While blanco/nagin decided to make a new Louisiana navy consisting of yellow submarines.
Posted on 09/10/2005 5:46:00 PM PDT by neverdem
Among the many achievements of the human race - Chartres Cathedral, the Mona Lisa - surely the New Orleans emergency preparedness plan must rank among the greatest, and the fact that this plan turned out to be irrelevant to reality should not detract from its stature as a masterpiece of bureaucratic thinking.
The plan (which is viewable online at www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=26) begins with the insight: Be prepared. Or as the plan puts it, "Individuals with assigned tasks must receive preparatory training to maximize operations."
The plan lays out a course of action so that all personnel will know exactly what to do in case of a hurricane. The Office of Emergency Preparedness will coordinate with the Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness in conjunction with the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan by taking full advantage of the courses offered by the Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Association and other agencies "as well as conferences, seminars and workshops that may from time to time be available, most notably state hurricane conferences and workshops and the National Hurricane Conference."
In addition, the plan continues, the administrative and training officer of the Office of Emergency Preparedness will maintain close communication with the state training officer of the L.O.E.P., making sure workshops are conducted at the Emergency Support Function level, reviewing Emergency Operating Center/E.S.F. standard operating procedures and undertaking more "intensive work sessions with elements of the emergency response organizations in order to enhance unified disaster planning."
One can imagine the PowerPoint presentations! The millions of cascading bullet points! The infinity of hours spent planning a hurricane response that would make a Prussian officer gasp with reverence!
Furthermore, the plan instructs the O.E.P. director to execute Mass Casualty Incidents scenarios; work with the Association of Contingency Planners and other groups to coordinate disaster organization responses...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It's hard to tell which has the greater potential to more quickly destroy human civilization: Leftist Thought or PowerPoint presentations.
Or in New Orleans case : the Best Laid Plans of Mice. (period)
The cackling Grey Lady cracks.
LOL. In many cases, they are one and the same.
FWIW, the left won't appreciate this OpEd.
I will have to forego article, I don't register for leftist rags.
Too bad when push came to shove,and the category 5 hurricane was bearing down on them, the RATS chose to ignore ''The Plan'' and instead picked up the cry that most Rats do in a time of crisis. ''Abandon ship'' every man'' (or in this case Rat) for himself.
"Man plans and God laughs!"
Say what you will about the old grey/gray whore, they let David Brooks and John Tierney write what they please, IMHO.
For other examples, check the American companies (all that I know of are bankrupt) who used the TQM planning models of Demming.
When people do most of their own planning, with their own risks, "plans" work much better. They actually plan and implement, rather than plan for planning's sake. Results count, not the "process."
You haven't come across bugmenot.com? It's worth reading.
While blanco/nagin decided to make a new Louisiana navy consisting of yellow submarines.
No plan survives contact.
OODA.
You missed some interconnectedness ~ might study up on what makes what go in your own community so that you aren't left sleeping in a tent on what used to be somebody's front lawn wondering outloud about why "they" haven't brought you ice yet!
Katrina was the most anticipated natural disaster in American history, and still government managed to fail at every level.
.....
So of course we need limited but energetic government. But liberals who think this disaster is going to set off a progressive revival need to explain how a comprehensive governmental failure is going to restore America's faith in big government.
Even animals pick a certain spot to relieve themselves, From the reports, anyplace in the dome was considered a toilet.
You missed some interconnectedness ~ might study up on what makes what go in your own community so that you aren't left sleeping in a tent on what used to be somebody's front lawn wondering outloud about why "they" haven't brought you ice yet!
Don't assume that I know nothing of preparedness or that I would wait on anyone to bring me ice. I've assisted in more than one tornado aftermath, including one that claimed the life of my own grandmother. And I didn't even complain that Richard Nixon didn't dig her out of the rubble in time.
Using the very model of TQM, with some mods based on their culture, the Japs managed to practically wipe out Detroit. IMHO, American Managers tend to use this an an HR sop to their workers, to give them a "sense" of participation, instead of turning them loose. If you're going to try TQM, Six Sigma, HPT, etc. Execute HR first.
Let me tell you where you go to the bathroom when you can't get out, or when your house has been blown away ~ you go where you can.
Seemed to me, based on the few pictures we've seen of the inside, the folks in the Super Dome were depositing their leavings in cardboard boxes well away from where they were sitting. Eventually we will find out the truth, but at the moment so terribly many of the "reports" continue to be suspect.
There are, after all, a few too many people for comfort who wish to portray all the people of New Orleans as animals.
The rabid lefties have an acronym, "LIHOP." I believe that's "let it happen on purpose." Referring to 9/11.
Maybe better applied to 8/29. The Dems running Louisiana stand to rake millions off the restoration of New Orleans. And when they're done, they won't have so many poor people to subsidize. But they won't tell Washington that!
The next election in New Orleans ought to be quite a spectacle. Dead voters, absentee voters, and some very high-priced funding propositions on the ballot.
Hurricanes come and go, too. As do other natural disasters. Can you name me one natural disaster, in any part of the world, where people preyed on their own people within 24 hours of the crisis?
Or at least start with a reduction in cranial-rectal inversions. That would be a big plus.
Well, let's see ~ they had a bad winter the year Napoleon decided to invade Russia ~ Moscovites burned down their city so that Napoleon's troops would all die.
And they did.
Mongols were always doing that stuff too ~ something goes bad, a river floods, the wind blows, and there they were ~ taking your stuff!
