I don't know where you live - but here on Planet Earth, nobody rational calls a storm with 100mph winds and an 11 foot storm surge, "weak". Not to mention, this storm was considerably more severe than is "normal" for that area.
I heard 90MPH gusts...and most of those readings were higher off than ground level....which when you get to the 20th floor of a building..the winds are MUCH higher than on the ground.
Aside from some high gusts..sustained winds from what I saw last night....were only in the 50-60 mph range.
I saw reporters out on the streets whose windbreakers apparently had no wind to break.
As for where I live...I live in the New Orleans area...I've been through more than my share of storms on the level of intensity that NYC got, and I do know what they are like.
Sure it causes damage....but it isn't that bad. The sustained winds weren't that bad, it didn't stay and dump a horrible amount of rain (I've seen a foot of water in a hour, I don't think they get that much did they?).
And...like I mentioned, that area better get used to these storms happening more regularly. They've gotten lulled into complacency due to the cycle being in the low side, but it appears that it is about to start kicking up again. Decades ago, that area did get landfall storms like this with more regularity. NYC has a doomsday scenario, just like NOLA does...it didn't happen last night, but it could.
People need to understand that and prepare for that. And realize...this wasn't THAT bad of a storm.
11 ft is a good storm surge...but not catastrophic, and not unheard of for a weak Cat 1 storm.
At least you didn't beat the recent record of 27.8 ft and have a whole city pretty much removed from the map.
Again...these things come in cycles...that area had better start preparing for a "new" normal.
Hmm....boy, this doesn't speak well for the super dense urban living does it?
Everyone depending on mass transportation...a little flooding and the city comes to a stand still?
Hell, we get hit with Cat 1 level storms all the time in the Gulf south area...it is a major PITA, and I do feel for people that got flooded, it is horrible...but it *IS* part of living near the coast of an ocean.
I hope everyone had flood insurance, it is dirt cheap.
But really aside from the expected shoreline damage..this wasn't that bad of a storm. It appeared the media had to try to go out of their way to try to make areas where they were reporting look worse than it was. I mean, reporters not on the coast...barely had wind blowing, a little rain in the background....it wasn't THAT bad of a storm.
But it does show the drawback of everyone proclaiming the good points of living urban...at least in less urban places, the storm doesn't put everything at a stand still...everyone in more 'normal' cities and areas, can still get in their own car or truck and move and go as needed to repair things, resupply and yes...get back to work and normal life.
Seems the urban style, and 99% dependence on mass, underground transportation is proving to be a nagging single point of failure, no?
This was not that bad of a storm. If it hit NYC and other cities there worse than it should...maybe it should be a wake up call for them...to be better prepared. These storms come in cycles and this is likely going to be more of a routine occurrence in the next decade or so.
it isn't like anyone will call for us to "move NYC to a safer area" like we've heard when talk of rebuilding flooded and hurricane damaged cities happened in the not so distant past...even on Slashdot.
I'm waiting for people to start asking the questions of "Should we bother rebuilding in New Orle...err...New York, since they're built so close the water, and are a disaster waiting to happen?"
"What were they thinking building a city between two bodies of water near the ocean so close to sea level"?
"Maybe we should just move the city to further inland, where its safer and we won't have to go through this over and over again...and keep wasting money"
I know I've heard that before..hmmmm.
Seems like the should have known not to build so close to the water, and if they did...not to put things that react badly with salt water underground, eh?
Sorry if it sounds like sour grapes...and I do feel horrible for the people that flooded and lost things, I know first hand how that feels from Katrina.
But I do get a bit uneasy..seeing how differently things are treated during the storms and afterwards....depending on where in the US you are situated.
I mean, this storm, while large in breadth....was a weak Cat. 1 when it made landfall. I could see it being worse, if it had happened and turned into a blizzard over NJ and NYC as was a worst case scenario.
But c'mon...if you have property ON the freakin shoreline, beach front houses, guess what...you're gonna get damaged with a hurricane or other strong storm.
Aside from the areas right near the water..I didn't see all that much damage. Sure, people are going to be without power a couple or more weeks in some areas. Those of us that live in the Gulf south take this as normal a couple times a year...that's what you get for living close to the ocean.
