Sheehan PR

Excellent point here from the Sheridan Files, an excellent Wyoming blog. Writer makes an excellent point about Ms. Sheehans recent arrest for publicity. It was nothing more than that, period. That's why she was smiling she saw that the cameras were rolling. She has turned into nothing more than a publicity hound which is something not in short supply in Washington DC. -SpinDaddy

Hillary in 08??

Fred Barnes is worried about just such a frightening prospect. In his op-ed at The Weekly Standard he makes some good points about a potentially weak field for Republicans in 2008. He makes the astute observation that there is a great deal of residual support and organization from the 2000 and 2004 elections. Read the whole thing.

"...Democrats, despite their drift to the left and persistent shrillness, barely trail Republicans at all in voter appeal. Besides, they may sober up ideologically in 2008. And the media, unless John McCain is the Republican nominee, will be more pro-Democratic than ever..."

Another point of concern that Barnes does not mention, is Republican weakness and their poor fiscal performance on such boondoggles as the medicare drug prescription, the recent highway bill monstrosity, and now we're looking at throwing money borrowed from China by the shipload at hurricane relief. The ebb in support that President Bush is seeing now, I remain convinced, is due to his base (and the congressional GOPs base) walking away in disgust as they spend money like drunken sailors in port on liberty.

If Republicans wish to retain the majority they must not conduct themselves as democrats. They will get tossed over the side when their base walks away from them for doing so. Niccolo Machiavelli said that it is easier to please the many, than the few. The many simply wish not to be oppressed. The demands of the few are impossible to meet, and never ending. -SpinDadddy

Three Good Ideas

In a recurring theme here at BumperStickerPolitix I point to three good ideas that I think should be given serious consideration. Here are the latest.

Katrina/Rita Debris- Recycle the billions of tons of debris produced by Hurricanes Katrina/Rita using the process proposed by Prime Environmental International. They propose grinding just about anything you can scoop up with a front-end loader, (logs, shingles, toilets, sheet metal, almost anything) then the waste is cryogenically treated to remove any biologic remnants, and futher treated by milling the chips into a powder; the resulting powder is then mixed with fibers and resin and molded into building materials, panels, 2x4 studs, window frames, doors etc. PEI claims they can process 1,000 tons of debris per day. This would save literally billions of tons of materials from going to landfills. PEI also claims that they will hire locals in the Gulf area, locals that are probably in need of work. This looks like a win-win. PEI is in talks with FEMA, and KBR now about starting their program.

Bio-Diesel- As you may have read in earlier posts I am following the oil supply/refinery capacity crunch story pretty closely. Read about it here and here. We must begin now to reform our serious dependance on volatile sources of forign crude. It is a national security imperative. This is another good read on bio-diesel. It does not address the problems of scale that need to be addressed, but it is a good read nonetheless. As I have opined before, I believe that the smarterst way to begin transitioning away from the volatile sources of foreign crude.

The mere act of developing alternatives in a serious way would force prices of crude down. Converting more of Americas automotive and light truck fleet to diesel (as was done with the conversion to front wheel drive in the late seventies and early eighties) would reduce our consumption significantly, compared to the virtually all gasoline powered fleet we have today. Compression ignition engines are inherently more fuel efficient and can more readily burn alternative fuel such as bio-diesel. Unlike the proposed hydrogen alternatives, the infrastructure for diesel/bio-diesel is already largely in place, thus easing the cost of transition by several orders of magnitude. The latest generation of diesel engines available are clean and enormously powerful. And lastly; if America is anything, we are an agrinomic powerhouse, capable of feeding the world and then some.

Mexican Retirement- Excellent idea for retirees in the US by Walter Russell Mead in a LA Times commentary. Go to Mexico, live like a King. With a boom of retirees about to begin. This article suggests American retirees go to Mexico where their dollars can go much further and at the same time ease pressure on the real estate markets in traditional retirement areas such as the southwest.

-SpinDaddy

**RITA** Comparing and Contrasting

Well, with all the wailing and gnashing of teeth coming out of New Orleans these last few weeks (note that MS and AL are going about the business of recovery without all the incendiary rhetoric and video footage) it will be interesting to compare the local and state response to RITA. At this time it looks as though TX Gov Perry is well along in implementing evac plans, other than some traffic hang ups it looks to be going very well.

