Text 9886, 93 rader
Skriven 2011-04-24 13:20:00 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Michael Loo
Ärende: DISASTERS 241  10424
============================
 -=> Quoting Michael Loo to Glen Jamieson <=-

 ML> Not the rule of law, though - the ineffectual and sometimes
 ML> criminal behaviors of the police and the sheriffs have been
 ML> well documented.
 GJ> Hopefully, the deficiencies of organisation and authority will be
 GJ> remedied before the inevitable next similar disaster.

 ML> New Orleans feels more like a Caribbean city than an US one,
 ML> and organization and authority are both rigid and ineffectual. I

Having only been to NO pre-Katrina, but not to any Caribbean city, I
don't have a direct comparison, but I found it not all that different
from Manila in the '70s.  There was a similar level of sleaze, sex and
alcohol consumption, and mainly male, visiting Anglos with money, out
for a good time.  People were queuing to dine in well-publicised
eateries on or near Bourbon street, and incredibly bad wine was
served in the strip joints, but good food and wine was to be had in
small, out of the way restaurants away from the madding crowds.

The Victoria Hotel where we stayed was on the edge of an area that the
large, black, female taxi driver said should be avoided, so I walked
around there next morning; it was quite ordinary.

 ML> see no reason that this will change. Bear in mind that I don't
 ML> dislike the place, having on occasion dealt with lawlessness,
 ML> rigid authority, and ineffectual organization and not really
 ML> minding them all that much, just so alcohol flows relatively
 ML> freely and people lie and cheat and steal with relative good
 ML> humor. But these conditions obtain only during normal times:

As you say, in those "normal" times, even though the Law was not
apparent, society seemed to regulate itself quite effectively.  I
quite liked the old city, second only to San Antonio in my experience.

 ML> in the pressures after Katrina, the humor and the alcohol
 ML> both went absent, with the usual brutal results. I wonder
 ML> what would happen if a similarly destructive event befell
 ML> Singapore.

The worst disaster to happen to Singapore was the Japanese invasion,
when the Brits pulled out, and left the locals to face the Japanese
army, with horrifying results.  Many were massacred because they
fought for the British.  Hongkong, Manila and other cities in the
region, otoh, are periodically subjected to taifuns, but the
inhabitants are conditioned to accept the inevitability of such
natural events, and are personally prepared mentally and emotionally
for them.  Cooperation with friends and neighbours is part of that.
There is no blind faith that an omnipresent government will protect
them by means of the technology which has worked in the past, such as
the case in NO.  Once that faith was broken, the people had nothing to
rely on except themselves.
 
 ML> A small refrigerator. The ones we typically have in our residences
 ML> are somewhat unwieldy to be chased around - more to be fled from.
 GJ> Interestingly it was relatively easy to lean against the fridge,
 GJ> coaxing it back to its rightful place.

 ML> As an engineer you probably found a rhythm by which you
 ML> helped the refrigerator along during one part of the cycle
 ML> and merely stayed put during the other. But try that with
 ML> one of our tall heavy fridges full of too much food and
 ML> you would be courting disaster.

It was a fairly large fridge, but the amplitude of the mainly lateral
movements of the floor was low enough to allow me to push against it.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Bermuda Hurricane
 Categories: Booze, Bermuda
      Yield: 1 servings
 
      1 oz Bacardi Superior
      1 oz Bacardi Select
      1 oz Orange juice
      1 oz Sour mix
      1 oz Grenadine or cranberry
           Juice
 
  Shake together with ice and strain into ice-filled hurricane glass.
  Garnish with an orange slice.
  
  Destination Bermuda magazine 2008/2009
  From: Michael Loo                     Date: 09-19-09
 
MMMMM
 

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