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careless memoriestoo much, is never enough This blog and all entries are meant to entertain while I share my thoughts, eccentric life and adventures with the cyberworld. Enjoy. If some comment(s) seem(s) offensive and/or inappropriate, it is not intentional, broaden your horizons, be open minded; life is excessively short to be taken too seriously. September 13 Weekend trip to SeattleLast weekend I flew to Seattle; as I continue to cash-in my Continental miles, who can complain about a $5 ticket?
The weather was perfect, no rain, blue skies, about 70F. After landing and getting the car from Advantage (friendly, but inefficient service), I drove straight to the 605' tall Space Needle in my ivory P/T cruiser convertible.
Parking spots are rare around all tourist sites in the city; hire a driver, have patience and/or bring a lot of quarters, although there are some parking lots and street machines that take credit cards.
The area surrounding the Space Needle is perfect to spend half day. The Pacific Science Center, The Science Fiction Experience and The Experience Music Project, all are at walking distance. The EMP is inside a typical Frank Gehry building with a twist; it is an interactive music museum with a coffee shop.
I went up the needle to enjoy great views of the city, Mount Rainier was not visible then, but I could see it the rest of the weekend.
From there, the monorail to downtown Seattle glides to the station in front of Nordstrom in about 5 minutes. This is Nordstrom's original first store, devoted only to shoes at that time.
Early Saturday morning I visited the Olympic Sculpture Park which belongs to the Seattle Art Museum; there are many interesting sculptures as well a good city and bay views.
Afterwards I went to the Pike Place Market, it reminded me of my visit to the Bazaar in Istanbul, lots of fresh and delicious food, flowers and hand crafted art and jewelry. I snacked on a pint of fresh berries with some pure honey.
The original Starbucks coffee house is two blocks away from the market, the first one was downtown and moved to this location in 1976 to sell coffee beans and equipment before turning into a coffee shop in 1987; to be expanded profitably to more than 14,000 shops in 40 countries. The original brown logo with the twin-tailed naked siren can still be seen at the small crowded store.
There is a pig parade all over the city, various artists have created funky-looking, they are displayed around the city until they will be auctioned for charity. The pig idea was inspired by the original pig brass sculpture at Pike Place Market's entrance.
Nearby there is the Seattle Art Museum with a smaller "Working man" sculpture like the one outside Frankfurt's Messe grounds. The museum has a decent collection, their Porcelain Room is very well set and illuminated.
At around 3:30 pm I drove about 25 miles South to Tacoma to see the Museum Of Glass; this is the only museum in the world dedicated only to Glass. The building is an interesting square glass box with a protruding conic structure; the cone looks like made of glass but it is actually metal, it serves as a gigantic roof/chimney for their Hot Shop, where glass artisans and guest artists create glass pieces in their 5 ovens. They closing time was 45 minutes away, no time for a good visit; I left, not before promising to come back the next day.
I drove back north to Bellevue to have dinner before going back to the hotel.
I was impressed by the constant growth of Seattle's surrounding cities like Renton, Tacoma, Bellevue or Redmond; there is a lot of new construction of apartment and office buildings. Seattle ranks #11 in Nation’s Top City Job Growth.
Land is scarce, real estate is expensive in this part of the country, a 1,200 SF apartment with a view in downtown Seattle costs around $600,000.00 but it can easily go up to a million dollars; outside of downtown or in Bainbridge Island a 2,000 SF town home costs about $350,000.
Early Sunday morning in Tacoma still, enjoying the beautiful weather, I took time to shoot pictures of the Tacoma Convention Center and surrounding areas before my return visit to the MOG.
The museum is interesting but it misses exhibitions about the history of glass (there is a movie though) and glass around the world. They should include products from today’s glass manufacturers like iittala, Orrefors, Kosta Boda, Baccarat, Lalique, Villeroy and Bosch etc… to fully educate people about the subject.
There is a local-born artist named Chihuly, he is the founder of a glass studio movement in the US; he created the Bridge of Glass over the freeway, linking the MOG with the Museum of History.
