Martial law in New Orleans

by **antiaristo** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 6:35 pm

Sunday September 4, 04:14 PM Australia expresses frustration at lack of access to New Orleans SYDNEY (AFP) - The Australian government criticised a US ban on consular officials entering hurricane-stricken New Orleans Sunday, after being embarrassed when media crews rescued its stranded citizens while diplomats awaited access to the disaster zone. Officials in Canberra said 31 Australians had been evacuated from New Orleans in the past two days and another 40 were still believed to be trapped in the city. Some rescued Australians who were transported out of New Orleans by Australian news crews have criticised their government for doing nothing to help them, but Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Bruce Billson said efforts were hampered by the US ban. "Yes we are frustrated by not being given authority to enter into New Orleans where we do see some media outlets entering though other avenues, we are concerned about that," Billson told ABC radio. "We've continued to press our case to the State Department and US authorities pointing out this seeming inconsistency. "The explanation we are being given is that the media authorities are sneaking in under certain other avenues or access points." <a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/050904/19/vsbx.html">au.news.yahoo.com/050904/19/vsbx.html</a> The fallout from this will be massive. The whole world has watched this debacle. What's going to happen when foreign countries learn that 10, 20, 30 of their citizens have pershed? Were they not murdered by the wilful neglect of a President who preferred to play golf?

