The Gulf News
Another rise in petrol prices 'matter of time'
By C.L. Jose, Staff Reporter
Dubai:
It is only a matter of time before retail petrol prices in the UAE are increased further, to at least match the cost of production, market sources told Gulf News yesterday.
Petrol retailers noted that the cost of production at the current international crude price is close to Dh9.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=180117
Arabs can learn a lot from Asian awards
By Abdullah Al Madani, Special to Gulf News
In the Arab world, the number of foundations that confer annual prizes for significant achievements has been on the rise since the late 1980s.
This, of course, is a good development. However, Arab prizes, in general, lack several necessary criteria.
They are seen as being given only to persons or groups whose political views are similar to those of the organisers. Committees and juries established for the purpose of handling and validating submissions and deciding on winners are often accused of religious, sectarian or nationalistic bias.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=180081
Bahraini Jewish woman elected rights body head
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Manama: A Bahraini Jewish woman, Huda Azra Noono, has been elected to head the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society, making her the first non-Muslim to head a human rights watchdog in the country.
"I am honoured to be elected the secretary-general of the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society, and I will do my best to help promote human rights in the country," Noono yesterday told Gulf News.
"We will work together as a team to ensure that people's rights in all areas are preserved," she said following the board elections.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=180092
Civil groups to monitor Egypt’s polls
Agencies
Cairo: An Egypt court ruled on Saturday that local non-governmental organisations will be allowed to monitor Egypt's presidential election to be held this week.
The decision was immediately hailed as a major step towards ensuring a more transparent election.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=180064
Opposition flays Mubarak's 'scandalous' campaigning
By Duraid Al Baik, Foreign Editor
Cairo:
Three of Egypt's 10 presidential hopefuls are fighting it out for the top slot as campaigning peaked for Wednesday's poll.
Opposition leaders made the accusation that government institutions are being used to ensure that President Hosni Mubarak, 77, wins for the fifth straight term in the first multi-candidate contest after governing Egypt for 24 years.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=180097
Iran blasts US move to deny visas
Agencies
Tehran/Vienna: Iran on Saturday denounced as an "ugly act" the US decision to deny visas to an Iranian parliamentary delegation to attend the annual UN General Assembly session in New York, claiming it showed the Americans were not competent to serve as host to the United Nations.
Washington has given no reason for denying visas to the delegation that was expected to be headed by Iran's Parliamentary Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=180109
Saddam trial for mass killing to begin on October 19
gencies
Baghdad : Ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and seven of his former associates will go on trial for mass killing on October 19, government spokesman Laith Kubba said on Sunday.
"There is a date set for October 19," Kubba told a news conference. "They will be tried for the execution of 143 citizens."
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=180194
Saddam's defence strategy drafted
Agencies
Amman:
Saddam Hussain's daughter has devised a strategy for the defence of Iraq's ousted leader, including a media campaign and hiring of a new team of international lawyers, for the expected start of her father's trial next month, she said yesterday.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=180111
Saddam's family form new defense team
Agencies
Amman: The family of ousted dictator Saddam Hussain has chosen a new legal counsel to defend him in a trial for war crime charges, the family’s lawyer said on Saturday.
The team includes prominent American, European, Asian and Arab lawyers chosen “on the basis of competence and merit to put up a strong defence," said Abdel Haq Alani.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=180059
Lebanon arrests four generals over Hariri case
Agencies
Beirut: A Lebanese magistrate issued arrest warrants on Saturday against four pro-Syrian generals charged with murder over the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Al Hariri.
Judicial sources said Judge Elias Eid issued the warrants after interrogating the men, allowing them to be kept in custody in connection with Hariri's murder investigation.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=180065
Egyptian forces to begin deployment at Gaza border
Agencies
Jerusalem : Egyptian border police are to be deployed at the buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border on Sunday, the Israeli Defense Ministry said.An Egyptian soldier stands at the Egyptian-Gaza border. Israel wants the Egyptian forces to prevent weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip through underground tunnels.
About 750 lightly armed Egyptian forces will take up positions along the border, according to an agreement signed last week between Israel and Egypt.
The Israeli Parliament had on Wednesday approved the deal, another key step in the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=180192
Five militants killed in Syria
Agencies
Damascus:
Syrian security forces killed five members of a militant group in clashed on Friday.
The official Syrian news agency SANA reported that the clashes took place in a village outside the Hamaa province on Saturday.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=180057
Saudi women blamed for 50% of traffic accidents
Agencies
Dubai: Despite being barred by law from taking the wheel, Saudi universities have released a study that blames women for a whopping 50 per cent of Saudi’s traffic accidents.
