Neil Hopcroft

A digital misfit

27 comments

  1. karohemd

    I feel sick.
    This feels more and more like a bad film, with the difference that you can’t switch it off and pass it off as make-believe.

    The UK government might be lying bastards but I don’t think they’d be as bad as this.

    Reply
    • neilh

      I don’t have a lot of respect for any politicians but our lot would at least make a show of having thought it through a bit.

      How about the German government? How are/were they dealing with the floods over the last couple of weeks? Are they well prepared for these kinds of things?

      Reply
      • karohemd

        The likelihood of natural disasters of that scale in Germany is thankfully virtually non-existant. There are areas prone to flooding (around the big rivers Rhine, Danube, Elbe mostly) and both people and emergency services are prepared for this. Cleaning up flooded cellars or ground floors is a lengthy process everywhere but evacuating people (if necessary) is usually quick and efficient.
        Apart from the standard emergency services (police, fire brigade, ambulances), there’s “Katastrophenschutz” (disaster protection) and nationwide volunteer organisations like the “Technisches Hilfswerk” (technical relief organisation), which my dad used to be a member of and are trained to deal with all kinds of issues. And as the German Army doesn’t fight wars, they are usually drafted in to help as well (transporting evacuees, sandbagging, providing logistics) etc.

        Reply
  2. karohemd

    And the kid who “commandeered” the school bus should be given a medal.
    As it is, he’ll probably get shafted for grand theft autobus and kidnapping…

    Reply
    • neilh

      Thats depressing too – nobody was doing anything so he took enough initiative to sort out a problem that needed solving. That should be rewarded, or at least tolerated, not punished. Hell, its not like he was trying to sell the bus or anything, he gave it back after he’d gotten it and his passengers out the way.

      Reply
    • neilh

      They let him get away with it.

      They live in a country where the government is riddled with maggots, they’re only in it for how much money they can make and how much power they can exert. That means not spending more than they need to on anything, like, for instance, thinking about how to deal with an emergency.

      Reply
  4. dmh

    Some British ineptitude?

    Many UK survivors are critical of the British embassy.

    Mr Friend described how desperate Britons managed to contact the embassy from inside the Superdome, only to be told to call the New Orleans office, which was already under water.

    Reply
    • godgirl

      Re: Some British ineptitude?

      i think this conclusively proves there is no God.

      he wouldn’t make bureauocrats so fuckin’ stupid if he existed.

      Reply
      • dmh

        Re: Some British ineptitude?

        Well that’s a bit of a theological leap, there, but I take your point!

        And there has got to be some kind of investigation into how the US Government is handling this, when the time is right. But at least the aid effort is now being co-ordinated, and the city is under control.

        Reply
          • godgirl

            Re: Some British ineptitude?

            there was no conspiracy to ensure that the top people dont actually benefit from the government conracts to help clean the area up and there isnt a loss of anti-bush voters to the deadly powers of the floodwaters?

          • dmh

            Re: Some British ineptitude?

            Actually, I’m not sure who would be best suited to undertake such an enquiry.

            I suspect pinned to be pinned on middle management somewhere… ;o)

            I’d be very interested to learn more about the various budget cuts that took place prior to this disaster.

          • neilh

            Re: Some British ineptitude?

            The most significant, as far as I understand at the moment, was the absorbtion of FEMA into DHS, at which point the focus was lost. That said, FEMA does seem to have a long history of incompetance stretching back to its origin in the 70s.

        • godgirl

          Re: Some British ineptitude?

          could you ask your brother what his views are on whether or not God can be disproved by the ineptitude of the americans?

          it would be curious to get an actually “official”
          line on my bollox!

          yes, but some of the damage done is going to never ever in those people’s lifetimes be forgotten. the rich will relocate, the people in power will forget and those who spend days in cramped, unsanitary conditions and suffered will always remember feeling so forgotten by those who had the power to help them.

          Reply
          • neilh

            Re: Some British ineptitude?

            …and those, the poor (for want of a better word to describe them) will not be able to do anything about it.

          • godgirl

            Re: Some British ineptitude?

            they need better representation for their needs i guess.

            but as so many people have said, the US has become a society where people dont even try to achieve any kind of community spirit and social welfare so the ability of them to get their voices heard depends entirely on the charity of rich and selfish other americans.

            so, yeah.

            maybe it would have to take some kind of international campaign body on the scale of amnesty to fight for representation and rights for those in the US who currently are practically if not definitely disenfranchised.

          • neilh

            Re: Some British ineptitude?

            Amnesty are far too small, they wouldn’t bother listening. Sadly the American way of life (and that here, for that matter) is almost entirely based upon money, which means those who have money control the system to make sure the system doesn’t let that money go to other people.

            Whats in it for me?

          • dmh

            Re: Some British ineptitude?

            I’ll ask just for you. Actually I saw him on Friday, if only you’d mentioned this sooner! ;o)

            Actually I believe al Quida have already taken the opposite view to yourself, stating it was the direct result of God answering their prayers, or something.

            The echoes of this will last for a very long time indeed.

      • neilh

        Re: Some British ineptitude?

        Bureauocrats would magic themselves into existance without the intervention of a god, their very existance justifies their existance.

        Reply
    • neilh

      Re: Some British ineptitude?

      To be fair the comms infrastructure in the city had largely failed by this time, so its not that surprising that they didn’t know what was going on. In the big picture thats relatively small incompetance, once again we’re outdone by the Yanks…

      Reply
        • neilh

          Re: Some British ineptitude?

          Indeed. But thats why you run exercises regularly, to make sure you know how to deal with these things….the Japanese run monthly earthquake preparedness exercises, which are probably a little more keen than they need to be.

          Reply

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