On Sat, 3 Sep 2005 03:14:22 -0400, "jm" said
in rec.radio.scanner:

"Al Klein" wrote in message
.. .

That's implementation-dependent. The systems can be set up with TACs,
so they can talk without repeaters.

Please forgive my rant.... but it is worth thinking about - even if you find
yourself disagreeing.

Question is - is were they set up as such?

I have no idea, but that's irrelevant. If the mechanism exists, and
the department chooses to not take advantage of it, it's not a problem
with the technology, it's a problem with the department. Give them
*any* technology and they'd probably refuse to implement it.

....... And the next question is - if they were - then what could be the
reason for "not" using them? A likely reason is all battery power is
exhausted - and that could be the case if the only radios left were the ones
being carried by the officers at the time. All the rest "may" have been
destroyed. With no power, they couldn't recharge any if they had a charger
left to do so - at all.

Generators. Solar chargers. Again, the technology is there. If the
department chose to not take advantage of it ...

Tell me again, after enough time has passed that they would have run
out of any realistic amount of fuel for the generators, and it's
impossible to truck in more. (It isn't - NG trucks have been bringing
in fuel since the NG got there.)

The only building(s) that I'm aware of which had
anything left to it with a generator - was "a" hospital or so and the arena.
They could probably have "tried" to recharge the radios there - IF they had
a charger - which again - was probably gone. There ARE reasons why no radios
were left behind or now usable. Lets face it, this hurricane put them back a
few hundred if not a thousand years.

But, with proper advance planning, they would have had everything they
need (as far as communications goes). All they had to do was to move
their fully equipped, snorkel-engined commo van - with a generator,
full fuel tanks, chargers for every type of radio they use, spare
radios, spare batteries, etc. - to a high, protected spot before the
hurricane struck. Then drive it back into town after the hurricane
passed.

Instead of blaming people, we ALL need to sit down and re-evaluate the
situation before the next one comes - just what "would" we do - for
ourselves, our family. In any event like this - you LEARN. Just like 911 -
the city of New York's Public Service radios were swamped beyond use.

Nothing like that at all. There were problems, but the system wasn't
"swamped". Talk to the people actually involved in NYC commo - FDNY
commo supervisors and run board supervisors. (And supervisors of the
commo bureaus of other departments. Ham radio was operating as well
as people in total shock can be expected to operate all day, so why
wasn't a professional service like FDNY? I'm not knocking FDNY -
there were problems, but being "swamped" wasn't one of them.)

The technology is there. People have to learn that as soon as someone
says "there has to be ..." all conversation has to stop, and everyone
has to find out why that statement was totally wrong. (My answer to
that is always "why?", and no one can give me any answer that isn't
religious or totally monomaniacal.)

Then, and only then (once everyone realizes that man has almost no
control over his environment) can anything constructive be done.

But the technology is there. The only impediment to being better
prepared is inertia - the inertia of the human jackasses who are
usually in charge of those things.

Do you have all your important data files backed up right now? (I
just put up a new 300 gig drive, about 20 minutes ago, and the program
I put up on my web site 10 minutes ago is backed up to it. If I save,
I save to the backup drive too. It's a pain, but I've had drives fail
so I take precautions.)

Lawlessness is foolishness. Taking food, water/drinks, medicines, diapers -
though I don't condone stealing/looting, those are "survival" items.

I agree completely. It's larceny, but I wouldn't find the
perpetrators guilty if I were on the jury. I think it comes under the
same umbrella as self defense - a crime, but justifiable.

But to steal TVs - Stereos which
operated off of AC (only) when there is none - makes no sense, most probably
is ruined anyway.

Ruined or not, it's theft. *Those* I *would* convict.

To shoot at the very people coming to rescue you.... that can not
and should not be tolerated. We who are working to rescue others who
"desire" help - shouldn't have to be put into that situation. Those who do
such things have no place in our society. "I" would issue "martial law"
immediately to deal with it. That is my only suggestion - not blame. It is
understandable they are upset, but those actions do no one any good.

They claim that the situation gave them the opportunity to "get back"
at those who "enslaved" them "all these years". That's nice, but
looting is still a crime. And killing a cop should be a capital
crime, even if it *is* a corrupt cop.

Yes, there are a HUGE amount of problems here. With cooperation, help,
money, it will start to take shape. It won't be easy, and it sure won't be
as quickly as it happened. The whole country is going to wear this badge.
ALL of those people have to be fed, clothed, etc. They no longer have pay
checks or jobs to return to for a pay check. Someone has to keep them! The
tax payer is going to foot the bill.

"The taxpayer" is they who "longer have pay checks or jobs to return
to for a pay check". NOLA won't be collecting taxes for a long time.
NOLA won't even be thinking of opening schools until some time next
year, according to them.

Being we're still in the midst of what was called a prolonged and more
dangerous Hurricane season

And it's not going to get better. Hurricanes are heat engines and
global warming (it's a fact - no scientist is arguing about *whether*
it is, just about why and how much) is causing worse hurricanes and,
since we're short-term-profit-driven, not logic-driven, global warming
is just going to get worse, so hurricanes are just going to get
stronger and more destructive.