The LuxMob Info Tags

Corporate brainstorming often fails because participants don’t enter into it in the proper spirit. There are two phases of the creative process: the imaginative phase and the practical phase.

The first thing to remember in phase one of a brainstorming session is this: all ideas are good. No matter how lame they may sound initially, write them down without comment.

You must establish an unthreatening environment in order to get your participants to loosen up and start throwing any ideas out. Consider these tips for better brainstorming:

First, identify the problem. It is often best to outline this ahead of time in written form so that everyone comes to the session with the problem defined.

Next, set the stage and the rules. Tell participants that the brainstorming session is for generating as many ideas as possible and that the person who comes up with the most ideas, not the best, will be rewarded. The only rule for brainstorming is this: no one criticizes anyone’s ideas. Positive thinking is the rule of the day.

Discuss the problem for a few minutes. Do you have it properly defined? Are you asking the right question? Here’s an example: about three hundred years ago there was a plague that first sent victims into a deathlike coma from which most never recovered. One man – an exception to the rule - was buried alive. The townspeople didn’t want this to happen again. One group had the costly idea to place food and water inside and an air hole from the casket to the surface. Another group’s idea was simple and low cost: place a 12-inch spike in the top of the casket so that when the lid closed there would be no question about the occupant’s status. Both answers were right, but the questions they asked were different. “What should we do if we bury someone alive?” and “How can we make sure everyone we bury is dead?”

Now, develop as many ideas as possible. Think quantity, not quality. You can sort out the wheat from the chaff later in the practical phase.

Finally, the session moderator is there to keep things moving. If things bog down, pull out these trusty questions. Why not? What if? What rules can we break? What assumptions can we drop? What if budget was not an issue? What if we looked at this backward from the desired result? Is there something we can eliminate in order to reach our result? Could we add something to the process?

Follow these tips and you’ll have better, more productive brainstorming sessions and creative thinking just might become a part of your corporate culture.

Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Focus Four, Levolor, New World Mortgage, North Carolina Tourism, TeamHeidi, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX, Verbatim and Wicked Choppers.

There are avenues available to protest against the production companies and distributors who bring you bad movies. Take food out of their children’s mouths. Stop giving them your money and shrugging it off like no one cares.

No one does care. So, you have to care. If you don’t get the thrill from film you felt twenty years ago, don’t throw money at the studios. The commercial’s pretend as if everyone has to buy the DVD the first Tuesday it’s released. If all the people in America really have a copy, borrow the movie from one of them. If it is that good, then you can go out and buy your own copy.

Encourage your friends to do the same. After enough guilty persuasion, they will give in.

Do not order pay-per-view movies the first night if you have seen terrible movies by that production company their last three trips out. You encourage them to do more of the same trash. You are not obligated to see a film because a broadcaster said the Johnsons saw it in the theaters.

Work on your kids. The industry targets them with special effects. Give them alternative date ideas to steer them away from opening night theatrics.

Go to Goodwill and buy a bunch of books for a quarter each. Suggest your children try other hobbies outside of movies and video games. Don’t push them. They may be typical and purposefully move in the opposite direction than where you want them to go.

At the same time, some of them learn habits from you. Introduce them to great movies at as young an age as possible. Pick up a book. Order a new book once a month as if it were a part of the mortgage. Eventually, you will read one of them and start your own trend.

Battle your cable company. This is the hardest trend to change. We all want to have access to every channel available.
If your cable premium channels play the same five movies over and over again, cancel your premium services. Try other packages. Shop around for the best ones by trying all the packages. Only keep the packages that perform for you. Take your stand.

Yasheve began publishing novels ten years ago. He has worked inside and outside the traditional parameters of the entertainment industry. Currently, he’s a career novelist working on independent film projects at http://www.yasheve.com/copywriter.

You know I have always wondered how people of yesteryear, like
Eugene sandow, John Grimek, Steve reeves, Jack Lalanne, Joe Louis, Charle Atlas, and many others that i could mention could
possibly get into such fantastic shape without all these gadgets, gizmos, and late night exercise machines being touted all over your favorite TV stations.