by **DrDebugDU** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 6:38 pm

Death toll will climb past 15,000 as conditions worsen <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4628549">www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4628549</a> <blockquote>Quote:<hr> cynatnite (1000+ posts) Sun Sep-04-05 05:53 PM Original message Death toll will climb past 15,000 as conditions worsen Am I the only one that thinks it will hit over 50,000 dead? ******* Leavitt said he had received a report of an outbreak of dysentery in Biloxi, Miss., with disease among the concerns of federal officials in the hurricane's aftermath. Dysentery is a painful intestinal disease that can cause dehydration and can sometimes be fatal. The lack of clean drinking water in parts of the Gulf Coast region and standing flood waters with decomposing bodies and human waste in the streets of New Orleans could cause a rash of infectious diseases, including West Nile virus and the often fatal E. coli bacteria. "All of the infectious diseases that occur when people are in large congregations of people can spread," Leavitt said. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050904/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/katrina_washington_20 <hr></blockquote> kid that saved a bus load of people is now in jail for stealing bus <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4628124&mesg_id=4628124">www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4628124&mesg_id=4628124</a> <blockquote>Quote:<hr> donsu (1000+ posts) Sun Sep-04-05 05:29 PM Original message kid that saved a bus load of people is now in jail for stealing bus <a href="http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2005/09/jailed-for-saving-lives.html">stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2005/09/jailed-for-saving-lives.html</a> n Massachusetts We'd Call This Yankee Ingenuity A friend on a lawyer listserve sent me this story. This kid is definitely getting a pro bono lawyer. He found an abandoned bus in New Orleans, packed it with survivors, and drove it to the Astrodome. The reaction of the officials? They're going to charge him with theft. Unbelievable. This kid is a hero. They should give him a medal. He evacuated 100 people faster than FEMA. The link is to the video from the television story, followed by the transcript. Taking refuge in the AstrodomeThursday, September 01, 2005 Updated: 07:55 PM HOUSTON -- NEWSCHANNEL 5 crews were in Houston as some desperate refugees arrive in a stolen bus. HOUSTON -- Thousands of refugees of Hurricane Katrina were transported to the Astrodome in Houston this week. In an extreme act of looting, one group actually stole a bus to escape ravaged areas in Louisiana. About 100 people packed into the stolen bus. They were the first to enter the Houston Astrodome, but they weren't exactly welcomed. The big yellow school bus wasn't expected or approved to pass through the stadium's gates. Randy Nathan, who was on the bus, said they were desperate to get out of town. "If it werent for him right there," he said, "we'd still be in New Orleans underwater. He got the bus for us." Eighteen-year-old Jabbor Gibson jumped aboard the bus as it sat abandoned on a street in New Orleans and took control. "I just took the bus and drove all the way here...seven hours straight,' Gibson admitted. "I hadn't ever drove a bus." The teen packed it full of complete strangers and drove to Houston. He beat thousands of evacuees slated to arrive there. "It's better than being in New Orleans," said fellow passenger Albert McClaud, "we want to be somewhere where we're safe." During a long and impatient delay, children popped their heads out of bus windows and mothers clutched their babies. One 8-day-old infant spent the first days of his life surrounded by chaos. He's one of the many who are homeless and hungry. Authorities eventually allowed the renegade passengers inside the dome. But the 18-year-old who ensured their safety could find himself in a world of trouble for stealing the school bus. "I dont care if I get blamed for it ," Gibson said, "as long as I saved my people." Sixty legally chartered buses were expected to arrive in Houston throughout the night. Thousands of people will be calling the Astrodome "home," at least for now. <hr></blockquote> Police have killed at least a dozen in New Orleans today <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4627752&mesg_id=4627752">www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4627752&mesg_id=4627752</a> <blockquote>Quote:<hr> blitzen (566 posts) Sun Sep-04-05 05:06 PM Original message Police have killed at least a dozen in New Orleans today according to guest (a city attorney for New Orleans) speaking now on WBRZ TV in Baton Rouge anchor man (John Pastorek) says, "These are extreme times, I guess they call for extreme measures." <hr></blockquote> Red Tape Keeps 100s of Doctors From Caring for Katrina Victims <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4631277">www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4631277</a> <blockquote>Quote:<hr> RBHam (1000+ posts) Sun Sep-04-05 08:20 PM Original message Hurricane Katrina: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans? http://www.redcross.org/faq/0,1096,0_682_4524,00.html Acess to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders. The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city. The Red Cross has been meeting the needs of thousands of New Orleans residents in some 90 shelters throughout the state of Louisiana and elsewhere since before landfall. All told, the Red Cross is today operating 149 shelters for almost 93,000 residents. The Red Cross shares the nation’s anguish over the worsening situation inside the city. We will continue to work under the direction of the military, state and local authorities and to focus all our efforts on our lifesaving mission of feeding and sheltering. The Red Cross does not conduct search and rescue operations. We are an organization of civilian