, a bootable operating system, etc.  The idea is that you can carry it around with you on a small USB drive, and have access to a wealth of information in an emergency that takes down your Internet access.  It looks very useful.

Click on over to his place for more information, and instructions on how to download everything to your own thumb drive.  To keep updated on what he's doing, see here and here for collections of links.

Peter

Tam fundraiser update

Boy, this thing's getting bigger and bigger!  For the latest list of raffles, fundraisers, etc. see JayG's update.  Keep an eye on his blog for future developments, as he's become the 'linkmeister' for the event.

Old NFO has also posted an update this evening, setting out the prize packages available through the raffle he's hosting.  (For the other raffles, see JayG.)  He'll be arranging the drawing on Thanksgiving.  I'm not sure what the other raffles have arranged for their 'draw date'.

Again, many thanks to all who've contributed, or put up prizes, or who are helping with the administration of what's turned into a major fund-raising effort.  With a little bit of luck, Tam will have enough for the cancer surgery, plus a nose job and tummy tuck as well!

(Ducking and running for cover . . . )



Peter

Any landing from which you can walk away . . .

. . . is supposed to be a 'good' landing - but I'm not sure whether the occupants would describe this one in those terms, even though they survived!  According to Flight Global, yesterday this Cessna Citation III business jet overran the runway at Sao Paolo airport in Brazil at high speed, crashing down an embankment and coming to rest at the edge of the road skirting the airport.  See for yourself.

Yep . . . that was going fast, all right!  That runway has a reputation for being very short, and slippery when wet.  In 2007 TAM Airlines Flight 3054, an Airbus A320, skidded off the same runway in rainy weather, bounced all the way across the same road, and struck a warehouse.  The subsequent explosion killed all 187 people on board plus 12 on the ground.  It was Brazil's deadliest air crash to date.

Peter

Doofus Of The Day #654

Today's should really be a Double Doofus award.  It goes to the crew of a firefighting helicopter in Australia.

A water-bombing helicopter has mistakenly sprayed partially treated sewage onto firefighters battling a blaze on the NSW mid-north coast.

. . .

An RFS spokesman said on Monday that a helicopter mistakenly drew up secondary treatment water from a sewage treatment plant.

It was then dropped near 12 firefighters, while another seven firefighters were in the general area.

"Following this, all 29 firefighters on the fireground and their equipment were immediately withdrawn and decontaminated by Fire and Rescue NSW," the spokesman said.

They were also checked by paramedics at the scene and as a precaution each firefighter was given a further medical check the following day, he said.

"At this time, no firefighters have complained of any ill-effects."

There's more at the link.

OK, the first award is for picking up sewage instead of plain water, and the second is for dumping it on the firefighters!  They may not have "complained of any ill-effects", but I'm willing to bet more than a few Aussie beers that they had a few other complaints - and that they voiced them loudly and very clearly!



Peter

A world record fireworks display

To celebrate 50 years of that country's constitution, the government of Kuwait sponsored the world's biggest fireworks display.  According to the Daily Mail, it cost £10 million (about US $15.9 million at current exchange rates).

There are many more (and much larger) photographs at the link.  Here's a video recording of part of the display.  It's worth watching in full-screen mode.

That's pretty spectacular all right!  I'm amazed at how far it spreads across the skyline.  I wonder how long the 'firing line' of firework mortars was?

Peter

"Alice In Waterland"

That's the title of a very interesting (and sobering) article describing the author's experiences during and after Hurricane Sandy in New York City.  Here's an excerpt to whet your appetite.

NYC combines the worst elements of the early industrial capitalist era (before the markets had a chance to improve urban working and living conditions) and the depths of Soviet style central planning, rationing and despair. It's exactly that Soviet style planning and reliance on the imperious local government that left New York so rife with suffering in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

. . .

The power flickered during the night as we all moved our basement furniture, files, and valuables to higher ground. Simultaneously, others were throwing their sewage laden belongings on the sidewalks. The pile-up of garbage was a scene from the Twilight Zone – and all occurring in the dark of night. Amidst the groans, cries and sobs of disbelief and loss, fire truck and ambulance sirens screamed all night long as everyone scooped up the rising water from their houses, if they were lucky to own a sump or transfer pump, then the dirty water damage was mitigated. Due to the sewage plant backup, there was no clean, sanitary running water for drinking, showering, toilets, etc.—in other words, no water, unless you were prepared with gallons of bottled water.

. . .

