TELECOM Digest     Sun, 4 Sep 2005 17:05:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 402

Inside This Issue:                            Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Making Calls Without a Phone (Thomas J. Fitzgerald)
    Time to Ditch Your Land-Line Phone for VOIP (Liz Pulliam Weston)
    City Owned Cable Television Proposal Moves Forward (Monty Solomon)
    Katrina's Real Name (Monty Solomon)
    Intel Pledges 1,500 PCs, Wireless Access Equipment, Support (Monty Solomon)
    FCC Coordinating Tech Aid for Katrina Disaster (Monty Solomon)
    Giving Them What They Want (Monty Solomon)
    Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? (Lisa Hancock)
    Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers (Mark Crispin)
    Katrina, the Terrorist Who Got Through The Metal Detector (Betty Bowers)

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See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details
and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest.  

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Thomas J. Fitzgerald <nytimes@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: How to Make Phone Calls Without a Telephone
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 14:26:53 -0500


By THOMAS J. FITZGERALD

Internet telephone service is well on its way into the mainstream.

Companies like Vonage, using a technology called voice over Internet
protocol, or VoIP, offer cheap long-distance rates and features not
found with conventional phone service. Cable giants, too, are taking
Internet phones to the masses.

Now a subset of VoIP services, called PC-to-phone service, is gaining
momentum. With these services, users can make calls to and receive
calls from regular phones on their PC's as long they have a broadband
connection, VoIP software downloaded from the Web and a headset.

One advantage of such services is the ability to make calls through an
Internet-connected laptop when cellular service is unreliable. Many
people also prefer the convenience of talking while working on a PC;
the services can operate while you are doing other tasks on the
computer. Another advantage is price. PC-to-phone VoIP rates are less
expensive than conventional phone calls and in many cases cheaper than
phone-to-phone VoIP services, which route calls through broadband
modems to regular phones.

Early versions of these services have been around since the late
1990's, but the rise of Skype, a mostly free VoIP service using
file-sharing technology, has increased competition in the field.

Yahoo, America Online and Microsoft have each announced plans to add
new phone services to future versions of their instant messaging
programs. And last week, Google introduced Google Talk, a free service
that enables users to talk through their computers and could be a
first step toward a PC-to-phone service.

PC-to-phone services available today from companies like Skype,
SIPphone, i2Telecom and Dialpad Communications offer many features
like free PC-to-PC calling, conference calls, voice mail, choice of
phone numbers, call forwarding and reduced long-distance rates,
especially for international calls. But as with phone-to-phone VoIP
services, call quality is not always perfect.

Skype (www.skype.com), a popular VoIP network based in Luxembourg, has
had 51 million users register worldwide since its inception, with five
million in the United States and an average of three million users
logged on at any one time. To make free calls to other PC's, users
simply download the Skype software from the Web site; the PC receiving
the Skype call also has to be connected to the Skype network. For
PC-to-phone calling, the company has added SkypeOut and SkypeIn. With
SkypeOut, introduced last year and now having more than two million
users, PC's with the Skype software are able to call conventional
phones. Minutes are purchased in advance, and the price depends on the
destination. Calls within the continental United States, for example,
are 2.1 cents a minute; calls to New Delhi are 15.4 cents; Sao Paulo,
Brazil, 2.5 cents; and Beijing, 2.1 cents.

Those international rates are below what Vonage charges for VoIP calls
from the United States to those cities, at 17 cents, 6 cents and 6
cents, respectively.

With SkypeIn, introduced in March and still in the test stage, a phone
number can be attached to a Skype account, enabling callers using
regular phones to call you at your computer or leave messages in your
Skype voice mail. You can choose a phone number from many area codes
in the United States and also from several other countries. The
service costs $12 for three months or $38 for a year.

Another new option, Skype Zones, allows access to Skype from Wi-Fi
hotspots operated by Boingo (www.boingo.com), which has 20,000
locations; the Skype Zones unlimited access plan costs $7.95 a month.

A competing PC-to-phone service, called Gizmo Project
(www.gizmoproject.com) from SIPphone, was introduced in July. Like
Skype, Gizmo Project offers free PC-to-PC calls. It also offers Call
Out, a service that allows calls to regular phones from your PC, and
Call In, which enables a PC to receive calls from regular phones. Call
Out costs 1.8 cents a minute for calls in the United States; the Call
In plan costs $15 for three months or $30 for six months.