volunteers and cannot get relief aid into any location until the local authorities say it is safe and provide us with security and access. The original plan was to evacuate all the residents of New Orleans to safe places outside the city. With the hurricane bearing down, the city government decided to open a shelter of last resort in the Superdome downtown. We applaud this decision and believe it saved a significant number of lives. As the remaining people are evacuated from New Orleans, the most appropriate role for the Red Cross is to provide a safe place for people to stay and to see that their emergency needs are met. We are fully staffed and equipped to handle these individuals once they are evacuated. <hr></blockquote> Natl Guard Crimes in Super Dome and NO - Rapes, Murder <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4631274">www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4631274</a> <blockquote>Quote:<hr> TOOLZ (255 posts) Sun Sep-04-05 08:24 PM Original message Natl Guard Crimes in Super Dome and NO - Rapes, Murder In New Orleans story headlined "Rapes, killings hit Katrina refugees in New Orleans," please read in second paragraph ...but then penned in the storm victims outside... instead of ...but them penned them in outside... (Clarifying sentence) A corrected repeat follows. By Mark Egan NEW ORLEANS, Sept 3 (Reuters) - People left homeless by Hurricane Katrina told horrific stories of rape, murder and trigger-happy guards in two New Orleans centers that were set up as shelters but became places of violence and terror. Police and National Guard troops on Saturday closed down the two centers -- the Superdome arena and the city's convention center -- but then penned in the storm victims outside in sweltering heat to keep them from trying to walk out of the city. Military helicopters and buses staged a massive evacuation to take away thousands of people who waited in orderly lines in stifling heat outside the flooded convention center. The refugees, who were waiting to be taken to sports stadiums and other huge shelters across Texas and northern Louisiana, described how the convention center and the Superdome became lawless hellholes beset by rape and murder. Several residents of the impromptu shantytown recounted two horrific incidents where those charged with keeping people safe had killed them instead. In one, a young man was run down and then shot by a New Orleans police officer, in another a man seeking help was gunned down by a National Guard soldier, witnesses said. Police here refused to discuss or confirm either incident. National Guard spokesman Lt. Col Pete Schneider said "I have not heard any information of a weapon being discharged." "They killed a man here last night," Steve Banka, 28, told Reuters. "A young lady was being raped and stabbed. And the sounds of her screaming got to this man and so he ran out into the street to get help from troops, to try to flag down a passing truck of them, and he jumped up on the truck's windscreen and they shot him dead." Wade Batiste, 48, recounted another tale of horror. "Last night at 8 p.m. they shot a kid of just 16. He was just crossing the street. They ran him over, the New Orleans police did, and then they got out of the car and shot him in the head," Batiste said. The young man's body lay in the street by the Convention Center's entrance on Saturday morning, covered in a black blanket, a stream of congealed blood staining the street around him. Nearby his family sat in shock. A member of that family, Africa Brumfield, 32, confirmed the incident but declined to be quoted about it, saying her family did not wish to discuss it. But she spoke of general conditions here. "There is rapes going on here. Women cannot go to the bathroom without men. They are raping them and slitting their throats. They keep telling us the buses are coming but they never leave," she said through tears. People here said there were now 22 bodies of adults and children stored inside the building, but troops guarding the building refused to confirm that and threatened to beat reporters seeking access to the makeshift morgue. People trying to walk out are forced back at gunpoint - something troops said was for their own safety. "It's sad, but how far do you think they would get," one soldier said. "They have us living here like animals," said Wvonnette Grace-Jordan, here with five children, the youngest only six weeks old. "We have only had two meals, we have no medicine and now there are thousands of people defecating in the streets. This is wrong. This is the United States of America." One National Guard soldier who asked not to be named for fear of punishment from his commanding officer said of the lack of medical attention at the center, "They (the Bush administration) care more about Iraq and Afghanistan than here." The Louisiana National Guard soldier said, "We are doing the best we can with the resources we have, but almost all of our guys are in Iraq." Across town at the Superdome, where as many as 38,000 refugees camped out until Wednesday night when evacuation buses first came, the 4,000 still there were corralled outside, hoping to get on four waiting buses with seats for only 200. The scene at the sports stadium was one of abject filth. Crammed into a small area after the building was shut to them last night, those remaining sat amid heaps of garbage, piled in places waist high. The stench of human waste pervaded the interior of the now vacant stadium. One police officer told Reuters there were 100 people in a makeshift morgue at the Superdome, mostly people who died of heat exhaustion, and that six babies had been born there since last Saturday, when people arrived to take shelter. At the arena, too, there was much talk of bedlam after dark. "We found a young girl raped and killed in the bathroom," one National Guard soldier told Reuters. "Then the crowd got the man and they beat him to death." http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N03464940.htm <hr></blockquote>

