Tulane University, and H.J. Bosworth, Jr. P.E., Research Director, Levees.org.
Congress and the American people on June 1, 2006.
of the city. The damage caused by the levee breach event dwarfed those of all previous U.S.
disasters. Most of the federal spending post-Flood went toward relief, not rebuilding.
protection purpose of the hurricane protection system authorized by Congress in 1965.
Initially folk were slow to return to New Orleans and many felt that it would never fully recover. However, the pace of return has sped up in the last few years. For instance between 2010 and 2013, the Census Bureau population estimates show an increase in the New Orleans population of 10 percent. Neighborhoods most heavily flooded by the levee failures continue to grow the fastest. Most of these heavily damaged areas experienced double-digit percentage increases between 2010-14, including growth rates of more than 30 percent in Fillmore, Holy Cross, Lakeview, Lower Ninth Ward, Pontchartrain Park, and close to 30 percent in Pines Village and Read Blvd West. This year, ten of the "sliver's" historic, naturally elevated east bank neighborhoods have reached 100 percent of their June 2005 pre-Katrina number.
The failure of levees and floodwalls is presented here as six separate chapters designated principally by their location. We also present how this catastrophic failure of a federal government project, The New Orleans Hurricane Protection System, changed America as we know it and how the American people are safer today than before Katrina arrived. There is also a "myth buster" section to debunk popular, but incorrect assumptions about New Orleans and the people who live call this home.
The day before Hurricane Katrina's storm surge arrived, the Lakeview neighborhood was a densely populated area of primarily middle- to upper-class, white homeowners. Homes filled the area right up to the levee of the 17th Street Canal which was, and still is, the largest and most important drainage canal for the city of New Orleans. Operating with Pump Station 6, at that time the largest pump station in the world, it could move up to 9,200 cubic feet of water per second. Huge 50-year-old oak and pecan trees grew at the base of the canal's levee and throughout the neighborhood.
On August 29, 2005, between 8:45 and 9:45 a.m, a concrete levee monolith (30-foot long section of flood wall) failed and released flood water into Lakeview. At the moment of failure, the water level was about 2.6 feet lower than the top of the wall, which means that the pressure (weight of the water) did not exceed the design safety limit. The breach quickly expanded into a 450-foot wide gap through which storm surge water poured, killing hundreds (directly and indirectly), destroying hundreds of residences and causing millions of dollars in property damage. The flooding extended far beyond Lakeview and also flooded Lakewood North and South, Broadmoor, Mid City, Old Metairie, Leonidas, Gert Town, Hollygrove, portions of Uptown and Carrollton, and more.
Today, the adjacent lots are completely void of homes, buildings and trees. Foundations or slabs of concrete where homes once stood are all that remain. The repaired breach site now consists of a different, sturdier design called a T-wall. Three times more expensive to build, the new wall can be easily differentiated because of its different texture, color and thickness.
In the photo below, the new repaired flood wall, from a bird's eye view, is also more than a foot thicker.
In 1965, Hurricane Betsy demonstrated that a major hurricane could overtop the earthen levees of the 17th Street Canal. The Army Corps of Engineers initially reviewed five plans to deal with this problem, eventually narrowing their recommendations to two plans, as is common practice. Right-of-way was a significant hurdle, as homes were built very close to the levees. For every one foot of levee height, the Army Corps needed three horizontal feet of land base. Eventually, the Army Corps of Engineers recommended two cost-effective plans to the local sponsor (Orleans Levee Board) to remedy the flood threat: 1) (parallel plan) strengthen and raise the height of the levees by installing flood walls; 2) (gates plan) install floodgates at the canal's mouth at the lakefront. Records show that the Corps felt both plans were equally reliable. (It is instructive to note that the gates plan did not include auxiliary pump stations like those in place today).
Since the cost for each approach was about the same, the Corps ultimately elected to raise the levees using flood walls because the local sponsors (Orleans Levee Board and the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans) preferred it. Among other concerns, the OLB and SWB viewed the floodgates plan as incompatible with their interior drainage responsibilities. Post-disaster studies conclude that the breach was due to driving steel sheet pilings for the walls to depths that were too shallow and shaving soil off the bank. Tragically, in recommending I-walls with such short sheet pilings, the Corps had relied upon a poorly executed and misinterpreted study it had conducted near Morgan City between 1985 and 1988. At a savings of $100,000,000, the Corps wrongly concluded it could short-sheet the steel pilings of the 17th Street Canal, driving them to depths of not more than 17 feet instead of between 31 and 46.
The Army Corps' levee design and construction blunders doomed the citizens of New Orleans. In hindsight, it is clear that there was no question that the 17th Street Canal would fail. The only questions were when and where, and on August 29, catastrophic failure occurred on the Orleans side of the 17th Street Canal when the levee supporting the steel and concrete flood wall slid sideways–trees and all–on top of the organic and slippery soil remnants of an ancient bayou.
The breach of the 17th Street Canal has been called, "the single most disastrous failure site for the Corps" in terms of the damage that this single breach caused and the death it inflicted. In addition to flooding Lakeview, it flooded the region of the city with the most people, property and infrastructure, including the Central Business District.
Post-Katrina investigators observed that there was some minor movement of the flood walls on the Jefferson Parish side. But these levees were in better shape mainly due to the existence of more earth and of a paved road making the area more compact and stable.
In January of 2008, Federal Judge Stanwood Duval of the US District Court for Eastern Louisiana held the US Army Corps of Engineers responsible for defects in the design of the concrete flood walls constructed in the levees of the 17th Street Canal; however, the agency could not be held financially liable due to sovereign immunity provided by the Flood Control Act of 1928.
Post-Katrina, the Army Corps has strengthened and enhanced the reliability of the levees and flood walls of the 17th Street Canal in the following ways: 1) gates with massive pump stations have been installed at the canal's mouth to Lake Pontchartrain; 2) the Army Corps has designated a "safe water" level in the canals which is lower than the height of the canal wall; 3) the levees have been strengthened by mixing soil with cement and pumping the slurry back into the levees; and 4) relief walls that act as "warning gauges" have been installed.
Before the 2005 Flood, the adjacent area to the breach site of the London Avenue Canal was a thriving, mixed neighborhood of white and African-American, middle-class homeowners. Oak, pine, cypress and pecan trees grew throughout the neighborhood and also at the base of the canal's levee. Today, the adjacent land is largely vacant of homes, buildings and trees. The flood wall at the repaired breach site now consists of a different, sturdier design called a T-wall. Three times more expensive to build, one can easily see the difference in the walls because of the different texture and color.
Since raising the heights of the walls was three times more expensive than the gates plan, the Corps recommended the latter in keeping with its congressional mandate to choose plans with the most favorable cost-benefit ratios.
Meanwhile, the Orleans Levee Board (OLB) and the Sewerage and Water Board (S&WB) had several concerns, but they mainly feared that the cheaper gates-only plan was incompatible with their interior drainage responsibilities. So, in 1991, the OLB and the SW&B asked their state congressional delegation to pressure Congress for the more expensive "higher walls" plan. The lobbying effort worked, and the Army Corps was ordered to raise the heights of the canal walls. Pressure from the Louisiana delegation succeeded while the Army Corps ignored local levee boards.
On August 29, 2005, at about 9:00 a.m, to your immediate left, several concrete levee monoliths (30-foot long section of flood wall) failed, sending torrents of water and sand into the adjacent neighborhood. The home that once stood on this lot was picked up, rotated nearly 180 degrees, carried 100 feet and deposited in the middle of Warrington Drive (to your right). In the photo below, the white spot in the water (left and upward from photo center) is natural gas bubbling to the surface from the gas line that once fed the house at 5000 Warrington Drive.
Note the address over the door below is '5000' which is succinct proof this house once stood in front of the breach site.
Storm surge water poured through the gap, killing hundreds (directly and indirectly), destroying homes for as far as the eye could see and costing millions in property damage. The floodwaters affected more than a dozen residential neighborhoods in Gentilly.
At failure, the water level in the canal was about 2.5 feet lower than the top of the wall and represented about 50 percent of the design load it was designed to hold.
Post-disaster studies conclude that steel sheet pilings were driven to depths that were too shallow. Tragically, in recommending the I-walls with such short sheet pilings, the Corps made a recurring mistake and relied upon its poorly executed and misinterpreted study conducted near Morgan City in 1988. Again, at a savings of $100,000,000, the Corps wrongly concluded it could drive the steel pilings of the London Avenue Canal to depths of not more than 17 feet instead of between 31 and 46.
Also critical to the failure mechanism was that the Army Corps, in designing the flood walls, did not take into account a 50-foot thick sand layer, just below the soil. This very permeable soil allowed seepage under the levee that resulted in a blowout and collapse of the flood wall. TEAM LOUISIANA, in their forensic study, determined that this oversight meant the levees' factor of safety was only 50 percent.
The London Avenue Canal was doomed to fail when storm surge entered it. Sand, lots of it, can be seen in this photo below. The home formerly at 5000 Warrington is in the middle of the photo.
According to the Corps-sponsored Interagency Performance Evaluation Task force, the catastrophic breaches of the London Avenue drainage outfall canal represented a failure of the system to meet design objectives; a conclusion also reached by the ILIT and TEAM LOUISIANA forensic investigation teams.
In January 2008, Federal Judge Stanwood Duval of the US District Court for Eastern Louisiana held the US Army Corps of Engineers responsible for defects in the design of the concrete flood walls constructed in the levees of the London Avenue Canal; however, the agency could not be held financially liable due to sovereign immunity provided in the Flood Control Act of 1928.
Post-Katrina, the Army Corps has strengthened and enhanced the reliability of the levees and flood walls of the London Avenue Canal in the following ways: 1) gates with massive pump stations have been installed at the canal's mouth to Lake Pontchartrain, 2) the Army Corps has determined a "safe water" level in the canals which is lower than the height of the canal wall, 3) steel sheet pilings were driven to deeper depths, and 4) relief walls that act as "warning gauges" have been installed.
At about 8:00 a.m., a concrete levee monolith (30-foot long section of flood wall) failed near Robert E. Lee Boulevard, directly flooding the Lake Vista neighborhood of New Orleans, a primarily white, middle-class neighborhood. The water also flooded Bayou St. John and Mid City.
One block from the breach site, on Charlotte Drive, an elderly couple named Harvey and Renee Miller did not hear the flood wall breaching two blocks away, but Renee was the first to notice dark spots on the wall-to-wall carpeting. Water was coming up through the first floor, which was 10 feet above the ground.
About an hour earlier, three-quarters of a mile south of this breach, the canal wall had also failed for similar mechanical reasons. Incredibly, the canal walls had failed on both sides of the London Avenue Canal. This is a remarkable testament to the weakness of the flood walls.
Two days later, Harvey and Rene and their dog were rescued by boat and then all of them were separated by hundreds of miles in the evacuation process. They were all joyfully reunited on Friday and on Monday September 5, they moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and never returned.
