[pscates2.0]

You know, I have to say that I'm really not a fan of - and am getting quite fed up with - these idiot, jackass reporters out there. It smacks of grandstanding and lunging for some stupid "journalism" award.



Seems every year, they get more rash and foolhardy with their "on the scene" coverage. I'm watching this one dipshit on the Weather Channel right now, standing out among trees, power lines and signage blowing REALLY hard. I mean, a stop sign or tin signage on a building could come off and swoop by and decapitate this numbnut.

I have a feeling that we're going to see something like that, at some point.

Here's the deal: all these hurricanes look alike. You can't show the footage from one from a decade ago and tell any damn difference between Dennis or any other that might be happening currently.

So I question their contributions in the name of "journalism". I mean, you've seen one wildly swaying palm tree or traffic light, you've pretty much seen them all, right?

So what are these people REALLY doing out there?

I think it's foolish. And I think it diminishes the perception of danger, and truly does a disservice to the public. People watch these goons on TV and think "hell, it ain't that bad...", then THEY feel compelled to go outside and/or ignore evacuation orders. Can you blame them?

Am I alone on this, all this "hurricane jacking-off" behavior by these on-the-scene reporters? It's such a Geraldo Rivera type of thing to be doing...making YOURSELF the story and trying to foster some image of rogue-ish journalistic bad-assness. Such a cliché.



Anderson Cooper from CNN is out standing below a gas station overhang that's precariously twisting and warping. The evil part of me kinda hopes that thing gives way. No, not enough to actually kill him, but perhaps to make him scream an expletive or shit his pants on live TV. Perhaps then he'd realize what a stupid position he (and all these others) have put themselves in, and the "journalistic community" might reevaluate their approach to these things, and how they cover them.

We all know what this stuff looks like, and we'll see PLENTY of live footage tomorrow of the aftermath. Why risk and endanger precious human life, standing out there with your network logo'd poncho and commenting on how you're "having a tough time standing up, and my eyes are stinging!!!"

Well no kidding, genius...you're in a hurricane. That's usually what happens: lots of wind and rain, and people aren't supposed to stand out in it, screwhead. Am I supposed to feel some sort of sympathy or compassion for you? Or admire your "dedication and courage"?



Only the arrogance of man let's people think they can go toe-to-toe with nature and not be touched. That's a really good way to get yourself fucked up.

And when one of these reporters finally DOES get seriously injured (or killed) on live TV, I'm going to have a hard time participating in any sort of heavy-handed "national mourning" over it. Larry King will manage to have two weeks worth of shows on the topic, but the fact is the idiot dead reporter shouldn't have been there to begin with.

This guy on the Weather Channel is truly a fool...if he makes it through the day, it'll be a miracle.

[Naderfan]

I've always had the same feeling about these TV idiots. There is absolutely NO reason for them to be out there. And yet, there they go. It is a miracle that no one had been killed yet, but those days have to be numbered. Oh well, in that business it's all about ratings. If they want to kill themselves for it, I can't stop them.

Morons.

[Ebby]

Geez. There are a lot of glass-half-empty guys around here.



OK, maybe I'm just crazy, but I LOVE storms.

[elvia]

Yea the media is just making a story. Here it is, the storm is coming ashore at 45 mph or so, (gusts) and they are still making the story about it being a monster strom. They just try and make things worst to make themselves look better.
I live in New Orleans, so I do know what a Hurricane is and what they can do.
I resent the fact that places issue a mandatory evuacation, then they stay themselves, touting how dangerous it is. Bull Shit.

[atomicbartbeans]

I was watching CNN about an hour ago, and I could've sworn they were shaking the camera just for effect. The surrounding suburban landscape didn't look like it was shaking that badly. I can imagine the field reporter saying to the cameraman "psst.... shake the camera, it will make it look better".

[billybobsky]

Originally Posted by Ebby Geez. There are a lot of glass-half-empty guys around here. OK, maybe I'm just crazy, but I LOVE storms.

I love 1 hr long thunderstorms.

