What a Week!

Ever since I put "Pronk" on my desk, he has been on FIRE! It is great. I am taking complete credit for the Indians continued success. You are all very welcome.

It has been a busy week full of little adventure and excitement.

On Monday Larry gave me his tickets to the Yankees game. It was a great game, with them winning in the bottom of the 9th with a homerun. By that point, Cleveland was winning so I was feeling pretty confident. Michael kept me up to date on the score throughout the entire game (thanks to him texting me - Thanks Michael). It was an exciting game, but I was rooting for Baltimore to win the game - that was too much to ask!

Yankees Have the WORST Fans
I discovered that New York has the WORST fans! For example, there was a man sitting a few rows behind me who was clearly a Yankees fan but who, for some reason or another, enjoyed making fun of other Yankees fans. He was clearly drunk (or at least I hope that is not how he looks when he is sober) and seemed to think that he was really clever calling people names. His two favorite names were: "Bumble Bee" and "Santa Claus".

When someone would stand up, blocking his view, he would tell them to sit down (followed by one of the aforementioned names). As the game went on he even began calling players on the Baltimore Team by those names and by the 8th inning, when A-Rod failed to get a hit, he called him a Bumble Bee. It would have been more amusing if I was not paying $8.00 for a plastic bottle of Coors. I actually have no idea who the person is in the picture above, but that is what you get for having your pictures online for EVERYONE to see!

Rest of the week was pretty busy, having to go to court each day - but thats what I get paid for.

Now it is Friday, the Yankees are in first place and the White Sox are barely ahead of the Indians. Larry is happy with this turn of events, although I would love it if the Yankees did not make it. I kind of hope that the Indians play the Yankees. That way I can walk around town with my Indians jersey and get bad looks!

Verizon can Go to Hell
I finally got Verizon to agree that their service was not working for me. They cancelled it and promised to send me a prepaid postage sheet so I can send the modem I have back. I called them yesterday and they explained that I did not have to send the modem back because it was refurbished and out of the warranty date. However, they also told me that they could not remove the 1 month of service that I was charged for. Their policy is to credit the account. When I cancelled the phone service and explained that a credit is useless to me, the woman on the phone finally "got it."

Tomorrow is cable day and they should be there between 8am and 12pm to install the cable modem - wow it will be great to have internet at home.

Stephen A. Smith
Those of you who are ESPN fans will know the name. He hosts a live show on weekdays on ESPN2 where he interviews people. Next monday he will be interviewing Jim Brown from the Cleveland Browns and I just scored a ticket. So it will be taped next Monday and I will be sure to let you know when it will be aired.

Travis Hafner - Bobble Head

Today I brought in the Travis Hafner Bobble Head. It marks a momentous day in history when an Indians' player shall stand on the desk of a New York Attorney. I only did it because I wanted to see the look on my bosses face. As of right now he has not seen it, but it is early.

The Browns won, the Indians swept the Royals and the OSU Buckeyes won. What a weekend for Ohio! Way to Go Ohio (heard that once in a song).

First Multi-Party Deposition

Well, I get my first multi-party deposition today. A slip and fall case. Plaintiff goes first and then the Defendant. Should be interesting.

Larry looked over my first Deposition and told me that he was happy (he refuses to use the word impressed) because I did not screw it up and it was okay for my first time. He made sure that I knew there were questions that he would have asked to get more out of it - but for my first time it was fine.

I booked my flight for the MUN conference - hopefully it will be one of my last MUN conferences. The pleasant thing was that the ticket was only $138 (including tax). I thought that airlines were raising their fees!

Went to McSorleys last night. It was great! It is the oldest Pub in the city - smelled like 150 year old beer.

The Indians are on a Roll/My New Pen Pal: Mark Schwab

How about those Indians! I love the fact that I am in NYC and the Indians are 1 game ahead of them in the Wild Card race. Good times!

For those of you who remember, I went to Spring Training this Summer in Winterhaven, FL. While there I had the opportunity to talk with Mark Schwab, he is one of the sports guys on 1100 WTAM. When I was there Schwab and I spoke to Jake Westbrook on the radio (live) and I was telling Jake that I need him to get 20 wins for my fantasy team. Well, it is a few months later and he only has 15 wins. So I sent Schwab an email yesterday and told him about my situation in NYC - I am the only person here who likes the Indians and hates the Yankees.