A Saudi based newspaper asked a Jeddah Traffic Administration official if there could be any truth in the study’s results.
The study blames women’s lack of knowledge of road traffic rules and regulations, reports the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.
A common cause of women’s traffic accidents comes from them opening car doors without paying attention to on-coming traffic and having marital arguments.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=180190
The Boston Globe
Rebuilding New Orleans
Message #1104.1
Posted by
BostonDotCom on Sep-3 11:07 AM
In ''The city that will be,'' Drake Bennett looks at the prospects for rebuilding New Orleans after last week's devastating floods. Should cities built on vulnerable or unstable ground be relocated following disasters of such magnitude? Or do history and memory — not to mention economic and political reality — require that we rebuild on the same ground, no matter what?
http://boards.boston.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&tsn=1&tid=1104&webtag=bc-news
The city that will be
(Reuters Photo)
By Drake Bennett September 4, 2005
THIRTY YEARS AGO, in their book ''3000 Years of Urban Growth," the historians Tertius Chandler and Gerald Fox calculated that of all the cities that had been flooded, burned, sacked, leveled by earthquake, buried in lava, or in some way or another destroyed worldwide between 1100 and 1800, only a few dozen had been permanently abandoned. Cities, in other words, tend to get rebuilt no matter what.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2005/09/04/the_city_that_will_be/
Eerie Saturday night in the French Quarter
Local residents examine the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in Bay St. Louis, Miss., on Friday, Sept. 3, 2005. The coastal line of the city was completed devastated including the Bay St. Louis Bridge. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
By Dan Sewell, Associated Press Writer September 4, 2005
NEW ORLEANS --The only lights Saturday night on Bourbon Street were the flashing blues of police vehicles on patrol, the headlights of rumbling military trucks and an occasional flashlight or cigarette glow among bedraggled holdout residents.
"Why does any local stay? Because this is our neighborhood, this is home," said Ride Hamilton, 29. He has turned his French Quarter home into a mini-warehouse of supplies for his neighbors. He said he accumulated the goods during daily "shopping" trips to local stores, "trying to get it before somebody else does. We're relying on ourselves out here."
Johnny White's Sports Bar, which has no doors and, according to locals, never closes, has become a gathering place for some of those who remained downtown when Katrina devastated the city Monday.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/09/04/eerie_saturday_night_in_the_big_easy/
Hurricane Maria forms over open Atlantic
September 4, 2005
MIAMI --Maria intensified and developed into the season's fifth hurricane on Sunday, growing stronger over warm water in the open Atlantic.
At 5 a.m. EDT, the storm had maximum sustained wind of 75 mph -- only 1 mph higher than the minimum threshold for hurricane status -- and was centered 645 miles southeast of Bermuda.
It was moving north-northwest at 14 mph, and was expected to turn to the north later Sunday or early Monday.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/09/04/hurricane_maria_forms_over_open_atlantic/
Chief Justice Rehnquist dies of cancer
Just pass midnight and praying on the steps on the Supreme Court for the passing of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist are from left to right, Brandi Swindell, Cheryl Conrad, Barbara Gough Katie Mahoney and Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Sunday Sept. 4, 2005 in Washington, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died Saturday evening of cancer, ending a remarkable 33-year tenure on the Supreme Court and creating a rare second vacancy on the nation's highest court. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
By Gina Holland, Associated Press Writer September 4, 2005
WASHINGTON --Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who oversaw the high court's conservative shift and presided over the impeachment trial of President Clinton, died Saturday evening. He was 80 years old and had spent 33 years on the Supreme Court.
Rehnquist's death opens a rare second vacancy on the nation's highest court and gives President Bush, whose election Rehnquist helped decide, an opportunity shape the makeup of the court for years to come.
"The Chief Justice battled thyroid cancer since being diagnosed last October and continued to perform his duties on the court until a precipitous decline in his health the last couple of days," court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said in announcing his death.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/04/chief_justice_rehnquist_dies_of_cancer_1125822101/
Rehnquist death gives Bush chance to shape court
By Jackie Frank September 4, 2005
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist creates a rare double opening on the U.S. Supreme Court, giving President George W. Bush the chance to make a significant mark on the federal judiciary.
Rehnquist, a conservative force who pushed the closely divided nine-member court to the right in his more than 30 years on the bench, died on Saturday at age 80 after a battle with thyroid cancer.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/04/rehnquist_death_gives_bush_chance_to_shape_court/
Eight killed in latest Afghan violence
September 4, 2005
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Suspected Taliban gunmen killed five Afghan policemen in an ambush on Sunday, the latest incident in a wave of violence ahead of September 18 elections, an official said.