A hurricane, even a glancing blow by one, is a 16 hour ordeal or wind rain, rain, rain rain, rain rain and rain... If you actually get hit by the hurricane, it is a 16 hour ordeal of wind rain, wind rain wind wind wind wind wind wind wind, flying cow, wind and rain... Like the Python Spam skit...

[BarracksSi]

Originally Posted by Ebby Geez. There are a lot of glass-half-empty guys around here. OK, maybe I'm just crazy, but I LOVE storms.

Oh what-EVER, that ain't no high-wind kite. Looks like an old North Shore (not quite small enough to be the North Shore Extreme). Where's the mesh? Where's the extra-heavy-duty carbon?

Dude, for 50+ MPH winds, get that 6' Flexifoil and use the stock fiberglass spar. That sucker's quick -- maybe you can break the 110 MPH Guinness world record for kite speed.

[art jrk]

Originally Posted by BarracksSi Oh what-EVER, that ain't no high-wind kite. Looks like an old North Shore (not quite small enough to be the North Shore Extreme). Where's the mesh? Where's the extra-heavy-duty carbon? Dude, for 50+ MPH winds, get that 6' Flexifoil and use the stock fiberglass spar. That sucker's quick -- maybe you can break the 110 MPH Guinness world record for kite speed.

Side note:

I still have my Dean Jordan Hugo from many years back. The one he design especially to fly in hurricane winds. (sorry no picture) Not that we get them very often in the DC area.

So BarracksSi, where in the area do you fly?

[oldmacfan]

I think New Orleans has run out of luck and god willing they get the area cleared out.

[Kickaha]

Yeah, in a few hours it's going to have to be renamed The Big Breezy. :/

Here's hoping no one's quite stupid enough to stick around. (Oh what am I saying, of course some will...)

[Moogs]

NYT reporting a mandatory evacuation has been issued but there are long delays leaving on the major highways (big surprise there... two lanes out of the city basically).

And as if flooding / leveling most of the city will not be bad enough:

"The real issue - that I don't think the nation is paying attention to - is that through the city of New Orleans, through the Gulf of Mexico, we probably deal with almost a third of the nation's domestic oil that is produced. And that will most likely be shut down," Mr. Nagin said. "So, this can have a significant impact on oil prices going forward," he added.

[billybobsky]

Anyone find it ironic that at least some of the overheating of the North Atlantic which increases the strengths of these storms can be blamed on burning of fossil fuels, and that the refineries and rigs are almost all in the path of major hurricanes?

[Kickaha]

No.

[billybobsky]

Hmm.. Funny that.

[Kickaha]

LA emergency mgmt spokesperson Lt. Kevin Cowan is saying that they are trying to prepare for 30-50 *THOUSAND* casualties. Worst case, you realize.

Unless the Superdome fails, in which case... oops.

News coming in that at least two people have been ejected from the Superdome for fighting, and that smoking is prohibited.

Umpteen thousand people, with a significant percentage having withdrawal fits?

Um, carnage, anyone? Oy.

[InactionMan]

30-50000 casualties??? Holy hell. I'm assuming the generators at the Superdome have plenty of juice. If not, that'll be an ugly scene when 20000 people find themselves in the dark with a death storm trying to rip the roof off an aging stadium.

[Kickaha]

The casualty count is a) worst case, and b) includes the deaths from disease, starvation, etc, as there is no clean water, massive mosquito breeding ground, decaying animals/plants/people, etc, etc.

Just in: now a Cat4. Barely.

Still 910mbar, still a *very* coherent eye.

[The Return of the 'nut]

this guy on FoxNews right now is a total dipshit

He's going to get hurt

[pscates2.0]

I was thinking, just last night, about the things Kickaha mentioned regarding the Super Dome and its current inhabitants.



Thousands of scared people, they can't smoke or drink, you know 5% of the crowd (as in all large crowd situations, anywhere) is destined to be comprised of world class a-holes of some sort. AND I just heard that the thing is running on generator power...lights only, no AC.

So, let's recap: thousands of strangers "sleeping together", half undergoing nicotine withdrawal, everyone hot and sweating, everyone tense and scared and realizing that even if they survive this storm, they'll have nothing to go home to. And there will be idiots loudly talking on their cell phones at 3am, keeping everyone around them awake and pissed off.

