A Dark Room and a Poodle

Some of us were discussing this tragedy over coffee,the ineptness of Homeland security and came up with the phrase,call it the "wizzard of oz." In ozland will all the tin hats step up to the plate?

In other news:

Wow, Arnold is completely pandering to the right, with his Nov. 11 "I'm so Special" election coming up.

Egypt, Pakistan, Ukraine all thinking their elections are unfair.

Germany splitting into 3 - far left, center left, far right (even though she's a woman, women should stay away, far far away, & not vote for her).

Chirac had a vascular eye problem so now his opportunistic opponents are jumping on the chance to question his health and undermine his chances for re-election.

Then looks like a major major offensive going on in Iraq against "insurgents" but who would know it. Hard to discern Bagdad from New Orleans nowdays since both have house to house searches, gun confiscation, and armed mercenaries protecting private businesses of the rich, oh and bodies that can't be shown on the news.

Another similarity between Iraq and US - approx. 40% supported Saddam & that's about the % who now support Bush. They had the Republican Guards and we have the Republican .. Guards? If someone came from outer space and tried "regime change" here, then if Bush's supporters tried to defend him and his party, they would be known as "insurgents." & maybe other conservatives from other countries would sneak into the country to help them. You never know!

A guy was saying on NPR (financial planner) that many one-in-a-million or even billion things happen - 9/11, Katrina, dotcom meltdown - yet people live as though only things with high odds of happening frequently will happen.

Then there's me, who will be flying on 9-11, to where the last big attack was. Let's just say I'm not superstitious. (I should be packing)

What they said / what they meant
Will Durst

Who: President George Bush, 2 days before Hurricane Katrina made landfall.
What He Said: "A State of Emergency exists in Louisiana beginning yesterday."
What He Meant: "But since I'm still on vacation, I need to stage a few photo-ops strumming a guitar and playing golf first."

Who: Dennis Hastert.
What He Said: "I don't know about that (rebuilding New Orleans.) That doesn't make sense to me."
What He Meant: "It's just poor people, right?"

Who: President Bush.
What He Said: "We want to make sure that we can respond properly if there's a WMD attack or another major storm."
What He Meant: "It was Al Qaeda again."

Who: Barbara Bush at the Houston Astrodome.
What She Said: "So many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
What She Meant: "It's just poor people, right?"

Who: President Bush: in Alabama 4 days after the Hurricane.
What He Said: "Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch."
What He Meant: "If you expect help, you better move to a state run by Republicans. Even better, a state run by my brother."

Who: Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff.
What He Said: "The conditions at the New Orleans SuperDome were nowhere near as bad as the TV images suggested."
What He Meant: "Lying next to dead people in toxic waste without food and water while terrorized by thugs ain't such a bad thing."

Who: President Bush, Sept. 1, 2005.
What He Said: "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."
What He Meant: "I don't think anyone imagined people would fly airplanes into buildings."

Who: Senator Rick Santorum
What He Said: "You have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk… There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out."
What He Meant: "And when I say tough penalties, I mean worse than drowning in your attic."

Who: President Bush speaking about FEMA chairman Michael Brown.
What He Said: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
What He Meant: "For a former head of the Arabian Horse Association."

Who: Barbara Bush at the Houston Astrodome
What She Said: "What I am hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay here in Texas."
What She Meant: "For crum's sake, I live in Texas."

Who: President Bush.
What He Said: "What I intend to do is to lead an investigation to find out what went right and what went wrong."
What He Meant: "We will track down these evildoing Hurricanes. They can run but they can't hide. We will liberate the brave freedom loving Hurricanians."

Who: President Bush.
What He Said: "I remember New Orleans as a great town where I used to enjoy myself - occasionally too much."
What He Meant: "I could use a drink."

Who: President Bush.
What He Said: "If things went wrong, we'll correct them, and when things went right, we'll duplicate them."
What He Meant: "One list is going to be longer than the other."

Like President Bush, political comic Will Durst could use a drink.

URL: http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=19587

Just watching my local news, and the way Red Cross French logisticians deal with aid, together with American Red Cross.

The big problem : there is no organisation. Goods arrive in a jumble and are dispatched in a jumble. A Red Cross American volunteer states : "they are used to major crises, and we badly need their expertise".
As for the French, they've never seen such a havoc, either in the Algerian earthquake or in Darfur... Americans and French just try to organise together now. The teams are sheduled until to stay until September 24, unless George changes his mind.

The ones who are happy? The Cajuns.

Polly,

I love dog tricks. Sounds like quite a production. Now that Michael Brown is back in Washington, you could recruit him to do some pony tricks. Hence you could have a dog and pony show.........Ba Booom.

Like President Bush, political comic Will Durst could use a drink.

URL: http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=19587

Posted by: DiAnne at September 10, 2005 01:22 PM

LOL DiAnne, those were funny!

Who: President Bush speaking about FEMA chairman Michael Brown.
What He Said: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
What He Meant: "For a former head of the Arabian Horse Association."

DiAnne, my research taught me that Brownie used to work on a case that examined horses' derrieres.
Seems it was because a guy owned Arabian show horses and got them plastic surgery on that area specifically placed in the middle of a horses derriere. You know, the horses ass.

Maybe hence the name Brownie.

Anyway, I wonder if that same guy could perform plastic surgery on our fearless leader? All I can see when I look at him is the specficially located middle of a horses derriere. They say beauty is only skin deep, but ugliness is not.
I say we campaign for stem cell research!!!

I found this last night in my research! LOL!

An open letter to Michael Brown:

Some scoop and a couple chuckles.

http://greatscat.blogspot.com/2005/09/open-letter-to-michael-brown.html

CROSS REFERENCE:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/2/34622/68348

Hence you could have a dog and pony show.........Ba Booom.Posted by: oncall

Ohhhhhhhh It may be hard to forgive that one!

Indy: Cheney was just photographed in Austin. If you are anywhere near the Convesntion Center I think the one on Townlake go over there and yell at him that he's a major league ahole.

Actors have come together from around the D.C. metro and across the country to share the real-life stories of the many individuals who have experienced the conflict in Iraq on a deeply personal level. This group of actors will give voice to some of their stories on Monday
~snip~

As always, it is pleasurable to see actors in their natural habitat - a darkened, empty room, waiting for an audience that has been liberally plied with liquor. I have a great appreciation for this art form, having dabbled in it myself prior to my work as an international healer and espionage agent. Life is quite a journey, isn't it?

The stories the actors tell are not funny. They are tragic, and horrifying and generally do not help in the digestive process, but they are stories that need to be told. You will not see them on CNN.

I have been asked to provide some comic relief to the people involved in this project, and so have brought my unicycle and a miniature poodle to lighten things up a little. Her name is Pinky Bodacious, and she does tricks that are appropriate for ages 18 and up. If you're old enough to vote, you can see her show when it comes to a theater near you.
~snip~

Posted by Polly Sigh at September 10, 2005 12:21 PM

POLLY,

Thanks for filling us in. I have been wondering why I haven't seen your unmarked car, the black one with the darkly tinted windows, on the streets of Andersonia this past few days.

It all sounds so wonderful! Have a double Cuervo 1800 margarita for me, and to everyone involved in the production:

BREAK A LEG!!!!

Polly,

I love dog tricks. Sounds like quite a production. Now that Michael Brown is back in Washington, you could recruit him to do some pony tricks. Hence you could have a dog and pony show.........Ba Booom.

Posted by: oncall at September 10, 2005 01:52 PM

Good one, Oncall.

Ba Da Booom!!

Sitting here listening to these heart-breaking and heart-filled stories. Actors are learning truth too.

We will be sharing (at least parts of) the script with you all after the production Monday night.

The stories connect up with those we have been hearing from New Orleans, New York City since 9-11, and each of OUR stories of fear, bravery, and perseverance.

I have chills when I think about how linked up we all are with the truth of this world.

Posted by: Karen at September 10, 2005 02:48 PM

Are you selling virtual tickets for those of us who can't make it to the performance? Let me know...my virtual bottom doesn't take up much room...

Who's on first? Brown and Chertoff sound like Abbot and Costello:

http://fisher.osu.edu/~tomassini_1/whotext.html

Here's Brown and Chertoff:

http://www.horsesass.org/

More good information on Brown:

~ snip ~

So Brown went from a horse show commissioner who knew nothing about horses to a Federal Emergency Management Agency director who knew nothing about managing emergencies. At least he’s consistent.

~ snip ~

http://www.horsesass.org/

Here's some material for a great t-shirt... or flyer...

gratis from STOP George at kos

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/9/153437/6364

It's great...

A Mother in Jefferson Parish

by the Mortal Jivester

+++

there is a mother in jefferson parish
she's living in a retirement home
the waters are rising when she calls you
let her know help is coming soon

there is a mother in jefferson parish
she's living in a retirement home
tell your momma that help is coming
not yet time for her soul to roam

there is a mother in jefferson parish
she's living in a retirement home
she called for help but help ain't coming
she's drowning on the telephone

(chorus)
our system is working, have faith, you'll see
our system is 'a working fine
praise the lord and grateful be
praise the lord divine
we will save the pearl of the quarter
praise the lord divine

there you are in a hotel suite
you can hear the AC drone
feel the breeze that is ocean sweet
a thousand miles from home

there you are at maggie mae's
she has that place up north
she'll take you in and wash your feet
she's the woman that jesus knows

(chorus)
our system is working, have faith, you'll see
our system is 'a working fine
praise the lord and grateful be
praise the lord divine
we will save the pearl of the quarter
praise the lord divine

there's a child in the freezer room
just a boy of seven or so
a man came in and broke him down
that boy don't move no more

there you are in the center of god
reach your hands so far
fire is the world when it's transformed
flood covers up the scars

(chorus)
our system is working, have faith, you'll see
our system is 'a working fine
praise the lord and grateful be
praise the lord divine
we will save the pearl of the quarter
praise the lord divine

there is a mother in jefferson parish
she's living in a retirement home
the waters are rising when she calls you
let her know help is coming soon

there is a mother in jefferson parish
she's living in a retirement home
tell your momma that help is coming
not yet time for her soul to roam

there is a mother in jefferson parish
living in a retirement home
she called for help but help ain't coming
she's drowning on the telephone

(roaring)
there you are in the center of god
reach your hands so far
fire is the world when it's transformed
flood covers up the scars, baby
flood covers up the scars

+++

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/mortaljive/Broussard.jpg

Above: Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard as interviewed on MTP--image from Crooks & Liars.

http://mortaljive.blogspot.com/

DiAnne,

Bon Voyage!

GoGettum

Please don't do research on how TurdBlossom got to be called that!!!

So Brown went from a horse show commissioner.
------------------------------------------------------------

And this has not been on your news for days?
We've known about it for over a week. Either in papers, radio, or TV....

What we are discovering about America is amazing. And don't forget ,an image is worth 1000 words.

I don't know how to explain. We've watched the disaster, there was NO state, the aid didn't come, then NO turned into Bagdad, and we saw the refugees (sorry, displaced persons) in their different shelters, and the pumps starting to work, pumping their polluted waters into Lake Pontchartrain, and more troops, and a sargeant tonight explaining they had BACTERIOLOGISTS INSIDE THE SUPERDOME, because no one could enter there.
THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE THE MAIN TRAGEDY TOOK PLACE.

Did you have it on your news?

Andree,
Amy has arrived & I'm on my way!

fait les bon temps rouler

Truth Shall Prevail
Thanks for the well wishes!!

Andree

The newspapers contain alot of the same information - the internet is a step ahead.

UK and Europe are right on the ball. There is a reason I read newspapers from there before bed - it's morning there and tomorrow's news is out.

I can't speak for tv. What I've seen is repetitious and low in actual content, complete waste of time.

I will be able to refine my impression a week or so from now, since I'll be on the other side of the pond.

PS We don't have a state, we have 50 of them, each like their own country.