Security is the main worry two weeks before the country goes to the polls to elect a lower house of parliament and councils in its 34 provinces, the next big step on its difficult path to stability.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/09/04/eight_killed_in_latest_afghan_violence/
Hamas' secretive military wing emerges
A Masked Palestinian Hamas militant displays his weapon during a training session in Jebaliya in the northern Gaza Strip, in this early Friday, Aug. 12, 2005, file photo. Hamas' secretive military wing emerged from hiding Saturday, revealing the names of seven top commanders and detailing how they masterminded attacks on Israelis _ part of an increasingly fierce competition between militants and the Palestinian Authority over who will get credit for Israel's pullout from Gaza. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
By Ravi Nessman, Associated Press Writer September 4, 2005
JERUSALEM --The shadowy military wing of Hamas went public Saturday, revealing the names of its top commanders and outlining the history and increasing sophistication of its attacks against Israel in the latest salvo in the battle for credit over Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/09/04/hamas_secretive_military_wing_emerges/
White doves, tears mark Beslan anniversary
Grandparents, no names given, of Boris Dzhibilov, 9, who was killed in the school hostage taking, cry at their grandson's gravestone at the cemetery in Beslan, Saturday, Sept. 3, 2005. Thousands of residents of the small town of Beslan on Saturday marked the first anniversary of one of Russia's deadliest terrorist attacks. Mourners again bid a wrenching farewell to hundreds of adults and children who perished in the hellish storm of gunfire and explosions on Sept. 3, 2004, after enduring nearly three days of thirst, hunger and terror at Beslan's School No. 1. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
By Mike Eckel, Associated Press Writer September 4, 2005
BESLAN, Russia --Thousands of anguished residents of the small town of Beslan on Saturday marked the anniversary of one of Russia's deadliest terrorist attacks with white doves rising into the air, the tolling of bells, and tears.
Mourners again bid a wrenching farewell to hundreds of adults and children who perished in a storm of gunfire and explosions on Sept. 3, 2004, after enduring nearly three days of thirst, hunger and fear as hostages at Beslan's School No. 1.
A day after a meeting with victims' relatives, President Vladimir Putin ordered a fresh investigation, acknowledging criticism of the authorities' handling of the school seizure by heavily armed militants, the botched rescue and the subsequent inquiry.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/09/04/white_doves_tears_mark_beslan_anniversary/
Twice victimized
September 3, 2005
IN DISASTER movies, people flee. In real disasters, thousands of people have nowhere to go. In the land of SUVs, they don't have cars or enough cash for a bus ticket.
Just as the need for levee repairs was forgotten, the poor in New Orleans were long overlooked, ignored until Hurricane Katrina left them stranded in a drowned city and awash on national television.
The mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, knew that poverty would hinder the evacuation of the city's 445,000 people. He asked churches, relatives, and friends to help poorer residents leave -- a noble but grossly inadequate request. In Katrina's wake, New Orleans has been swallowed by water, and residents who had little now have virtually nothing.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/09/03/twice_victimized/
Every worker's dream
September 3, 2005
IN ''ALLENTOWN," Billy Joel's lament for lost jobs in Pennsylvania's coal country, disillusioned workers wait in vain to realize ''the promises our teachers made/if we worked hard, if we behaved." Written in 1982 after massive layoffs at nearby Bethlehem Steel, Joel's song presaged the wrenching changes in the US economy that have kept so many unskilled industrial workers from achieving the modest prosperity their fathers enjoyed.
The state of working America on Labor Day 2005 finds many thousands of these workers re-employed in new industries, but with lower pay, fewer benefits, less security, and -- not coincidentally -- less union representation. These workers make up the 25 percent of America's families that are low-income: earning less than twice the poverty rate, or $38,000 for a family of four. That's 9 million working families living officially above poverty but still struggling.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/09/03/every_workers_dream/
The New Zealand Herald
Typhoon strengthens, heads for Okinawa
02.09.05 2.15pm
TOKYO - A powerful typhoon churning toward Japan's Okinawa islands strengthened by Friday to a Class Five storm -- technically the same strength as Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans -- and experts said it could also threaten Japan's southernmost main island.