It seems evident that major metropolitan areas must work on faster implementation of contraflow evac regimes for major arteries going in and out of these towns. Even though the wonderful folks in Houston have demonstrated that they are very well prepared (well enough in fact, to have stepped up so quickly and graciously during evac KATRINA) they seem to have stumbled a bit here. Each of these storms as difficult as they are are providing tremendous learning opportunities in how to deal with these massive displacements and disruptions.

Expect further spikes in gasoline and diesel fuel prices as Rita looks to take a major bite out of our already strained refinery capacity, and OPEC licks its chops at the prospect of ever higher crude oil prices. Isn't it comforting to know that our difficulties continue to enrich the already filthy rich oil cartel members?
-SpinDaddy

Un-Able Danger !!

The frustration with the Able Danger story continues. The MSM can't seem to be bothered with it, other than the passing along the occasional news release from AP. Apparently some 2.5 terabytes of related information was destroyed at the Pentagon. It is important to remember that Mohamed Atta was identified by the Able Danger unit as a terrorist on US soil in 1999-2000, the last two years of the Hillary and Bill Clintons regime.

The members of the unit were then told basically to stand down, by members of the Clinton-Reno justice dept. pursuant to a memo written by clintonista Jamie Gorelick.

BTW, why was she a member of the 11SEP01 commission, instead of a sworn depone?

Something stinks mightily here. The New American has a good op-ed here on the topic. They point out, rightly so, that it seems Washington establishment types, the politically androgenous bureaucratic staff types that float from administration are running their own agenda; unaccountable to the citizenry or the elected administration they supposedly answer to.

I am especially disappointed with Fox News, whom I value way more than the other MSM outlets. They pursued the UN Oil-For-Food story very vigorously when the so called "Big3" wouldn't touch it. They have had some stories on it, but not the way they pursued the hacks at the UN over Oil-For-Food.

What gives here? Are they being cowed by hacks at DoD who are threatening to withhold prominent guests from Steve Doocy and his fill-in-weather-guy schtick?

The WashTimes had a good op-ed 20SEP05 encouraging transparency and vigor in the search for the truth here.

The Pentagon squashes a CONGRESSIONAL hearing and the MSM snores away. By issuing a gag order preventing testimony at the hearings yesterday the Pentagon just heightened the appearance of scandal.

When Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971 the press swarmed like ants at a picnic. I can understand the MSMs reluctance to take up a story that might paint Clinton and Berger (what was he stuffing down his pants at the national archives anyway?) in a bad light, but the implications here are too important to ignore, regardless of which administration gets tarred. Perhaps that's the angle the MSM (a.k.a. the BlameBush society) haven't found. A way to use the Able Danger story to BlameBush. Rest assured, if the MSM discovers a BlameBush linkage, the Able Danger story will take off like a California wild fire stoked by the Santa Anas.

Regardless of who gets smeared; Bush or Clinton, we need a thorough and transparent examination of this. Now. Perhaps the terrorists are only incidental bad guys. The real bad guys are the unaccountable hacks and bureaucrats rotting away the body politic from deep within the bowels of our government. -SpinDaddy

We Don't Need No Stinking Nose Gear

A huge Bravo Zulu to the crew of JetBlue 292 for their excellent performance yesterday as they safely landed their Airbus A320 with an inop nosegear. As malfunctions go, this one is easier for a flight crew to deal with than others, but still not a good thing to have happen.

In the "Brave New World" of the 21st century, the passengers on board the stricken aircraft were able to watch their fate unfold on the seatback in front of them. SpinDaddy has some general aviation flight time, and a great deal of exposure to the major airline industry, as such I will offer an opinion here. If I were PIC in such a situation I'm not sure I wouldn't pull the circuit breakers for the inflight television system.

The cabin crew on board commercial aircraft are charged with maintaining passenger safety, they are especially trained to perform and facilitate safe evacuations, in just such situations as this. They are not there to bring you peanuts and Coke. Back in the Thirties and Forties it was a requirement that flight attendants be trained nurses.

It seems to this blogger that the cabin crews job could be made much more difficult in this case where perhaps easily excitable passengers without much knowledge of flying could have had their concerns amplified unnecessarily. Especially given the MSMs propensity to get the story maybe half-right, and to exaggerate utterly insignificant elemements of the story.