To protect the citizens and the gas stations, the National Guard were called in and local police are standing by at every gas station. Do we feel safe now or is this just another page out of the how to run a military state?

Now let's recap the series of events: no water, no power, no communications, no public transportation, no gasoline for vehicles (lack thereof). Now add one more problem to this dire situation: no working ATMs in the blackout areas. The same applies to credit card machines at businesses that managed to open their doors. CASH only if you need anything, food, water, medical supplies.

Highly sophisticated, educated people were cursing and assaulting others for limited gas and supplies. Homeowners that had their entire expensive beachfront homes destroyed in Rockaway Beach and Seagate for example were now homeless and bouncing from shelter to shelter. Looting was now prevalent in communities without power, water or much protection. One friend of mine in Rockaway was standing down with a gun as some looters opened his garage door to cause trouble – they fled when the gun was aimed at them. People were walking around like zombies, aimlessly trying to figure out how to start over again with nothing.

There's more at the link.

The author is using the article to promote a Web site offering financial services and perspectives that I personally would not use, but that doesn't diminish the usefulness of his 'lessons learned' description of events during and after Hurricane Sandy.  Recommended reading.

Peter

Update on the raffle to support Tamara

By now I'm sure most of my readers are aware of the burgeoning movement to raise funds for fellow blogger Tamara's medical needs.  If you've missed it so far, see here first, then here, for background information.

A lot of people have contributed items to be raffled off in support of Tamara.  Apart from those I mentioned earlier, these have been added to the pot:

• John has donated a Ruger P94 pistol to the raffle being organized at Old NFO's place.
• The Jack has teamed up with gunsmith Joe Spear to offer a 'package deal' on the previously mentioned replica of a medieval 'handgonne'.  Looks like a winning proposition to me!
• Erin Palette is putting together a 'care package' for Tam.  Contributors also get added points to go into the drawing for the 'handgonne' mentioned above.
• JayG has details of a number of other items on offer, and how to enter the raffle for them.

Many thanks to all who've already donated to help Tamara.  If you haven't done so yet, may I invite you to consider joining us?  Tam's good people, and well worth our support.  You'll find directions on how to contribute and enter the various contests/raffles/etc. at these links:

• Old NFO for most of the items on offer (he has several blog posts about it:  here are links to the first, second, third and fourth articles);
• Angus McThag for the AR15 lower;
• Erin for the 'care package';
• Dennis for a custom holster.

If I've left anyone out, I apologize.  Please contact me, either in a comment below or by e-mail, and I'll amend this post accordingly.

Peter

Big badaboom!

(Headline stolen borrowed, of course, from 'The Fifth Element'.)

Jack Beckman took part in last week's Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals.  All was going well, until . . .

He had this to say about the experience.

Despite this spectacular blow-up, his team completely rebuilt the car, and he went on to qualify the following day with a 4.025-second run at 319.75 mph.  Kudos to a great team of mechanics, and to him for keeping it all together this time!





Peter

Veterans Day

I think I said all I want to say about Veterans Day back in 2010, in this post.  Please go re-read it, and pray for all those who've given their time, their service, and in some cases their lives, to keep us safe and free.

This is their day.

Peter

Ann Barnhardt on the 'new economy'

Investment analyst and broker Ann Barnhardt made headlines last year when, after the MF Global collapse, she told her clients to get out of the markets - to take their money and run, in so many words.  I wrote about it at the time.  Amongst much else, she said:  "The system is no longer functioning with integrity and is suicidally risk-laden. The rule of law is non-existent, instead replaced with godless, criminal political cronyism."

She's gone on to declare that she will refuse to pay taxes any longer.  Her motivation for this is mostly religious, with some political elements as well.  As she declared in November last year:

I fear God, and God alone, and thus I will render unto Him EVERYTHING, up to and including my wealth, assets, freedom and life, if that is what is required to remain in compliance with His commandments. The early Christians went to their death rather than offer a pinch of incense on the altar of Caesar. Incense is merely symbolic and burns away. Money subsidizes, finances and enables activities that break God’s law. Therefore I will not file, and I will not pay income taxes unless and until the Federal Government of the United States is reformed under the Constitution of 1787 as amended and the Rule of Law is reasserted, necessarily including the arrest and trial of Barack Obama, and the re-criminalizing of abortion in all cases, or until a new, legitimate government replaces it.

There's more at the link.  The IRS has already taken steps to sequestrate her bank accounts, and more will undoubtedly follow.