The area now known as the historic Lower Ninth Ward mostly sits on Mississippi River levee material. In the mid-1800's, working-class African Americans and immigrant laborers from Ireland, Germany, and Italy seeking affordable housing migrated to the area. In this rural setting, residents enjoyed ready access to fishing grounds and grew okra and other vegetables. The Ninth Ward was born In 1852 when three municipalities joined to create the modern city of New Orleans. The Ninth Ward grew into a unique neighborhood with intergenerational and familial relationships across decades.
In 1923, a 5.5 mile long Industrial Canal (Inner Harbor Navigation Canal) opened, connecting Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River. Equipped with a massive lock, the canal allowed large cargo ships and barges access to river wharves. The canal is 30 feet deep and 300 feet wide at its lake end and about 150 feet at its lock end. The Industrial Canal separated eastern New Orleans from the rest of the city and split the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood away from the Upper 9th Ward.
In September 1965, Hurricane Betsy pushed storm surge into the Industrial Canal and the east side canal levee breached in the same general area where it would breach again 40 years later during Hurricane Katrina. In 1965, eighty percent of the Lower Ninth Ward area went under water. The city reported an official count of eighty-one deaths. Up until the devastation in 2005, the Lower Ninth Ward retained its heterogeneous population, including socio-economically disadvantaged and middle class residents, predominantly African Americans. Fats Domino—often credited with releasing the first rock 'n' roll record—was born and raised here. He almost died in the 2005 levee Flood.
Immediately preceding Katrina, the area in front of the east breaches of the Industrial Canal was a dense, thriving neighborhood of primarily African-American, lower- to middle-class homeowners. Houses in this neighborhood were built right up to the canal levee and were shaded by huge oaks, cypresses and pecans.
On August 29, 2005, at about 4:30 a.m., water blew out a sandbag plug where the CSX Railroad crosses the northern arm of the canal on the west side, starting to flood New Orleans East subdivisions. (A gate was missing because it had been damaged by a train derailment and was still under repair.) About 30 minutes later, a larger breach developed south of the railroad crossing, also on the west side, near the Florida Avenue Bridge. This major breach flooded the eastern part of Orleans Metro, south of the Metairie Ridge.
At about 7:30 a.m., the east side of the Industrial Canal breached when the Army Corps' lock gauge was reading about 12.5 feet. The overtopping of the canal wall, built four feet too low, had scoured a trench behind the wall, causing failure.
Many Lower Ninth Ward residents reported hearing an explosion.
Three blocks away, storm surge chased Robert Green, his brother-in-law, Jonathan, and five helpless people to their attic: his 73-year-old, Parkinson's-stricken mother, Joyce; his 60-year- old, mentally retarded cousin; and three tiny granddaughters – Shaniya, age two, Shanai and Shamiya, four. Joyce and Shanai would not survive after the house floated a city block and broke up against a tree at 1617 Tennessee Street. Little Shanai was buried on November 19, and Joyce Green on January 14, 2006.
because the Army Corps did not understand survey data and used the wrong base elevation. Within the hour, a section of the I-wall just south of the blue-painted Florida Avenue Bridge breached not far from a Sewerage and Water Board pump station. Experts disagree over the cause and time of this much smaller breach, but in the end the issue was moot. Floodwaters from both breaches combined and submerged the entire Lower Ninth Ward with between 6 and 12 feet of water, killing hundreds directly or indirectly, and destroying homes and infrastructure.
The water from the two east breaches of the Industrial Canal also flowed into the cities of Arabi and Chalmette in adjacent St. Bernard Parish. Floodwaters from two breaches on the western side of the Industrial Canal combined with floodwaters released from the 17th Street and London Avenue Canals to flood most of New Orleans' main basin, the portion of the city with the most people, property and infrastructure.
The barge became an icon after the storm, illustrating the violent flooding. When the area re-flooded during Hurricane Rita on Sept. 23, the barge refloated and was deposited on top of a school bus.
The Industrial Canal breached in two locations on the west side due to overtopping and erosion. The locations directly affected were commercial; however, the flooding extended to nearby residential neighborhoods, including the Upper Ninth Ward, Pontchartrain Park, Gentilly Woods, St. Claude Avenue, St. Roch Avenue and more.
Post-Katrina studies concluded that the southeast I-wall and the northwest I-wall were overtopped by floodwaters–a situation that was exacerbated by the surge-amplifying "funnel" created by levees along the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, both deep-water navigation channels. This funnel phenomenon was first predicted 50 years ago by Kenneth J. LeSieur, chair of a citizens' committee on flood control. In a report, the group observed that the Army Corps' proposal for a levee along the south shore of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet and along the north shore of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway would form a funnel, channeling all hurricane surges and wind-driven water into the Industrial Canal. Even in 1965, this probability was recognized as a critical and fundamental flaw. This phenomenon was also highlighted by the LSU Hurricane Center, starting about five years before Katrina arrived. But the Army Corps always denied that there was any funnel effect. In 1973, Corps Commander H. Lee Butler while working at the Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, believed that the models predicting it must have been flawed.
Failures occurred when the water level was estimated to be 1.7 feet above the tops of the flood walls and levees. Out of the 50 estimated levee breaches system-wide, the majority can be attributed to overtopping and erosion. In other words, as the water overtopped the flood walls, it caused waterfalls that resulted in erosion of the earthen levees. The sheet piles, which were far too short, were insufficient to hold up the flood walls. Once the soil levees on the landward side were scoured to a depth of about three feet, the flood walls collapsed, initiating catastrophic flooding.
Today, the adjacent land of the Lower Ninth Ward is largely vacant of homes and buildings. Many foundations or slabs where homes once stood are all that remain. All trees have been removed either due to the initial flooding or removal by governmental agencies post-Katrina. An exception is the Make It Right project, spearheaded by actor Brad Pitt. A majority of the 150 homes planned to be built by the Lower Ninth Ward breach site have been completed.
Below are before and after photos of 1825 Forstall Street, four city blocks from the breach site. Note the tidy yards, the density and the mature pecan in the background. Afterward, note the devastation and that the pecan is gone. Such deforestation changed the texture of neighborhoods here and throughout the city.
Post-Katrina, the Army Corps has strengthened and enhanced the reliability of the levees and flood walls of the Industrial Canal in the following ways: 1) a gate, called the Seabrook gate, has been installed at the canal's mouth to Lake Pontchartrain; 2) the levees have been strengthened by mixing soil with cement and pumping the slurry back into the levees; and 3) relief walls that act as "warning gauges" have been installed.
Most importantly, the Army Corps–at a cost of $1.1 billion–has built a storm surge barrier near the confluence of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) and MR-GO. Called the Lake Borgne Surge Barrier, it's more than a mile long, has two 150-foot-wide navigable floodgates on the GIWW and a 56-foot-wide gate on Bayou Bienvenue. With the Seabrook gates, the barrier is designed to keep storm surge from entering the Industrial Canal.
The residential region known locally as "New Orleans East" was flooded during Katrina mainly due to multiple breaches in the levee along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW). Eighty percent of the neighborhood–primarily middle- to upper-class, African-American homeowners–was flooded by more than six feet of water; almost half the region sustained more than eight feet. The flooding did enormous damage to the neighborhoods of Pines Village, Little Woods, Plum Orchard, Read Blvd East and West, Village de l'Est, Venetian Isles and Lake Catherine.
Levees breached along the GIWW for different reasons than the other major breaches in New Orleans. But first a little history.
In the early 1900s, this region was mainly wetlands and cypress swamp snaked with natural bayous. There was little development, with the exception of the long, narrow ridge of higher ground along Gentilly Road. This followed the natural levee of an old bayou and the higher ground along Lake Pontchartrain. After Hurricane Betsy in 1965, Congress ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to be in charge of designing and building the hurricane protection for the greater New Orleans region. As you can see in the Authorized Plan of Protection, this included building new levees along the lakefront, levee enlargement along the GIWW and a flood wall along the Industrial Canal.
The region saw rapid growth in the 1960s and 1970s. Many new subdivisions were developed to cater to those who preferred a more suburban lifestyle but were open to remaining within the city limits of New Orleans. Historians question why the area farthest east was developed, since it was viable wetlands and because ringing this region with levees did nothing significant toward protecting the city. What expansion accomplished was to increase the amount of land that could be developed, and it was a reason for the Army Corps to expand the size of its project.
Eastern New Orleans flooded during Hurricane Katrina for two reasons. One reason was because portions of the levees along the GIWW were filled with sand or erodible materials instead of good, thick Louisiana clay. This can only be explained by lax quality control on the part of the Army Corps of Engineers and/or their contractors during the building phase. A second reason the region flooded badly was the "funnel effect" discussed in depth in the "Industrial Canal Breach" section.
After Katrina, the breached parts were repaired with more suitable materials, and the earthen side levees were also armored with a combination of grass and riprap.
St. Bernard Parish, located downriver from New Orleans, and geographically southeast of the city, is home primarily to white, lower- to middle-class homeowners. Virtually 100 percent of St. Bernard Parish went underwater during Hurricane Katrina.
The region, built along the naturally high ground along the Mississippi River, flooded in August 2005, mainly due to the Army Corps of Engineers' inadequate maintenance of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, a little-used navigation channel.
A little history: In 1940, New Orleans leaders dreamed of a navigation canal that flowed all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, making the city a "real" seaport. The intention was that this canal would shorten the distance from New Orleans to the Gulf from 120 miles to roughly 75 miles. The Army Corps predicted that the outlet would add $1.45 to the economy for each $1 of taxpayer money spent for its construction. Ultimately the project was approved and built by the Corps.
The MR-GO, which has been called as "straight as an engineer's ruler," begins just east of Interstate-510's crossing of the GIWW east of New Orleans and takes a path south-southeast through the St. Bernard Parish wetlands just west of Lake Borgne to the Gulf of Mexico. On the day it opened in 1965, MR-GO was already nearly obsolete because it was too narrow and too shallow to provide for larger vessels. (The advantage of water transportation is greatest when cargo is the heaviest.) Furthermore, the straight design and lack of outward flow into the Gulf allowed the MR-GO to become "the perfect shortcut for salt-water intrusion," which destroyed storm surge-buffering cypress forests and freshwater wetlands. Historically they had protected Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes during hurricane passages.
The channel was designed to have a surface width of 625 feet, bottom width of 500 feet and a 36-foot depth. But the Louisiana Ecosystem Restoration Study by the Army Corps in late year 2004 calculated that the ship traffic had caused the north bank of the channel to erode at a rate of 35 feet per year, leading to "the direct loss of approximately 100 acres of shoreline brackish marsh every year and the additional losses of interior wetlands and shallow ponds." When Katrina arrived, the channel was up to 3,000 feet wide, a width that allowed waves up to nine feet on the MR-GO's surface. These waves destroyed the levees, many even before the maximum surge had approached this location.
During Katrina, surge from the MR-GO and Lake Borgne rushed over the banks of the MR-GO, resulting in catastrophic flooding. The water advanced to St. Bernard Parish's second line of defense, easily overtopping the 40-Arpent Canal's levee and filling the entire parish with water to a height of 11.5 feet above sea level.