Again....not to make light of anyone's loss, flooding is very difficult to deal with...it sucks.
But this was a weak storm, and did about normal damage as happens to places with a storm like this hitting a coastal area.
I feel bad for those that will next have to deal with FEMA.....then again, maybe their a bit better by now...but I still have less than fond memories for them.
Anyway...people in those areas up there....you'd better get used to these storms hitting more often.
These things go in cycles..and ya'll have been lucky the past decades. I believe back in the 50's a number of storms made landfall up there...but has been so long, that people forget.
Last year, Irene and this year Sandy....hope you're better prepared for next year....if nothing else, you're a dolt if you don't purchase flood insurance. It is DIRT cheap....most everyone would be well served buying it if you ever have even occasional flash floods in your area....
I hear this too about people griping about the batteries...etc.
Don't most people these days, throw their phones on the charger every night when they go to bed? What's the big deal? I get ready to go to bed...plug my phone in on my nightstand, turn out the light...crash.
I don't have a land line..so, I naturally keep my cell phone near me while sleeping...plugging it in seems natural enough.
Is the nexus 10 going to have a microSD slot in it?
I'm wanting to get some sort of Android tablet to play with...but I want to be able to have the ability to use microSD cards to keep my media on and be able to easily change it in and out...
At this point, I'm still looking to get maybe an old Xoom, and root it and put cyanogen mod on it....the verizon models can do 4G I believe...
I'd prefer to have newer hardware, but damn, its like the newer ones are going backwards as far as features go...removeable memory being a big one of them!!!
Sorry France. Love your healthcare system, but this is just silly.
Hey...they gotta pay for that healthcare system somehow.
At some point, you run out of someone else's money. At the point...locally they're getting squeezed badly, so I'm guessing steps like this are a testing ground to grab more money for the country in general, to help pay for it.
ie: Testing for a new source of "someone else's" money...
The danger in this is that a concerted Google boycott from established news outlets may well provide an incredible opportunity for businesses who actually "get" the Internet but were previously drowned out by big name publications to reach a huge audience with virtually no competition. Would they really risk that?
I dunno.
I don't personally see this jumpstarting a successful company whose sole benefit starting out is, that they index French news sites and pay the sites for the priv.
I suppose they could grow from there...and gain more clients to index by promising to pay them for the priv...but really, that doesn't sound like a terribly viable business case there, especially not when just starting out...?
Just throw your garbage any old place like I used to do.
Well, I suppose Google could just turn off google.fr or whatever it is....and see how they like that.
Or, I guess maybe they could just blacklist all the complaining news agencies and not index their sites at all and see how the French news agencies and leaders liked that...?
How about France try to invent the next Google or Google-like successful internet company, and then they can tax the living hell out of that all to their hearts delight, eh?
Well, they haven't been common there in the past few decades...
But was watching one forecaster...he said that it is in a cycle...that back in the 50's...there were several hurricanes that made landfall up in that area...and that this is likely the start of a new cycle..so, they'd better get used to it and prepare.
I've been watching, and I do feel for people that lost things...but from what I can see...mostly damage along the shores which you should expect, and like they said to us in New Orleans...if you build things in low lying areas (like tunnels underground near the water)...expect to get flooded.
Honestly...aside from damage on coastal areas that you expect, it doesn't look like that bad of a storm.
This isn't just a cat 1 hurricane, it's a cat 1 hurricane colliding with a noreaster. In Louisiana lack of power is an inconvinience because it doesn't get that cold down there. But when you have no heat and it's below freezing outside, that certainly IS a catastrophe.
Hmm...well, I'll have to look up what a noreaster is...not that familiar with the term.
But I was under the impression that up there, most people had heaters with fuel oil, wood burning stoves, etc...something that didn't necessarily require electricity?
I'd not heard much of the winter storm angle on my news...so, that would mitigate some of my thoughts on this. In national news...they're talking more about the typical hurricane/tropical storm damages...trees down, power outtage...shoreline flooding...etc.
I'd not have thought of the winter angle..I mean, hell....last night was the first night I'd turned my heat on in about 8-9 months....my AC only clicked off a couple nights ago....
