Bridge Walk

Posted on September 4 2005 by Mickey
    Long ago I used to produce a local origination cable show called “On Request”. For the end of the first show, I videotaped the Labor Day Bridge Walk: the traditional five mile walk across the Mackinac Bridge connecting Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas. With gas getting more and more expensive, maybe you won’t be able to make it up there this weekend, but now you can experience this tradition vicariously through the following fifteen-year-old footage (which I have digitally remixed and remastered).
    You can learn more about this weekend\’s Bridge Walk at http://www.mackinacbridge.org/walk.html.
    These and more video and audio files are available at my iTunes podcast [now discontinued].
Posted in Personal, TV, Video | Leave a comment

Was the Red Cross Prevented From Entering New Orleans?

Posted on September 3 2005 by Mickey
      Some truckers and rescue workers are claiming they were ready to bring in supplies to New Orleans as early as Monday, but were kept from entering the city.  It seems incredible, but appears to be corroborated on the Red Cross’s own website.  Their FAQ page for “Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?” states:

• The original plan was to evacuate all the residents of New Orleans to safe places outside the city. With the hurricane bearing down, the city government decided to open a shelter of last resort in the Superdome downtown. We applaud this decision and believe it saved a significant number of lives.

This is all well-and-good; but also on the page is:

• The state Homeland Security Department had requested–and continues to request–that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

    I’m sorry but I do not understand the logic. I guess I can see why the Red Cross was not expected to wade or swim house to house — but what was so complicated about bringing food and water to the Superdome?  It seems like a no-brainer: the greatest number of the needy were already in one place.&nsp; So why were so many allowed to die from hunger and dehydration, begging for food?…especially when, according to reports on ABC News [awaiting confirmation] and Sadly No! (as well as BlondeSense and Daily Kos), relief was already there waiting.  Why was there a five day delay before that relief was delivered?  And, now that I think of it, why did that relief finally show up simultaneous to the President’s arrival?  Is it possible that our government actually allowed people to die just to time it right so Bush would look good on TV?  Or do they want poor blacks to die so land developers can use eminent domain and snatch up the coastal land?  Or is it that Republicans simply want to kill off several thousand Democratic voters before next year’s midterms?
    Yes, those scenarios are abhorrent, and I hate to even consider them; but after five years of this administration not one of them would surprise me.
    And what the hell does “Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city” mean?  Do they seriously think their MREs are that tempting?  Do they imagine there’s some refugee saying “You know, I really should get out of this chest-deep sewage, but damn this jerky is so tasty!”
Posted in News, WTF | 1 Comment

Looting

Posted on September 1 2005 by Mickey
    I’ve created another new category for my blogging. . It will cover stuff that I find online which I want to share on my page, but which is so self-explanatory as to not require comment. Pretty much a “Quoted for Emphasis” kind of thing. Such as this…

Found at afterdowningstreet.org

    P.S.: have you seen this quote from Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana? “It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us.” From the New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 8 2004.
Posted in News, QFE | Leave a comment

Canal St Ain’t Just a Name Anymore

Posted on August 31 2005 by Mickey
      The photos are unbelievable.  The stories are horrifying.  People having to bust their way out of the attics of their flooded houses.  Tens of thousands trapped in the Superdome, with no water and no working toilets.  Whole neighborhoods washed away.  It’s deemed the worst natural disaster in American history.







    And where was our President?  He flew to California to make some speeches and pose for photos.

It used to be “Let them eat cake.”  Now we can’t even get that much.  (Image from AMERICAblog)


Shouldn’t he be fiddling?  (Image from Pensito Review)

It was reported that Bush was cutting his enviable five week vacation a little short now, to return to Washington and oversee disaster relief.  But now I hear he’s actually flying to back Crawford first, to still spend one last night on holiday.  “But what more can he do?” the Bush apologists ask.  “He’s just one man.”  I humbly suggest he could at least act like he gives a shit.  I mean, he interrupted his last vacation to make a special flight to Washington just to sign bills for one brain-dead woman he couldn’t help; he can’t do the same for the thousands who are suffering now?!  Or maybe his peabrain can’t comprehend that much at one time.  And I thought he was supposed to be so compassionate.
    Why is Bush flying around the country rather than getting to work?  “He’s desperate to find his Pet Goat book first,” said a White House spokesman close to the President.  “At times like these he craves the comfort that only staring vacantly into its pages for minutes on end can provide.”
    Also, It would be nice if the Louisiana National Guard was actually in Louisiana and in a position to offer assistance, rather than watching it all from Iraq.  His father sent 30,000 National Guard personnel to Florida after Hurricane Andrew.  The best Dubya can do is about 30,000 to cover Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
    At least the Army Corps of Engineers can assist in the reconstruction…but no, the government is cutting their funding.  And it’s a shame no one prepared for this disaster…but again no, there was a Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, but the President embezzled from it for his misguided and failed Iraq war.
    Now that is some strong and decisive leadership.
    Then again, maybe Bush has simply gotten tired of screwing up just one Gulf.
    George W Bush: A Life of Succeeding in Failure.
    P.S.: you can provide disaster relief of your own by donating to the Red Cross.
Posted in News, Photos, WTF | Leave a comment

Urgent Message

Posted on August 28 2005 by Mickey
    Note: I did not see this message at the time. I am posting it here for my own benefit. I was not made aware of this bulletin till probably August 30 or 31st, but I’m including it here since this is the time it originated.