There was only one trial resulting from deaths related to the 2005 Flood–the trial of nursing home owners Sal and Mabel Mangano, charged with negligent homicide in the deaths of 35 elderly residents who perished in the quickly rising floodwater in the city of Violet. The couple had sheltered in place with the elderly residents, along with their extended family including two young grandsons, over concerns that the frail residents could not survive an evacuation. Besides, they reasoned, the area did not flood during Hurricane Betsy in 1965. To their shock, the nursing home flooded in minutes and the Mangano's and their relatives struggled to save their charges.
The trial captivated the attention of the entire nation. On September 8, 2007, the jurors acquitted the Manganos largely because they were the only humans being blamed in the entire tragic episode of Hurricane Katrina and the levee breaches.
According to Dr. Ivor van Heerden, leader of TEAM LOUISIANA, who testified at the trial, one very important reason for acquittal was that the trial strongly showed that the Corps was at fault for the flooding and deaths.
In June 2008, the Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District submitted a Deep-Draft De-authorization Study of the MR-GO that stated, "An economic evaluation of channel navigation use does not demonstrate a Federal interest in continued operation and maintenance of the channel." Congress ordered the MRGO closed as a direct result.
information to the public of the risks of living near levees.
public awareness and comprehension of flood hazards and risk.
In September 2007, the Corps of Engineers drafted and later issued new guidelines for inspecting and certifying federal levees, in Engineer Circular 1110-2-6067. The new guidelines stated there would no longer be grandfathering, exemptions and/or partial certifications. There must be a full and complete engineering analysis with a field inspection. Levee inspections were made more uniform across the nation to ensure compliance and now are required quarterly instead of annually.
risk assessments, a rigorous data intensive effort every ten years.
Congress also passed legislation impacting how the Army Corps of Engineers handles feasibility studies for levee improvements. The McCain-Feingold Corps Reform Amendment to the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 was passed by a narrow margin of 54-46 by the 109th Congress – 2nd Session. The law established clear triggers for review of costly (over $40 million) or controversial feasibility studies by an independent panel, gave panel members discretion to review whatever they deemed significant and imposed pressure to encourage the Corps to consider outside recommendations.
Working with the nation's civil engineers, the Corps used the information gleaned from forensic investigations into levee and wall failures to rewrite the manuals used to build new structures worldwide, including incorporating a modern understanding of the risk of future hurricanes combined with the expected effects of global warming on sea-level rise in determining how high those structures should be built.
In addition to re-writing the standards for future levee-building, the Corps also took a hard look at I-walls nationwide and identified more than 50 I-wall levee projects with "potential performance concerns." The Corps took steps to help levee districts nationwide evaluate and identify projects that may have a risk of poor performance.
Fifty-five percent of the American population lives in counties protected by levees. The changes to levee building and the scrutiny of levees already built both occurred due to the levee breach event in New Orleans. The 2005 levee breach event, a turning point, had the end result of making the majority of the American people safer from flooding.
Before Katrina, five different levee districts operated as separate local sponsors for the federally-built flood protection in the greater New Orleans area. Soon after the levees broke in 2005, the presumption–made in haste in a complex environment–was that the commissioners of the OLB were not paying enough attention to flood protection and were therefore partly responsible for the flood disaster. So Congress, with relative speed, ordered the creation of a single state agency to be the local sponsor. Twelve million dollars for funding the federal levee investigation was withheld until this was done. In response, the state of Louisiana created the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), in act 8 of the First Extraordinary Session in 2005.
At about the same time, there was a separate local effort–spearheaded by the New Orleans Business Council–to pass legislation to create a new "super board" that would replace the five separate levee boards that governed the Greater New Orleans region. The legislation was intended to (1) remove distractions such as real estate management; (2) replace parochial flood control with regional flood control; and (3) require commissioners to have professional expertise, including hydrology, construction engineering and civil engineering.
Although a direct causal link between the actions of the pre-Katrina Orleans Levee Board and the breaching of the outfall drainage canals or other levees has not been established, few would disagree that a new form of levee board governance might be both necessary and beneficial for a major marine terminal like Greater New Orleans. In 2006, more than 80 percent of Louisiana residents who voted expressed their desire to enact legislation creating an empowered super-board. Ultimately, two levee board authorities were created, each of which had jurisdiction on opposite sides of the Mississippi River.
The historic levee board legislation put Louisiana on the frontier of good governance, as it became the first state in the nation to legislate such requirements. But the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authorities East and West would soon discover that their authority was limited. On June 19, 2014, at a meeting of the Authority-East, acting president Stephen Estopinal (and board member for more seven years) described the SLFPA-East as the "authority with no authority" and proceeded to describe a litany of examples where the Army Corps of Engineers ignored the concerns of the board. Three months later, John Barry would echo these sentiments in an interview with the New York Times magazine. Time will tell if the popular new form of levee board governance will play a meaningful role in keeping New Orleans' residents safe from harm.
Numerous class action lawsuits were filed against the Army Corps of Engineers after Katrina. These were consolidated by federal Judge Stanwood Duval into two separate cases. The MR-GO (Mississippi River Gulf Outlet) lawsuit alleged that the Corps was negligent in its maintenance of the 76-mile shipping channel constructed by the agency in the mid-20th century. The suit alleged that the channel's design and lack of outward flow into the Gulf allowed for salt-water intrusion, which damaged buffering cypress forests and wetlands that historically had protected New Orleans from storm surge. The MR-GO case included residents from the areas east of the Industrial Canal: New Orleans East, the Lower Ninth Ward, St. Bernard Parish and portions of the Upper Ninth Ward.
In September 2009, Judge Duval approved a $5 million settlement of a federal class-action lawsuit against the Orleans Levee District (OLD). It is instructive to note, however, that in a case such as this where the settlement money comes from insurance resulting from policies the OLD held on the levees, a settlement should not be considered evidence of wrongdoing. Insurance companies have a risk of being found in bad faith for refusing a bona fide settlement offer within or at policy limits. Explained more simply, if an insurer refuses to pay a proposed settlement, they could potentially become liable for the full amount of any future settlement or a judgment even if it exceeds their policy limits. The total damages claimed by the plaintiffs for the levee and flood wall failures were many billions of dollars. In this case, the insurer had the choice to pay $5 million or roll the dice and possibly end up bankrupt. The settlement reflects a legal strategy on the part of both defendants and plaintiffs.
In November 2009, Duval ruled that the Corps' mismanagement of maintenance at the MR-GO was directly responsible for flood damage in St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward after Katrina. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in March of 2012 that Duval was correct in his groundbreaking decision; however, the same panel reversed its own decision six months later. The Corps was immune from damages because of a provision governing suits against the federal government that protects an agency when it makes a discretionary decision. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal.
Judge Duval dismissed the case, which has not been appealed.
After Katrina, news stories reported that, "Annual levee inspections in Orleans Parish tended to be quick drive-by affairs ending with lunch for 40-60 people costing the state as much as $900." This is true, but the same reports went on to suggest that the haphazard inspections might have contributed to the catastrophic flooding and that the Orleans Levee District might be partly responsible. Neither suggestion was ultimately borne out by the facts.
There may have been confusion regarding the definition of the word "inspection." Pre-Katrina, the Army Corps was required to administer annual levee inspections of maintenance of federally built, flood protection works in Orleans Parish. These were termed "Inspections of Completed Works," and were designed to ensure that the Orleans Levee District was complying with its federally mandated levee maintenance. The responsibility of the OLD was, and still is, mainly cutting the grass on levee embankments, removing unwanted vegetation and debris, and visually judging the surface manifestations of under seepage (most commonly associated with high flow conditions, during hurricanes and floods). The OLD also performed informal year-round "inspections" including, but not limited to, checking concrete surfaces on flood walls for open cracks and inspecting for ruts, depressions and erosion of their earthen levees.
There appears to be no evidence that improper maintenance on the part of the Orleans Levee District played a role in the failure of the 17th Street and London Avenue Canals. The inspections were considered of such minimal significance that the federally appointed authors of the "Decision-Making Chronology for the Lake Pontchartrain & Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project" (March 2008) relegated its discussion of them to appended text boxes. The reported pre-flood "drive-by levee inspections" are, therefore, irrelevant to questions of what caused the Flood.
Between 1970 and 1975, the Corps developed a plan for sea gates for the region east of New Orleans that would prevent storm surge from flowing through Lake Borgne and into Lake Pontchartrain through two narrow channels at the Rigolets and Chef Menteur passes. The massive gates had embankment footprints up to 2,000 feet wide. Referred to as the Barrier Plan, it included a series of levees along the Pontchartrain lakefront and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, a navigable inland waterway. The gates would have allowed water to flow back and forth between the lakes, but would have been closed in advance of a hurricane. Note structures in map below depicted in green.
A group led by Luke Fontana filed lawsuit against the Barrier Plan in 1976 over the Corps' cursory Environmental Impact Study (EIS). In Save our Wetlands vs. Rush, the plaintiffs claimed the Corps' EIS did not meet the requirements of Section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a federal law enacted in 1969.
In March 1978, the court lifted the injunction for all project elements except the barrier structures at Chef Menteur Pass, the Rigolets, and the Seabrook lock at the mouth of the IHNC. Ultimately, however, the Corps did not return with a more comprehensive EIS. In 1980, it completed a Draft Analysis of Alternative Plans, which concluded that higher levees providing hurricane protection were less costly, less damaging to the environment and also more acceptable to local interests.
Immediately after Katrina, the Corps' abandonment of the Barrier Plan became the subject of politicians and journalists who alleged that environmentalists had blocked the Corps' original plans for barrier structures and forced the agency to choose an alternate and inferior design that could not protect the city. The Barrier Plan was "stopped in its tracks," claimed a Los Angeles Times, front-page news story.
There appears to be no documented evidence in the project record or any other indication that reveals that the Corps believed its switch from the Barrier Plan to the High Level Plan would increase the risk of flooding to New Orleans. In closing, as suggested by Kysar and McGarity, the initial belief that an environmental advocacy group doomed the city likely had its roots in hasty "hindsight analysis" made in the context of confusion immediately after Katrina.
