Blackwater Never Disappoints

[Xavier_Onassis]

The voters evaluate the government. That is how the FDA and OSHA came to exist. Since the Reaganite propagandaampaign  to indoctrinate the citizens that the government is always the problem, good government programs to prevent abuse have become less frequent. The more people distrust the government, the less the government can do to serve the citizens.

[Plane]

In Hati the better of people lived in better built houses , made of cinder block , concrete and heavy beams , with larger roofs.

The very poor lived in shacks which fell on them during the earthquake causeing little harm as they were small and made of lightweight materiel.

So in Hati the poorly housed were better off in the earthquake than the well off , accidentally.

What sort of regulation could a Hatian government enforce? A regulation that mandated more quality than the people could afford would simply contribute to homelessness.

By the time Hurricane season arrives the people will need some heavyly built buildings with heavy well attached roofs , but the best preparation for the next earthquake would be to live in tents.


How much do government regulations inhibit innovation?

An Arimid fiber bullet proof fabric inflated like a baloon could be as stiff as ships mast and a tent made of this sort of fabric could be built in a berm enclosure to hold down its edges with tonns of earth .With tent "poles" of inflated fabric  a tent could be very large and very weathertight resisting debris impact and resisting also the tremors of an earth quake.   But a giant tent might be hard to fit into existing regulations.

Very strong regulations cause a legacy problem.

[BT]

That is how the FDA and OSHA came to exist.

Hmm. The above agencies came into being under Republican Presidents . Teddy Roosevelt and Richard Nixon.

[Christians4LessGvt]

the best preparation for the next earthquake would be to live in tents.

Plane...that was the funniest/best line of the day!   

[Amianthus]

Yurts for Haiti?
Alanna Shaikh - February 16, 2010 - 2:41 pm

Wired magazine ran a piece today about the Hexayurt, a six-sided structure designed to be cheap, durable, and easily assembled. It?s not a new design; it was created years ago by Vinay Gupta and promoting it has been a longstanding project for him. However, the Wired article suggests a new and interesting use for the Hexayurt ? emergency housing in Haiti.

It?s an interesting idea. More than a million people are homeless in Haiti. Aid agencies have actually given up handing out tents at this point. They are just focusing on building transitional structures, which cost about $3000 each. The Hexayurt, on the other hand, costs $100 to build and can be erected rapidly. They can last for years while permanent housing is rebuilt. Hexayurts are cheaper even than tents, and can be made of locally available plywood.

The idea is not without its flaws. So far, the Hexayurt has been field-tested in West Virginia and at Burning Man, neither of which actually compare to hurricane season in the Caribbean. However, the Hexayurt Project is currently fundraising to test the yurts for Haiti, so there should be a Haiti-appropaite design soon.

Another issue is that protocols for appropriate shelter are actually well-established, and organizations receiving funding from major government donors will be expected to follow existing guidelines. I think that a Hexayurt would meet SPHERE standards for appropriate emergency shelter, but would a conservative government bureaucrat think so?

I am really not sure if yurts are the solution to transitional housing in Haiti. But in an emergency of this magnitude, we may need to look outside the box ? or the tent ? in our response.

Original Article

[sirs]

*snicker*    Good article, Ami   

[Plane]

Yurts for Haiti?
Alanna Shaikh - February 16, 2010 - 2:41 pm

Wired magazine ran a piece today about the Hexayurt, a six-sided structure designed to be cheap, durable, and easily assembled. It?s not a new design; it was created years ago by Vinay Gupta and promoting it has been a longstanding project for him. However, the Wired article suggests a new and interesting use for the Hexayurt ? emergency housing in Haiti.

It?s an interesting idea. More than a million people are homeless in Haiti. Aid agencies have actually given up handing out tents at this point. They are just focusing on building transitional structures, which cost about $3000 each. The Hexayurt, on the other hand, costs $100 to build and can be erected rapidly. They can last for years while permanent housing is rebuilt. Hexayurts are cheaper even than tents, and can be made of locally available plywood.

The idea is not without its flaws. So far, the Hexayurt has been field-tested in West Virginia and at Burning Man, neither of which actually compare to hurricane season in the Caribbean. However, the Hexayurt Project is currently fundraising to test the yurts for Haiti, so there should be a Haiti-appropaite design soon.

Another issue is that protocols for appropriate shelter are actually well-established, and organizations receiving funding from major government donors will be expected to follow existing guidelines. I think that a Hexayurt would meet SPHERE standards for appropriate emergency shelter, but would a conservative government bureaucrat think so?

I am really not sure if yurts are the solution to transitional housing in Haiti. But in an emergency of this magnitude, we may need to look outside the box ? or the tent ? in our response.

Original Article

I like it , but how does it ride a tropical storm?

I think that steel shipping containers could be used as storm shelters , but there is nothing availible that will be adequate in quantity enough soon enough.

Hatians are going to be in serious trouble for months yet .