Welcome to the list, John, The rush to judgment on Katrina has been part of the disaster, IMO, so I am sympathetic to Sternberg and his well-conceived essay. This said, it is also clear that the current administration has the US budget so locked in to its 'war on terror' that should other things happen our country is left vulnerable. This is ironic, given how this administration has staked its reputation on keeping the country' safe.'
As one who is working with policy analysts on issues concerning the 'war on terror', it has become quite clear to me that we have a cognitive problem in this problem. In part it has to do with our ability to carry out reasonable risk assessments, and in part to create a language that points the way to an effective response. Though I am no risk expert, or emergency response expert, my guess is that this cognitive weakness is likely to carry over into other areas of concern, including natural disaster such as Katrina or your colleague's Buffalo storm. At the heart of the cognitive weakness, I think, lies the amateurish focus of our elected leaders on winning political points, rather than taking care of real issues or needs. Winning the war of words is more important that thinking carefully about sometimes complex issues, venting anger and promoting ideologies trump careful consideration of the whole of an issue, and finding one's way to solutions that address long-term goals and needs. It seems to me that an assessment of Katrina, or one of Iraq or Afghanistan or Abu Ghraib, requires this kind of cognitive effectiveness. The difficulty lies in the fact that the very people who need to think these things through have so far shown themselves incapable of doing so. As you suggest, a lot of the things that have been said about Katrina haven't been helpful, in the same way that many of the things said after September 11th were not helpful. But I don't see the kind of thinking that is needed here in Washington emerging from either. I look forward to further postings from you. Cheers, Lawry de Bivort -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bis, John Sent: Saturday, September 17, 2005 5:36 PM To: Darryl and Natalia; [email protected] Subject: RE: [Futurework] N.O. Love Canals & Secular Inclusion Hello Everyone: I'm John Bis, recently a faculty member and Assistant Dean at the University at Buffalo. I decided to finally pack it in after many, many years. I'm now easing the transition by teaching part-time this Fall semester. I responding to issues of politicization of the Katrina disaster. What particularly caught my eye was the title noting our "Love Canal" disaster here in Western New York. It would seem that pumping New Orleans' polluted waters from neighborhoods back into the nearby lake and the Mississippi is probably based upon expediency. How to rapidly get those underwater areas dry as quickly as possible. Much has been said about the plight of the poor, mostly black residents majorly impacted by Katrina. What reaction do you think would occur if the federal government said, "Hey, wait a minute. You have to pass all of that neighborhood water through sophisticated filtration systems before it can be sent back into the river?" That probable significant delay would most likely brought a chorus of shouts about the government caring more about some environmental protection statutes than the plight of the poor blacks. A good perspective on all of the politicization and impetus for blame of Katrina's impacts is provided by a colleague of mine. His opinion piece appeared in last Thursday's Buffalo News. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rushing to pin the blame after a disaster Ernest Sternberg 15 September 2005 Buffalo News <javascript:NewWindow( 'FIISrcDetails','?from=article&ids=bfnw');void(0);> Watching the unfolding of the Katrina tragedy, many of us understandably want to finger the culprits. But we should be wary of what has been called "hindsight bias." To explain, let me lay out an alarming disaster scenario for the Buffalo area. It starts with a severe winter storm that closes down the streets, stops business and keeps us at home for a few days. So far, that's familiar. But it's followed by an ice storm that downs power lines and makes roads slick and dangerous. Relief cannot get into the city; Meals on Wheels can't get to the elderly; drugs can't get to the sick; those on home life-support don't have electricity. Now comes the bad part. Remember the ice storm that hit the Adirondacks in 1998, stranding 320,000 without electricity? Many of those rural people had fireplaces or wood stoves. But in Western New York most of us have natural gas furnaces, which need electricity to operate. As our disaster scenario continues, a deep, biting cold hits Buffalo. The majority are now trapped without heat. Reports start emerging of elderly people freezing to death, others dying of carbon monoxide poisoning from unvented heaters, and of fires burning uncontrolled because firefighters are stalled on icy roads. As usual, those with the fewest resources suffer the most, since they are least likely to have backup heating or extra food. Those with four-wheel drives try to get away, but disabled cars clog the roads. The City of Buffalo has a lower rate of car ownership than New Orleans, and the elderly and inner city poor cannot get away, even when roads briefly open up. Sure, it's a terrible scenario, and chances are great that it won't happen. It's probably a lower chance than that of a Category 4 hurricane hitting smack against a levee. So, we're warned. Are we now going to act urgently to spend the billion or so dollars (just an estimate) to change the region's heating systems? Are we going to purchase a few dozen extra-large emergency generators able to keep shelters warm, just in case? How about stockpiles of fuel and food? Are we at least going to restore job cuts to Erie County's Office of Emergency Services, which