High income inequalities are a very bad idea, they lead to high crime rates. A flat tax does not make as much sense as it sounds as the value of money decreases exponentially. Paying 5 million out of 10 million is very different from paying 500 out of 1000. That is why progressive tax rates make sense.
I don't have a problem with the flat tax or fair tax being somewhat progressive...or at least....give a break on the first $x dollars someone makes and no tax on food, and meds and other necessities.
But that's it. Make it simple...the tax form should not be longer than one page....and I believe everyone that works, should have to pay something...no one gets a free ride, and no one gets back more than they put in.
I'd be in favor of getting rid of the income tax..and have a national sales tax..again, exempting the necessities of life for the poor. I think you'd catch a lot more income that way that is currently hidden...and the rich would still pay a great deal more (since they buy more quantities of more expensive items)....etc.
Geez, that clusterfuck of an organization pretty much fails at anything it is currently mandated to do....and we want to give it MORE control, by giving it control of the internet?? Seriously?
It is corrupt and ineffective now...I'd certainly not want to give it control of one of our most precious possessions of the people of the world.
The mere statements by the current head of the UN and one of his immediate underlings, suggesting that some forms of speech should not be 'free' (as in someone putting down a religion of some sort)....immediately rejects them as possible steward over the internet.
If the internet was to be coming into existance now..do you think it would have a snowballs chance in hell as being as free and 'wild' as it has been? Where everyone can hook a computer to it and become a PEER...that you can join with no license, say whatever you want to say and get away with it anonymously?
I think not...and the UN and countries inside it, will work towards those goals.
The internet and the freedom of expression it gives, is something that came up under all govt's radar...and they'd love nothing more than to put the genie back into the bottle.
The governments pushing for this type of move of control, is their first step in trying to control that genie post-release.
In this and your other post...you seem to maybe have a problem with people taking advantage of the existing tax laws, and using every legal means to keep as much of their hard earned money as they can from the tax man.
Do you forgo the legal deductions you can take? I don't know where you're from, but say in the US, you get to take a deduction for your home mortgage, and one for every child you have...etc.
Would you say people shouldn't take advantage of those?
Frankly, I do agree with you that the tax codes are WAY too complex. I would vote heartily...for basically a flat tax, with no deductions...none.
You make x dollars...you pay x% of that as tax. We stop giving deductions and loopholes as a method to try to alter behavior. Make taxes once again what they are for...purely as a means to fund govt.
That is true but the metropole region is apparently not used to it. Plus construction in the United States is not very solid.
Well, many of these cities are extremely old too....NYC, NOLA....built early on for the US (and before the US actually)...
Up in NY, especially around Manhattan..they really DO need to start putting plans into effect, since they face a doomsday hurricane scenario much like New Orleans does. The right storm, would flood them out and have, from what I've read...flood waters up to at least the 2nd-4th floors on buildings there....wouldn't be a pretty site.
Well, Some parts of Manhattan Island aren't much better...some areas of lower Manhattan are only about 5ft above sea level.
And, over 300 yrs ago...when people were settling in NOLA....they didn't exactly have GPS and all to see what levels are. And, even with that..it is quite important as a port city at the mouth of the MS river into the Gulf.
In all seriousness, if a storm does do significant damage to an area right before/at an election, what do we do? Is this a constitutional crises?
It is up to the state to prepare and make plans for such things...but it won't stop the election and keep the other states from turning in their votes.
But seriously, I'm thinking "Sandy" is being way overblown (no pun intended), this is a WEAK cat. 1 storm.
I live in New Orleans, and most people don't bother to leave for a storm this weak in intensity.
Don't get me wrong..it can cause damage...but nothing catastrophic. Issac knocked out power down here in many areas for 1-2+ weeks. But that's an inconvenience, not a catastrophe.
I hope everyone has taken precautions, gotten supplies ( and don't neglect to get plenty of rum and hurricane mix for the party)...but I guess I get a bit perplexed when everyone seems to go apeshit over a storm like this on the east coast....it is a PITA, but not like you'll be losing half the coast and millions of lives, etc.