Grover Norquist has almost drowned the federal government in the toilet and is about to flush.

Dig a hole

Bush pleads for 'spirit of 9/11'

Police and soldiers are searching house-to-house as floods recede
President George W Bush has urged national unity following the Hurricane Katrina disaster and invoked the US response to the 9/11 attacks.
"America will overcome this ordeal, and we will be stronger for it," he said in a national radio broadcast.

He promised that the Gulf Coast would be rebuilt "more vibrant" than before.

But his comments, which came the day before the fourth anniversary of the 11 September attacks, have prompted further criticism from the Democrats.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4233266.stm

GoGettum

Please don't do research on how TurdBlossom got to be called that!!!

Posted by: DiAnne at September 10, 2005 03:50 PM

LOL! Ha ha hahahah

Let the good times roll?

Andree,

Some people here are just catching up with that news... it's actually been available and noted for a number of days...

here's a story published on 9/3 by the Boston Herald:

http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=100857

Noted here on Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2005_08_28.php#006397

And first noted on daily Kos on Sept 2nd here...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/2/34622/68348

Christy,

And they are painting red crosses as they search.

We've been following them tonight on French TV, except they don't remove the bodies.

We saw, as well, retired sheriffs getting on the job again. (One was saving 2 Harley Davidsons in his lounge, well...)

And I heard Fire Fighters from New-York, interviewed on my radio as well this morning.
They were getting down to the South, because they came to their buddies funerals, helped them and offered them a fire engine... So, NY is paying back.

I grasp the news as they come.

Compare these two stories

things seem quite rosy in America.

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/05/01/clinton.debt/

five years later...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/08/opinion/main686839.shtml

Yes the news is available to the vigilant but all too many don't follow papers from liberal places like Boston, don't search news on the internet & certainly don't read liberal blogs.

Can you imagine if this government did not have a media that spins things to their advantage?! Things would be alot different by now, in fact this administration would not be in power. There is no way.

I for one am not going to defend our media system. There are people with "antennas out" and more all the time, but mainstream media is still lamestream media.

I've seen tv news in UK, Europe, Turkey, Thailand and no where was it nearly as lame as in US. That's why I try to avoid American tv and have since 1991. No regrets.

The Minneapolis-St Paul airport has Fox News blasting everywhere. They even have Fox News bookstores, with large monitors in them. It's like something out of Brave New World.

I commend the brave bloggers and gutsy journalists and columnists and activists that do exist but there is absolutely no comparison between our mainstream media and that in the rest of the world unless you want to count some place like North Korea.

I'm surprised we don't have Our Leader's face on the screen with the national anthem behind when we wake up in the morning. Give it time.

Why are Blackwater mercenaries paid $350/day and carpenters and plumbers will be paid sub-union wages because of repeal of the law prohibiting this underpayment, & for an indefinite period?

I heard the voice of Grover Norquist on NPR and he talked about how much we could save if say, the highway department, followed the same protocol.

Remember learning about the feudal system of kings, lords, vassals and serfs? Or slaves building the pyramids? Are we headed back in time?!

DiAnne, and all

I have a real passion and love for your country.
That's why you're not about to get rid of me, until the country turns Democrat.

DiAnne, I sent you a mail : we're gonna have a news evening.
Yes, I believe in my news, yes I have access to all in formations, yes I watch documentaries that are not shown in the States..that's why I'lll keep bullying you.
And I have to make tremendous efforts to understand who is whom in your political scenery.
I just give you some examples :
Santorum??? I think Sanctus in Latin, but the Genetive doesn't correspond. It should be sanctorum.And that's the way I remember of him. (Thank you to my Latin teatchers).
Gingrich??? That's not a name, I switch it into "the Grinch"... Well, yes, Jim Carey, but that's the way I can cope with your domestic policy.
You have the right to laugh at me, and I would appreciate.

Can you just fancy if you had to cope with all the EU politicians? I mean EU, being the approximate surface of USA.
Yes, even the new comers. That's what American politics is to us.

It's a hell of a mess.

I plan to be still blogging as the plane pulls up.

http://kutv.com/topstories/topstories_story_236203304.html

War 'Slogans' On Troops' Graves?

(AP) ARLINGTON, Va. Traditionally, gravestones for Americans killed in combat have included the minimum information necessary to identify
the fallen soldier, sailor, airman or Marine. Almost all the headstones for the more than 2,000 troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, however, are inscribed with the slogan-like operation names the Pentagon selected to promote public support for the conflicts.

Families are being told they have the option to have the government-supplied headstones engraved with "Operation Enduring Freedom" or "Operation Iraqi Freedom" at no extra charge, whether their family members are buried in Arlington National Cemetery or elsewhere. A mock-up shown to many families includes the operation names. Arlington was the first U.S. military cemetery and generally is considered the most prestigious.

A huge majority of military gravestones from other eras are inscribed with name, rank, military branch, date of death and, if applicable, the war and foreign country in which the person served and died. Families are supposed to have final approval over what goes on the tombstones. That hasn't always happened.

Nadia and Robert McCaffrey, whose son Patrick was killed in Iraq in June 2004, said "Operation Iraqi Freedom" ended up on his government-
supplied headstone without family approval.

"I was a little taken aback," Robert McCaffrey said, describing his reaction when he saw the operation name on his son's tombstone. "They
certainly didn't ask my wife; they didn't ask me." He said Patrick's widow told him she had not been asked either.

(courtesy Bert, Vets for Peace)

Hi,

I just got back. I ended up switching plans a little due to a LOT of computer malfunctioning that made me late.

So I went to plan "B", instead of standing in crowds and talking to people and asking them to sign a petition, make a call, or write a letter to fax, I had to write sticky notes and leave them on windshields.

I don't know how many cars I "stickied" but I left at the end of the third quarter before they mess with the traffic flow.

I had my phone, my headset, and my dog--well prepared to look like a regular jogger if asked. (Ok..I admit the sticky pad and pen in my hand would have been a dead give-away but by then everyone was inside the stadium at the game.

On the way home, I stopped at a few business and papered their car windows too--while I did my errands.

So, I felt like a police officer, writing each note by hand and leaving a prize on the windshield.

My hand and wrists now hurt, and I think my handwriting resembles my doctors, but i feel satisfied that at least I did something.

I wrote (approximately) "Please call your congressman and ask him/her to support the Resolution of Inquiry to investigate Bush's lies. While you're at it, please ask them to support John Conyer's ammendment to alter the bankruptcy law for hurrican survivors. Please be sure to call Monday (phone number here). Thanks"

So today, this weekend, I will handwrite more sticky notes at home to place on windshields at school on Monday.

I just wanted to add that the reason for my nervousness this morning was that I have witnessed the drunken brawls on game day, and I've almost had my car flipped by drunken students (before the game even started) with my kids in the car with me while stopped in game day traffic. So that was the reason for my nerves, but I hope I didn't scare anyone off from making the effort in your own way in your own hometown.

Andree,

You will make me laugh all the way to Europe!

& you are a fellow world citizen.

Sparrow

Great job!

I put signs under some of the "Support Our Troops" ribbons on cars in parking lots - they say "Bring Them Home."

I don't really want to be seen doing it, as people are really more picky about their "property" than about human life sometimes.

It will be nice to be where cars are cars again, not billboards, and where they are small - not competing with huge semis.

I just left this on Reb ... oh and i linked up to yall here too earlier in the post

P.S. To the people who have offered hurricane help or even simply sent prayers, Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

If you are looking for a way to find out what IS going on in New Orleans, or how you can help....

I would like to ask you do a simple act.

Look up a recent phone directory for the greater New Orleans area homes. Pick a persons name and try to call them. Pray they answer and if they do, tell them who you are, where you are from, and ask them if they are OK.

Ask them DIRECTLY if they need help. TALK to them.

Do not let them feel alone, or forgotten.

http://rebellenation.blogspot.com/2005/09/to-all-new-people.html

Pass the idea on

Yes Andree on your comments on the bodies..

They said they are just tying off the ones floating to things.

The FEMA order for no pics came at the time the pictures started surfacing of dogs eating the dead.

I am more furious than anything

THIS never should have happened.

New Orleans SURVIVED Katrina.

Sick sick with...fury.

I don't F&%king believe it!

As I was just complaining about the RNC attempting to do fundraising during this disaster...guess who I just got a call from?

The DNC!

Someone who knows anyone there call the DNC and tell them to get some class!!!

Geezus!

Christy

I am going to try it.

Here is another idea - make this happen in your town. I met Youth Against War and Racism when we worked the grassroots booth at Hempfest. They are very organized.

POOR, BLACK, AND LEFT TO DIE *****
What Katrina Shows About Race and Class in America

Public Meeting September 14 Rainier Beach Seattle
(could be YOUR city)

In the wake of Katrina, a political hurricane is gathering force across America. Millions recognize that the hurricane was a natural disaster, but that the death and destruction that followed was entirely man-made and preventable, the product of a presidency--and a system--that puts the working poor and people of color last; a system that funds wars for oil and tax cuts for the rich while de-funding New Orleans levees and relief operations. Join us for a discussion on building a mass movement to confront Bush and the racist, profit-driven system he represents.

Forget about knee jerk reactions to “conspiracy theories” and just open your mind and think about it. Look at the links, connect the dots for yourself. Tell me what you think. The person writing this may or may not be a fruitcake. I just want to know what others think about all of this. I do believe the lack of response was calculated. For what purpose, well that remains to be seen.

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001816.htm
Think about it

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001816.htm
Think about it.

Posted by: Christy at September 10, 2005 05:06 PM

Christy will the phones work?

Christy,

The only problem is that we have our own TV crews, and that they can't control everything in such a big city...so we have the right testimonies and the right pictures out of the military run zones..with testimoies of the soldiers coming back from Bagdad as well...
They would have never fancied that.

But, this is what I call news, just news.

Christy--here's a link compliments madame's google technique!

http://www.realpageslive.com/html/Main.asp

Online phonebook!

http://fadishist.com/fadishist.php?fad=2f1fc18514b4b02aed781c8bc7e4e228&manufacturers_id=1&fad=2f1fc18514b4b02aed781c8bc7e4e228

Here is a bracelet worth spending your money on.

Actually here's one of the better phone number lookup sites on the web... it accesses the lexis, ameritech, smart pages and a couple others all on one page ...

http://www.theultimates.com/white/

Just fill in the name, city/state in the left most column and it will automatically fill in the corresponding fields in the other columns.

Then pick which service you want to use... it will open in a separate browser window.

I've found Switchboard to be most accurate most often though trying a couple different ones is always a good idea.

I have the sneaking suspicion that the Superdome is closed for "health reasons" because if the world got a real picture of what happened there Michael Brown and George W. Bush would be dead men.

I hope there is brave photographers out there sneakinga around--willing to stand for truth and justice and accountability.

My jaw just hit the floor..i can not believe what i just saw on cnn..dude paddling telling the news crew in the next boat

'FEMA! GRRRRR..BUSH !! GRRRRR

'If I ever see that man...'

Then he looked back at the cam while paddling off and said 'And I voted for the #$%^^&!@# shows you how smart I am!!!'

In Callemette La... He had an American flag draped around his neck...!!

Oh how times have changed...

Posted by: oncall at September 10, 2005 05:40 PM

Love the bracelet!!!

BTW, speaking of jewelry...an easy fundraiser idea for kids/scouts/schools: buy a bunch mardi gras beads and sell them for $.50 - $1 each. You can get 100 strands for about $7 at your local party store or online at places like Oriental Trading.

Maybe people going to DC should wear mardi gras beads to add to the protest? (Or would that dilute the peace message?)

Yes SOME of the phones in New Orleans actually ARE working..just try it..

If its out or no one answers try another.

I have the sneaking suspicion that the Superdome is closed for "health reasons" because if the world got a real picture of what happened there Michael Brown and George W. Bush would be dead men.

Posted by: oncall at September 10, 2005 05:43 PM

You mean they're not?