Typhoon Nabi -- Korean for "butterfly" -- increased in power to super-typhoon status, the Tropical Storm Risk group at University College London said on its website, www.tropicalstormrisk.com
An official at Japan's Meteorological Agency warned that the storm could reach Okinawa by Monday and could curve up to hit Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10343729
New Orleans gets more troops, mass evacuations
04.09.05 1.00pm
By Mark Egan
NEW ORLEANS - President George W. Bush ordered more troops to help evacuate and secure New Orleans this morning, as rescuers moved thousands of desperate refugees out of the city and shut down two huge shelters that had become the scene of murder, rape and chaos.
Under fire for his government's slow response to Hurricane Katrina, which wrecked one of the world's most famous cities and may have killed thousands of people, Bush said he will send in 7200 additional active duty troops in the next three days.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10343952
New Orleans to stay shut for at least nine months
04.09.05 1.00pm
By Geoffrey Lean and Andrew Gumbel
New Orleans will have to be abandoned for at least nine months, and many of its people will remain homeless for up to two years, the US government believes.
The bleak assessment will deepen the biggest-ever crisis faced by President George Bush, who last week in an embarrassing gaffe called the devastation of Hurricane Katrina a "temporary disruption".
As the relief effort finally got under way yesterday for the tens of thousands of people left without food, water, medicines or the rule of law for five days, the federal official in charge of disaster recovery told foreign diplomats that reconstruction cannot begin until next summer.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10343951
Kiwi cop one of six remaining in Katrina aftermath
04.09.05
By David Fisher
In the City of Vultures, a New Zealander is one of the few remaining police officers who has stayed behind to protect the helpless.
James Gourlie, 30, formerly of Christchurch, is one of six officers who have remained out of a district force of 200.
"This is my district. I will not abandon my district, my county, my workmates or these people," he told the Herald On Sunday last night.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10343934
Young Kiwis make it out of New Orleans hellhole
04.09.05
By David Fisher
Four young Kiwi women had last night escaped the hell New Orleans has become.
Marianne Lynch, Natasha Rive, Kay-Lynn Mann and Stacey Howes were forced to seek shelter from the hurricane in a central city hotel.
The parents of the women were relieved to hear they had escaped after days of food shortages and fear of the chaos outside.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10343940
Storm brews around Bush leadership
03.09.05
By Andrew Gumbel
President George W. Bush is facing not only the fallout of Hurricane Katrina but also an intense political storm as relief experts, government officials and newspaper editorials criticise everything from disaster preparedness policies to his public entry into the growing crisis on the Gulf Coast.
The New York Times said of a speech he made on Wednesday: "Nothing about the President's demeanour yesterday - which seemed casual to the point of carelessness - suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10343799
Clark offers NZ's help to deal with hurricane aftermath
03.09.05
Prime Minister Helen Clark called on the American Consul-General in Auckland, Siria Lopez, yesterday to offer her sympathy for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The two women talked briefly about their horror at images seen on television from New Orleans and the Auckland-based diplomat said her family in Florida had a tough time with Hurricane Andrew in 1992 but this one was much worse.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10343845
Telecom's brave new world has a familiar ring
04.09.05 1.00pm
By Catherine Harris
This week Telecom reminded us that a brave new world of telecommunications is close at hand.
The future involves your computer, video calling, mobiles and an upgrade of the ordinary phone system which will bring, according to Telecom, more new services than we can currently imagine. One expert suggests 80 per cent of future communications will done via video.
Telecom will begin switching telephones to the new network in 2007, with the aim of getting everyone in the country on VoIP (Voice over internet Protocol) technology by 2012.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10343957
Volkswagen could cut 10,000 German jobs
04.09.05 1.00pm
FRANKFURT - Volkswagen cut could more than 10,000 jobs in Germany in the coming few years to make Europe's largest car maker competitive with its international rivals, a magazine said overnight (NZ time).
Volkswagen wanted to reduce the workforce in west German plants drastically, Spiegel magazine said in a report released before publication, quoting internal VW projections.
Hit by a strong euro and weak sales, VW has been negotiating with its staff about cost-saving concessions in high-wage Germany.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10343953
Beslan draws line under its grief
04.09.05 1.00pm
By Andrew Osborn in Beslan
Three hundred and thirty-one doves were released over the graves of those who died in last year's Beslan school massacre yesterday, as the southern Russian town sought to draw a line under its grief twelve months on.
The number of doves represented the number of victims, 186 of whom were children, and each of their names was read out in a moving ceremony in the town's graveyard under a leaden rain-filled sky. Mournful bells tolled while a crowd of some 12,000 looked on, their faces etched with sadness, and a short poem was read aloud.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10343954
Headmistress flees rage of Beslan mob
03.09.05
It was meant to be a sombre day of mourning and remembrance, but the first anniversary of the seizure of Beslan's School Number One was marked by a display of raw and latent anger as the school's hated headmistress was forced to flee a mob intent on attacking her.
