the minute I believe that the public servants are no longer working in my best interests, all social contracts are void.

Could you clarify whether you mean your interests in particular or the overall interest of society? The two concepts can quite often be at odds.

-Blast

Is there or has there been an extensive public education program on the meaning of the sirens? Could simply be the citizens are unaware of the meaning of the sirens?

In our area, most rural Fire Departments still blow the house siren routinely at noon and at other times to alert the volunteers to respond to the station or scene of an incident, so hearing one is fairly common and does not require any action by the residents. In some areas, certain siren patterns and/or length of siren may indicate some type of incident that requires the resident to take some action, but I would venture to guess with all of the relocation and growth that occurs, most of the newer residents would have no clue as to what the siren patterns indicated.

Our Fire Departments located within the larger communities no longer blow the house siren, so if it goes off it would be something of which to take notice. However, the effective distance of the sirens would most likely make them almost useless, except in the immediate area of the stations and most residents would likely be clueless as to their meaning. We simply no longer rely upon these sirens for alerting the residents.

Now, where I work at Ft. Detrick, there is a fairly extensive distribution of sirens/public announcement speakers and most workers do know to listen for the siren and any accompanying announcement. Living only a couple of blocks from the front gate, we are able to hear these from our home.

Pete

...The hotel's owner, Osman Khan, told CNN that on the night of August 29, when the city flooded, 70 police officers had moved into his Canal Street hotel. He said that 62 went out to fight looters and thugs on the streets, while eight launched a four-day drinking and looting binge.

"They'd leave [at] nine or 10 at night and come back 4:30 in the morning," carrying "everything from Adidas shoes to Rolex watches," Khan said.

The eight officers were drinking almost all of the time, said hotel engineer Perry Emery, and when he came to the men's 10th floor room to bring towels, he saw "jewelry, generators, fans."

"One time they came back with a bunch of weapons," Emery said. He said he had no doubts about what he witnessed: "These were New Orleans police officers -- looting."

Tired, hungry and traumatised by days spent under the damaged roof of a once-gleaming football stadium, the refugees of New Orleans have spoken of a nightmarish week living among the crazed and the desperate.

Stories of rape, murder and suicide have emerged.

Sorry, I didn't mean to attribute that to you, user error here.

My point was we're talking about checkpoints, someone brings up guns while in the discussion (samhain) and having worked a checkpoint, I tend to connect the dots, maybe a little too fast, and presumes that the author of the post about what guns to get (not you, Samhain) was implying that he needed greater firepower to bypass a checkpoint. If that was not the intended direction, my apologies. No offense intended, and I hope none taken. Again, not my intention to paint you in a bad light.

...So before you get all huffed up about YOUR rights, think about your moral obligation to not selfishly put others in danger...

Personally I don't think the citizens of the United States should ever have their rights suspended "for their own good". If they want to go into the flood zone that badly, let them. Tell them the risks and have them sign a waiver, to cover legal a$$es that might be seen as libel, telling them that NO 911/rescue will be available. They know of all the risks and consequences of their actions. If they die so be it. Darwinism at work.

-Bill Liptak