Life in the Atomic Age

Lots of reports of looting and vandalism coming out of New Orleans. Not just people stealing the necessities, but breaking into homes to steal televisions, computers, guns, whatever. I also hear a report that many of the cars of the health care workers at Tulane University have been broken into. So, people who have stayed behind to try and help those in need are being stolen from.

There are also reports of armed gangs roaming the city. One New Orleans police officer has apparently been shot, but is expected to survive.

Times such as this bring out the very best, and the very worst, in people.

Here’s some photos of Grand Isle:

Many more photos of southeastern Louisiana here.

This is a before and after picture of the Leeville bridge. Highway 1 runs over the bridge, heading southeast to Port Fouchon and Grand Isle - both of which used to be somewhere off in the distance. This is an area of salt marsh I have fished many times in my kayak, and to see this picture drives home just how bad the situation might really be.

I don’t see how Grand Isle can still be standing, and I very much fear that those who refused to evacuate may have paid the ultimate price for trying to stick it out. I have stayed in a lot of camps and cheap fishing hotels on the island - and they weren’t built to withstand 20+ foot storm surge and 175 mile/hour winds.

Well, Katrina is gone. Our house made it through OK, although many of our old oak trees did not. We’re without power (alnog with 750,000 other Louisianans), and it may take several days for the power to be restored. I’m posting this from my computer at LSU, which does have power and is planning on being open tomorrow.

A levy has breeched in New Orleans, and water is flooding into town. That could be very, very bad.

Thanks to everyone who sent along good wishes. Things aren’t as bad as they could have been, but they’re still awfully bad.

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Wow.

Prosser had beaten the terrorist in the head three times with his fist and was gripping his throat, choking him. But Prosser’s gloves were slippery with blood so he couldn’t hold on well. At the same time, the terrorist was trying to bite Prosser’s wrist, but instead he bit onto the face of Prosser’s watch. (Prosser wears his watch with the face turned inward.) The terrorist had a mouthful of watch but he somehow also managed to punch Prosser in the face. When I shot the propane canister, Prosser had nearly strangled the guy, but my shots made Prosser think bad guys were coming, so he released the terrorist’s throat and snatched out the pistol from his holster, just as SSG Konkol, Lewis, Devereaux and Muse swarmed the shop. But the shots and the propane fiasco also had brought the terrorist back to life, so Prosser quickly reholstered his pistol and subdued him by smashing his face into the concrete.

It’s long, but read the whole enchilada. You’ll be glad you took the time.

Remember a few weeks ago, when some field reporter (I think from Fox) stood on the shores of lake Pontchartrain and breathlessly hyped “wind gusts up to 30 knots”? Well, those of us who live here, and those of us who regularly fish on Pontchartrain know that 25-30 knots is really no big deal. Think it’s all just harmless hype? Well, go read the National Weather Service Hurricane local statement for New Orleans. Then ask yourself - what if just a few people stay behind because they’ve been told “it’s the big one” purely to push ratings just one too many times.

The Hurricane Local Statement is automatically updated, so here’s how it opens as of 6:06PM Central time:

…DIRECT STRIKE OF POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC AND LIFE THREATENING HURRICANE EXPECTED LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY MONDAY…

Not good for a city surrounded by tidal basins and where about 70% of the structures are actually below sea level. Just how bad the situation may really be comes to light when you read the storm surge and storm tide impact statement:

…STORM SURGE FLOOD AND STORM TIDE IMPACTS… KATRINA IS EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL ALONG THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO COAST AS A CATASTROPHIC AND LIFE THREATENING HURRICANE. WHILE EXACT LANDFALL OF LANDFALL IS UNCERTAIN AT THIS TIME…SIGNIFICANT AND LIFE THREATENING STORM SURGE 18 TO 22 FEET ABOVE NORMAL. A FEW AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE STORM SURGE FLOODING AS HIGH AS 28 FEET ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES NEAR AND TO THE EAST OF WHERE THE CENTER MAKES LANDFALL. SECONDARY ROADS OUTSIDE LEVEE PROTECTION WILL LIKELY BECOME IMPASSABLE THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.

Storm surges of 20 feet will definitely crest the levee system. Parts of New Orleans may be underwater for months, the sewer systems are going to be severely impacted, and did you ever wonder why our graveyards look like this in coastal Louisiana?

Well, we’re trying to fly back into Baton Rouge after 10 days in Calgary signing contracts, looking at houses, and generally being stressed 24/7. And, what do we find waiting for us? A little visitor named Katrina

Wish us luck. More importantly, wish the Big Easy luck - this might be the direct hit we’ve been dreading for years.

Then and Now.

Vectored

Another breakthrough on stem cell research. These researchers found a way to reprogram adult stem cells to their embryonic state.

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Read the transcript. But remember, we’re the real terrorists here.

Vectored via Austin Bay Blog - one of your best sources for information on Iraq on the web.

Is that I was a better writer. But, I’m a scientific/technical writer, not an inspiring (or inspired) one. That’s why it’s a pleasure to read posts like this one penned by Scott Randolph.

Here’s the obligatory tease, but you really should go read the entire essay.

Soldiers know, when they enlist, that it is entirely possible they will be shipped out and never come home. It’s part of the job. The fact that people still walk in to recruiters’ offices and sign that piece of paper make them heroes. To imply that they are simple kids who didn’t know what they were getting into, or even worse, that they died for no reason, or an immoral reason, does a horrible thing. It strips their sacrifice of the honor that it deserves. Even though those folks sitting out there in the Texas fields claim to honor and support the soldiers, they obviously have been blinded by their own selfishness as to the real way to support them.

I think President Bush’s stand on stem cell research is misguided and wrong. Yes, you can argue that only federal funds are excluded from the embryonic stem cell arena - but the potential of this research is almost limitless. I remain unmoved by moral and ethical arguments that don’t deal with the real concerns of how the embryos are created and handled. I certainly don’t accept the religious implications of using embryonic stem cells in regenerative research. However, I also recognize that there are people who are concerned about these issues. Concerned enough to block any and all advances in the field, no matter what the potential benefits to mankind might be.

That’s why it’s incredibly fortuitous that we have scientists who still look at obstacles as challenges - challenges to be overcome as you progress logically from point A to point B. Scientists like these.

My current research is with adult canine bone marrow stem cells. I chose to work with adult stem cells purely because any therapies we developed for treating dogs with cancer would have no application to people if we used embryonic stem cells as our delivery vector. It was an interesting lab meeting - where we sat down and charted our research plan for the next 2 years based on the political climate in the US rather than on the course that we thought held the most promise. But I know that hundreds of other labs did exactly the same thing - and not just small veterinary molecular oncology labs like mine - but larger labs dependent on federal funds for their operating budgets. And that’s where the real danger of the embryonic stem cell research blockade lies - in the fact that it will prevent some very talented people from pursuing very promising avenues because they can’t chance losing (or not receiving) federal funding. But, at the end of the day, scientists are problem solvers. And this is just one more problem that is one step closer to being erased.