I took the 20 minute ferry on Pier 62 to the Bainbridge Island, the city and bay views are great but, unless you want to sail, hike or do water sports there is nothing to do on the island. Depending on your plans, there is the ferry back to Seattle or a highway North to a bridge that connects to the mainland then goes South to Tacoma, Portland etc…
After some sightseeing in downtown Seattle combined with shopping at Niketown and Adidas, I went back to my hotel to pack.
On Monday, before heading to the airport for my 12:30 pm flight back to Houston, I drove to Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, I was disappointed by their museum at the small Visitors Center on building 27 as well as of their unsubstantial Company Store targeted mainly to their geek employees that to the visiting outsider. The Museum is mostly about history and a small collection of the company’s memorabilia, there are some computers and gadgets at the end but nothing to be impressed with. I am going to write a letter to Bill Gates to ask him to build a significant museum about his great company; it can b e Seattle’s next tourist attraction as well as good for marketing and brand awareness!
September 12 Can we all move along now?I am aware of Hollywood's gossip like everybody else, we are all bombarded by the media; it keeps me entertained besides making a wonderful social study case about how the stars are the American Royalty just because they have money (the American Standard) and appear on a screen. FYI, they are humans, just like you, sometimes even more fragile, as their existence is hanging from their overdeveloped egos and low self esteem. Get a life.
When is enough...enough?
Everybody is still obsessing about Britney Spears. Did you ever expect anything from an uneducated 25 year old that can not take care of herself? Remember, she personally shaved her head 7 months ago! Do you really think that she will be able to raise her children properly, if she is a rotten child herself; to add insult to injury, not one, but two kids, and from K-Fed!? She is the product of good marketing and bad choices with an enormous lack of culture. She's the one who made "trailer trash" fashionable; no matter how much money she makes, she will always be classless.
It all gets summed up in Sarah Silverman's words at MTV's VMA: "She is amazing. I mean, she is 25 years old and she's already accomplished everything she's going to accomplish in her life."
"Live by the Spandex, die by the Spandex." Fat Britney Cheap Keira Fake Paris
Keira Knightley must consider herself funny and proud of her potty-mouth and brainless remarks. To be born in England does not make you exempt from idiocy and being cheap old-world white trash. And she talks too much, too lightly.
Her last remarks at the Venice Film Festival about her willingness to flash some flesh:
"I mean, I'm an actress and it's a tool, after all" "It's pretty much all I've got. I've got whatever's in my head, my face and my voice and then there's my body, and that's it. And I do trade on that, of course I do." "I know ... and the answer is, 'Don't take your clothes off!' But then if I didn't there would be a whole area of my job that I couldn't explore," she explains. "And I can't sacrifice my job just because it becomes part of this tabloid bullocks that I have to put up with. In fact, they are two completely separate things. There's me as Keira, who has to deal with this tabloid shit."
Where are their image consultants and publicists? Why do they let this people out on their own?
Paris Hilton is not as gorgeous as she thinks, her eyes are not blue nor her hair blond, and she baby-talks. She is famous for being famous. Do not let your intelligence be insulted. That’s all.
In 1998 I would have bought shares on Lindsay Lohan and her future show business career. Her performance on Parent Trap was outstanding for such a young child; fast forward to Freaky Friday and Mean Girls, playing her age-appropriate roles, very good.
Due to a lack of basic family foundations, education and bad, bad choices, she accomplished a double-DUI-bust, she has been 3 times in rehab and faces jail, at 21; her once-soaring career is currently on life support.
before, after, busted!
Shadenfreude attracts more gossip than the good things in life. Many famous people have created wonderful foundations and charities to help those sick or in need; there is very few information about this events, maybe nobody cares about it.
Hey, do never forget that all the above women (minus Keira Knightley) have been photographed without underwear. Shameful publicity stunt or lack of self esteem?
Again, it is show business, this people are being abused by the media along with the rest of the celebrity obsessed world. The media has the last laugh, there will always be someone to exploit and somebody willing to be used.
Ancient Rome's "Bread and Circus" to control the masses, is nowadays "Fast Food and Showbusiness".
