Martial law in New Orleans

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I heard it on Meet the Press

Postby Fearless » Sun Sep 04, 2005 1:21 pm

with Tim Russert. <p></p><i></i>
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Here's the video

Postby Fearless » Sun Sep 04, 2005 1:26 pm

OMG<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4626138">www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4626138</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Meet the Press

Postby trainable23 » Sun Sep 04, 2005 1:44 pm

Jefferson Parish President "Broussard" follows<br><br>from 2nd segment, Chertoff/nukes reference again, <br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://p216.ezboard.com/frigorousintuitionfrm10.showMessage?topicID=725.topic">p216.ezboard.com/frigorou...=725.topic</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>this time softballed by russert...<br><br>whole trans worth a look but broussard...whew. right f'n on. <br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9179790/">www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9179790/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>MR. RUSSERT:  This is hurricane season.  Are you prepared for another hurricane in that region or, God forbid, a nuclear or biological attack, which we're told could happen at any time? <br><br>SEC'Y CHERTOFF:  I'm going to tell you, Tim, you've put your finger on something which I said the day after this hurricane hit.  As catastrophic as this is, we are still in hurricane season.  And as much as we are working on desperately getting people out now, we've got to make sure we are holding in reserve and we are preparing for what could come next, whether it be a hurricane, whether it be a disease.  I mean, we are challenged to make sure that at a moment when we have a current catastrophe and we have to be vigilant about other catastrophes that we do not lose focus and spend time dwelling on the past.  I promise you we will go back and review the lessons that we have to learn, what went right and what went wrong.  But I will tell you now we will be making a huge mistake if we spend the time in the immediate future looking back instead of dealing with, as you point out, what's going on now and what may yet come. <br><br>MR. RUSSERT:  Mr. Secretary, as always, we thank you for joining us and sharing your views. <br><br>---------------<br>                               (Announcements) <br><br>MR. RUSSERT:  And we are back. <br><br>Jefferson Parish President Broussard, let me start with you.  You just heard the director of Homeland Security's explanation of what has happened this last week.  What is your reaction? <br><br>MR. AARON BROUSSARD:  We have been abandoned by our own country.  Hurricane Katrina will go down in history as one of the worst storms ever to hit an American coast, but the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will go down as one of the worst abandonments of Americans on American soil ever in U.S. history.  I am personally asking our bipartisan congressional delegation here in Louisiana to immediately begin congressional hearings to find out just what happened here.  Why did it happen?  Who needs to be fired?  And believe me, they need to be fired right away, because we still have weeks to go in this tragedy.  We have months to go.  We have years to go.  And whoever is at the top of this totem pole, that totem pole needs to be chain-sawed off and we've got to start with some new leadership. <br><br>It's not just Katrina that caused all these deaths in New Orleans here. Bureaucracy has committed murder here in the greater New Orleans area, and bureaucracy has to stand trial before Congress now.  It's so obvious.  FEMA needs more congressional funding.  It needs more presidential support.  It needs to be a Cabinet-level director.  It needs to be an independent agency that will be able to fulfill its mission to work in partnership with state and local governments around America.  FEMA needs to be empowered to do the things it was created to do.  It needs to come somewhere, like New Orleans, with all of its force immediately, without red tape, without bureaucracy, act immediately with common sense and leadership, and save lives.  Forget about the property.  We can rebuild the property.  It's got to be able to come in and save lives. <br><br>We need strong leadership at the top of America right now in order to accomplish this and to-- reconstructing FEMA. <br><br>MR. RUSSERT:  Mr. Broussard, let me ask--I want to ask--should... <br><br>MR. BROUSSARD:  You know, just some quick examples... <br><br>MR. RUSSERT:  Hold on.  Hold on, sir.  Shouldn't the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of New Orleans bear some responsibility?  Couldn't they have been much more forceful, much more effective and much more organized in evacuating the area? <br><br>MR. BROUSSARD:  Sir, they were told like me, every single day, "The cavalry's coming," on a federal level, "The cavalry's coming, the cavalry's coming, the cavalry's coming."  I have just begun to hear the hoofs of the cavalry.  The cavalry's still not here yet, but I've begun to hear the hoofs, and we're almost a week out. <br><br>Let me give you just three quick examples.  We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water.  FEMA turned them back.  They said we didn't need them.  This was a week ago.  FEMA--we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish.  The Coast Guard said, "Come get the fuel right away."  When we got there with our trucks, they got a word.  "FEMA says don't give you the fuel."  Yesterday--yesterday--FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines.  They cut them without notice.  Our sheriff, Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards on our line and says, "No one is getting near these lines."  Sheriff Harry Lee said that if America--American government would have responded like Wal-Mart has responded, we wouldn't be in this crisis. <br><br>But I want to thank Governor Blanco for all she's done and all her leadership. She sent in the National Guard.  I just repaired a breach on my side of the 17th Street canal that the secretary didn't foresee, a 300-foot breach.  I just completed it yesterday with convoys of National Guard and local parish workers and levee board people.  It took us two and a half days working 24/7. I just closed it. <br><br>MR. RUSSERT:  All right. <br><br>MR. BROUSSARD:  I'm telling you most importantly I want to thank my public employees... <br><br>MR. RUSSERT:  All right. <br><br>MR. BROUSSARD:  ...that have worked 24/7.  They're burned out, the doctors, the nurses.  And I want to give you one last story and I'll shut up and let you tell me whatever you want to tell me.  The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything.  His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son?  Is somebody coming?"  And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you.  Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday.  Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday.  Somebody's coming to get you on Friday."  And she drowned Friday night.  She drowned Friday night. <br><br>MR. RUSSERT:  Mr. President... <br><br>MR. BROUSSARD:  Nobody's coming to get us.  Nobody's coming to get us.  The secretary has promised.  Everybody's promised.  They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences.  For God sakes, shut up and send us somebody. <br><br>MR. RUSSERT:  Just take a pause, Mr. President.  While you gather yourself in your very emotional times, I understand, let me go to Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi.<br> <p></p><i></i>
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Fidel vs. George

