Again we maybe straying into a political discussion but I think it is relevant as it is getting into the territory of the legal and moral aspects of Government disaster preparedness and planning for a wide scale emergency. 'Not being seen' has certainly generated lots of avenues for discussion.



I absolutely agree with you one hundred percent about the checks and balances but other events and issues can have an effect in the break up of Union States. The USA and its European Allies did not defeat the Soviet Union, Soviet incompetence, Nationalism and corruption did. The former Soviet Union did indeed fall apart and its constitution failed to halt its collapse from within. The Soviet Union collapsed because of a number of reasons. Firstly it military spending became unsustainable, which almost bankrupted the country, then came an environmental nuclear power disaster called Chernobyl which had quickly followed on from the period of disastrous military adventure in Afghanistan. The central demand supply economy became a massive joke which was recognized by the its populous as a massive joke. Attempted reform and Coup d'état could not halt the fact the the USSR could not pay its way in the world. Its leadership decided that instead of repressive action which could have led to Civil War the USSR became no more. The rest is history. Now imagine if everyone in the USSR had a gun.



Again I agree with you one hundred percent. Are the powers to declare a State of Emergency a constitutional amendment or a Presidential Order? I do know that there is the The Posse Comitatus Act which prohibits the US Army and US Air Force from enforcing civil criminal law within the United States. As Scotland is in a Union with the rest of the United Kingdom, the leaders in the devolved parliament in Scotland have no powers to declare a State of Emergency only the UK Government has this power and then only after consulting the European Union because the UK government is subject to the European Human Rights Act to which it is a signatory. Scotland has its own civil and criminal law within the UK which can cause some problems for the Prime Minister of the UK. When it comes to Scottish affairs the Prime Minister has to tread extremely carefully as most within Scotland would quickly call for Independence if any form of civil governance was replaced by a military one. There is no written constitution within the UK as the UK is a constitutional monarchy. The Queen is the head of state and theoretically would have the same powers as a US President. The UK parliamentary system effectively does not allow the head of state to have any direct power in any political decision making but the Prime Minister does under the head of states name. There are serious concerns about corruption and that cabinet governance and parliamentary accountability is under threat. This is why Tony Blair is being forced to quit.
In Scotland there has not been any disaster comparable to the Katrina disaster in regard to the loss of life suffered because of a storm. What I found shocking about the Katrina disaster were the days preceding and following the Hurricane. As Hurricanes are not unusual in the Gulf Coast where were the preparedness plans and disaster relieve plans. As I have access to the imagery at Dundee Satellite Receiving Station I remember that it was quite obvious 2-3 days prior to Hurricane Katrina reaching land that New Orleans area was going to suffer a major weather event and that New Orleans could be potentially flooded out because of the environmental damage and inappropriate land use of the Mississippi delta wetlands when the tidal storm surge hit. I think the US authorities knew this also as it was being reported around the world that this was potentially going to happen. The mandatory evacuation was a shambles, it was too late and it was too ineffective. Even the Cubans and Mexicans it would appear are much more on the ball when it comes to disaster planning for exactly the same type of incident. It was literally every man woman and child for themselves with the poor and immobile being left to fend for themselves. Once Katrina passed then the real tragedy began to unfold. The poor and immobile left behind then began to fend for themselves as would any sane person who was left without fresh water and food - this was interpreted as looting by the US media, punishable by summary execution if only they had the men willing together with the rifles and bullets. When the full scale of the disaster was recognized as such by the International community even from countries like Cuba and Venezuela who offered help from the limited resources, the offers of direct aid and help were only to be turned down simply because of the political embarrassment felt by the US government. Even the aid sent by the UK was destroyed rather than be distributed. This aid would have saved many lives. Only the European oil reserves it seems were warmly received. On the State level even the incarcerated were left to fend for themselves left to drown in the rising waters. The Katrina disaster was on the most part a human and environmental planning and relieve disaster which was fully predicted and badly managed. The hurricane was the bad weather which exposed the lack of public services, the incompetence and the corruption.



The lack of Habeas Corpus even for the 'non-POW scumbags' is the thin edge of the wedge.