by **Qutb** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 6:44 pm

NEW ORLEANS - Police shot eight people carrying guns on a New Orleans bridge Sunday, killing five or six of them, a deputy chief said. ADVERTISEMENT Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said the shootings took place on the Danziger Bridge, which spans a canal connecting Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River. He said he had no other details. Qutb means "axis," "pole," "the center," which contains the periphery or is present in it. The qutb is a spiritual being, or function, which can reside in a human being or several human beings or a moment. It is the elusive mystery of how the divine gets delegated into the manifest world and obviously cannot be defined.

by **Qutb** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:04 pm

Law enforcement have absolutely lost their minds. Some guy wearing khaki fatigues and black vests which say Police on them have their faces covered in black ski masks and are touting M4-A1s with front hand grips -- like they're some kind of Delta Force operators waiting to hit the tire house. They're guarding the four corners around the Bell South building for crying out loud. And what, they need secret identities? Come on. You can just tell some of these guys have never gotten out before. Now's their big chance to play Army. The police presence is growing and it consists of non-stop driving around the CBD. Dozens and dozens of cars just driving up one street and down the other. We're safe from civil unrest now, that much is certain. <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/">www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/</a> Qutb means "axis," "pole," "the center," which contains the periphery or is present in it. The qutb is a spiritual being, or function, which can reside in a human being or several human beings or a moment. It is the elusive mystery of how the divine gets delegated into the manifest world and obviously cannot be defined.

by **Qutb** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:09 pm

...and the 8 shot on the bridge were "contractors"? WTF? <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4632546">www.democraticunderground...04x4632546</a> On edit: apparently Army Corps of Engineers. Looting?? "Mistaken identity"? What IS this? Qutb means "axis," "pole," "the center," which contains the periphery or is present in it. The qutb is a spiritual being, or function, which can reside in a human being or several human beings or a moment. It is the elusive mystery of how the divine gets delegated into the manifest world and obviously cannot be defined. Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=qutb>Qutb</A> at: 9/4/05 5:11 pm

by **DrDebugDU** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:10 pm

eleny (1000+ posts) Sun Sep-04-05 10:09 PM Response to Original message 4. Six of the Army Corp of Engineers - Cooper reporting on CNN What the hell is going on?? <blockquote>Quote:<hr> Police Kill Five Contractors on La. Bridge NEW ORLEANS - Police shot eight people carrying guns on a New Orleans bridge Sunday, killing five or six, a deputy chief said. A spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers said the victims were contractors on their way to repair a canal. The contractors were walking across a bridge on their way to launch barges into Lake Pontchartrain to fix the 17th Street Canal, said John Hall, a spokesman for the Corps. Earlier Sunday, New Orleans Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said police shot at eight people, killing five or six. The shootings took place on the Danziger Bridge, which spans a canal connecting Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River. No other details were immediately available. <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050904/ap_on_re_us/katrina_shootings_hk1">news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050904/ap_on_re_us/katrina_shootings_hk1</a> <hr></blockquote> Update: Shot at, but not killed New update: Police SAVED the contractors according to CNN Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=drdebugdu>DrDebugDU</A> at: 9/4/05 5:33 pm

by **DrDebugDU** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:19 pm

cal04 (1000+ posts) Sun Sep-04-05 10:17 PM Original message FEMA knew storm's potential, Mayfield says FEMA knew storm's potential, Mayfield says Sunday, 4:44 p.m. By Mark Schleifstein Staff writer Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, said Sunday that officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA Director Mike Brown and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, listened in on electronic briefings given by his staff in advance of Hurricane Katrina slamming Louisiana and Mississippi and were advised of the storm’s potential deadly effects. Mayfield said the strength of the storm and the potential disaster it could bring were made clear during both the briefings and in formal advisories, which warned of a storm surge capable of overtopping levees in New Orleans and winds strong enough to blow out windows of high-rise buildings. He said the briefings included information on expected wind speed, storm surge, rainfall and the potential for tornados to accompany the storm as it came ashore. “We were briefing them way before landfall,” Mayfield said. “It’s not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped. “I keep looking back to see if there was anything else we could have done, and I just don’t know what it would be,” he said. Chertoff told reporters Saturday that government officials had not expected the damaging combination of a powerful hurricane levee breaches that flooded New Orleans. Brown, Mayfield said, is a dedicated public servant. “The question is why he couldn’t shake loose the resources that were needed,’’ he said. Brown and Chertoff could not be reached for comment on Sunday afternoon. In the days before Katrina hit, Mayfield said, his staff also briefed FEMA, which under the Department of Homeland Security, at FEMA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., its Region 6 office in Dallas and the Region 4 office in Atlanta about the potential effects of the storm. He said all of those briefings were logged in the hurricane center’s records. And Mayfield said his staff also participated in the five-day “Hurricane Pam” exercise sponsored by FEMA and the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in July 2004 that assumed a similar storm would hit the city. FEMA’s own July 23, 2004, news release announcing the end of that exercise summed up the assumptions they used, which were eerily close to what Katrina delivered: “Hurricane Pam brought sustained winds of 120 mph, up to 20 inches of rain in parts of southeast Louisiana and storm surge that topped levees in the New Orleans area. More than one million residents evacuated and Hurricane Pam destroyed 500,000-600,000 buildings. Emergency officials from 50 parish, state, federal and volunteer organizations faced this scenario during a five-day exercise held this week at the State Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rouge. “The exercise used realistic weather and damage information developed by the National Weather Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the LSU Hurricane Center and other state and federal agencies to help officials develop joint response plans for a catastrophic hurricane in Louisiana.” That plan assumed such a hurricane would result in the opening of 1,000 evacuee shelters that would have to be staffed for 100 days, and a search and rescue operation using 800 people. The storm would create 30 million tons of debris, including 237,000 cubic yards of household hazardous waste. Mayfield said his concern now is that another named storm could hit either New Orleans or the Mississippi Gulf coast, as September is the most active month of the annual hurricane season. “This is like the fourth inning in a nine-inning ballgame,” he said. “We know that another one would cause extreme stress on the people who have been hurt by Katrina.” <a href="http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_09.html#076926">www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_09.html#076926</a>