I mean let’s look at what is happening here! You have got
Ab dolly, Ab rocker, Ab lounge, Abwheel, Ab-this-Ab-that, and
I am not saying that they may not give some results but let’s
face it if any one of these was a “cure all” why do they have
to keep coming out with more??????? And why do people keep
buying the latest and greatest thing? Well i will tell you?

SALES AND MARKETING! These infomercials have it down to a
science. You will notice all the hard bodies that promote
all these gadgets and here you are back home watching from
your tv saying that if I buy this i can look like him/her and
this will solve all my problems right? Wrong!!! First of all
how do you know the people that you are looking at on tv actually got all their results from the product that there
promoting? You Don’t.

But psycologically, your saying to yourself, this is the one,
this is what finally is going to do it for me. This is what i
have been missing out on. They hit all your “Emotional Triggers”
and “Hot Buttons”. And you make the purchase and and lo and behold you are no better off then where you started from.

I will give you an example: (6 pack abs). Before they came out
with all this inform ation about what to do and not to do regarding situps and crunches, leg raises, etc. people were
just doing normal sit-ups on a board, or having somebody hold
there feet down, not maybe knowing that maybe they are putting
stress on their lower back? A lot of the old time athletes had
tremendous ab development and strength. How do you figure that?
How could that be? How is this possible? I mean god forbid if i
told you some deep breathing exercises could give you some
nice ab development. And you didn’t need to invest any of your hard earned money on useless gadgets and gizmos.

Well getting (6 pack abs) is more a “diet” thing then any exercise that you could possibly think of. You can do 1,000s
of any exercise you want, and it will strengthen the abdominals.

BUT? If you want to see those “ABS” you have to get rid of the
layers of “fat” that are covering them. END OF STORY!!!!!!!
And that has to be done for the most part through proper
dieting and calorie manipulation. I don’t care what contraption
you buy it won’t help if your diet isn’t right.

Getting Back To Basics: In my opinion a “Boxer” is one of the best conditioned atletes out there. Especially if you look back at the old timers going (15-3min rounds). And going back to John L. Sullivan days maybe more than that. Think about the
monetary investment? A jump rope $10? no money, run in place.
Start throwing your hands out like you are sparring, keep
moving around, side to side, back and forth, go down to the
floor do some sit-ups. some leg raises, jumping jacks, jog
around the block, sprint from telephone pole-telephone pole.
How much money have you invested?

How did they do this? a Jump rope, combat boots for running,
some calisthenics, and a makeshift heavy bag. What no hi-tech
equipment? No fancy gadgets? And these guys were in great shape?
No way!!!! Oh yes they were, and you can too.

The point of all this is before you spend your money on all
the things outside yourself, “think” how did people before me
get into tip top shape, you already have what you need. The
latest and greatest fad is not going to do it for you.

I have a set of stairs about 12 of them from the first to second
floor of my house, I make it a point to run up walk down about
20 sets everyday. I challenge you to do this and then tell me you need to go out and buy a treadmill, gazeelle, cross-trainer,
or whatever else you can think of? No set of stairs? Go down
to a local football field and run up and down bleachers, you will get my point.

Look I am not against new technology, I am just more into common
sense and “GETTING BACK TO BASICS”

Who else wants to get in shape fast!?
I need your advice! “FREE REPORT”
by visiting: http://AskYourFitnessQuestion.com

You don’t have to look far to find a cheap broadband deal these days. With so many deals on offer, and with mergers and acquisitions between telcos paving the way for an increase in “broadband bundles” available to consumers, soon those without broadband will begin to feel left behind by the madding crowd.

Connecting to the Internet for the first time in your home or office is as easy as securing a fixed telephone line (which you probably already have) and signing up to one of the dozens of Broadband Providers offering deals on the market today.

Switching broadband providers, if you believe you have found a more suitable service for your particular needs is, however, not as easy.

Switching broadband providers more easily would certainly be a welcome addition to the market. Currently, if you decide to switch, your broadband provider will probably use at least one of the following ‘lock-in’ tactics:

• cancellation fees
• minimum 12-month contracts
• equipment leases
• not providing MAC codes

As a result, Ofcom have been conducting an examination of broadband services in the UK. The regulator wants to release customers from such burdens and ensure there are no obstacles in the way of customers who wish to move between companies and/or products.