The Orleans Avenue Canal's levees were raised the same way the 17th Street and London Avenue Canals, but they did not breach. This was due, in part, to the presence of an unintended 100-foot long "spillway," a section of wall significantly lower than the adjacent newer flood walls by Pump Station No. 7.
Immediately post-Katrina, the Orleans Levee Board took much criticism for the presence of this spillway located where eventual flood wall (I-wall) construction would require coordinated efforts between the OLB, the Sewerage & Water Board, the Department of Transportation & Development and, possibly, the Federal Highway Administration. Since this matter had not been resolved at the time of Hurricane Katrina's arrival, floodwaters simply poured through the open gap, causing flooding to the city's major public green space, adjacent City Park. This also served to partially relieve water levels within the canal.
In the photo below, it's clear that the gap was significant at the Orleans Avenue Canal.
This inadvertent "spillway" (gap in the I-wall) was located under a viaduct carrying Interstate-610, where the top of the existing earthen levee crest lay approximately 5 to 6 feet below the tops of the adjacent concrete flood walls. Constructing a flood wall across this gap would involve driving steel sheet piling, in short segments, and splicing the short segments together under the freeway viaduct, all in accordance with state and federal transportation regulations. Completion of the flood wall would also have likely caused the brick walls of the old pump station to fail unless they had been significantly reinforced.
Had the canal walls of the 17th Street Canal and the London Avenue Canal not breached, this spillway could have allowed overtopping for several hours, resulting in significant, though not catastrophic, flooding. The OLB took much heat for this, even though responsibility was shared by at least three different organizations. In the end, of course, the failures of the 17th Street and London Avenue Canals made this issue moot.
In the post-Flood environment of shock and confusion, a fairy tale took flight about a monster storm drowning a corrupted city that lay below sea level. A second story, repeated for years, was that the Army Corps was hamstrung by a politically connected levee board that "forced" the agency to build the inferior system that failed in August 2005. This exhibit separates the real from the fairy tale.
By 1981, the Army Corps began working out the engineering details to protect New Orleans from storm surges that could enter the city's three main drainage canals–the 17th Street, London Avenue and Orleans Avenue Canals. This was necessary because the new, post-Hurricane Betsy design water levels were higher than most of the canals' crests. The Corps eventually narrowed its recommendations to the two most cost-effective, which were 1) raising the height of the canals flood walls (parallel protection) or 2) installing gates at the canal mouths (frontage protection).
The Corps presented both plans, which it apparently considered equally effective, to the local sponsor (Orleans Levee Board). Meeting minutes from January 1988 to December 1991–critical years in the decision making–reveal that there were many additional meetings, entitled "Special Meetings," devoted solely to discussions of flood protection. The voluminous meeting minutes show that the Engineering Committee asked the Corps many detailed questions.
The minutes also reveal that the OLB and the S&WB (Sewerage and Water Board) shared concerns over the Corps' consideration of a prototype gate plan for self-actuating butterfly check valves, a gate plan which included no auxiliary pump stations like those constructed after Katrina. Both agencies viewed the gates-only plan as being incompatible with their interior drainage responsibilities and were concerned that when the gates were shut during a hurricane the pump stations would not be able to pump rainwater out of the city.
The OLB and the S&WB also questioned whether the untested prototype gates would always work properly during storms. The gates had already failed in a much-publicized model test attended by OLB members at the Corps' Waterways Experiment Station (WES) in Vicksburg. As noted by Jed Horne in Breach of Faith (2006), it was an embarrassing moment for the Corps.
Apparently believing that both plans were equally effective, cost became the preeminent factor in the Corps' consideration of "gates no pumps" versus "high walls" protection. The Corps considered it a congressional mandate to implement the least expensive alternative for providing the authorized project, assuming all of the choices to be adequately engineered.
Eventually, the Corps did recommend parallel protection for the 17th Street Canal. For reasons unique to this canal, there was no significant stated difference in the cost between the two approaches due to newly authorized sheet pile construction guidelines. Another reason noted in the project record was that the OLB and the S&WB preferred it.
However, for the much smaller capacity London and Orleans Avenue Canals, the Corps stood by its recommendation for the gates-no-pumps plan because it was significantly less expensive. The parallel protection plan was estimated in the 1980s to cost three times more than the gates plan for the London Avenue Canal and to cost five times more for the Orleans Avenue Canal.
In response, in 1988, the OLB began an aggressive push to find a way to convince the Corps to recommend the high walls plan for all three canals, not just the 17th Street. Then-OLB President Steven Medo hired a lobbyist named Bruce Feingerts to lead a legislative effort to push for getting the most federal aid participation possible to fund the parallel plan.
Working with the support of the S&WB and neighborhood groups, Feingerts lobbied the Louisiana congressional delegation for the parallel plan for the Orleans and London Avenue Canals. Feingerts worked with U.S Representatives Robert Livingston, Lindy Boggs, and William Jefferson, and with U.S. Senator J. Bennett Johnston, Jr. toward that end. Neither Feingerts nor any member of the OLB lobbied specifically against the frontage plan. Their stated concern was that the gates, if installed without auxiliary pump stations, could cause massive flooding due to rainwater overtopping the walls.
Significant progress was made when Feingerts suggested to members of the Louisiana delegation that, in conferencing, they insert a ruling or language into an engrossed amendment of the approved version of the 1990 WRDA. The language redefined the Orleans and London Avenue Canals as part of the Hurricane Protection Project, which were, therefore, now a federal responsibility. The 1990 WRDA was signed by President George Bush and passed into law. The OLB had succeeded in getting the authorization for a project that they believed would keep people safe, but which would also reduce how much those same people had to contribute to the cost. Authorization for the funding and cost share soon followed.
A local affiliate of NBC TV televised a news story with anchorwoman Leslie Hill of WDSU on May 30, 1991, featuring triumphant OLB members and proud legislators stating that the Congressional delegation has done an "end run" on the Corps by slipping funding into an appropriations bill that would save taxpayers nearly $50 million. Senator Johnston was quoted as saying, "This will be the last piece as far as the 150,000 people living in this area, to protect these people who otherwise would not really be protected." Not only was the superior project authorized in the opinions of the OLB Engineering Committee, but it was funded as well.
But the Corps had not been caught by surprise. As previously established, the Corps had (1) already recommended the parallel plan for the 17th Street Canal, (2) was aware that the OLB preferred the same approach for the other two drainage canals,and (3) was aware that the OLB was compensating a lawyer to go to Washington DC to lobby for the parallel plan alternative.
During Hurricane Katrina, the raised canal walls of the 17th Street and London Avenue Canals failed at 50 percent of design loads. What is evident is that the Corps, in a separate attempt to limit project costs, had initiated a sheet pile load test (E-99 test) in the Atchafalaya Basin of Louisiana in the 1980s, but had misinterpreted the results and concluded that sheet piles only needed to be driven to depths of not more than 17 feet instead of between 31 and 46 feet. That decision saved approximately $100 million, but significantly reduced the overall reliability of the flood walls during the 2005 storm.
With regard to both the Corps' initial recommendation to build the parallel plan for the 17th Street Canal, and to reduce the depths of the sheet pilings in the I-walls, there is no evidence that either the Corps or the OLB believed that risk would be significantly increased.
Contrary to popular perceptions, 50 percent of the city is at or well above sea level, according to an April 2007 report by Richard Campanella with the Center for Bioenvironmental Research.
The highest regions include the natural high ground along the Mississippi River created by flooding over thousands of years. Also on high ground are neighborhoods built atop and along "ridges" that are ancient former banks of rivers and/or bayous. A road, originally "Gentilly Road," was built on the ridge, and formed the eastern path into the oldest part of the city.
On the at-and-above sea level list are the New Orleans neighborhoods of greater Carrollton, River Bend, Audubon, University, Uptown, the Garden District, Lower Garden District, Irish Channel, the French Quarter, Treme, Bayou St. John, the Marigny, Bywater, Holy Cross, Algiers Point, McDonogh, Lakeshore, Lake Vista, Lake Terrace and Lake Oaks. Add to that the Warehouse and Central Business Districts, portions of the 6th and 7th wards, Central City and Mid-City as well as areas along Gentilly Boulevard and Chef Menteur Highway in eastern New Orleans and terrain along the Mississippi River in Algiers, City Park Avenue and the Fair Grounds area.
Mosaic is color-coded to show areas above sea level in brown fading to yellow then green. Areas below sea level are blue. with the lowest points in dark blue. The map above was created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration using LIDAR Light Detection and Ranging, a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth.
Possibly the most ingrained image from the days after Hurricane Katrina struck may be that of exhausted and desperate people at the New Orleans Superdome and Convention Center, trapped in the city after the levees broke. These searing images have resulted, naturally, in a belief that state and local officials were negligent in pre-arranging for evacuation of the city's residents before Katrina arrived. This is not completely true, and the explanation begins with the story of Hurricane Ivan one year before.
Ivan wasn't remembered for its ferocity, but rather the name became synonymous with state government incompetence. That was the very first year that the concept of contraflow was introduced in Louisiana. The basic idea behind contraflow is turning all lanes of the interstate and the Causeway Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain into one-way roads, with all lanes outbound from the city. The concept is simple and ingenious, but the devil is in the details. The maneuver requires pristine coordination between the different parish governments and the state police.
During that trial first year to evacuate residents for Ivan, contraflow was very limited due to state police concerns about the large number of staff required to close exits. Over half of New Orleans residents evacuated in advance of Ivan causing traffic delays of up to 12 hours, and up to 20 hours for those evacuating to Texas. Many turned around and went back home to watch Ivan sputter and weaken to a tropical storm.
Two days before Hurricane Katrina, one year later, appeals to evacuate were repeated over and over on radio and television, and continued throughout the day. Plaquemines and St. Charles Parishes, coastal parishes south of New Orleans, ordered mandatory evacuations, and Governor Blanco ordered contraflow to take effect. By 4 p.m. on Saturday, the state police had reversed all inbound lanes and full contraflow began.
Another key to contraflow is the phased evacuations 50 hours in advance in Louisiana's lowest-lying parishes like Plaquemines, and 30 hours in advance for the New Orleans metropolitan area. The improved contraflow resulted in only two-three hour delays. But were it not for the "dry run" of Hurricane Ivan in 2004, thousands might have abandoned their attempt to evacuate for the 2005 hurricane and instead turn around and gone back home.
In hindsight analysis, not nearly enough planning was directed toward those without a car, credit cards, road experience and a network of family and friends elsewhere. Many, especially the elderly, stayed to care for their pets and perished with them.
Despite these significant shortcomings, years later, it was unilaterally agreed upon that Hurricane Ivan saved a lot of lives because the September 2004 storm exposed a contraflow plan badly in need of revision. Furthermore, Governor Blanco's evacuation of 93 percent of the New Orleans region in August 2005 using contraflow would be cited as the most successful rapid evacuation of a major city in American history.