A PC-to-phone service from i2Telecom, called VoiceStick
http://www.voicestick.com , was introduced in March. Outbound and
inbound calling can be controlled using VoiceStick's downloadable
software or with an optional U.S.B. flash drive for portable access to
the service. The drive, which costs an additional $34.99 and includes
a mobile headset, comes with the VoiceStick software installed; it
plugs into available U.S.B. ports on Windows-based computers, and a
menu asks if you would like to begin using the service from the drive.

The company offers several calling plans, including an unlimited
global option, for $24.99 a month, which includes your own phone
number and unlimited calling to points in the United States, Canada
and hundreds of cities in 38 other countries and territories. Another
feature, called i2Bridge, enables you to make calls to any
destination, including international locations, from your cellphone or
home phone at VoiceStick rates.

Dialpad http://www.dialpad.com , another PC-to-phone service, offers
monthly calling plans as well as prepaid minutes for outgoing
calls. Subscribers can get 300 minutes a month for $7.50, 500 minutes
for $9.99 and an unlimited option for $11.99, covering calls in the
United States and Canada, with international calls costing
extra. Prepaid or pay-as-you-go plans can be purchased for $15 and
$25. Dialpad does not offer a service that allows PC's to accept
incoming calls from regular phones.

Dialpad was acquired by Yahoo in June, and its PC-to-phone abilities
are expected to be added to a new version of Yahoo Messenger in the
coming months, a Yahoo spokeswoman said. The Yahoo Messenger program
was recently updated to include free PC-to-PC calling and free voice
mail, and is now called Yahoo Messenger With Voice.

Microsoft announced this week that it had acquired Teleo
http://www.teleo.com , a PC-to-phone service with features that work with
Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook, and plans to start adding
components of Teleo's technology to MSN Messenger later this year. And
AOL, using a partnership with Net2Phone http://www.net2phone.com ,
introduced a PC-to-phone service in 1999 called AIM Phone. The company
has plans to supplant that service with a more full-featured VoIP
service in a new version of its instant messaging program, which is
likely to be available by the end of the year, according to an AOL
spokeswoman.

Net2Phone, the first company to offer PC-to-phone service in 1996, has
expanded its services. With its software, downloadable from the Web, users
can call regular phones worldwide. Most calls within the United States are 2
cents a minute, for example, and the service lets you fax documents from
your computer.

Several other PC-to-phone services are available, including
iConnectHere http://www.iconnecthere.com , operated by Deltathree,
which has a pay-as-you-go option in addition to monthly calling plans
($5.95 a month for 400 minutes within the United States and Canada,
and $14.95 a month with 1,000 minutes in the United States and Canada
and 250 minutes to selected countries overseas).

With the number of PC-to-phone services growing quickly, the features and
choices available to consumers are certain to expand.

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

To read the New York Times on line each day with no registration or
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------------------------------

From: Liz Pulliam Weston <msn-money@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Time to Ditch Your Landline Phone for VOIP?
Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 13:59:14 -0500


Internet- and cable-based calling is coming into its own even as
traditional phone companies merge -- with price hikes likely to
follow. It may be time to rethink the way you ring.

             By Liz Pulliam Weston

Two pending mergers -- SBC's takeover of AT&T and the combination of
MCI with either Verizon or Qwest -- will leave fewer traditional phone
competitors. Fewer competitors usually mean higher prices for
customers.

But you don't have to be held hostage to the new "Step-Ma Bells."
Internet phone calling, according to those who have adopted it and
analysts following the industry, is an option that's ready for prime
time.

A few weeks ago I used the word "evangelical" to describe people who
have TiVos and other digital video recorders on their television sets.
The same word applies to many of the 1 million customers who have
switched to Vonage or one of the other so-called
Voice-over-Internet-Protocol, or VoIP, phone systems.

Both sets of fans tend to be:
       a.. Greatly impressed with the quality and features of their systems.
       b.. Amazed at the low prices they're paying.
       c.. Eager to convince everybody around them that they should switch.

