November 10, 2005
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Perhaps because, once upon a time, I went down to the sea in various ships (USN 1969-1973), I've always had a soft spot for ships, and the men who go down to the sea to crew them.
On this day, thirty years back, a ship foundered on Lake Superior.
29 men died that day, and were anonymous until a Canadian singer named Gordon Lightfoot created a haunting ballad about....
The Wreck Of the Edmund Fitzgerald
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called 'Gitche Gumee'
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early.
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ship's bell rang
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T'was the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.
When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'.
Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya.
At Seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in, he said
Fellas, it's been good t'know ya
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searches all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
May have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the Gales of November remembered.
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral.
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call 'Gitche Gumee'.
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early!
* * * * * * * * * *
Michael E. Armagost, 37, Third Mate, Iron River, Wisconsin
Fred J. Beetcher, 56, Porter, Superior, Wisconsin
Thomas D. Bentsen, 23, Oiler, St. Joseph, Michigan
Edward F. Bindon, 47, First Asst. Engineer, Fairport Harbor, Ohio
Thomas D. Borgeson, 41, Maintenance Man, Duluth, Minnesota
Oliver J. Champeau, 41, Third Asst. Engineer, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nolan S. Church, 55, Porter, Silver Bay, Minnesota
Ransom E. Cundy, 53, Watchman, Superior, Wisconsin
Thomas E. Edwards, 50, Second Asst. Engineer, Oregon, Ohio
Russell G. Haskell, 40, Second Asst. Engineer, Millbury, Ohio
George J. Holl, 60, Chief Engineer, Cabot, Pennsylvania
Bruce L. Hudson, 22, Deck Hand, North Olmsted, Ohio
Allen G. Kalmon, 43, Second Cook, Washburn, Wisconsin
Gordon F. MacLellan, 30, Wiper, Clearwater, Florida
Joseph W. Mazes, 59, Special Maintenance Man, Ashland, Wisconsin
John H. McCarthy, 62, First Mate, Bay Village, Ohio
Ernest M. McSorley, 63, Captain, Toledo, Ohio
Eugene W. O'Brien, 50, Wheelsman, Toledo, Ohio
Karl A. Peckol, 20, Watchman, Ashtabula, Ohio
John J. Poviach, 59, Wheelsman, Bradenton, Florida
James A. Pratt, 44, Second Mate, Lakewood, Ohio
Robert C. Rafferty, 62, Steward, Toledo, Ohio
Paul M. Riippa, 22, Deck Hand, Ashtabula, Ohio
John D. Simmons, 63, Wheelsman, Ashland, Wisconsin
William J. Spengler, 59, Watchman, Toledo, Ohio
Mark A. Thomas, 21, Deck Hand, Richmond Heights, Ohio
Ralph G. Walton, 58, Oiler, Fremont, Ohio
David E. Weiss, 22, Cadet, Agoura, California
Blaine H. Wilhelm, 52, Oiler, Moquah, Wisconsin
* * * * * * * * * * *
Posted by ward at 11:50 PM | Comments (0)
November 07, 2005
Is Paris Burning?
Paris IS burning.
Paris, and the rest of France, is being burned from within by the children of immigrants from North Africa - mostly Muslim.
Folks, this is NOT good PR for the Children of Allah.
And...have you noticed? Most of the places they've burned are in their own neighborhoods, so far.
I would bet some serious cash (say, 25 cents American) that most of these "youths" are:
1. Not doing well in school - when they bother to go.
2. Receiving welfare
3. Won't look for a job
4. When they get a job, bitch and moan about how baaaad it is
5. Hate anybody who isn't just like them
And yeah, I'm feeling grumpy. So what?
Posted by ward at 09:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 09, 2005
Gift Earthquake
For a unique viewpoint on the Paki/Indi/Afghani earthquake, check out THIS bad attitude....
Just wanted to liven up your Sunday reading....
WARNING: NOT WORK SAFE. MAY NOT BE SPOUSE SAFE. DEFINITELY NOT KID SAFE.
Posted by ward at 05:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 21, 2005
More Rita
This evil witch is now at Cat 5.
Man...you thought N'awlins was bad....
Wherever Rita comes ashore, there won't be anything left. House, foundation, swimming pool, and trees - they will all be gone.
Fortunately, since all Texans are smarter than the "staybehinds" of New Orleans, the death toll will be much, much lower.