Postby Dreams End » Sun Sep 04, 2005 1:50 pm

The US could possibly take a page from Fidel Castro's book when it comes to emergency preparedness. <br><br>Category of hurricane to hit Cuba last September: 5<br><br>Number of people evacuated: 1.5 million<br><br>Number of deaths: ZERO<br><br>Number of deaths: ZERO <br><br>Number of deaths: ZERO<br><br>Here's an article:<br><br> <!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>The Two Americas<br> By Marjorie Cohn<br> t r u t h o u t | Perspective<br><br> Saturday 03 September 2005<br><br> Last September, a Category 5 hurricane battered the small island of Cuba with 160-mile-per-hour winds. More than 1.5 million Cubans were evacuated to higher ground ahead of the storm. Although the hurricane destroyed 20,000 houses, no one died.<br><br> What is Cuban President Fidel Castro's secret? According to Dr. Nelson Valdes, a sociology professor at the University of New Mexico, and specialist in Latin America, "the whole civil defense is embedded in the community to begin with. People know ahead of time where they are to go."<br><br> "Cuba's leaders go on TV and take charge," said Valdes. Contrast this with George W. Bush's reaction to Hurricane Katrina. The day after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Bush was playing golf. He waited three days to make a TV appearance and five days before visiting the disaster site. In a scathing editorial on Thursday, the New York Times said, "nothing about the president's demeanor yesterday - which seemed casual to the point of carelessness - suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis."<br><br> "Merely sticking people in a stadium is unthinkable" in Cuba, Valdes said. "Shelters all have medical personnel, from the neighborhood. They have family doctors in Cuba, who evacuate together with the neighborhood, and already know, for example, who needs insulin."<br><br> They also evacuate animals and veterinarians, TV sets and refrigerators, "so that people aren't reluctant to leave because people might steal their stuff," Valdes observed.<br><br> After Hurricane Ivan, the United Nations International Secretariat for Disaster Reduction cited Cuba as a model for hurricane preparation. ISDR director Salvano Briceno said, "The Cuban way could easily be applied to other countries with similar economic conditions and even in countries with greater resources that do not manage to protect their population as well as Cuba does."<br><br> Our federal and local governments had more than ample warning that hurricanes, which are growing in intensity thanks to global warming, could destroy New Orleans. Yet, instead of heeding those warnings, Bush set about to prevent states from controlling global warming, weaken FEMA, and cut the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for levee construction in New Orleans by $71.2 million, a 44 percent reduction.<br><br> Bush sent nearly half our National Guard troops and high-water Humvees to fight in an unnecessary war in Iraq. Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Paris in New Orleans, noted a year ago, "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq."<br><br> An Editor and Publisher article Wednesday said the Army Corps of Engineers "never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security - coming at the same time as federal tax cuts - was the reason for the strain," which caused a slowdown of work on flood control and sinking levees.<br><br> "This storm was much greater than protection we were authorized to provide," said Alfred C. Naomi, a senior project manager in the New Orleans district of the corps.<br><br> Unlike in Cuba, where homeland security means keeping the country secure from deadly natural disasters as well as foreign invasions, Bush has failed to keep our people safe. "On a fundamental level," Paul Krugman wrote in yesterday's New York Times, "our current leaders just aren't serious about some of the essential functions of government. They like waging war, but they don't like providing security, rescuing those in need or spending on prevention measures. And they never, ever ask for shared sacrifice."<br><br> During the 2004 election campaign, vice presidential candidate John Edwards spoke of "the two Americas." It seems unfathomable how people can shoot at rescue workers. Yet, after the beating of Rodney King aired on televisions across the country, poor, desperate, hungry people in Watts took over their neighborhoods, burning and looting. Their anger, which had seethed below the surface for so long, erupted. That's what's happening now in New Orleans. And we, mostly white, people of privilege, rarely catch a glimpse of this other America.<br><br> "I think a lot of it has to do with race and class," said Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. "The people affected were largely poor people. Poor, black people."<br><br> New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin reached a breaking point Thursday night. "You mean to tell me that a place where you probably have thousands of people that have died and thousands more that are dying every day, that we can't figure out a way to authorize the resources we need? Come on, man!"<br><br> Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had boasted earlier in the day that FEMA and other federal agencies have done a "magnificent job" under the circumstances.<br><br> But, said, Nagin, "They're feeding the people a line of bull, and they are spinning and people are dying. Get off your asses and let's do something!"<br><br> When asked about the looting, the mayor said that except for a few "knuckleheads," it is the result of desperate people trying to find food and water to survive.<br><br> Nagin blamed the outbreak of violence and crime on drug addicts who have been cut off from their drug supplies, wandering the city, "looking to take the edge off their jones."<br><br> When Hurricane Ivan hit Cuba, no curfew was imposed; yet, no looting or violence took place. Everyone was in the same boat.<br><br> Fidel Castro, who has compared his government's preparations for Hurricane Ivan to the island's long-standing preparations for an invasion by the United States, said, "We've been preparing for this for 45 years."<br><br> On Thursday, Cuba's National Assembly sent a message of solidarity to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It says the Cuban people have followed closely the news of the hurricane damage in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and the news has caused pain and sadness. The message notes that the hardest hit are African-Americans, Latino workers, and the poor, who still wait to be rescued and taken to secure places, and who have suffered the most fatalities and homelessness. The message concludes by saying that the entire world must feel this tragedy as its own. <hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090305Y.shtml">www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090305Y.shtml</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
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re: Meet the Press, little-known 'news', related issues

