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THE Mad Max Scenario Thread (merged)

What's on your mind?
General interest discussions, not necessarily related to depletion.

Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby MD » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 21:08:03

Ah hell, there was no reason for the statement in the first place. The rest of the post stands fine by itself.
Stop filling dumpsters, as much as you possibly can, and everything will get better.

Just think it through.
It's not hard to do.
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Macsporan » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 21:27:51

What I'd like to know is are these people allegedly firing at rescue helicopters doing that or are they trying to attract attention so they can be rescued?

Does anyone have any hard information?
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby gego » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 21:39:44

I read on the WWL tv website in the Jefferson Parish forum that "project dewllers" on the west bank of the river looted and burned down the Oakwood Shopping Mall. They also have been breaking into and living in homes of people who evacuated. The post says it is not safe in that section of the west bank.
I also note that few have attempted to just walk out.
There have been many discussions on theis site about in a peak oil breakdown whether on not roving gangs from cities would attempt to plunder us out in the countryside. So far looks like they prefer to stay and plunder one another. Easy pickings vs an armed militia is an obvious choice.
If we get to a situation where the electric grid fails nationwide further down the peak oil road, I think we can look to New Orleans for a pattern.
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Petro » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 21:40:27

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Macsporan', 'W')hat I'd like to know is are these people allegedly firing at rescue helicopters doing that or are they trying to attract attention so they can be rescued?
Does anyone have any hard information?

Hard information is umm...well hard to come by, all things considered. Allegedly (CNN, et al), have reported NG personnel were injured by random gunfire while trying to evac people. I fear (and is being borne out by the scared little politicians on the news), that this isolated event is being used as a smoke screen to mask the tragic mishandling of relief efforts.
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Macsporan » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 21:42:17

I see, well lets blame the victims again.
After all, it worked last time. And the time before that... :-x
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby MD » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 21:52:34

some of the residents of New Orleans, flood victims or no, definitely deserve blame for their behavior.
Victimization is not a license for bad behavior
Stop filling dumpsters, as much as you possibly can, and everything will get better.

Just think it through.
It's not hard to do.
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby MrBean » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 22:07:55

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MD', 's')ome of the residents of New Orleans, flood victims or no, definitely deserve blame for their behavior.
Victimization is not a license for bad behavior

Let's go philosophical then. Indvidual's respond to situations in many ways, mostly based on their social conditioning. So where's the blame? Forefathers of their forefathers?
Nope, blame games are mostly useless, people don't usually respond well to those games and they don't do any good non so ever. Of course, critique and loud demands of better quality of social organization for those responsible on every level is wholly different thing. Including self-critique, but no blame games.
Shit happens, that is a given. The question is, are we doing everything both individually and on every level of social organization that we can to alleviate the suffering, and if not, why not. The basis of the "can do" culture that America used to be famous for few decades ago.
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Macsporan » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 22:09:11

MD, If any armed groups are obstructing rescue, or victimising their fellow citizens, they should be dealt with severely.
Anything else should elicit only compassion.
I find your remarks rather too pious.
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Macsporan » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 22:12:49

Mr Bean, You've hit the nail on the head.
There seems to be nothing happening either spontaneously from below or systematically from above.
What's wrong with people these days?
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Jack » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 22:18:31

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('backstop', 'J')ack -I don't belittle the seriousness, but I guess that these are very exceptional circs, rather than a good guide to future PO reactions. Since: A/. the people know they were left to drown if a Cat 5 had passed to the west, by a mayoralty that could well afford to evacuate them.

But notice the parallels. Suppose that due to fuel prices, segments are unfed (or poorly fed) by a government they believe (erroneously?) can well afford to do so.
Or they cannot get fuel they need, because government refuses to freeze prices.
Or a million other possibilities.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('backstop', 'B')/. they know that they were again left to drown by the failure to patrol the levees Tuesday night.

Or...they knew they were left to freeze in the dark because of the failure of the natural gas supplies.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('backstop', 'C')/. they know they've been left to go hungry & thirsty, and that the police have been looting - as one citizen remarked of them - "They got all the best stuff - they're bigger crooks than we are."

Will that not happen during Peak Oil?
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('backstop', 'D')/. the police were so incompetently commanded as to leave stocks of weapons and ammo in stores across the city.