Can we all move along now?
September 05 I have a cat (I got her almost a year ago...)Last October, I adopted a 6 week old black furry kitten from the City of Houston, after being undecided for almost 2 years about having another cat due to the tragic and sad circumstances surrounding Schaka's trip to cat heaven. Bubee, Nov. 2006 Psychedelic Fur
It happened as before, I stopped at the vet shop to see her, went back home, slept on it and the next day got her in desperation; she is so cute and playful. Her name is Bubee (Jewish affective word referring small children); the name idea is from South Park; that's how Kyle, the J-O-O, is sometimes called by his mother.
She is an exceptional feline; we are very close, she sleeps in my bedroom, in top of the drawers when it is hot and in my bed during colder times (I live in Houston, not much cold around here, but it gets chilly in winter.) I let her roam around the house at ease, wherever she wants to go is good, there is only 1 rule, no scratching on the furniture. I cut her front claws almost every two weeks or when she gets wild while playing and I get scratched; back claws are out of the question.
I get her greeting every time I come home, the biggest entertaining is playing fetch. When bored, she actually brings me one of her toys for me to throw; she chases it bringing it back, over and over again.
I live on a two story apartment, I witnessed her falling down twice from the second floor (about 12 feet); at first I thought it was odd and quite impossible for a cat, until I discovered that what happened is that she fell asleep on the edge of the first floor half-wall, when she turns around in her dreams, she simply falls down. I checked her in both occasions and she was perfectly fine, she just seemed surprised and headed to her dish to eat calmly.
She’s turning one any day now, we will celebrate by getting her a cat playground; I will post pictures when I get it. I've been to AlaskaFor $5, plus some of my Continental miles, I flew to Anchorage, staying in Alaska from August 21st until the 26th.
I got there at 11 PM after stopping on Seattle, a place that I will visit on September 7th. The total time was equivalent to flying to Europe!
Hawaii might have gay rainbow plates, but Alaska has them in puke yellow with ‘the last frontier’ legend; it might make sense to be able to see them in low light conditions but plates on new cars were not yellow (?!).
Great, in Anchorage at 52 F, people dress like humans and no flip flops like in the rest of the US! But beware, when the sun shines and temperatures rise to a warmer 70 F, they get the shorts and flops out of the closet, quel horreur!
Funny, the 1st person I had contact with was a Mexican driving the rental car bus; how did he get here? God only knows, but there are plenty of them. Maybe they swim from Baja California all the way by the US and Canadian coasts.
My downtown Anchorage hotel was old-world cute; I had a big room with bar and living room for $259 plus tax, not bad. There is daily self-service breakfast at their pub: fresh local-dough waffles with syrup or wild berries plus any kind of tea or Seattle’s Best coffee.
On Wednesday, I explored a bit of Anchorage, went to the local mall, to see furs and to the ULU factory, this round knife-like device was invented there 3000 years ago, I bought one that I had to check-in because I only brought carry on luggage. I managed to stuff, in one of my Rimowa aluminum carry-on and one backpack, all the things I needed for the trip including my gadgets and the GPS that did not work, it got the satellites but no mapping. Thanks to Blackberry and Google maps I was never lost.
I booked a flight with K2 airplanes in Talkeetna, I wanted to explore the small old mining town surroundings then fly over Denali Park and mountain (or Mt McKinley), I wanted a glacier landing but at this time of the year they are not safe due to the soft summer ice; bribing the pilot was not an option.
I drove to Talkeetna in a bit more than 2 hours, stopping for sightseeing and taking pictures. Road is good, but no elks, never seen one, you can drive way over the speed limit, like for example 100 mph…So, I after 110 miles north towards Denali park to fly over the tallest mountain in America, due to weather conditions, they canceled the summit flights, I just flew over lakes, forests and melting glaciers; nice drive and great lunch (fresh salmon wrap with local made goat cheese, ginger & vegetables) in Talkeetna but I am frustrated; I guess it means I got to come back some other time before it all melts away.
