Why We're In This Pickle

An item from the Associated Press says it all:

"A North Carolina syringe factory linked to hundreds of sicknesses and five deaths operated for almost two years without an inspection despite a series of complaints that its needles were dirty or filled with colored particles.

"Court documents in the North Carolina case show the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only inspected the AM2PAT Inc. plant in December 2007 after an outbreak of illness was reported.
"Federal investigators contend that the company shipped syringes filled with saline and the blood-thinner heparin from a dingy facility without ensuring they were sterile.

"Authorities are now searching for the Chicago-based company's Chief Executive Dushyant Patel, who was indicted last week. They believe he fled to his native India. Prosecutors don't know if Mr. Patel still has an attorney.
"An FDA spokesman didn't have an immediate explanation for why the facility wasn't inspected for so long. But inspections at AM2PAT were frequent by FDA standards."

So whether it's highway speeders or derivatives traders or air-traffic controllers, "starve-the-beast" small government is best, especially when it comes to law-enforcement. That is, until we realize how much it costs us.

It Can't Happen Here! Not Katrina. Not Rita.

Open Letter to All Elected Officials:

It will be a long time before we know what went wrong and who did not connect which dots concerning the tragedies on the Gulf Coast before, during and after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. I do not care to place blame. I merely demand that you tell us that it cannot happen here!

Which syllable of “emergency preparedness” do you not understand?

I demand that you tell us that there is a plan for an immediate, swift, mandatory and total evacuation of your constituents when a natural or other disaster befalls us or is about to strike.

Yes, we have a “Reverse 9-1-1” system. Yes, many families will be able to decide which of their vehicles to drive to safety. Yes, some of us have second homes to flee to.

Some of us do not.

Which syllable of “mandatory evacuation” do you not understand?

I demand that you tell us that authorities know the name of every person on every block who is aged or under-aged, infirm, unable to drive or who does not own a motor vehicle --or who likely cannot afford to put gas in one that they own.

Your constituents will not tolerate the poor, the homeless, the sick or hospitalized or anyone else being left behind to plunder and pillage a city that is partially evacuated.

I demand that you tell us that a bus or truck, with a driver, is assigned to every street and byway in your jurisdiction so that when disaster strikes, everyone --and I mean everyone-- is in a vehicle that is “headed out of Dodge.”

Which syllable of “martial law” do you not understand?

I demand that you tell us that you have a plan for counter-flow traffic so that each effected community is void of all humans in case of an emergency. Not 48-hours later. Now! And while we are at it, why don’t we prepare for an evacuation in our direction by our neighboring states!

Schools, high-rise buildings and business of any size have fire drills. First responders conduct practice sessions. Why don’t neighborhoods, municipalities and counties? Why don’t we all, once a year, empty our cities and converge 100 miles away?

I demand, finally, that if you cannot answer these questions by the time your current term expires that you not bother to run for re-election. We will vote you out of office. We, the people, demand these answers. America will not tolerate the total tragedy of Katrina or the somewhat-less tragedy of Rita.