Some people said they had been turned away from hotel lobbies, other banks and cafes near 40th Street when asked if they could charge their phones. It was as if, said Gabriella Sonam, a massage therapist who had biked up from the East Village, they did not even know a national emergency was going on just across the street.
November 1, 2012
"I’m not traumatized by the storm; I’m traumatized by the indifference."
A Tale of Two Cities: New York above 40th Street and New York below 40th Street.
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Well, at least they aren't living in flyover country where guns and religion abound. They have that don't they?
They live in New York and never experienced indifference?
Is it the same texture and quality of indifference the media loves and thinks Romney should engage in? You know...Just send money to the red cross what's all this actual food doing here?...or...Obama really cares, see he even flew in to meet with the governor.
the above comment is nonsensical.
If they're not traumatized by the storm, I'm indifferent to them as well.
They vote for involuntary exploitation and expect charitable or voluntary exploitation. They cannot, reasonably, have both. Either they respect individual dignity or they do not. Either they recognize reasonable limits to involuntary redistribution schemes (and the corruption which they engender), contributory entitlement schemes, or they do not.
They're living life as it used to be, bubbles.
I didn't give up my landline for a reason.
SeeingRed-
I suspect your landline would useless as well if you lived below 40th Street NYC.
Landlines are powered by current from the telco central office, usually just a few blocks away. Those offices would also be affected by the ConEd outage, and would not have sufficient backup from generators or batteries to maintain service for an extended time period.
Ironically, it’s helpful for Obama to keep the power off... whereas, it would be suicidal for say Bush or a Romney.
I wonder if these poor people vote for persons who want to reduce power generation capabilities of the country, and who advocate unsustainable alternative-energy sources (windmills after a hurricane moves through? heh!)?
From the linked-to article:
clustering around power strips by the A.T.M.’s at all hours
None of the copy editors have power apparently.
It was the best of Big Apples, it was the worst of Big Apples.
Wow, imagine being that addicted to electronic gadgets. Why aren't they reading a book by candlelight?
Some people said they had been turned away from hotel lobbies, other banks and cafes near 40th Street when asked if they could charge their phones.
Become a customer, and you can probably have some electricity. It's not that hard. Oh, but you've been through an ordeal and want to be treated special.
I forgot. It's all about you.
The most popular place, unexpectedly, has become a Chase Bank on Third Avenue, which has been opening its doors to whomever comes
East coast grammar fashion pages.
Apostrophe plurals are okay on abbreviations and acronyms.
Mind your p's and q's.
In shell scrips, you use double apostrophes for the same reason
echo $VERB''ing
It's the hipster dofuous culture. Nothing new to see here. They think they can just walk in off the street and not buy anything but can get to use the bathroom and charge their phones.
It is the Age of Entitlement.
"Landlines are powered by current from the telco central office"
Central office power is a nominal -48 volts DC, sourced from a large bank of rechargeable batteries. Normally the batteries are constantly being charged from commercial AC power.
Typically those batteries are designed to provide at least six hours of power; after that, a diesel generator kicks in.
I'd certainly expect these central offices to remain powered throughout a long blackout, as it's not just power for landline telephones that's sourced there- the same power is also used to operate local and wide-area switching and routing equipment.
Especially in a large metro area, it is inconceivable that the basic communications infrastructure would not be designed to remain available throughout an extended power outage.
So long as that basic infrastructure is operational, your landline phone can be expected to work. Unless the wire that leads to it gets broken somewhere, of course.
It was as if, said Gabriella Sonam, a massage therapist who had biked up from the East Village, they did not even know a national emergency was going on just across the street.
A what? A national emergency? Because it's NYC where all the important people are?
Too bad they don't have Waffle House in mid-town
Oh, the humanity.
Traumatized seems a bit strong, but that's some serious bullshit not to let people charge their phones. If you don't have room, explain that politely.
Anyone who wants to can come over to my place in Brooklyn to charge their phone.