"I recommend it to everyone that will listen," said Travis Mack, a
fire sprinkler engineering technician in O'Fallon, Mo., and a Vonage
customer since last summer. "I truly believe that VoIP is the
telecommunications wave of the future."

Forget phone lines

Internet calling services are designed to replace both your
traditional land line and your long-distance provider. Instead of
accessing phone lines or wireless networks to place your calls, the
systems use your broadband connection. Your phone is connected to an
adapter box, which in turn is connected to your cable or DSL modem.

VoIP packages typically include, among other features:

              a.. Unlimited local and domestic long-distance calling.
              b.. Voice mail, call waiting, call forwarding, caller ID.
              c.. The ability to keep your current phone number or choose a
                  new number with any area code you want from the 
                  provider's list.

Vonage is the biggest player so far, with nearly 40% of the
market. Other independent providers include 8x8, Net2Phone and
VoicePulse.  AT&T has a service as well, called CallVantage. The
monthly cost is $20 to $30, although most services have a bare-bones
option with limited minutes for $9 to $15.

Now cable companies including Comcast and Time Warner are making big
pushes into the market.

Comcast launched VoIP in three markets last year -- Philadelphia,
Indianapolis and Springfield, Mass. -- and plans to offer it to half
of its 21 million customers by year-end, said company spokesman Bob
Smith. The cable provider calls its offering Comcast Digital Voice, to
distinguish it from its older phone service, Comcast Digital
Phone. (Like some other cable companies, Comcast has long offered
phone service using old-style "circuit switched" technology, using
Internet protocol to send calls is a newer -- and less expensive --
innovation.)

The cable companies tend to charge more: $35 to $55 a month, depending
on whether or not you get television and broadband from them. And
though they use the same technology to break voice calls into digital
information as the other VoIP companies, cable providers use their own
networks rather than the public Internet to transport calls, Smith
said.

Finally, one other player has announced plans to get into the
market. AOL recently said it would offer the service to its 22 million
subscribers, but it hasn't revealed its pricing.

Unlimited calling, free services

The unlimited free local, toll and long-distance calling that Mack
gets with Vonage allowed him to drop his land line and opt for a
cheaper cellular plan. He's also started to use -- and like -- the
free services, like caller ID and call forwarding, that he didn't use
with his previous phone company because of the expense.

Mack also likes the fact he can get his voice mail by e-mail, a
service his former provider didn't offer, and that he can take his
Vonage service anywhere he travels that has a broadband connection.

"I have taken my (Vonage adapter) box to another state and had my
telephone number ring wherever I am," Mack said. "You are not tied
down to a permanent location with a telephone number like you are with
a land line."

All this for $8 a month less than Mack was spending just for his land
line. Mack figures he saves at least $23 a month, and far more when he
considers the many months in the past he went over his cell-phone
minutes limit, racking up as much as $100 a month in overage charges.

"Another nice feature is that for $5 a month, we have a virtual number
in another state that allows some of our out-of-town friends and
family in Arizona to call us as a local call ... saving them
long-distance charges as well," Mack said. "As for the clarity of the
phone, I promise that I could give anyone a land line and the VoIP
line and you could not tell the difference."

Such was not always the case. Allen Tsong of Brooklyn tried an earlier
version of VoIP and wasn't impressed. Outages and poor phone quality
were common. But Tsong said problems have been few since he switched
to Vonage in 2002. Now he uses the service both at home and at his
Brooklyn wholesale handbag business, Yans NY.

Tsong said he makes lots of calls to Hong Kong and China, so Vonage's
low international rates save him money.

The rates "are comparable to prepaid calling cards," Tsong said, but
he doesn't have to worry about running out of minutes or buying new
cards.

A few challenges.

So why isn't everyone rushing to sign up for Internet calling?  There
are still some barriers and drawbacks, including:

The need for broadband. You need high-speed Internet access to have
these services. If you're still on dial-up, the cost for DSL or a
cable modem can add $20 to more than $50 a month to your
telecommunications bill.  If you're a very heavy phone user, you may
still save enough to offset the cost, plus you'll get speedy Internet
access. If you're an infrequent caller on a tight budget, though, the
math may not work.