Again, no reason why this wouldn't happen if people decided insurrection was better than the alternatives.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('backstop', 'E')/. 5 days after the storm, they've still not been evacuated, and people are dying of untreated medical conditions (inside the dome, let alone elsewhere).

Umm...just like they will post-peak....
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('backstop', 'B')y this point, under the summer heat, in the stench of sewage, I'd not be potting at helicopters, but surely it's quite predictable that there are those that will ?

California ALREADY has rolling blackouts. As shortages of fuel expand, I see no reason to assume that air conditioning will not go by the wayside.
Had the event overall been well managed, or at least the mayor replaced Monday morning, might not conditions now be totally different ?
Regards, Backstop[/quote]
Had the event been well managed, conditions - as you point out - would be different. But that's the whole point!
When energy becomes less available, we will be unable to manage events well. We'll have a poorer, less comfortable, more frightened and angry population - and no resources to correct the problem.
So, I stand by my original position. Look at New Orleans and you will see the future.
Dieoff. Fun to watch. Better with hot buttered popcorn! [smilie=new_popcornsmiley.gif]
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Leanan » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 22:20:48

NBC is reporting that every helicopter that goes in is being met by gunfire. The shooters angrily yell things like "You better come get my family!"
There was a startling revelation on CNN this evening. FEMA claims they did not know about all the people at the convention center. Those people have been there for four days, directed there after the Superdome was full. 50,000-60,000 people, by some estimates. Now that they know about them, they are sending food and water.
And they are starting to evacuate people. CNN reports that all of them are dehydrated. Some of them are in complete renal shutdown.
It boggles my mind, that they could not know about all those people. Are they not communicating at all? I know there's no cell phones, but you know, there's these things called walkie-talkies, that cops used to use before cell phones were invented.
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Petro » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 22:28:23

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Leanan', 'N')BC is reporting that every helicopter that goes in is being met by gunfire. The shooters angrily yell things like "You better come get my family!"
There was a startling revelation on CNN this evening. FEMA claims they did not know about all the people at the convention center. Those people have been there for four days, directed there after the Superdome was full. 50,000-60,000 people, by some estimates. Now that they know about them, they are sending food and water.
And they are starting to evacuate people. CNN reports that all of them are dehydrated. Some of them are in complete renal shutdown.
It boggles my mind, that they could not know about all those people. Are they not communicating at all? I know there's no cell phones, but you know, there's these things called walkie-talkies, that cops used to use before cell phones were invented.

I heard this too with my own ears...using hyperbole...I almost shit my pants in disbelief when that ahole said that. What is wrong with us; Americans, that we don't call these jokers on this stuff?
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Macsporan » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 22:31:58

This is most distressing. Is the gunfire aimed at the helicopters?
If so than someone's going to have to shoot back. This can't be allowed. These wretches are imperilling everyone, including themselves.
I agree Leannne: How could they not have known? Of course they knew, they just didn't think or didn't care.
Why do they lie all the time?
What's wrong with the damned government? What about all those plans they make? What do we pay them for?
If this is the best they can do there should be an Inquiry with authority to take heads.
On the other hand, what with the mess in Iraq maybe I shouldn't be so surprised.

Have Americans lost the ability to maintain their own infrastructure? They couldn't repair the one in Iraq even before the Resistance got going.
By the look of it these guys couldn't organise the proverbial nookie in a brothel with a handful of hundred dollar bills...
It's hard to be an optimist sometimes. :oops:
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Free » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 22:36:27

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Leanan', 'I')t boggles my mind, that they could not know about all those people. Are they not communicating at all? I know there's no cell phones, but you know, there's these things called walkie-talkies, that cops used to use before cell phones were invented.

To be fair and to put things into perspective (even though I think the emergency management was quite bad, especially at top level):
This is a disaster of epic, unprecedented proportions. The area that was hit is probably several times bigger than my whole country, equaling almost nuclear war. If there are f*ck-ups, it's easy for us to complain from the armchair. It probably looks a lot different on the ground.
Communication is indeed the biggest problem in such emergencies. We just had a little flooding ourselves just a week ago, where an entire valley was shut off and nobody could make contact with the people in the valley.