I am not trying to second guess yesterdays crew; they did a text book job with the situation, and were probably busy with checklists in the cockpit, but I'm sure they were aware of the problem before CNN's LA desk was. Perhaps as part of airlines CRM policies, they should examine this and add this as a checklist item.

Again, my point here is to assist the cabin crew as they are going to have their hands full after touchdown, and need to be prepared to perform this task with as little distraction and drama as possible. I think I would have pulled the circuit breakers. -SpinDaddy

Dick Cavett on DVD?!!

Matt Rosenberg at Rosenblog out of Seattle has this on the release of the Dick Cavett showson DVD. Matt has a good take on Cavetts style, as well as some of the unique guests he had on the show, as well as Cavetts tortured attempt at hipness. It's a good read. -SpinDaddy

The Gulf and New Orleans DID Dodge The Bullet

With a little more perspective it is becoming more evident that while Katrina was and is Huge disruption to the vital Gulf region and its crown jewel; New Orleans, it is not quite the end of the world. Not to diminish the suffering and loss of life and property there, but we now have before us an unprecedented opportunity to rebuild the area better than it was before. Thankfully the death toll is nowhere near as bad as once feared. That still doesn't diminish the huge property losses but it is very good news.

The real story with Katrina appears to be how well the evacuations DID work. If they had not, far more people than did would have perished.

The MSM and its hangers on have put on a spectacular display of hyperventilation, see Celine Dion, as they are wont to do. But it becomes more self evident every day that it will not be as bad as the MSM would have you believe. This piece in the Cristian Science Monitor has a great table accompanying the article that shows the death toll so far to be still well below 1,000 which is great news compared to the figures being spewed out by the MSM earlier.

Excellent points by Stephen Moore in the WSJ about the HUGE spending spree the drunkards in congress are about to strap your children with. Read the whole thing, it is amazing.

"... Conspicuously missing from the post-Katrina spending debate is a question for some brave soul in Congress to ask, What is the appropriate and constitutional role here for the federal government? Before the New Deal taught us that the federal government is the solution to every malady, most congresses and presidents would have concluded that the federal government's role was minimal. One of our greatest presidents, Democrat Grover Cleveland, vetoed an appropriation for drought victims because there was no constitutional authority to spend for such purposes. Today he would be ridiculed by Ted Kennedy as "incompassionate."

We all want to see New Orleans rebuilt, but it does not follow that this requires more than $100 billion in federal aid. Chicago was burned to the ground in 1871; San Francisco was leveled by an earthquake in 1906; and in 1900 Galveston, Texas, was razed by a hurricane even more ferocious than Katrina. In each instance, these proud cities were rebuilt rapidly and to even greater glory--with hardly any federal money..."

Moore also points out that with the likely $200 Billion flowing into the Gulf under the guise of aid we could just cut a check for each of the 500,000 families that were dislocated by the Hurricane. The checks would be for $400,000.00 EACH.

Meanwhile the great state of Mississippi quietly goes about the business of getting on with the process of recovery and rebuilding. MS Gov Barbour is managing this without all the histrionics of his LA neighbors to the west.

It will be interesting to watch now as LAs neighbor to the west as Texas Gov Perry prepares his state for hurricane Rita.

11SEP01 Remembered

Great Post from a New York Blogger, and his remembrance of 11SEP01. Compelling read, from a New Yorker.

Here is someone who demonstrates a total lack of understanding of the nature of war. This girl is totally misguided and thinks we can love and hug our way out of this. Amazing. WAR is the answer just ask Saddam Hussein, or better yet ask his sons ouday and qusay whatever.

The terrifying part is she appears to be a schoolteacher, and is intent on imposing her warped view of reality on teh malleable minds of her young students. God help us. -SpinDaddy

Ophelia Ford: Gore Loser Wannabe

Ophelia Ford; the sister of the indicted, volatile, and ever controversial TN state senator John Ford D scrapes out a 12 vote margin of "victory" in a special election held to fill his State Senate seat.

Any time a member of the Ford Family Machine is involved in a 12 vote margin anything; why, that fails the smell-test on its face. Ophelias campaign is simply the latest model of the Ford Family Machine.