"Murderer! Murderer!" the mob shouted at a frightened Lidia Tsalieva. "Why did you come here?"
They also targeted the Kremlin, accused of tragically mishandling the siege and its aftermath.
Many parents and relatives of the 318 dead, 186 of whom were children, issued a symbolically powerful and politically embarrassing petition, saying they didn't want to live in Russia any longer because they had lost faith in its justice system.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10343807
continued …
Sunday, September 04, 2005
World Association of Zoos and Aquariums - click here
Wind Chime at the Brookfield Zoo
After an earlier International Union of Directors of Zoological Gardens (IUDZG), founded in 1935 at Basel (Switzerland), ceased to exist during World War II, a new IUDZG was founded in Rotterdam in 1946 by a group of zoo directors from allied or neutral countries. In 2000 IUDZG was renamed as WAZA to reflect a more modern institution working together at a global level, to build cooperative approaches to common needs, to tackle common issues, to share information and knowledge, and represent this community in other international bodies such as the World Conservation Union (IUCN) or Conferences of the Parties to global Conventions, such as CITES, CBD or CMS.
..............................................
World Wildlife Conservation both 'In situ' and 'Ex situ.' (Click On)
WAZA defines the responsibilities of the world's zoos and aquaria in regard to the conservation of the diversity of global wildlife. It sets out the conditions which individual zoos and aquaria and their cooperative networks should satisfy in order to realize their full potential in conservation.
Morning Papers - concluded
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Cloudy
-18.0°
Updated Sunday 04 Sep 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
54 °F / 12 °C
Overcast
Humidity:
82%
Dew Point:
48 °F / 9 °C
Wind:
6 mph / 9 km/h from the ESE
Pressure:
29.97 in / 1015 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Scattered Clouds 4500 ft / 1371 m
Overcast 5500 ft / 1676 m
end
Scott Base
Cloudy
-18.0°
Updated Sunday 04 Sep 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
54 °F / 12 °C
Overcast
Humidity:
82%
Dew Point:
48 °F / 9 °C
Wind:
6 mph / 9 km/h from the ESE
Pressure:
29.97 in / 1015 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Scattered Clouds 4500 ft / 1371 m
Overcast 5500 ft / 1676 m
end
The caption to these images and the one below. This image and animation from NASA�s Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) show the strong convective development of Hurricane Katrina on Saturday, August 27, as it moved west through the Gulf of Mexico. Over 7 minutes during which all 9 MISR cameras viewed Katrina, the animation captures the cloud-top sides, the counterclockwise rotation of the eyewall, and the bubbling growth of the towering cloud structures. At this time, Katrina was undergoing rapid development� it had just been upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane, and within 24 hours it would reach Category 5. On Monday morning when the eyewall made landfall over the United States, it was a Category 4 storm. Hurricane Katrina was one of the most powerful and destructive storms on record for the Atlantic Basin.
What plan? There was no planning for the population of New Orleans.
Every aspect of a city should be known to it's management teams. Census of it's populous should not be a surprise along with special needs of communities and neighborhoods. There is no excuse for the deaths of people most in need. Social work takes on a whole new focus including being part of a disaster planning.
What did it take to have a Homeland Security System for a city like New Orleans? It didn't take much but only cooperation. Every city in this nation has infrastructure to provide means of communication through all levels of interest of it's populous. The government is not the do all and end all of any city EXCEPT it is the one place where voters express themselves to provide community priorities. So when planning a Homeland Security Strategy who is 'at the city's disposal' and who does a city recruit to prepare a plan that works for every aspect of interest?
What makes a city charming? What makes it function? What provides a lifestyle?
Let's start with a Zoning Board.
Land use is the primary strategy to any Homeland Security issue. Given the fact that sprawling cities see land use as a financial commodity most cities and towns in the USA do not exist in a way that is conducive to security. Quite the contrary, if a planning board was worth it's salt the provisions for land use revolved around a tax base as well as a quality of life for it's citizens. In providing a tax base a city was not interested in measures of Homeland Security before 2001 and still today do not actively address land use from providing Homeland Security. Homeland Security in the 'minds' of managers is an after thought that needs to be accommodated by current priorities. Homeland Security is not included in planning as a priority.
