Sandy Rosenthal and HJ Bosworth Jr in front of just-installed historical marker near ground zero of the 17th Street Canal
As Levees.org stated in a mounted historical plaque in a neighborhood supposedly protected with these same pumps, we point out:
To date, there is no fiscal incentive which would force our Army Corps to construct flood protection properly. Nor to date, are there any financial or professional consequences should the agency’s flood protection fail.
Click here for full text of historical marker.
http://blog.nola.com/levees/2009/08/Sandy%202×3%20final2.JPG
Click here for full story about pumps in USA Today.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-08-25-pumps-new-orleans_N.htm
peggy noonan was on the msnbc show “morning joe” today; during a segment focusing on the tragic events at, the former, baptist hospital she asked, in a tone connoting to me criticism of our local response, something like “what happened there”? this four years later and after all of your efforts to have people understand that this was an engineering failure and inadequate – to put it mildly – federal response. please be sure she receives your materials . i’m assuming she is educable.
Dr Seed did not find the Corps was AOK in it’s
work.
Recall George Bush gave George Tenet of the
CIA a medal, after some high 5’s on Iraq.
If ASCE don’t like the levee video,
it can moan, groan, and posture.
It has no basis to sue Levee- Org.
Where was the ASCE in 2001 on floodgates
at the 17th Street canal, asleep or
what ?
Keep up the issues Levee Org,
the mud covering over the truth is deep.
See more on the SPECS, and linked other menu item. Won’t repeat here.
Sandy, didn’t the USACE( P R guy) tell Congress recently that USACE employees did not leave their citizenship at the front door, when they walk in the USACE Bldg, in reaction to the fuss over comments( the CALLS for….).
Must be the same for Emergency Ops from some county(see on other item), who knows about Majors at(boots of )
As far as the directions on boots go, it was rather earthy, but FEMA was the trailer fellows, not the USACE.
You are the one who brought up the pecking order via civilans at the USACE.
Yes, now a “Major” vintage has come up.
The more the Corps screws up the more money Congress gives it, don’t you get it ?
La get more of the USACE civil works pie than any place else in America.
It has proved, major screw ups are rewarded with major money flows.
Amazing, but it has happened.
Is it something to do with the La purchase from France–still ?
I know you are busy, some. The day is long,
the bills are many.
But, here is Dr Seeds beef with the Profession, or some, it ramblings on so long, and so much, he is disturbed by something. Dr Seed is the most renowed civil engineer in the USA, his letter @
http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/11/WFMarcusonIII_a_.pdf
Sandy in her video described it as an ethics complaint. Actually, in one part he panders to the USACE, in some other parts of the letter he goes on about saving the “soul” of his profession.
He muses about saving the USACE, while going on about trolling for mula in CA.
He rants about the “light of day”, yet goes on about the USACE tactics to keep things in the dark.
But Dr Seed did state in his letter:
“It was ethically and professionally offensive to the two assembled teams of experienced
experts to be told that they were to simply wave, say that they had measured things, and that they
had learned nothing. And at a time when a distraught population, and the government (both local
and federal) were in desperate need of some small sense that engineers were performing a straightforward,
honest investigation and were making some progress. And when everyone needed a sense
of trust.”
So, he was to act like a puppet on a USACE string, and it must have really miffed him off to write a 42 page letter, and to send it to VIPs.
A P S is added about FEDERAL Prosecutors.
The DOJ usually represents the ARMY Brass at the highest level of the Pentagon.
He ends his fear the letter may find its way in less than trust worthy hands…. Holy Crap, and trailer guy is going on about the MAJOR
Even Dr Seed has been on some USACE gravy train, pay-loads.
Not that he was not deserving of such, or that it clouded his judgement(in that narrow CA incident.
It was not in La, as to the matter, that most leaps to data banks retrevials, but on the West Coast, closer to his Berkeley stomping grounds.
If the USACE is not deserving of trust, Dr Seed is no high priest, or endowed to spread holy water, Levee Org is acting to raise issues that are vital to Democracy in the Nation.
If Dr Seeds 42 page letter is an ethics complaint, is he making ASCE some judge of the very soul shaking things he address to the profession.
That seems a bit presumptious, if not arrogant.
No wonder the ASCE is so snooty, it is
most curious how a high school parody unhinged the ASCE
All those members of the ASCE, who got publib monies
who designed, or inspected the failed
structures in New Orleans, have any noticed
their names are kept in the dark by all the
other ASCE engineers who did the so called
investigation on New Orleans.