Anyway...good luck to those up there, I feel for ya, it is a PITA, but if you prepare, and evacuate from the areas right on the coast, it should not be much more than a very inconvenient storm. These things happen....
Sure, you need to be prepared, but this isn't catastrophic storm, doomsday scenario coming here....geez, live on the Gulf coast awhile...and learn what real storms are...and which ones are just going to be a PITA with mostly a bit of power outtage a few days to a week or so...
You just have to prepare to be inconvenienced for a bit.
I asked for the pat down...and over and over again they were specifically telling me that it wasn't radioactive...just harmless radio waves, like an ultrasound I think one of them said....
Slashdot Mirror
I heard 90MPH gusts...and most of those readings were higher off than ground level....which when you get to the 20th floor of a building..the winds are MUCH higher than on the ground.
Aside from some high gusts..sustained winds from what I saw last night....were only in the 50-60 mph range.
I saw reporters out on the streets whose windbreakers apparently had no wind to break.
As for where I live...I live in the New Orleans area...I've been through more than my share of storms on the level of intensity that NYC got, and I do know what they are like.
Sure it causes damage....but it isn't that bad. The sustained winds weren't that bad, it didn't stay and dump a horrible amount of rain (I've seen a foot of water in a hour, I don't think they get that much did they?).
And...like I mentioned, that area better get used to these storms happening more regularly. They've gotten lulled into complacency due to the cycle being in the low side, but it appears that it is about to start kicking up again. Decades ago, that area did get landfall storms like this with more regularity. NYC has a doomsday scenario, just like NOLA does...it didn't happen last night, but it could.
People need to understand that and prepare for that. And realize...this wasn't THAT bad of a storm.
11 ft is a good storm surge...but not catastrophic, and not unheard of for a weak Cat 1 storm.
At least you didn't beat the recent record of 27.8 ft and have a whole city pretty much removed from the map.
Again...these things come in cycles...that area had better start preparing for a "new" normal.
Everyone depending on mass transportation...a little flooding and the city comes to a stand still?
Hell, we get hit with Cat 1 level storms all the time in the Gulf south area...it is a major PITA, and I do feel for people that got flooded, it is horrible...but it *IS* part of living near the coast of an ocean.
I hope everyone had flood insurance, it is dirt cheap.
But really aside from the expected shoreline damage..this wasn't that bad of a storm. It appeared the media had to try to go out of their way to try to make areas where they were reporting look worse than it was. I mean, reporters not on the coast...barely had wind blowing, a little rain in the background....it wasn't THAT bad of a storm.
But it does show the drawback of everyone proclaiming the good points of living urban...at least in less urban places, the storm doesn't put everything at a stand still...everyone in more 'normal' cities and areas, can still get in their own car or truck and move and go as needed to repair things, resupply and yes...get back to work and normal life.
Seems the urban style, and 99% dependence on mass, underground transportation is proving to be a nagging single point of failure, no?
This was not that bad of a storm. If it hit NYC and other cities there worse than it should...maybe it should be a wake up call for them...to be better prepared. These storms come in cycles and this is likely going to be more of a routine occurrence in the next decade or so.
it isn't like anyone will call for us to "move NYC to a safer area" like we've heard when talk of rebuilding flooded and hurricane damaged cities happened in the not so distant past...even on Slashdot.
"What were they thinking building a city between two bodies of water near the ocean so close to sea level"?
"Maybe we should just move the city to further inland, where its safer and we won't have to go through this over and over again...and keep wasting money"
I know I've heard that before..hmmmm.
Seems like the should have known not to build so close to the water, and if they did...not to put things that react badly with salt water underground, eh?
Sorry if it sounds like sour grapes...and I do feel horrible for the people that flooded and lost things, I know first hand how that feels from Katrina.
But I do get a bit uneasy..seeing how differently things are treated during the storms and afterwards....depending on where in the US you are situated.
I mean, this storm, while large in breadth....was a weak Cat. 1 when it made landfall. I could see it being worse, if it had happened and turned into a blizzard over NJ and NYC as was a worst case scenario.
But c'mon...if you have property ON the freakin shoreline, beach front houses, guess what...you're gonna get damaged with a hurricane or other strong storm.