Back in Anchorage I went to the berry factory where they collect them and cover in chocolate or make jelly, they also have the world's largest chocolate fountain; I bought plenty of local berry jellies and products, more things to carry but thanks to the local Wal-Mart, it was not a problem to find a decent small duffel bag for $8 to check all in.
The next day I drove south to see if I could catch some icebergs and whales. People have wondered (specially the local cuties) what am I doing in Alaska by myself, well, I see it as a metrosexual eccentricity; I just tell all that I am a Hollywood producer looking for inspiration (and I am, by the way.)
The drive south of Anchorage is spectacular as you go between the frozen sea and the mountains; then the railroad tunnel to Whittier, where the cars and train use the road at different times, is really cool.
Do you know why the ice is so blue? It looks like Windex.
I saw a car with Texas plates, even some people from Spain but mainly old bored retired Americans and Europeans in motor homes; I increased AK’s cuteness level and lowered the age average for a while.
It was about 50F, raining but it cleared a bit so the trip was worth it. I boarded a half-empty ship, saw lots of glaciers, icebergs, sea otters, seals and birds. Water temperature is about 52F due to the warm Japanese current, but the ice "breathes" at about 42F.
On the catamaran, they served baked local salmon catch, roast beef, pilaf and salad. On the way back lots of cakes, I just had cheese and carrot plus an alcoholic drink with iceberg ice caught by the crew.
The iceberg drink was cool indeed; the ice tastes like very fresh tasteless water, very pure and bubbly no doubt. A while ago there was a guy who took icebergs to Japan and sold the ice and water @ $5 per pound, he must be out of business by now…
The only way out of Whittier is through the tunnel or by boat. I drove like 100 miles to Seward with way less than a quarter of tank, doing the utmost to increase the MPG on my 6 cylinder Dodge Charger, I almost ran out of gas on a narrow mountain road in the rain; where are the gas stations with so many RVs on the road? Do this tree huggers think that cars run on water? We all wish, maybe soon.
I stayed in Seward on a cabin-like hotel. The next day, I embarked at 8.30 am on a smaller 9 hour custom nature sea tour; I had not seen whales so far.
I had to get up early to take the boat at 8:30 am, considering that traffic is a word that doesn't exist there and Seward is a 5 street town, it took me 3 minutes to get from the hotel to the sea port.
I got in this small-boat custom tour with 9 people: 2 gay guys from Thailand, 2 UK girls, a German and a Dutch couple plus an Idaho potato.
One of the gay guys, a fat, mean one, got soooo sea sick that after puking for a while, he stayed inside of the cabin for the whole 9 hour trip. I almost felt sorry for him.
I nearly fall out of the boat while trying to take an intrepid picture; I slipped due to the rain and sea spray, the camera flew off, I hit my right hand and knee with the railing and twisted my foot. I'm fine, no major issues but the cute marine girl in charge of the tour getting very scared for my life and a probable law suit.
The open sea was rough but the fjords quite calm; I saw 7 whales, lots of sea lions, otters and birds. The big humpback whales come to AK in the summer to eat, then in September, they swim for 45 days to Hawaii to breed and give birth while fasting, then they come back here to eat again swimming @ 5 mph.
The ice is so blue due to thousands of years of compression, snow falling on top of snow turned to ice, this process takes out the oxygen so the blue spectrum of light is reflected back.
Don't get me wrong, it is neat to commune with nature, see whales and birds in their pristine habitat, but for a better look there's nothing like SeaWorld, the animals even smile for the camera. As for icebergs and glaciers, they are like the pyramids in South America, once you have seen a good one, all the others look the same.
After my rough marine experience (I almost barf once while eating Hershey's chocolate) and having driven back to Anchorage, I was covered in salt, sea beaten and tired, I went to bed early, like at 10 PM, just before sunset.
No more adventurous trips, the sun shone through the weekend while I explored Anchorage before my return to the hell-hot South.
I missed my cat when I saw all of those furry animals!
If Canada is an Americanized Europe, Alaska is an Americanized Canada.
On Saturday, blue sky and the shining sun with the lovely polar angled light as I explored Anchorage by foot from 11 AM to 5 PM. I saw almost all there is to see downtown.