Wait, an Evil-Wall-Street-Big-Bank-Corporation-1% is providing a haven for the powerless?
Heads are exploding down at Occupy Wall Street.
Impossible. New York is full of compassionate liberals.
They may well have been swamped by people needing a free charge, there are a number of possible reasons that don't require callousness. But I'm often taken aback by the number of Althouse commenters who prefer the callous expanation.
I wonder if any of the people below 40th street are among those who asked Instapundit (about a year ago--i can't find the post) if it violated libertarian principles to use McDonald's electricity to charge a phone or laptop during a general blackout.
Windmills and solar panels are fine as supplementary or localized producers; but, they cannot be reasonably isolated from the environment, which makes them poor candidates as primary producers. Furthermore, they are low density energy producers, which further invalidates them from consideration as primary producers. The former is also responsible for the death of several hundred thousand birds and bats, which nullifies their neutral impact appeal. While both utilize technology requiring limited availability materials, which are recovered and processed with significant impact to both the environment and people. Both technologies have been misrepresented as "green" and "renewable".
Blue State compassion at work.
"What do you think has become of the young and old men?
And what do you think has become of the women and children?
They are alive and well somewhere.
The smallest sprout shows there is really no death.
And if ever there was it led forward life,
and does not wait at the end to arrest it,
And ceas'd the moment life appear'd.
All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses.
And to die is different from what anyone supposed, and luckier."
Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself," 6, 123-130
They - we - really should read Whitman and Emerson and Melville and Hawthorne. They might then have something insisde onto which to hold.
Indifference? You are damned right we are indifferent to you. You are indifferent to us too. You absolutely don't understand our plights. We paid twice our help's entire year income for our Halloween costumes, Sandy made it so hard to get to our parties, we almost have to stay home. Halloween only comes once a year, you know, we can't wear this year's constumes next year. That will be tacky.
In any case, what the hell do you expect from us? We bought the Fed to do our "compassion" thing, get out of our hairs, morons.
In the old days, BC - Before Cells, IIRC, we lost our landline for 2-3 weeks, the switching station blew.
What Troop said.
You'd think, after so many years of Bloomie, the indifference would have wiped out any capacity for trauma.
I have to a certain amount of schadenfreude with respect to the plight of New Yorkers. Not a lot mind, you, and quite targeted to the usual suspects.
Trying to get by during natural disasters in a city environment sounds miserable. Not that I needed any more justification for preferring our 1-acre property in what some call "developed sticks" over the city environment...
The ability to have a wood burning stove, generator, room to store months of food, plus a charcoal and propane grill out back...
I would NEVER trade our situation for the most luxurious of urban environments.
edutcher--troop's comment must have been immediately deleted. No problem--he has his own blog.
Even rich guys like Bloomberg are compassionate in New York. Right now he's working hard on that Skyscrapers of Trailers project.
Ironically, it’s helpful for Obama to keep the power off.
Not only does this statement not make sense but just yesterday we were being told on this very blog that the government has nothing to do with restoring power (for the most part, a true statement).
Four years after Hurricane Ike, my city - Galveston, Texas - still has its rebuilding funds held hostage to public housing advocates who insist we build luxury units for the poor at $350,000 per unit. So to my mind, it is pretty much fuck you New Yorkers! Enjoy the mess, it is going to last a LOT longer than you think and the days of your bickering will outnumber the days of brotherhood 100 to 1. By next week, the bitching about the power being off and the inconvenience of it all will include Obama. He can drown your skinny, black clothes wearing, double skinny vanilla latte sipping asses in fresh greenbacks and the mess STILL won't be cleaned up and the power STILL won't be on. Enjoy!
Here is a WSJ article that summarizes our recent situation in G'town: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443545504577563271568716862.html
Pity they didn't think to go to Amazon ahead of time and buy a hand-cranked cell phone recharger (please use the Professor's link if you want one for yourself).
Indifference? You are damned right we are indifferent to you. You are indifferent to us too. You absolutely don't understand our plights.