>=[

BTW

TY Sparrow all yall for the phone book links going to put them up on Reb now in that post..

Here's an excellent example of writing from the heart, of making an extremely powerful statement without profanity but leaving no doubt as to the depth of culpability and failure of the President's response to hurricane Katrina...

http://www.dailykos.com/hotlist/add/2005/8/31/114159/587/displaystory//

Now here's what happened as a result of that poster sharing that letter to the President (which she did send to POTUS) with a Republican friend of hers...

"Wow! That is an emotional but controlled admonishment. A very powerful ending. I want you to know something. I have reached a turning point in my eroding support for this president. Your fair but painful observations are to be recognized as a real light on the circumstances and characters involved. How have we come to this? It IS time for a substantial overhaul. Whatever support you need from me, you have it. Let me know how I can help you continue your much needed efforts. Keep me in the loop on your postings and letter writing campaigns. I'm sick in my heart at what has happened and I agree with you totally about Bush and his administration. Thank you for your patient and consistent presentation to someone who didn't want to see the shameful shortcomings of these people. Any good that may have been gleaned from their policies can no longer keep us from holding them responsible for the unimaginably bad judgment and ensuing fatal decisions."

read the rest of her exchange with her friend here...

As Truth and this poster have shown, change happens person to person...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/10/13482/4234

And DW..Ill have to pass on my NEXT work I just cant edit the ending of that last one

Its perfect.

I cant help myself sometimes..hehe

Maybe people going to DC should wear mardi gras beads to add to the protest? (Or would that dilute the peace message?)

Posted by: madame defarge at September 10, 2005 05:55 PM

Ms. M.....

What can I say?

You are a GENIUS!

Must be Purple, Green and Gold.

Bert "gets it" (about the media):

The two worlds described by John Edwards escaped from behind the media curtain this past week, but the will be hidden again, real soon.

Photos of this debacle sends an anti-American message that ALL in office want to shut down, immediately.

I have the sneaking suspicion that the Superdome is closed for "health reasons" because if the world got a real picture of what happened there Michael Brown and George W. Bush would be dead men.

Posted by: oncall at September 10, 2005 05:43 PM
------------------------------------------------------------

Oncall,

You say if the world knew.... but we had it on our news. I posted it uptheard.
We've seen an American soldier explaining that bacteriologists were inside the Superdome, because they dreaded of contamination. And that's the place the NO people were kept into. WE KNOW.

Posted by: Indy at September 10, 2005 06:02 PM

Mardi Gras beads, getchyer mardi gras beads right here...

http://tinyurl.com/avvka

You know - I think human nature goes deeper than racism.

When a person sees images of Abu Graib, on one level they may identify with the soldier and see the victim as "other". On another level though, maybe even repressed even to their conscious mind, they identify with the victim, since they are also a human being. That could be them or their family.

When a person sees images of people drowning, starving, trapped in filth, on one level (rationalizing), they may pretend it's not happening, that the people are somehow different, that there is some rhyme or reason to it. On a deeper level, I believe that everyone but the most damaged human knows that could be them or their family members.

I think it is normal to question authority and I think it is healthy. People are taught not to do it, but that requires a level of trust that history has often proven is NOT justified.

Power corrupts and people know. All that is required is for this latent knowledge to be brought to consciousness. A visual image can do that alot faster than anything.

That's why it was a horror for those images to get out into the public consciousness and why there is such an effort to stuff them back in.

I don't think there is enough damage control in the universe to do it though.

Andree,

You are absolutely correct. Maybe I should have instead said Bushco Propaganda (my term for MSM). I suspect that there is evidence of hideous crimes and corpses in the Superdome. Short of bad germs, the Propagandists can't let the evidence be seen.

Andree

Oh yeah. Things can be doctored for domestic consumption, as by Fox. But the media here does not have control over all the world's media, not that they don't have special agencies intended just to try to do that. Karen Hughes is working overtime (not making a dent). Condi Rice - they might as well not even bring her out. Rupert Murdoch controls too much outside the US but there are places where it doesn't take following the media to know how the world operates. I have met people in the 3rd world who most definitely knew how things work on this planet. (Belize, Turkey, Thailand)

Here is a funny post from Kos (well at least I thought it was funny).

Wolf Blitzer: The sheer magnitude of the events of yesterday and today are just beginning to sink in at the White House. For more we go to CNN's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne . . .

Suzanne Malveaux: Wolf, the White House reacted swiftly to the news that the president has decided to cut short his vacation by two days. This unprecedented move by the White House comes after the president has spent the better part of August at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Wolf.

WB: It's hard to believe that the president would cut short his vacation, any speculation as to why?

SM: It's not clear. There have been rumors that the president ran out of golf balls, but we can not confirm that. Of course, the temperature in Crawford was expected reach 105 today, so is this may have been a preemptive move to prevent the president from sweating. Wolf, back to you.

WB: Thank you, Suzanne. Reaction from around the world has been coming in. The Pope today called on Catholics to pray for the president, and James Dobson, leader of Focus on the Family, accused gays of sabotaging the president's vacation plans.

(Video) Dobson: The vast gay conspiracy is once again revealing itself. The president's premature return to Washington is clearly a message from God.

WB: For more perspective I turn to Robert Novak. Robert, how do you explain this?

Robert Novak: George Bush has always said that being president is hard work. And there has never been a harder working president than George Bush. Liberals may complain that the president is on vacation too much, but I didn't see Cindy Sheehan eating cake with John McCain or playing guitar with Mark Wills, what the hell has she been doing this month?

WB: Exactly. By the way, any word on the Plame investigation?

RN: Fuck you, Wolf. I'm out of here.

WB: Thank you, Robert. In other news, the mayor of New Orleans has just said that he believes that hundreds, maybe thousands may have died in the wake of flooding of his town. And in Iraq, over 800 died in a stampede of pedestrians trying to cross the Al-A'imma bridge over the Tigris River.
Now, let's get back to our lead story, the shocking news that the President has cut short his vacation by two days. We'll talk to experts about whether the president risks over working. We'll talk to two leading presidential historians, Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin when we return.

by numediaman on Wed Aug 31st, 2005 at 13:12:15 CST
[ Reply to This ]

BTW, speaking of jewelry...an easy fundraiser idea for kids/scouts/schools: buy a bunch mardi gras beads and sell them for $.50 - $1 each. You can get 100 strands for about $7 at your local party store or online at places like Oriental Trading.

Posted by: madame defarge at September 10, 2005 05:55 PM

Madame,

My daughter and her friends did exactly that last weekend. They raised $600.00 in donations just by selling beads. Most people felt good just by donating even after the beads were gone. My daughter and her friends did not put a price on the necklaces.

A state agency lawyer quoted in a nationally-circulated news story as questioning Karl Rove's eligibility to vote in Kerr County is out of a job and feeling twice burned.
Elizabeth Reyes said she was fired Tuesday as an attorney in the elections division of the Texas secretary of state's office because she appeared in a Washington Post story Saturday about the presidential adviser.

The article, which was reprinted in papers across the country, quoted Reyes as saying Rove's ownership of Kerr County property may not qualify him to vote there.

San Antonio Express-News.

from talkingpointsmemo.com

Justice William O. Dougleas once said:

"As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression, In both instances there is twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilights that we all must be most aware of change in the air-however slight-lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness."

Oncall,

DiAnne will be here pretty soon, and I have scheduled a "news evening" with her.
I mean local, national, plus some of those wonderful political shows we have.

I do say wonderful, because we have politicians or experts, or artists, or philosophers, debating for some 2 hours with no advertising in the middle. I do not mean 2 people, they are 6 or 8...debating about a topic. Let's say Katrina...
And that takes place each week, with similar programs on other channels.

Thinking, just thinking.

Yep, I was interrupted by DiAnne. Sh'es gonna stay at my place for a week, and we'll tell you more about news abroad... and life in a French home. Amy is coming for dinner too...

Doesn't Rove have a (Plame-related) court case coming up in about a month? Even a hurricane can't make that go away.

Yep, I was interrupted by DiAnne. She's gonna stay at my place for a week, and we'll tell you more about news abroad... and life in a French home. Amy is coming for dinner too...

Posted by: Andrée - France at September 10, 2005 06:47 PM

************

Fe, Vic, and I want you to know that we are rabidly jealous of both Amy and DiAnne, Andree.

Dick too.

Have a WONDERFUL time! We look forward to visiting Paris vicariously!

Ok..I've decided to let you all in on a secret:

Never ever ever decide to handwrite anything! You will have sore aching hands and will wish you would have had a printer and copier!

So, my recommendation: Print up if possible and make copies. It probably looks more professional anyways, and your hands will love you for it!

How many of you, instead of complaining about government conspiracy, have actually looked at your state/local emergency plan to see if it had a plan for the poor? if it didn't, or had an inadequate one, did you contact your state/local disaster preparedness officials? did you try to make a constructive change?
(if you were busy helping - not giving money or writing letters or complaining - but actually putting sweat equity into the effort - for Katrina, then don't worry, I'm not talking to you here :) )
because until you actually DO something constructive, all the whining about government conspiracies is even more reprehensible to me because it insults everything we've done over the past two weeks.
sorry if I'm being blunt but to come back from work to rest my head for a few minutes before someone calls me with yet another problem to work out and to see everyone saying it's all a big conspiracy and really, we just want to kill Americans, well...it's not exactly relaxing.
rant over, carry on...

Karen

You're welcome.

It's really hard for me to pass information. It's always "i've heard", "i've seen", as for press, forget about it, articles are in French. Poor DiAnne has to cope with them every day, because she can read French, but she knows

We do have tons of information, and my feeling is that Bush will not recover from it.
One image is worth 1000 words. There were too many images.
He's done, at least outside.

Veritas,

You're absolutely right. We all of us need to spend some time talking with our town / village / city officials as well as our state government officials to find out where things stand for our individual areas.

I do know that Governor Rell already called a meeting on that last week and had a rundown with a number of officials. It was reported on our local NPR that if all communications were wiped out as they were in MS and LA, that the state of Connecticut had the equipment / means to provide an alternate communications system that was not dependent on landlines, cell towers, etc.

I did not look further though and probably should.

Thanks for the reminder.

Posted by: Veritas at September 10, 2005 07:05 PM

veritas,
Come to the irc.

Oncall you too.

Everyone...feel free to join in too.

Christy,
Here is a new blog for survivors to post their stories. Spread the word.
http://www.kartrinastoriesproject.org

Veritas,

Impressive rant. However it is impossible not to be suspicious of our government and the Propagandists under their control when we know that we have been lied to about Iraq. Don't for once think that I believe that the National Guard or Coast Guard murdered anybody, I don't. However there were horrible things that have happened in N.O. We all know that. As long as our government decides it is best to prevent the media from recording history, you will unfortunately be lumped in with the conspiracy theorists claims of government sanctioned murder and the cover-up the ensued. All I am calling for is free and open access for the media. I want to know everything that happened while our government sat on their thumbs.

Posted by: Veritas at September 10, 2005 07:05 PM

Furthermore,

I admit that I have not studied my town's evacauation emergency plans or disaster plans. Just like most citizens, I expect my government to have a plan in place, and am in no way qualified to critique what has been formulated. Should the day come that I would have to evacuate my home, I expect that my local government will have already planned for the large numbers of people effected. Of course that is exactly your point. However, the people of New Orleans were doing what they had been told to do, yet their local, state and federal governmnets failed them as well. Was it conspiracy, probably not. But, it was obvious that no form of government had any plans for the disadvantaged poor.

My town is NOT ready for an emergency:

Is Seattle ready for disaster?