Smells like the Ford Family Machine is turning to the Gore-Loser Model.

Below is the press release from Team GOP.org Note that a voting machine cartridge has mysteriously disappeared. Jeff Ward (of Team GOP) rightly concludes that this casts sufficient doubt on the results as to rend them unacceptable.

Wards suggestion that the State Senate step in to determine who fills the seat is also wholly appropriate. Most casual observers don't understand that this is the precedure with any legislative body. The US congress, or Senate are the final arbiter of who sits in the body regardless of local shenanigans. Just ask Bob"B-1" Dornan.

A seat in the TN State Senate might be viewed as an entitlement by the Ford Family Machine, but the rest of us regular folk still naively view the State houses as our houses and in our humble simple-mindedness expect these bodies to be comprised of our duly elected representatives. Perhaps we are foolish to hold such expectations. Perhaps it is the case that we aren't sophisticated enough to see that having corrupt socialist politicos and policies are really better for the greater good. If that should make me naive, so be it. Guilty as charged.

Memphis Blogger Alpha Patriot also offers the following astute observations.

"...Store owner Terry Roland [the GOP candidate] decided to try and take the seat away from Democrats, becoming a first-time candidate for the GOP.

Thaddeus Matthews predicted a landslide win for Roland. Memphis Blue said it was looking "like the beginning of hte [sic] end of the Ford dynasty."

I never believed it, taking Half-Bakered's position that "the Fords are famous for last minute "miracle" saves." Actually, I take the position that Democrats are famous for last minute miracle saves..."

That last line describes the democratic party GoreLoser Model of political power acquisition in the 21st century to a tee.

Steal it, Stuff it, Protest it, Litigate it. Whatever it takes. The ends justify the means.

Wards call for the State Senate to step in is exactly correct, as our founders (state and federal) never intended for political questions to be solved in the legal arena. This matter belongs before the body whose makeup will be affected by the outcome.

Of course a nasty and public Ford Family Machine fight over a State Senate seat is just what Prince Harold Ford Jr needs right now, as he is trying to ramp up his efforts to capture Bill Frists US Senate Seat.

-SpinDaddy

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For Immediate Release: September 16, 2005 1:26 AM

TN State Senate should step in and
determine the winner for the
District 29 Special Election

(Millington, TN) Just hours after the strangest election in some fifteen years in West Tennessee, TeamGOP.org's General Chairman Jeff Ward called for the Tennessee State Senate to step in and determine who actually won Thursday's race as precedent demands from the 1990 election between Bobby Carter and Joe Nip McKnight for the State Senate seat in Madison County.

Ward said, "Since no official winner has been determined and the suspicious loss of a voting machine cartridge in the very last precinct creates at best unreliable results with the margin of twelve, the State Senate should step in immediately and remove the cloud of doubt over this tainted election."Ward was referring to a troubling development at one heavily Democrat precinct where Roland campaign staffers reported that precinct was one of the few where no poll watchers were present. At the conclusion of the electioning, polling location officers only turned in two of the three voting machine cartridges that tallied the votes with no verifiable paper trail.

As anxious Roland supporters gathered in the campaign headquarters some time later, a phone call with an election official at the Shelby County Election Commission office informed the crowd that Sheriff's Deputies had been dispatched approximately an hour an forty-five minutes after the polling station had closed to retrieve the last cartridge located in a Whitehaven area elementary school. Ward said, "The only people who believe that Ophelia Ford could win this race honestly are the same ones that think her brother John Ford is innocent."Ophelia Ford's primary opponent Henri Brooks considered contesting the election after losing by twenty votes, but was stopped after the State Democratic Executive Committee rejecting her election challenge. "Thankfully the next step to determine who actually won this race won't be John Ford's or Harold Ford Jr.'s cronies or minions like with Ms. Brooks' race. Hopefully the General Assembly will do its job as it has done in the past when no reliable election results exist," declared Ward.

On September 7th, the Roland campaign dispatched a press release and provided documentation to the Memphis media that at least seven people who were either not registered voters or convicted felons had voted just during the first couple days of early voting in Shelby County. "This week members of the General Assembly gathered to discuss ethics reform to try to restore trust in state government. Demanding honest results after a tainted election should be their first step," concluded Ward.