I told him that my boss (Larry - see blog a few posts ago) used to walk in my office and say hello. Now, he walks in, sees the Indians hat on my desk, shakes his head and walks away. Then there is Victor. He has begun only speaking to me if the Indians do not win the night before. And when the Indians do not win he always starts the conversation with: "See I told you they are not going to make it into the playoffs - sorry." But since the Indians have been winning a lot lately, Victor no longer talks to me -which is fine because he really does not have all that much to say.

So anyways, I emailed Schwab and he emailed me back saying that my stories are hilarious (must be a slow night at the Jake) and I should call in sometime. I doubt that I will, but who knows - back to work!

GO TRIBE!

What about the Nearby towns and the Old people?

Here is one for all of you "blamers."

One of the nearby towns by New Orleans closed down its main road shortly before the storm hit for fear of people from New Orleans entering the town and causing destruction. The police chief actually said that if he would have allowed people into the town it would now look like New Orleans - ravaged, pillaged, and a war zone. This prevented people from leaving New Orleans. Was this decision by a local government wrong?

A nearby old citizen's home was found the other day with 100 senior citizens dead in their beds. Seems that the workers left all of the old people behind. I guess they were thinking "survival of the fittest."

There are a lot of local decisions that were made in this case, most of which had nothing to do with the Federal Government - yet people always blame the top guy. The buck does stop there, but how can it always stop there even when he has nothing to do with it.

As Rush says: The Federal Government is a bureaucracy...Where did this expectation of excellence come from?

The other thing to keep in mind is that when there were 4 storms in Florida last year there was NO issues of riots. People lost their homes. People lost their lives. People survived. The reality is that there was no complaining about FEMA. Why is this one so different? Because of how HUGE it was.

Who is to be blamed part II

Interesting article on the subject. Basically you can blame Bush for cutting the funding to New Orleans, but even with full funding the Army Corps of Engineers says that the levee program would have only held up to a Category 3.

Original Article from FactCheck.org: http://www.factcheck.org/article344.html September 2, 2005

Is Bush to Blame for New Orleans Flooding?