Experts say Seattle has a New Orleans-sized risk of natural disaster from an earthquake, and also shares the tendency by officials to put off taking actions that could reduce loss of life and economic disruption.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/240166_seattlepreparedness10.html

We have floating bridges that have already shown problems. We are on an earthquake zone and could also have a city-threatening tsunami. Shipping containers are terrorist targets. We have plenty of military targets (Boeing, Army, Navy, Air Force bases). We have a potentially active volcano nearby. We have an interstate bridge and a viaduct that badly need reinforcing - the latter already has earthquake damage. We had a big earthquake as recently as 2000. We have a crowding problem with our freeways and no real alternative routes (for quick evacuation). We have limited mass transit because we don't have sufficient density of population.

I would like to just say, I remeber as a teacher and student the "practice" for fire and tornado drills, and i look at hotel schemes for the exit plans (and at the hospital too).

When we homeschooled, we had to devise our own emergency plans out of the building becuase one day a toddler pulled the fire alarm and kids scattered without really following proceedure. After that, we had a person whose sister was a flight attendent help us devise proper exits, doors, everything...and we practiced once WITH notice and then 2 times per semester without notice.

I spent my childhood knowing where the nearest fallout shelter was and knew how to duck and cover. What is our modern equivalent now that there is no more talk about duct tape and colored alert levels?

I'm really getting into this sojourners. It fills the need I have to be a good person and to have biblical support for my ideas.

What the waters have revealed
by Jim Wallis
In what may be the most catastrophic natural disaster in American history, the waters of Hurricane Katrina are washing away our national denial of just how many Americans are living in poverty, our reluctance to admit the still persistent connection of race and poverty in America, and even the political power of a conservative ideology that, for decades now, has seriously eroded the idea of the common good.

The pictures from New Orleans have stunned the nation. They have exposed the stark realities of who is suffering the most, who was left behind, who was waiting in vain for help to arrive, and who is facing the most difficult challenges of recovery. The face of those stranded in New Orleans was overwhelmingly poor and black, the very old and the very young. They were the ones who could not evacuate; had no cars or money for gas; no money for bus, train, or airfare; no budget for hotels or no friends or family with room to share or spare. They were already vulnerable before this calamity, now they were totally exposed and on their own. For days, nobody came for them. And the conditions of the places they were finally herded to ("like animals," many testified) sickened the nation.

From the reporters covering the unprecedented disaster to ordinary Americans glued to their televisions watching their reports, a shocked and even outraged response was repeated, "I didn't realize how many Americans were poor." Powerful images have emerged along with the pictures. "We have now seen what is under the rock in America," said a carpenter in Washington DC. The vulnerability of the poorest children in New Orleans has been especially riveting to many Americans, especially other parents. Many say they had trouble holding back their tears when they saw mothers with their babies stranded on rooftops crying for help or jammed into dangerous and dirty places waiting for help to arrive. And the pictures may get worse as countless bodies are brought out of New Orleans. Even Homeland Security Director, Michael Chertoff, is warning that it will be horrible and gruesome. Clearly, a very high percentage of those bodies will be poor, black, elderly, and even children. The public anger may grow.

As a direct result of Katrina and its aftermath, and for the first time in many years, the media are reporting on poverty, telling Americans that New Orleans had an overall poverty rate of 28% (84% of them African-American), and a child poverty rate of almost 50% - half of all the city's children (rates only a little higher than other major cities and actually a little lower than some others). Ironically (and some might say providentially) the annual U. S. Census poverty report came out during the Hurricane's deadly assault showing that poverty had risen for the fourth straight year with 37 million Americans stuck below the poverty line - and they were the ones most stuck in New Orleans.

Katrina has revealed what was already there in America; an invisible and mostly silent poverty that we have chosen not to talk about, let alone to take responsibility for in the richest nation on earth. This week, we all saw it; and so did the rest of the world. And it made Americans feel both compassionate and ashamed. Many political leaders and commentators, across the ideological spectrum, have acknowledged the national tragedy, not just of the horrendous storm, but of the realities the flood waters have exposed. And some have suggested that if the aftermath of Katrina finally leads the nation to demand solutions to the poverty of upwards of a third of its citizens then something good might come from this terrible disaster.

That is what we must all work toward. Rescuing those still in danger, assisting those in dire need, relocating and caring for the homeless, and beginning the process of recovery and re-building are all top priorities. But dealing with the stark and shameful social and racial realities Katrina has revealed must become our longer term but clear goal. That will require a combination of public and private initiatives, the merger of personal and social responsibility, the rebuilding of both families and communities, but also the confronting of hard questions about national priorities. Most of all it will require us to make different choices.

The critical needs of poor and low-income families must become the first priority of federal and state legislatures, not the last. And, the blatant inequalities of race in America, especially in critical areas of education, jobs, health care, and housing which have come to the surface must now be addressed. Congressional pork barrel spending which aligns with political power more than human needs must be challenged as never before.That requires a complete reversal of the political logic now operating in Washington and state capitols around the country - a new moral logic must re-shape our political habits. In the face of this natural disaster, during a time of war, with already rising deficits; new budgets cuts to vital programs like food stamps and Medicaid, and more tax cuts for the wealthy in the form of estate tax repeal and capital gains and stock dividend reductions, would now be both irresponsible and shameless.

Restoring the hope of America's poorest families, renewing our national infrastructures, protecting our environmental stability, and rethinking our most basic priorities will require nothing less than a national change of heart and direction. It calls for a transformation of political ethics and governance; moving from serving private interests to ensuring the public good. If Katrina changes our political conscience and re-invigorates among us a commitment to the common good, then even this terrible tragedy might be redeemed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Take the Katrina Pledge!

The poverty we have witnessed on the rooftops of New Orleans and the devastated communities of the Gulf Coast is morally unacceptable. It's time to take action - starting with a renewed personal commitment to overcoming poverty in America.

If you care about building a new America, read and sign the Katrina Pledge today!

+ Click here to sign the pledge

Katrina's Costs Could Approach That of War

WASHINGTON (AP) - One storm could end up costing almost as much as two wars. Although estimates of Hurricane Katrina's staggering toll on the treasury are highly imprecise, costs are certain to climb to $200 billion in the coming weeks. The final accounting could approach the more than $300 billion spent in four years to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq.

What does this mean? "He'll send troops only if they answer to the W.H.?"

Is that typical?

http://www.democraticunderground.com

Being in DC, we have already established exit routes and points of contact for later--we alos have an energency box in case we can drive out.

I often wonder what DC's emergency plan is for the poor people--I am sure it is inadequate. But since we are under the Congress, we are subject to the same biases and assumptions that NO was under.

On Sept. 11, when the Pentagon was hit and everyone thought the second plane was heading for the Capitol (six blocks from the house and four blocks from my son's school), he wanted to bring his friends home with him, because their Moms had not been able to get to the school. We couldn't, of course, and I wondered about the state of mind of all those children whose parents were across town or who worked in or near the Pentagon.

Dick works for Friends of the Earth, and they are very involved with the chlorine tank car issue (the railroads and the US govt are fighting several municipalities about aloowing chlorine tank cars into urban areas--in DC it would be easy to go around, but instead the govt. is arguing that they should be able to drive these lethal cars into and through downtown DC.) It would not take much for a terrorist to kill thousands with one small derailment.

So, Veritas, I have to say that I know more than I want to know about our unpreredness and less than I should know. I have little faith on this issue.

Posted by: Veritas at September 10, 2005 07:05 PM

Amen Sister Soldier!!!

AMEN!!!

FACT: New Orleans survived the hurricane.

FACT: The death and damage and disarray that occured after was due to flooding from Lake Ponchatrain.

FACT: The very levee that broke was a direct result of funding that was cut from the original program to go to funding the war in Iraq. 80% of the original $485 million was stolen.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

The time for feeding, housing, clothing and helping our fellow Americans is here and far from over.

When we have sucessfully accomplished that...then we shall have the Administration's collective HEAD!

It takes people to heal the wounds of a wounded nation.

Got Nurture?

Dangers of Thinking

It started out innocently enough.

I began to think at parties now and then--to loosen up.

Inevitably, though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker.

I began to think alone--"to relax," I told myself--but I knew it wasn't true. Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time.

That was when things began to sour at home. One evening I had turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that night at her mother's.

I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I couldn't stop myself.

I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau and Kafka. I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it exactly we are doing here?"

One day the boss called me in. He said, "Listen, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job, you'll have to find another job."

This gave me a lot to think about. I came home early after my conversation with the boss. "Honey," I confessed, "I've been thinking..."

"I know you've been thinking," she said, "and I want a divorce!"

"But Honey, surely it's not that serious."

"It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver. "You think as much as college professors, and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep on thinking, we won't have any money!"

"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently.

She exploded in tears of rage and frustration, but I was in no mood to deal with the emotional drama. "I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door.

I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche. I roared into the parking lot with NPR on the radio and ran up to the big glass doors...They didn't open. The library was closed.

To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night. Leaning on the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a poster caught my eye, "Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked.

You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinkers Anonymous poster. Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker.

I never miss a TA meeting. At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was "Porky's." Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting. I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home. Life just seemed...easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking.

Ok. I would like to know: I've heard "recall Bush" like they recalled the CA. gov. Can that really happen?

Ok..is there any truth to this rumor?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2080278

sparrow,

someone further down in that thread said that it wasn't true...

S/he actually received the $2000 and did not sign anything like that.

SouthernDem2004 (1000+ posts) Sat Sep-10-05 08:13 PM
Response to Original message
3. No it does not. It is emergency assistance only. I had mine deposited
in my checking account yesterday. Heck, I did not apply for it but they gave it anyway.

Actually, that said... it's certainly possible that it could be handled one way in one FEMA center and handled a different way in another FEMA center. We all know just how "well-organized" they are.

This was discussed on the blog the other day. People were looking for confirmation. If anybody has access to the WSJ article please let us know:

Friday, September 09, 2005

Outrageous: Army Recruiters Set Their Sights On Hurricane Victims
This almost missed item in the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire today is simply outrageous. Bush's failure in Iraq has stretched the military so thin that recruiters are on the verge of taking advantage of the hurricane to basically draft the victims.

In case you don't subscribe, here's what the Journal wrote today:

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: Ten U.S. Army recruiters are offering volunteer help for Katrina vicitms at Houston's Astrodome. But the recruiters, struggling to keep enlistment up during Iraq war, are also available with options for the jobless. "Our intent is to approach the evacuees at the right time for them,'' says Army spokesman Douglas Smith.

Crooks and Liars has more info - click here to check it out.

http://capitolbuzz.blogspot.com/2005/09/outrageous-army-recruiters-set-their.html

dwahzon if you are on this site tonight would you please read and review my letter to the editor of the Houston Chronicle about the Bankruptcy Amendment before I fax it out tonight. Feel welcome to edit or trash it if necessary.

OT but good news...Riverbend has a new entry on her blog, posted yesterday. It's the first one since July 15. Good to know she's ok -- or at least as ok as can be expected while living in Baghdad...
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

NMP,it's not surprising to listen to the right wing freaks call this "an act of God" and "God wanted this to happen,or made it happen." Listening to c-span and the polling they did this week only 30% believe it was caused by global warming and onlt 32% believe "warming" is a problem. Those that believe the former will live in denial all the rest of their lives,perhaps the later can become "informed". We have some educatin' to do!!
Perhaps that's why JK didn't make such a "big deal" about it during the campaign cycle.

Posted by: oncall at September 10, 2005 08:39 PM

Hey Ira -- there's your answer. These people should not be making life decisions under such duress. Words can't describe my contempt & anger at such shameless crap from recruiters!

Did you ever wonder why the people at the Superdome were "trapped" and could not leave?