TeamGOP.org is a Republican grassroots organization based in Tennessee. It is dedicated to electing Republicans at every level of government. TeamGOP.org publishes a weekly E-newsletter, operates its 527 Group TeamGOP America, manages its daily Blog and operates the political action committee, TeamGOP PAC.

China

Another reason why China is to be watched and watched closely. In this op-ed in the International Herald Tribune, the authors Dudley L. Poston, and Peter A. Morrison point to the significant distortion in Chinas demographics, brought about about by Chinas policies and cultural preferences. In the next ten to twenty years China will have a disproprtianate numbers of males and not enough women for them to marry.

This combined with Chinas astounding military buildup, fueled by American companies pouring money by the shipload into China for manufatuctured goods are troubling signs. - SpinDaddy


Update 16SEP05 1220hrs: More excellent China reading here...and don't miss this good read here. This site has very good research although I am still not buying the peak oil conclusions they draw; very thorough analysis here, you can download the PDF. -Spin

Must Read

My opinion; George Wills writing has been less than compelling lately but in this piece entitled A Poverty of Thought he really comes out swinging. Read the whole thing.

"...at about the time Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, a suitable symbol of congressional narcissism, dramatized the severity of the tragedy by taking a television interviewer on a helicopter flight over her destroyed beach house. "Washington rolled the dice and Louisiana lost," she said in a speech on the Senate floor that moved some senators to tears. You can no more embarrass a senator than you can a sofa, so the tears were not accompanied by blushing about having just passed a transportation bill whose 6,371 pork projects cost $24 billion, about 10 times more than the price of the levee New Orleans needed. Louisiana's congressional delegation larded the bill with $540,580,200 worth of earmarks, one-fifth the price of a capable levee..."

Well stated sir. I especially like the line about not being any more able to embarrass a senator than a sofa. Further proof of this has been offered up in this weeks confirmation hearings for the of Judge Roberts.

I know, I know. George Will actually makes money writing, and I don't; so what do I know? But his political op-eds have seemed soft for a while now, and I can take only so many arcane Baseball columns. But the above op-ed is a must read. Welcome back George. -SpinDaddy

Boldness Rather Than Timidity

AP reporting a few minutes ago that Bush accepts responsibility for whatever shortcomings in the governments response to the devastation of hurricane Katrina.

Smart move politically. It offers the opportunity to squelch future disparaging commentary. Janet Reno did the same thing with the tragedy at Waco, after she said the buck stops with her the issue was pretty much over politically after that.

Still, I have to admit, I am somewhat disappointed with President Bushes leadership in the second term. For what these polls are worth; depending on what poll you look at, the Presidents approval numbers are hovering around the lower 40th percentile . If that is the case, I submit it is not because the middle is walking away from the President, but rather his conservative base of support is slipping.

One year ago, the Presidents supporters like me were fighting a pitched political battle to ensure his reelection because we expected an emboldened, and conservative second term. What do we have to show for our efforts? After all, we won. Didn't we?

Have the borders been secured?

Is significant Social Security reform passed into law?

Have we gotten really tough in Iraq and other theatres of the war on terror?

Where are the Supreme Court nominees in the mold of Scalia, and Thomas?

No offense to Judge Roberts, but if he were in that mold we on the right wouldn't be holding our breath and hoping we don't wind up with another Souter. Why not Janice Rogers Brown to fill the still vacant O' Connor seat? Let Biden, Kennedy and Leahy run her down on television for the nation to see. Let them do it. If anything this would be a net plus for the Republicans.

I know we got tough in Fallujah right after the election, and that was a great success, but what about the 14 Marines that were massacred recently in Haditha? Where is the payback? Why is Haditha still on the map? I am encouraged by what we are doing in western regions of Iraq in Tal Afar near Syria but, we are still not making the point as vigorously as we could, or should.

We must send Syria the message through back channels that their continued involvement in staging and other assistance to terrorists infiltrating Iraq cease immediately. If not, they will be held directly responsible, we should call up the B-52's from Diego Garcia, and begin systematically leveling towns along Syrias eastern border with Iraq, until the Syrian govt. has a change of heart with respect to the war on terror and their responsibilities in it.