by **seemslikeadream** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:49 pm

Sorry I wasn't keeping up with this thread I will ask Jeff to delete mine.

by **Qutb** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:52 pm

Yes the New & Improved story has the police saving the Army Engineers by killing people who shot at them. Sounds like bullshit to me. In any case the question is pertinent: what is going down in the streets of New Orleans now? Qutb means "axis," "pole," "the center," which contains the periphery or is present in it. The qutb is a spiritual being, or function, which can reside in a human being or several human beings or a moment. It is the elusive mystery of how the divine gets delegated into the manifest world and obviously cannot be defined.

by **proldic** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 8:18 pm

Associated Press September 4, 2005, 5:45 PM EDT French Quarter Holdouts Create 'Tribes' By ALLEN G. BREED ...In the absence of information and outside assistance, groups of rich and poor banded together in the French Quarter, forming "tribes" and dividing up the labor. As some went down to the river to do the wash, others remained behind to protect property. In a bar, a bartender put near-perfect stitches into the torn ear of a robbery victim. While mold and contagion grew in the muck that engulfed most of the city, something else sprouted in this most decadent of American neighborhoods -- humanity. "Some people became animals," Vasilioas Tryphonas said Sunday morning as he sipped a hot beer in Johnny White's Sports Bar on Bourbon Street. "We became more civilized." ... While hundreds of thousands fled the below-sea-level city before the storm, many refused to leave the Vieux Carre, or old quarter. Built on some of the highest ground around and equipped with underground power lines, residents considered it about the safest place to be. Katrina blew off roof slates and knocked down some already-unstable buildings but otherwise left the 18th and 19th century homes with their trademark iron balconies intact. Even without water and power, most preferred it to the squalor and death in the emergency shelters set up at the Superdome and Convention Center. But what had at first been a refuge soon became an ornate prison. Police came through commandeering drivable vehicles and siphoning gas. Officials took over a hotel and ejected the guests. An officer pumped his shotgun at a group trying to return to their hotel on Chartres Street. "This is our block," he said, pointing the gun down a side street. "Go that way." Jack Jones, a retired oil rig worker, bought a huge generator and stocked up on gasoline. But after hearing automatic gunfire on the next block one night, he became too afraid to use it -- for fear of drawing attention. Still, he continues to boil his clothes in vinegar and dip water out of neighbors' pools for toilet flushing and bathing. "They may have to shoot me to get me out of here," he said. "I'm much better off here than anyplace they might take me." Many in outlying areas consider the Quarter a playground for the rich and complain that the place gets special attention. Yes, wealthy people feasted on steak and quaffed warm champagne in the days after the storm. But many who stayed behind were the working poor -- residents of the cramped spaces above the restaurants and shops. Tired of waiting for trucks to come with food and water, residents turned to each other. Johnny White's is famous for never closing, even during a hurricane. The doors don't even have locks. Since the storm, it has become more than a bar. Along with the warm beer and shots, the bartenders passed out scrounged military Meals Ready to Eat and bottled water to the people who drive the mule carts, bus the tables and hawk the T-shirts that keep the Quarter's economy humming. "It's our community center," said Marcie Ramsey, 33, whom Katrina promoted from graveyard shift bartender to acting manager. For some, the bar has also become a hospital. Tryphonas, who restores buildings in the Quarter, left the neighborhood briefly Saturday. Someone hit in the head with a 2-by-4 and stole his last $5. When Tryphonas showed up at Johnny White's with his left ear split in two, Joseph Bellomy -- a customer pressed into service as a bartender -- put a wooden spoon between Tryphonas' teeth