Yep. I'm as concerned about your inability to charge up your cell phone and the inhumanity of having to sit in the dark and maybe read a book or something.....as you are so very concerned about us when we are out of power for days, in the snow, in the freezing temperatures. Right?
Seriously?? You can't be without your electronic gadgets? You weren't prepared enough, even though you had DAYS and DAYS of warning about the storm, to get some cash from the ATM. To charge up your goodies. Have some extra batteries on hand. Have some actual food in your little rabbit warren sized apartment.
Damned right. I don't care. Stupidity doesn't deserve considerations. Selfish entitlement mentality, even less.
Welcome to the world that the green agenda is going to provide. Happy???
Four years after Hurricane Ike, my city - Galveston, Texas - still has its rebuilding funds held hostage to public housing advocates who insist we build luxury units for the poor at $350,000 per unit.
***********
I was in a built environment program at UW for a time where I got a heavy dose of the "built environment can fix societal ills" claptrap - the mantra of "affordable housing" was nearly unbearable. One of highlights of my time there occurred when I was able to pin a smarmy urban planner to the wall with probing questions about WHAT EXACTLY are you hoping to achieve with your dreams of tiny boxes clustered around public transportation hubs. You could just see the guy salivating over the gleaming future that could be had - as soon as they could bulldoze those pesky little single family homes into the ground that were standing in the way.
After getting him pretty flustered, he finally admitted that their primary "target customer" consisted mainly of young, unmarried, childless professionals. "We realize that we can only design for people at a certain phase of their life and that they will probably move out once they have kids..."
Right from the horse's mouth.
As clint said yesterday in this thread http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6329595&postID=8412075189085198692
"It depends a lot on the people. New Yorkers are a special breed. When the lights go out and civilizations collapses, New Yorkers band together and make do. In other cities, riots and looting break out"
Care to extend and revise those remarks, clint?
The breakers roar
On an unseen shore
In the teeth of a hurricane
Oh, we struggle in vain
A hellish night
A ghostly light
Appears through the driving rain
Salvation in a human chain
All I know is that sometimes you have to be wary
Of a miracle too good to be true
All I know is that sometimes the truth is contrary
Everything in life you thought you knew
All I know is that sometimes you have to be wary
'Cause sometimes the target is you
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/r/rush/the_wreckers.html ]
Driven to ground
With a helpful sound
Drowned by the cheer from the shore
Oh, we wonder what for
The people swarm
Through the darkening storm
Gather everything they can score
'Til their backs won't bear any more
All I know is that sometimes you have to be wary
Of a miracle too good to be true
All I know is that sometimes the truth is contrary
Everything in life you thought you knew
All I know is that sometimes you have to be wary
Of a miracle too good to be true
All I know is that sometimes the truth is contrary
'Cause sometimes the target is you
Rush/Clockwork Angels/The Wreckers
Bodies Of Two Young Boys Missing On Staten Island In Aftermath Of Sandy Found
Police: Mom Knocked On Man's Door For Help, Was Turned Away
Whoever did this belongs in the crispiest place in hell.
of course they should be able to walk into any operating business and be allowed to charge-up their electronic devices...because electricity comes from magical electricity land and it's FREE !!
Why do Althousians hate New York so much? It's bizarre. New York is freaking great - even when half of it is without power.
This is funny. Leftist politics are essentially an alliance of the rich and poor against the middle. Getting them together and watching the dysfunction is the whole load of comedy.
Why do Althousians hate New York so much? It's bizarre. New York is freaking great - even when half of it is without power.
I dunno. When I was there the whole place smelled like urine.
I have to a certain amount of schadenfreude with respect to the plight of New Yorkers. Not a lot mind, you, and quite targeted to the usual suspects.
Probably better not to admit it, Roger J. Schadenfreude directed at victims of natural disasters is pretty disgusting.
as I told Lem yesterday, 3 days. then they'll start cracking each others skulls open to feast on the gooey insides.
Remember Earth Hour when we are all supposed to shut off our lights and use no electricity? Wasn't that a good thing?
