As some of you by now know, I have been drafted. My regular government phone job has been swallowed up in the Katrina relief effort and for about two weeks I have been manning the FEMA-line talking to victims about their losses. My job basically consists of me taking their registration application so they can get some relief to help pay for disaster-related needs, ie: food/shelter/repairs/etc.

My impressions so far are that FEMA is a horribly run organization and is resulting in many many people not getting the aid they need when they need it. Let's start with this. At first they asked for volunteers and put 160 of us on the lines, this started 9/01 (already 3 days after the hurricane) after a day of training. Just yesterday (almost 2 weeks after) they "drafted" my whole callsite, about 500-600 in total. Hopefully this will help us answer even some tiny fraction of the calls. From what people are telling me it takes on average anywhere from 2-3 days of continuous calling to finally get someone on the phone.

Then there's the fact that people are supposed to be able to call about their application to find out about the status of their claims. They are supposed to call the normal FEMA line and press option 2 or 3. Well about half my calls are people trying to get to the help line with no success. The help line has in fact been down almost continuously since the disaster began. These people literally have [/i]no one[/i] that can tell them if relief is on the way. They are totally at the mercy of fate, some of them stranded in totally foreign states with no cash, maybe some kids, and no idea what is going to happen to them. It is so personally frustrating to have to talk to these people day in and day out and not be able to offer them any bit of comfort.

The organization itself is something really lacking. As I mentioned before I received one day of training (having never worked for FEMA before) and the new people they've just "drafted" are getting 4 hours. And while it's understandable we need to get the bodies on the phone to answer the calls ASAP, what happens is most of us have no idea how the whole system even works. We receive about 15-20 minutes of an update meeting everyday where new numbers are being called out and jotted down, and then off to answer the calls. Would it have been impossible to have these numbers on hand before the disaster? The thing is that this storm was not a surprise. It didn't just pop out of nowhere on 8/29. It was forecasted days in advance, and while no one could have predicted the extent of the catastrophe (though some local new reports from New Orleans accurately predicted the levies collapsing and the disaster that would follow) we could have been mobilized a lot sooner. At least the original 160 of us could have received our training beforehand and been ready to answer those calls on the 29th or 30th instead of 48 hrs. later.

As you can see above, none of my personal experience has anything to do with politics. This is my job and I do it 6 days a week. These are my observations and they don't need a liberal bent to be horrible. Realistically though, many of these problems are politically based. FEMA has been overhauled under the current administration and made part of the Deptartment of Homeland Security. It is directed by Bush appointees (the head, Michael Brown, former Arabian horse-marketeer with no creds whatsoever, has officially resigned today, bye-bye Brownie). There is a real shortage of National Guard members from the affected states (between 30-40%) who would normally have been mobilized from within the states to help with the relief effort. There are foreign countries trying to supply aid who are being turned away soley for political reasons (take the 1100 Cuban emergency doctors, especially trained to deal with trauma/injuries from hurricaines).

I could go on, but I think the point is made. People are suffering. People are dying. Many are dead. FEMA is our nation's first-responder in times of natural disaster. FEMA has done a horrible job with its responsibilities and we owe it to the victims to make sure the reasons behind the massive failure are found and dealt with.

And we call ourselves a superpower...

"I ain't threatening nobody, and I ain't pointing a gun at nobody," Mattlage said. "This is Texas."

Mattlage said he was initially sympathetic toward the demonstrators, but that they have blocked roads in the area and caused traffic problems.

He said he fired his gun in preparation for the dove-hunting season, but when asked if he had another motive, he said, "Figure it out for yourself."Quoted from: Mom to Continue Protest Against War

Can't we just let Texas go? You know they want it, most of us want it, so why the heck not. The US and the Republic of Texas, or Bushland, or whatever. Dove hunting. That is funny though...

...is setup in LaSalle park by the lake. It looks like a circus tent, but nothing seemed to be going on. There was also no sign saying, "Hi, I'm a circus." So what is it? Anyone know?

As for me? Where do i stand? Well, to be honest I kinda like the A-bomb and wish we could drop more.

Well, maybe not the really big ones, at least not for everyday use, but just the regular type. You know, they only flatten one city at a time. In fact, I think if we had just used them a couple of years ago we could have stopped this bloody war in Iraq and started on the bigger business of building their capitalist democracy. Like when the people in Basra and Fallujah were acting up, all into the terrorists and stuff, we could have just used their cities as examples. Flatten those two insurgent bases and the whole country would have been ripe for our democratic sovereignty (until such time as they were capable of taking up the reins themselves of course).

