Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in interdictor's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Thursday, September 1st, 2005
1:05 pm	If anyone who works for or has connections with Bell South or Telcove is reading this, tell us what it's going to take to get those OC3s back up and running. We will try to coordinate and make it happen. (51 Comments |Comment on this)
11:50 am	Update My first tactical mistake. We were unprepared to accept the fuel when it arrived. The fuel arrived way too soon for us and we did not have all the empty drums down one ground floor when they got here. The driver had other deliveries to make, so rather than waste his time, I told him we'd recoordinate and be ready for him later today or tomorrow. That's the bad news. Here's the worse news: All of our providers are dropping. We're down to one. We have enough fuel to keep us powered for a long time, but we could lose internet access soon if our last provider drops. So I guess what I'm saying is that any moment could be my last moment online. If we do lose internet, Outpost Crystal might have to be abandoned by all but Sig and Myself. I've got to get Crystal out of here safely and relocated to someplace out of this state. I'm working on escape routes now. Calling any and all Intercosmos and Directnic employees. We need you to contact Donnie in email and on ICQ ASAP. Situtation is critical. I'm not leaving, so stop asking. I'm staying. I am staying until this shitstorm has blown itself out. Period. End of discussion. Now for some updates: 1. Been too busy to debrief the police officer, so that will come later. Low priority now. 2. Buses loading people up on Camp Street to take refugees to Dallas, or so the word on the street (literally) is. 3. Dead bodies everywhere: convention center, down camp street, all over. 4. National Guard shoving water off the backs of trucks. They're just pushing it off without stopping, people don't even know it's there at first -- they drop it on the side in debris, there's no sign or distribution point -- people are scared to go near it at first, because the drop points are guarded by troops or federal agents with assault rifles who don't let people come near them, which scares people off. It is a mess. When people actually get to the water, they are in such a rush to get it that one family left their small child behind and forget about him until Sig carried him back to the family. 5. Lots of pics coming soon when Sig has time to update. It's raining now and I guess that's a relief from the heat. It's hot as hell down there in the sun. Crime is absolutely rampant: rapes, murders, rape-murder combinations. I have really cut back answering IMs. Not enough time. I apologize people. In case anyone in national security is reading this, get the word to President Bush that we need the military in here NOW. The Active Duty Armed Forces. Mr. President, we are losing this city. I don't care what you're hearing on the news. The city is being lost. It is the law of the jungle down here. The command and control structure here is barely functioning. I'm not sure it's anyone's fault -- I'm not sure it could be any other way at this point. We need the kind of logistical support and infrastructure only the Active Duty military can provide. The hospitals are in dire straights. The police barely have any capabilities at this point. The National Guard is doing their best, but the situation is not being contained. I'm here to help in anyway I can, but my capabilities are limited and dropping. Please get the military here to maintain order before this city is lost. Doing what we can, this is Outpost Crystal getting back to work. We've got a prayer! Huge convoy of fuel and generator engineer types affiliated with Bell South just moved down the street toward their building. That's where 2 of our OC3s that went down are at Bell's main. Finally, this is important: Message for Tenants of 650 Poydras - Poydras Center We recieved the below email from building management. We are asking for help from tenants in our building. We need bottled water, hand sanitizer, general cleaning supplies, self cleaning stuff, germx, baby wipes, etc.. Big diesel gloves. underwear. (34, 36, 38's whatever), socks (white), razors/deodorant men's and womens, a portable chemical toilet, .45 ACP ammo if possible If you have any of the above supplies at the office and you are willing to let us borrow them then please send us: 1) your suite number; 2) the supplies that you are willing to let us borrow; 3) the exact location of where the supplies are located; 4) your contact information; and 5) some form of laundry detergent. If you do the above we will: 1) be able to get into your suite to obtain the supplies; 2) While getting the supplies we will also check your suite for damage and perform a little work to help you mitigate damage; 3) we will track what we borrow; 4) we will pay you back; and 5) we will eventually send you a status update. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Maurice Faucheux [mailto:denmaur@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 7:04 AM To: mfaucheux@hertzgroup.com Subject: Hertz New Orleans Properties Dear Tenants, We at Hertz Investment Group sincerely hope that you and your loved ones survived Hurricane Katrina safely and with a minimum of loss. We also hope that the coming period of recovery goes smoothly for you. I would like to pass on to you Hertz Investment Group's plan for the immediate future. Members of the Hertz Management Team remained at each of our New Orleans properties throughout Hurricane Katrina, in order to mitigate damage and to survey the effect of the storm on the properties. We have now retained the services of a specialist in commercial disaster recovery to assist us with repairing and restoring our properties as quickly as possible. The company will deploy a Catastrophic Action Team (CAT), that will being working to return our properties to Class A condition as soon as state and city officials allow access to the city. In the interim, Hertz Investment Group has created a website www.HertzNewOrleansResponds.Com which will provide our tenants and the community with status reports on our progress. The website will also offer each tenant the option of creating a password protected bulletin board, which can be used for communicating confidentially with staff and employees directly on the website. Tenants will also be able to submit questions to Hertz Group management via the website. Our website is expected to be on line and fully functional tomorrow, (Thursday). We encourage you to utilize the services that the website offers during this difficult time, to follow our progress and to communicate with your friends, co-workers, staff and employees. Sincerely, Maurice A Faucheux General Manager Hertz Investment Group Something Awful, bad news. We have to take you offline for now. We have to get more OC3s back online and that's down the street. Doing what we can, people. (210 Comments |Comment on this)
10:27 am	We've got fuel coming in NOW. Going down stairs now. back soon (292 Comments |Comment on this)
10:12 am	Update and Thanks 1. There is a mass exodus for the Mississippi River Bridges (Crescent City Connection) from the CBD. We are not sure what's going on, but we are assuming until we hear differently that people are fleeing the city. So if you're watching the feeds, that's what you're seeing -- throngs of people moving toward the bridges. 2. Cannot confirm any of the following: Superdome fire, 2 shot police officers this morning. We hear all kinds of stuff, but no way to verify those. 3. Can confirm: The National Guard, FEMA, the NOPD, and City authorities DO NOT have the city under control. There are live radio feeds for the National Guard comms and NOPD comms which have been circulating the web, and you can listen to the chaos and disarray for yourselves. I am not going to post the links, but I'm sure others have and will. I doubt the government's ability to reestablish order without a full active duty military presence to crush the mob mentality. This of course will mean no civil rights and everyone being treated equally -- as a criminal. Rock | Hard Place. 4. I'm happy to report that my parents are accounted for. My mother made it out to Jackson, Mississippi, and my father, the only person more strong-willed than myself, is still in Harahan, healthy but refusing to leave. Mounting a rescue operation to bring him into the Outpost Crystal is a very low priority mission at this point. He's gonna have to tough it out for the time being. For him to read later, when this is all over: "Dad, I love you. I have to say it -- I told you so." Stubborn guy, my dad. 5. More pics coming soon. More later. (69 Comments |Comment on this)
9:36 am	Diesel Situation We have permission from the City and from FEMA to truck in diesel. We have the ability to take on 1300-1500 more gallons of diesel fuel. If you or anyone you know is capable of bringing us fuel, we will pay for it. It would be best if the delivery truck could navigate a parking garage, otherwise the unloading will be hours -- no idea how long it could take. Thanks in advance, Michael (132 Comments |Comment on this)
8:26 am	I'm Awake Best night sleep I've had so far. Woke up without back pain for the first time since before this thing started. I've been sleeping on the carpet, and that's a very thin layer covering the hard concrete. It takes about 3 days to get accustomed to sleeping on concrete -- I know that from my my days of sleeping on asphalt when the army couldn't provide better. I need to perform personal hygiene in a little bit, but I wanted to check in first and let everyone know that Outpost Crystal is still a viable and functioning camp of civilization in the face of the lawless barbarian hordes who threaten at all times to turn what's left of New Orleans into the war of all against all. It's like Mogadishu out there, but we're in a fixed defensive position and prepared. I've got some office maintenance stuff to do here before I clean up. Back in a few. (134 Comments |Comment on this)
2:15 am	Getting Some Rest It's been a very long day. I'm going to crash for a bit and try to get 5 hours or so of sleep. I apologize again that I cannot respond to each IM. I am trying. We've got that IRC channel going and I'll try to get in there for a while later in the day. I am going to debrief the police officer completely in the morning. He was utterly fatigued, thirsty, and wanted to find out what the hell was really going on. Security has become a major concern now, because the NOPD is ineffective and the looters terrorists are roaming the streets. Word is now that they're lighting buildings on fire, but I can't confirm that. Anyway, we have to run guard shifts and patrol and it limits our downtime. It is a zoo out there though, make no mistake. It's the wild kingdom. It's Lord of the Flies. That doesn't mean there's murder on every street corner. But what it does mean is that the rule of law has collapsed, that there is no order, and that property rights cannot and are not being enforced. Anyone who is on the streets is in immediate danger of being robbed and killed. It's that bad. I will be back on around 0700 or so I think. Team SOTI signing off. Will leave the cam on. (126 Comments |Comment on this)