Read the first story in the link:
Gretna's Choice
Gretna's Bridge

Shepard Smith reported this last week I believe in his spot on H&C. He kept saying that the police were blocking people from crossing the bridge while Geraldo told us that the people were locked in the Center. Talk about a horror show.
Atrios posted this NY Times story: "Police agencies to the south of New Orleans were so fearful of the crowds trying to leave the city after Hurricane Katrina that they sealed a crucial bridge over the Mississippi River and turned back hundreds of desperate evacuees, two paramedics who were in the crowd said...."
TpmCafe: "My advice for the Congressional commission which will investigate into how the Hurricane Katrina disaster was handled in New Orleans: don’t forget to pay a visit to the Chief of the Police of the city of Gretna, across the Mississippi river bridge....read on"
Property over life?

http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/9/10/94823/6592

http://www.crooksandliars.com/

I have wsjonline.com access... what do you want specifically?

I am sorry if this is a duplicate post, but I think it bears repeating:

September 10, 2005
A Shameful Proclamation

On Thursday, President Bush issued a proclamation suspending the law that requires employers to pay the locally prevailing wage to construction workers on federally financed projects. The suspension applies to parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

By any standard of human decency, condemning many already poor and now bereft people to subpar wages - thus perpetuating their poverty - is unacceptable. It is also bad for the economy. Without the law, called the Davis-Bacon Act, contractors will be able to pay less, but they'll also get less, as lower wages invariably mean lower productivity.

The ostensible rationale for suspending the law is to reduce taxpayers' costs. Does Mr. Bush really believe it is the will of the American people to deny the prevailing wage to construction workers in New Orleans, Biloxi and other hard-hit areas? Besides, the proclamation doesn't require contractors to pass on the savings they will get by cutting wages from current low levels. Around New Orleans, the prevailing hourly wage for a truck driver working on a levee is $9.04; for an electrician, it's $14.30.

Republicans have long been trying to repeal the prevailing wage law on the grounds that the regulations are expensive and bureaucratic; weakening it was even part of the Republican Party platform in 1996 and 2000. Now, in a time of searing need, the party wants to achieve by fiat what it couldn't achieve through the normal democratic process.

In a letter this week to Mr. Bush urging him to suspend the law, 35 Republican representatives noted approvingly that Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Richard Nixon and the elder George Bush had all suspended the law during "emergencies." For the record, Mr. Roosevelt suspended it for two weeks in 1934, to make time to clear up contradictions between it and another law. Mr. Nixon suspended it for six weeks in 1971 as part of his misbegotten attempt to control spiraling inflation. And Mr. Bush did so after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, two weeks before he was defeated by Bill Clinton, who quickly reinstated it after assuming the presidency.

If Mr. Bush does not rescind his proclamation voluntarily, Congress should pass a law forcing him to do so.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/10/opinion/10sat2.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print

I have wsjonline.com access... what do you want specifically?

Posted by: dwahzon at September 10, 2005 08:54 PM

Dwahzon,

Look at my post from 8:39 PM. It has a link to capitolbuzz which links to a WSJ article about recruiters at the Astrodome

any texans,

Tell you what.. we need picture proof of these recruiters before we blast off on them. It could be an internet rumor. We have to be careful.

If we say there are recruiters and there are not, then it makes us look like a bunch of loons. It ruins our credibility completely. We have to exersize caution on this. (even if we suspect it's true, we need hardcore evidence--pictures, tapes, etc..)

Now there is this person who has spent the last week trying to find the recruiters there. he's a journalist from CBS and would LOVE to get it on 60 minutes if there is PROOF.

So instead of relying on other blogs, we need to find out who has been approached, we need to get pictures, and we need to take it seriously-which means proof--or we look like Dan Rather after "rathergate".

If you know someone with specific evidence then the person you contact is McVickers and he has promised he would go as far as necessary to air it. He has been in the dome and has found no proof of recruiters there and right now he feels like he's on a wild goose chase.

So if you feel this is a legitimate story and you have hard facts, pictures, specific people who will testify (and pass the truth test) would you let McVickers know.

McVickers is a serious journalist, one of the good ones we beg for, so we need to make sure the facts we send him are reliable. But if you have that evidence then call him, but don't just call him based on internet rumors. And remember his crediblity is not the only one at stake...all of ours is too.

If Mr. Bush does not rescind his proclamation voluntarily, Congress should pass a law forcing him to do so.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/10/opinion/10sat2.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print

Posted by: oncall at September 10, 2005 09:03 PM

Bush brings back slaves to America.

oncall: I am really pissed. I have been speaking with the city desk folks at the Chronicle and they have repeatedly told me they could find nothing. I just reached my contacts there and told them that if the Wallstreet Journal a right wing New York rag can break this story why can't you guys a few miles down the road get your ass in gear and get to the bottom of of it.Just gave my contact the capitolbuzz and recruiter Doug Smith's name and forecfully told them that they need to get to the bottom of this story in the Chronicle and with a local tv film crew. lets see where this story winds up.

This is seeming a bit too much like Rathergate!

Ira,

Did you notice the http://katrinastoriesproject.org? Your houston American victims might want to give you their stories to post.

I look at it like the Haulocaust: without these stories the terrible atrocities will be forgotten. We need to memorialize their suffering and the consequences of this corrupt government.

here's the pertinent excerpt from wsj online

As of Friday, September 9, 2005

~snip~
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: Ten U.S. Army recruiters are offering volunteer help for Katrina evacuees at Houston's Astrodome. But the recruiters, struggling to keep enlistment up during Iraq war, are also available with options for the jobless. "Our intent is to approach the evacuees at the right time for them,'' says Army spokesman Douglas Smith.
~snip~

Here's the entire article...

Louisiana Lawmakers Aim
To Cope With Political Fallout

By JOHN HARWOOD
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
September 9, 2005; Page A4

LOUISIANA LAWMAKERS aim to cope with political fallout.

Sen. Landrieu, in spotlight now, could find margins squeezed if thousands of Democratic-leaning African-Americans don't return by her 2008 re-election. Louisiana political analyst John Maginnis says state could even lose one of seven House seats in next redistricting.

Two shaky House incumbents, Democrat Melancon and Republican Boustany, hope response to hurricane rallies voters behind them. House Republican campaign chief Reynolds touts chance to market conservative social-policy solutions; Rep. Baker of Baton Rouge is overheard telling lobbyists: "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did."

Baker explains later he didn't intend flippancy but has long wanted to improve low-income housing.

KATRINA ROILS trade debate over shrimp tariffs.

The U.S. International Trade Commission next week considers whether shrimpers from India and Thailand, saddled with tariffs after complaints of unfair competition from domestic producers, still pose a threat. Last winter's tsunami has fueled calls for lifting the levies.

But now the hurricane has given the U.S. industry a new argument for retaining tariff protection: An estimated 40% of domestic shrimpers and processors suffered some Katrina damage. "It's going to take awhile for that to recover," says Sal Versaggi of the eight-state Southern Shrimp Alliance.

SPOTLIGHT ON POOR increases opposition to planned Medicaid cuts.

A bipartisan group of senators urges Finance Chairman Grassley to delay slicing $10 billion from Medicaid and other entitlement programs serving many of those displaced by Katrina. "We must remain focused on the relief efforts and ways to deliver both short- and long-term aid," write Republicans Smith and Snowe, joined by Democrats Bingaman and Lincoln.

Administration officials mull ways to deliver more Medicaid funds to states such as Texas where rolls will swell; House Democrats urge HHS Secretary Leavitt to assume all costs of the state-federal program in affected areas. But conservatives like Rep. Barton of Texas warn Katrina shouldn't become an excuse to block Medicaid overhaul.

"Let me repeat, so that everybody hears me -- evacuees from Hurricane Katrina would not be hurt!" he says.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: Ten U.S. Army recruiters are offering volunteer help for Katrina evacuees at Houston's Astrodome. But the recruiters, struggling to keep enlistment up during Iraq war, are also available with options for the jobless. "Our intent is to approach the evacuees at the right time for them,'' says Army spokesman Douglas Smith.

PR BONANZA? U.S. adversaries draw wide attention by joining international effort to offer help with Katrina relief. The Bush administration rebuffs Iran's conditional offer of 20 million barrels of oil while remaining mum on Cuba's pitch to send 1,500 doctors and nurses. Venezuela's Chávez, deriding Bush as "king of vacations," mixes offers of aid workers with oil shipments.

DUELING CAUSES? Grass-roots charities sending items to troops in Iraq worry they'll lose out to Katrina relief. "It will be even harder to ask and receive donations when there are so many needing help," says Connie Riecke of the Oregon-based Marine Corps Family Foundation.

FAMILY TIES: Bush's Katrina performance draws fire, but Texas universities eagerly compete for his presidential library in bid process ending next week. Contenders include University of Texas, which has the LBJ library; Southern Methodist, Laura Bush's alma mater; and Baylor, near the Crawford ranch. Library executives say bidders must accommodate "an institute inspired by the principles of George W. Bush's administration," a museum, a cafe and gift shop.

NEW FEMINISM: Conservatives tout female court pick to block Gonzales.

Right rallies around antiabortion appeals-court judges, including Edith Jones and Priscilla Owen; Janice Rogers Brown, an African-American, would meet post-Katrina calls for Bush to appoint a minority. All are seen as more conservative than Attorney General Gonzales, who'd be the first Hispanic pick.

Some close to White House predict Bush won't announce O'Connor's successor until Roberts clears Senate Judiciary Committee. Meanwhile, liberals battle for seats in next week's Judiciary hearings, but find themselves outnumbered by Roberts backers.

The hearing will "look like a Republican town hall meeting," one activist grumbles.

MINOR MEMOS: Trial lawyers' association calls on Republican Rep. Pryce to "stop scaring volunteers" after she says some would-be aid workers feared lawsuits. ... Tom Gallagher of ISI Group says posthurricane congressional spending makes it "Katrina Bar the Door" on fiscal policy.

Write to John Harwood at john.harwood@wsj.com1

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112622923108136137,00.html

Who knows Sparrow? You might be correct. That is why I asked if anybody has access to the article. If Dwahzon has the article it would be helpful.

Thanks DW. The article is very ambiguous as to active recruiting, but it makes me wonder. If no active recruitiing is planned why would ten recruiters be there?

Posted by: sparrow at September 10, 2005 08:13 PM

FEMA gave out the $2000 in the form of a credit card (it even had a MasterCard symbol in one corner) in TX ONLY (think only in Houston?). In other cities/states, FEMA will deposit the funds directly into a bank account, or they will issue a check to people.

Red Cross is a separate entity. I don't know what they are giving out to people, but at least one MSM station mentioned they are giving out lesser amounts to people so they can go buy simple things like toothpaste, toothbrushes, soaps, personal items, basic necessities for everyday. More money may be issued later, but that was what they are starting out with.

People in other states got upset when they waited in line in other states at FEMA outlets only to find out the $2K was only being issued in TX, not in other states, so FEMA has now stopped issuing the $2K in TX, too.

Darn. I should always preview before I post. Sorry for the misspelling and the poor grammar.

Has anybody read, heard about or seen this book?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0465045790/ref=dp_image_0/104-6637946-2345549?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

oncall,

Yes, I have seen that book and excerpts from it on a listserve on language analysis that I belong to.

Mark Crispin Miller is a pretty sound guy--edgy, but sound.

Quote of the day:

"The events of the last few weeks and the government's response seem to disprove both intelligent design and evolution." -- Garrison Keillor

What do the rest of you think about the ban on photographing people being taken from homes or elsewhere in body bags?

I know it was said that there was no place to put the dead a few days ago. However, it's also now been reported that there are makeshift morgues set up. I do not know if the images of the dead bodies floating are from several days ago or just within the last couple of days, but if the images are recent, I do not understand why the bodies have not been taken to makeshift morgues unless they are waiting for forensics experts to come in and are treating the scenes of death as criminal investigations in some cases. (I remember it was reported some people were shot, at least one teenager and at least one child, were raped until they died - if true, those are crime scenes, and their bodies need to be examined by forensics experts with police departments - real life CSI people....)