She's now released an eight-part video series titled "The 'New Economy' Is Going To Implode'.  You'll find the eight parts here, and the workbook (an Adobe Acrobat document in .PDF format) here.  I haven't yet finished going through the series (it'll probably take me a week or more, given other demands on my time), and I'm not sure whether or not I'll agree with all her points, but I do agree with her on the following:

• The MF Global bankruptcy did, indeed, reveal a deep-seated corruption in the US financial system, one that nullifies the protections assumed to exist by most individual investors, and which favors and protects politicians and selected, favored banksters over all others.
• The US central (federal) government long ago exceeded its constitutional bounds, and no longer cares about those limitations on its authority.  It routinely disregards the constitution in arrogating to itself powers the Founding Fathers never intended for it to possess.  Those powers may have been arrogated in terms of laws passed by Congress and the Senate, signed by the President, and tolerated by the Supreme Court, but I think there's no doubt that they vastly exceed the original intent of those who framed the Constitution.
• The majority of the American people no longer care about such matters.

I'd suggest that if you're concerned about our nation and our economy, her eight-part series will be worth your time.  As I said earlier, I haven't yet watched the whole thing, and I don't know whether or not I'll agree with everything she says.  In some respects, I regard her as being 'way out there', somewhat unbalanced in her aggressive devotion to her particular point of view.  On the other hand, I doff my hat to her as one willing to sacrifice anything and everything that holds her back from being faithful to what she believes.  It may be a form of fanaticism, but it's honest, out-there, in-your-face, no-deceit fanaticism.  Such honesty deserves respectful acknowledgment, even if one doesn't entirely agree with the positions involved.

Peter

An update on fund-raising for Tamara

You'll remember my bleg for Tamara from yesterday morning.  If you missed it, please click through and read it before continuing here, as it contains background information.

Back already?  OK, here goes.

A number of bloggers have come together with fund-raising ideas to help Tam.  In no particular order, they are:

• Old NFO will donate one of his Colt Diamondback revolvers in .38 Special, and Michael will hand-craft a custom holster for it.
• Also via Old NFO, gunsmith Joe Spear will hand-make a replica of a medieval 'hand-gonne' or hand cannon.  You can learn more about his first such gun here, and watch a video of it being fired.  It's a whole lot of fun!
• Also via Old NFO, the Atomic Nerds have chipped in a gift certificate from Brownells.
• Also via Old NFO, the lovely Phlegm will offer a hand-made necklace.
• Dennis at Dragon Leatherworks will donate a Viper holster.
• Angus McThag will donate an AR-15 lower receiver.
• Zercool will donate one of two Dragon Leatherworks holsters (winner's choice).
• The owner of Rimfire Designs, who blogs at Life In 3D, will donate two sets of grips for a Colt 1911 or Browning Hi-Power pistol.

All of the prizes involve making a donation to Tam's tip jar (as described in my earlier post), then putting an identifying word onto the PayPal receipt and forwarding a copy to a designated person or address.  Details of what to do to enter for each prize are on the Web sites linked above - follow each link for more information.

I'm very grateful to all concerned for stepping up to the plate for Tamara.  How about it, readers?

Peter

A burger in space?

It seems university students keep coming up with weird and wonderful ideas.  The latest, from five Harvard University students, might interest NASA.  The Telegraph reports:

Students are well known for their love of fast food, and a group of five friends from Harvard University decided to send one hamburger where no snack has ever gone before. Namely, into space.

First, they coated a hamburger with lacquer to make sure it had a fighting chance of withstanding the elements on its trip into space.

It was then connected to a camera and a GPS system before being attached to a helium balloon.

It made it to an altitude of almost 100,000 feet before the balloon burst, sending the burger hurtling back to Earth. Several days later, the students found the hamburger and camera stuck up a tree just outside Boston. Both were still intact.

Here's the students' video report about the 'experiment'.

Hmm . . . if that burger had gotten too close to the International Space Station, would that represent an orbital hazard, or a digestive one?





Peter

For once, an 'Occupy' proposal I can support!

Readers will have gathered that I don't have terribly much sympathy for the protestors of the 'Occupy movement', in this country and around the world.  Nevertheless, I have to admit they've come up with an idea I can support, at least to some extent.  The Telegraph reports:

A group of campaigners linked to the Occupy Wall Street movement is buying-up distressed loans for pennies in the pound and cancelling them to "liberate debtors at random".

The Rolling Jubilee project is seeking donations to help it buy-up distressed debts, including student loans and outstanding medical bills, and then wipe the slate clean by writing them off.