With the current system, the customer who wishes to switch will be required to contact their current broadband provider (the one they’re going to leave) in order to acquire a MAC - a Migration Authorisation Code. The ISP must then hand over the code to the new company, so the broadband connection can be transferred. It is a process that is not always quick or easy - and some providers do not currently provide MAC codes at all.

Ofcom is proposing that broadband users should have easy access to their migration code and should not need to ask their existing provider for it. It could, for example, be printed clearly on monthly bills. This would eliminate at least the first gruelling step in the migration process.

If such regulations are put in place, consumers would be able to pick and choose more easily from a range of different broadband internet services and providers, without the need for a BT Broadband phone line.

If Ofcom is successful, the changes should increase competition in the already competitive telecoms marketplace. Early signs indicate that things are already beginning to change.

Since the regulator began shaking up the industry a few years ago and slowly putting an end to BT’s monopolisation, several major deals between industry heavyweights have occurred.

This includes the merger of NTL and Telewest, who currently offer phone, broadband, and cable TV packages. They are now looking to take over Virgin mobile, and if they succeed they will be able to offer mobile phone plans in their bundles, and of course utilise the powerful Virgin brand name.
Also on the cards is Wanadoo’s plan to re-brand as Orange, which will make the mobile phone outfit a single brand name for all mobile, broadband and other converged telecoms services.

Not to be outdone, the UK’s largest satellite TV provider, Sky, have acquired broadband Local Loop Unbundling operator Easynet in order to give it the opportunity to offer its existing eight million satellite TV subscribers the triple-package deal of TV, phone and internet.

The mind boggles when considering what sort of bundles and packages will become available on the UK telecoms marketplace over the next few years. Because of this, the ability to easily switch providers will become even more important for the end consumer.

Of course, consideration must be given to the concept that despite this enormous battle of the brands, customers may be happy to stay with their existing providers. There will no doubt be at least a small hassle-factor no matter how easy the switch is made by Ofcom’s pending regulations.

Still, it would be nice to have the choice.

Broadband-is-cheap contains up-to-date news, information, and Cheap Broadband deals from the UK broadband market.

Many people look at me weird when I step on a pier at night and I have a little tackle box a bucket and a bait cast rod and reel. Well, that’s all I need for night fishing at my favorite spots. I look at other anglers and you can see that they have there 15 gallon tanks filled with water and shrimp ready to fish the night away. Well that’s all fine and dandy, but when the bite is on, this can become troublesome. I have seen many occasions where the person that has artificial will out fish the guy with the live shrimp.

Why? Anglers can cover more areas with artificial and change the depth of there lure when needed. Live bait takes longer to setup and get your new bait into the water. Just think about it.
Cast your live bait into the water, then wait until something comes along and decides it wants to swipe at your bait. Well, wile the bait is now dead, the fish loose interest in the bait and swims away. Now you are faced with the fact that you have to put another live bait on the hook to try to get more fish. So back to the same process. Cast, sit, wait and finally you have caught a fish. Ounce you bring the fish in, you take it off the hook and then grab another live victim, but ooops!!! It slips out of your hands. Now while you are fumbling trying to get your live bait back in your hands and into the water.

The guy with the little tackle box and fake lures has thrown 15 cast and caught 4 fish to your 1 fish. See the difference? You waist time and fishing water when you have live bait. Don’t get me wrong, I use live bait mostly when the conditions are ruff. High wind, cloudy water clarity, inactive fish and my favorite, the stubborn picky fish. These factors play a major role into picking live or fake bait. I also like to use lures when I am doing a quicky fishing trip. A few cast of the fake bait and that’s all I need. Although having a combination can be good to have on a night fishing trip. It can also create more tackle to carry and more things to worry about. If you don’t need live bait to catch your favorite fish, then don’t buy it. You can save money buying less live bait and buying your favorite lure to fish with.

Ty Wagner is the owner of http://www.texasfishinghome.com and loves to fish with his little tackle box filled with his favorite lures.

Expectant parents-to-be often hustle to prepare the new family member’s room.