The Alaska mint is interesting for the golden nuggets but much more educational was the local weekend market where you can buy fresh local produce and crafts. Well, the Mexicans were also there selling salmon quesadillas and halibut tacos. I spoke to one of them who owns the second largest fur store in Anchorage, it seems like they started to migrate 45 years ago and now they are coming in herds; there are very few African Americas, Asian and local Eskimos so I guess they are the emerging cheap labor.
I bought a custom-made black Danish-mink jacket, I can not wear it in Houston for obvious reasons but I will be happy to do so in my forthcoming trip to New York in November and Europe in December. It should be ready and FedExed to my address in mid October.
I found a place called Army/Navy that seems to be an old Alaskan institution for oil, fishing, mining work apparel and all sorts of things for cold weather. You can get clothes made of neoprene, canvas or rubber-coated by Carhartt and Grundens of Sweden in safety colors like neon green or orange! You can survive the elements and look cool at the same time (at least I would.)
There is a gourmet store where they sell local delicacies like delicious birch syrup, they also have jars of mimosa and sangria jelly by a company called Cherith Valley Gardens out of Fort Worth TX, funny to discover it here!
For dinner I had take-out Cajun halibut with baby shrimp, fresh berries cake and dark beer from the Glacier Brewhouse, one of Anchorage’s hip restaurants; the place was packed with some local A Listers and a few tourists. In general people are small-town nice and friendly.
Anchorage has around 300,000 people, almost 50/50% male-female ratio. Population 18-30 about 15%, 75% white but there are about 10,000 Mexicans plus a few more Latins for a total of 6% of the local population!
On Sunday I lounged in my room until check out, then went to the river to see salmon swimming in the river near a hatchery, then to REI sports, they had all the gear to conquer the Alaskan nature and climate: kayaks, tents, thermo underwear, boots etc...even dog shoes with claws for them to walk in the ice, nothing for cats though.
From there, I drove towards the airport; before arriving to it, there is a lake with about 500 floatplanes that roam around pretty frequently; it looks like flying is a good way of transportation where there are not many roads and lots of empty space to land.
In 5 days, I took 175 pictures and about 80 min of video mostly of animals and ice, what else.
God bless Blackberry and T-Mobile for navigation and communication, I have been in the middle of nowhere and almost always had good phone service and received e-mails! I worked the old and new housing projects; I even got a reply from my friend in Hollywood (more on that on a separate post), I have a meeting in September either on my way to or from Hawaii! I am so ready to move to L.A. & into the showbiz!
I guess Alaska is the US' plan B: when the world resources are depleted, cities flooded and Mexicans all over like roaches, all the 'nice' people are going to move to Alaska to live like tree huggers with plenty of water, food, wood, oil and other natural resources while the rest of the planet dies screaming.
About global warming and the melting of the ice: the globe is getting warmer, no doubt, but as the earth’s natural cycle; glaciers are receding (a few increasing by the way!!!), they have been doing so for the last 1000s of years when there were no cars or polluting Americans! Are the humans responsible for the melting? No, probably only accelerating the NATURAL process.
Anyway, it is not over until it's over.
It's a wrap!