When land use planners are looking at the city of their focus as it exists today they have to realize an important partner in any effort to secure a city has to be the Mayor and Council. Instead of this government body reacting to the needs of it's city it needs to take control of the use of it's city. In that realizing there needs to be complete cooperation between every aspect of security otherwise there is little reason to launch into that venture in the first place.
Business exists in a city because it is beneficial to people. People live in a city because it provides a life and a lifestyle that life worth living. Educational systems for children and adults, cultural events that enhance the understanding of purpose while challenging the mind to new openness and reality. Basically, infrastructure that matters while ridding a city of old, disposal, deteriorated buildings is one of the first measures to Local Homeland Security. When a police force has to patrol old dilapidated buildings for vagrants and dangers that might cause fire those are hours spent chasing land use that has no income. In other words, land use is secure where there is purpose and people attend to it regularly. If there is no purpose then there is danger and a city is wasting even police time by allowing stagnant use of it's land. I don't see romance in old buildings. That can be reminisced in the historical section of the town library.
Businesses that exist in a city need to come to terms with their purpose. They are not the reason a city exists but due to an economic strategy businesses can be partners in a dynamic of quality of life for their employees. Stockholders are important but I don't see stockholder profits as the purpose to a business. To that end what needs to be made clear to any business seeking land for it's operations no matter the size is that towns can build their own businesses, private industry is not necessary. If Detroit decided to keep car production as a necessary operation to insure the well being of it's people there is nothing preventing a city to operate it's own 'for profit' businesses to support it's populous. It's called Eminent Domain and as recently as this year a city in Connecticut did exactly that but is hoping to stimulate private industry to return an economy to it's land use.
So what does it take for a city of people to secure it? To know what compromises a city is to control the extremes of possibility of it's demise. In other words, if a chemical plant provides a strong tax base then it needs to be well managed to insure that tax base. What this country is witnessing in New Orleans is the 'allowance' of danger and neglect for the sake of profits. Where security issues exist there should be no compromise.
A chemical plant is a prime example of an extreme danger to a community. Pharmaceutical companies rank up there as well. Dust and fires caused from dust is a real danger in relations to the pharmaceutical industry. Now where does a cities Mayor and Council find the expertise to understand the circumstances before them in relation to security? They could go through a great deal of expense to hire experts to advise regarding Homeland Security and have state of the art protection. But, why go through all that when no industry in this country is so unique it needs an independent consultant. At the federal levels of this government should exist task forces to identify dangers of every possible industry regardless the size and type. A clearing house of information where a City Council could turn to understand their particular issues. I don't see that a federal authority has the right to recommend measures of security to any city as every circumstance is different by simple geography which creates different logistics.
What can be understood in a large scale plan of security is that an economy can be protected while preserving it's infrastructure while people are the number one priority of any city or state.
In the case of industry there needs to be literally a 'switch' that shuts down a plant, warehouse or shop to insure no supply of gases, electricity or potential combustion occurs during the interim time when attendance of employees who monitor systems under pressure are no longer available due to evacuation. As an example: The fires now burning in New Orleans save vandalism, could have been prevented. If there is one force of nature absolutely devastating is it fire. A company can recover from water damage, but, it cannot recover from fire.
A city should have on file for the protection of it's emergency responders every type of substance that exists that could be a danger to people. MSDS for every chemical or substance used, produced or stored in any facility including grocery stores. At any given time an emergency worker should know well ahead of time what they are facing when approaching an emergency situation. A fire call needs to include a list of hazmat materials a fire team may encounter in their response. That is achieved by having in place local laws requiring every industry, including public, to file with the town a complete listing of the substances found within it's infrastructure along with current MSDS to include quantities of the substance and it's current storage and use. Also submitted with this information is to be submitted an evacuation plan whereby a timetable of shut down occurs to insure in the absence of personnel the darn place doesn't blow up. Include din that evacuation plan is always the focus of returning and restarting. By restarting I mean the ability to throw a switch and return electrical power to a business or government building. In companies that have significant interest in explosives no matter the form they take there needs to be a method to shut down the dangerous materials within their pipelines and production lines to maintain structural integrity in the absence of personnel. In providing such safe guards a city can prevent lose of economy while protecting it's emergency workers while minimizing hours of emergency services and maintaining a healthy budget void or emergency borrowing for neglect of priorities of security.
The above measures can be applied to every structure in a city including schools and homes. Through education of the public, town meetings and involvement of the public through on line opinion polls of local issues maintaining a 'state of readiness' for emergencies; it will become every day conversation whereby a simple warning will elicited a response to allow maximal preservation of human life and that of the life of a city's economy.
