New Orleans is an UnNatural Disaster

[Slim]

Apparently they're not bad.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4221838.stm

I've had the US version, and they're indeed not too bad.

[Gav]

What's in the US one? McDonalds?

[Larrison]

What's in the US one? McDonalds?

MRE's -- Meals Ready to Eat. They're not bad either..

[Gav]

I knew that, but specifically what foodstuffs?

[Larrison]

Oh yeah.. you asked what's in them?

Menu 1
Parmesan Chicken
Crackers (2-pack)
Strawberry Jam
Chocolate-Covered Cookie
Beverage Base, Orange
Accessory Pack
Total Package Wt. 13.4 oz.

Menu 2
Beef Stew
Fruit Side Dish
Crackers (2-pack)
Strawberry Jam
Chocolate-Covered Oatmeal Cookie
Tabasco Hot Sauce
Beverage Base, Orange
Accessory Pack
Total Package Wt. 18 oz.

Menu 3
Vegetarian Pasta Fagioli
Crackers (2-pack)
Strawberry Jam
Chocolate-Covered Oatmeal Cookie
Beverage Base, Orange
Tabasco Hot Sauce
Accessory Pack
Total Package Wt. 13.4 oz.

Menu 4
Turkey with Savory Vegetables
Crackers (2-pack)
Strawberry Jam
Chocolate-Covered Oatmeal Cookie
Tabasco Hot Sauce
Beverage Base, Coffee
Accessory Pack
Total Package Wt. 18 oz.

Menu 5
Beef Chili with Beans
Fruit Side Dish
Crackers (2-pack)
Strawberry Jam
Chocolate-Covered Oatmeal Cookie
Beverage Base, Orange
Tabasco Hot Sauce
Accessory Pack
Total Package Wt. 18 oz.

Menu 6
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Crackers (2-pack)
Strawberry Jam
Chocolate-Covered Oatmeal Cookie
Tabasco Hot Sauce
Beverage Base, Orange Tabasco Sauce
Accessory Pack
Total Package Wt. 13.4 oz.

*Accessory Pack includes spoon, salt, pepper, matches, moist towelettes and chewing gum.

[Larrison]

Since the responses on this are coming quickly I didn't edit my previous response..

There are a lot of other meals available too -- Beef Stroganoff, Egg Omlet with Cheese, and a number of speciality meals (there are specific Vegetarian meal, Muslim diet meals, etc.)

I pulled the list from above from a supplier list, just to give a few examples. They can be eaten cold, although they are better hot -- some packages have built in heater tabs, or you can boil the foil packets.

The shelf life is pretty good -- more than 10 years if you can keep them at 70 F or below.

The biggest complaint I've heard about them is they need to have water or a beverage with them. Which in an emergency needs to be provided as well.

If you're putting up some emergency supplies (which I think everyone should have, at least a bit...) then backpacking food is a good alternative. Double bag it in a zip-lock type bag, and turn the inventory about every 3-5 years. And since I do more backpacking than that, that's no problem...

[Gav]

They sound alright. I've hiked on instant rations - it's not fun or pleasant. I have a picture of the muck I was served on the West Highland way somewhere. There is just something ... wrong ... about freeze dried mince.

[jeff]

For a hot second, I thought you said "freeze-dried mice", which would have put quite a different spin on it...

[Larrison]

*Shudder* Freeze Dried Mince?

I had a buddy who was into ultra ultra light weight backpacking, who used to eat straight mincemeat as his primary food on backpacking. That was just *nasty* as a meal.

But, to give the guy credit he was very good at ultra lightweight backpacking. He used to do 10 days in the Sierras with less than a 20 lb pack.

[pigeonmeister]

My mate has freeze dried mice, he thaws them out and feeds them to his pet snake. Tasty!

[epeeisky]

They sound alright. I've hiked on instant rations - it's not fun or pleasant. I have a picture of the muck I was served on the West Highland way somewhere. There is just something ... wrong ... about freeze dried mince.

I can say from experience that the MRE's that the American relief groups pass out are pretty good. Of course the other option was canned ham from the pantry.

[jBirch]

MRE's suck. They are deliberately high calorie, often dry and over salted, cause constipation if used over longer periods and lacking in some essential vitamins and minerals.