He did slash funding for levee projects. But the Army Corps of Engineers says Katrina was just too strong. September 2, 2005 Modified: September 2, 2005 Summary Some critics are suggesting President Bush was as least partly responsible for the flooding in New Orleans. In a widely quoted opinion piece, former Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal says that "the damage wrought by the hurricane may not entirely be the result of an act of nature," and cites years of reduced funding for federal flood-control projects around New Orleans. Our fact-checking confirms that Bush indeed cut funding for projects specifically designed to strengthen levees. Indeed, local officials had been complaining about that for years. It is not so clear whether the money Bush cut from levee projects would have made any difference, however, and we're not in a position to judge that. The Army Corps of Engineers – which is under the President's command and has its own reputation to defend – insists that Katrina was just too strong, and that even if the levee project had been completed it was only designed to withstand a category 3 hurricane. Analysis We suspect this subject will get much more attention in Congress and elsewhere in the coming months. Without blaming or absolving Bush, here are the key facts we've been able to establish so far: Bush Cut Funding Blumenthal's much-quoted article in salon.com carried the headline: "No one can say they didn't see it coming." And it said the Bush administration cut flood-control funding "to pay for the Iraq war." He continues: Blumenthal: With its main levee broken, the evacuated city of New Orleans has become part of the Gulf of Mexico . But the damage wrought by the hurricane may not entirely be the result of an act of nature. …By 2003 the federal funding for the flood control project essentially dried up as it was drained into the Iraq war. In 2004, the Bush administration cut funding requested by the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent. Additional cuts at the beginning of this year…forced the New Orleans district of the Corps to impose a hiring freeze. We can confirm that funding was cut. The project most closely associated with preventing flooding in New Orleans was the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Hurricane Protection Project, which was “designed to protect residents between Lake Pontchartrain and the Missisippi River levee from surges in Lake Pontchartrain,” according to a fact sheet from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (The fact sheet is dated May 23, long before Katrina). The multi-decade project involved building new levees, enlarging existing levees, and updating other protections like floodwalls. It was scheduled to be completed in 2015. Over at least the past several budget cycles, the Corps has received substantially less money than it requested for the Lake Pontchartrain project, even though Congress restored much of the money the President cut from the amount the Corps requested. In fiscal year 2004, the Corps requested $11 million for the project. The President’s budget allocated $3 million, and Congress furnished $5.5 million. Similarly, in fiscal 2005 the Corps requested $22.5 million, which the President cut to $3.9 million in his budget. Congress increased that to $5.5 million. “This was insufficient to fund new construction contracts,” according to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ project fact sheet. The Corps reported that “seven new contracts are being delayed due to lack funds” [sic]. The President proposed $3 million for the project in the budget for fiscal 2006, which begins Oct. 1. “This will be insufficient to fund new construction projects,” the fact sheet stated. It says the Corps “could spend $20 million if funds were provided.” The Corps of Engineers goes on to say: Army Corps of Engineers, May 23: In Orleans Parish, two major pump stations are threatened by hurricane storm surges. Major contracts need to be awarded to provide fronting protection for them. Also, several levees have settled and need to be raised to provide the design protection. The current funding shortfalls in fiscal year 2005 and fiscal year 2006 will prevent the Corps from addressing these pressing needs. The Corps has seen cutbacks beyond those affecting just the Lake Pontchartrain project. The Corps oversees SELA, or the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control project, which Congress authorized after six people died from flooding in May 1995. The Times-Picayune newspaper of New Orleans reported that, overall, the Corps had spent $430 million on flood control and hurricane prevention, with local governments offering more than $50 million toward the project. Nonetheless, "at least $250 million in crucial projects remained," the newspaper said. In the past five years, the amount of money spent on all Corps construction projects in the New Orleans district has declined by 44 percent, according to the New Orleans CityBusiness newspaper, from $147 million in 2001 to $82 million in the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. A long history of complaints Local officials had long complained that funding for hurricane protection projects was inadequate: October 13, 2001: The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that “federal officials are postponing new projects of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Control Program, or SELA, fearing that federal budget constraints and the cost of the war on terrorism may create a financial pinch for the program.” The paper went on to report that “President Bush’s budget proposed $52 million” for SELA in the 2002 fiscal year. The House approved $57 million and the Senate approved $62 million. Still, “the $62 million would be well below the $80 million that corps officials estimate is needed to pay for the next 12 months of construction, as well as design expenses for future projects.” April 24, 2004: The Times-Picayune reported that “less money is available to the Army Corps of Engineers to build levees and water projects in the Missisippi River valley this year and next year.” Meanwhile, an engineer who had direct the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Study – a study of how to restore coastal wetlands areas in order to provide a bugger from hurricane storm surges – was sent to Iraq "to oversee the restoration of the ‘Garden of Eden’ wetlands at the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers,” for which President Bush’s 2005 gave $100 million. June 8, 2004: Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, told the Times-Picayune: Walter Maestri: It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq , and I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us. September 22, 2004: The Times-Picayune reported that a pilot study on raising the height of the levees surrounding New Orleans had been completed and generated enough information for a second study necessary to estimate the cost of doing so. The Bush administration “ordered the New Orleans district office” of the Army Corps of Engineers “not to begin any new studies, and the 2005 budget no longer includes the needed money.” June 6, 2005: The New Orleans CityBusiness newspaper reported that the New Orleans district of the Corps was preparing for a $71.2 million reduction in overall funding for the fiscal year beginning in October. That would have been the largest single-year funding loss ever. They noted that money “was so tight" that "the New Orleans district, which employs 1,300 people, instituted a hiring freeze last month on all positions,” which was “the first of its kind in about 10 years.” Would Increased Funding Have Prevented Flooding? Blumenthal implies that increased funding might have helped to prevent the catastrophic flooding that New Orleans now faces. The White House denies that, and the Corps of Engineers says that even the levee project they were working to complete was not designed to withstand a storm of Katrina's force. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, at a press briefing on September 1, dismissed the idea that the President inadequately funded flood control projects in New Orleans : McClellan: Flood control has been a priority of this administration from day one. We have dedicated an additional $300 million over the last few years for flood control in New Orleans and the surrounding area. And if you look at the overall funding levels for the Army Corps of Engineers, they have been slightly above $4.5 billion that has been signed by the President. Q: Local people were asking for more money over the last couple of years. They were quoted in local papers in 2003 and 2004, are saying that they were told by federal officials there wasn't enough money because it was going to Iraq expenditures. McClellan: You might want to talk to General Strock, who is the commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, because I think he's talked to some reporters already and talked about some of these issues. I think some people maybe have tried to make a suggestion or imply that certain funding would have prevented the flooding from happening, and he has essentially said there's been nothing to suggest that whatsoever, and it's been more of a design issue with the levees. We asked the Corps about that “design issue.” David Hewitt, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, said McClellan was referring to the fact that “the levees were designed for a category 3 hurricane.” He told us that, consequently, “when it became apparent that this was a category 5 hurricane, an evacuation of the city was ordered.” (A category 3 storm has sustained winds of no more than 130 miles per hour, while a category 5 storm has winds exceeding 155 miles per hour. Katrina had winds of 160 mph as it approached shore, but later weakened to winds of 140 mph as it made landfall, making it a strong category 4 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.) The levee upgrade project around Lake Pontchartrain was only 60 to 90 percent complete across most areas of New Orleans as of the end of May, according to the Corps' May 23 fact sheet. Still, even if it had been completed, the project's goal was protecting New Orleans from storm surges up to "a fast-moving Category 3 hurricane,” according to the fact sheet. We don't know whether the levees would have done better had the work been completed. But the Corps says that even a completed levee project wasn't designed for the storm that actually occurred. Nobody anticipated breach of the levees? In an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on September 1, President Bush said: Bush: I don’t think anyone anticipated breach of the levees …Now we’re having to deal with it, and will. Bush is technically correct that a "breach" wasn't anticipated by the Corps, but that's doesn't mean the flooding wasn't forseen. It was. But the Corps thought it would happen differently, from water washing over the levees, rather than cutting wide breaks in them. Greg Breerword, a deputy district engineer for project management with the Army Corps of Engineers, told the New York Times: Breerword: We knew if it was going to be a Category 5, some levees and some flood walls would be overtopped. We never did think they would actually be breached. And while Bush is also technically correct that the Corps did not "anticipate" a breach – in the sense that they believed it was a likely event – at least some in the Corps thought a breach was a possibility worth examining. According to the Times-Picayune, early in Bush's first term FEMA director Joe Allbaugh ordered a sophisticated computer simulation of what would happen if a category 5 storm hit New Orleans. Joseph Suhayda, an engineer at Louisana State University who worked on the project, described to the newspaper in 2002 what the simulation showed could happen: Subhayda: Another scenario is that some part of the levee would fail. It's not something that's expected. But erosion occurs, and as levees broke, the break will get wider and wider. The water will flow through the city and stop only when it reaches the next higher thing. The most continuous barrier is the south levee, along the river. That's 25 feet high, so you'll see the water pile up on the river levee. Whether or not a "breach" was "anticipated," the fact is that many individuals have been warning for decades about the threat of flooding that a hurricane could pose to a set below sea level and sandwiched between major waterways. A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) report from before September 11, 2001 detailed the three most likely catastrophic disasters that could happen in the United States: a terrorist attack in New York, a strong earthquake in San Francisco, and a hurricane strike in New Orleans. In 2002, New Orleans officials held the simulation of what would happen in a category 5 storm. Walter Maestri, the emergency coordinator of Jefferson Parish in New Orleans , recounted the outcome to PBS’ NOW With Bill Moyers: Maestri, September 2002: Well, when the exercise was completed it was evidence that we were going to lose a lot of people. We changed the name of the [simulated] storm from Delaney to K-Y-A-G-B... kiss your ass goodbye... because anybody who was here as that category five storm came across... was gone. --by Matthew Barge Sources Sidney Blumenthal, “No one can say they didn’t see it coming ,” salon.com, 31 August 2005 Deon Roberts, “Bush budget not expected to diminish New Orleans district’s $65 million,” New Orleans CityBusiness, 07 February 2005 Manuel Torres, “Flood work to slow down; Corps delays new projects,” Times-Picayune, 13 October 2001 Mark Schlefistein, “Corps sees its resources siphoned off; Wetlands restoration officials sent to Iraq ,” Times-Picayune, 24 April 2004 “Mark Schleifstein, “Ivan stirs up wave of safety proposals; Hurricane-proofed stadium is one idea,” Times-Picayune, 22 September 2004 Deon Roberts, “Bush budget not expected to diminish New Orleans district’s $65 million ,” New Orleans CityBusiness, 07 February 2005 Mark Schleifstein, “Bush budget cuts levee, drainage funds; Backlog of contracts waits to be awarded,” Times-Picayune, 08 February 2005 “Bush budget fails to fund flood control in New Orleans ,” New Orleans CityBusiness, 14 February 2005 Deon Roberts, “ New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers faces ,” New Orleans CityBusiness, 06 June 2005 Will Bunch, “Did New Orleans catastrophe have to happen? ‘Times-Picayune’ had repeatedly raised federal spending issues,” Editor & Publisher, 31 August 2005 Toby Eckert, “Could disaster have been prevented?,” Copley News Service, 02 September 2005 Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker, “ Critics say Bush undercut New Orleans flood control ,” Washington Post, 02 September 2005 “The City in a Bowl ,” Transcript, NOW, Public Broadcasting Service, 20 September 2002 Jon Elliston, “ A Disaster Waiting to Happen ,” bestofneworleans.com, 28 September 2004 Scott Shane and Eric Lipton, “ Government saw flood risk but not levee failure ,” New York Times, 02 September 2005 Paul Krugman, “ A can’t-do government ,” New York Times, 02 September 2005 “Lake Pontchartrain, LA and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project, St. Bernard, Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Charles Parishes, LA ,” Project Fact Sheet, US Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District, website, 23 May 2005 “Fiscal Year 2006: Civil Works Budget for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ,” Department of the Army, February 2005 “Press Briefing by Scott McClellan ,” whitehouse.gov, 01 September 2005 Karen Turni, “Upgrade of levees proposed by corps; gulf outlet levee may be too low, officials worry,” Times-Picayune, 12 November 1998 John McQuaid and Mark Schleifstein, “The big one: A major hurricane could decimate the region, but flooding from even a moderate storm could kill thousands. It’s just a matter of time,” Times-Picayune, 24 June 2002