The possibility of outages. Your service may be only as good as your
high-speed connection. If your cable modem or DSL goes on the fritz,
you won't be able to make VoIP calls. Also, the services themselves
can have problems; Vonage recently experienced a 45-minute outage
thanks to a software upgrade that went awry.

Dead jacks. The services typically only work on one or two phone
jacks. If you have extensions in other rooms, you may need to buy an
adapter or get a new phone -- the kind that has a base station that
broadcasts to extra handsets. Also, if you have other things plugged
into that line -- like your TiVo, for example, or a home alarm system
 -- you may need a wireless adapter, or you may need to keep a land
line active.

Emergency calls. The independent Internet calling services typically
aren't hooked in with city 911 locator systems, so the operator
wouldn't be able to see your home address if you make an emergency
call and can't talk or get cut off. (This typically isn't a problem
with the cable companies' networks, which are tied in with cities'
enhanced 911 services.)  Some users of independent Internet services
keep a land line or use a cell phone with enhanced 911 locator
services to deal with the issue.

Louis Holder, Vonage executive vice president, said the company is
working on solutions. Right now, Vonage routes 911 calls from
registered users to the nearest available emergency facility, and it
recently introduced enhanced 911 with address locator capabilities in
Rhode Island.

"We're where the phone companies were in the mid-1990s," when 911
locators were far from universal, Holder said.

Liz Pulliam Weston's column appears every Monday and Thursday,
exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions in the
Your Money message board.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 14:16:32 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: City Owned Cable Television Proposal Moves Forward


BURLINGTON, Vt. --Burlington's proposal to own and operate its own 
cable television system is moving forward.

Burlington Telecom is seeking a certificate of public good from the 
Vermont Public Service Board.

On Friday, Adelphia Communications, the sole provider of cable
television programming to Burlington residents, did not request any
additional oral arguments in the case.

A board hearing officer last week recommended to the board that 
Burlington receive a certificate. Parties to the application -- the 
city, Adelphia and the New England Cable & Telecommunications 
Association -- had until Friday to file written comment about the 
hearing officer's findings or request additional oral argument.

Friday, both the city and Adelphia sent written comments, but neither 
side requested oral argument.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2005/09/03/city_owned_cable_television_proposal_moves_forward/

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 15:05:51 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Katrina's Real Name


By Ross Gelbspan

THE HURRICANE that struck Louisiana yesterday was nicknamed Katrina by
the National Weather Service. Its real name is global warming.

When the year began with a two-foot snowfall in Los Angeles, the cause
was global warming.

When 124-mile-an-hour winds shut down nuclear plants in Scandinavia
and cut power to hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland and the
United Kingdom, the driver was global warming.

When a severe drought in the Midwest dropped water levels in the
Missouri River to their lowest on record earlier this summer, the
reason was global warming.

In July, when the worst drought on record triggered wildfires in Spain
and Portugal and left water levels in France at their lowest in 30
years, the explanation was global warming.

When a lethal heat wave in Arizona kept temperatures above 110 degrees
and killed more than 20 people in one week, the culprit was global
warming.

And when the Indian city of Bombay (Mumbai) received 37 inches of rain
in one day -- killing 1,000 people and disrupting the lives of 20
million others -- the villain was global warming.

As the atmosphere warms, it generates longer droughts, more-intense
downpours, more-frequent heat waves, and more-severe storms.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/08/30/katrinas_real_name/

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 16:20:12 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Intel Pledges 1,500 PCs, Wireless Access Equipment, Tech Support


     CORRECTING and REPLACING Intel Pledges 1,500 PCs, Wireless Access
     Equipment, Technical Support for Hurricane Katrina Disaster
     Relief Efforts; Company Working with American Red Cross to
     Provide Critical Communications Support
     - Sep 2, 2005 10:20 PM (BusinessWire)

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 2, 2005--In BW5611
issued Sept. 2, 2005: Please replace the headline and release with the
following corrected version due to multiple revisions.