And you're going to have mulletted white redneck tourists who've been drinking non-stop since last Thursday, bunking right next to charter members of the Tupac Shakur Appreciation Society who probably are going to have issues with the formers rebel flag-adorned T-shirts.

Yes, sounds like a recipe for peace, love and harmony.



Forget Katrina...most casualty figures will probably come from Super Dome rioting and "Gangs of New York" type skirmishes.



Talk about a tinderbox. I'd like to say I have more faith in my fellow man, in this type of situation. But, truth is, I don't.

[NosferaDrew]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 ...And you're going to have mulletted white redneck tourists who've been drinking non-stop since last Thursday, bunking right next to charter members of the Tupac Shakur Appreciation Society who probably are going to have issues with the formers rebel flag-adorned T-shirts.

Here's one of those rednecks:
This is a little clip from FoxNews of Shepard Smith asking a guy why he didn't evacuate and he says, "None of your f---ing business".

[pscates2.0]

People are just, understandably, on edge and antsy. They really don't need reporters - particularly smarmy twits like Sheperd Smith - asking them dumb questions.

I would've said the same thing, followed by a smack perhaps.



And Smith and the guy back in the Fox studios acting all indignant..."thanks for cussing on live TV". That's the biggest thing those two dorks have to worry about. Smith gets to fly back to New York or wherever, when it's all over. The worst he'll come out of this with is some messy hair and a wet pair of slacks.

I just hope everyoe can all hold it together.

I'd like to see a law passed, barring the news media from all hurricane areas. They're quite ridiculous, at this point.



Between the egotistical grandstanding and "I'm risking my safety for the viewer" bullcrap, the inaccurate reporting and embarrassing ad-libbing, blowing stuff out of proportion for dramatic effect, bugging distraught, preoccupied citizens with moronic questions, putting innocent cameramen and sound crew worker bees in harm's way, generally being in the way and acting like professional buttholes, etc., I'm not sure how much use these clowns are during these times.

I've yet to see one on TV this morning I wouldn't want to kick in the shin.

[InactionMan]

Seriously, the media should just set up a bunch of cameras before the storm hits and get the hell out. I don't need some jackass holding on to his hat and shouting to know a storm is bad when there are cars flying by behind him.

[FFL]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 ...And you're going to have mulletted white redneck tourists who've been drinking non-stop since last Thursday, bunking right next to charter members of the Tupac Shakur Appreciation Society who probably are going to have issues with the formers rebel flag-adorned T-shirts.

I think you're underestimating the good nature of the people of New Orleans, as well as overestimating their tendency toward racial tension.

It ain't exactly Tennessee, ya know.


All the racist assholes in the New Orleans area moved out to Kenner and Metarie many years ago. The city itself is a lot more harmonious than you might think.

[FFL]

New Orleans police had received more than 100 reports of people trapped on their roofs.

Hmm, maybe ignoring that mandatory evacuation wasn't such a good idea after all...

[pscates2.0]

Originally Posted by FFL It ain't exactly Tennessee, ya know.

Ha...funny.

It can happen anywhere. Would "tourists" be classified as residents of outlying suburbs?



Yeah, I was overstating a bit, for silly effect (always someone in every crowd who overlooks that aspect, and pulls out statistics and research studies ).

All along I hoped folks would chill and not worry. I never said "everyone", did I? But it goes back to my original thought on this: I do firmly believe in the "5% rule"...and sometimes, that all it takes. I've only seen it dozens of times in my life, as most everyone here has.

It's going to be a tough few days for everyone there, and I'm sincerely hoping everyone is coping and hanging out and being cool. I'm sure the vast majority are. I never doubted that. But there are always going to be problem elements, especially in a crowd this large, frightened and packed-in. That's a legit observation. Take the "redneck vs. gangsta" element completely out, if you want. Still doesn't change all the factors at play.

In any case, let's check back on the situation in 2-3 days...12-18 hours probably isn't enough time for heat, hunger, nicotine deprivation, claustrophibia, touchiness, worry, dread and frayed nerves to fully make its effects known.

What's sad is that so many of those folks won't have much to even go back to.