Who Should Be Blamed for New Orleans?

The Fema Director lied on his resume;
President Bush was too busy with his war in Iraq;
New Orleans officials were too busy trying to keep minorities out of "The Big Easy";
The pumps failed;
The weather sucked;

Who, or what, is to blame? How can we sit here and blame anyone person? It seems to me that there was a lot of crap going on. How do you prioritize something like what happened? How can you say that President Bush could have done something sooner? Would money have solved the problem? Would money have prevented the devastation?

The biggest argument that comes to pass is with the issue of "time." People ask, why did it take so long to send in help? My favorite comment is: "If they were white it wouldn't have taken so much time to get help." Here is the thing. NO ONE knew how bad it was going to get. NO ONE knew that the supporting was going to begin to fall apart under the stress of the storm. NO ONE knew that New Orleans would have faced so much devastation. After the storm was over, help was sent in...but not as quick as some would have liked. But this is reality. There is red tape. As much as was needed to help in the disaster was not available at any one persons fingertips. President Bush does not have the resources to fix the problem himself - Separation of Powers prevents him from doing so.

Who is to blame? NO ONE! This is nothing that could have been prevented. When looked at afterwards should it have been handled differently? Sure...there are millions of ways that it could have been. But to say that people intentionally or maliciously did this - that is just silly. When is the last time before the disaster that you went to New Orleans to offer assistance "just in case" the town flooded? Then you are just as much to blame!

Home For the Weekend

Yes, I still call Ohio home. I live in New York, but still welcome the trip back to Ohio where all my family and friends are.

It was a pleasant weekend. Hils picked me up from the airport on Friday and we went to my moms on Saturday to help with the Crown Molding. Let me assure you, for those of you who did not know, I am DEFINATELY not cut out for the "trades." I attempted to assist my younger brother, who does finishing work for a living, but I failed miserably. I did put in some nails, helped Joshua in any way that I could, and in the end my mom's condo looked great.

Saturday evening I had the pleasure of seeing Michael's house. It is definately a home with some character, although it will be interesting to see if Michaels idea of character wins out over Marquise (I have my dollar on Marquise - haha). Then we went to dinner and it was great. Over drinks Michael told us all the good news that the Bebouts had their baby - so congrats to them!

Sunday was an early day. Woke up at 6am, went to the airport, landed in Newark and then made it to my apartment by 11am. Later that day I had dinner with Monica.

It was an eventfully relaxing weekend. Thank you to all those back home. I only wish that I could have spent some time with Kristen's crew - but I am sure they were off having a good time as well.