Aside from the areas right near the water..I didn't see all that much damage. Sure, people are going to be without power a couple or more weeks in some areas. Those of us that live in the Gulf south take this as normal a couple times a year...that's what you get for living close to the ocean.
Again....not to make light of anyone's loss, flooding is very difficult to deal with...it sucks.
But this was a weak storm, and did about normal damage as happens to places with a storm like this hitting a coastal area.
I feel bad for those that will next have to deal with FEMA.....then again, maybe their a bit better by now...but I still have less than fond memories for them.
Anyway...people in those areas up there....you'd better get used to these storms hitting more often.
These things go in cycles..and ya'll have been lucky the past decades. I believe back in the 50's a number of storms made landfall up there...but has been so long, that people forget.
Last year, Irene and this year Sandy....hope you're better prepared for next year....if nothing else, you're a dolt if you don't purchase flood insurance. It is DIRT cheap....most everyone would be well served buying it if you ever have even occasional flash floods in your area....
I hear this too about people griping about the batteries...etc.
Don't most people these days, throw their phones on the charger every night when they go to bed? What's the big deal? I get ready to go to bed...plug my phone in on my nightstand, turn out the light...crash.
I don't have a land line..so, I naturally keep my cell phone near me while sleeping...plugging it in seems natural enough.
I'm wanting to get some sort of Android tablet to play with...but I want to be able to have the ability to use microSD cards to keep my media on and be able to easily change it in and out...
At this point, I'm still looking to get maybe an old Xoom, and root it and put cyanogen mod on it....the verizon models can do 4G I believe...
I'd prefer to have newer hardware, but damn, its like the newer ones are going backwards as far as features go...removeable memory being a big one of them!!!
Hey...they gotta pay for that healthcare system somehow.
At some point, you run out of someone else's money. At the point...locally they're getting squeezed badly, so I'm guessing steps like this are a testing ground to grab more money for the country in general, to help pay for it.
ie: Testing for a new source of "someone else's" money...
I dunno.
I don't personally see this jumpstarting a successful company whose sole benefit starting out is, that they index French news sites and pay the sites for the priv.
I suppose they could grow from there...and gain more clients to index by promising to pay them for the priv...but really, that doesn't sound like a terribly viable business case there, especially not when just starting out...?
Well, I suppose Google could just turn off google.fr or whatever it is....and see how they like that.
Or, I guess maybe they could just blacklist all the complaining news agencies and not index their sites at all and see how the French news agencies and leaders liked that...?
How about France try to invent the next Google or Google-like successful internet company, and then they can tax the living hell out of that all to their hearts delight, eh?
You must be from New Orleans.
But was watching one forecaster...he said that it is in a cycle...that back in the 50's...there were several hurricanes that made landfall up in that area...and that this is likely the start of a new cycle..so, they'd better get used to it and prepare.
I've been watching, and I do feel for people that lost things...but from what I can see...mostly damage along the shores which you should expect, and like they said to us in New Orleans...if you build things in low lying areas (like tunnels underground near the water)...expect to get flooded.
Honestly...aside from damage on coastal areas that you expect, it doesn't look like that bad of a storm.
Were both children same sex, race....other variables with genetic implications?
Hmm...well, I'll have to look up what a noreaster is...not that familiar with the term.
But I was under the impression that up there, most people had heaters with fuel oil, wood burning stoves, etc...something that didn't necessarily require electricity?
I'd not heard much of the winter storm angle on my news...so, that would mitigate some of my thoughts on this. In national news...they're talking more about the typical hurricane/tropical storm damages...trees down, power outtage...shoreline flooding...etc.
I'd not have thought of the winter angle..I mean, hell....last night was the first night I'd turned my heat on in about 8-9 months....my AC only clicked off a couple nights ago....
I don't have a problem with the flat tax or fair tax being somewhat progressive...or at least....give a break on the first $x dollars someone makes and no tax on food, and meds and other necessities.
But that's it. Make it simple...the tax form should not be longer than one page....and I believe everyone that works, should have to pay something...no one gets a free ride, and no one gets back more than they put in.
I'd be in favor of getting rid of the income tax..and have a national sales tax..again, exempting the necessities of life for the poor. I think you'd catch a lot more income that way that is currently hidden...and the rich would still pay a great deal more (since they buy more quantities of more expensive items)....etc.