has lost 30 percent of its budget and many employees, or add to Buffalo's emergency management coordination office, made up of one person? The answers to all questions, except perhaps the last, will be "No." Nor is it completely clear that, in view of our many problems, emergency management should have the highest priority. After all, we don't know how likely this scenario is. If the terrible event does occur, all the future critics, all biased by hindsight -- who are as of now in no rush to spend money on disaster prevention -- will howl for blood. Such a rush to blame has the destructive effect of turning responsible officials into defensive bureaucrats. There is, after all, no such thing as a good disaster. Those on the front lines of decision-making become the most obvious scapegoats. While others rush to pin blame for the Katrina tragedy, let us be sure we've got our own house in order. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ernest Sternberg does research on disaster planning at the University at Buffalo's Department of Urban and Regional Planning. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Bis Youngstown, New York -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Darryl and Natalia Sent: Sat 9/17/2005 3:30 PM To: [email protected] Cc: Subject: [Futurework] N.O. Love Canals & Secular Inclusion All mail scanned by NAV Articles below from Sam Smith's Progressive Undernews: http://www.prorev.com Also, at the same site, an important look at how the world of politics ignores the fourth largest faith group. It's titled: Seventh Day Agnostics Arise @ http://www.prorev.com/agnostic.htm HIDDEN LOVE CANALS? GEOFFREY LEAN, INDEPENDENT, UK - Toxic chemicals in the New Orleans flood waters will make the city unsafe for full human habitation for a decade, a US government official has told The Independent on Sunday. And, he added, the Bush administration is covering up the danger. In an exclusive interview, Hugh Kaufman, an expert on toxic waste and responses to environmental disasters at the US Environmental Protection Agency, said the way the polluted water was being pumped out was increasing the danger to health. The pollution was far worse than had been admitted, he said, because his agency was failing to take enough samples and was refusing to make public the results of those it had analyzed. . . Mr Kaufman claimed the Bush administration was playing down the need for a clean-up: the EPA has not been included in the core White House group tackling the crisis. "Its budget has been cut and inept political hacks have been put in key positions," Mr Kaufman said. "All the money for emergency response has gone to buy guns and cowboys - which don't do anything when a hurricane hits. We were less prepared for this than we would have been on 10 September 2001." He said the water being pumped out of the city was not being tested for pollution and would damage Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi river, and endanger people using it downstream. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article311818.ece NICOLE MAKRIS, ALTERNET - As the government drags its feet, the unknown number of human bodies decomposing in the New Orleans floodwaters are becoming hosts for a horde of diseases. The bodies continue to fester and rot, potentially contaminating the city they used to call home. . . The Centers for Disease Control has reported four fatal instances of vibrio vulnificus, a cousin of cholera. Red Cross and other relief workers are struggling to prevent outbreaks related to salmonella, e. coli and other bacteria that cause nausea, diarrhea, and can lead to severe dehydration. There is also cause to fear the spread of hepatitis A, a virus that causes liver disease. But a real plan to assess the health problems that could plague the Gulf Coast for decades is noticeably absent. Pollution has been a major problem in Louisiana for decades before Hurricane Katrina hit. Reporter Ron Nixon coined the term "toxic gumbo" to describe the potent mix of waste that courses through the state. The Big Easy, perched at the mouth of the Mississippi River, is located at the narrow end of a funnel siphoning immense amounts of industrial, agricultural and human waste every day. "Virtually anything could be in the water," said Jim Elder, the EPA's former National Director of Drinking Water and Groundwater. "I'm not sure that anywhere has ever seen all these chemicals put together in the same place. That's why people are referring to this as a toxic soup. I think that's a simple but apt description." Elder says the many heavy industries based in Louisiana have been leaching chemicals into the soil and groundwater for decades. But Katrina stirred up an even deadlier mix of waste: submerged automobiles are leaking oil, gasoline and other chemicals into the floodwater; asbestos that may have been contained in old buildings has been released by the flooding and the collapse of buildings; raw sewage, decaying body parts, offshore oil rigs and possibly ruptured pipelines all pave the way for a myriad of serious and potentially fatal medical conditions. http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/25552/ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| WORST NEWS OF THE DAY Republicans said Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff and Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, was in charge of the reconstruction effort |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| MICHAEL BROWN EXPLAINS IT ALL NY TIMES - Mr. Brown acknowledged that he had been criticized for not ordering a complete evacuation or calling in federal troops sooner. But he said the storm made it hard to communicate and assess the situation. "Until you have been there," he said, "you don't realize it is the middle of a hurricane." |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| AP - _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