The release reads:

INTEL PLEDGES 1,500 PCs, WIRELESS ACCESS EQUIPMENT, TECHNICAL
SUPPORT FOR HURRICANE KATRINA DISASTER RELIEF EFFORTS

Company Working with American Red Cross to Provide Critical
Communications Support

Intel Corporation today announced it is coordinating the donation of
1,500 laptop personal computers to the American Red Cross for
distribution to shelters in support of Hurricane Katrina disaster
relief efforts. In addition, Intel will donate 150 wireless Internet
access points to enable wireless local area connectivity in all
permanent shelters and is providing fifty Wi-Fi transmitters for
installation in the New Orleans downtown and airport area.

Intel employees will provide on-site technical assistance to ensure
the success of all technical deployments. The PCs will be configured
by Intel and its partners according to Red Cross requirements to allow
shelters to exchange important information with the organization's
headquarters regarding victim status, resource needs and case
management. These systems, along with broadband access, will also
provide the technology backbone that provides thousands of hurricane
victims with a means of communicating with relatives, verifying their
identity for emergency fund distribution, contacting social services
and accessing information important to their relocation.

     - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51563796

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 16:29:46 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: FCC Coordinating Tech Aid for Katrina Disaster


Quick notes from conference call hosted by the FCC today about
urgently coordinating resources and personnel from internet/wireless
service providers to get communications networks up and running in in
gulf states.

Lack of communications systems has been identified as a critical issue
holding back aid, missing persons, law enforcement, etc. in crisis
areas.

FCC personnel are working throughout the weekend to coordinate these
efforts with private industry, with wireless technology groups, FEMA,
and state governments in Mississippi, Louisiana, etc.

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/02/fcc_coordinating_tec.html

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 01:02:09 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Giving Them What They Want


By LYNN HIRSCHBERG

After three decades in the TV business, Leslie Moonves, the chairman 
of CBS and the person most responsible for taking the network from 
last place to first in the ratings, has figured out a few things 
about what people want to see when they turn on their televisions. 
'Americans do not like dark,' Moonves told me last May, before a 
scheduling meeting to select CBS's fall 2005 lineup. 

Moonves, who was wearing a gray suit, white shirt and diagonally
striped maroon and navy tie, was in a wood-paneled corner office on
the 35th floor of Black Rock, the longtime home of CBS on 52nd Street
in Manhattan. The office used to belong to William S. Paley, the
legendary tycoon who personified CBS for more than 60 years. Truman
Capote once remarked that Paley 'looks like a man who has just
swallowed an entire human being,' and Moonves has that same sort of
aggressive vigor -- an almost palpable appetite and enthusiasm for the
complications and constant challenges of network TV.

On this particular Thursday, at 11 a.m., Moonves was considering which
of the network's current shows to cancel in order to make room for new
programs. He had decided to take a once-promising show called 'Joan of
Arcadia' off the air. The show was about a teenager who receives
directives and advice straight from God. 'In the beginning, it was a
fresh idea and uplifting, and the plot lines were engaging,' Moonves
said, sounding a little sad and frustrated. 'But the show got too
dark. I understand why creative people like dark, but American
audiences don't like dark. They like story. They do not respond to
nervous breakdowns and unhappy episodes that lead nowhere.  They like
their characters to be a part of the action. They like strength, not
weakness, a chance to work out any dilemma. This is a country built on
optimism.'

One key to running a successful broadcast network is understanding
just this kind of thing: what the audience wants -- sometimes even
before it knows that it wants it. Like a candidate seeking election, a
network and its shows are voted into prominence by the public. The
people either tune in or they don't. Unlike the movie business or the
premium cable industry (of which HBO is emblematic), which charge for
their products and have much smaller, more homogeneous audiences,
broadcast TV aims to attract the tens of million of Americans who
might watch CBS (or ABC or NBC or Fox) on any given night. In recent
years, CBS shows like 'C.S.I.,' 'Survivor' and 'Everybody Loves
Raymond' have enticed those multitudes, and as a result the network
has soared in the ratings. Moonves said that he hopes to have another
success (or several) of that magnitude this coming season.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/magazine/04MOONVES.html?ex=1283486400&en=ef2eed3e40ce14d9&ei=5088

------------------------------

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism?
Date: 3 Sep 2005 20:10:35 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com


There's been a great deal of criticism of the response of
'government', especially the Federal level, to help the flood victims.
If one takes a step back and looks at the big picture, one wonders if
the criticism is justified.  Perhaps the emotional pictures of people
suffering are skewing emotions.  Perhaps old fashioned politics is
playing a role.