Maybe they can call this Earth Fortnight. Think of all the global warming they can stop by having no electricity for two weeks! Might even be enough to prevent the next hurricane.
they did not even know a national emergency was going on just across the street.
Wouldn't a national emergency be something that affects the Nation. I would say it is a "regional emergency".
Yes. This is a big deal. A lot of people are going to be very inconvenienced for a very long time. But...not nationally.
The drama and self importance of New Yorkers and the Coastal Elites is just amazing.
Why do Althousians hate New York so much?
Why do new yorkers hate everywhere that isn't new york? It's a mystery.
(I don't hate ny, but man are people there obsessed with their city and it's relative place in the world.)
Also, inability to charge a cell is not the biggest crisis in the world.
Freder: "Not only does this statement not make sense but just yesterday we were being told on this very blog that the government has nothing to do with restoring power (for the most part, a true statement)."
Well, true now. Clearly not "true" during Katrina when the demise of every butterfly was the personal responsibility of one GW Bush.
We'll find out competent Bloomberg is. Some are already saying his endorsement of Obama supposedly because of his position on climate change is an attempt to excuse his failure to competently deal with the hurricane by blaming climate change.
I watch a report on Fox news yesterday and the on site reporter pointed out to the viewers she was letting some people recharge their batteries using Fox equipment.
I don't hate New York or New Yorkers, per se.
New York is a fun place to visit. New Yorkers are fun people to watch.
I just don't like the "center of everything real and important" attitude very much.
After all, the center of everything American is 116 miles Southeast of my house.
NYC libs!
Why do Althousians hate New York so much?
I don't hate 'em.
I lived for 42 years in Eastern and Central North Carolina. In my adult lifetime we were hit by 4 CAT 4 hurricanes. No body wrung their hands over us and we didn't ask anyone to. NYC gets hit with a piddly CAT 1 and I'm supposed to get the vapors? And listen to them whine and cry?
I don't hate 'em, but I do say fuck 'em!
Well, at least the little wankers in Chelsea are finally wading through their own shit.
sean said...
Wow, imagine being that addicted to electronic gadgets. Why aren't they reading a book by candlelight?
They probably don't even know what a candle is anymore.
New York City post Sandy-no gas, no power, no 4G, indifference
New Orleans post Katrina-looting, no power, smoking pot, indifference
But north and south will both vote for Obama!
Wow, imagine being that addicted to electronic gadgets. Why aren't they reading a book by candlelight?
A prolonged loss of power would be really bad for me. I bought a kindle and moved a year later. At the time I got rid of almost every physical book I'd accumulated over the years. Must have donated or thrown out a few tons of paper. If my kindle died I'd have nothing to read but cookbooks and an over-sized atlas.
May have to buy a solar charger, or maybe a bike generator like Ernest Borgnine's character had in Soilent Green.
On the plus side, if either my ISP or the Sprint network survives The Big One, I can buy new books without leaving my fortified bunker.
Con Ed says the power will be up by Saturday. That seems like a long time. If you're an elderly person who lives on the fortieth floor that would seem like an eternity....There has been quite a cascade of glitches in a number of areas, but screw ups involving liberals are caused by climate change and not by incompetence. In conjunction with FEMA, the mayor is opening a Planned Parenthood tent in Tompkins Square park so that there will be no interruption in the supply of safe, reliable birth control options.
There is a children's book called "Don't Give A Mouse A Cookie" that explains exactly why you don't let folks use a free resource in a non-emergency like AFTER a hurricane.
Soon the phone charging becomes computer use, becomes changing clothes in the bathrooms, becomes a mob demanding food or water, becomes a fire that burns down the business.
Compare and contrast with Houstonians opening up their city to New Orleans residents.
Now people in New York and New Jersey know what a hurricane is. The first hurricane I went through was in Biloxi, Mississippi. I did not know that hurricanes had tornados inside of them. I had been through tornados but not through a whole squadron of them. Hurricanes are big, bad news and not just a drink from Pat O’Briens at Mardi Gras.
directed at victims of natural disasters
People who have lost homes and loved ones to the surging tide are victims of a natural disaster.