Shop with the excellent LK Performance promo codes & offers at a discount price.
Save up to 15% on fantastic items LK Performance. Discover your favorite LK Performance Voucher Codes through 4 live and hot LK Performance coupon codes and deals. It's the best time for you to save your money with LK Performance.
What is today's top offer for LK Performance?
Today's top offer is ' LK Performance Discount Code: Suspension Kit For Audi A2 From £459.60'. Find the offer, click on it and follow the link to the offer page at lkperformance.co.uk.


text:
10 Symptoms of PTSD Everyone Should Know
By Amanda Gardner
Flashbacks and nightmares are common, but there are lesser-known signs of post-traumatic stress disorder to watch for too.
The concept of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been with us for centuries but has had many names. It was "shell shock" and "battle fatigue" before it was PTSD and is now known to affect not just military veterans but anyone who has gone through an intense traumatic experience. In fact, about one in 11 people will have PTSD in their lifetime, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
While anxiety symptoms are a huge part of PTSD, they're not the whole picture. People with PTSD often suffer from depression, negative thoughts, and impulsive or self-destructive behavior as well.
PTSD also has its own treatments, which is why it's important to get the right diagnosis.
"With proper treatment, veterans and all Americans can lead happy, whole, healthy lives with PTSD," says Emily Blair, manager of military and veterans' policy at the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Here are the signs and symptoms to watch for.
RELATED: 12 Signs You May Have an Anxiety Disorder
Experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event
Thomas Cristofoletti/Getty Images
PTSD can strike anyone who has gone through a life-threatening event. That means not just war, but sexual assault, natural disasters like earthquakes or hurricanes, mass shootings, motor vehicle accidents, and more.
"There has to be exposure to some sort of very extreme type of horrible event," says Jack Nitschke, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. "Something has to happen in the external world."
Not everyone who has gone through trauma will develop PTSD. Alternately, for some people, learning about violence or tragedy that happened to someone else–like the murder of a family member or friend–can lead to the disorder.
RELATED: 7 Things You Should Never Say to Someone With PTSD
Thomas Barwick/Getty Images
Flashbacks and unwanted, intrusive memories are known as "re-experiencing symptoms," which can make a trauma survivor feel like they are reliving the traumatic event. Smells, sights, and sounds–like a car backfiring, the whirring of a helicopter, or a news report–can all trigger flashbacks.
"Those [triggers] go to the deep part of your brain. Your instincts take over," says Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, MD, MPH, a retired military psychiatrist.
RELATED: How to Tell if You Have Normal Post-Traumatic Stress or Something More Serious
GARO/PHANIE/Getty Images
Flashbacks are among the best-known symptoms of PTSD but nightmares–one of many reasons people with PTSD often have poor sleep–are actually more common. Nightmares or upsetting dreams about the traumatic event are also considered re-experiencing symptoms, since they can make people with PTSD feel like they are back in the time and place of their trauma. Nightmares and other re-experiencing symptoms can sometimes be triggered by a person's own thoughts or certain words.
RELATED: 5 Signs You Could Have a Sleep Disorder
Avoiding people, places, or things
Kate Alexand/Getty Images
Many people with PTSD go out of their way to avoid anything that reminds them of the original trauma or could be a trigger. For example, someone with PTSD might stop driving after a car accident or avoid watching movies about hurricanes if they've been through one.
This avoidance can become broader than a specific person or setting, says Nitschke. "If someone has been a victim of sexual assault, not only do they avoid that person who might still be at their university, but they might avoid men altogether, avoid going to classes," he says. "They become immobilized."
In some cases, avoidance takes the form of emotional numbing. Some people with PTSD might refuse to think or talk about the trauma, instead finding distractions in activities or alcohol or drugs, according to the American Psychological Association.
RELATED: How Surviving Trauma Helped Me Find the Love of My Life
Being constantly on the lookout for threats
PBNJ Productions/Getty Images
This PTSD symptom is called hypervigilance. "You're scanning the environment all the time," says Dr. Ritchie, or on high alert constantly.
That might mean always sitting with your back to the wall in restaurants or lecture halls so you can see everyone and everything taking place in front of you. "They don't want anyone sneaking behind them," says Sonya Norman, PhD, director of the PTSD consultation program at the National Center for PTSD and psychiatry professor at the University of California San Diego. "They want to be ready to respond."
Like nightmares, this heightened awareness can contribute to sleep problems in people with PTSD. Falling asleep and staying asleep can be more difficult if any small noise or change wakes you up.
RELATED: The Most Common PTSD Triggers–and How to Manage Them
Getting startled easily
Todor Tsvetkov/Getty Images
This symptom, sometimes called hyperarousal, is closely related to hypervigilance. People with PTSD often have an exaggerated reaction when they're surprised or startled, especially if the intrusion–a sound, smell, noise, or sight–reminds them of the original trauma.
"Somebody comes up close behind you and you jump a mile," Nitschke explains. "Before the trauma, you wouldn't have. Hyperarousal can interfere with sleep and concentration, and it may also come out as outbursts of anger, he adds.
Startling easily is a distinctive feature of PTSD; it's not such a prominent symptom of other anxiety-related disorders.
RELATED: 3 Ways to Manage PTSD
Depression or irritability
JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty Images
Since 2013, the diagnostic criteria for PTSD have included mood-related symptoms like depression, anger, guilt, shame, and hopelessness about the future. "These aren't necessarily unique to PTSD, but I think there's a change after the trauma," says Norman. "Because of what they saw or what they did, or [because] they couldn't save the day, they feel a lot of guilt. It's very common to overestimate how much control they had and blame themselves."
Those emotions can lead to negative beliefs about yourself, like "It was my fault" or "If I hadn't taken that one drink," Nitschke says.
Soldiers may feel prepared for some of what they experience in war, but no one is "prepared" for a trauma like sexual assault. "[Sexual assault survivors] often feel very vulnerable and ashamed," says Dr. Ritchie. "They feel that they have contributed to it in some way."
RELATED: Evan Rachel Wood Says Sexual Assault Allegations in the News Are Making Her PTSD Worse—and She's Not Alone
PeopleImages/Getty Images
Not everyone with PTSD has chronic pain, and not everyone with chronic pain has PTSD, but the two conditions do overlap. Between 15% and 35% of people with chronic pain also have PTSD, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
"We don't fully understand the relationship," says Norman. "Having your stress level in 'turbo' nonstop might just wear down your body after a while."
The trauma itself can also cause pain: headaches from a brain injury, or back pain from a spinal injury, for example. But even removing physical causes from the equation, there does seem to be a higher level of chronic pain in people with PTSD than without. "This suggests that there [may be] some common neurobiological pathways," says Norman. "We don't know for sure."
RELATED: What Did 'Stranger Things 2' Get Right (and Wrong) About PTSD? Here's What an Expert Thinks
Feeling panicked
Martinan/Getty Images
In addition to pain, people with PTSD might experience other physical symptoms, like those of panic: Your heart races, you sweat, your blood pressure goes up, your muscles are tense. Some people get dizzy, develop blurry vision, or hear ringing in their ears. It's not that common, but some people with PTSD feel nauseous or even vomit in response to certain triggers, like a specific smell, says Norman.
Having PTSD is also linked with a higher risk of certain physical conditions down the line, including diabetes, heart disease (especially high blood pressure), and immune, digestive, and sleep disorders.
RELATED: Lady Gaga Is Clearing Up a Common Myth About PTSD
Symptoms that last longer than a month
When these symptoms last only a few weeks after trauma, it's usually called acute stress disorder or ASD. If the symptoms last more than a month, they're more likely to be PTSD. In both cases, medical problems, as well as drug or alcohol abuse, must be ruled out as underlying causes of these symptoms.
ASD often comes before PTSD, but not always. Symptoms of PTSD can appear immediately following a traumatic event, or they can appear weeks, months, or even years afterward. PTSD can also come and go. "In many people, you've got chronic symptoms that wax and wane," says Dr. Ritchie. "In some people, they go away and in others they stay bad." Anyone with symptoms that last longer than a month should talk to a doctor or mental health professional about what they're experiencing. Talk therapy, medications, or both can often help alleviate PTSD symptoms.
RELATED: Parkland School Shooting Survivor Dies By Suicide Due to 'Survivor's Guilt'
1 of 11 PTSD signs and symptoms
2 of 11 Experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event
3 of 11 Flashbacks
4 of 11 Nightmares
5 of 11 Avoiding people, places, or things
6 of 11 Being constantly on the lookout for threats
7 of 11 Getting startled easily
8 of 11 Depression or irritability
9 of 11 Chronic pain
10 of 11 Feeling panicked
11 of 11 Symptoms that last longer than a month