It is time for the President to get his conservative political game on and get back to work.

Between his and VP Cheneys experience around the oil industry they know all too well how important refinery capacity is and developing less volatile sources for petroleum.

Why have they not achieved this yet?

The energy bill is a small step in the right direction. Boldness is needed here, and we are not getting it. It is time to get about the business of moving this country in an open and transparent way toward a more conservative America. Take it to the bully pulpit, and take it to the left. We are winning, let's start acting like it. Drill ANWAR now. Expand Gulf of Mexico drilling, particularly in Florida, now. Provide all possible incentives to oil companies to encourage them to build new refineries now.

Keep pounding the need for significant Social Security reform home to the congress, and the American people. Don't let the ownership society die on the vine before it even gets a chance to bloom.

While we are rebuilding New Orleans rebuild it in the conservative mold, no excuses, no apologies.

Finally the President must recognize that despite his affection for Mexico and the Mexican people, Canada and the Canadian people which I share, we must secure our borders for reasons of national security. Do not fall for the lefts inevitable arguments that such action constitutes racism. It does not.

If the president continues to fail to meet the expectations of his base on these issues the entire Republican apparatus will pay the price, and the whole country will suffer for it.

What is sorely needed at this point from the President is yet more political will, not less. Now is not the time to coast Mr. President. Boldness Rather Than Timidity -SpinDaddy

Tragedy Pimps Pimping out KATRINA

The usual suspects: James Glassman riffing on the same meme SpinDaddy did earlier.

Will Collier over at Vodkapundit, debunking already cemented urban mythology. To watch the lefts vitriolic politicization of this tragedy is breathtaking. Easily comparable in scope and significance to the damage and misery wrought by the storm itself. Of course the damage visited upon the American body politic is far more caustic. Easily comparable to the damage left behind by the toxic sludge greater New Orleans marinates in as this is written.

Perhaps the only thing more disturbing to watch is the timidity and obtuseness of W's response. At this point, we are almost six years into his presidency, and he (or his handlers) still seem(s) not to have grasped the notion that every adverse circumstance that will befall the republic during his tenure, will be accompanied by the shrill, cynical and bitter political opportunism of the left. Regardless of the origin of the calamity whether from without, or within, from nature or terrorist; the left stands ready to use each situation that requires presidential action, to denigrate and undermine him politically. In other words, each and every tragedy not only needs to be confronted per se, but one must also expect the left wing to pile on kicking, screaming, biting and clawing.

This phenomenon started before he was even sworn into office with the Gore-Loser debacle, and litigation silliness that followed the 2000 election and has been SOP for the left ever since.

Wile E. Coyote ALWAYS tries to eat the RoadRunner. Lucy ALWAYS snatches the football away from the tee before Charley Brown kicks it. The left in this country ALWAYS snipes, kicks and runs down the president every time they have the opportunity.

What is so alarming here is that the president and his advisers still appear to foolishly assume that the left may at some point be willing to get on board; for once, and side with the American people and do what is good for the country over their own cynical self interest.

Fools.

The left thrives politically on our discontent, and misfortune. They are like a flesh eating bacteria on the body politic of this republic, consuming the host organism with no regard to their source of sustenance. This is the only model for the acquisition of power that they know (although they are well along in developing the Gore-Loser model), and they desperately covet power, as this is the only means by which they might impose their warped vision of the soft tyranny of socialism on this great land.

This notion of thriving and advancing politically during times of national distress is thoroughly ingrained in the left, because it is in this regime where they have had their greatest success. Look back at the astounding pace and volume of socialist foolishness foisted onto this country during one of its darkest times, the great depression.

That Rove et al have not yet learned to anticipate this play and execute flanking political moves is discomfiting to say the least. Fly over the scene in a B-747 as a brief detour on the way back to Washington?!! Why not land the 747 at say; Shreveport, and take Marine One over the scene? Perception Mr. Rove. Communication is perception driven. Did you sleep through the entire eight l o n g tedious years of the Clinton administration? Sir?

Why play semantic games with LA governor Blanco about the finer points of federal v state powers? Federalize it, and take her out of the loop. Doing so serves not only your political interests; Mr. President, but also the good people of LA as well. Boldness rather than timidity. Leadership rather than diplomacy.