People who can't charge their phones are whiners.
Damn, MadMan, we'll make a moderate Republican out of you yet.
I read the article--completely, I think (when I was in school, I would get burned on those "reading comprehension" questions), and what I saw a lot of was folks complaining that, instead of having everything they need right at hand, they had to walk 40 blocks to get food, electricity, ATMs and other comforts.
Forty blocks in NYC is a hike, but its not impossible. When I visited NYC in years past, I hiked it daily. That was part of the fun of New York.
And, let me think...weren't all the folks down in lower Manhattan told to evacuate? This is why--isn't it?
Look, I'm not unsympathetic; if I were there, I would help the folks in the story. I am sure it's a grind.
But the story maybe overplays their misery?
Also...I have a LOT of sympathy for poor people in this situation--but I think these are not poor people; these are people of means. If you live in Manhattan, you know it's a pricey place, and you are ready for that. A lot of these folks are are pulling down incomes that would be princely anywhere else.
So...I'm just wondering...how many of these folks are unhappy because, suddenly, they are not "Masters of the Universe"?
Why should anyone help them out? It's the government's job.
I once experienced second-hand indifference. Remember it clearly.
Why wouldn't they just go to Starbuck's, like everyone else does? There is one about every other block in Manhattan. Too cheap to spring for a cup of coffee?
I have no sympathy whatever for the poor. This generation of Americans features the most coddled poor that have ever disgraced the planet. They are so pampered that you can't even squeeze culture out of them anymore. They generally don't suffer enough. And here they are threatening to die on Staten Island after just three days.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/11/were-going-to-die-staten-island-residents-plead-for-help-3-days-after-sandy/
All liberal indignation is local.
Agreed - catastrophic storm and really bad situation for lots of Americans that should be addressed communally
Not agreed - "national emergency"
There has been quite a cascade of glitches in a number of areas, but screw ups involving liberals are caused by climate change and not by incompetence.
On my way back from the gym today NPR was saying the storm was caused by global warming. Somehow the fact that the east coast was hit with ten major hurricanes from 1954 to 1960 was too much trouble for the interns to look up.
3 Days?
If you lost your home, you have a legitimate reason to ask for help (although hopefully you have friends or family you can call). But nobody who knows a hurricane is headed their way, and who has some small means, should be without food 3 days out.
People in Arkansas run to the grocery store to stock up if there is snow in the forecast, and yes it's funny and ridiculous but none of them are dumpster diving when the snow actually does come. NYers could learn something.
I love how liberals use an event like this to mock those who believe in small government and rugged individualism... they always bring up the most tear-jerking example of someone who obviously can't hack it on his or her own. And that's the argument--such as it is--for why gov't must be big, big, big, to care for everyone; anyone who disagrees is heartless.
Our government couldn't protect its ambassador in Libya from a mob of thugs it knew were coming. But we're supposed to believe our gov't is our only hope when faced with a hurricane or earthquake.
Leslyn:
Of course my church is tax-exempt--partially, to be exact. Why is that relevant?
Also, are you saying that the cuts in security are why the gov't couldn't help our ambassador? I don't believe it.
Citation please?
Leslyn:
You made a blockbuster assertion: that cuts by Congress are the reason the President couldn't assist the ambassador. Proof?
Congress made cuts that prevented the President from sending Marines? Sending helicopters? Airplanes? Congress made cuts that kept him from having surveillance over Libya? From having a ship off shore?
Wow, that's amazing. Citation please?
Leslyn:
Let me know when you're interested in having a serious conversation. Then we'll talk.
Meanwhile, I am waiting for the citations to support your assertion that cuts by Congress prevented the President from having resources to assist the ambassador in Benghazi.
Waiting...
Leslyn:
Still waiting for the citation supporting your assertion that Congress's cuts prevented the President having resources to assist our ambassasor...