They agonize over proper nursery decor and furniture: everything must make the new one feel loved and stimulate baby’s development. They would never dream of bottle-feeding their new bundle of joy.

But the new kid’s room is splashed with fresh paint, and new carpets are installed. A fresh varnished or plastic crib is lined with the newest synthetic flame retardant treated mattress and blankets. Diapers, pajamas, pacifiers, and stuffed toys are thoughtfully staged.

Please do your new arrival a favor: spare the toxic chemicals. Love your baby by providing a safe, non-toxic nursery.

The problem of toxic chemicals in baby products came to the fore a few years back when Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) surfaced.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) outgassing from fresh paint, carpeting, furniture, and new bedding pose serious risk.

Airborne particles are most hazardous to developing lungs, and are associated with SIDS.

Since the nursery is empty, now is a good time for environmental evaluation. If the home is older than 1978, it could have lead based paint. If this is the case, absolutely do not sandpaper the room. Lead abatement is a job for professionals.

Are central air ducts clean? Air filters on the furnace upgraded from standard (cheap) fiberlass?

Carpet should be evaluated for toxic emissions, and replaced with non toxic varieties or beautiful hardwood. The term “rug ratz” wasn’t invented for nothing. Babies and pets cohabit the dirtiest part of every home, the floor. Most carpets are toxic and impossible to get clean.

When you are sure the room is safe, a nursery air purifier should be installed. The brand most prominently marketed as being suitable for “bebe” is just the opposite. Your infant’s room should have the best air purifier in the house. One without ozone or other questionable technologies.

A baby nursery is no place for oxidant technology based air purifiers, even photocatalytics or plasma ionizers should be excluded.

Time honored HEPA air filters with significant weights of added activated carbon (for chemical vapor control) are the ticket here, and will not come cheaply. Any ultraviolet (UV) germicidal add-ons should be premium quality: inexpensive UV is ozone prone.

Any ionizer should be ozone free, which excludes the majority.

Recommended nursery air purifiers: IQAir, Allerair, and Austin Air.

You can save yourself and your new loved one so much heartache by raising a toxfree child. A truly clean nursery, your love, and a quality air purifier give a new life a fair chance.

Depression is a serious illness, not a harmless part of life. It is a complex disorder with a variety of causes. It is never caused by just one thing. It may be the result of a mix of factors, including genetic, chemical, physical, and sociological. It is also influenced by behavior patterns learned in the family and by cognitive distortions.

Depression affects millions of people in this country. It is always troubling, and for some people it can be disabling. Depression is more than just sadness or “the blues.” It can have an impact on nearly every aspect of a person’s life. People who suffer from depression may experience despair and worthlessness, and this can have an enormous impact on both personal and professional relationships. In this newsletter, I will describe many of the factors that may cause depression, and I will explore strategies for preventing it.

Depression Is Pervasive

When a person suffers from depression, it can affect every part of his or her life, including one’s physical body, one’s behavior, thought processes, mood, ability to relate to others, and general lifestyle.

Symptoms of Depression

People who are diagnosed with clinical depression have a combination of symptoms from the following list:

• Feelings of hopelessness, even when there is reason to be hopeful

• Fatigue or low energy

• Much less interest or pleasure in most regular activities

• Low self-esteem

• Feeling worthless

• Excessive or inappropriate guilt

• Lessened ability to think or concentrate

• Indecisiveness

• Thinking distorted thoughts; having an unrealistic view of life

• Weight loss or gain without dieting

• Change in appetite

• Change in sleeping patterns

• Recurrent thoughts of death

• Suicidal thoughts

• A specific plan for committing suicide

• A suicide attempt

• Feelings of restlessness or being slowed down

When a person is suffering from depression, these symptoms cause significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. This means that the person’s family and social relationships, as well as work life, are impaired.
When a person is suffering from depression, symptoms such as these are not the result of a chronic psychotic disorder, substance abuse, general medical condition, or bereavement.

Grief, Sadness, and Depression

Depression may include feelings of sadness, but it is not the same as sadness. Depression lasts much longer than sadness. While depression involves a loss of self-esteem, grief, disappointment and sadness do not. People who are depressed function less productively. People who are sad or disappointed continue to function.

