Life During Wartime
“World War III is a guerrilla information war with no division between military and civilian participation.” And here we are.
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Heard about Houston? Heard about Detroit?
Heard about Pittsburgh, PA? — David Byrne
Dear Friend and Reader:
Last night, one of my clients in The Awakening series of live readings said, “I don’t trust anything anymore.”
That about sums up the total effect of the environment we are living in. Beyond the horrifying impact of specific events — the shootings, the holy wars, the nuclear threats, the sex scandals, the fires, the floods, and the frequent attacks on civic life — the effect of the total environment is to destroy trust.
By trust, I mean trust in existence, in yourself, in one another, in humanity, and in various authorities to hold society together, handle emergencies and protect people. This no longer seems to be the role of these people or entities in any form.
It’s often passed off as lack of judgment or preparation; as bad decisions or unforeseen circumstances. Critics of the response are insultingly called “Monday morning quarterbacks.”
I’ve been covering deadly corporate and government antics since I was 19-years-old. There is always foreknowledge; there is always warning; there are always studies and predictions and admissions saying exactly what will develop. There are often good plans for how to handle difficult situations. And they are usually ignored.
Very little “just happens” except maybe car accidents and individual medical emergencies — and even those have backstories.
Nearly everything that occurs in society can be avoided by the highly-paid people who are supposed to have expertise in preventing those very things — if they wanted to. I have read that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) repeatedly warned the New Orleans Police that Bourbon St. could be the target of a vehicle attack.
So what did the city do? They “blocked” the top of the street with one police cruiser on New Year’s Eve, which the attacker drove his truck around, killing 14 people and injuring many others.
You could say, “That’s government work for you!” But that’s no excuse — unless you accept it as one (and don’t mind paying half your income in taxes and fees). And if you do not accept this situation, you would likely be very angry, and anger is a quick route to burnout. It’s easier to numb out and hope nothing like this happens to you, or near you.
Planned, Executed or Instigated
In our time, it seems that nearly everything that happens is planned, executed or instigated. And soon after something occurs, the financial angle manifests. There will now be a fire-sale land grab for some of the most valuable property in North America.
How did this happen? It would appear that the LA Fire Department stood down rather than increasing vigilance with 100 mph winds expected and a long history of downed power lines starting fires.
According to local news reports, fire officials deployed just five fire trucks and held back 40 others when they knew the entire region could burn.
Here in upstate New York, the Kingston Fire Department sends five trucks to the report of an ordinary gas leak. By my estimate, at least 40 trucks were sent to a recent kitchen fire at the Mohonk Mountain House. Meanwhile, emergency managers moved volunteer firefighters in from all over the region to stand by and cover the fire houses vacated by teams responding to the fire. This is basic procedure.
The LA Times on Wednesday published a scathing account of fire officials violating established procedure and squirming around with their accounts of what happened. “The plan you’re using now for the fire you should have used before the fire,” former LAFD Battalion Chief Rick Crawford told the newspaper. “It’s a known staffing tactic — a deployment model.”
Taking action before and after a fire starts are two very different things.