Individuals or companies can buy distressed debt from lenders at knock-down prices if it the borrower is in default or behind with payments and are then free to do with it as they see fit, including cancelling it free of charge.

As a test run the group spent $500 on distressed debt, buying $14,000 worth of outstanding loans and pardoning the debtors. They are now looking to expand their experiment nationwide and are asking people to donate money to the cause.

. . .

A video released to promote the project says: "We shouldn't be forced into debt to cover basic needs like healthcare, housing and education. We need a jubilee, a clean slate. The math is on our side; a little bit of money goes a long way. If we can raise $50,000 we can buy a million dollars worth of debt and abolish it.

"We bailed-out the banks and in return they turned their backs on us. We don't owe them anything, we owe each other everything. It's time for a bail-out of the people, by the people."

There's more at the link, and at the project's Web site.  Here's a video presentation about their idea.

I'd willingly contribute to such a project, provided that the debts it seeks to relieve are appropriate and carefully chosen.  I'm not prepared to bail out those who bought beyond their means, and invested in McMansions that are now worth less than the outstanding loan against them;  nor am I prepared to pay for someone who took out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans to pursue a degree in gender studies or underwater basket-weaving.  On the other hand, a small business owner who desperately needs relief from his debt burden in order to keep his business running, offering employment to his staff and services to his community?  I'm up for that.  A small farmer who needs to pay off loans in order to keep his farm going in the face of pressure from big agri-business?  Ditto.

It'll be interesting to see how this develops.  I'll be hoping for the best.

Peter

A wholly avoidable firearms training tragedy

I've written more than once about the 'Four Rules of Firearms Safety', as propagated by the late, great Col. Jeff Cooper and taught in most worthwhile firearms schools.  (Some expand them into many more 'rules', but the four basic ones are all you need to be safe with a firearm.  I discussed them at greater length here.)  Last weekend a so-called 'accident' occurred that was no accident at all - it was a wholesale violation of the Four Rules, and it led to tragedy.

Full details of the incident are not yet available, but the first two posts on this thread at the AR15 forum give enough detail to understand in broad outline what happened.  Briefly, an instructor was doing a live-fire exercise with other people downrange - in other words, ahead of the muzzle of his gun. He failed to adequately check that the 'shoot house' was clear before commencing his course of fire, and tragedy resulted.  The person who was shot (another instructor) is now in hospital with three bullet wounds;  two to the torso and one to the arm, if I understand correctly.  The wounds were inflicted by an AK-47-type rifle in caliber 7.62x39mm.

Speaking as a shooting instructor, and as one who's had to use a firearm in more than a training scenario, I have three things to say.

1. Anyone who would put anybody other than military-trained special forces operators into a live-fire environment where others are ahead of the muzzle of the shooter's gun is begging for trouble.  For example, each and every Delta Force operator expends something like 50,000 rounds of ammunition every year in training, including precisely this kind of high-speed, low-drag scenario.  They're qualified to do it.  Less-well-trained military personnel and virtually all civilian shooters are not, no matter how skilled and experienced they may be on a 'square range'.  Period.
2. The 'Four Rules' are interlocking safety mechanisms.  Even if you break one of them, but are observing the other three, you may cause a negligent discharge of your firearm, but you still won't cause a tragedy by hitting someone.  The shooter in this case broke more than one of them - he did not make sure of his target and what was beyond it, and did not keep his finger off the trigger until he'd done that.  The result . . . well, it speaks for itself.  If you follow the 'Four Rules' each and every time you handle a firearm, you won't cause a tragedy for yourself or anyone else.  They work.  Obey them!
3. You need to be very, very careful in selecting an instructor.  If he preaches a 'warrior ethos' to civilians, be wary.  Civilians are going to use a firearm in a civilian setting, according to civilian law, and may face trial on criminal charges or a civil lawsuit.  In such settings, warriors need not apply!  Similarly, if an instructor or school preaches some esoteric 'combat doctrine' such as a 'warrior grimace' or a particular, over-hyped system of martial arts such as 'Systema' (as is the case with the instructor involved in last weekend's shooting), or has a blog and a (very noisy and badly designed) Web site, both labeled 'Gospel Of Violence', be wary.  If anyone offers courses in 'advanced gunfighting', be wary.  (I'm here to tell you, during eighteen years' exposure to civil unrest and guerrilla warfare, and having experienced a certain amount of activity 'at the sharp end' both in uniform and as a civilian, I never found myself in an 'advanced gunfight'!)  There are a great many posers out there.  (An excellent resource that takes delight in exposing 'posers' and 'wannabes' in the martial arts is Bullshido.net, particularly its articles and reviews.  Recommended.)