To me, it's just not safe to have this huge arsenal of nukes without using them. They sit there and rot, eventually they start to contaminate our own soil. And who wants to store them anywhere? Nowhere in America is safe to store these dangerous compounds. But there are so many places that are just crying for the democratic forces of an A-bomb. We get our practice and get to dispose of the volatile compounds in places where the ill effects can stand as reminders of past failures. How much less susceptible to terrorism would children growing up in Iraq be if only 50 miles down the road seethed a nuclear hotbed, where a misplaced step would show the consequences of not embracing the democratic vision as laid down by the compassionate American forces?

Again, we've got use them, or we're going to lose them. Not in my backyard! To allow these useful tools to sit is a crying shame. Let's drop 'em and let every one feel the democratic American vision.

Or at least that's what Dr. Laura has to say. Today in my search for radiophonic sustenance I happened upon the dowager Ms. Schlessinger's program. I think she's on for like 12 hours a day on AM 930 since it seems no matter what time I'm driving to/from work she's on, 7:30 or 1:30. Today she admitted to going to Hooters. Apparently she had heard such horrible things from her listeners that she had to go check it out. And it was alright. Gosh be darned! The curly fries were just wonderful, and the waitresses wore nothing more revealing than tight shorts, "better than what most of your kids are wearing these days," bemoaned Dr. Laura.

I've never actually been to a Hooters. Did they ever live up to the implied reputation of such a name? Anyway I think they need to add a disclaimer to their signs and advertisements:

[size=m] Hooters, if it's good enough for Dr. Laura i'ts good enough for your sorry ass![/size]

The Buffalo News had a story about it on 4/1/2004, but because they don't freaking keep their stories up for more than a week it's gone. Anyways, they found a beaver in the Scajaquada last year and I was wondering if anyone has heard about it lately. Is it still there, glowing green and stinking? I've looked for it a million times but never found a trace. Maybe it's an urban myth. It's strange to me that no one commented about it here, I mean, why didn't I commetn about it? Hmmmm... Well, any info would be appreciated. Yo!

Whew, it's hot in here. I'm sweating like a sewdish pig.

Today we talk about justice, or more precisely, the justices. They issued some fun rulings today. (e:Paul) already commented about the Grokster case [inlink]paul,3474[/inlink]. Basically because law enforcement is having trouble catching the criminals involved (ie: people sharing copyrighted materials) the Court has ruled the methods of delivery illegal. It's like shutting down all the pharmacies because some have been shown to have given out drugs to those without a prescription. Yes you can argue that this particular conduit seemed to have little use beyond the illegal activities, which is true, but the point is that now the door has been blown open for any company to sue the be-jesus out of any individual or littler company that wants to provide non-corporate sharing of files.

Next the court ruled that the Ten Commandments are fine objects to have on our courtrooms. But, in a devious and strange little twist, they must weigh over a ton.

The court, voting 5-4, today approved a Ten Commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds, rejecting arguments that the state was unconstitutionally favoring religion. In a second case, the court ruled 5-4 that two Kentucky counties were too focused on promoting religion when they posted framed copies of the commandments in courthouses.Quoted from: Bloomberg.com: U.S.

So a monument to the basis of Christian law is okey-dokey, but notices of that actual law are not. I can see the point theoretically, one memorializes the past and the other posts it not as memorial but as reminder. So what happens when the notices in Kentucky come down and little stone monuments spring up everywhere? Judge Breyer, who tipped the balance for the monuments, justified his decison with the following, "[the Texas tablets] have been used as part of a display that communicates not simply a religious message, but a secular message as well.'' He said the state ``intended the latter, non-religious aspects of the tablets' message to predominate." But what kind of secular statement is "know no other God before me"? That would seem to be a religious idea that, if translated, to a secularist judiciary system, would indicate some kind of bias to one type of religion, or at least to one kind of religiously inspired law.

Someone needs to gift the Buffalo courthouse with a huge graven image of the Five Pillars of Islam. Then we'll see if the secular message of the monument is really what counts, and not just the fact that it's a Christian message in a majorly predominant Christian country (and judiciary).

And then...(I know it's getting long)... The US is planning its first production of radioactive Plutonium 238 since the end of cold war but is maintaining secrecy on how it will be used. So far it has only been used for unmanned space craft and espionage devices that we know of. Bush wants to make 300 lbs of it, which will create at least 50,000 barrels of toxic/radioactive sludge. And that's before it's even used for whatever nefarious projects are in store. Can't we just get over the whole nuclear idea? How many disasters will it take? How many waste sites, toxic rivers, mutated animals, and sterile people must we create before we see that this is not a safe technology? Simply ridiculous.

or a dingy little dive fortunately equipped with a refreshing outdoor patio, not that there is such a thing as an indoor patio...