Of course, like democracy, the alternatives are worse.

*grin*

James.

[jeff]

cause constipation if used over longer periods and lacking in some essential vitamins and minerals.

I thought that was the result if you wielded the One Ring too long! Explains how Gollum turned up

[esskreemr]

Hmmm... seems like looting and general distruction have followed the wake of Hurrican Wilma in Mexico.:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,173165,00.html

Sooo... a hurrican in Mexico produces:

Mexicans and stranded tourists, hungry and frustrated after a two-day beating by Hurricane Wilma, stood in line to buy supplies Sunday or simply raided grocery or furniture stores, dragging goods from shops ripped open by the storm.

A hurricane in New Orleans produces:

What Hurricane Katrina exposed was the psychological consequences of the welfare state. What we consider "normal" behavior in an emergency is behavior that is normal for people who have values and take the responsibility to pursue and protect them. People with values respond to a disaster by fighting against it and doing whatever it takes to overcome the difficulties they face. They don't sit around and complain that the government hasn't taken care of them. And they don't use the chaos of a disaster as an opportunity to prey on their fellow men.

[Fencing Jesus]

I wish people would be more creative. Wilma?
What kind of storm calls itself Wilma?

Personally I would have gone with:
Hurricane Fuzzbuster, Master of the Sombrero Armada

[umbrella]

using the flick.....well, please refer to 'the moneychanger' episode.....

But as far as New orleans goes. It's almost gone. I can't tell you how horrible it seems to see a once beautiful city go entirely down the drain. Where is the 'blame'? In many areas: 1. politicians didn't want to spend money fixing things; little things like roads getting repaved nearly every road in the uptown area, [it's really very poor in spite of it's area name] from willow street all the way through to the irish channel is pot holed to the point that no one can drive down the streets; 2. no drainage - no one thought to hire a crew of experts from other cities or countries for that matter to create a new or different way of handling water - like Venitican engineers or Engineers from Holland; 3. The entire city consisted of a very few wealthy people - many of them black and white and spanish, so there is not bit difference there; but I would say the population being at least 70% black and poor; they were not getting the kind of work that they city needed to keep things going; it all went into tourism; being a cook; being a bartender; being a singer; being a piano player. They weren't helping people go into the kind of work that would keep things working. No one wants to get their hands dirty.
For example: I rented an apartment in 1978 - it was a nice 2 bedroom, living room,kitchen/bath with a nicely kept courtyard and pools. The maintenance crew were white, and the manager of the place was a transplant from up north. He died and then the place went downhill. I rented the same place in 2003; it was a wreck, broken evreything, I could not believe it. But, if you make people pick cotton for a hundred years, then put them on welfare for another 50 years, do you think that this same population is going to want to trim up those trees inthe courtyard? no, because those people were bone weary. I can tell you, when you work as hard as people enslaved to the ground, they entire body changes. I worked very hard myself, and I can tell you that it changes everything, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

The answer again everywhere, not just New Orleans, is to hire more people,not less. No more giant layoffs from production plants. The garmet district should come back to the USA; Ford, Dodge, all those plants in the midwest should rehire; all the Utilities should hire hire hire men even at minimum wage just to keep things running; and train train train them - so they know the business inside out and can move up somewhere.

I think a lot went to the dogs if you will; when large companies started to consolidate inthe 1980's by 'corporate raders' who would raid a company wreck their stock value and leave it. The ANSWER: don't sell your company, don't consolidate; don't sell you shares to fancy school-boy. The first thing those guys do is call themselves CEO. WHAT THE HELL is a ceo? It used to be President, Vice President of Mkt; Vice Pres. of Sales, Vice Pres. of Retail; of HR etc. THey would then fire all old staffers and bring in their 'friends' who would **** up the place, destroy everything; and walk away with their own stock price.

We need for each major city: several electric companies; several telephone companies; several gas companies; each with presidents; vice presidents; directors; managers; supervisors who supervise 30 employees each in a department where they all sit around their metal frame desks with typewriters and rolladex, hand telephones and no fancy garbage;only a very fewpeople need to use a desk computer. Bookkeepers should go off-line and back into a handwritten General Ledger. Excel is the worst thing for a business, I can't tell you how horrible Excel is for bookkeeping. Please use the big black book with the little light green squares again. And Business Attire: no fancy stuff at work. It'sgetting silly,not ina niceway, we all wore plain stuff to work at the bank and everyone worked, we had more fun wearing plain stuff.