I've only seen the sound byte a couple of times, but to paraphrase one darling little girl: "Mommy's dead. She was pushed in the water." I have to wonder if the mother was pushed in the water alive, or if her body was pushed in the water after she was already dead.... That little girl may have witnessed someone killing her mother in the midst of the rest of the tragedy going on.... That little girl is old enough to know the difference between 'pushing' and 'falling' and 'sinking' in water, so I know she knows what she is talking about and hope someone doesn't try to make her memory different from the reality if she witnessed her mother's murder conveniently covered up when the flooding occurred. Someone needs to check out what happened to her mother to find out if the mother was dead before or after she was 'pushed in the water.' That sound byte haunts me....

When I took hospice training many years ago after my father died, one of the class exercises was to plan our own funerals (write it all down), and also say what we wanted done with our bodies - our dead bodies technically and legally, become chattel property of one's family after death. (Part of the hospice training included a tour of a funeral home, including the embalming room - the funeral director was also a member of hospice, and he explained in detail what happens to a dead body during the embalming process and what each piece of equipment neatly laid out on the counters was used for. I know all ethical morticians treat dead bodies with utmost respect.) I've reiterated my wishes for cremation to my remaining family members so more than one person knows my personal wishes. I remember how to word a will from when I worked for a probate attorney, so my wishes are also written in my will and my brother has a copy since he would be the executor. (I don't want formaldehyde from the embalming process to eventually make its way into the soil when the delayed effects of decomposition occur because formaldehyde is a carcinogen and it can get into the water supply, so that's the reason I want to be cremated....)

When I was working in law enforcement in another state many years ago, the men I worked with were some of the people who went into a collapsed mine and recovered 90 or so bodies. It was a process that took several days in the hot air inside the mine (which was later sealed), and the footwear and uniforms of those officers had to be replaced because the stench of the decaying bodies' fluids could not be washed or cleaned out of the uniforms and regulation boots/shoes. It was a gruesome task and the men had a haunted look in their eyes for months afterwards. Additionally, as the person who delivered the photos of accident scenes, some of which had images of dead bodies, some decapitated, from car accidents to the officers to go with their accident reports I'd typed were always seen by me, too. Not pretty, but a grim reality and a fact of life, and the number one reason why I believe no one should ever drink and drive.

I'm old, so the harsh realities of some deaths can't be denied at my age. Not everyone dies peacefully in their beds.

I've tried to imagine what I'd want done with my body if I were the victim of a tragic drowning (or other) death like with the floods during Hurricane Katrina. I do not think I would object to photos of me in a body bag carried as respectfully as possible under distressing and difficult circumstances to a hearse or in a morgue. Close-ups, no (except for forensic photos to be kept from the public, if necessary, and used in police investigations if murder was suspected). In a body bag would be okay.

On the other hand, I'm now a political creature, and I'd want the images of me in a body bag to be a silent (and accusing!) reminder of the failures and ineptitude of politicians in this country, especially the Bu$hCo administration. To keep those images from the public would be a silent assent to their criminal negligence involved in handling the tragedy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and it would rob me of the dignity I once had in life. But that only applies to my attitude and opinion.

I now wonder what the attitudes and opinions of the dead victims of Hurricane Katrina would have been.... I wonder if they would approve of the lack of images of their body bags? Would they consider the lack of images of body bags a denial of their previous existence, their dignity and humanity, the fact that they once loved and were loved by other people, the fact that their presence once mattered very much to people in their lives?

Or not?

The dead can no longer speak for themselves, but I wonder what they would think of the fact that the Bu$hCo administration does not even want their body bags shown... as though their existence never mattered???

Cremate me and drop my ashes off the Eiffel Tower. You all are my witnesses.

Leaving for airport.

I may be thinking too much tonight... per Indy's story above.

MSM had the info that 154 people were "confirmed dead" in Louisiana, and others are dead. WHAT does that MEAN?

Does it mean that 154 people have names associated with their corpses? That the others who are dead (no number given!!!) do not have names to go with their corpses?

WHY are we not told the NUMBER of other dead bodies found, even if they do not have names to go with those numbers, if that's what the "154 confirmed dead" means?!?

Why is it taking so long to get the dead bodies to the makeshift morgues? Why are we not told the number of dead bodies found whether they have names or not?

Aside from the fact that decomposing corpses (human or animal) are a health hazard to the living while floating in chemical and petroleum and excrement fouled waters, don't we have enough respect for the dead that they can at least get them to the makeshift morgues?

Posted by: NonnyO at September 10, 2005 09:43 PM

Nonny,

Time will blunt the emotional impact of the hurricane. I would like to know how many of us know how long San Francisco suffered following the earthquake? Most of us don't know the answer as the sands of time seem to minimize the true horror that occurred there. Similarly how long did the Chicago fire rage? I don't know and I even live in the Chicago area. When an ex-first lady is quoted as saying things to the effect that the evacuees are better off in an evacuation center, we can be sure that history will trivialize the enormity of the disaster.

It is only by virtue of electronic media will history be faithful to the victims. The pictures are critical for providing an accurate history of what actually occured in New Orleans. Future generations deserve the truth, even if our generation can't deal with it. We have to help future generations learn from the political mistakes our society has made. By giving a COMPLETE history we will fulfill our obligation to the future (even if we can't do it for ourselves now).

Safe voyage, DiAnne....

Once you get to Paris, I hope you and Amy will both give Andrée a big hug and a kiss on both cheeks from us in affection and gratitude for keeping us all informed with news and views from across the pond. We thrive on Andrée's input and couldn't do without it!!!

And, Andrée, we won't laugh AT you, but we will laugh WITH you when the occasions arise.....

Posted by: oncall at September 10, 2005 09:43 PM

Keillor is spot on!!!

sparrow:

I have been communicating with McVickers and told him to please check out the Wallstreet Journal story and try and contact John Harwood and Douglas Smith ,army recruiter. We see Harwood regularly on Face the Nation and Meet the Press and I don't think the right would question Harwood's bonafides. If there truly is anything to this story our local press needs to get on top of this story immediately or they will have mud on their face for simply dropping the ball and getting scooped. I truly want to know the truth and accuracy of this story, we should all.

Posted by: oncall at September 10, 2005 09:56 PM

The historian and the genealogist in me wants all of the dead acknowledged. They all mattered to their loved ones when they were alive, and they will be missed in death by those same loved ones. Their existence mattered very much in the recent past, and even if we do not yet know their names, it's important to acknowledge - even if only as an image wrapped in a body bag - that they did exist, they did love and were loved when they were alive.

The only way the rest of this grieving nation can say farewell to the people who died is to see the body bags... even if we do cry our eyes out and go through boxes of tissues while saying goodbye.

We are not allowed to see the flag-draped coffins of the dead as they come back from Bu$h's stupid Iraq war. IMHO, it's disrespectful not to be able to acknowledge their deaths in Iraq for Bu$h's stupid war, and it would be disrespectful not to be able to acknowledge those who were lost so tragically in Louisiana and Mississippi (and didn't Alabama lose a few people to Katrina as well?).

I can deal with grim reality and harsh truths, and I suspect everyone else can, too. It's when I'm lied to and things are kept from me that I go ballistic...!!!

Go Longhorns. Too bad Blackwell, Noe and Taft. Your Buckeys are going down tonight.
Hookem Horns!

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050911/ap_on_re_us/sept11_anniversary
Families Rally Against 9/11 Museum
By AMY WESTFELDT, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Holding up pictures of their loved ones and signs that read "Preserve Sacred Ground," more than 500 relatives of Sept. 11 victims rallied at the World Trade Center site Saturday against a proposed museum.
Family members worry the International Freedom Center will take attention away from those who died in the attack. They said the museum should not be allowed to show exhibits about struggles for freedom around the world.

"These are important stories to tell," said Jack Lynch, whose firefighter son Michael Lynch is one of the 2,749 people who died at the trade center. "Elsewhere, not at America's memorial."

The rally by more than a dozen family groups came a day before the fourth anniversary of the terrorist attacks. A bouquet of white flowers and several single, red roses were tucked into the metal fence surrounding the site, while huge American flags hung outside nearby office buildings.

"The IFC threatens to turn ground zero into a place of endless controversy rather than a place of honor," said Anthony Gardner, whose brother Harvey died at the trade center.

The Freedom Center and another museum, the Drawing Center, were chosen more than a year ago to occupy cultural space at the site in a building close to the planned "Reflecting Absence" memorial.

But rebuilding officials said last month that the Drawing Center would look elsewhere for a home and that the Freedom Center would have to submit more detailed plans and respond to family objections to ensure its place at the site. A mediator has recently been recruited to help museum officials and the families communicate.

"We respect those family members who believe that the World Trade Center site should be limited to the memorial and memorial center museum, even as we and other family members believe that a living memorial, reflecting our common resolve to preserve freedom, should also have a place on this sacred ground," Freedom Center chairman Tom Bernstein and vice chair Paula Berry — who lost her husband on Sept. 11 — said in a statement Saturday.

On Sunday, the city planned to observe moments of silence Sunday at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. to mark the times that each hijacked jetliner struck the twin towers, and at 9:59 a.m. and 10:29 a.m., for the times each tower collapsed.

More than 600 family members who lost brothers or sisters will read the victims' names at the site, while Gov. George E. Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice all planned commemorative readings.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090805Y.shtml

Let the Dead Teach the Living
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Thursday 08 September 2005

They have turned a gigantic warehouse into a makeshift morgue in the Louisiana town of St. Gabriel. Doctors and forensic specialists wait there for the bodies to come in, bodies with no identification, bodies that have spent days submerged in water, bodies gnawed by dogs and rats and 'gators. The doctors have posted a hand-lettered sign on the wall: "Mortui Vivis Praecipant." It means, "Let the dead teach the living."

There's a stiffened body under a tarp on Union Street in downtown New Orleans that has been there for days. Others float helplessly down streets and in canals. More than 100 people died in a warehouse down by the docks. They had been waiting for a rescue that never came. Thirty people died in a flooded-out nursing home outside the city, left there by the staff to wait for a rescue that, again, never came. By every indication, there are thousands of other bodies awaiting discovery, people who lost their lives in exactly this fashion. FEMA has ordered 25,000 body bags.

An edict has come down from the federal government banning press photographers from taking any pictures of the dead as they lay waiting for removal. Echoes of the ban on photographs of American soldiers in flag-draped caskets returned from Iraq are present, as are echoes of a ban on the new photos taken from within Abu Ghraib. Perhaps, it is thought, that if the American people cannot see death, they will come to believe it does not exist.

Four people have died already from water-borne disease. Vibrio vulnificus, a bacterium naturally found in salt water, killed one person plucked from the city who was then taken to Texas, and killed three people removed to Mississippi. The bacterium is a close cousin to cholera. Tests on the standing water in New Orleans have found more than 100 different chemicals present, including pesticides and solvents. Lead is also present in dangerous levels. The waters contain at least ten times the amount of acceptable bacterial strains found in sewage. The phrase "at least ten times" must be used, because the tests themselves are unable to register anything higher than that. The bacteria, in other words, pegged the needle.

A first-hand account from a professional psychologist named Anne Gervasi is making the rounds. Gervasi traveled to New Orleans to volunteer her time in rescue and rehabilitation efforts in Reunion Arena and the Civic Center. "I am no infection guru," reported Gervasi, "but as soon as I heard on day one that people with no water were forced to drink water with bloated bodies, feces, and rats in it, the thought of cholera, typhoid, and delayed disease immediately occurred to me. What if the fears of disease are correct? People are fanning out throughout America. Where is the CDC?"

"The trauma they are experiencing," continued Gervasi, "is so profound that we have no cultural term or machinery set up for it. The dead and nameless bodies by the thousands rotting in the water, arriving dead on the buses with them, or dying next to them in the shelters, are a huge festering wound that no one dares mention. This is a true Diaspora the likes of which we haven't seen since Reconstruction. The immediate needs that are being addressed ignore the greater traumas yet to be spoken. No governmental system can survive the number of wounded and disillusioned people that we are going to see sprouting up all over America. Something far greater and more organized has to be done."