Geez, that clusterfuck of an organization pretty much fails at anything it is currently mandated to do....and we want to give it MORE control, by giving it control of the internet?? Seriously?
It is corrupt and ineffective now...I'd certainly not want to give it control of one of our most precious possessions of the people of the world.
The mere statements by the current head of the UN and one of his immediate underlings, suggesting that some forms of speech should not be 'free' (as in someone putting down a religion of some sort)....immediately rejects them as possible steward over the internet.
If the internet was to be coming into existance now..do you think it would have a snowballs chance in hell as being as free and 'wild' as it has been? Where everyone can hook a computer to it and become a PEER...that you can join with no license, say whatever you want to say and get away with it anonymously?
I think not...and the UN and countries inside it, will work towards those goals.
The internet and the freedom of expression it gives, is something that came up under all govt's radar...and they'd love nothing more than to put the genie back into the bottle.
The governments pushing for this type of move of control, is their first step in trying to control that genie post-release.
Do you forgo the legal deductions you can take? I don't know where you're from, but say in the US, you get to take a deduction for your home mortgage, and one for every child you have...etc.
Would you say people shouldn't take advantage of those?
Frankly, I do agree with you that the tax codes are WAY too complex. I would vote heartily...for basically a flat tax, with no deductions...none.
You make x dollars...you pay x% of that as tax. We stop giving deductions and loopholes as a method to try to alter behavior. Make taxes once again what they are for...purely as a means to fund govt.
Would you agree to something along those lines?
Not in the US...???
Well, many of these cities are extremely old too....NYC, NOLA....built early on for the US (and before the US actually)...
Up in NY, especially around Manhattan..they really DO need to start putting plans into effect, since they face a doomsday hurricane scenario much like New Orleans does. The right storm, would flood them out and have, from what I've read...flood waters up to at least the 2nd-4th floors on buildings there....wouldn't be a pretty site.
Well, Some parts of Manhattan Island aren't much better...some areas of lower Manhattan are only about 5ft above sea level.
And, over 300 yrs ago...when people were settling in NOLA....they didn't exactly have GPS and all to see what levels are. And, even with that..it is quite important as a port city at the mouth of the MS river into the Gulf.
It is up to the state to prepare and make plans for such things...but it won't stop the election and keep the other states from turning in their votes.
But seriously, I'm thinking "Sandy" is being way overblown (no pun intended), this is a WEAK cat. 1 storm.
I live in New Orleans, and most people don't bother to leave for a storm this weak in intensity.
Don't get me wrong..it can cause damage...but nothing catastrophic. Issac knocked out power down here in many areas for 1-2+ weeks. But that's an inconvenience, not a catastrophe.
I hope everyone has taken precautions, gotten supplies ( and don't neglect to get plenty of rum and hurricane mix for the party)...but I guess I get a bit perplexed when everyone seems to go apeshit over a storm like this on the east coast....it is a PITA, but not like you'll be losing half the coast and millions of lives, etc.
Anyway...good luck to those up there, I feel for ya, it is a PITA, but if you prepare, and evacuate from the areas right on the coast, it should not be much more than a very inconvenient storm. These things happen....
Good Luck to all...
I was speaking more in general...the tv media is blowing this one out of proportion a bit, I'm thinking.
People just need to get over it on all this PC crap.
They are just WORDS after all....they can't hurt you unless you let them.
A tropical storm...weak Cat 1 Hurricane?
Sure, you need to be prepared, but this isn't catastrophic storm, doomsday scenario coming here....geez, live on the Gulf coast awhile...and learn what real storms are...and which ones are just going to be a PITA with mostly a bit of power outtage a few days to a week or so...
You just have to prepare to be inconvenienced for a bit.
I asked for the pat down...and over and over again they were specifically telling me that it wasn't radioactive...just harmless radio waves, like an ultrasound I think one of them said....
I do...I just have to try to remember to get to the airport early enough.
Isn't that now one of those special words that until about 2-5 years ago we could freely use, but now must be sensitive and not use anymore....????
[rolls eyes]