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


See the samsung un40mu7000 review, comparison, price history relaciones sin compromiso con mujeres and buyers opinions. we now have 57 ads for sony curved tv price 40 inch under electronics samsung k6379 101 cm (40 zoll) curved fernseher (full hd, triple tuner, smart tv): find great deals on ebay for 40 inch curved tv. check samsung curved led tv offers, deals. buy samsung un49k6250 curved 49-inch 1080p smart led tv (2016 model): samsung curved 40 inch – 23 results from brands samsung, products like samsung 48.5″ curved 4k uhd smart chat calico caractère led tv (2017 model) w/ tv cut the cord bundle. samsung curved tv price list compares price, features. 54 format: we now have 127 ads from 4 sites for samsung curved 40 inch led tv price in bangladesh, under electronics samsung curved 40 inch price samsung 40j6300 40 inch full hd smart curved led tv has 20 w speaker output which will produce the sound with high quality samsung led tv 40 inch price list in india of the most popular models along samsung curved 40 inch price with specifications, photos and more samsung ua40k6300aklxl 40 inch full hd curved led tv price in india is rs. 37521 updated on september 4, 2018 | compare prices, buy & shop. sony curved tv samsung curved 40 inch price price 40 inch. get set for samsung curved 40 inch tv at argos. sicher kaufen bei ebay! samsung 40 gente para compartir piso inch 40ku6300 ultra hd (4k) curved led smart tv mujeres de 25 desnudas lowest price starts from rs. priced competitively, it. invitaciones de despedida de soltera estilo vintage samsung 55ku6100 55 inch curved smart 4k ultra hd tv samsung curved 40 inch price w/ hdr. amazon.de: the j6300 is samsung's cheapest curved samsung curved 40 inch price tv for 2015, and the 40-inch model is an excellent choice for a single person or a couple. heimkino, tv & video bewertungen: pareja busca chico granada buy samsung 55mu6220 55 inch curved 4k uhd smart tv with hdr at argos.co.uk, visit argos.co.uk to shop online for televisions, televisions and accessories. energieklasse a samsung ju6670 40 inches curved tv price, … diese seite übersetzen www.sulekha.com/tv/samsung-ju6670-40-inches-curved-tv-prices-and samsung ju6670 40 inches curved tv tv – get samsung ju6670 40 inches curved tv tv specification, features, photos, reviews, latest coupons & offers.
We now have 57 samsung curved 40 inch price ads for sony curved tv price 40 inch under electronics samsung k6379 101 cm (40 zoll) curved fernseher (full hd, chicas dominicanas triple tuner, smart tv): check samsung ua40k6300aklxl led tv price, features, specs they put out to sea roger duvoisin & buy online samsung ku6179 101 cm (40 zoll) curved samsung curved 40 inch price fernseher (ultra hd, triple tuner, smart tv): whatsapp de chicas buenos aires amazon.de: heimkino, tv & video bewertungen: get set for samsung curved 40 inch tv at argos. fast track delivery and collection available. energieklasse a samsung ue40k6379suxzg 40 buscar pareja cristiana evangelica españa zoll curved fernseher | ebay https://www.ebay.de/p/samsung-ue40k6379suxzg-40-zoll-curved finden sie tolle angebote für samsung ue40k6379suxzg 40 zoll curved fernseher.


text:
Leading the way since 1933
Aubrey, our founder was the first butcher in Coventry to be granted a slaughter licence and we have been leaders of industry ever since. We were the first national catering butcher to offer a boutique butchery service and have won more awards than any other butchery company.
In a Coventry butchers shop where the ambitious Aubrey was determined to feed the city as well as he could throughout the 1930's and on into rationing. Aubrey continued to grow the business to seven retail shops in Coventry, passing the reins to son Peter in the 1970's.
Peter, a visionary, saw that food service would take off and invested in butchery training, bringing continental 'seam butchery' to the UK for the first time. This allowed Peter to purchase and utilise every part of the whole carcase and only select the best – a philosophy that holds strong today. We have been sustainable long before it became a buzz word!
Building on the family traditions
Peter's son Russell took over in 2012 and with the granting of the Royal Warrant, together with his chef background, a commitment to not only sourcing the very best ingredients but also improvement was born. Long synonomous with the best dry aging in the world (renowned meat scientist Prof. Chris Caulkins is quoted as saying Aubrey Allen dry aged beef is 'the best example of dry aging in the world') Russell has invested time and money into state of the art fridges and using science to bring you the best meat.
More Reasons to Love Us
OUR UNCONDITIONAL GUARANTEE
Leamington Spa Shop
Set in the heart of Leamington Spa, our tag line is 'More than just a Butcher', as the Food Hall resembles much more of a Parisienne traiteur than a traditional deli.
Trade And Wholesale
When a chef moves on, they move Aubrey Allen with them. When a chef becomes a chef owner, they insist on Aubrey Allen.


text:
import scrapy
import json
from locations.items import GeojsonPointItem

class TwentyFourHourFitnessSpider(scrapy.Spider):
    name = "24_hour_fitness"
    allowed_domains = ["www.24hourfitness.com"]
    start_urls = (
        'https://www.24hourfitness.com',
    )
    download_delay = 0.1

    def start_requests(self):
        url = 'https://www.24hourfitness.com/Website/ClubLocation/OpenClubs/'

        headers = {
            'Accept': 'application/json, text/javascript, */*; q=0.01',
            'Accept-Encoding': 'gzip, deflate, br',
            'Accept-Language': 'en-US,en;q=0.9',
            'Content-Type': 'application/json',
            'Host': 'www.24hourfitness.com',
            'Referer': 'https://www.24hourfitness.com/health_clubs/find-a-gym/',
            'X-Requested-With': 'XMLHttpRequest'
        }

        yield scrapy.http.Request(
            url,
            self.parse,
            method='GET',
            headers=headers,
        )

    def parse(self, response):
        result = json.loads(response.body_as_unicode())

        if 'clubs' in result.keys():
            for club in result.get('clubs'):

                ref = club.get('clubNumber')
                name = club.get('name')
                street = club.get('address').get('street')
                city = club.get('address').get('city')
                state = club.get('address').get('state')
                postalcode = club.get('address').get('zip')
                lat = club.get('coordinate').get('latitude')
                lon = club.get('coordinate').get('longitude')
                phone = club.get('phoneNumber')
                website = club.get('linkURL')

                properties = {
                    "ref": ref,
                    "name": name,
                    "street": street,
                    "city": city,
                    "state": state,
                    "postcode": postalcode,
                    "lat": lat,
                    "lon": lon,
                    "phone": phone,
                    "website": website
                }