Depression and Socioeconomic Factors

Depression does not seem to be related to ethnicity, education, income, or marital status. It strikes slightly more women than men. Some researchers believe that depression strikes more often in women who have a history of emotional and sexual abuse, economic deprivation, or are dependent on others. There seems to be a genetic link; depression is more common among parents, children, and siblings of people who are diagnosed with depression. The average age at the onset of a depressive episode is the mid-20s. People born more recently are being diagnosed at a younger age.

Physical Causes

Many physicians believe that depression results from a chemical imbalance in the brain. They often prescribe antidepressant medication, and many people find relief as a result. However, there is no reliable test to identify such a chemical imbalance. It is unknown whether life experiences cause mood changes, which create changes in brain chemistry, or whether it works in reverse.

Depression may be associated with physical events such as other diseases, physical trauma, and hormonal changes. A person who is depressed should always have a physical examination as part of the assessment process to determine the role of physical causes.

Signs That Professional Treatment Is Needed

If you or someone you know is depressed and exhibits any of the following signs, it is extremely important to seek the assistance of a medical or mental health professional.

1. Thinking about death or suicide. This is always dangerous and you should see a professional therapist immediately.

2. When symptoms of depression continue for a long time, you may need professional help. Acute responses to events are normal, but they should not last beyond a reasonable time.

3. Your ability to function is impaired by your depression. Seek help before your life situation deteriorates to a serious level.

4. You have become so isolated that you have no one with whom to check reality. Seek out someone to share your thoughts and feelings with.

5. Depressive symptoms have become severe.

Garrett Coan is a professional therapist,coach and psychotherapist. His two Northern New Jersey office locations are accessible to individuals who reside in Bergen County, Essex County, Passaic County, Rockland County, and Manhattan. He offers online and telephone coaching and counseling services for those who live at a distance. He can be accessed through http://www.creativecounselors.com or 201-303-4303.

There is a growing interest in suicide. When people start looking for more information about suicide, you’ll be in a position to meet their needs. This article is a brief description of much information on this subject. Let’s start with 3 levels to discern in the act of euthanasia.

There are three levels to discern in the act of euthanasia:

1. One is a patient who is comatose or brain dead. In these cases the doctor is asked to “pull the plug,” or remove the patient from mechanical life support. These cases are generally not challenged by the general public. It is an act of withdrawing or withholding necessary mechanisms used to sustain a life that cannot sustain itself. It is here that the recognition of one’s personality is gone and the shell of a body is all that remains.

2. Another act of euthanasia involves the use of morphine to hospitalized patients in the painful final stages of her or his life with diseases such as cancer and AIDS.

3. The last category of euthanasia is patients in relatively good health and at the beginning of a terminal illness wishing to end their lives. Such cases as Alzheimer’s and Cancer preclude patients to want information on PAS. This is the most controversial of the three issues involved in euthanasia.

Euthanasia originated from the Greek language meaning “good death.” It is the intentional termination of a life by another person capable of doing so by the request of the person wanting to die. Here are a few terms that one needs to know in PAS that define actions taking place.

Passive Euthanasia is the hastening of a death by means of altering some form of support and letting nature take its course. This can include; removing life support equipment, stopping medical treatment or procedures, stopping food and water consumption which leads to dehydration or starving to death, and withholding CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation). The most common use of PAS is to give patients large doses of morphine to control pain. It is most likely that the pain relief will suppress respiration and cause death earlier than it would have otherwise happened. This is also done on patients who are in a persistive vegetative state or patients not able to regain consciousness due to brain damage.

Active Euthanasia is the use of intentional means to cause the death of a person through a direct action. Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a Michigan physician made this well known in 1998 with a patient who had ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). His patient was afraid of the long suffering involved in ALS and wanted to die a quick and painless death. Dr. Kevorkian injected controlled substances into this patient and caused death. Kevorkian was charged with 1st degree murder, but the jury found him guilty of 2nd degree murder in March of 1999.

Physician Assisted Suicide is the provision of information or means to a dying patient with the intent to commit suicide.