If you're alive, you can rebuild. If you're dead, you're dead.
Posted by ward at 09:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hurricane Rita
The biggest lesson learned by the folks looking at Rita is one learned from Katrina: When a Big One is headed your way, don't futz around - by whatever means are available, run for it.
The residents of the Texas coast are running for it.
Makes most Texans a bunch smarter than the idiots who stayed behind in Nawlins.
Of course, Rev. Jesse, Rev. Al, and Louis Farrakhan will play the "race card" however they think they can, the silly twits.
We moved here to Southeast Georgia, which is hurricane country, from San Jose, CA, which is definitely earthquake country.
One of the truisms I've been spouting is: "You can at least see a hurricane coming at you, and you can run."
Last year, Hurricanes Charlie, Frances, and Ivan looked like they were going to at least come close. We had reservations 200 miles inland that we didn't have to use. We did provide refuge for family members in the case of Frances - and Frances did indeed whack my in-laws' house in Cocoa Beach. And my in-laws were smart enough to run.
Posted by ward at 07:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 11, 2005
September 11th
Today is September 11, 2005.
Always remember....
Posted by ward at 08:44 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 09, 2005
Facts Begin To Come Out
Katarina has come and gone, leaving death and destruction in her wake.
Even before the dead have been found and counted, stories of how the Feds and Bush screwed the pooch have been hitting the news.
Now, you can see how the local authorities, the ones in charge on the scene, set the stage for the massive amounts of misery in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Start HERE.
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BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (CNN) -- Louisiana officials rebuffed American Red Cross requests to enter New Orleans with relief supplies last week because of concerns over logistical difficulties, Red Cross and state officials said Thursday. The Red Cross never launched its relief effort in the city. The national president of the American Red Cross, Marsha Evans, first made the request to undertake the operation during a visit to the state on September 1, three days after Hurricane Katrina struck, a local Red Cross chapter official said. |
The outright bad decisions made by the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana WILL become public, in spite of the best efforts of some members of the US Senate and US House of Representatives.
Posted by ward at 08:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 08, 2005
Arab States Step Up To The Plate
In the first Gulf War, the US came to the aid of an ally. A small country, invaded by a larger neighbor needed our help. Of course, we went. Along the way, another tiny Arab state, Qatar, was (A) protected by the US, and (B) provided some basing privileges which were helpful to our efforts.
Now, those two small countries have stepped up to the plate in our hour of need. I didn't see any mention of this in our home-town newspaper. Or in the paper put out in Jacksonville, FL, the nearest big city - which is shameful. This is Big News, and should be reported as such.
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The oil-rich Persian Gulf state of Kuwait said Sunday it will donate $500 million in aid to U.S. relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina. The offer is the largest known put forward since the hurricane ravaged Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and follows a $100 million aid donation from the emir of a Mideast neighbor, Qatar. Kuwait's energy minister said his country would provide "oil products that the disaster-stricken states need in addition to other humanitarian aid." "It's our duty as Kuwaitis to stand by our friends to lighten the humanitarian misery and as a payback for the many situations during which Washington helped us through the significant relations between the two friendly countries," Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah said in a statement carried by Kuwait's official news agency, KUNA. |
I don't think any of us really expected any assistance from other countries. After all, this is the United States of America! We can do anything! We can do it, we can!
For this offer to come to us in our hour of need is... gratifying? Nice? Appreciated?
Awww, shucks!
Speaking as an American, I hereby extend my thanks to those small countries.
Citizens of Kuwait, and Qatar - from the deepest part of my heart, Thank You. We shall remember, and we shall hold a place in our hearts for you.
Posted by ward at 10:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 06, 2005
Tropical Depression 16
And now, according to NOAA, it looks like Tropical Depression 16 will turn into a tropical storm, and come ashore at St. Augustine, FL, sometime Saturday.
A tropical storm has sustained winds ranging from 36mph to 74mph.
Oh, Joy.
St. Augustine is a hop, skip, and half a jump down the coast from us.
Posted by ward at 10:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
New Orleans 'Way Back Machine
Sometimes the 'Way-back Machine will turn around and bite you right on the buns, as the editors of the New Orleans Times-Picayune just found.
Matt Drudge reports that seven weeks before Katarina's waters invaded New Orleans, the TP reported on a series of video spots made by Hizzoner The Mayor and other city luminaries. These spots basicly said "When the Big One comes, YOU are responsible for a way outta here".