Professor, author and columnist Walter Brasch has compiled some numbers that deserve to be included in any discussion of what has taken place. George W. Bush inherited from his predecessor a $230 billion budget surplus and a balanced budget. In the five years since, the surplus has become a $7.9 trillion deficit, which increases at a rate of about $1.7 billion per day. The occupation of Iraq costs somewhere between $4 billion and $5 billion per month, increasing the deficit exponentially. A meticulously-reconstructed Federal Emergency Management Agency was downsized and budget-slashed by this administration as part of its "small-government" quest, and run by an appointee whose experience in disaster management came from representing the owners of Arabian horses.

Mortui Vivis Praecipant. What have the dead taught the living in the last two weeks? We have learned that priorities matter. We have learned that the conservative small-government model is a recipe for catastrophe. We have learned that government is sure to absolutely fail its citizens when it is run by people who hate government. We have learned that massive budget cuts and agency downsizing are not theoretical or political exercises. Before Katrina, we were learning that an irresponsible and unnecessary war in Iraq was making us less safe at home. After Katrina, we have learned exactly how unsafe we are as four years of tough talk about defending the nation has been exposed by the wind and the rain. We have learned that leadership matters, and that the absence of leadership is deadly.

We have been hearing from Bush and his friends that now is not a time for the "Blame Game," as if an assessment of responsibility is nothing more than another political football to be punted down the field. A New York Times editorial from Wednesday stated, "This is not a game. It is critical to know what 'things went wrong,' as Mr. Bush put it. But we also need to know which officials failed - not to humiliate them, but to replace them with competent people ... disasters like this are not a city or a state issue. They concern the entire nation and demand a national response - certainly a better one than the White House comments that 'tremendous progress' had been made in Louisiana."

Never fear, however, for George W. Bush has said he will personally investigate the failures that led to this calamity. This is a comforting thought. Perhaps he will appoint Henry Kissinger, whom Bush first chose to head the investigation into 9/11 way back when, to lead the way.

This has only just begun. The impact of hundreds of thousands of displaced people, who need jobs and homes and whose children need schooling, will slowly but surely begin to be felt. The psychological scars from the experience will begin to tell upon them. "We are more vulnerable now than before 9/11 because faith in the system is gone," reported Anne Gervasi from New Orleans. "No system can sustain itself as a viable entity when the citizenry are the walking wounded. Victims implode a system from within and expose its decay. This is the beginning of the end unless we can get a drastic change of philosophy and restore the government to a system 'by the people for the people.' Right now nobody down here believes we have that."

What have the dead taught the living? Responsible and effective government matters. At this moment, we have neither. We are, simply put, on our own.

William Rivers Pitt is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of two books: War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know and The Greatest Sedition Is Silence.

Posted by: NonnyO at September 10, 2005 11:47 PM

Maybe that's why Condi bought those new shoes.

My prediction is to watch for Rudy Guliani to be brought front and center for a run in '08. No surprise, I'm sure, but he is the only hero figure left in this country that hasn't been slimed by Rove, or had his own wrongdoings catch up with him.

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at September 11, 2005 12:04 AM

Ol' Rudy has his own baggage, not the least of which he was living with his mistress while still married.... think he married the mistress, too? It was a sorry mess. Don't think Rudy will run with adultery as part of his past...? Who knows?

I do not plan to keep track of the 9/11 "celebrations" of death with its attending mock patriotism. It is as hypocritical and obscene as the 9/11 march in DC. pResNitwit has shamefully used the deaths of 3000 people to bolster his own image and to connect their deaths with his "justifications" to invade Iraq and have more of our people killed for his private little war to gain control of the oil fields of Iraq, and that is disrespectful to the dead (IMHO).

I will, instead, privately burn three votive candles, one per thousand people, and quietly remember the dead.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/091005A.shtml

Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans
By Jeremy Scahill and Daniela Crespo
t r u t h o u t | Report
Saturday 10 September 2005

New Orleans - Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms. They say they are on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to use lethal force. Several mercenaries we spoke with said they had served in Iraq on the personal security details of the former head of the US occupation, L. Paul Bremer and the former US ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte.

"This is a totally new thing to have guys like us working CONUS (Continental United States)," a heavily armed Blackwater mercenary told us as we stood on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. "We're much better equipped to deal with the situation in Iraq."

Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences. Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause for serious concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises alarming questions about why the government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here. Some of the men now patrolling the streets of New Orleans returned from Iraq as recently as 2 weeks ago.

What is most disturbing is the claim of several Blackwater mercenaries we spoke with that they are here under contract from the federal and Louisiana state governments.

Blackwater is one of the leading private "security" firms servicing the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It has several US government contracts and has provided security for many senior US diplomats, foreign dignitaries and corporations. The company rose to international prominence after 4 of its men were killed in Fallujah and two of their charred bodies were hung from a bridge in March 2004. Those killings sparked the massive US retaliation against the civilian population of Fallujah that resulted in scores of deaths and tens of thousands of refugees.

As the threat of forced evictions now looms in New Orleans and the city confiscates even legally registered weapons from civilians, the private mercenaries of Blackwater patrol the streets openly wielding M-16s and other assault weapons. This despite Police Commissioner Eddie Compass' claim that "Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons."

Officially, Blackwater says it forces are in New Orleans to "join the Hurricane Relief Effort." A statement on the company's website, dated September 1, advertises airlift services, security services and crowd control. The company, according to news reports, has since begun taking private contracts to guard hotels, businesses and other properties. But what has not been publicly acknowledged is the claim, made to us by 2 Blackwater mercenaries, that they are actually engaged in general law enforcement activities including "securing neighborhoods" and "confronting criminals."

That raises a key question: under what authority are Blackwater's men operating? A spokesperson for the Homeland Security Department, Russ Knocke, told the Washington Post he knows of no federal plans to hire Blackwater or other private security. "We believe we've got the right mix of personnel in law enforcement for the federal government to meet the demands of public safety." he said.

But in an hour-long conversation with several Blackwater mercenaries, we heard a different story. The men we spoke with said they are indeed on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and the Louisiana governor's office and that some of them are sleeping in camps organized by Homeland Security in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. One of them wore a gold Louisiana state law enforcement badge and said he had been "deputized" by the governor. They told us they not only had authority to make arrests but also to use lethal force. We encountered the Blackwater forces as we walked through the streets of the largely deserted French Quarter. We were talking with 2 New York Police officers when an unmarked car without license plates sped up next to us and stopped. Inside were 3 men, dressed in khaki uniforms, flak jackets and wielding automatic weapons. "Y'all know where the Blackwater guys are?" they asked. One of the police officers responded, "There are a bunch of them around here," and pointed down the road.

"Blackwater?" we asked. "The guys who are in Iraq?"

"Yeah," said the officer. "They're all over the place."

A short while later, as we continued down Bourbon Street, we ran into the men from the car. They wore Blackwater ID badges on their arms.

"When they told me New Orleans, I said, 'What country is that in?,'" said one of the Blackwater men. He was wearing his company ID around his neck in a carrying case with the phrase "Operation Iraqi Freedom" printed on it. After bragging about how he drives around Iraq in a "State Department issued level 5, explosion proof BMW," he said he was "just trying to get back to Kirkuk (in the north of Iraq) where the real action is." Later we overheard him on his cell phone complaining that Blackwater was only paying $350 a day plus per diem. That is much less than the men make serving in more dangerous conditions in Iraq. Two men we spoke with said they plan on returning to Iraq in October. But, as one mercenary said, they've been told they could be in New Orleans for up to 6 months. "This is a trend," he told us. "You're going to see a lot more guys like us in these situations."

If Blackwater's reputation and record in Iraq are any indication of the kind of "services" the company offers, the people of New Orleans have much to fear.

Jeremy Scahill, a correspondent for the national radio and TV program Democracy Now!, and Daniela Crespo are in New Orleans. Visit www.democracynow.org for in-depth, independent, investigative reporting on Hurricane Katrina. Email: jeremy@democracynow.org.

Ol' Rudy has his own baggage, not the least of which he was living with his mistress while still married.... think he married the mistress, too? It was a sorry mess. Don't think Rudy will run with adultery as part of his past...? Who knows?

Posted by: NonnyO at September 11, 2005 12:19 AM

Adultery as part of his past? Maybe that will make him look like a choir boy compared to the record of present administrators.

Pat Robertson has already given his approval by stating publicly that he thinks Rudy would make a good president.

Posted by: NonnyO at September 11, 2005 12:19 AM

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/5/1/102522.shtml

Sitting here listening to these heart-breaking and heart-filled stories. Actors are learning truth too.

We will be sharing (at least parts of) the script with you all after the production Monday night.

The stories connect up with those we have been hearing from New Orleans, New York City since 9-11, and each of OUR stories of fear, bravery, and perseverance.

I have chills when I think about how linked up we all are with the truth of this world.

Posted by: Karen at September 10, 2005 02:48 PM

Karen,

Are they going to tape the production? (I hope.)

Posted by: dwahzon at September 10, 2005 06:00 PM

Thanks for posting that, Dwahzon. I needed that encouragement tonight.

I just wish some of the people I have spoken with would say something that definitive to me.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050911/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina
Search Broadens for Bodies in New Orleans
Excerpt:
Throughout the city, searchers were picking up bodies.

A team in white protective suits pulled at least eight body bags from Bethany Home, a century-old center for senior citizens.

At the grand stone entrance of City Park, in the heart of New Orleans, workers took out two bodies: one partially submerged in water and another covered in a blanket and marked with orange paint indicating searchers had previously reported it. A walker, a bag of clothes and life jacket were nearby.

Crews from Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams, a group of volunteer medical professionals called in by the federal government for disasters, processed the bodies and took them away in refrigerated trucks.

The experts have set up a field morgue in St. Gabriel, a tiny community between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, where a chain link fence shrouded in black plastic now sits near City Hall, hiding the morgue operation from onlookers.

Officials were processing bodies around the clock. "The ability to capture useful information from that body diminishes from week to week, month to month," said Terry Edwards, director of the morgue.

{{{ No one is talking/writing hard numbers yet.... The longer they keep silent about numbers, the more I'm gonna think they're going to fudge the number lower than it really is. I'm too used to expecting lies from the Bu$hCo administration and won't believe any number coming from FEMA or elsewhere in government at this rate.... What are they gonna do? Count only bodies that have names connected to them and not count the others so the numbers are artificially low?!?!? I wouldn't put anything past Bu$hCo at this point.....}}}

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050911/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/katrina_calculating_costs
Katrina May Cost U.S. As Much As Two Wars
WASHINGTON - One storm could end up costing almost as much as two wars. Although estimates of Hurricane Katrina's staggering toll on the treasury are highly imprecise, costs are certain to climb to $200 billion in the coming weeks. The final accounting could approach the more than $300 billion spent in four years to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq

DOES ANYONE BESIDES ME THINK THAT HEADLINE IS OBSCENE?!?!? The article is worse!!! I do not care how much money it costs to clean up and rebuild after Katrina. Better the money be spent at home, repairing levees, making a levee system able to withstand the next Cat. 4-5 hurricane, building a system at least as strong as what is found in Holland and The Lowlands (and with global warming there's bound to be more Cat. 4-5 hurricanes, and maybe NO will take another direct hit...) than to be spent on that stupid war of choice that is illegal, immoral, and unethical in Iraq. New Orleans is a vital port that affects economies and communities clear up to the Canadian border because of the goods that go up and down the Mississippi River on barges. The article said something about rebuilding the superdome. Let the private corporations who own the sports teams build the superdome. It's a well-known fact that they're a financial drain on any government who owns/builds sports stadiums because they NEVER make a profit.

