Today I was going to write about the confessions of a football nerd but tabled that subject for a few days because I didn’t want to chase Pat off by writing about sports for two days in a row. However, in return for claming up about sports today I expect all of you to honor me by rooting for the University of Oregon Ducks when they take on Boise State tonight at 7:15 PM Pacific Daylight Time on ESPN. They are two of the top sixteen rated teams in the country. I will give Mary special dispensation and allow her not to root for the Ducks. Mary not only sings the children’s spider song wrong (she sings eensey-weensy, when we all know it is itsy-bitsy) but she has the terrible misfortune of being a University of Washington Husky fan and the last time a Husky rooted for a Duck was before George Washington cut down the famous cherry tree.
Today I am talking about an extremely serious subject. The California fires. Yesterday The Oregonian had an editorial titled “When I’m Staying Turns To “Save Me.” The subject of the editorial was the people that ignore mandatory evacuation orders and then later ask to be saved. It not only puts themselves in danger but puts emergency workers in great danger to rescue them. The editorial asks the question “Are these people entitled to help?” Texas in a new law that started Tuesday is the first state to give police complete power to arrest people that ignore mandatory evacuation orders and forcibly remove them from their home. States have tried coercive tactics to get people to evacuate during disasters including insisting people that stay behind to use a magic marker to write their social security number on their arms. Yet people continue to defy the evacuation orders because they don’t believe they really are in danger or because they insist on defending their territory. Only later to require more costly, more dangerous help. The editorial comes to the conclusion that yes the people that stay behind do deserve to be rescued and that the emergency personal wouldn’t have it any other way because they just can’t leave anyone behind. However, the editorial also comes to the conclusion that the people that refuse the evacuation orders should have to pay for their rescue and a bill for the costs of that rescue should be sent to them as soon as the fire or other disaster ends. You can read the entire editorial at the following link by using the search words "When I’m Staying Turns To “Save Me."
http://www.oregonlive.com/
Still on the fire subject. Last night on the news and again in this morning’s Oregonian it was stated that the LA fire could very well be human caused. They didn’t say intentionally caused but maybe a cigarette thrown from the car or a lighted match dropped.
Here are the questions of the day. Do you agree with the Oregonian that people that ignore mandatory evacuation orders deserve to be rescued or when they stay behind do they forfeit there right to be rescued? If they deserve to be rescued should they be required to be paid the additional costs of that rescue? Do you think the Texas law that allows for the arrest and forcible removal of people that defy mandatory evacuation orders is a good thing? And if the fire was human caused what do we do with the human or humans that caused it?
Here is where I stand. I agree with the Texas law and hope other states follow suit. There are laws designed to save people from themselves and this would be one of them. If people ignore evacuation orders yes they do deserve to be saved if it doesn’t endanger the lives of emergency workers and yes they should be forced to pay the bill for their rescue. If the fire was purposely set, life in prison would be to good for him or her. If the fire was accidentally caused by a human I still think a case could be made for manslaughter since two firefighters were killed. Minimum five years in prison.
Your turn!
TRIVIA
Yesterday’s answers:
Hammering Hank Aaron, Playgirl, 1974, Captain & Tennille, & Harry Reasoner.
TODAY’S DOUBLE JEOPARDY. SUBJECT: “WHAT IS THAT THING CALLED?”
DISCLAIMER: THE MONEY MENTIONED IS IMAGINARY MONEY ONLY MEANT TO DEFINE THE DIFFICULTITY OF THE QUESTION AND NOT MEANT TO IMPLY IT AS A PRIZE FOR GETTING THE RIGHT ANSWER.
$400
They are fingered to control the pitch of a trumpet.
$800
Like the part of the nose it rests on, the connecting piece of a pair of glasses is called this.
$1,200
It’s the knob on the top of a saddle, or an ornamental knob on the hilt of a sword.
$1,600
As a noun, it’s a strip of material on a sail; as a verb it means to secure an opening like a hatch.
$2,000
Like Colonial Days, yarn was made using the “drop” type of this.
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6 comments:
People who don't evacuate when told to can be a huge problem later. OTOH, there have been quite a few people who saved their homes by staying, and you can't quite fault them, considering. Arresting and removing them may be the best thing to do, but it also seems an invasion of rights and an opening for a lawsuit if their property is destroyed when it might have been possible for them to save it. I'm glad I don't have to decide.
Absolutely if they stay against orders and require expensive rescue, they should pay for it. Which doesn't consider the risk to the rescue workers, so paid for or not, it's a Bad Thing.
The first person to tell a news crew that the fire here might be "human caused" got in a lot of trouble. But from later reports, they seem to think that's the case, though when last I heard, they don't know whether it was accidental or intentional.
I don't know what the penalty is for arson of this magnitude, or in fact, for any arson. I can only imagine the glee of an arsonist who caused a really huge and destructive fire like this one, and it makes me wish for the most extreme penalty possible under law, if that turns out to be the case. And of course, if the perpetrator is found.
If caused by human accident, it would depend on what kind of accident -- unavoidable or just carelessness and/or stupidity.
Hi Pat
I am not sure what I would do if I was asked to evacuate, I like to think I would pack up all the stuff that was important to me and split but who really knows until that situation comes up.
I kind of trust is other states had the Texas law that the police would use the law carefully so it wouldn't be taken away from them.
I heard last night that the man that originally said human caused got taken down a peg or two but then later on they quoted someone else that said the same thing but used the words probably and might a lot.
Your more charitable then I am, I don't care what kind of accident it is I'd arrest them and try them. Unless it was little kids playing with matches or something like that I might change my mind.
Bill
I definitely think people should have to pay for those evacuations. Forcible removal, I'm not so sure of. And, I'm not sure how easy it would be to collect the payment. I've often felt that folks who get "out of their element" mountain-climbing or hiking and require rescue should have to pay for such rescue.
It's definitely been an eventful day - not quite what one would like for vacation. But you'll have to come to my blog - I don't want to have to write this twice.
Wow Mary Z
What freaking nightmare and to have it happen the first of your vacation just stinks.
Will John be able to drive with a broken hand?
Prayers and thoughts with you and him!
Bill
Right now, I won't let him drive. LOL. Probably by the time we get off the boat (in a week), he'll be over the worst of the pain, and will probably want to drive in some of the non-crucial areas.
Hi Maryz
If he is like me and most other men he is biting at the bit to drive, he is lucky to have you to watch out for him.
Bill
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