Government at the local level has to make a commitment to the citizen while asserting it's rights at the county, state and federal levels to achieve a goal of Homeland Security. Emergency managers are paramount to the function of any city working with land use planning, zoning committees, zoning inspectors, building inspectors and public awareness emergency personnel, response teams are all part of a well run survival focus of any city, it's citizens and that citizen interests including it's economy. To know your town and it's components is to know your future.
The other aspect of Homeland Security has to deal with the reality of Global Warming and Climate Change. This is a reality. The storm that took place in the Gulf which brought the USA to it's infrastructure knees was accelerated by a warming of the troposphere. These storms are going to be worse over time and not less. Coastal communities are particularly vulnerable to huge wind and water events while inland towns experience issues with tornados and severe weather. The Midwest needs to have government address the issues of Climate Change to prevent droughts and severe wind and water events that damage crops and reduce yield. It is time for the USA to grow up and take responsibility for it's issues. The first step in prevention in the area of weather is to first recognize the problem and then find solutions to stop it.
The Elections from here on for every city, county, state and federal seat HAS TO focus on issues of responsibility where it effects public conscience and quality of life. I don't see elections based on whether or not abortions are allowed by a moral structure of a person seeking elections. Abortion law isn't going to provide Homeland Security nor is it going to preserve an economy that keeps a city vibrant, healthy and safe including it's air and water.
Every person running for office needs to be able to answer the questions; "What are your positions and provisions regarding Homeland Security? And What is your position and provisions regarding Global Warming?;" As of this last Storm Event in the Gulf of Mexico the two are linked and vitally important to maintaining the infrastructure and integrity of this country and it's people.
Good luck.
What did it take to have a Homeland Security System for a city like New Orleans? It didn't take much but only cooperation. Every city in this nation has infrastructure to provide means of communication through all levels of interest of it's populous. The government is not the do all and end all of any city EXCEPT it is the one place where voters express themselves to provide community priorities. So when planning a Homeland Security Strategy who is 'at the city's disposal' and who does a city recruit to prepare a plan that works for every aspect of interest?
What makes a city charming? What makes it function? What provides a lifestyle?
Let's start with a Zoning Board.
Land use is the primary strategy to any Homeland Security issue. Given the fact that sprawling cities see land use as a financial commodity most cities and towns in the USA do not exist in a way that is conducive to security. Quite the contrary, if a planning board was worth it's salt the provisions for land use revolved around a tax base as well as a quality of life for it's citizens. In providing a tax base a city was not interested in measures of Homeland Security before 2001 and still today do not actively address land use from providing Homeland Security. Homeland Security in the 'minds' of managers is an after thought that needs to be accommodated by current priorities. Homeland Security is not included in planning as a priority.
When land use planners are looking at the city of their focus as it exists today they have to realize an important partner in any effort to secure a city has to be the Mayor and Council. Instead of this government body reacting to the needs of it's city it needs to take control of the use of it's city. In that realizing there needs to be complete cooperation between every aspect of security otherwise there is little reason to launch into that venture in the first place.
Business exists in a city because it is beneficial to people. People live in a city because it provides a life and a lifestyle that life worth living. Educational systems for children and adults, cultural events that enhance the understanding of purpose while challenging the mind to new openness and reality. Basically, infrastructure that matters while ridding a city of old, disposal, deteriorated buildings is one of the first measures to Local Homeland Security. When a police force has to patrol old dilapidated buildings for vagrants and dangers that might cause fire those are hours spent chasing land use that has no income. In other words, land use is secure where there is purpose and people attend to it regularly. If there is no purpose then there is danger and a city is wasting even police time by allowing stagnant use of it's land. I don't see romance in old buildings. That can be reminisced in the historical section of the town library.
Businesses that exist in a city need to come to terms with their purpose. They are not the reason a city exists but due to an economic strategy businesses can be partners in a dynamic of quality of life for their employees. Stockholders are important but I don't see stockholder profits as the purpose to a business. To that end what needs to be made clear to any business seeking land for it's operations no matter the size is that towns can build their own businesses, private industry is not necessary. If Detroit decided to keep car production as a necessary operation to insure the well being of it's people there is nothing preventing a city to operate it's own 'for profit' businesses to support it's populous. It's called Eminent Domain and as recently as this year a city in Connecticut did exactly that but is hoping to stimulate private industry to return an economy to it's land use.
