Maybe you’ve seen it on a bumper sticker. Maybe you learned it in Driver’s Ed. “Move to the Right for Sirens and Light” means that when you see an emergency vehicle such as a police car, fire truck, or ambulance with the lights and sirens going, you pull to the side of the road and wait for it to pass. The idea is simple: get out of the way of the people trying to save lives.
I was reminded of this simple rule this morning. Two kids were hit by a car while waiting for the bus, although I didn’t know it until later; all I knew is there were two school busses and lots of emergency equipment on the main road and I was going the other way. More emergency equipment was converging on the scene, so I ended up pulling over a bunch of times. One fellow got impatient and passed me as I followed the law. I can only hope that his karma catches up with him and he reaps what he sows.
What is so hard about get out of the way of people trying to save lives?
They even seem to be having a problem with this very basic concept in New Orleans.
The authorities are too busy preventing photojournalists from showing us what is really going on. Specifically, they don’t want us seeing pictures of the dead. Forgive me for saying that horse has left the barn. Why don’t they want us to see the pictures? Are they afraid to put a human image on this tragedy?
A thousand firefighers showed up. Are they putting out the fires we keep hearing about? Are they triaging the thousands of people who need medical assistance? Are they helping the search and rescue efforts? No, they are passing out fliers.
Medical aid is similarly messed up. Doctors can’t get to people who need them. Doctors who responded to a request for volunteers were met with a web form and and assurance that they might be called in 5-7 days. Pardon me for pointing out that people will die before then.
FEMA is specifically telling first responders not to show up. They have been slow to accept assistance from the business community and even slow to accept assistance from other government agencies. They haven’t even bothered to reply to certain offers of assistance from foreign nations. They responded late despite the fact that a state of emergency was declared even before the storm hit, and have “Turned Away Aid, Rescue Crews, Cut Emergency Communication Lines.”
They are even reprimanding Navy pilots who, having completed their primary mission, stopped to save lives. Foolishly, they thought that was their overriding mission.
The Mayor of New Orleans says there may be 10,000 dead in his city — and remember, that’s just one city in a 3 state area that has been devastated. A mortuary director has been quoted as expecting 40,000 bodies. Since FEMA is actively impeding emergency workers and keeping them from saving lives, expect this number to be conservative.
Move to the Right for Sirens and Light. Get out of the way of people who are trying to save lives.
If this is anything like the way we are handling things in Iraq, no wonder there is an insurgency. “They hate us for our freedoms” indeed.
But why is this being handled so badly? Is it just sheer incompetence? Evacuees are being spread across the country, where they will tell their new neighbors everything that happened. Furthermore, the blame game is already on in Washington. So, political gain is not the goal. Are we looking for an excuse to keep interest rates low? After all this is going to have a negative effect on the economy. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 400,000 jobs were lost. Of course the Administration will use this as an excuse when the official job creation numbers come out. You can count on me to call foul if they claim job creation in positive numbers.
Assuming that there is some plan at work, as opposed to mere stupidity, the only logical reason I can think of is that this is a preface to a huge land grab. Evacuees will be forced to sell or allow foreclosure on any land they have in New Orleans, and inasmuch as there is nothing left habitable on it, many of them will be glad to accept pennies on the dollar. The land will be redeveloped in a manner that is wildly profitable, and you can bet the levees will be fortified. Of course this doesn’t leave any room for the evacuees to return, now does it?
I would like to close with a few happy tidbits for you, so here’s Traditional Crafts of Japan, How to make authentic Sourdough bread, Online textbooks, and “What do those characters on the sign at the Chinese Restaurant mean?”