There's no doubt that this is a major disaster and people are
suffering horribly.  Even Bush says so.

There's no doubt a thorough and impartial review of what happened when
is required.

But for now, let's take a look at the logistics and communications.

What troubles me is that many of the critical internet posts and
editorials and clearly political in nature, that is, writers
previously disliked Bush and are fishing for more reasons.  Any
writing that mentions Iraq, 'uncaring government' (like David Brooks
of the NYT did), past funding, were obviously badly biased.  A lot of
people don't like Bush or Iraq, but that does not necessarily mean the
response now is bad.

I can't help but wonder if TV's constant views of human suffering tugs
on emotions and not logic.  I wonder if there should be more shots
showing how difficult it is to transport supplies in a flooded area
where roads and communications are down.  I understand the Army has
been trying to repair the broken flood dikes all along but there were
very few TV pictures of that work.  Maybe TV scenes of sandbags aren't
as 'grabbing' as people suffering, but it IS a big part of the story
and I think more should've been featured on the news.

When I mentioned my concerns to people, they responded, "well, just
look at TV!".  Our news from TV is very selective.  TV is not always
objective because it must always be interesting to hold the viewer's
interest.  No viewers, no reason to exist.

I've seen flooded areas and was impressed at the enormous amounts of
police / fire /resuce / cleanup services required.  These areas were
far smaller in size -- a couple of square miles -- with only about 500
affected people.  Helping 500 people is a lot easier than helping
100,000 people.  That means multiplying a massive expensive effort 200
times!

My biggest question is the daunting logistics of caring for many
THOUSANDS of people, perhaps a full 100,000 people.  It does appear
that a great many people -- for whatever reason -- could not or would
not evacuate the city and were left behind.  Obviously some water was
getting to them otherwise they would have died by Wednesday.  With
most roads cut off and poor communiations, how does one get water for
100,000 people into a destroyed city and then distributed, in an
orderly fashion, to those who need it?  What about food and medicine?
Where do these supplies come from?  Where will the delivery trucks
come from?  Who organizes and dispatches the effort?

Another issue is the time delay.  In other floods, the water recedes
after a few days allowing transport to resume and cleanup to begin.
So, emergency supplies are only needed for a few days.  But, New
Orleans won't dry out for some time so supplies for many more days is
needed.  Again, where will these come from and get distributed?

Likewise with evacuation.  In the flooding I've seen, they've opened
schools on higher ground which can accomodate 500 people and usually
still have power.  Where do you put 100,000 people when a whole area
is devastated and there's no place to go?  Who has 100,000 cots just
waiting around nearby?  How will people get to the emergency centers,
especially if they're located many miles away and roads are blocked?
One newscaster said they should've used army trucks.

Think about it.  A bus holds 50 people.  You'd need 2,000 buses to
move 100,000 people.  Suppose a bus can make 4 trips during the
evacuation, so you only need 500 buses.  Who's got 500 buses, fuel for
them, and drivers, all just sitting around ready for use on the first
day?  An army truck, as some newscasters suggested, holds even less
people.  Do they have 500 trucks, fuel, and drivers just sitting
around close to New Orleans?

I don't know what the people did who got trapped in the city.  The
first question is why they could not or would not leave as directed;
but obviously providing transport and shelter for so many people
before the storm on short notice would've been terribly difficult.

I don't know what the city and state emergency plans were.  The city
and state have primary responsibility in this situation.  I don't know
when the recognized the magnitude of the disaster and what their
responses were.  When did they call in the feds and what did they ask
for?  (Local officials have to make the call to the feds.)  I wonder
how many Louisanna State Police and local police from other La. towns
were brought in as soon as the flooding started.  Who was in charge of
operations in the city?

In looking over the logistics -- many thousands of people needing help
NOW! -- I wonder if our expectations of government miracles are too
high.  We're used to instant gratification from the Internet and TV.
But maybe in the real world things work a little differently.