September 04 All about CarsI have been so busy living and creating my new life that I have not posted anything for almost 2 years! I promise to write a recap of all what happened, it was a lot. I finally got my new car, after wishing for it since more than a year ago. I guess 36 month leases are eternal for me; I love cars and can never wait to get my next one. One of these days I am going to go for a 12 month lease and get a new car every year, or get two cars on staggered 24 month leases. I like the new Audi R8 but at $125K, I'd rather put that money to work for me in my business and make me some more. I returned my beloved silver on black 2004 Audi TT 3.2 Quattro Convertible with about 39K miles, I still had 6K more to go as per the lease conditions of 15K per year. It was unique and totally reliable for 36 months; the only issue were the sport tires, I blew up 2 and had to replace all four twice in 3 years, for a total of 10 tires in a little more than 1000 days! The damage was covered by Audi's wheel/tire policy (that I purchased for $550) and I got a nice loaner every time. Selecting my new car was a painful process, there are no totally new models in the market that I would consider, so I went to the obvious choices for the kind of car I want: new redesigned 2008 Audi TT, Porsche Cayman, BMW Z4 M Coupe and Mercedes SLK. To make a long story short, in terms of overall performance and equipment my favorite was the SLK 55 AMG but $75K is too much for such a tiny car and the rear looks like a Japanese import, though the brute power makes you smile. The other 3 have about the same power, performance, and drive almost identically, Z4 M coupe has a great exterior design but the interior is too basic and simple, the Cayman is very balanced inside and out but it is overpriced, just to have the Porsche crest adds about $15K. I had to wait to drive the new TT but it was worth it. It is not as unique as the original, some iconic details were changed (like the Bauhaus fuel cap, the new at least looks like the one from the R8) but it is a more refined car, way better and for the same money, that is a little less than $60K fully equipped with navigation, baseball optic leather, Sirius radio, CD changer, magnetic drive, S-tronic manu-matic, 250 hp 3.2 V6 engine, heated seats, Bluetooth telephone connection etc...plus I got a 2008, all other cars would have been 2007.    
original Bauhaus gas cap new TT gas cap new R8 gas cap 2008 R8 V8 420 hp
I might seem random sometimes but the fact is that I am a very consistent man, whenever I fall for something (or someone), I never change my winning team, so I bought my third TT (after a 2000 coupe and the mentioned 2004 convertible.) It is a Silver convertible with black trim and madras baseball optic seats; the interior is the most beautiful and ergonomic I have ever seen, and I mean compared to ALL including any Mercedes, Maserati, Porsche etc...
2000 TT coupe 1.8 2004 convertible 3.2 quattro 2008 convertible 3.2 quattro The cars I would buy right now if money and social responsibility were no object, are: Audi R8: Lamborghini Gallardo: (not yellow for sure) Bentley GTC: Porsche Cayenne Turbo S: Maserati Quattroporte: Maserati Grand Turismo: The Porsche SUV in black with black wheels plus a silver convertible or coupe would look fine in my garage, I'd probably go for the Lamborghini or the R8.
I probably will order my R8 before the end of the year, delivery time is about two years, then I might get the V10 as it will be available by then.
October 30 LOTS OF MONEYOutrageous money issue, please keep reading.
STOP BUSH ! He "needs" 7.1 billion dollars to "prevent" a bird flu pandemic?! This is just a poor excuse to get more money to give away to companies related to his friends and family or campaign sponsors.
He wants to scare people in order to get the money and appear to be a hero in control; probably nothing will happen but they will create something with the media to traumatize the country and get away with it. Remember SARS and mad cow disease? So, what happened in the end? Some isolated cases?
Fear is a good way to raise funds and control ignorant people, be aware!
Remember that all vaccines have an expiration date, if they are not used, $1.2 billion will be flushed down the toilet. $1.2 billion for 20 million doses? That is $60 per dose. Outrageously expensive, especially for a vaccine that will not protect you BEFORE getting exposed to the bird flu and would not be a perfect match to the pandemic flu because the pandemic strain would probably differ somewhat from the avian flu.
Read this, it is fishy. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9883713/
 Would you trust this man? I did NOT vote for him!
Also, BANKS and INSURANCE COMPANIES are thieves in white collar disguise! Have you seen their big buildings? Do you know who pays for them? YOU do!
ATM fees. http://redtape.msnbc.com/2005/10/now_even_atm_de.html#posts
October 29 Talking about hurricanes - Wind. Rain. More Wind. More Rain.Check this article out about the show all TV stations put up to convince the viewers about their coverage. I said SHOW, not NEWS.
Wind. Rain. More Wind. More Rain. - Arts Extra - Newsweek - MSNBC.com
Hopefully this year's Hurricane season is over, although you never know, about 10 years ago I witnessed one while in Cancun during Halloween - spooky. September 24 HURRICANE RITA MANIPULATIONPresident Bush and the Federal Government are in bad shape due to the slow reaction to Hurricane Katrina's devastation.