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NEW ORLEANS FLASHBACK: OFFICALS WARNED RESIDENTS 'YOU'LL BE ON YOUR OWN' Before residents had ever heard the words "Hurricane Katrina," the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE ran a story warning residents: If you stay behind during a big storm, you'll be on your own! Editors at TIMES-PICAYUNE on Monday called for every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be fired. In an open letter to President Bush, the paper said: "Our people deserved rescuing. Many who could have been were not. That's to the government's shame." But the TIMES-PICAYUNE published a story on July 24, 2005 stating: City, state and federal emergency officials are preparing to give a historically blunt message: "In the event of a major hurricane, you're on your own." Staff writer Bruce Nolan reported some 7 weeks before Katrina: "In scripted appearances being recorded now, officials such as Mayor Ray Nagin, local Red Cross Executive Director Kay Wilkins and City Council President Oliver Thomas drive home the word that the city does not have the resources to move out of harm's way an estimated 134,000 people without transportation." "In the video, made by the anti-poverty agency Total Community Action, they urge those people to make arrangements now by finding their own ways to leave the city in the event of an evacuation. "You're responsible for your safety, and you should be responsible for the person next to you," Wilkins said in an interview. "If you have some room to get that person out of town, the Red Cross will have a space for that person outside the area. We can help you." |
Of course, saying that the ones who stayed behind might bear some responsibility for their own plight is, to say the least, Politically Incorrect, and Very Insensitive.
Too bad, because, in my opinion, the adults who stayed behind and did nothing to protect their dependents do indeed bear responsibility for the safety of those dependent upon them, and are indeed responsible for the fix they and their dependents are in. They have failed, miserably, in their responsibilities.
Posted by ward at 05:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 05, 2005
Buses In The City of New Orleans
There's plenty of evidence that the City of New Orleans had lots and lots of buses to evacuate those who needed it - ahead of the storm.
Yet the New Orleans Times-Picayune is snivelin' and moanin' about FEMA and the Prez not having stuff in place RTF Now to move those people AFTER the storm hit.
Question #1: Who's responsible for planning and carrying out a LOCAL disaster plan?
That really is the question, isn't it?
Posted by ward at 08:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 02, 2005
A Hero of New Orleans
Jabbar Gibson, a young man of 20, was the driver on an American Odyssey - from New Orleans to Houston. See the whole story HERE.
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The first busload of New Orleans refugees to reach the Reliant Astrodome overnight was a group of people who commandeered a school bus in the city ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and drove to Houston looking for shelter. Jabbar Gibson, 20, said police in New Orleans told him and others to take the school bus and try to get out of the flooded city. Gibson drove the bus from the flooded Crescent City, picking up stranded people, some of them infants, along the way. Some of those on board had been in the Superdome, among those who were supposed to be evacuated to Houston on more than 400 buses Wednesday and today. They couldn't wait. The group of mostly teenagers and young adults pooled what little money they had to buy diapers for the babies and fuel for the bus. |
Posted by ward at 06:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
New Orleans And Logistics
Jason over at Iraq Now is a National Guardsman who has seen duty in Iraq. He's also been involved in disaster relief efforts here in the USA. This experience makes him at least as "expert" as the talking heads on the tube. See the whole thing HERE. I urge you - Read The Whole Thing.
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You cannot just snap your fingers and make the military suddenly appear somewhere. Nor can you legally send federal troops willy-nilly to shoot looters, courtesy of the Posse Comitatus act. You should know this, Ann. You're a lawyer by profession. You shouldn't need a dumb grunt to explain it to you. But watch for much of our news commentary and public debate to predicate itself around a vast ignorance of logistical capacity and principals. For instance: Suppose you got a brigade worth of troops (5,000 or so) available,. How are you going to support them? How will you transport them? Think organic trans is sufficient? Think again. Even at 100% operational readiness, a typical infantry battalion can only self transport perhaps a company at a time. And if every soldier is bringing a rucksack and a dufflebag, you're really talking about maybe two platoons. And unless you expect the unit to become a drain on local resources, every company is going to take a half truck or more of MREs and a half truck or more of bottled water, along with its own water trailers. I've seen it happen. I've done it. I've been a battalion S4 in combat, an HHC XO for dozens of major moves of a hundred miles or more, and an HHC company commander for six hurricane mobilizations. |
Posted by ward at 06:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
- - - - - New Orleans - - - - -
Like many of you, I've been watching the death of a great city, live and in color.