I don't think that's the answer you wanted, of course ~ rather, you want something more along the lines of a suggestion that African-Americans are not the same as other human beings ~ I'd suggest you return to "SSpotlite" for that sort of thing.
The only safe place for the evacuees was Texas. Then over time moving them to other parts of the country. SHAME ON THEM...they sound like a bunch of racist.
You go ahead and defend the indefensible pictures and voices I have seen and heard.
I guess I'm to shut up and keep my tax $$$'s flowing to those who are never satisfied. Jesse and Al are smiling.
You really do need to learn to differentiate between criminals and ordinary, God-fearing, innocent people who are not criminals.
BTTT
better than Brook's last piece
Remember, Dick Cheney said right after 9/11 that we would probably be attacked again. The democrats in the 2004 election cycle pushed the idea that the President was ignoring domestic security because of Iraq.
When the hurricane came, they were ready. The flooding in New Orleans gave them a perfect opportunity to create a photo-op of human misery, and every action the local authorities took was designed to hamper federal efforts.
Why was Al Gore in Louisiana? Who did the governor talk to during her famed 24-hour delay? Why were all aid agencies kept out of the city?
I want an immediate investigation, run by Rudy Guiliani
Were those good churchgoers the ones carrying the plasma tvs? or the ones mugging the elderly nursing home patients while they laid helpless in a gymnasium.? Guess that was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir boys.
Unless, of course, it's an Identity Church.
I believe the root of the problem is the lack of Civics education. Most people under 50 in this country don't even know that a State has Rights - and responsibilites, nor that this is a democratic Republic, not an Aristotlean democracy.
Media can get away with this brainwashing because no one knows enough to question its falsehoods.
You're absolutely right! For better or worse, my opinion of those who boast of their religion, was formed by the most hypocritical people I've ever known im my life. My ex in-laws. Devout Catholics, donated tens of thousands of dollars to the church, but were the most viscious, back-stabbing, substance abusing lot I've ever seen, And they LIKED me. Kinda tainted my opinion when the church asked not if I would convert, but how much I would give weekly.
While still a believer, I've not attended a church service since. However, a recent, probably terminal situation with my 'significant other' has me rethinking the whole thing.
I'll take this opportunity to apologize for my comments. I'll understand if you do not accept. I went out of bounds in most.
I don't want to leave it on a sour note.
David Brooks gives a good Conservative critique - a reminder to the Left that the bogus "It's Bush's fault" won't wash:
" In short, the plan was so beautiful, it's too bad reality destroyed it. The plan's authors were not stupid or venal. They are doubtless good public servants who worked in agencies set up to prepare for this storm. And yet their elaborate plan crumbled under the weight of the actual disaster.
But of course this illustrates the paradox at the heart of the Katrina disaster, which is that we really need government in times like this, but government is extremely limited in what it can effectively do.
Katrina was the most anticipated natural disaster in American history, and still government managed to fail at every level.
For the brutal fact is, government tends toward bureaucracy, which means elaborate paper flow but ineffective action. Government depends on planning, but planners can never really anticipate the inevitable complexity of events. And American government is inevitably divided and power is inevitably devolved.
For example, the Army Corps of Engineers had plenty of money (Louisiana received more than any other state), but that spending was carved up into little pork barrel projects. There were ample troops nearby to maintain order, but they were divided between federal and state authorities and constrained by regulations.
This preparedness plan is government as it really is. It reminds us that canning Michael Brown or appointing some tough response czar will not change the endemic failures at the heart of this institutional collapse."
He debunks myth after myth in the column, and reminds us:
GOVERNMENT DOES NOT SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS.
More Government will not protect us from hurricanes.
John Boyd rocks.
Where are the buses, mayor?
A man whose convictions can be carried in a boarding pass envelope is not to be trusted.
It seems that the problem with the plan was that nobody even attempted to follow it. I'd like an answer as to why they didn't.
You're correct. Notice that I said "American" companies for that very reason.
BTW, Jesus said He'd come for the sinners (e.g. your inlaws), not for the righteous.
PowerPoint has given the Left, and in particular leftist consultants, new life. Real people use VISIO. Pentagon PowerPoint Rule: 10 slide-maximum!
The Plan was a typical half-baked government concoction. They needed to communicate it to the lower classes more effectively. For instance, in order to have your NOLA Welfare Card re-charged at the end of the month and get your Food Stamps, the recipients should have been required to participate in a rehearsal (or two) AND sit through PowerPoints in the SuperDome until they got it right.
Nagin's people don't do what they're told. They do what they're told and given money for. Think NOLA election.
Both of you define and state the problem excellently.
Agreed. Brooks is on target 80% of the time. Glad to see his back to his regular form.
BTW, ND are you like David Brooks' agent or something?
The blend is really volitile
I did see some of those on CBN and Fox, but the majority of the media was focusing on blame, instead of hope. It's frustrating to see all the efforts to help, only to be met by a few who complain the loudest, and who get the most coverage. And it's maddening to know that the majority of damage and loss occurred outside NO, but the media is ignoring that in favor of sensationalism and partisanship.
BTW, thanks for posting back, you certainly gave me something to think about last night. That's why I like it here at FR. If one makes a comment, they should expect to defend it. I appreciate your time and your candor, I shall learn from it.
Thank you, and again, I apologize for any offense I caused.
When he's on target, David Brooks sure knows how to bring on the snark.
his = he's
oops.
I wish. Anyone can read my profile page. I am not pleased when native born New Yawkers are misunderstood too often by folks in the country, who have so much common sense otherwise.
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