Hurricane Rita gave them a chance to polish their image. They used scary images form the last hurricane and media manipulation to get people to evacuate early even knowing that the storm could grow weaker. Any storm that is a category 5 three days before making landfall will weaken, not even Mother Nature can sustain such a large amount of energy expenditure for long.
I am in Houston close to downtown, during Rita’s landfall there were cloudy skies, little wind and rain. Today at 2pm the sun was shining.
All the people who evacuated and drove away from Houston for 20 hours to get to a safer place must return to the city, it will take them another 20 hours to drive back 250 miles.
All businesses are closed as there is no people to run them. There is no gas in the city, I wonder for how long.
A detailed protection plan shall be projected as well as local shelters must be built to avoid the above situation.
What a waste of time and resources. Time and life are priceless. September 23 HURRICANE RITA BASICSI am in Houston waiting for RITA. The city looks like a ghost town. I estimate 60 to 70% of the people left. The news convince me that my decision to stay was the right thing to do. So far........
Just take a look:
"The trucks, each carrying 5,000 gallons of gas, were sent at daybreak to four Houston-area interstates. Because nozzles on the military vehicles were too large to provide fuel to civilians, 1-inch nozzles had to be flown in, said Chief Master Sgt. Gonda Moncada, spokeswoman for the national guard."
Lack of planning? It took the government 24 hours to send trucks with gas, once they arrived, found out that the nozzles were inadequate?
SCARY:
“At least 24 people were killed Friday when a bus carrying evacuees exploded along Interstate 45 early near Dallas.
It can’t get much worse, 100 yards an hour. It’s frustrating bumper-to-bumper.
Houston Mayor Bill White urged patience. We know you’re out there, he said of the congestion that extended well into Louisiana. We understand there’s been fuel shortages.”
“NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Rita’s steady rains sent water pouring over a patched levee Friday, cascading into one of the city’s lowest-lying neighborhoods in a devastating repeat of New Orleans’ flooding nightmare.
There are three significant breaches in the levee and the water is rising rapidly, at daybreak there were substantial breaks and they’ve grown larger.”
NEXT BIG ISSUE: After the hurricane passes, the people who left will come back. Another 20 hours to drive 250 miles? More gas shortages? The government should think of that NOW before it happens.
Coming back will be worse, after the hurricane many roads will be flooded or blocked by debris.
The best plan you can have in a terrorist attack or natural disaster is to stay home, YES, stay home. All houses must be required to have a "bunker" type structure below ground: shielded, with bathroom, cb radio, generator, supplies for 2 weeks and protection to resist radiation, winds, chemical attics & fire. Simple square concrete construction with steel plates, size depends: but 200 sq feet per person would be adequate. Average cost to build would be no more than $10.000, it could be made tax deductible.....
Think about it, this may REALLY save your life. September 22 The U.S. NOT PREPARED FOR MAJOR DISASTERSYou can not fool mother nature, but you can fool Americans.
The U.S. is not prepared for a major natural disaster or terrorist attack. Today I am in Houston under major Hurricane watch. Rita is coming, people knew it well in advance, they had time, some left early Wednesday, the most left late on the day and drove for 12 hours to get just 250 miles away. People are still driving out of Houston, many out of gas with no gas available. DOT will provide free gas; FEMA water, ice and food but as always, nothing seems to be enough in times of severe crisis. The government evacuated the sick and people without transportation. City officials debated long, before turning inbound lanes in freeways into outbound exit paths. Reporters keep questioning politicians about the measures and actions taken, instead of helping lift the spirit. People may still be stuck on the highway when the storm makes landfall.
All my friends left, I decided to stay: I can not drive for 12 hours with half tank of gas. My apartment complex is brick/concrete, my car in the 2 floor of the covered concrete parking garage. I have water and food for 2 weeks. As long as I have power and internet connection, I will keep posting.