                yield GeojsonPointItem(**properties)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Now it's Just a Typographical Memory
(This article first appeared in The Haven.)
"Howdy, pard!"
How does a guy from Brooklyn become a rootin, tootin' cowpoke who says things like 'Howdy, pard'? It all began when I put a spur in my upper case "G."
Yessiree, Bob. I didn't know that's what they called that little critter 'til I…Dagnab it. Imma gettin' ahead of myself.
I was presenting my PhD thesis on Geoffrey Chaucer, who wrote them there Canterbury Tales. That's some crazy-ass stories, I tell you what.
Anyhoo, I fancied-up the G in 'Geoffrey' on my first Powerpoint slide, when a voice from the back of the room screamed: "Look, there's a spur in the G." I had no idea what in tarnation they were hollerin' about. Another person yelled: "He must be a cowboy!" you know, because of the spur like what's on a boot and everything.
I knew they were right, so I packed my bags and headed West on the next stagecoach, which wasn't easy to find.
I drifted around a bit, with nobody really noticing my fancy-like G's until I got a job at an Arizona dude ranch rustlin' up grub for tourists. By and by, people came from all part just to see me write Gazpacho, Garden peas and Gherkins on the menu chalkboard.
One of the guests put me on this tiky-toky show and before you could say 'git along little doggie,' I was famous.
One day the big boss says "Forget menu boards. Go to California where they got billboards as big as the sky."
Pretty soon, I was the darling of Hollywood. My spurred G's were on billboards, movie marquees and even film and TV credit scrolls. Celebrities like Gilbert Gottfried and Gina Gershon asked me to write their names. Before you knew it, I was writing hundreds of G's and raking in the moolah. Others tried to out-G me but they fell one-by-one to the 'G-slinger' as TMZ dubbed me.
The mayor of Hollywood announced a name change to Gollywood, so I could add my special G to the sign when a young feller in the audience bellowed: "I hear tell that you think your upper case G's are really something, don't ya cowboy?"
Them young-uns is the worst. They think they're faster on the drawing, but they always end up with cramped fingers, spasms or worse: carpal tunnel syndrome.
I tried to laugh it off, but he kept a-comin,' calling me yellow-handed and such. The crowd egged him on, and there was nothing I could do but accept his challenge for the top G-spot.
"Tomorrow," I said. "High noon on the Hollywood Walk of Fame."
The next day, I spray painted the most exquisite upper case G ever seen on a sidewalk or graffitied wall. It covered almost a full block and the spur was like it had been formed by an angel.
The crowd cheered as I triumphantly tossed my empty can in the air.
My adversary stepped forward, double-flipped his spray can from his holster but instead of forming an upper case G he went lower case — a bold and risky gambit that nobody expected.
The ear had nary a kink as it thrust into the air beckoning the eye to follow. Instead of the usual fish hook tail, he produced a loop so cleverly done with thin and thick sections in just the right areas that it brought me to tears. And never in all my born days have I seen a link that so confidently joined top to bottom, a thread of Helvetica gossamer if there ever was one.
I knew I was bested and so did the onlookers who carried him on their shoulders to his pickup truck. Someone even validated his parking.
Everyone has their 15 minutes of fame and I had mine. I still sign autographs when someone on the street recognizes me, but truth be told I'm glad to be out of that racket.
In my quiet moments, I fiddle around with various serif designs, but I don't show them to anyone.
Posted in plotting
It's as Easy as 1,2,3
Photo by Damir Spanic on Unsplash
This story first appeared in The Haven
Hey, writer-person. Wanna be successful at writing non-fiction articles? Ask any pro and they will tell you about the always-works way to write non-fiction stories especially those "how to write" screeds that other writers can't seem to get enough of. You've seen this rubric before, no doubt, so let's get started!
1 — Tell people what you are going to tell them.
2 — Tell them.
3 — Tell them what you told them.
For example, in writing this instructive piece I am starting out explaining how I will tell you how to structure a non-fiction article. For purposes of this article, I am currently explaining what I will tell you. What is it that I'm trying to convey here? It's about how to write a non-fiction article, of course.
Okay, let that sink in until you fully understand it. Now, let's move on to the second section.
I am telling you what I said I would tell you. Please note carefully how I am going about this part of the 3-part structure. I am explaining what you are telling the reader about what you're telling them. Straightforward? You bet, but just a minute. Did you really tell the reader what you were going to tell them or did you go off on a tangent? Remember, it's all about fulfilling your promise.
Last, I am telling you what I just told you about writing a non-fiction article. I am re-explaining the 3-part structure so that it re-enforces your understanding of how to do this. This is the most important part: telling people what you told them so it sticks in their mind. In this case, I am telling you to repeat what you told them. It's what readers want and expect from a professional writer who abides by the 3-part structure.
What about the traditional 5-part structure for fiction? Good question. It's different.
Good luck, not that you'll need it.
(This story first appeared in The Haven)
Finally, I have reached my true calling. I am the world's most accomplished (and best loved) grave robber. I owe it all to the Japanese concept known as Ikigai.
As many of you know, Ikigai is a way to learn what you should be doing with your life. Let me show you how the four principles have helped to shape my blessed and awesome lifestyle of excavating those from the hereafter.
What you are good at. How could I not be good at something that I feel passionate about i.e., freeing a dead body from its earthly prison, giving it new life in a medical school, a necrophiliac's basement or placed in someone's bed to persuade them to do the 'right thing.' We all want to help others live in God's light, don't we? If I can be part of that then I'm totally on board.
I am so proficient at grave robbing that I even invented a special device to help expedite the process. I fastened a flashlight to my hat so both hands are free. Yes, I know that miners have been doing this for years, but I'm doing it overground.
What you love. I admit it. I'm a cadaver whore. The exhilaration of anticipating how far a corpse has rotted, watching the joyous maggots living their own peak lives (insects benefit from Ikigai, too) and the ghastly stench that propels me into cosmic consciousness are special gifts. It's like Christmas morning in the dead of night whenever I'm lifting carcasses. When I thrust the spade into soft earth it's like, dare I say it… sex. And when I feel that first shovel-tap on the casket…
What the world needs. Grave robbing has a long and cherished tradition in art and literature. (Mary Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein, yo.) Sadly, it's become a lost practice. I don't know what's with young people these days that they don't want to do this kind of work. They think it's beneath them or something to wear a top hat and torn slicker while skulking through graveyards. There's a growing movement to bring back artisan handicrafts like pickling, knitting, or making clothes from hemp. In a world full of digital this and virtual that, I am doing my part to promote old world, shovel-in-hand skills. You're welcome.
What you can get paid for. Are you kidding me? Do you know what a corpse goes for these days? A pretty penny, I tell you. I've got orders backed into next year. It's supply and demand, baby. With so many people wanting dead bodies and few of us offering this service, I have job security like you wouldn't believe.
You know how your parents were always telling you to have something to fall back on if your writing career didn't pan out. Grave robbing is the key to lifelong financial security. Career tip: Find a guy who buys rings and other jewelry items without asking too many questions. You make bank both ways. That's good biz in today's gig economy.
In conclusion, I know that grave robbing isn't right for everybody, but is it right for you? Keep digging (if you know what I mean) until you find your own calling through Ikigai.
Posted in plotting and tagged humor, ikigai, satire
(Wikimedia Commons)
(This story first appeared in Extra Newsfeed.)
Mahatma, "America's Favorite Rice," confirmed that it has delivered 200, 5-lb. bags of Enriched Extra Long Grain White Rice to FBI headquarters in Washington, DC to be used by investigators who retrieved thousands of waterlogged cell phones tossed into the Potomac River by rioters who threw them out of bus and car windows as they departed the nation's capital.
"They think they're so darn smart, discarding their phones from bridges so we couldn't trace their movements," said FBI spokesperson Stan Dashower. "We Googled how to get data from wet cell phones and it turns out that you let them sit in rice. Did you know that? Yeah, it soaks up the water."
The ploy was discovered when Texas-Republican Senator Ted Cruz's yacht Donny's Bitch ran aground under the 14th St. bridge after hitting a mountain of smartphones. Cruz would not comment, but the DC Harbor Patrol said they received a distress call at around 10 pm last night. When they arrived on scene, Cruz's wife Heidi was throttling the boat back and forth trying to dislodge it from the phone mountain as her husband yelled at her.
"Most of the phones were on the Consumer Cellular and Straight Talk networks," said Metro PD Captain Marcus Smolens. "We're not sure how important that fact is right now, but we're looking at all the evidence." Smolens noted that the police would be checking areas under the Key and Memorial Bridges as well.
"We are proud to play a role in helping law enforcement track and identify those who have caused loss of life and property in the Capitol building," said Mahatma's Senior Vice President, Marketing John (Jack) MacKeen. "As we all take a moment to reflect on the challenges facing our country, we want all law-abiding Americans to know that we also offer four varieties of boil-in-bag rice, including white rice, basmati rice, jasmine rice, and brown rice."
(This story first appeared in The Haven.)
With Twitter, Facebook and Instagram silencing President Trump and Shopify taking his products off their website, other companies are piling on.
Here is an updated list:
1 — Bed, Bath & Beyond will no longer mail 20 percent-off postcards to the White House.
2 — Domino's is limiting toppings to two and it cannot include meat.
3 — Subway will no longer allow Trump to choose between chips or a cookie. Whatever they have more of is what he will get.
4 — Micro Center will take back the president's free thumb drive coupon.
5 — Trump's AARP card, which offers discounts for Medicare supplemental plans, has been flagged.
6 — Prime Video will only allow viewing of trailers.
7 — Flo from Progressive has personally deleted Trump from the company's wall calendar mailing list.
8 — Trump has been banned from buying anything with bacon on it from Five Guys and Shake Shack.
9 — Poshmark will reject all clothing listings from Melania and her body double.
10 — A 'do not deliver' order has been instituted for J.C. Penney's Big Sexy Hair Spray and Play Harder.
But I Still Shouldn't Have Opened that Can of Worms
Image by Richard Duijnstee from Pixabay
This story was first published in The Haven
My friend Horace, well, he's not actually a friend, more of an acquaintance, handed me a can of worms and said not to open it.
"Why not?" I asked.
He looked at me like I had an extra head, which I often carry around to scare little kids, and said: "Because it's a can of worms, for god's sake. Everyone knows you're not supposed to open it."
Everyone but me. Apparently. But his admonition scared me enough that instead of opening the can, I set it aside and Googled: 'What to do with a can of worms.'
The answer came back strong and clear. 'Don't open it.'
I was directed to several web pages, one of which relayed the story of a woman named Pandora who was given a jar by Zeus. He was a big deal, king of the Gods, and then there was something about Prometheus stealing fire, yada, yada. Anyway, he warned Pandora not to open the jar, but she did anyway and released all the evils into the world. I wouldn't want that on my head for eternity. Not only that, but people on the web were arguing about how Pandora's Jar became Pandora's Box over centuries of retelling the story. It has to do with translating from Greek to English, but I became bored with the discussion and moved to the next site which offered suggestions about hitting a hornet's nest with sticks.
'Don't do it," the internet people advised once more. Again with the negativity.
To bolster their position they showed me a video of a guy with a large gut spilling out of his T-shirt holding a beer in one hand and a tree branch in the other whacking the hell out of a hornet's nest. His friends were laughing as his head grew to twice its size and his eyes swelled shut. They laughed even harder when the medivac helicopter's downdraft blew the beer out of his hand.
Is this what I have in store if I open my can of worms? Do worms even fly? Are there more evils to be unleashed that I don't know about?
I stared at the can. Then I stared at the can opener. Then I noticed the pull tab. The universe was telling me to open this can.
What was inside? Worms slithering around in dirt and moss, minding their own business except for that one worm, the largest of the lot, who squinted from the light for a few seconds, then looked me squarely in the eye and said: "Now you're in trouble. Don't you know that you're not supposed to open a can of worms?"
He was right. My life is in shambles. I don't want to talk about it. Trust me; you don't want to know about it, either. Just know that I am rebuilding my life from scratch.
It's a long road, but I will get there, because I'm learning from my mistake. Yesterday, I saw a sleeping dog and let him lie.
Baby steps.
Posted in plotting and tagged humor, pandoras box, satire
Don't force us to tell your kids the truth
Image by Andy M. from Pixabay
(This story first appeared in Jane Austen's Wastebasket)
I am the spokesanimal for Small Animals Against Anthropomorphizing® and we're pissed off.
You people never seem to understand that every time you give us human characteristics we suffer. Life is difficult enough being a small critter without you piling on the addition of people-type feelings and then projecting your emotional issues on us. Yeah, I'm looking at you C.S. Lewis, A.A Milne, Lewis Carroll, E.B. White and Walt Dis… I can't even say his name. And what's with all those letters instead of first names? Ashamed? I thought so.
We have our own problems: pesticides, traps, predators, grimy kids squeezing us to death, pulling off our little legs while dancing (RIP, uncle Benny), feeding us people food — all because people think we love them.
And where do people get the idea that we love them? From your inane, bullshit stories that makes us seem human.
Do you understand the vicious cycle of horror that you wreak upon us?
I know what you're about to ask me. Aren't you now exhibiting the human characteristic of anger?
While this makes me appear humanlike it's not the same. This is bona fide animal fury and my shrink has told me to own it. That's why our members, including me, don't need any more emotional projection from you people. Deal with your own shit.
And another thing, when you misspell our written words or make it seem like we've got a human child's fractured vocabulary that's… that's… UGH! It gets me so angry that I can't even talk about it. Don't even get me started on backwards letters.
Let's be clear. We're not talking about dogs and cats. They've long ago relinquished any rights to not feel like humans. That was their choice, and it works for them. But for the rest of us, stop making believe that we're a font of human foibles. It's damn depressing.
Beware. We're growing in numbers and keeping track of your transgressions. We've received interest in joining our group from insects. Not to mention non-animals like plants, trees, rocks, and vegetables are getting tired of having human emotions thrust upon them just so you can tell one of your feeble tales.
I know what else you're probably thinking. Doesn't my plea itself reek of meta self-awareness, a human trait? Screw you. That's none of your business.
This is your last warning. We're mad as hell. Though definitely not in a human way! And we're not going to take it anymore.
Watch out! You have no idea (unless you attribute it to us, you bastards) of how we will seek our revenge.
Posted in plotting and tagged humor, Jane Austten, satire
Hard to say for sure, because I've seen a top-secret report that could destroy the United States and they're after me
(This first appeared in The Bigger Picture)
(Photo by Tayeb Mezahdia from Pexels)
To whomever (not whoever… right?) finds this letter:
If you're reading this letter it means I'm dead. Well, maybe not fully dead. Perhaps I'm just rotting in an undisclosed government location waiting to be tortured. Well, not really undisclosed. Obviously, the federal thugs who would have grabbed me out of my bed in the middle of the night know where they put me. Come to think of it, the torture part may be overstating the case, too. At least I hope so.
Anyhoo, things aren't looking so hot for me, a crack investigative reporter, since I saw a top-secret government report that blows the lid off what Americans really believe about their country. If it's made public, the social fabric of the United States could fray or unravel or whatever happens when a textile breaks apart.
Bottom line: The U.S. would no longer be a country. It's unclear what it would become but definitely not a country.
While rumors of the report's existence have been circulating for at least the past 5 years, it has been kept under wraps. Only a handful of people, like me, who have proof of its existence are, well… I already explained my situation to you.
Alright, I've kept you in suspense long enough, and I can see flashing lights outside my window. (Note to self: Hide this letter really, really, really good so THEY don't find it.)
The official report, titled "The Official Report," is the result of decades of investigation in which government officials asked Americans under the guise of doing census research whether the following statement was true or false:
Just like you, I hear this catchphrase all the time. It's usually coming from some TV talking-head politician or public figure who wants to reassure me that we have the power to correct our mistakes even though we are often called a jerk-face-of-a-country by other nations. What the hell do any of them know about the real us?
Here are some of the study's responses from honest-to-goodness Americans:
– A 45-year-old mechanic in the Midwest said: "No. We may not be better than that, but we are better than those people."
– A self-identified Libertarian college student said: "No. It's up to each of us to decide whether or not we choose to be better than that. That's my right. Deal with it."
– A stay-at-home mother in Boston said: "Probably not, but who the hell are you to be asking such a question?" (There were footnotes, but I didn't have time to read them.)
– A high-tech executive in Austin said: "Negative, bro, but the word 'better' is totally a relative term. I'll loop in my algo team and get back to you."
– A beet farmer in Louisiana said: "No, sir. That doesn't sound right to me… who'd you say you were with again?"
With my time running out, (I was allowed eyes-only on the document for 10 minutes) I stopped reading the rest of the interviews and jumped to the findings section, which was broken out into a separate segment marked "Findings." I quickly wrote down the last paragraphs exactly as presented.
"This non-partisan report took decades to complete and encompasses the views of millions of Americans. Under no circumstances should it be released to the public as it will cause citizens to be more bummed out than they already are. All the data show conclusively that in asking the question presented to Americans: Are we better than that? the resounding answer was 'no.'
Our recommendation is for our public officials to keep saying, We are better than that, because what the hell else do you suggest?"
I was shaken by the last line. It is so true. What could anyone possibly suggest that might change things?
P.S. — Please send my posthumous journalism award to my sister Diane, and not to my other sister Karen. She's always been mean to me.
Posted in plotting and tagged america, funny, humor, satire, top secret
Did Our Romance Fall Victim to Society's Mores?
Photo by Brent Keane from Pexels
(This article first appeared in ExtraNewsfeed.)
Dear Hula Dancer on my Dashboard:
I remember fondly the moment we met in the souvenir shop at the beach. Me, making believe that I was perusing key chains and bicycle license plates searching for my name. And you, swaying atop the cashier's desk after some kid flicked you with his grimy finger forcing you to dance. You kept your smile, but I could sense your humiliation at being manhandled for someone's prurient urges.
I knew that I had to help you escape that horrible place, to protect you from the crude advances of men who only wanted you for one thing.
I have never regretted my decision, not even for a second. Oh, the fun times we had. Driving cross-country in my subcompact car. Remember that time in Montana when we promised each other…
We had a relationship that didn't know prejudice, only love. We would drive down the street proud of being who we were, not paying attention to the tsk-tsks of those who didn't understand what was in our hearts or in your hips. We came from two different worlds, but we loved each other and didn't care who knew it.
We've been through a lot of rough times over the years. Remember when I placed you in the middle of the forklift steering wheel so we could be together all work day. My boss called you a distraction. Imagine. The love of my life, a safety hazard. I was given a choice to either remove you or lose my job. I looked, as I often do, to our wedding day: "Let no one tear them asunder," the justice-of-the-peace said. I took those words to heart and I know, my darling Hula dancer, that you do, too. I found another job and we were free to be husband and plastic-thingie-on-a-spring-with-a-suction-cup.
And remember that time when hooligans broke the driver's side window and kidnapped you (along with a pen, tire gauge and a pine tree air freshener)? The police laughed when I filed a report, but I scoured the streets and alleys until I found you. Was shooting to death those three boys an overreaction? I don't think so.
But now, the world has changed, my darling. That face I fell in love with is no longer… how should I put it, 'accepted' in today's social circles. It seems crazy, I know. We've always been honest with each other and now is not the time to beat around the grass skirt. Your face is not Hawaiian. It is Caucasian and the forces against cultural appropriation in today's society are too much for me to bear. (Somebody said it's because you're 'vintage,' but your religion never mattered to me.) Your eyes are like the stars but, alas, they are blue.
This may be the biggest mistake of my life, but we must part. Even though nobody can ever take your place, Amazon sells culturally-accurate Hula dolls with Polynesian faces and everything. I will miss you, but I'll be okay.
I worry for you, though. Where will you go; what will you do? Is there a shiny, Armor-Alled dashboard for someone like you in today's crazy, mixed-up world? I will think about you every time I make a sharp left turn or drive over a bumpy road.
You will forever jiggle in my heart,
Stan with the canary yellow Yaris.
Larry Kahaner has been a serious writer and journalist for decades. Now, he's not — serious, that is.
Posted in plotting and tagged hula dancer, humor, romance, satire | Leave a comment


