My post on a different message board was this:I found this on another message board, and found it most interesting. Whatever our differences with Cuba might be, it can't be denied that they have a system that works. Our nation's leaders need to examine this system carefully...
From
http://leiterreports.typepad.com/Last September, a Category 5 hurricane battered the small island of Cuba with 160-mile-per-hour winds. More than 1.5 million Cubans were evacuated to higher ground ahead of the storm. Although the hurricane destroyed 20,000 houses, no one died.
What is Cuban President Fidel Castro's secret? According to Dr. Nelson Valdes, a sociology professor at the University of New Mexico, and specialist in Latin America, "the whole civil defense is embedded in the community to begin with. People know ahead of time where they are to go."
"Cuba's leaders go on TV and take charge," said Valdes. Contrast this with George W. Bush's reaction to Hurricane Katrina. The day after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Bush was playing golf. He waited three days to make a TV appearance and five days before visiting the disaster site. In a scathing editorial on Thursday, the New York Times said, "nothing about the president's demeanor yesterday - which seemed casual to the point of carelessness - suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis."
"Merely sticking people in a stadium is unthinkable" in Cuba, Valdes said. "Shelters all have medical personnel, from the neighborhood. They have family doctors in Cuba, who evacuate together with the neighborhood, and already know, for example, who needs insulin."
They also evacuate animals and veterinarians, TV sets and refrigerators, "so that people aren't reluctant to leave because people might steal their stuff," Valdes observed.
After Hurricane Ivan, the United Nations International Secretariat for Disaster Reduction cited Cuba as a model for hurricane preparation. ISDR director Salvano Briceno said, "The Cuban way could easily be applied to other countries with similar economic conditions and even in countries with greater resources that do not manage to protect their population as well as Cuba does."
Our federal and local governments had more than ample warning that hurricanes, which are growing in intensity thanks to global warming, could destroy New Orleans. Yet, instead of heeding those warnings, Bush set about to prevent states from controlling global warming, weaken FEMA, and cut the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for levee construction in New Orleans by $71.2 million, a 44 percent reduction....
Unlike in Cuba, where homeland security means keeping the country secure from deadly natural disasters as well as foreign invasions, Bush has failed to keep our people safe. "On a fundamental level," Paul Krugman wrote in yesterday's New York Times, "our current leaders just aren't serious about some of the essential functions of government. They like waging war, but they don't like providing security, rescuing those in need or spending on prevention measures. And they never, ever ask for shared sacrifice."
The private message that was waiting for me from poster RebelPOW when I returned:I'll not embarass you in public, but your posting contains many lies, many that are dangerous.
You write:
"Whatever our differences with Cuba might be, it can't be denied that they have a system that works
You ARE kidding right? This is why so many Cuban refugees are swimming BACK to Cuba, right?
You write:
"The day after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Bush was playing golf. He waited three days to make a TV appearance and five days before visiting the disaster site. In a scathing editorial on Thursday, the New York Times said, "nothing about the president's demeanor yesterday - which seemed casual to the point of carelessness - suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis."
Well, hell... if the NYT says it, it MUST be true right? No bias at the NYT... right!!!!! You get your talking points from Moveon.org, right?
Your quote:
"They also evacuate animals and veterinarians, TV sets and refrigerators, "so that people aren't reluctant to leave because people might steal their stuff," Valdes observed."
A skeptic like me (who actually KNOWS the Cuban refugee situation, unlike you) might comment that this would be because having a TV or Refrigerator would represent the highest level of wealth under the Cuban society
You quote:
""The Cuban way could easily be applied to other countries with similar economic conditions"
And that would incude such countries as North Korea?
You quote:
""On a fundamental level," Paul Krugman"
No one that isn't a card carrying member of Moveon.org believes anything that Krugman writes.
Now your choice... shut the fuck up, or I'll post this response to all....My response:Post away...and don't forget to include your attempt to bully me into relinquishing my right to free speech with your threat, because you can be sure that I will if you don't.
The comment about Bush's golf game was included in the text which I quoted from
http://leiterreports.typepad.com/ ...not something I wrote myself. Whatever my personal feelings about Mr Bush might be, they were not relevant to the post, thus I did not include them. Whether the author utilized another website or organization to emphasize certain talking points, I could not say. I'd suggest if you wish to know, that you visit the website and ask the author.
As a matter of fact, I'm no fan of Castro. But if you take a moment to go beyond the notions you've carefully and I'm sure with the best of intentions impressed into your head for the sake of your country, you'll recognize that Cuba did manage to evacuate its citizens and their animals in the face of a category 5 hurricane without losing lives. Regardless of what else you might think about the country, you have to admit that this is a pretty amazing feat. Is it not in the best interest of any country which faces a similar threat to examine their success and explore how it might be emulated? (I'm talking about saving lives here...not torturing people)
Now, that said, you have not specified what "lies" my post contains. I can assure you, sir or madam, that I am not one to spread lies; and I would greatly appreciate it if you would tell me precisely what these falsehoods are. If you can't, I am forced to assume that you are merely one of many Americans who is more concerned with the image our country projects than with our ability to protect our citizens from natural and man-made disasters.
Sorry...I just had to get that off my chest in a place where kindred spirits exist... :loveya:
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