and used a needle and thread to sew it up. Military medics who later looked at Bellomy's handiwork decided to simply bandage the ear. "That's my savior," Tryphonas said, raising his beer in salute to the former Air Force medical assistant. A few blocks away, a dozen people in three houses got together and divided the labor. One group went to the Mississippi River to haul water, one cooked, one washed the dishes. "We're the tribe of 12," 76-year-old Carolyn Krack said as she sat on the sidewalk with a cup of coffee, a packet of cigarettes and a box of pralines. The tribe, whose members included a doctor, a merchant and a store clerk, improvised survival tactics. Krack, for example, brushed her dentures with antibacterial dish soap. It had been a tribe of 13, but a member died Wednesday of a drug overdose. After some negotiating, the police carried the body out on the trunk of a car. The neighbors knew the man only as Jersey. Tribe member Dave Rabalais, a clothing store owner, said he thinks the authorities could restore utilities to the Quarter. But he knows that would only bring "resentment and the riffraff." "The French Quarter is the blood line of New Orleans," he said. "They can't let anything happen to this." On Sunday, the tribe of 12 became a tribe of eight. Four white tour buses rolled into the Quarter under Humvee escort. National Guardsmen told residents they had one hour to gather their belongings and get a ride out. Four of the tribe members decided to leave. "Hallelujah!" Teresa Lawson shouted as she dragged her suitcase down the road. "Thank you, Jesus!" For Mark Rowland, the leaving was bittersweet. "I'm heart-broken to leave the city that I love," Rowland said as he sat in the air-conditioned splendor of the bus. "It didn't have to be this way." <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-katrina-surviving-in-the-quarter-hk1,0,7033081.story?page=2&coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines">www.newsday.com/news/nati...-headlines</a>

by **seemslikeadream** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 8:49 pm

from DU Swamp Rat <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4632852">www.democraticunderground...04x4632852</a>

by **Qutb** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 9:06 pm

"We are not talking hypothetical, there actually was an exercise in July 2004 that involved Homeland Security and FEMA, which tested the very scenario of a hurricane hitting New Orleans and causing a breach in the levees." Sounds familiar? <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4633807">www.democraticunderground...04x4633807</a> More: July 2004 FEMA New Orleans exercise Happened <a href="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N02521178.htm">www.alertnet.org/thenews/...521178.htm</a> In July 2004, more than 40 federal, state, local and volunteer organizations practiced this very scenario in a five-day simulation code-named "Hurricane Pam", where they had to deal with an imaginary storm that destroyed over half a million buildings in New Orleans and forced the evacuation of a million residents. At the end of the exercise Ron Castleman, regional director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency declared: "We made great progress this week in our preparedness efforts. "Disaster response teams developed action plans in critical areas such as search and rescue, medical care, sheltering, temporary housing, school restoration and debris management. These plans are essential for quick response to a hurricane but will also help in other emergencies," he said. In light of that, said disaster expert Bill Waugh of Georgia State University, "It's inexplicable how unprepared for the flooding they were." He said a slow decline over several years in funding for emergency management was partly to blame. In comments on Thursday, President George W. Bush said, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." Qutb means "axis," "pole," "the center," which contains the periphery or is present in it. The qutb is a spiritual being, or function, which can reside in a human being or several human beings or a moment. It is the elusive mystery of how the divine gets delegated into the manifest world and obviously cannot be defined. Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=qutb>Qutb</A> at: 9/4/05 7:07 pm