Involuntary Euthanasia is the ending of a life without a patient clearly requesting it.

“There are many reasons why patients want to utilize PAS. Some are simply clinically depressed, of which, one’s illness has brought on or one’s emotional and mental processing of their illness has led to suffering in ways beyond the body. Others live in chronic pain-due to lack of healthcare coverage or means to obtain medication. This later group would rather die early and not incur medical expenses on those they leave behind. A serious disorder or disease such as: ASL, Huntington’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, AIDS, Alzheimer’s, etc. are just some of the illnesses people would rather avoid losing their independence and finances over. In some ways, this gives people a feeling of control over the process of their lives.”

Sam Oliver, author of, “Integrating the Feminine Spirit: Returning to the Womb of Creation”

For more information on this author; http://www.soulandspirit.org

The National Response Plan (NRP) established in December 2004 under the guidance of Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge was designed, “To establish a comprehensive, national, all-hazards approach to domestic incident management across a spectrum of activities including prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery.” (NRP, 2) If one assesses the federal government’s response based on the NRP a clearer and more accurate picture of the efforts to deal with the Hurricane Katrina incident can be painted. The effectiveness of the NRP in accomplishing the four aforementioned goals of prevention, preparedness, response and recovery in the wake of hurricane Katrina as well as the federal government’s adherence to the NRP will be discussed herein.

Prevention & Preparedness-

Will Bunch made several negative assertions in his Philadelphia Daily News column Attytood on August 30, 2005 in an article entitled “When the Levee Breaks.” Bunch, along with many others nationwide, seems to feel that the federal government could have prevented the effects of a category five hurricane from being so disastrous; the federal government could have imposed their power over nature. He and others called for a shoring up of the levees around Lake Pontchartrain and named the federal government as the party responsible for doing so, not the local or state governments. Bunch and others claim that the Bush administration cut spending on the SELA project that was designed to help improve flood control in the Southeast Louisiana area, redirecting funds to homeland security and the war in Iraq. It is important to note that not one successful terrorist attack on the United States has taken place since the inception of the Department of Homeland Security which to me indicates that there has been some money well spent on this endeavor. With regard to the war in Iraq, there was overwhelming support from both the Senate and the House of Representatives on October 11, 2002 when the vote was made to authorize a use of force, in fact both senators Breaux and Landrieu of Louisiana voted in favor of the resolution to authorize the use of force. One must also consider the fact that funding to the SELA project was only cut starting in 2003, just two years short of the intended stop date of project funding. What this means is that after eight years of funding the SELA project the levees were still in such bad shape that they did not withstand the force of Hurricane Katrina. What this also means is that critics like Bunch feel that just two more years of federal support for the SELA project would have been enough to prevent the effects of a category five hurricane, even though the levees were reportedly sinking at a rate of four feet annually in some of the worst spots along the line. Lastly, this means that the state and local governments of Louisiana refused to pick up just two years of expenses funding the SELA project at the risk of offending their constituents with higher taxes. Why did the local and state governments not assume the responsibility of shoring up the levees if it was known how serious the situation was in advance as critics say the federal government knew?

There are two more things that should be considered when discussing prevention and preparedness with regard to the Hurricane Katrina incident. CNN, one of the biggest critics so far of the federal government’s response to the Hurricane Katrina Incident, reported on August 29, 2005 that, “About 70 percent of New Orleans is below sea level, and is protected from the Mississippi River by a series of levees.” The article went on to state that, “Forecasters predicted the storm surge could reach 28 feet; the highest levees around New Orleans are 18 feet high.” Considering these reports one must conclude that the levees protecting New Orleans would have had to be raised at least ten (10) feet in all areas (more in some areas) to withstand the surge of the storm. This strikes me as a very unachievable project to attempt within two years, especially with the reported rate of settlement (sinking rate) by members of the Army Corps of Engineers in the year prior to the incident.