Make no mistake, the city of New Orleans is dead.
No power, no water, no fire department, no police department, bodies floating in the flooded streets, buildings on fire, gang-bangers running amok and taking pot-shots at relief flights.
The Prez just spoke and said that rebuilding New Orleans will be a "national effort", and that "New Orleans will rise again".
On a logical level, rebuilding New Orleans is a dumb, dumb project. Jayzus, the damned place is 80% below sea level, for cryin' out loud!
On an emotional level, there's the city known as "The Big Easy". Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, jazz, blues, and Party Central, USA. Hell yes, let's rebuild it!
I tend, right now to go with my emotional side. New Orleans is not some third-world hell-hole. It was, by any measure, one of the great cities of America. We have the resources, and we have the will. I tend to go with the Prez - "New Orleans will rise again".
Posted by ward at 05:22 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 01, 2005
- - - - - Natural Disasters - - - - -
We all know, from photos and the TV reports, that New Orleans is in desperate shape.
Here in South East Georgia, it was 93F in the shade today, with humidity right around 85%. And whenever it got a little warm for me, I could duck back inside and relax in the air conditioned comfort of my non-flooded house.
More than half of New Orleans is under water. In addition to debris from the hurricane, there are dead bodies floating around. There is no power. There hardly any food. There is very little drinkable water, if there is any at all. And now, there are armed looters running around taking pot-shots at any helicopter, cop, rescue worker, or National Guardsman that they see.
The folks at the Super Dome are tired, hot, hungry, thirsty, and angry. They want out, and they want out now.
The problem is that the buses to move them out of New Orleans can't get into New Orleans.
What a mess!
And then there's the idiot politicians who are perfectly willing to use other peoples' misery to hammer the Prez every chance they get.
Like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s post on the Huffington Blog page. (See it HERE)
| On March 13, Bush reversed his previous position, announcing he would not back a CO2 restriction using the language and rationale provided by Barbour. Echoing Barbour’s memo, Bush said he opposed mandatory CO2 caps, due to “the incomplete state of scientific knowledge” about global climate change.
Well, the science is clear. This month, a study published in the journal Nature by a renowned MIT climatologist linked the increasing prevalence of destructive hurricanes to human-induced global warming. Now we are all learning what it’s like to reap the whirlwind of fossil fuel dependence which Barbour and his cronies have encouraged. Our destructive addiction has given us a catastrophic war in the Middle East and--now--Katrina is giving our nation a glimpse of the climate chaos we are bequeathing our children. In 1998, Republican icon Pat Robertson warned that hurricanes were likely to hit communities that offended God. Perhaps it was Barbour’s memo that caused Katrina, at the last moment, to spare New Orleans and save its worst flailings for the Mississippi coast. [UPDATE: Alas, the reprieve for New Orleans was only temporary. But Haley Barbour still has much to answer for.] |
Now, this guy's rantings got my attention, mainly because some idiots in another state were fools enough to elect this clown.
So, let's look at some facts, here, Mr. Kennedy, shall we?
Around the time of the American Revolution, in England, the Thames River, that goes right past the Houses of Parliament, would freeze over. In fact, it would freeze so hard that the residents of the City of London would have a mid-winter's fair on the ice. One hundred years later, in 1876, it did not freeze.
Greenland has never been particularly green. But about 300 years ago, it started to warm up a bit, enough to support a human presence.
It's well known that our planet goes through heating and cooling cycles. We just happen to live in a warming cycle. Furthermore, hurrican activity runs in cycles - which can be checked at NOAA, HERE. Note that the most active decade was 1941-1950. Granted, we're on track to at least match that, but it is obvious from the facts that these things DO run in cycles.
Kennedy knows this. But he chooses to blame the results of Katrina on the Prez and on Barbour. And, it appears to me that he took his line from that well-known "documentary" film maker Michael Moore. See it HERE.
Grrrr.....
Posted by ward at 06:30 PM | Comments (0)
August 31, 2005
New Orleans
By now, we've all seen the destruction wrought by Katrina.
My heart is heavy, knowing that our friends, neighbors and countrymen in New Orleans have been hammered.
Our family's prayers, and those of our neighbors, are with you.
Posted by ward at 08:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack