No One "Deserved to Die", Mr. Hang!

On Saturday Sept 24, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune published in their editorial section a "Counterpoint" by Tau Hang entitled: "Don't judge Hmong by what one man did." That the Strib would publish such a piece as written, demonstrates yet again that they are either; following their usual political agenda or "Stuck on Stupid", or both.

To me, it seems that Mr. Hang, has not done his people a service with his writing. His emotional piece includes much that should have been left unsaid. He begins:

After reading several articles in the papers, I am disturbed about the sentiment that the Hmong community has received due to the actions of one man. Chai Soua Vang's trial and verdict might have ended but their effect will ripple through the community for years. It's too bad positive news doesn't have the same effect as negative news does.

There hasn't been any positive news in this case, other than that the monster, Chai Vang will not kill again, at least not outside of prison.

Tau Hang continues, detailing his own family's service to this country, with his father having served in the Hmong Army, and brother having served in the US Army in Afghanistan. Both he says, have put their lives on the line for this country.

It saddens him that many don't know why the Hmong people are here in the US; that it wasn't by choice that they had to flee their country. It saddens me too, but I know that the young are rarely aware of, or concerned about, anything that happened before their own memories began. Many of them have little or no awareness of the sacrifices of their own fathers, uncles, and grandfathers.

Mr Hang then plays the Race, and Oppressed Minority Cards:

The media, trial and the people of Hayward, Wis., said the murders weren't about race. I can understand why folks would want to retaliate against Chai's family about the murders, but what I can't understand is when other Hmong families are terrorized because of one man's actions by bumper stickers that read "Save a deer, Kill a Mung" or hate e-mails and letters that hope for the genocide of the Hmong race, all because of one incident in the woods of Wisconsin.

So no, you can't say race didn't play a factor if all this resentment toward the Hmong exist. It's a part of everyday life, especially if you're a minority. The media, when describing Chai Vang, said he was Hmong. They didn't even give him the decency of calling him Hmong-American. Another murder would have been reported as done by John Doe, an Irish descendant.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning Chai's actions and I'm not saying what he did was right. But I've been in similar situations. I know what he might have been feeling. I've been forced off the road into a ditch. I've been in stare-down confrontations at school. I've heard the tauntings, racial remarks and the slurs. I know the feeling of fearing for your life. All this because I look different. Who knows how I would have reacted had I been there?

I won't quote the entirety of Mr. Hang's remarks as that could be counterproductive. Suffice it to say that he and the Strib have failed to recognize the crux of the matter. That is: To my knowledge, no Hmong or Hmong-American, including Mr. Hang, has been heard denouncing the statements of the family of Chai Vang. Mr. Hang couldn't even concede that what Chai Vang did was "wrong". He says, "All this because I look different." Truth is, he looks like Chai Vang, the only Hmong-American that most "Majority" people know.

No one "deserved to die", for calling someone a "Chink", Gook, or anything else for that matter.

Mr. Hang has failed to consider the perceptions of the "Majority". With these murders, how many more Chai Vangs might be out there? Mr. Hang comes close to suggesting that he might be one. How many more will there be? Will they, as in the Urban Ghetto, start blowing people away, if they feel they have been "dissed"?

Some years after many Vietnamese arrived here, we heard about young Viet gang-bangers killing one another. Will we now be confronted with young Hmong gang-bangers killing us? Will people forgo deer hunting in the upcoming season, to avoid meeting Hmongs in the woods?

Such questions, not fully formed in the minds of most people, are festering in the subconscious minds of many. The resultant unease, and perhaps fear and anger, have resulted in racist expressions by some immature individuals. However; has Mr. Hang observed the taunts, slurs, and threats that go on between kids of the same race that are pervasive in the run-of-the-mill Junior High School?

To me, it is perfectly understandable that the the Hmong People are afraid and angry with the backlash that they have received so far. The emotional statements of Chai Vang's family also are understandable, considering their loss and grief. What they don't understand however, is that White People are now afraid of them.

Mr. Hang states:

We'll never know who fired first. It's a "he said, she said" situation. But at least some closure will hopefully come of this now that the trial is over and the verdict has been decided.

He is wrong on both counts: It's a "he said, they said" situation, they being the wounded survivors of Chai Vang's massacre. Chai himself was not injured.

There is no closure. The taunts, slurs and threats will continue and increase, with each cry of "Racism!", and "Oppressed Minority!". I'm sure that the Strib will be happy to exploit all of these.