One should also consider that on Sunday, August 28, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared a state of emergency and ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city. Those that chose to stay behind did so knowing the risk. In the Center for Disease Control’s list of Key Facts About Hurricane Readiness they say, “Because of the destructive power of a hurricane, you should never ignore an evacuation order. Authorities will be most likely to direct you to leave if you are in a low-lying area, or within the greatest potential path of the storm.” Remembering that 70 percent of New Orleans is below sea level and heeding the warnings of the mayor and other government agencies would have led most wise people to follow evacuation orders and leave the city and surrounding areas. The people who stayed are now criticizing the federal government for a slow response to the disaster in a way that indicates ignorance of the fact that they [the residents that stayed] themselves were very slow to respond to the orders for evacuation. With approximately twenty-four (24) hours notice given to residents to evacuate it is difficult to sympathize with those that did not listen to the orders unless there was a physical or mental impairment that prevented them from complying.

Response-

Hurricane Katrina could very easily fall into three different incident annexes when attempting to classify the incident. The hurricane could be classified as a catastrophic incident due to the destruction that was caused by the incident. The amount of displaced people, structural damage and environmental and commercial impacts could certainly lead one to the conclusion that this was a catastrophic incident. The hurricane could also fall under the category of Food and Agricultural Incident as it was a, “major disaster, or other emergency involving the Nation’s agriculture and food systems.” (NRP, 2) Larry Neumeister of the Associated Press reported Hurricane Katrina’s damage to agriculture in the Gulf states as having topped three billion dollars as of September 14. The last incident annex that hurricane Katrina could fall under is the Oil and Hazardous Materials Incident Annex due to the fact that it is a “nationally significant oil and hazardous materials pollution incident.” (NRP, 2) There are different support plans and operational procedures associated with each incident index. The difficulty in classifying Katrina could have led to some confusion when attempting to apply a plan that had only been fully in place for ten (10) months prior to such a catastrophic incident. The application of varying incident plans could cause the insufficient or inappropriate allocation of resources as well as problems within the chain of command. It was very important for the federal government to evaluate the incident thoroughly before managing it ineffectively. Unfortunately this can, and in fact did, take time. As most members of the first responder community are aware, it does not do much good to rush into an incident and cause undue harm or damage to responders and resources when there are already so many people suffering from the incident; it does not help to send responders in (national guard, fire department, police, FEMA, etc.) if the incident will cause the loss of their lives too. The federal government made a calculated judgment when responding to Hurricane Katrina, which was necessary to preserve the safety of responders.

Recovery-

C-130’s are in the air, troops, experts, volunteers and NGO’s are on the ground and the recovery effort is on its way. Critics still claim that the process is taking too long but one must think back to what was stated earlier about response. The health and welfare of responders must be taken into account when implementing recovery efforts. Responders are being sent in with the task of saving lives and property, not with the task of ending their own life. This is, and will be, a slow process while dangers still exist and the situation evolves. The stability of structures, pathogen hazards and environmental hazards, as well as the fact that we are still in hurricane season and could possibly face more meteorological problems before the recovery process is concluded all must be considered. Removing national guardsmen from their families and places of employment, mobilizing volunteers and NGO’s and allocating billions of dollars in financial aid is a process that should not happen overnight. Approximately two thirds of the people polled recently in a variety of different polls feel that response and relief efforts have been too slow. I would venture a guess that at least two thirds of the population of the U.S. have never seen or heard of the NRP and have no experience with working in emergency situations. I would also venture a guess that more than ninety-nine (99) percent of the U.S. population has never experienced the effects of anything greater than a category three hurricane, especially since only three category five hurricanes have made landfall in the U.S. since the hurricane rating system was developed. All of the Monday morning quarterbacks that are criticizing the efforts should try and focus on the positives and recognize that efforts to improve conditions are being made after an incident that is unimaginable to the majority of us.

Conclusion-

The burden of responsibilities for efforts in preventing and preparing for Hurricane Katrina should have been the burden of local and state governments in Louisiana and other affected areas. The federal government did recognize that there was a problem with the levees prior to Hurricane Katrina and made efforts to improve the levees and assist the local and state governments with funding. Any monies that were diverted from the SELA assistance plan were done so immediately before the planned conclusion of the SELA plan and in most cases were diverted for programs and endeavors necessary for the betterment and security of the United States as a whole. The response and recovery efforts in the Hurricane Katrina incident have been slow but very calculated. The slow, calculated efforts are necessary for the preservation of responder safety and welfare. Individuals must be held accountable for their own safety and cannot expect the federal government to make all decisions for them. If a person is told to evacuate and chooses to stay, then they must be willing to accept the conditions that lay ahead of them and are not in a position to complain about response time. The federal government is fulfilling its responsibilities in accordance with the predetermined guidelines established in the NRP and should be applauded for its efforts thus far.