[public replies only, please]



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa makes some very good points. I do
not intend to kick those people while they are down, but there _was_ a
lot of politics involved as well. An alternative point of view is also
presented in this issue of the Digest, from Miss Betty Bowers who is
frequently known as "America's Best and Most Fabulous Christian". Ms.
Bower's commentary appears in the final spot in this issue, a place
which is usually reserved for the Last Laugh. PAT]

------------------------------

From: Mark Crispin <MRC@CAC.Washington.EDU>
Subject:  Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers
Date:  Sun, 4 Sep 2005 10:17:05 -0700
Organization:  Networks & Distributed Computing


On Sat, 3 Sep 2005, Kevin Buhr wrote:

> It *is* a Joe Job, and a ludicrously obvious one at that.  Tom
> St.Denis is a frequent and valuable (if occasionally rather brusk)
> contributor to sci.crypt, and some nimrod he annoyed is obviously
> trying to cause major trouble for him.

I don't know if you realize it, but you just did the same thing.  You
just accused hunters of being behind the Joe Job.

For your information, a nimrod is a hunter.  Clueless cityfolk seem to 
have a notion that this funny-sounding word is an insult.  It is not.

Nimrod first appears in the Bible in Gen. 10:8-12 as "the first on
earth to be a mighty man.  He was a mighty hunter before the Lord."
The other mentions of Nimrod are Mic. 5:6 and I. Chron 1:10, where
Assyria is called the "land of Nimrod".  Apparently, Nimrod is the
ancient Hebrew name of the Mesopotamian hero Gilgamesh.

It is high praise to call a hunter a "nimrod".  A community that
objects vociferously to misuse of "hacker" should not misuse "nimrod".

-- Mark --

http://staff.washington.edu/mrc
Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.

------------------------------

From: Betty Bowers <
Subject: Katrina, the Terrorist Who Got Through The Metal Detector
Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 14:12:41 -0500


  From: Betty Bowers -- America's Best Christian
  Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 2:51 PM
  Subject: Betty Bowers Newsletter: Katrina, the Terrorist Who Got Through
           The Metal Detector

I see that our gallant President has decided that it is taking far too
long for Iraq to look like America, So he has decided to meet them
halfway by making New Orleans look like Baghdad. Only, perhaps, he
went too far, as New Orleans could only aspire to a lawless anarchy as
dry as Iraq's. And here I thought dear Katherine Harris and her
faux-felon purge was the model for trimming the voting lines of
Democrats! Frankly, Katherine's glorious efforts to relieve the
registration lists of nefarious liberals can't hold a candle to the
magnificent indolence of FEMA in New Orleans. And while dead people
may vote (especially in Ohio), they don't show up in court to whine
about being harassed at the polls. Glory! 

Yes, it has been four long years since 9/11 (registered trademark) and
nothing has apparently been done in this country to prepare for or
help a disaster (an alarming fact that was amply proven on "Being
Bobby Brown"). But I am getting increasingly impatient with liberals
bellyaching that Katrina serves to underscore a lack of planning on
the part of our President.

On the contrary, dears: it shows an arrangement that works just like
it is supposed to not work! You see, Mr. Bush wisely cut the budgets
for emergency response agencies and the rebuilding of levees in New
Orleans to pay for our efforts to establish an Islamic theocracy in
Iraq (and to send emergency tax relief to desperate people not nearly
as liquid as New Orleans, desperately clinging to billions tied up in
real estate and leaking stock portfolios). Who was to fill the gap,
impertinent fact-obsessed people ask? Well, American's religious
corporations, mouths agape under the bounteous spigots of tax-dollars
flowing to faith-based initiated!

That is why FEMA lists Brother-in-Christ (and assassination
cheerleader) Pat Robertson's very own Operation Blessing as one of the
first places you should think about when sending dollars to help poor
people being devoured by rats and red ants in New Orleans. Say what
you will about Brother Pat, but he knows how to loot without getting
wet! Glory!

The tiny snag with relying on churches to fill the gap left by a
government too preoccupied with the testosterone of waging war abroad
to succumb to the girly impulse of feeding those left at home, is that
the churches with the most money didn't get that way by turning it
over to those in need. Indeed, in a novel twist on Scripture, most
American Christian mega-churches have been called by the Lord Jesus to
get money from the poor -- not the other way around. This is precisely
why it was the secular Astrodome in Houston, not Joel Osteen's new
16,000-seat indoor stadium (former home of the Houston Rockets) that
threw open its doors to the poor and needy. After all, a stadium full
of poor people with diseases would simply ruin the bottom line by
keeping out rich people with tithes. Besides, who wants a bunch of
water-logged black people dripping all over the recent $75,000,000
renovation? Not Jesus!