Chai Vang is a monster, and a Terrorist. After 9/11, most Americans have little regard for Terrorists, or for people that justify them. By their silence, especially after the "deserved to die" statements, the Hmong people have inadvertently placed themselves in a position similar to Muslims in this country, who blamed us, and said that we "deserved to be attacked".

Prior to the massacre, few if any, were uneasy with the presence of Hmong in their midst.

What is necessary to achieve the Closure that Mr Hang and I both desire, is that he and his People understand the dynamics of the situation, as presented here.

Influential and respected leaders must speak out, publicly and emphaticlly, to reassure the rest of us. They must emphaticly state that "No one deserves to die, regardles of what he has said, even though disrespectful!" Some expression of gratitude for what (mostly) White Americans have done for them, is also in order.

Most productive, will be a public apology from the Chai Vang Family for their intemperate statements.

I have discussed this situation with my good friend and neighbor. He is a caring, compassionate person, as are all other Hmong people that I know. He is a Lutheran lay minister in the Saint Paul Hmong community, and has agreed to spread this message. God willing, the relationship between Hmong and White Americans can and will, become better than ever.

205 Submerged Schoolbuses?

Has anyone taken a close look at the Sept 1 oblique shot of those "submerged" 205 school buses? I didn't see that shot until after the flooding was complete, but certainly before any levels had subsided.

A close look reveals sunlight penetrating under those buses, indicating to me that the water was not much more than a foot deep. If so, these buses were, and maybe still are, driveable. They should be driven ASAP, to avoid the rusting up and freezing of their brakes, thus "freezing" them in place. Breaking loose frozen brakes is not fun.

Perhaps the egress from this lot and/or the path out was too deep for passage, but we don't know that. I'd like to see the watermarks around there, on the buses, buildings, etc..

Mary Landrieu said that all of the buses were under water. I guess that as good little children, we should accept that.

Considering the proactive kid who drove that "Renegade" schoolbus to Houston: It's too bad that he, or one of his passengers, didn't think of asking of those aboard; "Who can/will drive a bus?" And; swung back around to pick up more buses.

Interstate 10 Bridge Update

I saw on the NOLA website some hours ago, that repair of the I-10 bridges may begin within a week. It says that the Eastbound bridge may be open to two-way traffic in 4-6 weeks.

This would not preclude the implementation of my suggestion in the preceding post. It obviously is necessary to get some traffic flowing. It would take considerably more lead time to evaluate, design and redo those bridges as I suggested. Certainly, the work will be concentrated on one at a time.

Perhaps it can happen, for the other span, once the repairs are completed on the first one. Once it is open to traffic, then the first one can be raised similarly.

By the way, I haven't yet heard whether the old Hwy 11 bridge survived the storm, or the parallel railroad bridge either. Did that (those) bridges still exist before the storm? Perhaps some kind reader could post a comment regarding their current status.

I remember seeing a train from the Hwy 11 bridge, the morning after Betsy in '65. This freight train, sans locomotive, was stranded on that railroad bridge. The lake was still rough, with the winds still pretty steady at about 40 mph. Found out later, that it had gotten so dicey that the engineers had abandoned the train for the safety of Slidell. The three man crew in the caboose had to ride it out on the bridge. They had a rough night. The Guard closed Hwy 11 after we gawkers got back to Slidell.

Whither Interstate 10 Bridges?

I wondered in an earlier post, about how many people were lost from the Interstate 10 bridges that had spanned Lake Pontchartrain. (See video linked there. It was shot shortly after the storm.)

It seems that these bridges will necessarily be repaired. It seems also however, in 20-20 hindsight, that there was a failure of imagination, in their design. They obviously were not built high enough. They were built after Betsy, while I was living in Slidell.

In the fly-down video, it is apparent that the water at that time was still within three feet or so of the span supports, maybe yet ten feet above normal. The "Humps" appeared undamaged after a certain height.

I don't know what the planning will be for the restoring of these bridges. It seems that many of the spans that now reside on the lakebed would be usable in re-construction. To merely re-place them however, seems shortsighted. Seems that at ten feet or so higher, those bridges would have survived intact.

I think that before any rebuilding, consideration should be given to re-building it higher, ten feet or so, by building extensions atop of the existing bridge supports. Certainly, such a project would take longer, and be more costly than merely "restoring" those bridges as they were. It would be much less costly in time and expense, than rebuilding from scratch, and provide a better margin for the future.

Not being a Bridge Design Engineer, I can only offer an opinion. It seems to me however, worthy of consideration. I leave the evaluations of this proposal to those responsible.

Mosquito Repellant? "Bounce" works!

Perhaps this post could be of value to those still in the disaster areas, those still stranded in their homes, and rescue/recovery personnel, assuming that they can get the word.

An item that perhaps should be included in relief supplies, "Bounce" fabric softener sheets repel mosquitos, at least the ones around here.. Tuck one in your belt, maybe one in the back of your collar, maybe one hanging out over each shoe. The smell might get to you after awhile, but it's preferable to being eaten alive, and/or coming down with West Nile or some such.

If someone finds this effective, please pass the word.

N.O. Flooding Could Have Been Prevented!

We are hearing the carping and blame-placing from many quarters. Instapundit has a link to where Bill Clinton chastises CNN regarding their negativity. The phrase "Nattering Nabobs of Negativity" sure was wasted on Spiro Agnew. A Pox on all of those Political Axe-Grinders!

After 9/11, we heard the constant refrain, "It was a Failure of Imagination!" Turns out, with Bojinka in 1995, and Able Danger recntly, that statement wasn't entirely accurate. This Katrina Disaster however, was/is, a Failure of Imagination.

I ask the question: What happens from here? How could much of this disaster have been prevented? How can we prevent a future such event? To determine this, it is necessary to determine what actually happened in this specific event; the flooding of New Orleans. All that we've heard so far is that: "It was two separate events!", "The Levies Failed. We didn't expect that. Nobody imagined that the levies would fail!" We are still seeing computer animations showing the main lake levies being overtopped by storm surge.

I watched on the Discovery Channel (I think) a documentary about what the Dutch have done, and are doing, in their battle against the North Sea. I saw this a week or so prior to Katrina hitting New Orleans. Every person interested in "Flood Control" should see it. I'm sure that that video is available from Discovery Channel.

As far as I can tell, the main levies protecting the city from the lake, were not breached! The storm surge did not over-top them significantly. The three breaches that flooded the city were all in internal canals that were not built to the strength of the lake levy.

If there had been closed Storm Gates at the entrances to these miles of canals, those internal levies would not have been overwhelmed. Thus; for Katrina, the city would have been spared this flooding. They'd be partying and playing Jazz on Bourbon Street. A direct hit might have been another story. But, we've got this situation now.

What would such storm gates have cost after Betsy in 1965? Well, that was then. How about now? A Half-Mil for the 17th St Canal? A Couple Mil for both ends of the Industrial Canal? A Half -Mil for the other one? Even if I'm off by a lot, it seems like peanuts, compared to the cost of the present devastation. Peanuts also, compared to the cost of reinforcing all of those internal canals.

Seems to me, that the construction of storm gates, or closing some of these canals permanently, would be the simplest and most cost-effective measures for the fairly immediate and, relatively long term future. These should be of high priority. Are all of these internal canals still necessary, or merely some historical relics that are risky to keep?

I hope that this writing will provide food for thought for responsible officials. Perhaps also, with these insights, some of the carping will subside--but I doubt it.

How many were lost off Interstate 10 bridges?

Days ago, I watched a video shot from a chopper, flying the length of the twin spans between New Orleans and Slidell. Most have seen some video and still pictures of some of it. From 8/30:
Aerial footage of I-10 bridge over Lake Pontchartrain (This link does not work. If it's possible to link to something outside Blogger, I don't yet know how.) The video is at http://media.swagit.com/s/wbrz/The_Advocate/08302005-6.html . Glory Be! this link works! Guess I'll get this linking business figured out one of these days.

I have yet to hear of any questions raised about the ramificationsof this situation. Hundred of spans are missing, with others offset. Stranded on those bridges were at least two cars. There were no people apparent about those cars. I hope that they had survived, and were rescued.

The question arises: How many more cars were on those bridges, that were swept with their occupants, into the lake?

Perhaps, some local? fisherman might volunteer to begin a grid survey of the lake bottom around and West of the bridges, to find any cars that might be residing there. With their Sonar and GPS, they might mark the locations of any cars found, for eventual recovery of those victims.

In the process, they could mark the locations of any bridge spans found. Many of those spans might be usable in the re-construction of those bridges.

Such a search would necessarily have to be well organized and planned. I realize that the locals, in the New Orleans and Slidell vicinity may yet be too severely impacted to mount such an effort

Close, sorta, but No Cigar!

It seems that my previous post was naïve, with my belief that the 17th Street Canal wasn't more than 50 feet wide. In that context, my barge idea wasn't bad.

Seems however, that the picture I'd seen wasn't it. Yesterday we saw on TV , with the choppers dropping in the first big sandbags, that the canal might be about 200 feet wide. It would take a really big barge to seal that.

I've heard that sandbags are still being dropped, pilings driven, etc. I hope they get it plugged pretty soon.