Huge modern metropolitan areas make no sense unless prepared for crisis. THAT is what the government must address. With this kind of acts of God, the strenghtening of building requirements should be mandatory. It makes no sense to rebuild New Orleans or any city in the path of hurricanes or natural disasters just to see it all happen again. The goverment should give incentives to people, investors and companies to move and build elsewhere. No time or resources for looking back. We live in a time of efficiency, why stay or invest in a place that makes no economic sense? Pompei was destroyed by the Vesubius, never rebuilt.
Post you comments or questions.
July 28 United Nations 1.2 billion Renovation?The cost to renovate the United Nations building in New York City would be 1.2 billion dollars.
I have been there and it seems to me that the complex serves its purpose. Situated in an attractive location in EAST Manhattan, it is a beautiful 1950's building, example of the era and its architects.
Why spend the money? It is energy inefficient and does not comply with actual fire safety codes, they should relocate out of New York City, near a major international airport where land is cheap and the proposed project will create additional jobs, a better idea would be just to DISSOLVE the UN.
FIRST - United Nations? Like in People from different races, religions and ideals working together for a common goal? Utopia. Just notice one starting point:
John D. Rockefeller Jr. bought the 18 acre Manhattan's eastern border plot and donated it to United Nations. This site was used to build the UN's headquarters. The whole area was converted into international territory and officially does not belong to the United States.
NICE, BUT:
The design for the United Nations complex was drawn by an international (?!) committee of architects, the United Nations Board of Design. The most notable of the architects were Oscar Niemeyer, Le Corbusier and Wallace K. Harrison, who headed the board. Some renowned architects including Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius were excluded due to their historic links with Germany, the enemy during the war.
Stop hating! Last time I checked the war was over and everybody was in “Peace” with each other – The US was helping Europe with the Marshall Plan.
How could they build a site for the hypothetical “United” Nations when great architects were left out because of their nationality? It does not sound very united to me.
SECOND - Why would the UN need to spend 1.2 billion loaned from US taxpayer's money? If they really “need” to do it, every member should pay a proportional part of this cost.
The heart of the matter is: WHY refurbish the space? To boost their EGO? The UN is a nice utopia but really useless in political matters. They have not helped to bring peace to the world; if Mr. Bush wants war, he will have it and there is nothing they can do about it. The Middle East is in constant conflict, etc… The UN Peace soldiers are consistently getting killed.
Some UN organizations like the UNICEF do good but please explain WHY THE UN WANTS TO SPEND 1.2 BILLION in that fine building instead of USING THE MONEY TO FEED HUNGRY CHILDREN? They should renovate the IDEALS first and then spend the money.
I am shocked.
The best news is that Donald Trump states he can do the renovation for half the cost? Still a lot of money for a useless purpose. Let’s see how this evolves. But looks like they will not get the funds from the US.
I am not against anyone in this world; I exposing irrational behavior.
From various sources:
>The United Nations is feeling the backlash of the Oil For Food Scandal, and to some degree, the perceived anti-American sentiment that seems to emanate from General Assembly. There is no reason for the state of New York, or the Federal government to continue to bankroll an organization that is capable of generating so much "revenue" on it's own, regardless of how nefarious the means by which that money has been gained. It's time for a house cleaning, and not just asbestos in the Secretariat... If there is a place for a world body organization, it must be free of the corruption and graft that currently pervades the officials and staff of the United Nations.
Ever since President George W. Bush questioned the relevance of the organization at the UN General Assembly the year before the invasion of Iraq, relations between the US and the world body have soured.
This matter of relevance keeps coming up time and again. The most recent was on Tuesday when US Ambassador to the UN John Danforth showed his disgust with the UN over its inability to act on the continued atrocities in Sudan.
One of the most outspoken critics of the project, Senator Martin Golden, a Republican from Brooklyn, said: “The UN has a tendency to ignore us, insult us, be a bad neighbor and not do what it should do.”
The chairman of the Conservative Party of New York State, Michael Long, added: “The UN wants to rule the world, is not supportive of the US, folded up shop when its members were attacked, is a burden to the residents of New York and the US – now our elected officials are considering making it bigger at our expense!”
The Democratic deputy majority whip was more critical, calling the UN a “cesspool” of racism and anti-Semitism. <
Be good to others and find your peace!
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