Some of my readers will know of Larry Vickers.  A former Delta Force operator, he's anything but a 'poser' - he's the real deal.  He had this to say in a comment to an article that mentioned last weekend's tragedy:

Very carefully evaluate any instructor who is teaching this topic in an open enrollment format; bottom line in my opinion if the instructor does not have extensive US Special Operations experience I absolutely would not attend the class.

Certainly some allied SOF units could qualify in terms of instructor criteria but it is very difficult to adequately vett an instructor from overseas so my gut instinct would be to pass on a class being taught by a foreign instructor.

As far as instructors whose credentials are outside of US SOF or NATO Special Operations forces – such as Warsaw Pact – I would avoid those instructors at all costs as my experience is despite what hype may surround said instructor their actions and weapon handling techniques speak volumes about their true competency ; in other words stay away no matter what.

There's more at the link.  Scroll to the top of that page for the complete article, if you're interested.  I'm not fit to dust off Larry Vickers' boots when it comes to serious combat shooting, so all I can say is, listen to the man.  He knows whereof he speaks.

I will make this offer.  If you want to take a shooting course from an individual or school, and aren't sure about them, contact me for more information (my e-mail address is in my blog profile).  If I know anything about them, good or bad, I'll tell you;  if it's mostly bad, and I don't want to slander them, I'll simply tell you that I wouldn't go there.  If I don't know them, I'll say so, and try to point you to resources that do know them and can give you an honest, informed opinion about them.  (I recommended several schools and instructors here - scroll down to find the list.)

Peter

A bleg for Tamara

I'm sure many of my readers know (or know of) Tamara, who has a vast online presence ranging from her blog, 'View From The Porch', to Facebook, to forums, to writing articles for various publications.  I've known her in the flesh since the early 2000's, and greatly envy her gift of snark.

Tam recently found a nasty growth on her face, and had a torrid time getting it biopsied and analyzed.  Well, the analysis is back.  It's a basal-cell carcinoma, which she'll now have to have removed.  She seems to be taking it in moderately good spirits, but I'm sure she'd appreciate a kind word from those who enjoy her writing.

The thing is, Tam doesn't have medical insurance.  She's self-employed, and like many of us in these trying economic times, she doesn't have much in the way of reserves to cover a medical issue like this.  Therefore, I'd like to issue a bleg.  Would those of my readers who also enjoy her writing please consider making a donation to her medical costs?  On her blog, you'll find her 'Tip Jar', circled in red below:

If you click on that link, you'll be able to donate via PayPal.  May I please ask you to consider it?  Tam's enriched so many of us with her sarcastic sense of humor that I think a small return on that is the least we can do.  She also provides an e-mail address if you'd like to write to her, rather than leave a comment on her blog.

Peter

Government disaster relief again falls short

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, we're seeing yet again that government-organized disaster relief efforts are seldom all they could be, and often very far from what they should be.  Complaints about the lack of relief, ineffective or inadequate or misdirected or badly organized relief, and lack of official concern (up to and including several FEMA offices closing due to bad weather!) are legion.  Some emergency relocation centers appear to be seriously deficient.

In that light, I refer readers to my article 'Lessons learned from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005'.  In it, I said (amongst many other things) the following:

There are "too many chiefs, not enough Indians" in New Orleans at the moment ... there's alleged to be conflict between City officials and State functionaries, with both sides claiming to be "running things". Some individuals in the Red Cross, FEMA, and other groups appear to be refusing to take instructions from either side, instead (it's claimed) wanting to run their own shows. This is allegedly producing catastrophic confusion and duplication of effort, and may even be making the loss of life worse, in that some areas in need of rescuers aren't getting them.

. . .

There are numerous reports of aggressive, overbearing behavior by those rescuers who first arrived at disaster scenes. It's perhaps best described as "I'm here to rescue you - I'm in charge - do as I say - if you don't I'll shoot you". It appears that mid-level State functionaries and Red Cross personnel (the latter without the "shoot you" aspect, of course) were complained about most often ... Another aspect of this is that self-sufficient, responsible families were often regarded almost with suspicion by rescuers. The latter seemed to believe that if you'd come through the disaster better than your neighbors, it could only have been because you stole what you needed, or somehow gained some sort of unfair advantage over the "average victims" in your area.

. . .

