Hieronymus Blogsch http://www.rjray.org rjray.org - Journal and Log for Randy J. Ray en Randy J. Ray (rjray@blackperl.com) Copyright Randy J. Ray Bush/Nero Picks/Fiddles While Nola/Rome Floods/Burns http://www.rjray.org/politics/bush_as_nero.html Nero pickin'Quoth Bob Harris: But this was the U.S. president, this morning, during what is likely the GREATEST NATURAL DISASTER IN AMERICAN HISTORY ... Was this a moment unfairly captured? No. Experts had forecast an imminent possible disaster days ago. And from the start, other elected officials – Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, for example – began urgently working to save American lives. Bush chose instead to continue making public speeches before hand-picked audiences pushing his political agenda...

Over at sistermachinegun.com, Chris Randall would like to know a few things:

Point: The first thing I don't understand is why there isn't a line of Chinooks and Sea Kings bringing food to that god-damned dome, and taking people away. The sky should be black with them. There should be a line of helicopters from Atlanta to New Orleans.

Point: Why is FEMA, the one Federal agency that was once beholden to no one, and able to tell everyone from the Army on down what to do, now under control of the Dept. Of Homeland Security? Now, instead of being able to order goverment agencies to comply under their logistical control, they have to ask. As a result, the Coast Guard and National Guard, which used to have to drop everything at their behest, are now kind of operating on their own with no logistical advice.

Point: Why are the national guards of, say, North Dakota and Utah still sitting in their houses watching CNN?

Valid points, if you ask me.

]]> /politics Randy J. Ray 2005-08-31T23:58-07:00 Nero pickin'Quoth Bob Harris: But this was the U.S. president, this morning, during what is likely the GREATEST NATURAL DISASTER IN AMERICAN HISTORY ... Was this a moment unfairly captured? No. Experts had forecast an imminent possible disaster days ago. And from the start, other elected officials – Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, for example – began urgently working to save American lives. Bush chose instead to continue making public speeches before hand-picked audiences pushing his political agenda...

Over at sistermachinegun.com, Chris Randall would like to know a few things:

Point: The first thing I don't understand is why there isn't a line of Chinooks and Sea Kings bringing food to that god-damned dome, and taking people away. The sky should be black with them. There should be a line of helicopters from Atlanta to New Orleans.

Point: Why is FEMA, the one Federal agency that was once beholden to no one, and able to tell everyone from the Army on down what to do, now under control of the Dept. Of Homeland Security? Now, instead of being able to order goverment agencies to comply under their logistical control, they have to ask. As a result, the Coast Guard and National Guard, which used to have to drop everything at their behest, are now kind of operating on their own with no logistical advice.

Point: Why are the national guards of, say, North Dakota and Utah still sitting in their houses watching CNN?

Valid points, if you ask me.

]]> AmeriCares.org http://www.rjray.org/misc/americares.html Acting on a suggestion from a friend, I've made a donation for Hurricane Katrina relief by way of AmeriCares. According to him, this organization has a stellar record of getting aid to the places it is needed, has extremely low overhead (meaning a much higher percentage of monies donated go to aid vs. bureaucracy), and a long track record from events such as the tsunami last December and 9/11.

Do whatever you can to help the victims in New Orleans. You don't have to go through AmeriCares, but for the sake of humanity do something.

]]> /misc Randy J. Ray 2005-08-31T23:40-07:00 Acting on a suggestion from a friend, I've made a donation for Hurricane Katrina relief by way of AmeriCares. According to him, this organization has a stellar record of getting aid to the places it is needed, has extremely low overhead (meaning a much higher percentage of monies donated go to aid vs. bureaucracy), and a long track record from events such as the tsunami last December and 9/11.

Do whatever you can to help the victims in New Orleans. You don't have to go through AmeriCares, but for the sake of humanity do something.

]]> Looks Like Diamonds Aren't Forever, After All http://www.rjray.org/tech/diamonds.html Physicists in Germany have created a material that is harder than diamond.

(For my physics-fetishist readers.)

]]> /tech Randy J. Ray 2005-08-31T01:37-07:00 Physicists in Germany have created a material that is harder than diamond.

(For my physics-fetishist readers.)

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