Postby Starman » Sun Sep 04, 2005 2:36 pm

Heyia Fearless:<br><br>Ya -- I caught that segment too, and esp. when Broussard broke-up when he described the agony of an associate (who was responsible for Emergency Managment in Jefferson Parish) who was in daily-contact with his straned mother by phone, assuring her day after day after day that help WAS coming, desperately TRYING to inform officials at the same time, but to no avail as she succumbed before she could be rescued -- What an appalling, unforgiveable clusterfuck.<br><br>I'm not sure, but I think it was that after FEMA had cut their communication lines, locals reconnected it and the local sherrif then set-up armed guards to prevent FEMA from cutting them again -- here we have a clear example in the starkest terms of the Feds directly interfering with local eforts to help themselves -- this reflects not only lack of coordination and communication, but an inexplicable confrontation in which the Federal Government is sabotaging people's self-empowerment and self-reliance.<br><br>Some additional info, observations (and venting):<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/">www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> -- Sept. 3<br>St. Bernard death toll possibly hundreds<br>By Jan Moller<br>Capital Bureau<br>While several days passed with little or no federal assistance, state and local officials set up their own improvised search-and-rescue operations, with the Mississippi River serving as a lifeline to safety for residents in the close-knit parish who rode out Katrina. <br>When the wind died down but the floodwaters remained, local government was forced to improvise. While firefighters work from the BellSouth building, the parish council set up temporary quarters at the Exxon-Mobil Chalmette Refining and the sheriff's office is operating from the Cajun Queen riverboat that's moored next to the Domino's sugar refinery in Arabi. <br>. . .<br>While Navy helicopters were shuttling people to hospitals who needed medical care, local officials are angry at the slow pace of the federal government's relief efforts. “We never had any communication from anybody,” said Parish President Henry P. Rodriguez. “Anything that has been done in St. Bernard has been done by local people.We never had any goddamned help.” <br><br>Boasso, whose homes and businesses were badly damaged by the wind and floods as was just about everybody's home in the parish, said he's frustrated by the pace of the federal government's efforts - which he said he's made clear to Federal Emergency Management Agency officials in Baton Rouge.<br><br>“I don't care about finger pointing,” Boasso said. “I'm hollering and screaming and you know what? If they can't help us we're going to help ourselves.” <br>*<br>Saturday, September 03, 2005<br>Evacuees forced to wait outside bus station<br>By Allen Powell II<br>River Parishes bureau<br>Several dozen New Orleans residents seeking transportation out of Baton Rouge Saturday were denied entrance to the Greyhound bus station on Florida Street. Instead, the would-be travelers say they were forced to wait outside on the sidewalk for hours.<br><br>The travelers, many of them recent evacuees from New Orleans, waited for the chance to buy tickets to Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and northern Louisiana. <br>Several of them said they had been waiting at the station since the early afternoon and by 7 p.m. hadn’t been allowed to wait inside, use bathroom facilities or get water. Many of the travelers said they only wanted to purchase tickets or pick-up tickets that had already been purchased by family members.<br><br>Terrance Pierre, who said he was evacuated from Xavier University on Wednesday, said he had been waiting outside of the station for more than five hours to purchase a ticket to Texas. Pierre said he was just trying to reunite with his family and friends.<br>“I’m just trying to get a ticket with my own money,” he said.<br><br>Through security guards at the station, the bus station’s manager declined to discuss why the people were not allowed inside. <br><br>Travelers said they were told that there had been a disturbance at the bus station on Friday, but that could not confirmed with station employees. In addition, they said they were told that the bus station’s booking system was not operating. <br><br>Officials from Greyhound’s national office could not be reached for comment on Saturday night.<br>Although the crowd appeared orderly, six Baton Rouge police cruisers arrived at the station at about 7:20 p.m... A security guard at the door told officers that some people in the crowd had been banging on the station’s doors, a claim all of the travelers vehemently denied.<br><br>No one was arrested, and the officers left after instructing travelers to line up along the front of the building. After the officers left, bus station employees began allowing some people to enter the station to use the restroom, but most were forced to remain outside. <br>**** <br>Landrieu slams FEMA<br>WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., Saturday accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency of failing to accept offers that would have eased post-hurricane problems in New Orleans -- including a plan for the Forest Service to douse fires in the city with aircraft used to fight fire.<br><br>On Friday, Landrieu asked President Bush to appoint a cabinet-level official to oversee Hurricane Katrina relief and recovery efforts. She reiterated that request on Saturday.