disaster

Disaster Films Collector Set (6-DVD Pack)
$24.98
Disaster Films Collector Set (6-DVD Pack) by Kim Delaney, Dean Cain
I thought all 6 movies were great.

Inviting Disaster: Lessons From the Edge of Technology
$15.99
Mr. Chiles writes in a manner so easily digested that the the book is a total pleasure to consume. He brings the reader into a dissection of events that is concurrently educational, fascinating and entertaining. Simply one of the best books on the market for understanding how the causes of failure often have seemingly unconnected incidents in their past which become the true incipient causes for the ultimate disaster.
I have used this book to train insurance engineers to look at risk from a different perspective; to more thoroughly seek out the incipient causes of failure; to encourage them to provide deeper examinations in their assessments of risk at operating entities (in an effort to prevent/avoid failures); and to overall improve their professional development.
This is a must read for professionals as well as for the casual reader's sheer enjoyment. If one could award 6 stars on a scale of 1 -5, this book truly merits it.

Lessons in Disaster: McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War in Vietnam
$16.00
"Lessons in Disaster" should be required reading for all members of Congress and any elected President, and any American Citizen who loves this country. We are now in two wars that should never have started; you gain nothing by trying to get revenge. We have lost more of our young people in these wars than on 9/11. Our economy is a disaster, people with no health care and some want to send more troops to a country that doesn't want us there and anyone who has tried to win there, has lost. Besides, what would you win if you win? This is a great book.

Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland Security
$16.00
Maddening to read, this is a very clear-eyed and even-handed account of the government's response to Katrina. The book includes a nice background on the levy system in New Orleans (and some reasons for its disrepair) as well as a history of FEMA. I enjoyed the way everything was laid out in an easy, linear manner, with quotes from Senate testimony and clarifications about surrounding events added as necessary.

I found myself reading the book like I was watching a movie, picking out characters that were supposed to be the "good guys" or the "bad guys", but the authors potrayed the people as humans. Even the most capable people in this situation made mistakes, and the authors don't hesitate to point them out. This book is not a complete blame-fest, but it doesn't let anyone off the hook either. Some people come out better than others, but it feels like a very accurate picture of the mess, as opposed to the overwrought Katrina footage we all saw on TV in the immediate aftermath.

I really liked some of the stories about the unique characters in the government and in New Orleans. Reading this book reminded me just how well some people worked to get through this disaster and help their neighbors. It also reminded me how frustrating it was to watch the government drop the ball in such a spectacular fashion. My favorite quote from the book: "St. Bernard Parish, which was swamped to the eaves and had about 6,000 residents standing on the rooftops, was largely ignored by rescuers until Wednesday, when a forty-seven-man contingent of canadian Mounties arrived." (pg. 181)