Very nice to have met so many peeps. (e:Uncutsaniflush) especially since I've read all the journals and am intrigued by non-natives like myself who somehow end up in Buffalo. (e:Leetee) (I must score bonus points for your first user-link, eh?) was also quite charming, we talked for quite awhile about fun times in the past and fun times in the future with less inebriation. But then I became more inebriated and put on my inspector's cap. I only paid a nickle but I snuck in the quarter-tour of their beautiful house [inlink]uncutsaniflush,69[/inlink]. Poked into nooks, investigated cranies, and left no cupboard closed. If it's necessary, I apologiza, but it was all done in appreciation of your great buy and Buffalo's hidden architectural gems. (e:Ajay) I say farewell too. It was great to at last "meet" someone (perhaps meat-meet, uncut?) who I've kinda known for over a year now. Sad that it had to be his last day here. But departures to greener pastures are more happy than sad, and heck, he's still got his journal. (e:Springfaerie), as always, a pleasure. Sorry I was so flighty, but the fresh air (and the beer in the (e:Mike) 's trunk [inlink]mike,344[/inlink]) kept tempting me away. Nonetheless, the next gathering should be planned for a sooner-rater-than-later date. Karaoke must be strictly optional.

Oy yeah, the day started at the Square for another Thursday. It was packed, 20 min. to get from street to street. I heard only faint music, and so no band members (except an occassional wild sweep of flailing drumsticks). But I got to meet Jesse, who is always interesting company and Tao Cho, who is also quite nice and interesting, and who kept wanting to "get lost" and sneak up, very fun activities.

The neatest part of the day, however, was the sighting of the giant spurred-thigh tortoise (just like our little Basra x 6) [inlink]paul,3467[/inlink]. We were just randomly walking down the street and I look over and there he is just walking around and munching on the lawn. Just nuts, I tell you! Nuts! The owner's name is Raymond, and I wished I had gotten more info. but it was a slightly strange social meeting. I just may have to take my tortoise for a walk over there though, for a possible meeting. Go tortoise-power!

we found them sitting on the one above-water surface in the tank. Cute teeny-weeny toads, that is. [inlink]terry,433[/inlink] We found three of them. We're not sure if it's okay to take them out of the tank yet. Do they still need the tank to get food? Or can we just put them in the terrarium now? Anyone...?

When I was a mere lad hiding in the shade from the blaring Las Vegas sun, I was seduced by some snake-charmers. They seduced me with fantastic promises of life after death in a crystal world where your body is transmuted from one of blood and bone to one of flesh and bone. They invited me to social gatherings two or three times a week, and made sure that I felt comfortabls as one of only a few whose whole family weren't already members. We always prayed together, before and after every gathering, and five or ten times on Sundays. On special occassions each month, those who were worthy would visit the temple and be baptised in the name of those who while on earth never had the chance. They called this baptism for the dead. It was a neat experience, if mostly because it was one of a very few times we were allowed within the hallowed sanctuary. I still remember the twelve white bison who supported the baptismal font with a mixture of awe and fixation, it was a truly beautiful building.

My stint with the mormons lasted about three or four years, from junior high through about 11th grade. I even went to seminary every school day, forsaking a proper lunch break. I was president of the deacons for a while, and presided over my troop of sacrament handlers with humbled respect. In other words, I was pretty involved. Not that you ususally have much of a choice. Once mormons smell a spiritual vacancy they lunge and its hard to break free once their smiling tentacles grab hold. I guess they're the 4th largest church in America, yet still have more members outside of America than here at home. Though who's truly separating the numbers of true believers in Africa and South America from those who are "members" of any and all churches handing out food? I'd listen to a sermon from a different church every week, if they gave me food and I was starving.

Anyways, I eventually broke free, aided by my own personal failings (from a mormon's point of view at least), and can now live my own life without the guidance of a prophet interpreting god's words for me. Halleluja!

What brought about this whole unanticipated bout of religious remembrance is this news story that I happened to hear a bit from NPR on my way home. The gist is that the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), a group that broke away from the "mainstream" mormons, or LDS, around a hundred years ago, has over the years "exiled" over a 1,000 boys from its communities, mostly in rural Utah, Arizona, and Texas. The suspected reason for these abandonments is that these polygamists need at least three wives to be accepted into Heaven, and the competition for young girls is pretty fierce. "Many of these "Lost Boys," some as young as 13, have simply been dumped on the side of the road..." Truthfully though, maybe they're lucky to escape these weirdos.

This all just makes me more suspicious of any kind of organized religion. It seems anytime you start following a book on how to lead your life, you end up with scholars of this book interpreting it for you (priests), and eventually these scholars just start interpreting however they see fit. It leads to these weirdos, and to Catholic molestors, and to Hindi wife-burners, and Muslim zealots. Every religion has its share. Everyone nees to take responsibility for their own lives. If you believe Christ will help you or Buddha will show you the way, fine. But at least learn to talk to them yourself, and don't rely on middlemen, because that's just what they always are, middle men who in the end are no closer to god than you or me.