Ryan Murphy
yannnik@aol.com

Mr. Murphy is a teacher of U.S. History and Government on Long Island. He is a member of the United States Capitol and Supreme Court Historical Societies, as well as a member of the National Council for the Social Studies and the American Historical Association. He was a participant at the State Department’s Foreign Policy Teacher’s Forum in 2005.

Mr. Murphy is also a firefighter on Long Island and a past-Chairman of Fire Prevention, recognized by Suffolk County Fire Educators Association as an outstanding Fire and Life Safety Educator. He has also recived numerous FEMA certifications during his tenure in the fire service.

Not all conservative Christians believe that the Bible teaches or supports the traditional view of hell with its teaching of eternal torment or suffering. The Bible does teach a period of conscious punishment in hell for individual sins, but the ultimate and eternal punishment for sin itself is the eternal death (the eternal loss of life and access to immortality) for soul and body - not eternal existence in conscious torment.

In his article “The Bible Vs. The Traditional View of Hell” at http://www.religionscience.com conservative Christian (Baptist) theologian, B.G. Ranganathan, explains how certain words, phrases, verses, and, in some cases, entire passages in Scripture have been misinterpreted and taken out of context to support the teaching of eternal suffering. An historical explanation and understanding as to how and why belief in eternal suffering entered very early into the Christian church.

All Christians, regardless of denomination, share in common the primary or core doctrines of Christianity. Where Christians have differed throughout history are on matters of secondary doctrine such as the one being presented here.

Below is the first paragraph of the article. The rest of the article may be read at the website.

The conditionalist view is that the wicked in hell will suffer a period of agony and anguish in proportion to their individual guilt and then be eternally destroyed or cease to exist. Thus, although the wicked will suffer consciously for their individual sins, the ultimate penalty for sin itself will be their eternal death (i.e., their eternal destruction or loss of life). That, then, is their eternal punishment (i.e., their eternal loss to life and immortality). But, what about those passages in the Bible which say that the wicked will go into “eternal fire” and that in hell there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth forever and ever,” and other similar passages that seem to teach eternal torment? We shall examine, in this essay, those and other passages from the Bible in the light of the context of Scripture. Be assured, however, that the ultimate and eternal annihilation (destruction) of the wicked is supported abundantly by the Christian Scriptures.

Is God’s righteous wrath an end in itself or is God’s righteous wrath a means to an end (that end being the eternal destruction of the wicked)? Will a thrice holy God allow sin the right to exist for eternity in His universe by sustaining and keeping sinners alive eternally and burning in hell? Is eternal torment the only way God can satisfy His eternal justice? Is the ultimate penalty for sin in the Bible eternal torment or is it eternal death (of both soul and body)? These and many other important questions and issues (such as how to reconcile the immutability of Christ as God with His death on the Cross) will be biblically answered in this essay.

The view that the wicked will be eternally destroyed is also supported in the writings of the first and second century Christian Fathers, as well as by some prominent groups of the Protestant Reformation such as the Anabaptists, and today the conditionalist view is supported by some very prominent evangelical Christian scholars and theologians such as John R. W. Stott and Clark H. Pinnock. Although there have been individual Christians in various denominations, and even some famous such as the great hymn writer Isaac Watts (author of “When I Survey The Wondrous Cross”), who have come to believe in the conditionalist view, the only major Christian denomination today which officially incorporates this belief as part of church doctrine and creed is the Seventh Day Adventist…

The author, Babu G. Ranganathan, is an experienced Christian writer. He has his B.A. with academic concentrations in Bible and Biology. As a religion and science writer he has been recognized in the 24th edition of Marquis Who’s Who In The East. The author has a website at: http://www.religionscience.com