I've only heard of spot flooding and one levee breached there. Maybe there wasn't as direct and huge a hit as we'd all feared?

Downtown isn't underwater, is it? Or is that still a possibility? Has the worst passed?

I don't have access to a TV here, so I'm just going on hours-old reports. What does the city look like right now? How did the glass in the downtown buildings fare?

[FFL]

NOLA is a completely unique city when it comes to racial tensions. Again, it's not that it's not there, it just moved out of the city back when the courts ordered school desegregation in the early '70's.

see http://www.nola.com/printer/printer....s/suburbs.html for context

But, this reminds me of one of my favorite stories about New Orleans. I was visiting with a group of friends, some who had never visited there, and none besides me who had ever lived there. We were saving money by staying in a hotel in East New Orleans, a couple of miles from the French Quarter.

First night there we were too tired for the Quarter so walked to the nearest bar a block or two from the hotel. On about my second drink, I noticed some of my friends glancing around uneasily and whispering to each other. I asked one "what's up?" and she whispered to me with some alarm, "we're the only white people in here." I laughed and told them to relax, that no one else noticed or cared about that.

I realized that I myself had neither noticed, or been concerned in the slightest when it was pointed out, and that things would be quite different in the same situation in pretty much any other large US city.

Back to the hurricane, though.
The worst seems to have passed. Downtown is indeed underwater, but it seems like 3-5 ft. at the most, and only a foot or two in most places. Lots of downtown buildings have lost glass.

All in all, it's bad, but not nearly as bad as the Worst Case Scenario that they seem to have barely avoided.

[pscates2.0]

Well, I have to say that I never felt "weird" or uncomfortable in my time there last summer, all my visits. No one cared, and I personally never encountered anything bad or weird at all. Everyone was actually very nice to me.

It is a unique city, probably because of the meshing of so much.

If it wasn't so hot and humid (and under yearly threat of being wiped out by a hurricane), it would easily be in my top 5 list of places to live. But those factors currently make it about 33rd.



I've never sweated so much in my life!

I'm wanting to get home and see the footage. I'm sure it's devastating, but I genuinely got a bit sad last night when I stopped and imagined the French Quarter under 10 feet or so of water. Don't know why, but it bummed me out a great deal as I was going to bed.

Probably just because I've been there a bit, recognized so much of it and thought those parts of it were so neat. And so many stores, restaurants, bars, etc. all packed in there...that type of flooding would've undone them all! It would forever change the face and tone of the city. If not forever, then a long, long time.

I wonder if there's some sort of technology or idea not yet invented that could be implemented to totally secure that place, and protect it in the future? I'm guessing not, otherwise we'd know about it.

I was watching a show on Venice a few months back, about efforts Italy is taking to keep the sea at bay, and from coming in and "sinking" the city. Made me think of New Orleans...

[FFL]

Good info about the situation in the Superdome here:
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisi...list=louisiana

Good info about the overall NOLA situation here:
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/weather/

[Kickaha]

From CNN:
"I'm not doing too good right now," Chris Robinson told the AP via cell phone from his home east of the city's downtown. "The water's rising pretty fast. I got a hammer and an ax and a crowbar, but I'm holding off on breaking through the roof until the last minute. Tell someone to come get me please. I want to live."
-------

Maybe next time you'll *FUCKING LISTEN* you moron.

Assuming you live.

I *HATE* it that people just assume someone else will bail their ass out when they do something ASININELY STUPID. F*ck 'em. They were warned. They had options. They chose to be idiots? Fine, that's their business. But now they want someone else to risk their lives to come save theirs? Bullfrakingshit.

Make him pay for the rescue.

[pscates2.0]

Yeah, it's tough to get very torn-up over a situation like that. I don't want to see anyone hurt, but my gosh...did he think the city officials and meterologists were just joking around, issuing evacuation orders for kicks?



I'd be worried about snakes and alligators, following all this. I'd be afraid to go back in my house, particularly one in an outlying, more rural area.



If rescue personnel are sent after this nitwit, I wonder if he'll be cited or invoiced in some way? Kinda like that runaway bride vixen?

I'd feel really bad if some rescue crews went in and one of them got hurt or killed. That would make me pretty mad.