If that keeps up, the soul of the
profession, will not be safed even if
Dr Seed writes 42 books.
No wonder some want true full sunshine.
Not in name only, but in reality.
Saving face, saving ASCE, should not be
at the expense of the very soul of the
Nation.
Some ASCE engineers dropped the ball, and
people’s lives were washed away, many
10’s of thousands.
Dr Seed must understand this can’t
be swept under the rug.
I applaud Levee- Org seeking to
uncover matters, to keep a spot light on the
issues.
Professional engineers do not
act professionally if they coverup
wrong doing.
It is so tragic, the back- scratching that has
gone on, that should stop, so
the truth is not obstructed one more day.
Ms Sandy:
The Army Corps, its top Generals, admit(flat out admit) that the failures in New Orleans(the crumbling COE junk) were caused by the Government;
SEE;
http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/broken_government/articles/entry/930/
Some may accuse the Corps of seeking to cover up, but even in that the Corps failed, and did so miserably.
No wonder, some are sending the Seed letter to the President, on whether the soul of ASCE was saved, given all the issues raised.
These failures are happening, have happened in a broarder aspect of issues on dysfunctional GOV.
Don’t forget all the private engineers, crony buds
of the New Orleans district/ COE who got plum
design and other contract deals with the COE.
Of couse, they just take so much money,
and lay it on the COE, such an big easy target
sucker. It must make ASCE swell up with enormous
pride
Levee ORG has a question:
Why is the engineering community so reluctant to blame the Corp for the failures ?
Has Levee Org looked at all the money the Corps passed out to engineering firms, & which ones did levee designs(or related) and had some connection to the works, so called protection works around New Orleans.
Therein, lies the very answer to the question Levee Org raised.
Some have a misconception on the Corps, the Corps is largely a conduit to pass out large wads of money, to others, including engineering frims.
Things are done under the name Corps of Engineers, but it is some private engineering firm who did the desisgn, and even on some Corps drawings/ plans it notes who those private engineering frims were(are). La ruber stamp city.
And, how many of those private engineering frims were memebers of the ASCE.
A Professional PE has a PE #, when licensed.
The designer of those plans was not some guy down at Kinkos Copy shop.
Yes, it is rather amazing how so much was swept under the silty sands of wailing winds.
Also, it has been known since 1965(when hurricane Besty hit) that winds would whip up a dangerous surge of water off of the Lake, and other water bodies headed towards New Orleans.
Any designer would have to take than into account if acting professionally with a PE license.
How many failed to. Yes, how many, that is the tragic failure as well–the dark secret on that some(in high places) want to hide.
Is it that the ASCE does not care to have the American public and Congress know—despite the massive money(public funds) doled out to Corps contractors, who also employed licesned PE’s(Professional engineers)-
the big SHEILD of silence hangs over this like a dark cloud to hide the truth.
How can that happen in America ?
It should concern you, if you truly care abuout this Nation, and its well being.
The Corps has records of all its phased design awards(at least it used to if records were not destroyed) maybe the ones Congress never examined(some Subcommittees)
Even when Companies get Corps contracts, some often go get a big P R splash, for example:
http://ir.shawgrp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=61066&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1060216&highlight=
Of course, this is all interwoven with ear-marks, pork, and politics, some( the POLITICAL CLASS) may just not care for the American public to know the full truth on this sorry saga of shoddy work, and deadly failures.
Was there any Corps Contractor—PERSON– who spoke up, had letters to the Corps warning of things,(pre 2005) is that realistic, that no Corps contractor(PERSON) that had a PE(professional engineer), formally communicated to the COE, since 1965, with any dire warnings.
Really, is that real.
What does that say about the ASCE ?
Some might wonder about that, really they might.
Have you seen this L-0 ?
The Governor of La, and costal Zars are on a crusade to reform the COE:
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/louisiana_officials_recommend.html
In 40 years, the COE wasted massive money in La., while never getting down to protecting the people of New Orleans, and where was that COASTAL ENGINEERING FRIM THEN
Oh, and did you see this Mr Graves, and the big gravy train:
http://854.195.523.122/search?q=cache:C493Pw-sDJ8J:www.houmatoday.com/article/20080203/NEWS/659908125%3FTitle%3DQuestions-remain-about-potential-conflict+Garret+Graves&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&ie=UTF-8
Some Craw daddy stuff, deep in the swamps