<br><br>"Yesterday, I was hoping President Bush would come away from his tour of the regional devastation triggered by Hurricane Katrina with a new understanding for the magnitude of the suffering and for the abject failures of the current Federal Emergency Management Agency," Landrieu said. "Twenty-four hours later, the President has yet to answer my call for a cabinet-level official to lead our efforts. Meanwhile, FEMA, now a shell of what it once was, continues to be overwhelmed by the task at hand.<br><br>Landrieu said that FEMA has inexplicably failed to take advantage of offers of help.<br>"I understand that the U.S. Forest Service had water-tanker aircraft available to help douse the fires raging on our riverfront, but FEMA has yet to accept the aid. When Amtrak offered trains to evacuate significant numbers of victims - far more efficiently than buses - FEMA again dragged its feet," Landrieu said. "Offers of medicine, communications equipment and other desperately needed items continue to flow in, only to be ignored by the agency.<br><br>Landrieu said that her "greatest disappointment" is the lack of progress fixing the breached 17th Street levee.<br>"Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment. The good and decent people of southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast - black and white, rich and poor, young and old - deserve far better from their national government," Landrieu said.<br>**** <br>U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters: Rescue delay shows "class division"<br>Saturday, Sept. 3, 2005 8:00 p.m.<br>U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, arrived in Baton Rouge on Saturday with one message to President Bush and federal rescue agencies: <br><br>"Get it done," Waters said. "I thought I'd seen a lot. Don't forget, I'm from Los Angeles," where there has been a documented history of rioting. "But nothing like this. To see dead bodies on the street just unnerves me." <br><br>Waters said she came in response to the vast scope of the catastrophe, and was flanked by her friend State Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge. At about 4 p.m. on Saturday, Waters said she was leaving to ride a bus with evacuees from New Orleans. "To give them water, to give them comfort," she said at the Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rouge.<br><br>Waters said the delay in rescuing the stranded masses of people in the New Orleans region shows "a class division."<br><br>"There are a lot of naïve people," Waters said. "This is America. This should be illuminating about what we need in terms of dealing with poverty." <br>The poorest of the poor make up so many of the people stranded in New Orleans and the outlying areas, she added. "The United States has just been seen in a light that many people in the world never thought they'd see." <br>****<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html">www.wwltv.com/local/stori...3fcea.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>5:25 A.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) --Emergency officials in Louisiana say they are still getting calls from people trapped and in need of rescue. Officials say they received a thousand such calls just yesterday, with some people saying they are still trapped in their attics. <br>Authorities are using color-coded maps to locate anyone in need of rescue. They plan to go door-to-door if they have to, in order to find all remaining survivors. <br>**<br>2:11 A.M. - ATLANTA (AP) -- As Valerie Bennett was evacuated from a New Orleans hospital, rescuers told her there was no room in the boat for her dogs. She pleaded. "I offered him my wedding ring and my mom's wedding ring," the 34-year-old nurse recalled Saturday. <br>They wouldn't budge. She and her husband could bring only one item, and they already had a plastic tub containing the medicines her husband, a liver transplant recipient, needed to survive. Such emotional scenes were repeated perhaps thousands of times along the Gulf Coast last week as pet owners were forced to abandon their animals in the midst of evacuation. <br><br>In one example reported last week by The Associated Press, a police officer took a dog from one little boy waiting to get on a bus in New Orleans. "Snowball! Snowball!" the boy cried until he vomited. The policeman told a reporter he didn't know what would happen to the dog. <br><br>At the hospital, a doctor euthanized some animals at the request of their owners, who feared they would be abandoned and starve to death. He set up a small gas chamber out of a plastic-wrapped dog kennel. <br>****<br>Health Issues:<br>Food containers with screw-caps, snap-lids, crimped caps, twist caps, flip tops, and home canned foods that may have come in contact with flood water. <br>-- Don't use contaminated water to wash dishes, brush teeth, wash or prepare foods, wash hands, make ice or make baby formula. <br>Infant feeding: <br>-- Breast-fed infants should continue breastfeeding. <br>-- Be sure safe water is used to clean feeding bottles, nipples. <br><br>NOTE: Among the 30-80,000 stranded survivors in New Orleans and other flooded areas such as Biloxi and the greater Gulf Region who were forced to endure filthy, contaminated conditions, how many mothers were able to wash their nipples before breast-feeding their children? How many bottles of water and drink containers were cleaned before placed the containers to their lips and drank, or washed