1:43 am	New Pictures Up http://sigmund.biz/kat/index.html (31 Comments |Comment on this)
12:35 am	Outpost Crystal's Police Officer More from the Police Officer. I'm typing as fast as i can while he talks to us: He's only hearing bits and pieces. The people in the city are shooting at the police. They're upset that they're not getting help quickly enough. The fireman keep calling because they're under fire. He doesn't understand why the people are shooting at the rescuers. Here it is 5 days ago the Mayor said get out of town and nobody went and now they're pissed. The National Guard was at the Hilton, but now the Hilton is evacuated. When they said the CBD was gonna get 6 feet of water, it seems like everyone evacuated. He turned the corner onto Canal Street and it looked like a flea market. People breaking into every store, going to the neutral gound (median) and trading and selling everything. They broke into Winn Dixie Monday Night. Do they steal food? No. Cigarettes and liquor. Store was a mess. All the meats were going to waste so the districts went over there to salvage food for officers. Many cops have been eating MREs. The Iberville Housing Projects got pissed off because the police started to "shop" after they kicked out looters. Then they started shooting at cops. When the cops left, the looters looted everything. There's probably not a grocery left in this city. Over 30 officers have quit over the last 3 days. Out of 160 officers in his district maybe 55 or 60 are working. He hasn't seen several since Sunday. HQ is closed, evacuated. No phones to contact them. "HQ, be advised, we're going 10 7." "Ok, y'all coming back on???" "We don't know." More in a few. (60 Comments |Comment on this)
12:11 am	You Want News? New Orleans Police Department Status: The situation for the NOPD is critical. This is firsthand information I have from an NOPD officer we're giving shelter to. Their command and control infrastructure is shot. They have limited to no communication whatsoever. He didn't even know the city was under martial law until we told him! His precinct (5th Precinct) is under water! UNDER WATER -- every vehicle under water. They had to commander moving trucks like Ryder and UHaul to get around. The coroner's office is shut down so bodies are being covered in leaves at best or left where they lie at worst. They don't even know their own rules of engagement. He says the force is impotent right now. They have no idea what's going on, no coordination, virtually no comms, etc. the National Guard is gonna air drop a radio system for them with 200 radios? They are getting very little direction. The 3rd District bugged out to Baton Rouge because they flooded out. His quote: "It's a zoo." More first hand information direct from him shortly. He's trying to recover. I am not trying to be an alarmist, but until we get a military presence of signicance in the city, the roving gangs of thugs own the streets. (59 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 31st, 2005
10:57 pm	Notice: My ICQ/AIM is going to crash the computer -- windows are opening up at an insane rate. I appreciate all the IMs and all the support, but I don't think this laptop can handle it. I am going to have to turn them off for a bit, so please post in the blog for a bit. You guys are great. Our morale was already strong, but knowing the whole world is watching and wishing us well adds even more resolve! I'll come back to messenger later, I promise. An IRC channel has been opened up for us at: irc.deadjournal.com. Channel is: #interdictor. There is a web interface here: http://irc.deadjournal.com Thanks to Frank, the owner of DeadJournal.com for this setup. (42 Comments |Comment on this)
10:18 pm	Me The scruffy looking guy on cam right now is me. I need to shave and clean up tonight, but I figured I'd let you guys see what we look after a long day of back-breaking labor. I hope I didn't scare everyone off the feed! (67 Comments |Comment on this)
9:19 pm	Stuff 1) I need to get a counter going on this site. This is unbelievable! This was just a private little journal 3 days ago that I was using to share my hurricane experience with some friends -- like 30 people. Now it feels like the whole world is watching. 2) I also need to get an FAQ up and running. Never thought I would need an FAQ! 3) I am not giving specifics about the number of people here or our supplies or our weapons/ammo status or any other sensitive info like that which could pose a security risk. At this point, I think it's safer this way. 4) Feel free to use the comments to post information, links to emergency services and charities and the like, or anything else appropriate. You can use colorful language if you want -- I'm not some PC ninny, but I demand that you not say anything stupid. Stupidity is more offensive to me than synonyms for bowel movement. 5) We are feeling your love and support and we love all of you back! Something else: A local company called us because they heard we still had the datacenter operating. They asked for our help. We went to their office and brought back their most critical server. We are in the process of transferring 40 gigs of data from their most critical server at this time. Of course we have no experience with Macs so this will be interesting. While at their facility we noticed that they had 5 drums of water with 5 gallons each. With their permission we took the 25 gallons of water and their cleaning supplies to our office. We can’t help everyone. But, we are certainly willing to do what we can from here… (75 Comments |Comment on this)
