UConn James

Well said. In essence, it's a nationalized version of mutual aid agreements b/w fire departments. The city can do certain things, such as gathering people en masse and doing the S&R they shouldn't have had to do b/c of the mandatory evacuation, but they had to do it. Combine the fact that police officers walked off the job and a thousand other little things that all collect to form a Big Problem.... As the saying goes, When you're up to your ass in alligators it's sometimes easy to forget that your primary objective was to drain the swamp. Expecting N.O. to have had a plan to deal with all of that and a lack of outside help is like asking the Podunk PD to evacuate the WTC, and it's pretty sh--ty. (As far as not being able to find a plan online, a lot of large cities have clammed up on providing info like that.) And, since when does "having a plan" equate to greatness and sure success, CTM? Similar to the NFL, there are coaches who script an entire game, and w/in the first minute, it's crumpled and laying on the AstroTurf. I would guess from all of the unexpected stuff, the same thing would have happened in N.O. What this does teach us all is for municipalities and states not to entirely depend on a fast (w/in 3 days) govt response, and realize that in a dire emergency, it might be self-help for quite a while. This is a good thing, I suppose. The "Lessons Learned" reading on this will rival the Federal Tax Code in addition to War and Peace in length. But I can fully imagine that when these states start stockpiling food and bottled water in public venues and the expiration dates pass, those same people who say they needed to prepare better will be complaining about wasted tax dollars.

Something tells me that the guy who, after 4 weeks on the job, got all kinds of heat from the owner to change his game plan and basically said, "Respectfully, Mr. Wilson, STFU b/c I'm staying the course" won't be screaming and running around like a chicken with its head cut off. We'll save that job for you and Rudy.

So oxidizing on the bench will somehow make him better? Newsflash: Every quarterback of the future has to make their first start eventually. Or did Jim Kelly show up in the USFL and then the NFL and throw a touchdown every pass? It's gonna be a loooong year for you, and if you don't want to witness the growing pains that we all hope will eventually lead to a top QB and a Super Bowl, maybe you shouldn't watch this season. I don't have a pipe, but I think you've been smoking something.

Don't see why a new stadium would be necessary or how it would magically bring in more revenue. They had a tough time selling the luxury boxes they added in as it was; the WNY region isn't exactly booming with businesses that might buy a suite. The revenues have always come mostly from regular ticket sales; which is why it was/is one of the larger-capacity stadiums, especially for having been built in the '70s.

Watch out for Dan Orlovsky. He's UConn alum, and he was a great one. Given some time and Harrington's progressively worse play, and Garcia's injury, Dan could see some time this year. He's already got an NFL-worthy cadence.

How do you reconcile Pres. Bush, fresh from the Situation Room, sounding a little angry when saying that the reponse has been "unacceptable"? I prefer to think he has a better grasp on the overall situation than most anyone. (That depends on whether you think he has a clue. Opinions vary on that.)

He just said the response has been "unacceptable," and he stressed that word. For the about the 12th time in his entire presidency, I agree with him. The FEMA director should start the first draft of his letter of resignation --- in fact, that's probably is what he's doing. Not much leadership down there.

President Bush just commented that the response to the situation is "unacceptable" and he stressed this word hard. For once, I agree with him. The FEMA director not only has his head up his ass, he's got his tongue sticking out. This happens when you appoint someone there who has zero experience. To all of those people saying that airlifts are impossible b/c there's nowhere to land... When did dropping supplies with parachutes become impossible? Wastage, for sure, but 30% of bottled water and MREs being usable is better than 0%. There's a time when, absent direct access, you need to do something, and with bottled water supplies, that was 2 days ago. Someone's sure to respond that the people aren't supposed to be there; well, they are there, and just like the people inside of the WTC, you can't just leave them. I know it's a rough situation, and nobody is asking for perfection. Problem solving skills went out the window in how to deal with this. A reporter on NBC said when he went to the outskirts of the city to resupply, the bus drivers were waiting there in empty buses saying they were afraid to go in. There was a friggin' 14-year-old kid yesterday who commandeered a bus and drove 7 hours to Houston. Christ! Bested by a 14-y.o.!!

It's not a bad job when you're dealing with conventional stuff and waving at the pretty girls but when the going gets tough.... My brother's a cop up here. If he did that, I wouldn't ever speak to him again. It has to do with those big words like oaths, duty and honor that are sometimes the only things that keep you going when the sh-- hits the fan.

I think the point is that the administration didn't heed some red flags, diverted the resources elsewhere, gambling that nothing would happen. Once again it came up snake eyes. Not the first ones nor will they be the last ones to do a cost-benefit analysis and come out on the losing end.