cups/glasses before using? How many children's hands were cleaned before every time they touched their lips or eyes? <br><br>The number of people probably contaminated by parasitical bacteria and disease pathogens and organisms is incalculable, it could be many tens of thousands -- this is an additional foreknown consequence of the inexplicable delay in providing relief activities, in FEMA's spurious (and IMO, criminal!) refusal to allow Red Cross to provide services in New Orleans and esp. the major refuge points, and their refusal to 'allow' volunteers from contributing their services, esp. boat-owners who could have saved untold hundreds or thousands of lives, and the National Forest Service Fire-fighting services, and which didn't take effective control in either ordering bus drivers to where transport was urgently required and/or provide armed protection (or replace them with Rescue personal or National Guard troops or even volunteers who were willing to assume the duty -- as I'm sure hundreds of thousands of Americans would have readily volunteered), and FEMA's and other officials negligence in not minimizing rumours and unsubstantiated reports of 'rioting' and dangerous violence, which only contributed to provoking reactionary fear which directly impeded rescue efforts in dozens of ways -- <br>This mismanagement of resources and actively confounding volunteerism is one of the most egregious examples of the failure of officials to perform their duty.<br><br>It seems the reports of violence were deliberately promoted and NOT minimized because it aided the official's agenda to stall and delay the evacuation, simply because they had failed to prepare for transient refugee safe-camps or secure sufficient shelters, and instead used their too-few busses to transport survivors on long bus-rides, tying up those resources in grossly inefficient practices -- <br><br>It REALLY burns me up that for five days at LEAST, there was little or NO use made of national Guard and Army/Military trucks to get people moved out of the severely contaminated zones, just movng them several miles to where bus and alternative transport could be arranged -- Officials could have, should have, provided rental-trucks and impressed them into shuttle transports<br><br>Aaron Broussard --President, Jefferson Parish La, described FEMA officials actually cutting their communication lines -- he also described an associate who assured his mother day after day after day that help was coming, but who, after four days of no help, succumbed -- a horrible, senseless, criminal tragedy which is MUST be placed on the grossly negligent FEMA officials who were NOT capable of fulfilling their obligation -- IMO, Mike Brown MUST be prosecuted for derilection and the person who appointed him, lacking ANY disaster-relief experience, out of purely political-favoritism considerations SHOULD BE FIRED!!! ('President' Bush).<br><br>And oh CHRIST Chertoff should be jailed -- I'm sick of hearing him lie and weasel and misinform and mislead and excuse so many incidents of gross incompetance and idiocy -- He's SO incompetant -- Even news reporters on CNN and NBC have pointed out Chertoff's statements don't reflect reality -- I can't STAND to hear his mealy-mouthed pathetic excuse-making -- what a toady 'I'm here to tell you, even if the truth is hard to take, that the buck finally stops .... uh, somewhere else...' -- reflecting the whole rotton, filthy, morally-corrupt Bush model of failed, pass-the-buck, -avoid accepting responsibility-, All Show and No Substance (or, All Hat, No Cattle), dead-end pretend-leadership -- <br><br>And this idiot STILL insists the 'Federal Government' didn't know that there were 15,000 to 20,000+ people at the Convention Center, when LA police had been dispatched to the site (and repulsed by angry crowds) and roving mounted SWAT and Military troops had been driving by repeatedly, and the dozens of helicopters flying by -- was there such a TOTAL breakdown in communication between these military and law-enforcement assets and those putatively 'managing' the relief efforts?? The major fault is in wholly failing to establish public information networks to keep people apprised of the situation, to coordinate help and establish needs -- How can this immense failure NOT be held up for accountability? <br><br>And it's OBVIOUS to anyone not wholly brain-dead that local US Gulf-region National Guard troops and equipment tied-up in the Middle East were desperately needed to provide a timely response to this disaster, not just in New Orleans but throughout the entire region -- where there are STILL whole communities and isolated neighborhoods that haven't been assisted YET, some 6 days after Katrina struck!<br><br>The Federal Goverment under corrupt Repub/Demo subversion have managed to create a monolithic entity via Homeland Security and FEMA that not only has squandered vast financial resources and indbted future generations to astounding levels of debt-obligations, but has succeeded in destroying vital local and state networks and communication, impeding and preventing commuinities from making the best use of resources -- making people dependant on an inefficient bureaucracy managed by grossly incompetant, toadying political appointees whose main function seems to be providing layers of accountability-diversions to shield responsibility.<br><br>Starman <p></p><i></i>
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Eloriel's New Orleans MIHOP/LIHOP thread on DU

