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| Sunday, 25 September 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Anticipating a systems failure Kaleidoscope by Rohan Jayawardana The recent early-September experience of Americans with Hurricane Katrina is an example of "Systems Failure" at the most vaunted address of sophistication and efficiency. Therefore it merits careful scrutiny and evaluation. In the particular case of New Orleans, the preceding years had been violations of the basic norms of town planning in the indiscriminate reclamation of land and building constructions on the most natural buffer zones called "wetlands" in this area which lies below sea-level. Additionally the poor maintenance of the dykes and barriers which are fundamental measures against inundation, exposed the highly populated city to the fullest consequences of ravaging by flood waters. The southern states of the North American continent on its eastern front inclusive of Florida experiences the violence of typhoons and hurricanes which build up steam in the turbulent Atlantic ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Therefore it is quite absurd that there had been critical "systems failure" in town planning in this matter of provisions against flooding in emergencies such as the freak weather conditions which are NOT un-common here! These were factors that worked massively to the disadvantage of the sector of citizens who were unable to get away before the hurricane struck. The horror scenarios during and after Hurricane Katrina must be largely blamed on the quality of Administrative planning and implementation that was blind to the realities. When the Hurricane finally did arrive, there had been a period of alert and several warnings had been issued to "clear out fast". Nevertheless, how many families could afford to leave their homes without the elaborate transportation required in a city where the bus-travelling coloured folk and disadvantaged society were a high percentage living on compulsive whimsy and a diet of marvellous jazz music? They lead softly philosophical lives and have a religious outlook (albeit with supports of govt. welfare to keep body and soul together)! Superdrome There had been no effort at organising any elaborate official transportation and the poor folk decided to stay, cowering with fear. Consequently if there are indeed "ten thousand dead" as officially estimated at the end of the first subsequent week and several more in the thousands are in shock and disorder, they are largely of this particular layer of the American citizenship desperately in need of aftercare within sophistication. The relief-shelters, especially the "superdrome", have been later described as "places one should never get into" on international TV and Radio reports. Criminality was rife here of every sort in the city totally cut-off except by air; where the essential services such as water-service-drainage-food supplies etc, had virtually terminated. At least one rescue helicopter was shot down in the melee, bitterness and looting with murders and other violence becoming prevalent. What chance did hapless gentle folk have here? It looked like a scene of the last judgement put on canvas by Satan himself. They were marooned: it was unbelievable. September 11th in New York (2001) In an earlier September instance of a four years ago the Americans had other moments of horror in the tragedy of the World Trade Centre incident in New York. The "systems failures" were unbelievable and un-imaginable here because the multi-event of terror represented a long-term plan executed with ruthless razor-sharp accuracy involving the hijack of three aircraft among other things as prior pilot-training, licensing and so forth. How on earth was their plan co-ordinated and devastatingly effected finally except by computer direction? All of this had never been noticed! The carnage and havoc wreaked was horrendous and represented a total breakdown in all aspects of government, security and political savvy. It is noteworthy that in the 30 years of Cold War and even before/after it, the American mainland had never been assaulted in a manner remotely resembling the devastation done that day. Aftermath The aftermath of September 11 was that the national leadership chose to avoid taking collective responsibility and diverted the entire nation (and its allies) instead, without the provision in any forum of "legally admissible evidence" into a unsuccessful and tragic military chase in Afghanistan of a certain Osama Bin Laden of the Al-Queda who they assured was the culprit. What was the problem in stating the quality of the evidence that led to this invasion of a foreign country by-passing the UN forum? In actual fact, the perceived army of this enemy was not at the American border while the total "enemy" numbered not more than a couple of scattered hundreds. Thus there was a profound Systems Failure in terms of every civilized observance in the Laws on the international firmament which in parallel has now given a basis and justification for every invasion thereafter of any national border from Libya to Indonesia .....er ..... why not, wonder? When the United Nations agreed to foot the Bill of Cost in the American invasion of Afghanistan the world went back to the 1000 years of Dark Ages in Europe. Nevertheless, WHAT HAPPENED at September 11 has now become a historical event for "movies". With the American economy soon in tatters busily making huge losses in most famous conglomerates of the corporate sector, the next diversion was into the "hated" Iraq in search of "scud missiles". In the previous several months an expert UN team had found no evidence of this! As the entire world and all American voters now know (bitterly?) the US military are loyally dying in their hapless hundreds in both places on obviously unlawful endeavours which are nevertheless financed and endorsed by the United Nations. In the meantime Mr. Bin Laden and those "scuds" are still invisible. Elsewhere the entire international economic scenario is on skids but quite strangely the newly impoverished (modern) Russians also think the Americans just had to win for "economic reasons"! Consequently the possession of Cash and Clout had determined the fate of two Islamic states independently of the Laws. Current Tragically the media sources raised no huge outcry about this exclusive privilege to invade lands ignoring educated procedure. More Cash and Clout, perhaps. After that, why have any systems functional EXCEPT to bury massively the immoral application: leave it to political whimsy and total Systems Breakdown. Who can remember anything any more except a fireball! The absolute truth is that there is a need to enforce upon the hierarchies of the society the requirements of established international Behaviour Codes. Otherwise, why send the children to school? All persons of universal mind (as opposed to the parochial sorts) must find consensus based in Laws, Justice, Equality, the absolute truth! All types of "local truth" and applied truths are in fact half-lies or half-evil. It is a convenience and criminal expediency; and if allowed to pass unchecked becomes a grotesque substitute for "right thought". This is Identity Failure as there is an absence of the intellect. In the instance of the current cultural stand-off on the world's scene in the modern era that commenced at the Middle East in 1948 under UN sponsorship, the British colonised region of Palestine finds a purely sociological relevance in history in this extract out of the Book of Genesis with regard to the elder son of patriarch Abraham named Ishmael (the other son was Isaac): "He shall be a wild man His hand shall be against all men and all men's hands against him, --. (Gen. 16:12) This period was probably around 3000 BC, and Ishmael was sent out into the wild owing to the social discrimination arising at his birth owing to the fact of his mother being Hagar, friend of patriarch Abraham. His wife Sarah could not conceive and finally had her own son Isaac in her 90th year! He was the "first Jew" and his elder brother Ishmael the "first Arab". But the practice of Jewish faith with the Temple of Solomon etc. was later at 1000 B.C.; and the Prophet Muhammed who brought Islam in the desert was 1600 years later at 7th century A.D. Ironically, when the former British rulers of Palestine and the United Nations left the fates to decide the future on all Palestinians the prophecy had "arrived", literally speaking. The Palestinians were sans expertise and perceived as "inconsequential". History has devastatingly revealed that this was a severe Systems Breakdown of the cerebral order of things and still prevails as described in the biblical quotation on the entire world's scene nowadays (for some history, see the film "Lawrence of Arabia"). If it were to overcome about a reversal of the current ongoing negative states anywhere there must be calm acceptance of all unconditional universal norms and regulations because every local society is now interwoven and inter-connected inextricably within the Global Village. It is a series of Markets and Supplies. The human sensations are indeed
basically the same. All sectors and all segments within associations and
every type of social entity who have universal norms and consensus must
therefore reach out NOW sans inhibitions for the purpose of a vital social
salvation. |
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