Leslyn:
Still waiting for that citation...
Don't have it? You made up the assertion?
Waiting...
I wonder how many of their 32 million rats just moved across the street.
Probably about 31,999,990 or them or so compressed into an area half the size. I know, 32 million, half the size, conveniently round figures, suspect, yes, but still, it freaks me right out.
Leslyn:
Whenever you get around to it, you can migrate over to my blog--by clicking my name--and post the info in a comment on one of the threads.
I'll be glad to let folks know you finally came up with it. Whenever that day comes.
It really is a different experience above 40th street and below. I live in midtown above 40th street, and while watching the television storm coverage, it was like I was living in a different city and that the storm was happening there and not here.
It never rained that much, there were strong gusts of wind, but I never got the impression that it was extremely dangerous. And I had the tv on the entire time and never lost power. (Well, the following morning we lost Internet and 3G.
Meanwhile, people downtown are dumpster diving. It's surreal.
Paraphrasing leslyn:
You made a blockbuster assertion: that cuts by Congress are the reason the President couldn't assist the ambassador. Proof?
Well at least she's acknowledging the lack of response on Obama's part. That's something, I guess.
Fr Martin
You'll let us know when that citation comes through won't you?
Meanwhile, people downtown are dumpster diving. It's surreal.
I don't get it. They had four days. Four days to prepare. You'd think a person would buy a few cans of soup just in case.
I suspect the occutards pretty much wore out the local merchants' tolerance for mooching.
"Now Father. Dial down your indignation. You know that in the bipartisan spirit of budget control Congress voted to cut funding for security."
Funny how the White Hoise could provide a Secret Service detail for Valerie Jarrett but not a Marine detail for Ambassador Stevens.
Priorities, I reckon.
" Now if you could only believe that in fact a rescue force was scrambled."
...and they didn't arrive at the staging base in Sicily until after the attack was over. Your point was...umm..?
I can't believe all of you who turned this into a political thing. It's still an emergency and people who can - and aren't evil asshats who politicize absolutely everything - should still help.
Just ten years ago, people would have helped.
kitty genovese would beg to differ if only she hadn't been dead all these years.
I just wanted to add a late but hearty "fuck you" to the slugs in this thread who somehow think it's amusing or clever to slag off on the citizens of my city who continue to be affected by the destruction of hurricane "Sandy". The misery, discomfort, danger and economic disruption visited upon a major part of New York by this storm is not some manifestation of "privileged whining", it's real and is affecting thousands of people and businesses, small and large. You can treat it like a joke, but it's damaging people's lives and businesses (including mine).
Wait til they find out that their regular homeowners insurance policies don't cover flood damage. And that their landlord's policies don't cover their property as renters. That's going to be fun!
" leslyn said...
I am indifferent to the indignation over indifference.
"
That isn't all you are indifferent to.
Palladian, I'm afraid New York City has alienated a lot of people over the years. I am sympathetic to the individuals who lost homes and are in distress. I think your city's choice of a mayor was on a par with the country's choice of a president. Bloomberg is much more concerned about global warming than the city.
Palladian said...
I just wanted to add a late but hearty "fuck you" to the slugs in this thread who somehow think it's amusing or clever to slag off on the citizens of my city who continue to be affected by the destruction of hurricane "Sandy". The misery, discomfort, danger and economic disruption visited upon a major part of New York by this storm is not some manifestation of "privileged whining", it's real and is affecting thousands of people and businesses, small and large. You can treat it like a joke, but it's damaging people's lives and businesses (including mine)
I finally got ahold of my step brother yesterday. He lives on the upper west side, out of danger. He and his girlfriend were volunteering at their church to help people displaced by the storm. It looks like Staten Island is still in real trouble. Services are slow to get to them.
Good luck to you P. Can you use any help from this end?
Ok, this Staten Island woman whose two sons - ages two and four - drowned. Apparently, she waited until the floodwaters were feet deep in the streets before she tried to evacuate. The water caused her SUV to stall, and then her children were swept away when they were hit by a wave.