8:28 pm	Hah! I take a short nap, and all hell breaks loose on the cam ;) Right now you're looking at Donnie, one of the brains behind Directnic.com. His wife is seeing him for the first time since Katrina started heading this way -- Friday. People: We're feeling your love! I am overwhelmed with IMs from concerned strangers who just want to tell us they're rooting for us, to hang in there, and that we have the support of the world. What a tremendous juxtaposition to the lack of humanity on the streets below us. We love you too! I am trying to respond to every single IM, but I'm getting them at the rate of 3 or 4 per second! Please, PLEASE, do NOT take it personally if yours goes unanswered or if it gets answered after a long delay. We are being overwhelmed by the quantity and concern! Oh, for the record, I'm not a sys admin. I'm the company's crisis manager, and with a company like Directnic.com, my services are rarely needed. I bring a military perspective to the operation. GOOD NEWS: We're expecting to have outgoing VOIP phones running within the hour. By the way, now you're looking at Sig. (82 Comments |Comment on this)
4:23 pm	Info Update Ok, we went down to the ground floors to lock down the building tight since a couple of people holed up with us took off. While we were down there we surveyed a huge area of the CBD. Flooding in the CBD: Poydras is flooded from near the west side of the Superdome down to Baronne street. All of the side streets are flooded too down that way. Baronne is the last flooded street as you head to the river. Poydras is clear from Baronne to the river. There is no water that we could see from Poydras to the interstate starting at Baronne and going all the way to the river. Headed toward Canal St. from Poydras, I saw no flooding at all from just past Baronne to the river. That's a huge area of the CBD without water on the streets. That's way better than the warnings we got. Looting: The police are looting. This has been confirmed by several independent sources. Some of the looting might be "legitimate" in as much as that word has any meaning in this context. They have broken into ATMs and safes: confirmed. We have eyewitnesses to this. They have taken dozens of SUVs from dealerships ostensibly for official use. They have also looted gun stores and pawn shops for all the small arms, supposedly to prevent "criminals" from doing so. But who knows their true intentions. We have an inside source in the NOPD who says that command and control is in chaos. He reports that command lapses more than 24 hours between check-ins, and that most of the force are "like deer in the headlights." NOPD already had a reputation for corruption, but I am telling you now that the people we've been talking to say they are not recognizing the NOPD as a legitimate authority anymore, since cops have been seen looting in Walmarts and forcing people out of stores so they could back up SUVs and loot them. Don't shoot the messenger.... Personal: Securing a 27 floor high rise with no elevator support is not fun. I am totally worn out. I am gonna chill for an hour, eat dinner, then perform maintenance. But never fear, Outpost Crystal and Team SOTI have knuckled down and will never quit. Never. We are prepared to go all the way to see this thing through. Thanks again for all the support and love. One day this will all be over and ancient history, but I'll never forget the kindness of strangers. Keep the less fortunate people in your thoughts and prayers. (162 Comments |Comment on this)
2:05 pm	Just the Facts, Please Ok, yesterday the alarmists told us that we'd have 9 feet of water in the CBD by today because of the levee failures. We've got 0 inches of water. Just wanted to pass that info on. (58 Comments |Comment on this)
1:46 pm	Chad from mises.org tells me that the supplemetal feed (http://old.mises.org:88/NO2) peaked at 442 and currently stands at 438 viewers. We've got 50 on our direct feed (mms://204.251.3.10:3349) That means almost 500 of you are watching Lord of the Flies II: Escape From New Orleans on our webcam. Hope you're enjoying the feed. Got any question about what you're seeing, just ask. Dozens of helpful people are answering everything in the comments section. (36 Comments |Comment on this)
1:05 pm	On cam right now you can see looters selling new shoes and shirts.... (37 Comments |Comment on this)
12:59 pm	Generator Question All you engineer types. Is there any maintenance needs I should be aware of to keep the generator up and running? We've got a manual here, but it's huge. Any tips? We've got the load between 17% and 20% at all times. Anything specific we need to be checking? Where is the oil on our generator? (32 Comments |Comment on this)
11:37 am	Update: FEED Direct feed running from: mms://204.251.3.10:3349 And out good friends at Mises.org are doing some kind of rebroadcast at this link: http://old.mises.org:88/NO2 Let me know if you can get to it. (67 Comments |Comment on this)