Don't even get me started on the director of FEMA, the real failing here is that this man and his resume clearly were not vetted, and now is exposing the administration to well founded criticism over his appointment, (not to mention his approval by the Senate) and his apparently pencil whipped resume. If indeed it is found that he misrepresented his experience; I for one, expect nothing less of this administration than his firing and prosecution for malfeasance. Chertoff as well, for not knowing his subordinates competency level. Also administration staff responsible for vetting him as a candidate for the position should be terminated with all due haste.

Boldness rather than timidity. Leadership rather than diplomacy.

-SpinDaddy

**KATRINA** Satellite Pics

Vodkapundit has this link up...Satellite pics of New Orleans Before and After.

Unbelieveable. -SpinDaddy

**KATRINA** How You Can Help

How you can help:Here is the address for the American Red Cross in Jackson MS.

------------------------

Division Headquarters-Salvation Army
P.O. Box 4857Jackson, Ms. 39296-4857
-------------------------
Earmark it for "Katrina"
The phone number for that office is:601-969-7560

And the Instapundit has this comprehensive list of charities.

HT to uncle Mel. -SpinDaddy

Good Ideas

Meanwhile outside New Orleans

It seems SpinDaddy had a good idea in this post that suggests suspending the inane requirements of mixing different blends of "boutique" fuel for different markets, thus complicating gasoline manufacture. It is a luxury we cannot afford at this time nor probably for the next few years or so, see post for more details.

"...The Bush administration yesterday said it would tap into the emergency Strategic Petroleum Reserve and eased some fuel-emissions standards to try to avert a further spike in the price of gasoline..."

Three More Good Ideas

1.How about suspending all Fuel taxes state and Federal for at least ninety days.

2.Divert the ridiculous Federal highway bill to Katrina relief.

3.Bring Home our troops from Germany and Korea to help secure NewOrleans as well as our US /Mexico border. Illegal invaders expecting handouts are not welcome at this time, we have more pressing needs right now.

**KATRINA** the Aftermath 3.1 -Outpost Crystal

Misery Aggravated By Violence and Stupidity

Knuckleheads delay evacuation activities by firing on helicopters. At first blush I thought this might be out of line, but now that these jerks are impeding the rescue and evacuation of others I say let her rip. Make an example out of a few and the rest will get the point and stand down. Will Collier over at VodkaPundit has it right.

"...This isn't street crime any more. This is barbarism. Enough playing nice. Send in the troops, with orders to shoot looters on sight. This has to end. Today..."

Also Will has a great link to a blogger in NewOrleans who is live blogging the Survival of New Orleans , very compelling stuff, and heartbreaking.

"... Outpost Crystal's Police Officer
More from the Police Officer. I'm typing as fast as i can while he talks to us:
He's only hearing bits and pieces. The people in the city are shooting at the police. They're upset that they're not getting help quickly enough. The fireman keep calling because they're under fire. He doesn't understand why the people are shooting at the rescuers. Here it is 5 days ago the Mayor said get out of town and nobody went and now they're pissed..."

"...Generator Question
All you engineer types. Is there any maintenance needs I should be aware of to keep the generator up and running? We've got a manual here, but it's huge. Any tips? We've got the load between 17% and 20% at all times. Anything specific we need to be checking?Where is the oil on our generator?..."

"...I am not giving specifics about the number of people here or our supplies or our weapons/ammo status or any other sensitive info like that which could pose a security risk. At this point, I think it's safer this way..."

"...Outpost Crystal is still a viable and functioning camp of civilization in the face of the lawless barbarian hordes who threaten at all times to turn what's left of New Orleans into the war of all against all. It's like Mogadishu out there, but we're in a fixed defensive position and prepared..."

"...I doubt the government's ability to reestablish order without a full active duty military presence to crush the mob mentality. This of course will mean no civil rights and everyone being treated equally -- as a criminal. Rock Hard Place..."

He's right. Time to Federalize the area and declare martial law. This has gotten out of the hands of the local government such as it is. Neither Bush, nor the nation can afford timid leadership at this time.

Peggy Noonan pointed out sometime back that when society fails there will be bloggers out there to document what comes next. Unfortunately her prediction has come to pass all too soon; the updates from Outpost Crystal are just that. -SpinDaddy