Aloha Daze

Three years ago to the day, one of my first posts at Aloha Daze concerned the fate of New Orleans at the hands of Katrina. (See my August 30, 2005 post Atlantis Revisited.)

Welcome back, folks. Here we blow again. Hurricane Gustav, please take the stage.

Three years later, we may be looking at the same scenario playing out.

Well, not exactly. Mayor Ray “Noodlehead” Nagin - the same pinhead mayor that New Orleans had before - isn’t hiding under a desk this time. At least he’s learned a little something. Hot off of the wire from New Orleans’ official website:

Mayor Announces Mandatory Evacuation

Mayor C. Ray Nagin has announced a mandatory evacuation for the City of New Orleans beginning Sunday. Mayor Nagin called for a mandatory evacuation on the West Bank of New Orleans beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday. The mandatory evacuation is set to begin at noon on the East Bank.

The Mayor said Hurricane Gustav is likely to be larger and stronger than Hurricane Katrina.

The City Assisted Evacuation Plan will continue until midnight on Saturday and from 6 a.m. until noon on Sunday to provide transportation for citizens who cannot evacuate on their own.

Those who need transportation should go to one of 17 designated pick-up sites. Residents who have special medical needs should call 311 for assistance.

Mayor Nagin urged tourists to leave the city immediately.

According to Mary Beth Romig of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors’ Bureau said local hotels will heed the evacuation order and close for business. She further urged citizens to depart from the city.

Travelers who have airline reservations may board a shuttle at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown New Orleans. Travelers must have proof of a reservation in order to board.

The City is paring down its staff to a skeleton crew. Mayor Nagin said he will trim the staff from approximately 200 people to 50 people.

The New Orleans Police Department may also have some officers evacuate from the city. Most other city agencies are evacuating their entire staffs.

Mayor Nagin urged that the West Bank may be most severely impacted by the hurricane and storm surge. He reiterated that the area’s storm protection system is not adequate to protect the New Orleans area in the face of the anticipated storm.

So some questions may get an opportunity to be answered in the next 24 to 48 hours:

Have preparations for this kind of emergency been prepared and readied for New Orleans in the invervening three years? Or is it going to be a local fiasco again?

Louisiana Governor Jindal is already doing something that the previous governor - Kathleen Blanco - didn’t do: getting people OUT of the way:

As directed by Governor Jindal, Louisiana State Police will initiate contraflow at 4:00 AM Sunday morning. For the first time in history, the entire Louisiana coastal population will be evacuated due to the impending threat of Hurricane Gustav.

Good to know that Jindal may have a plan ready to go.

President Bush has already called the governors of four states to prepare for FEMA.

But, rest assured, that if any of the states screw up… the left will blame Bush for everything, and FEMA for everything else. Because, y’know, it’s up to the Government to take care of everyone. Wouldn’t want to be expected to take care of yourself. Responsibility? Of course. As long as someone else is dealing with it.

The damage and destruction that is coming may be unavoidable. (I feel a hike in oil prices coming soon.) But here’s to hoping and praying that lives lost are kept to a minimal. Gustav has already claimed 80 lives, and it hasn’t arrived in the United States yet.

And once again, the city that lives below sea level may be seeing the world through the eyes of Atlantis. The question of, “should we rebuild again?” will come up. And the answer should be, “No.”

Because one catastrophe is enough. A second one is a sign from above that some things aren’t meant to be.

RLR

Review the history of Katrina: The “Blame Game” Rebuttal.

What a refreshing breath of fresh air is Gov. Sarah Palin.

Yeah, it could be a big gamble, choosing a woman on your ticket. The prevailing argument is that if Hillary hadn’t been involved, then Palin probably wouldn’t be the choice for VP.

So what? That’s politics.

The fact is, she has been chosen, and now all the “HopenChangey” garbage coming out of the Obama camp takes another hit. It’s first hit occured when they chose the old war horse Biden. Not a lot of Change involved there.

And with Palin now part of the RNC ticket, the first thing out of the mouth of the Order of Obama was that she was too inexperienced to lead.

Excuse me? This from Mr. “143 Days and then Two Years of Running for President” Obama? I wouldn’t hire him to run a company, let alone the country. His pledged plans for Change in policy should scare the stink out of any sane American. Particularly those that run small businesses.

I’m looking forward to some exciting debates between these two parties. Although I admit that I don’t know how all the negative ad campaigns that the liberal left will run against Palin will affect her ability to debate. Or, for that matter, her debating skills.

But I think we’ve seen a preview of the Obama vs McCain debating skills, and I’m really looking forward to that. Obama is all talk, and has no history. At least McCain has a history to help a voter make a decision with.

Me? I really wasn’t big on McCain, and I still have some issues. Overall, I was leaning towards sending him a vote. But some things have happened that have sent me much closer to choosing the RNC ticket.

The Saddleback Debate - which wasn’t much of a debate - was the first. Obama looked like he couldn’t find an answer for any question, while McCain didn’t do a lot of searching, but just blurted out his answer.

Russia and Georgia. An issue that isn’t resolved. Obama wants to hold hands and talk to his new friend Putin. McCain sees “KGB” in the eyes of Putin, not a friend. McCain called it right again. An indicator of his understanding of foreign issues.