by **chiggerbit** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 9:12 pm

<a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com/">www.crooksandliars.com/</a>

by **Starman** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 9:20 pm

DrDeBugDU: I think 50,000 dead for greater New Orleans might even be low -- But given the Feds' abject selfish interest in minimizing and covering-up the true scale of enormous devastation, suffering and loss-of-life I expect the 'official' death-toll will be grossly under-reported, with a minimal effort for show -- following the script of numerous failures of leadership under Bush that clamors for praise but refuses all accountability for poor decision-making and performance, as in the abundant evidence for the Pentagon's lowballing Iraq war fatalities and casualties, hiding true figures through opportunistic manipulation of reporting rules (soldiers who die of injuries once they are airborne are not listed as KIA, foreign green-card troops are typically just not counted, battle-casualties are counted as 'accident injuries', longterm injuries are discounted, etc.) The arrest of the Astrodome's first busload of rescued NO survivors is, unfortunately, so heartbreakingly tragic but typical of a thoroughly foul, incorrigible and recklessly irresponsible Federal Regime under the failed 'leadership' of the Bush Crime cartel -- They have perfected techniques of red-herring distraction and PR deflection and self-serving disinfo-spin. When I first heard this remarkable story, I couldn't help but recognize and celebrate this young man's spirit of self-empowerment and community action, making use of common-sense and taking the strategic initiative which is notable for all of governmental officialdom by its almost total lack -- It sure gets me, the enormous disconnect and profound tragicomic irony evident in the oversimplistic us-them dichotomy in which the state's foreign-and-domestic policy force-projection arm, the Armed Forces military, in general, is being lavishly praised, revered and celebrated by the MSM newsmedia (with their fawning, sensationalistic porn-reporting) for 'saving' the city from a catastrophe -- the same disaster which was materially aggravated by the government's own destructive and negligent policies and its horribly bungled incompetance, and from incidents of gangland crime-violence which is DIRECTLY caused by a predatory economic system. The institutionalization of class and rascist injustice through exploitive policies victimizes and stratifies society while spreading multi-general frustration of unmet, diverted and repressed expectations. The result is, as expected, a Police State mentality that seizes on the symptoms of disproportionate economic inequality and injustice to justify itself -- with the image now of many tens of thousands of military forces in the streets of New Orleans carrying their assault rifles in a show of force, standing guard over a dead-city in a state of seige, sacrificed for the sake of a headstrong and irresponsible plutocracy, killed by a dysfunctional corporate-robber-baron Government's malpractice, insurance fraud, pilfering and murder. With SO much cleanup and unmet needs still pervasive in the Gulf Region and NO and environs, the military are carrying their rifles instead of wielding shovels and brooms and chainsaws, being put in service to more immediately pragmatic, practical urgent tasks -- such as providing security for the continuing search-and-rescue missions, or accompanying bus evacuations. As far as the boat missions -- another incredible FEMA FUBAR -- Fish and Wildlife officials with boats were requested and arrived Friday, despite some 500 private boat volunteers, anxious to help, having been prohibited by FEMA officials from assisting since Tuesday (or earlier? A timeline on when FEMA started declining/refusing/prohibiting offers of assistance might be handy to show when FEMA actually started taking and exercizing control.) But another thing, equally as serious -- and considering the implications, a MAJOR criminal misfeasance -- FEMA not only hasn't made preparations to provide helicopter fire-fighting capability with refillable water-bags to take advantage of the abundant river, canal and flood water resources, or to make available amphibious/deep-water truck-tanker equipment with self-contained pump capability, but FEMA has stalled on accepting the US Forest Services' offer of C-130 water-tankers -- as a dozen or more fires have been raging out-of-control throughout the