I watched MNF to see Dan Orlovsky, their #3 QB, who now owns most of the UConn passing records. I find myself rooting for him to do well, and the Lions' brass is impressed with him. With Harrington just stinking up the joint, and Garcia getting grays in his sideburns, I think Dan-O's in a nice spot.

Then again, the Romans learned from their mistakes. Except for that last one where they didn't have anyone in Rome to fight off the invaders.... Next to how the Incas built Macchu Pichu and the Egyptian pyramids, they probably had the finest architectual people with vision, and the builders who could execute that vision, in the history of the world. Some of that stuff, we can't do or have a hard time doing now, even with all of our technology. Raising the city above sea level will take a hell of a lot of fill. It was built over marshes, which, I'm sorry, but you're just asking for trouble. I'd say the structures that are still standing will need to be leveled. And if it were up to me, if you really have to build N.O. again, you go inland and leave the part that is flooded as a marshy break zone like it was before. Since this is the politics forum, I hope this isn't too crass to be asking at the moment, but what are the political ramifications of this? With refugees moving from the city of N.O. to NC, Miss, Texas, etc, I would guess that Louisiana is now firmly a red state. It's a Democrat diaspora.

Blasphemy! What would W.C. Fields think if he could read that sentence? I'm reading the wall with the pleasant company of Captain Morgan. Mmm.

Listening to the game on the radio (I live close to the ol' alma mater). Just tried to find the stats on the ESPN site, but it's as if the game isn't being played. Or do they exclusively cover just the Top 25 teams? From what I have heard, Bonislawski (Bones, they call him) is sucking at 7 of 28; he was the backup to Orlovsky and has no arm and I have no idea why they don't just start DJ Hernandez. The reason for the 24-0 score beside that we are playing UBuffalo, is our running game is just badass with Caulley (leading NCAA rookie rusher 2 years ago, out with knee injury last year), Lawrence, who filled in for him last year and we didn't lose a step and a few other horses, and the STs returns with Larry Taylor. Lots of losses due to graduation, so there are some holes to fill.

God must've gotten lazy and done Copy and Paste, and then only changed a few lines so he didn't get accused of plaigarism.

Would said spy get a watch with built-in laser and a Russian sexpot sidekick?

Tempting Murphy's Law, I see?

It was really a way of saying "You need a backup plan, and it's amazing how many people just don't have a practical plan." I was on winter vacation back in the 90s helping on my gandparents farm in WNY when they had one of the famous ice storms when the power was out for a week and a half. Not familiar with those, Steve? You will be, and I hope you're prepared. You need something besides systems that require electricity. Or have a generator to run sparingly.

At this point, acknowledgment that there is a problem would be a big step for a lot of world leaders, ours included. I don't have visions of granduer here, but it would be something for President Bush to issue a direct challenge to America, like Kennedy did for landing on the moon, for an issue that is increasingly becoming the most important in our time and the time to come. We like to meet a challenge with a known beneficial result, and this is an area where virtually every American agrees; now is the time to lead. I see you've inherited AD's mantle, only his putdowns were good.

I don't understand why the stores don't do this. Supplies in the short term are extremely tight and people are in dire need of them, when in a little while, the relief supplies will be coming in. If doing the right thing just to do the right thing isn't enough, it would be great PR for the companies that do it. There are concerns about looters and the people with guns and itchy trigger fingers tho. It's hard to reason with people in desperate circumstances.

That would be the plan where the first and only step is to put your head between your legs and kiss your wee arse goodbye.

Any situation requires on the spot decision-making. That's where experience comes through. I was installing a pond and waterfall this summer and it would usually require 2-3 big decisions per day. I have a background in construction from my college summers, so most of the time I was sure of what would work, sometimes I was only pretty confident. Needed to go back and change a couple of small things along the way. But that's how life goes. You do the best you can with what you've got. I tried hard not to but I may have seemed like an ass in a couple of my posts yesterday for the people who stayed behind and those who established a city in a place with geography like that in the first place, and I'm sorry; I was venting a little, but I think that only comes from being able to see so much destruction and not being able to be there and do something useful. My budget doesn't allow for any deviation right now, so it's doubly so. Thoughts and prayers are pretty much all that a lot of people have to offer.

Where is the National Guard, he asks? ~50 percent of them are in Iraq. Sorry for how that may sound, but it's the truth.

He just needs experience? As if he hasn't learned anything in his functional year and a half of starts? Add "being able to cover the pass better," Coy, b/c I have talked with experts and they say that's something safeties should be doing. I directly reference the Jax opener. Swat at the ball and it's a W. Your butt is where it belongs on the bench and as an adequate STer.

They also forgot a wood stove and five cords of wood. You can cook on the wood stove, too. I don't get people who think they can hack it w/ electric or oil only.