And, of course, choosing Palin for the VP position on the ticket. I’d seen an interview with her on Glenn Beck’s show a few months back, and I was really impressed with her then. I’m delightfully surprised that she’s McCain’s choice.

That choice alone, I think, has sold me on the RNC ticket.

Now… for those debates…

RLR

Sent to me by email…

Political discussion with six-year old

I was talking to a friend of mine’s little girl the other day. I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she replied, “I want to be President!” Both of her parents are liberal Democrats and were standing there. So then I asked her, “If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?”

She replied, “I’d give houses to all the homeless people.”

“Wow - what a worthy goal.” I told her, “You don’t have to wait until you’re President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I’ll pay you $50. Then I’ll take you over to the grocery store where there is homeless guy that hangs out there. You can give him the $50 to use toward a new house.”

Since she is only 6, she thought that over for a few seconds. While her Mom glared at me, she looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Why doesn’t the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?”

And I said, “Welcome to the Republican Party.”

Her folks still aren’t talking to me.

Oh well!

How very true.

RLR

Well, I mean, why not?

OW! ‘bama merchandise. Gotta love it. Get yours today!

RLR

The last set of Democrat primaries.

Media saying that Hillary should quit.

snObama already making plans for winning the candidacy.

Several “undecided” Florida and Michigan votes… given to snObama… who wasn’t on the ballot, but that’s besides the point: it’s more fair this way. (Well… to a Democrat, maybe… but I don’t want to hear any more of the poop about the Republicans stealing elections, when the Dems are doing this to themselves… [yeah... and that'll happen right after I sprout wings and fly to the moon.])

What do you think? Will the Hill throw in the towel?

I think Hillary will take it to the convention floor. I think she’ll keep on going, just like that battery bunny.

I could, of course, be wrong about this… but her character strikes me as the kind that doesn’t take “no” as an answer.

Push and push and push.. until she either gives birth or gets a hernia.

We shall see.

RLR

Ah, more primaries. And, more opportunities for the Hill and Obama to do a little mudslinging. McCain has got to be loving this.

Sure, John’s time is coming: as soon as one or the other gets chosen to be the Democratic candidate, all guns will be firing at McCain. In the meantime, it’s self-destruction time for the Dems.

What do you think? Who’s it gonna be?

With Obama being put on display as exactly what he pretends he is not - a politician - I think he’ll end up losing to Hillary in Tuesday’s Primaries. I don’t know that he’ll end up losing overall, though. He’s got too much of a lead.

A person is judged by their actions, and the friends they keep.

NOW the friends he has… he’s completely aware of their character. But I think he’s a snob. SnObama, as some have named him. He thinks very little of the common person, very little of America, and very little of conservative values.

In other words, he’s a far-left leaning liberal Democrat with large beliefs in socialism.

Hey, at least with Hillary, we’ll get Bill. If we get Obama, we’ll be stuck with his wife.

RLR

I think Hill will win it by a percentage point or two. Around 51/49.

My next prediction? Win or lose, Hill won’t quit. She’s not going to give up easily on the power she wants so badly.

RLR

Yes, it’s true. Global Warming is to blame for just about everything.

And now… The next time you feel sick, tell the boss you can’t come to work today. Global Warming gave you a cold!

RLR

So the New York governor, Eliot Spitzer… the crime fighting warrior… is up to his eyeballs in crime.

Ok.

The moment this story broke yesterday, the first thing I noticed was.. I couldn’t find a reference to the party with which he belonged.

I finally found it… once I visited Michelle Malkin’s page: a Democrat.

Ok.

So my prediction was - and is - that he’ll fight tooth and nail to stay in office and not resign. After all, as a Democrat, he’s a victim, not a criminal.

Whereas if he had been a Republican… he would have been resigning by now. Not to mention the fact that, as a Republican, his party designation would have been plastered across every news story across the country.

With Republicans now saying “Quit or Be Impeached,” I think he’ll receive some heat from his own party to do just that… otherwise he could further damage the Democratic Party more than he already has.

I expect him to fight. We’ll see.

RLR

With the power grid problem in Florida that caused a nuclear plant to shutdown.. how long, I wonder, before the nutroots point at the nuclear power plant and start complaining? I can hear it now:

“See?! Nuclear power is bad, man. Like, real bad. All we need is love!”

Of course, it’s clean and efficient power… but logical arguements are usually pointless with environmentalists.

Especially since everything - including the human race - emit carbon dioxide. How a naturally occuring gas formed by humans over the past few thousand years is supposedly just now triggering a warmer Earth (the sky is falling!), I have no idea.

I think we should just place logic and common sense aside, and see what happens.

Oh wait.

We already have.

Bigger government, higher taxes for the rich [because, y'know, all they do is pay salaries and create jobs], and more government programs to help people that don’t want to help themselves…

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s Tuesday, and I have an odd number ending on my license plate. I need gas for the car.

Then I think I’ll stand in line for a few hours to get a loaf of bread.

But at least health care will be free for everyone.

Yep. If I need any kind of life saving operation, all I need to do is sign up and wait for it… for a few months.

Of course, I may be dead by the time my turn comes up… but that solves two problems:

1. It’s free!

2. Government saves money, since more people will be dead [no operation performed], and that means less bread to have to give away, and - of course - lower health cost to the government, since there will be less and less older people.

Welcome to the new progressive America, comrade.

RLR