Postby Martha » Sun Sep 04, 2005 2:52 pm

Was disappeared again.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4627082">Eloriel thread - take 2</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Ben Burch himself started it, with a link to the original locked thead (locked by Mr. Magistrate - I'm shocked!). He also started a thead talking about being a mod on du and how the mods are so overworked. Now I can't find that one either.<br><br>Why am I not surprised?<br><br><br><br>---<br>edited because I'm trying to fix the link <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=martha@rigorousintuition>Martha</A> at: 9/4/05 12:57 pm<br></i>
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Re: I know it has disappeared

Postby DrDebugDU » Sun Sep 04, 2005 3:26 pm

I made some copies, but sadly my computer crashed half way. So a lot of info is at:<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://p216.ezboard.com/frigorousintuitionfrm9.showMessage?topicID=46.topic">p216.ezboard.com/frigorou...D=46.topic</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>I have a backup on my harddisk. Please wait while I try to copy it all....<br><br>The last two or three posts are missing it seems, but I have most of the post, so don't worry. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=drdebugdu>DrDebugDU</A> at: 9/4/05 1:35 pm<br></i>
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Random notes on the Flooding of New Orleans

Postby proldic » Sun Sep 04, 2005 3:37 pm

I just wanted to write down a couple of things I'd been thinking about. Mainly a rant...<br><br>Sifting out cause and effect. Cause is harder to determine here than effect. So the what will the effect be? <br><br>Certainly many many people are becoming extremely motivated to start intensive preparations for what they pereive as an attempt to retain their own independence during these times. Whether they will actually be allowed to is a whole 'nother story. <br><br>I had a dream last night that I was flying like a bird and I was watching what (you know how dreams go) was this idea that our national parks were being swept clean of survivalists, people trying to get away from something, and there were all these black-suited soldiers running everywhere like ants in the woods chasing families and stuff. Very disturbing. Woke up exhausted. <br><br>You know, eventually, there's going to be nowhere to hide. And you can't <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>ever</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> hide from or predict the patterns of radioactive or toxic fallout. And the interstate highway system was built (partially) to conatin/ring-in urban areas. Etc. etc. <br><br>There's no escape for most of us, at least not for any length of time. Most of the people thinking that they're going to get an acre or two, and be able to escape society, are fools. Do they realize how many acres it takes to grow protein-bearing crops like legumes? <br><br>Sometimes I wonder if many of us have a welcoming acceptance of being reduced to a hunter-gatherer stage. I know that John Zerzan and the "future primitivist" anarchist-types do. <br><br>Anyway, these preparations will be done on individual levels, and in small groups, "lifeboats" and "arks", as downsizing pied-piper Richard Heinberg calls them.<br><br>Rarely, beyond a few wealthy communities like maybe Berkley or Woodstock, will any attempt be made to create community systems that are <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>genuinely</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> capable of assisting large numbers of people in a crisis. Like in an energy crisis, not to even mention a disaster, like the flooding of New Orleans, or a rad-bio-chem event. <br><br>What will be the effect of all those people becoming so survivalist-oriented? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that we shouldn't stock up, read up. Don't put <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>all</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> your eggs in one basket. <br><br>What is the ultimate reality of being able to sustain without government assistance for the people? Nil. In fact it means mass-die off as in New Orleans, and a predatorial world of might-makes-right run by "local mafias", ordained by the fascists. <br><br>So my question is, where is the balance in this crucial time? If we have totally given up on reforming the political system from within, if we dismiss the possibility of engaging in populist mass-struggle -- if we spend most of their time building "arks" -- do we really have anyone but ourselves to blame when the political system has been taken over by a dispirited citizenry, corrupt democratic politicians and incompetent fake-leftists? <br><br>The next thing is about cause. The dikes. If this was a purposeful event, then maybe that's one place to look. <br><br>In the week previous to the Flooding of New Orleans, TLC had a show on the flooding of an Italian town with silt from a mine due to a badly-manufactured dike giving way. It showed all week, many times per day.