Let me take a moment to join President Bush in praising his
administration's inerrant efforts in response to Hurricane
Katrina. The administration's initial, rather crafty response was a
calmness that absently flirted with disinterest, so as not to let the
water know that it had won. A still-vacationing W strummed a guitar
(pronounced "git-tawr") while New Orleans burned. No, that was Rome:
New Orleans drowned. And Condoleezza Rice, always the go-to gal for
feigning obviousness with alarming verisimilitude, went shoe shopping
in New York for a kicky little something to wear to giggle herself to
death at Spamalot. As she might have told Louisiana children dying
without needed medications in the Ninth Ward, had she actually been
there to speak to them: "Don't worry about not having penicillin,
kiddies. As any rich Broadway cognoscenti will tell you -- laughter is
truly the best medicine! Don't touch the Ferragamos!"

Following Condi's always exemplary coolness in the face of disaster
(which she seems to have appropriated from Terri Schiavo), our
handsome President hasn't been without solutions to the current
crisis. Why, just today he offered the sage and innovative suggestion:
"If you don't need gas, don't buy it." Pesto -- problem solved! (Well,
for that one lady out in Indianapolis who doesn't drive.) Actually, a
better suggestion would have been: "Instead of wasting money on gay,
use the money to buy gas stock instead because when it comes to making
the best out of a crisis, nobody comes close to America's oil
companies. Yee-haw!" Or, better yet, sell the lumber from what used to
be your house in Biloxi on E-bay and use the few dollars you get to
buy Halliburton stock. Shares in that company, which Dick Cheney still
gets money from, sold for $8.60 in 2002. Yesterday, they hit
$63.44. Don't tell me the Lord doesn't turn lemons in to lemonade!
Glory!

Of course, the first priority of our proactive President was to do
what the White House always does to solve any problem: schedule a
panacean photo-op! So, four long days after Katrina hit, President
Bush stood in Mobile before news cameras, looking like what he thought
a concerned person would look like. America watched in heartened
triumph as the head of FEMA told Mr. Bush that the water that
submerged New Orleans had gotten there because something called
"levees" had broken. Who knew? Here it is Friday, and it is such a joy
to watch as someone finally shares with Mr. Bush what the rest of us
knew (and, apparently, were selfishly keeping to ourselves) all week.

Now, the only thing left for we Christians to do is to decide the most
important issue: who exactly was the loving Lord trying to kill with
Katrina? While many of my fellow right-wing Christians bicker over
whether it was a Great Flood aimed at homosexuals or abortionists, I
think one thing is clear: when it comes to poor black people without
food or drinkable water, the Lord has quite an axe to grind.

Well, all I can say is if a terrorist blows up Chicago or a major
earthquake decimates Los Angeles, make sure you have batteries in your
flashlights and learn to drink sewage with a smile because the Bush
administration is otherwise distracted, dismissive and disinterested,
dears. You're on your own. Welcome to the new, every-man-for-himself
America! Glory!

So close  to Jesus, I  can be driven  to Crawford, Texas  without even
seeing the inconveniently mewling mother my SUV limo is splashing with
mud,

    Mrs. Betty Bowers
    America's Best Christian

(A woman known throughout Christendom for her joie d'aprs vivre)

Copyright Mrs. Betty Bowers 2005

Subscribe to or otherwise read Mrs. Betty Bowers frequent columns and
view the interesting graphics which accompanied this article at:
http://www.bettybowers.com/nl_090205.html


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Decisions, decisions! Should this item
be today's 'Last Laugh!' feature?  I decided against titleing it such,
since there are many, many heartbroken residents today who call or
called New Orleans their 'home'. But Mrs. Bowers, fabulous Christian
and all that, does frequently hit the hammer squarely on the nail, as
I think she did this time. For an alternative viewpoint, also see the
essay (Flood Relief - Unfair Criticism) in today's issue of the Digest
from Lisa Hancock.  PAT]

------------------------------


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