It's Staten fucking island. There was an evacuation order in place. She ignored it. She had the means - her own SUV - to get the hell out of town and drive inland, and she ignored it and kept her two children in the path of the storm.
I'm going to slap the next person I see expressing sympathy for this fool who got her children killed.
I don't see any principled reason why we shouldn't charge her with negligent homicide or manslaughter. If for no other reason than to send a message to all the other fools.
It's Staten Island. There's no barrier island. Staten Island is the barrier. And it's a natural magnet and magnifier for storm surge. Why is ANYONE stuck there, dumpster-diving? If I were the Red Cross, I'd be saying "no soup for you," too, if you weren't smart enough to get out of the evacuation zone with three days notice.
I bet Bloomberg would press charges if she were drinking a Big Gulp, though, so there's that.
Wyo Sis:
I will certainly let you know whenever Leslyn gets around to providing a citation for her claim that Congress's budget cuts denied the President resources to assist the ambassador in Benghazi.
But I'm not holding my breath.
By the way, has anyone seen a post by Crack Emcee lately?
I just wanted to point out that everyone should have some kind of radio in case there is a natural disaster or prolonged power outage.
I have one that has a hand crank and can charge cell phones, because I'm so dependent on my smart phone, and I think it cost $27. That and a pantry full of canned food and a few cases of water would keep me relatively OK in most circumstances.
I too am amazed that we are supposed to feel something other than befuddled amazement at the people who are dumpster diving and out of food less than a few days after a disaster that the KNEW was coming. Unless dumpster diving is already your lifestyle there is no excuse. None.
Now might be a good time to rerun what I wrote and did several years ago, after Katrina.
http://dustbun.blogspot.com/2006/05/armageddon-pantry.html
http://dustbun.blogspot.com/2007/05/contents-of-armegddon-pantry.html
Now I realize that people in NYC or San Francisco apartments, such as the one my daughter lives in, don't have the room to have an "Armageddon Pantry".....but for God's sake.... how about some beans, canned milk etc. Surely you have room under your bed for a weeks worth of emergency supply. Especially since the emergency was not a surprise.
Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part.
Fr Martin Fox said...
Wyo Sis:
I will certainly let you know whenever Leslyn gets around to providing a citation for her claim that Congress's budget cuts denied the President resources to assist the ambassador in Benghazi.
But the security at the consulate in Barbados was OUTSTANDING!
Speaking of "indifference":
Every generator powering the NY Marathon media tent, every public safety worker, Marathon volunteer and Porta-Potty lining the route, every Sanitation worker gathering Marathon litter or Park&Rec worker tidying Central Park every hotel room held for marathon attendees, every street and bridge closed to accommodate the race, every bottle of water handed out during the race, is one generator / emergency responder / relief volunteer / sanitary facility / debris-collector / shelter / relief route / staple denied the storm victims in lower Manhattan, Staten Island, etc.
Priorities.
With the contrast between Bloomberg's idiotic Marathon and Staten Island plus his embrace of Obama, I wonder how much good his endorsement will do The Won?
Here is another opportunity for contempt - the rumor of non-union workers being turned away from the response effort.
Oslo negro wrote:
I have no sympathy whatever for the poor. This generation of Americans features the most coddled poor that have ever disgraced the planet. They are so pampered that you can't even squeeze culture out of them anymore. They generally don't suffer enough. And here they are threatening to die on Staten Island after just three days.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/11/were-going-to-die-staten-island-residents-plead-for-help-3-days-after-sandy/
Remember when bush didn't rescue everybody from New Orleans after 3 days and it was a sign of his complete failure and how he hated black people?
I think the lesson is, if you don't evacuate and are unlucky enough to get stuck in a place that gets flooded, you may be shit out of luck, and you'll just have to wait till they get to you. You should have left when you had the chance.