<br> <br>Also, I think this may be important:<br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>I remember reading in a couple of places in the news where the water and gone "through" the dikes.</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br>Very strange. Holes in dikes, which then gave way.<br><br>Now from what I've been able to determine, unless the construction of the dike was flawed in some way, the dike should have held, and the water would then go <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>over</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> the dike if it was inadequate to contain the storm surges. <br><br>So that got me thinking back to the last big flood in the US, in the midwest. Interestingly enough, that event, which ruined millions of acres of farmland and was the death blow to the farm economy and the political vitality of the small farm economy (btw something Wellstone was concentrating on harnessing -- just two or three months before he was assasinated, I heard him speaking to farmers during their protests in Washington at that time, and man was he powerful -- he was most definitely a populist. This short, liberal, Jewish politician had this huge group of white, socially conservative farmers roaring in approval. And I said then "he'll probably be wacked"), was considered by many to be HAARP-related, and there was some good circumstantial evidence to back that up.<br><br>And, if people remember, the role of dikes came up then, and the breaching of a dike became a big part of the official reason as to why the flooding was so devastating. <br><br>There is this kid in jail in Iowa for life who it is claimed penetrated a major dike on purpose during those floods, and they try to claim he caused a major part of the flooding. and they tried to conflate his case in public perception to relate to all of the flooding, which was huge and way beyond what he was capable of having done. <br><br>Also, in history, especially if you look at the 1927 flood, the role of dikes are paramount, and protecting them against "sabateurs" was a widespread phenomenon. And blaming certain defenseless populations, like blacks and northern interlopers, for dike breaches, was also done.<br>But sometimes, the sabatoge <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>was</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> real. <br><br>And also the role of the arsonists in the massive wave of forest fires comes to mind as well. Didn't they scapegoat a few hillbillys or something? And weren't the fires considered a purposeful event in some cases? I know through whistleblower tetimony that, like might be happening at Tulane or wherever, up at Los Alamos they used those fires as an excuse to burn off over 200 50 gallon barrells of god-knows-what rad waste, as they were supposedly fighting to "save" Los Alamos from the approaching fire. <p></p><i></i>
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video of interview

Postby lantern » Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:00 pm

I have seen the transcript of this interview here, I am not sure if you guys have already posted a link to the video of it. Here is the video version and apologies if this is a duplicate<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.zippyvideos.com/5608100891049646/broussardonmtp/">www.zippyvideos.com/56081...sardonmtp/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>what can we do to make sure that heads roll - there must be some initiative we can take to make sure that the usual spin/ WH propaganda cannot sweep this one under the carpet. I have already heard pieces on Cnn and elswhere trying to shift the blame onto local government, trying to portray the NO mayor as "emotionally out of control- unstable", tring to dodge the questions of journalists on federal responsibility by saying "these questions are inapporpriate now, we need to fous on saving lives", the new mantra replacing the 9/11 mantra -"do not question authority now, we need to be unitied and pull together as a nation, be patriotic - questioning authorites is non patriotic"... Enough with this BS. <br><br>What can we do to make sure that all of this info stays accurate and true and that those responsible are held accountable? There must be something we can do. Any ideas? <p></p><i></i>
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idea