There is widespread frustration over the lack of communication and empathy by rescuers and local/State government. This is partly due to the absence of electricity, so that TV's were not available to follow events as they unfolded: but it's also due to an almost deliberate policy of non-communication by rescuers. There are many accounts of evacuees wanting to know where the bus or plane was going that they were about to board, only to be told "We don't know", or "To a better place than this". Some have found themselves many States away from their homes. Other families were arbitrarily separated upon rescue and/or evacuation, and are still scattered across two or three States. Their efforts to locate each other are very difficult, and when they request to be reunited at a common location, all of those with whom I have contact report a blanket refusal by the Red Cross and State officials to even consider the matter at this time. They're being informed that it will be "looked into" at some future date, and that they may have to pay the costs involved if they want to join up again ... Lesson learned: never, EVER allow yourselves to be separated as a family, even if it means waiting for later rescue and/or evacuation. Insist on this at all costs!

There's more at the link.  It looks as if many of those 'lessons learned' need to be re-learned by those involved in the Hurricane Sandy relief effort.

I also recommend an excellent study in the Spring 2009 issue of The Independent Review.  It's by Stephen Horwitz, and is titled 'Wal-Mart to the Rescue: Private Enterprise’s Response to Hurricane Katrina'.  At the link you'll find a further link to the full article in .PDF format;  ignore the opening page of advertisements, and scroll down to the article itself.  It's full of very interesting information about how Wal-Mart responded to Hurricane Katrina, mobilizing its resources to assist those in need - to far better effect than FEMA in many ways.  The author begins:

In the several years that have passed since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in the late summer of 2005, it has become increasingly clear to many observers that governments at different levels were at fault for almost every stage of the sequence of events that turned the passing of a fairly strong hurricane to the east of New Orleans into a catastrophe. Government has been quite appropriately the target of a great deal of criticism both by local residents and by observers elsewhere with regard to the special interests at work in constructing the elaborate system of pumps, levees, and canals that try to make the city’s water go everywhere but where nature wants it to go; the problems with the actual canal and levee construction by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the botched evacuation plans; the confusion over which levels of government should respond, and how, to the multiple and very visible failures of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); and the ongoing inability of various levels of government to rebuild the New Orleans area. Unfortunately, as is often the case when existing government agencies fail to do their assigned task, the response to this government failure has been for many people, especially those in the agencies involved, to argue that those failures were owing to a lack of will, resources, or expertise. As numerous public-choice economists and economic historians have documented, this call for more government power is a typical response to crisis, with the end result being a surge in the size and scope of government from which a full retreat is never made.

Lost in this increasingly common narrative of Katrina, however, is any discussion of the few institutions that did respond effectively in the aftermath of the storm. Not much has been said about the role private enterprise played in providing necessary resources in the immediate aftermath and in helping to reestablish a sense of normalcy in the days and weeks that followed. The best example of a successful private-sector response is that of Wal-Mart and other “big-box” retailers, such as Home Depot. The untold story of Katrina involves the way in which Wal-Mart in particular responded with speed and effectiveness, often in spite of government relief workers’ attempts to stymie it, and in the process saved numerous lives and prevented looting and chaos that otherwise would have occurred.

Again, much more at the link - and very interesting reading it is, too.  Bold print is my emphasis, particularly in the light of my 'lessons learned' post cited above.

I suggest that readers take note of the fact that government seems to have learned little or nothing from its earlier failures in disaster relief . . . and plan accordingly as part of your own emergency preparations.  As I said after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita:  "Moral of the story: if you want to survive, don't rely on the government or any government agency (or private relief organization, for that matter) to save you. Your survival is in your own hands - don't drop it!"

Peter

Light blogging tonight

I'm working on a couple of fairly long articles, which should appear over the next few days.  Unfortunately the research involved, plus trying to get my scattered thoughts into some semblance of order, has got in the way of other blog articles.  I'll try to put up a few more tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, here's a fascinating video clip of an elderly blacksmith in England, still hard at work when most people have long since retired.  The description reads:

Britain's longest-serving blacksmith is still forging iron in his workshop - at the age of 84. Hardy Fred Harriss, 84, first picked up a hammer and tong aged ten in 1938 and is still working every day 74 years later. He has worked back-breaking 12 hour days fixing steam engines and aircraft, as well as making railings and ornamental iron pieces. And the hardy blacksmith - who refuses to wear gloves for the blistering work - claims he will NEVER retire from the job.

I can only hope I'm as spry and active when I reach 84!

Peter

Meanwhile, in Romania . . .

. . . they have ways and means of carrying pipes.

Peter