That was a huge problem as nobody knew what was going on, and where to put the priorities in delivering help. The cell phone system didn't work, but thankfully they managed to build up a new, improvised one.
It is indeed a problem that nowadays everybody relies on cell phones, systems which are highly vulnerable. I remember in the army it was highly tempting, even for our officers to "cheat", using them for communication, instead of the much more complicated and unhandy radio systems.
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby MrBean » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 22:38:56

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Leanan', 'N')BC is reporting that every helicopter that goes in is being met by gunfire. The shooters angrily yell things like "You better come get my family!" ... It boggles my mind, that they could not know about all those people. Are they not communicating at all? I know there's no cell phones, but you know, there's these things called walkie-talkies, that cops used to use before cell phones were invented.

Yup, that is my impression, nearly total communication breakdown. The guys on top don't know what is happening on the ground... the left hand, have you ever met this guy called right hand?
I sign of extremely poor preparedness and organization. As I've said again and again, communication is everything, and you don't get that without rehersing and planning and rehersing and planning during peace time.
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Petro » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 22:41:45

Free, I respect your opinion, but I can't accept it. All the while, in the first couple days, when there were just a few helicopters trying to rescue hapless peoples form their rooftops, there should have been hundreds of 'copters. There isn't a single excuse for not mobilizing what was required. I was hit by Kat here in Miami, lived 6 days without electricity, ice, in 93 degree temp, but I had a battery radio and I KNEW what was approaching NO. For christs sake this is the United States...we mobilized hundreds of thousands, with support to the middle east on casual instructions. I can't accept anything less in 24 hours.
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Jack » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 22:48:02

Another fine example of human behavior:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'H')ATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Police in Hattiesburg, Miss., said a man fatally shot his sister in the head over a bag of ice. ... The shooting is being treated like a homicide, Wynn said.

Source
But people will enjoy peace, harmony and cooperation as they gather around the communal campfire to sing kumbaya after peak oil hits.
Right. You betcha! 8)
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Free » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 22:48:39

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Petro', 'F')ree, I respect your opinion, but I can't accept it. All the while, in the first couple days, when there were just a few helicopters trying to rescue hapless peoples form their rooftops, there should have been hundreds of 'copters. There isn't a single excuse for not mobilizing what was required. I was hit by Kat here in Miami, lived 6 days without electricity, ice, in 93 degree temp, but I had a battery radio and I KNEW what was approaching NO. For christs sake this is the United States...we mobilized hundreds of thousands, with support to the middle east on casual instructions. I can't accept anything less in 24 hours.

Yes I share your opinion, but as far as I remember it was the same at every natural disaster so far that it gets underestimated in the beginning, no matter where.
Think of the tsunami, where everybody thought it wasn't that bad, first they talked about a couple of dozen of dead people, they ended with thousands. There is just too much going on in too little time.
But I am really wondering about the lack of hardware resources myself.
I remember when a couple of years ago a huge avalanche destroyed a whole village in my country, the only people that really could help us out where US Blackhawks from German army bases, and we where really thankful for that (And bought a couple of Blackhawks ourselves afterwards).
I mean if the US can't handle such a situation resource-wise, who can?
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Leanan » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 22:58:15

The helicopter pilots say they are being targeted. People are beyond frustrated, and are shooting at everything.
CNN did a phone interview of a doctor who is trying to get her patients evacuated. They were attacked by a sniper. Not random gunfire. A guy on the roof of a nearby building, shooting at them while they tried to get patients out the hospital door.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')f so than someone's going to have to shoot back. This can't be allowed. These wretches are imperilling everyone, including themselves.

Exactly. That is why police were pulled off search and rescue and ordered to crack down on the looters. In fact, I think a big part of the problem is that the press keeps referring to these thugs as "looters." These aren't people who are just taking food and water from stores. They are running around in gangs, shooting at aid workers and aid vehicles, settling buildings on fire, raping women and children en masse. As long as this is going on, it's very difficult to get aid in and refugees out.
CNN just reported that stores in Lafayette, LA are running out of guns. People are rushing to buy them, because they are afraid the New Orleans "looters" will go there next.
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Re: The Superdome, A sign of things to come

Unread postby Macsporan » Thu 01 Sep 2005, 23:08:53

This must be an American phenomena.
We've had catastrophes here in Australia including whole cities obliterated by cyclones, floods and bushfires but this doesn't happen here. People pull together and help each other. Thats what mates are for.
Why do Americans always behave like gangsters when the going gets tough?
Maybe you are doomed.
USA RIP
Died for want of Social Cohesion.
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