So what does it take for a city of people to secure it? To know what compromises a city is to control the extremes of possibility of it's demise. In other words, if a chemical plant provides a strong tax base then it needs to be well managed to insure that tax base. What this country is witnessing in New Orleans is the 'allowance' of danger and neglect for the sake of profits. Where security issues exist there should be no compromise.
A chemical plant is a prime example of an extreme danger to a community. Pharmaceutical companies rank up there as well. Dust and fires caused from dust is a real danger in relations to the pharmaceutical industry. Now where does a cities Mayor and Council find the expertise to understand the circumstances before them in relation to security? They could go through a great deal of expense to hire experts to advise regarding Homeland Security and have state of the art protection. But, why go through all that when no industry in this country is so unique it needs an independent consultant. At the federal levels of this government should exist task forces to identify dangers of every possible industry regardless the size and type. A clearing house of information where a City Council could turn to understand their particular issues. I don't see that a federal authority has the right to recommend measures of security to any city as every circumstance is different by simple geography which creates different logistics.
What can be understood in a large scale plan of security is that an economy can be protected while preserving it's infrastructure while people are the number one priority of any city or state.
In the case of industry there needs to be literally a 'switch' that shuts down a plant, warehouse or shop to insure no supply of gases, electricity or potential combustion occurs during the interim time when attendance of employees who monitor systems under pressure are no longer available due to evacuation. As an example: The fires now burning in New Orleans save vandalism, could have been prevented. If there is one force of nature absolutely devastating is it fire. A company can recover from water damage, but, it cannot recover from fire.
A city should have on file for the protection of it's emergency responders every type of substance that exists that could be a danger to people. MSDS for every chemical or substance used, produced or stored in any facility including grocery stores. At any given time an emergency worker should know well ahead of time what they are facing when approaching an emergency situation. A fire call needs to include a list of hazmat materials a fire team may encounter in their response. That is achieved by having in place local laws requiring every industry, including public, to file with the town a complete listing of the substances found within it's infrastructure along with current MSDS to include quantities of the substance and it's current storage and use. Also submitted with this information is to be submitted an evacuation plan whereby a timetable of shut down occurs to insure in the absence of personnel the darn place doesn't blow up. Include din that evacuation plan is always the focus of returning and restarting. By restarting I mean the ability to throw a switch and return electrical power to a business or government building. In companies that have significant interest in explosives no matter the form they take there needs to be a method to shut down the dangerous materials within their pipelines and production lines to maintain structural integrity in the absence of personnel. In providing such safe guards a city can prevent lose of economy while protecting it's emergency workers while minimizing hours of emergency services and maintaining a healthy budget void or emergency borrowing for neglect of priorities of security.
The above measures can be applied to every structure in a city including schools and homes. Through education of the public, town meetings and involvement of the public through on line opinion polls of local issues maintaining a 'state of readiness' for emergencies; it will become every day conversation whereby a simple warning will elicited a response to allow maximal preservation of human life and that of the life of a city's economy.
Government at the local level has to make a commitment to the citizen while asserting it's rights at the county, state and federal levels to achieve a goal of Homeland Security. Emergency managers are paramount to the function of any city working with land use planning, zoning committees, zoning inspectors, building inspectors and public awareness emergency personnel, response teams are all part of a well run survival focus of any city, it's citizens and that citizen interests including it's economy. To know your town and it's components is to know your future.
The other aspect of Homeland Security has to deal with the reality of Global Warming and Climate Change. This is a reality. The storm that took place in the Gulf which brought the USA to it's infrastructure knees was accelerated by a warming of the troposphere. These storms are going to be worse over time and not less. Coastal communities are particularly vulnerable to huge wind and water events while inland towns experience issues with tornados and severe weather. The Midwest needs to have government address the issues of Climate Change to prevent droughts and severe wind and water events that damage crops and reduce yield. It is time for the USA to grow up and take responsibility for it's issues. The first step in prevention in the area of weather is to first recognize the problem and then find solutions to stop it.
The Elections from here on for every city, county, state and federal seat HAS TO focus on issues of responsibility where it effects public conscience and quality of life. I don't see elections based on whether or not abortions are allowed by a moral structure of a person seeking elections. Abortion law isn't going to provide Homeland Security nor is it going to preserve an economy that keeps a city vibrant, healthy and safe including it's air and water.
Every person running for office needs to be able to answer the questions; "What are your positions and provisions regarding Homeland Security? And What is your position and provisions regarding Global Warming?;" As of this last Storm Event in the Gulf of Mexico the two are linked and vitally important to maintaining the infrastructure and integrity of this country and it's people.
Good luck.
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