dragnet said:
kosko said:
Its not a left or right issue. Its a issue that Govt and its Bureaucracy is to inept to deal with disasters like this. Aside from what happen to the Jersey Cost Sandy was an aggressive storm and not much more, we have seen comparables to this such as the Quebec Icestorms or aggressive flooding that took place in the Dakota's/Plains about 10 years back. Its not a partisan issue its a issue of systems simply not working and them never being prepared to deal with shit like this. The type of stuff officials have been pulling during Sandy is laughable they really could not cut them selves out of a cardboard box if they were given scissors and a flashlight... its just that simple.
This isn't a stance against Government nor one for it. The left and right squabble on this point when the basics are left alone. The system simply does not work and people really just need to take steps to ensure their families, communities and most importantly themselves are taking care of and in a good position to deal with shit when it happens to break down.
Not buying it. Gov't can handle stuff like this---just look at the Japan disaster last year. If we seriously invested in preparing for these kinds of problems then the gov't would be able to handle these issues.
I suspect that with the GOP in the political wilderness for the next little while, the gov'ts ability to handle natural disasters will improve. It will take time, but we'll learn---probably sending experts to learn from hated socialist Europeans like the Dutch who've have lived under constant threat of storm and flood for centuries. Ask them if government works when it comes to mitigating the effects of catastrophe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_control_in_the_Netherlands
The entire article is about shit that the gov't does to make sure disaster doesn't take place.
Gov't doesn't work in this country because it is too often run by people who are busy trying to destroy it. That is changing---as will the efficacy of the gov't in natural disaster-type situations.
Really you do realize that the Japan Govt and TEPCO still don't know what do with the reactors which are still shooting out radioactive junk. The end decision is too deploy a suicide mission of encasing the reactors in concrete still has not been agreed upon (It was what was done during Chernobyl, all the men whom sacrificed them selves to do that all lived a life of pain, sickness and early death after doing so). If Japan had its shit together they would do seen decades before that those junky reactors where destined to fuck up at anytime. They knew damn well that a tiny rocker earthquake if zeroed in in the right spot would send those reactors Radioactivity skyhigh. But again the system an the Bureaucracy did not want to get out of its stone wheel groove to adapt its plan and fix a potential problem. Government can indeed properly handle and address disasters but disaster only become disasters from poor preparation, planning, and management that comes from Government and its systems being lazy to take on problems before they become crises.
Modern Govterment and Bureaucracy is inept to deal with crises because like I said with modern technology these things are easily able to be planned for.
The Netherlands has been prepped for flooding for 100s if not 1000s of years. It has been a issue in the low lying nation since its early days. I agree with you that is an instance where a Govt has realized a active natural threat and put forward the time and resources in using technology to prepare the nation for a situation that is bound to happen down the road. I can't even say Holland is Western as they have done their own style of systems and Government for a while and though it is a Modern and Western nation they really do things differently then we do here in North America. In North America damage and destruction is profitable. There will be people whom will make obscene profits off Sandy, in normal places this is not the case. If North America handled realistic threats like Holland then a "Superstorm" would not of kicked America in the nuts like Sandy did. It was far from a "Perfect Storm" and was weaker then projections forcasted.. it was a really bad storm that people in the Souther United States or in more tropical parts of the world deal with all the time. Aside from NJ the storm was magnified by the breakdown and destruction of logistical and support systems to deal with the Aftermath.