Postby AnnaLivia » Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:15 pm

“There must be something we can do. Any ideas?”<br><br>yes.<br><br>Change the plans for the impeachment march on Washington dc. Announce to the public that everyone is to do nothing but show up wearing a piece of duct tape over their mouths, in order to create a SILENT statement against george w bush and lay this right at his feet where it belongs. No speeches, no signs, no chants, no puppets, no songs, even. Nothing but people with duct tape over their mouths, standing together in fierce and silent resolve in front of the white house.<br><br>Think how many more Americans would show up, especially now, if this is what were planned as opposed to the usual.<br><br>The reason Gandhi prevailed was because he showed the brits that he could mobilize millions of people.<br><br>That, and only that, is what they responded to.<br> <p></p><i></i>
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Starman, you are correct

Postby Fearless » Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:20 pm

I misunderstood what he said. He placed an armed guard at the communication lines, not FEMA. I had to listen on my laptop and it was difficult to hear for me.<br><br>Good news - neighbor left this morning for Baton Rouge with his 1978 motorhome to donate it. His wife was following behind in their car. I never, ever thought I'd see the day when that man did anything to help anyone.<br><br>Bad news - my husband's neice, her husband, 3 kids and 2 dogs left New Orleans on Saturday night and haven't been heard from since. We're losing hope fast. They intended to drive north until they found a hotel. <br><br> <p></p><i></i>
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Copy those important threads here for safekeeping.

Postby Watchful Citizen » Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:32 pm

Don't just link because Eloriel's post is gone. The actual text must be saved so we can tell what exactly is being HIDDEN by DU mods.<br><br>I'm realizing that Rigorous Intuition can examine DU to figure out what the hell happened to that site as long as we pool our information here. <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Fearless

Postby AnnaLivia » Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:43 pm

Will add your extended family to those we are consciously holding good thoughts for, and please let us know when they are re-united with you. <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Copy those important threads here for safekeeping.

Postby DrDebugDU » Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:48 pm

Watchful. Just look in the datadump. All the information has been copied with the exception of one story which was deleted prior. The data dump + this post will be a full overview of Katrina. As far as I am concerned it's not revenge or to proof what was left out. Everything has been copied in full from the original document (except for the chit-chat parts without info)<br><br>New addition:<br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><br>RBHam (1000+ posts) <br>Sun Sep-04-05 06:43 PM<br>Original message<br><br>50 ice trucks sitting in Hattiesberg! FEMA refuses to send!<br><br>CNN right now. Johnny DuPree from Hattiesberg telling truth right now!<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4629391">www.democraticunderground...04x4629391</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4630184">www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4630184</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>Gloria (1000+ posts) <br>Sun Sep-04-05 07:26 PM<br>Original message<br><br>Via Atrios: For the record, the AUGUST 27 declaration from the WH<br><br>declaring an emergency in LA....I had tracked down the mention to an 8/28 timeline on the BBC....where are our timeline threads....this should be included.......<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html">www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>For Immediate Release<br>Office of the Press Secretary<br>August 27, 2005<br><br>Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana<br><br>The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 26, 2005, and continuing.<br><br>The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn.<br><br>Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.<br><br>Representing FEMA, Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Department of Homeland Security, named William Lokey as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.<br><br>FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-4600.<br><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Eloriel's New Orleans MIHOP/LIHOP thread on DU

Postby OnoI812 » Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:53 pm

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Ben Burch himself started it, with a link to the original locked thead (locked by Mr. Magistrate - I'm shocked!). He also started a thead talking about being a mod on du and how the mods are so overworked. Now I can't find that one either.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br><br>You say the hill’s too steep to climb<br>Climbing.<br>You say you’d like to see me try<br>Climbing.<br>You pick the place and I’ll choose the time<br><br>And I’ll climb<br>The hill in my own way.<br>J<br>ust wait a while for the right day.<br>And as I rise above the tree-line and the clouds<br>I look down, hearing the sound of the things you’ve said today.<br><br>Fearlessly the idiot faced the crowd<br>Smiling.<br>Merciless <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>the magistrate</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> turns ’round<br>Frowning.<br>And who’s the fool who wears the crown? <br>No doubt,<br>In your own way<br><br>And every day is the right day<br>And as you rise above the fear-lines in his brow<br>You look down, hear the sound of the faces in the crowd.<br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>
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