Our stupid governor in MN was almost ready to call a special session (and special sessions cost a lot of money!) to talk about partially funding one or two stadiums here, but after the state shut down for the first time in its history this past summer because of budget squabbles - and the governor's tax cuts for the rich! - he would be held in high disfavor if he called a special session over so trivial an issue (and he's been mentioned as a possible neoCon presidential candidate in the future - yuk!), and I happen to know the owner of one sports team makes the Fortune 500 list every year so he can damned well afford to pay for building his own team's stadium with a retractible roof. Let the jocks pay for the stadium by taking a cut in their salaries. Whatever! It's a trivial thing to think about when compared to the lives of thousands of people who will never benefit from it, and it's certainly not the responsibility of taxpayers to provide a place for overgrown boys to play. It's a game, for pete's sake. A game boys masquerading as grown men play!!! They never got over their glory days of high school games!!! Let them pay to play, and spend out tax dollars for something a whole heckuva lot more worthwhile....

But the whole point of my opening question, and my rant, is that (IMHO) it's obscene to compare the cost of rebuilding the area affected by Hurricane Katrina to the cost of Bu$hCo's wars!!!!!!!!!!! The slant of the article makes it seem like the author thinks the cost of two wars is more worthwhile than the cost of rebuilding the affected areas of the Mississippi Delta.......

The one thing we're all going to have to worry about is how much extra garbage the Bu$hCo administration is going to tack on to the spending bills for rebuilding the Mississippi Delta after Katrina that Congress will pass without even reading the bills because the pResNitwit rushes them into passing legislation he knows people will approve of for the sake of helping the hurricane victims, just as they did the last one approved a few days ago. We're going to have to demand that bills be written in time to be read by our Senators and Reps BEFORE the spending bills get voted on, and then take out any monies for Bu$hCo pork spending....!

{{{ This is F-ing INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Any senator or representative who approves this needs to be voted out of office.... and SOMEONE needs to remind them that only Congress has the power to declare war... NOT a president!!! And most certainly not a pResident who said it "would be easier if this were a dictatorship and he was the dictator"!!! Our Senators and Representatives need to grow spines of steel and stand up to that horror of a psychopathic little man in *our* White House!!! Besides which, bunker busters have depleted uranium in them and that is a known carcinogen... something our troops and the residents of Iraq are going to have to deal with for years to come, as is....}}}

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050911/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/nuclear_doctrine
U.S. Envisions Using Nukes on Terrorists
WASHINGTON - A Pentagon planning document being updated to reflect the doctrine of pre-emption declared by President Bush in 2002 envisions the use of nuclear weapons to deter terrorists from using weapons of mass destruction against the United States or its allies.

The "Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations," which was last updated 10 years ago, makes clear that "the decision to employ nuclear weapons at any level requires explicit orders from the president."

But it says that in a changing environment "terrorists or regional states armed with WMD will likely test U.S. security commitments to its allies and friends."

"In response, the U.S. needs a range of capabilities to assure friend and foe alike of its resolve," says the 69-page document dated March 15.

A Pentagon spokesman said Saturday evening that Navy Cmdr. Dawn Cutler, a public affairs officer for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has issued a statement saying the draft is still being circulated among the various services, field commanders, Pentagon lawyers and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's office, .

Its existence was initially reported by The Washington Post in Sunday editions, which said the document was posted on a Pentagon Internet site and pointed out to it by a consultant for the Natural Resorces Defense Council.

The file was not available at that site Saturday evening, but a copy was available at http://www.globalsecurity.org.

"A broader array of capability is needed to dissuade states from undertaking ... courses of action that would threaten U.S. and allied security," the draft says. "U.S. forces must pose a credible deterrent to potential adversaries who have access to modern military technology, including WMD and the means to deliver them."

It says "deterrence of potential adversary WMD use requires the potential adversary leadership to believe the United States has both the ability and will to pre-empt or retaliate promptly with responses that are credible and effective."

It says "this will be particularly difficult with nonstate (non-government) actors who employ or attempt to gain use of WMD. Here, deterrence may be directed at states that support their efforts as well as the terrorist organization itself.

"However, the continuing proliferation of WMD along with the means to deliver them increases the probability that someday a state/nonstate actor nation/terrorist may, through miscaluation or by deliberate choice, use those weapons. In such cases, deterrence, even based on the threat of massive destruction, may fail and the United States must be prepared to use nuclear weapons if necessary."

It notes that U.S. policy has always been purposely vague with regard to when the United States would use nuclear weapons and that it has never vowed not to be the first to use them in a conflict.

One scenario for a possible nuclear pre-emptive strike in the draft would be in the case of an "imminent attack from adversary biological weapons that only effects from nuclear weapons can safely destroy."

The Bush administration is continuing to push for development of an earth-penetrating nuclear warhead, but has yet to obtain congressional approval.

However, the Senate voted in July to revive the "bunker-buster" program that Congress last year decided to kill.

Administration officials have maintained that the U.S. needs to try to develop a nuclear warhead that would be capable of destroying deeply buried targets including bunkers tunneled into solid rock.

But opponents said that its benefits are questionable and that such a warhead would cause extensive radiation fallout above ground killing thousands of people. And they say it may make it easier for a future president to decide to use the nuclear option instead of a conventional weapon.

The Senate voted 53-43 to include $4 million for research into the feasibility of a bunker-buster nuclear warhead. Earlier this year, the House refused to provide the money, so a final decision will have to be worked out between the two chambers.

Posted by: oncall at September 10, 2005 09:03 PM

You get what you pay for.

My experience, as a rare progressive in the conservative construction industry, is that government jobs require more steps, more quality control - hence the higher wages ARE justified.

To save money by cutting Davis-Bacon wages is just penny wise pound foolish. It will result in cut-rate construction quality, the kind that caused the levees in NO to collapse and make the horrendous destruction happen (and cost MORE money in the long run).

The Republicans have not learned their lesson. They still want to cut the government down, so that they can drown it in the floodwaters of NO. And possibly have the Christian organizations, like Operation Blessing, substitute for what the government once provided - only for the rich, only for the "believers" of the death cult.

Thought you all might enjoy this -

Kerry Bashes Bush at Corzine Rally
September 10th, 2005

Kerry bashes Bush at Corzine rally
Sunday, September 11, 2005
BY JEFF WHELAN
Star-Ledger Staff

Saying it bordered on “criminal negligence,” U.S. Sen. John Kerry blasted the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina yesterday and urged New Jersey voters to express their own dissatisfaction by electing Democrat Jon Corzine governor.

Kerry made his remarks during a boisterous campaign rally for Corzine at a union hall in Paramus, part of a seven-stop tour of the state by the former presidential nominee to boost Democrats in the November elections.

The Massachusetts senator, who outpolled Bush by 7 percentage points in New Jersey in his failed 2004 presidential campaign, said a Corzine victory would be a rejection of Bush’s handling of issues ranging from Katrina to the war in Iraq. He said the federal response to the hurricane would have been “profoundly” better under him.

“Make them hear what America needs to hear,” Kerry said to loud applause from hundreds of union workers as Corzine stood by his side.

“This is not just a race for New Jersey. People all across the country are going to read the tea leaves. People all across the country are going to listen to your voices as you express them when you go to the polls,” he said. “This is a time for our country to touch its soul again, and you can do that at the ballot box.”

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=498

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/opinion/11sun1.html
Revising 9/11
Excerpt:
We felt that 9/11 had changed our lives in an instant, that we had been jerked out of a pleasant dream. The difference in the blow that Katrina struck was not merely that we could see it coming. It was that, as a nation, we thought we were already fully awake.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/10/AR2005091001053.html
Pentagon Revises Nuclear Strike Plan
Strategy Includes Preemptive Use Against Banned Weapons
Excerpt:
Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee who has been a leading opponent of the bunker-buster program, said yesterday the draft was "apparently a follow-through on their nuclear posture review and they seem to bypass the idea that Congress had doubts about the program." She added that members "certainly don't want the administration to move forward with a [nuclear] preemption policy" without hearings, closed door if necessary.

{{{ Another take on the AP-Yahoo story.}}}

To All My Fellow Americans Who Voted for George W. Bush:

On this, the fourth anniversary of 9/11, I'm just curious, how does it feel?

How does it feel to know that the man you elected to lead us after we were attacked went ahead and put a guy in charge of FEMA whose main qualification was that he ran horse shows?

That's right. Horse shows.

I really want to know -- and I ask you this in all sincerity and with all due respect -- how do you feel about the utter contempt Mr. Bush has shown for your safety? C'mon, give me just a moment of honesty. Don't start ranting on about how this disaster in New Orleans was the fault of one of the poorest cities in America. Put aside your hatred of Democrats and liberals and anyone with the last name of Clinton. Just look me in the eye and tell me our President did the right thing after 9/11 by naming a horse show runner as the top man to protect us in case of an emergency or catastrophe.

I want you to put aside your self-affixed label of Republican/conservative/born-again/capitalist/ditto-head/right-winger and just talk to me as an American, on the common ground we both call America.

Are we safer now than before 9/11? When you learn that behind the horse show runner, the #2 and #3 men in charge of emergency preparedness have zero experience in emergency preparedness, do you think we are safer?

When you look at Michael Chertoff, the head of Homeland Security, a man with little experience in national security, do you feel secure?

When men who never served in the military and have never seen young men die in battle send our young people off to war, do you think they know how to conduct a war? Do they know what it means to have your legs blown off for a threat that was never there?

Do you really believe that turning over important government services to private corporations has resulted in better services for the people?

Why do you hate our federal government so much? You have voted for politicians for the past 25 years whose main goal has been to de-fund the federal government. Do you think that cutting federal programs like FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers has been good or bad for America? GOOD OR BAD?

With the nation's debt at an all-time high, do you think tax cuts for the rich are still a good idea? Will you give yours back so hundreds of thousands of homeless in New Orleans can have a home?

Do you believe in Jesus? Really? Didn't he say that we would be judged by how we treat the least among us? Hurricane Katrina came in and blew off the facade that we were a nation with liberty and justice for all. The wind howled and the water rose and what was revealed was that the poor in America shall be left to suffer and die while the President of the United States fiddles and tells them to eat cake.

That's not a joke. The day the hurricane hit and the levees broke, Mr. Bush, John McCain and their rich pals were stuffing themselves with cake. A full day after the levees broke (the same levees whose repair funding he had cut), Mr. Bush was playing a guitar some country singer gave him. All this while New Orleans sank under water.

It would take ANOTHER day before the President would do a flyover in his jumbo jet, peeking out the widow at the misery 2500 feet below him as he flew back to his second home in DC. It would then be TWO MORE DAYS before a trickle of federal aid and troops would arrive. This was no seven minutes in a sitting trance while children read "My Pet Goat" to him. This was FOUR DAYS of doing nothing other than saying "Brownie (FEMA director Michael Brown), you're doing a heck of a job!"

My Republican friends, does it bother you that we are the laughing stock of the world?

And on this sacred day of remembrance, do you think we honor or shame those who died on 9/11/01? If we learned nothing and find ourselves today every bit as vulnerable and unprepared as we were on that bright sunny morning, then did the 3,000 die in vain?

Our vulnerability is not just about dealing with terrorists or natural disasters. We are vulnerable and unsafe because we allow one in eight Americans to live in horrible poverty. We accept an education system where one in six children never graduate and most of those who do can't string a coherent sentence together. The middle class can't pay the mortgage or the hospital bills and 45 million have no health coverage whatsoever.

Are we safe? Do you really feel safe? You can only move so far out and build so many gated communities before the fruit of what you've sown will be crashing through your walls and demanding retribution. Do you really want to wait until that happens? Or is it your hope that if they are left alone long enough to soil themselves and shoot themselves and drown in the filth that fills the street that maybe the problem will somehow go away?

I know you know better. You gave the country and the world a man who wasn't up for the job and all he does is hire people who aren't up for the job. You did this to us, to the world, to the people of New Orleans. Please fix it. Bush is yours. And you know, for our peace and safety and security, this has to be fixed. What do you propose?

I have an idea, and it isn't a horse show.

Yours,
Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
mmflint@aol.com