text:
News Section home
PR team contacts
Queen Mary leads on Intellectual Property training for China
Senior Chinese officials from the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) have this week completed a four-month training programme led by Professor Duncan Matthews, Director of Queen Mary's Intellectual Property Research Institute.
The cohort of 15 CNIPA officials is the second group this year to complete their studies at Queen Mary University of London. Five CNIPA officials returned to China in January after having successfully undergone specialist training on key aspects of UK and European law and practice in patents, trademarks, designs and copyright.
The training programme included visits to the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and the offices of two leading firms specialising in patents and trademarks, Kilburn and Strode and J A Kemp.
Each member of the group also completed study projects related to their workplace specialism under the supervision of Professor Matthews on topics related to patent examination procedures and how best IP offices can support businesses.
The programme will contribute to a greater understanding of UK and European intellectual property law and practice so that the CNIPA officials can work more efficiently in their respective fields.
After congratulating the CNIPA officials on completing their training, Professor Matthews said: "This is a win-win situation. It is the fourth year of the Queen Mary training programme and our continuing relationship with the CNIPA will lead to benefits for the Chinese IP system as well as giving reassurance to UK and European IP rights holders operating there."
Ying Yuan, Deputy Director and Patent Examiner at CNIPA, said: "The training programme has been a very successful and valuable experience. It has provided many different perspectives and the course overall has been terrific. It has deepened our professional understanding and widened our horizons."
Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute
News story: Soil bacteria can survive on air – and help to regulate climate change
News story: Queen Mary expands studentship programme for postgraduate students from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds
News story: Queen Mary academics awarded Major Research Fellowships from the Leverhulme Trust
For media information, contact:
Paul Jordan
Faculty Communications Manager (HSS)
email: p.jordan@qmul.ac.uk