On the news they kept interviewing people and telling them "this is supposed to be a big storm. You're not going to Evacuate?" And the people all said things like, they had lived through the last hurricane so will stick it out, or this is their home and they're not leaving. So many are in the predicament because they didn't leave.
And the more people do t leave, the harder it becomes to rescue them.
I'm not expecting FEMA or the govt to solve Staten Islands problems overnight. It's simply not realistic. But can I be as big an asshole now as the dems were when it came to Katrina? Can I start politicizing the event while people are still rescuing people from their rooftops?
Maybe I can say that the reason Staten Island is in the shape it's in is because Obama doesn't care for white people. Heckuva job Obama!
Pretty shitty, huh?
You'll note though that republicans by and large are not politicizing this storm the way that the dems did. The way that Obama did!
You'll note the media is acting as support and simply reporting the news and not attacking the response because Staten Island isn't already saved.
Screw the dems and screw Obama.
Good thing we aren't using wind power in NYC. Good thing we aren't using nuclear. Imagine if what happened in Japan happened here.
Good thing we weren't using hydropower.
Thank heavens for oil, gas and coal. And for all you lefties bad mouthing carbon fuels who are now demanding that banks accommodate you while you charge your cell phone isn't it great that there is power that is dependable and reliable? See what happens when you DON'T have such power and you can't even charge your cell phone or need a generator to turn on a light in your house. Sucks, don't it? Maybe you shouldn't be pushing for a world where energy you'll need to function is either too expensive or too inefficient to meet your needs because of some Bullshit environmental moralism that isn't even real. (Or is something that we can't control at any rate).
Wait til they find out that their regular homeowners insurance policies don't cover flood damage.
Don't laugh - you're going to pay for it. NPR is saying the federal government is going to cover people with flood damage.
I wonder if any of the expected regular imbeciles condescending here to "whiny" New Yorkers desperate to charge their cell phones--"electronic gadgets"--have taken a nanosecond to consider that without power, one's cellphone may be one's only means of communicating with others outside the disaster zone--family or friends concerned about one's welfare--or in receiving news as to what is going on within the zone.
Yes, there are such thing as hand-cranked radios, which allow one to hear news of what's happening, but don't permit communication out. New Yorkers can hardly be condemned for not having such devices on hand. A week before the storm I had barely heard anything about it, and in the few days I knew about the storm before it hit I doubt I could have obtained a hand-cranked radio. Whatever stores of them might have been available on the shelves in the city were probably instantly sold.
As it was, I was very lucky: my part of town has power and running water and stores that are open, so my experience of the storm is very different from many others who live only a few miles away. (Having grown up in Florida, I know hurricanes are not something to take lightly.)
I can see a number of those here would--as expected--be more than happy to jack up the price of a cup of water several hundred percent to a parched man in a desert--"hey, it's a free market! If he doesn't want to pay he can go elsewhere to get a drink!"
Lady MacBeth would hardly be unique here in her scorn for the milk of human kindness.
Leslyn:
Still waiting for the backup on your claim...
I wonder if any of the expected regular imbeciles condescending here to "whiny" New Yorkers desperate to charge their cell phones--"electronic gadgets"--have taken a nanosecond to consider that without power, one's cellphone may be one's only means of communicating with others outside the disaster zone--family or friends concerned about one's welfare--or in receiving news as to what is going on within the zone.
Perhaps one could have taken a nanosecond to consider their vulnerability to having no back up means of communication. Maybe one could think to have a spare battery or solar battery charger for one's electronic gadgets. One should also realize that when the power goes out system wide and damage has been done to the infrastructure, that the entire communications system might also go out, leaving one with a fully charged smart phone but no ability to connect to any other ones.
I do know it is difficult and frightening to be out of contact with friends and family in an emergency and I'm not totally without sympathy. When '89 when there was a large earthquake in the Bay Area, I was unable to reach my family for many days.
When you look at the people who have lost their HOMES and everything they own or even lives lost, the first world angst of not being able to charge up your laptop or cell phone is a petty whining sniveling problem.
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