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
413 PM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

…EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE KATRINA CONTINUES TO APPROACH THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA…
…DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED…

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS…PERHAPS LONGER.  AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE.  ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL…LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL.  PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED.  ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED.  CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE…INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY…A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD…AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES.  SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED.  THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS…PETS…AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS…AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED.  WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING…BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED.  FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN.  LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WATCH IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR HURRICANE FORCE…OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE…ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HOURS.


    …Now does this look like the kind of bulletin one would ignore?
    (Yes, if you’re the same administration that blew off “Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US”.)
    P.S.: Thanks to The Rachel Maddow Show for clueing me in to this document, and for stressing how strongly worded it is…but it still wasn’t enough to get this asshole administration to end their damned vacations.
Posted in News, QFE, WTF | Leave a comment

Psoriacast (2005-08-27)

Posted on August 27 2005 by Mickey
    Today’s forecast calls for dry and crusty…
More >>
Posted in Personal, Photos, Psoriacast | Leave a comment

Toy Story: The Erotic Italian Edition

Posted on August 22 2005 by Mickey
    You know, if I’m to blog about Pixar I really should be writing about the recent passing of Joe Ranft, and how his creative talents will surely be missed — not only at the company but in my movie library. Instead, however, I find myself noting how DVD File‘s missing “arrow_mini.gif” might really confuse some DVD purchasers.
Posted in Blog, Movies | 1 Comment

iPod Killer

Posted on August 14 2005 by Mickey
    I had to laugh when I read this at Digg.com. Digger jon13210 submitted a photo of a smashed up iPod, the end result of his frustration and dissatisfaction with the product. “My iPod sucked from the beginning,” he writes. “I paid $400 for this thing that would crash once a week, and wouldn’t even reboot when holding the menu/play buttons. I had to run the battery down every time. Finally I got a little angry and beat up my iPod.” (The above link leads to his photo but I’ve also included it down below, for safe-keeping.)
    The funny thing is his iPod is clearly a 4th generation model. The menu/play reset only works for 3rd generations and earlier. What he needed to press was the menu/select buttons.
    No wonder it would never reset!
    Too bad he didn’t do the tiniest bit of research first, before irrevocably throwing $400 down the toilet!

Click for larger version … but don’t break anything if the link doesn’t work
Posted in Gadgets, Photos, WTF | Leave a comment

Crooks & Liars & Plagiarists

Posted on August 13 2005 by Mickey
    In a world of crooks and liars, I guess I’m the crook. I\’m too lazy to do my own research, so today’s blog post will be stuff I’ve shamelessly stolen from the Crooks & Liars website.  First some quotes, copy-and-pasted right from comments made by someone named Mark. Enjoy. I think the right-wingers call these “flip flops”.

VERBATIM QUOTES FROM WHEN CLINTON WAS COMMITTING TROOPS TO BOSNIA:

“You can support the troops but not the president.”
— Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

“Well, I just think it’s a bad idea. What’s going to happen is they’re going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years.”
— Joe Scarborough (R-FL)

“Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?”
— Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99

“[The] President … is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation’s armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy.”
— Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

“American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy.”
— Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

“If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy.”
— Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W Bush

“I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning … I didn’t think we had done enough in the diplomatic area.”
— Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

“I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today”
— Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”
— Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)

    Funny, isn’t it. As well as sickening and shameful.
    And here’s something else I stole, but hopefully I can dig up a better and bigger copy. The Cindy Watch continues: the following is a powerful Cindy Sheehan commercial, airing in Texas.
More >>

Posted in News, Politics, Video | 1 Comment

Happy Birthday (Pt 2)

Posted on August 11 2005 by Mickey
    While watching an old CommandN podcast I learned about a piece of donation-ware called Disk Inventory X, a disk usage utility which can display one’s hard drive’s contents as a “treemap”. It looked cool and I had to try it out. Think of the following as an Olan Mills portrait of the birthday boy.
    (Actually it’s probably more like an X-ray or MRI, but we won’t tell him that.)
More >>
Posted in Apple, Gadgets, Photos, Tech | Leave a comment