No more Cuisiney Nouvoy!!!! Out with DESIGNER in with PLAIN.

[Slim]

Hmmm... seems like looting and general distruction have followed the wake of Hurrican Wilma in Mexico.:


Sooo... a hurrican in Mexico produces:


A hurricane in New Orleans produces:

Here's a few lines you seemed to have missed from the story you posted:

"As the rains stopped Sunday, stunned Mexicans watched television images of looters rushing through stores like swarms of ants, carrying out everything from TV sets, clothes and beer, to trucks, cars and even pizza delivery motorcycles.

Whole blocks of stores were looted, and many stores were bare by Monday. Police said about 200 people had been arrested."

What was it you were actually trying to point out here?

[Slim]

using the flick.....well, please refer to 'the moneychanger' episode.....

But as far as New orleans goes. It's almost gone. I can't tell you how horrible it seems to see a once beautiful city go entirely down the drain. Where is the 'blame'? In many areas: 1. politicians didn't want to spend money fixing things; little things like roads getting repaved nearly every road in the uptown area, [it's really very poor in spite of it's area name] from willow street all the way through to the irish channel is pot holed to the point that no one can drive down the streets; 2. no drainage - no one thought to hire a crew of experts from other cities or countries for that matter to create a new or different way of handling water - like Venitican engineers or Engineers from Holland; 3. The entire city consisted of a very few wealthy people - many of them black and white and spanish, so there is not bit difference there; but I would say the population being at least 70% black and poor; they were not getting the kind of work that they city needed to keep things going; it all went into tourism; being a cook; being a bartender; being a singer; being a piano player. They weren't helping people go into the kind of work that would keep things working. No one wants to get their hands dirty.
For example: I rented an apartment in 1978 - it was a nice 2 bedroom, living room,kitchen/bath with a nicely kept courtyard and pools. The maintenance crew were white, and the manager of the place was a transplant from up north. He died and then the place went downhill. I rented the same place in 2003; it was a wreck, broken evreything, I could not believe it. But, if you make people pick cotton for a hundred years, then put them on welfare for another 50 years, do you think that this same population is going to want to trim up those trees inthe courtyard? no, because those people were bone weary. I can tell you, when you work as hard as people enslaved to the ground, they entire body changes. I worked very hard myself, and I can tell you that it changes everything, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

The answer again everywhere, not just New Orleans, is to hire more people,not less. No more giant layoffs from production plants. The garmet district should come back to the USA; Ford, Dodge, all those plants in the midwest should rehire; all the Utilities should hire hire hire men even at minimum wage just to keep things running; and train train train them - so they know the business inside out and can move up somewhere.

I think a lot went to the dogs if you will; when large companies started to consolidate inthe 1980's by 'corporate raders' who would raid a company wreck their stock value and leave it. The ANSWER: don't sell your company, don't consolidate; don't sell you shares to fancy school-boy. The first thing those guys do is call themselves CEO. WHAT THE HELL is a ceo? It used to be President, Vice President of Mkt; Vice Pres. of Sales, Vice Pres. of Retail; of HR etc. THey would then fire all old staffers and bring in their 'friends' who would **** up the place, destroy everything; and walk away with their own stock price.

We need for each major city: several electric companies; several telephone companies; several gas companies; each with presidents; vice presidents; directors; managers; supervisors who supervise 30 employees each in a department where they all sit around their metal frame desks with typewriters and rolladex, hand telephones and no fancy garbage;only a very fewpeople need to use a desk computer. Bookkeepers should go off-line and back into a handwritten General Ledger. Excel is the worst thing for a business, I can't tell you how horrible Excel is for bookkeeping. Please use the big black book with the little light green squares again. And Business Attire: no fancy stuff at work. It'sgetting silly,not ina niceway, we all wore plain stuff to work at the bank and everyone worked, we had more fun wearing plain stuff.


No more Cuisiney Nouvoy!!!! Out with DESIGNER in with PLAIN.

This is so unfocused and disjointed, I'm at a loss for even a smart-a$$ remark...

[Epee_Pox]

where's my tinfoil hat?