flooded city, threatening to spread and cause massive, additional damage and possibly leading to loss of life, confounding ongoing rescue efforts. Such incredible irresponsibility is inexplicable -- demanding severe accountability. But also -- I can't understand why NO own fire-trucks aren't being used to fight some of these fires? Surely they havbe their own self-contained engine-driven water pumps? Even if there aren't navigable streets (which the Pentagon's Sat Map Recon service has been providing detailed flood- street-maps for, to assist rescuers), surely they could be loaded on the military's highwater 10-wheel-drive trucks, or smaller trucks airlifted via heavy-lift construction helicopters (which I STILL haven't seen onsite!!!!! A-fucking-mazing again and again and again!) from: <a href="http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/">www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/</a> -- Sept. 3 Landrieu slams FEMA 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 fires. . . . Landrieu said that FEMA has inexplicably failed to take advantage of offers of help. "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. *** and: 500 private boats with citizen volunteers held-up outside New Orleans City limits on the only access route, I-10, by FEMA's criminal misfeasance and up to three competing, non-coordinated law-enforcement agencies, and many dozens of similiar boondoggle snafus caused by stupid decision-making by grossly incompetant bureaucrats following the lead of Master Incompetant Bush Political-appointee Mike Brown. Simply criminal. Re: Bus-Hero Lauded as reflecting the best spirit of American initiative and selfless duty to help others -- Comments via Daily Kos: <a href="http://cindysheehan.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/1/142049/1430">cindysheehan.dailykos.com...42049/1430</a> The Face of a Hero -- Group pools resources, young man volunteers to drive bus of refugees, recommended by police to 'save some people'. A man like I would hope to be, like I'd hope my son to be. I posted this in another thread but few saw it, and all should see it, it's a bit of hope. <<a href="http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory2/3334317>">www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssis...2/3334317></a> Note "commandeered." Does this one get a pass because of that one particular female passenger? Step outside of two-dimensional politics. by NewDirection I agree; I was ranting a little bit this morning, and started talking about the guy that stole the bus, and referred to him as a hero then. Just saw video of some guys outside the convention center who had obviously looted a box of peaches, and they were handing them out to everyone. They're heroes too, as far as I'm concerned. Bush/Cheney - in your guts, you know they're nuts. by Lufah Just on MSNBC,,,,, They are out of busses to relocate the folks at the convention center. No food, no water, and they are issuing a "desperate SOS". Sounds like the relocation is being called off. My God, what the hell is wrong with these people in charge? They are allowing the "refugees" to march. March! When did we become Bangladesh? I can't even cry anymore. "But your flag decal won't get you into heaven anymore"--Prine Pay attention Georgie - 1880+ dead Americans, 100,000+ dead Iraqis, all on your head. WWJS? by Miss Blue I'd like to suggest some more heroes commandeer some buses and carry those folks straight up to Washington. Convene an army of refugees in advance of an army of war protesters. At some point, there would be too many people to ignore. You know, you watch the recent events in the Ukraine, for instance, and wonder where our giant orange flags are. This September all of America should march on Washington. The Thorn Papers...this blog kills fascists... <<a href="http://mitchcohen.blogspot.com>">mitchcohen.blogspot.com></a> by mitch2k2 And I suggest that the buses go straight to Crawford. Camp Casey is still warm & bush has 1600 acres that he's not using right now. after watching dick-head on tv i'm so pissed i can hardly see straight. he cares more about the flow of oil than human life. bastard. society is like soup. if you don't stir it up, all the scum rises to the top. by elkhunter aoeu -- Read the story, the police told him to take the bus, yet the headline is that the refugees commandeered it. Jabbar Gibson, 20, said police in New Orleans told him and others to take the school bus and try to get out of the flooded city. Read and recommend: this <<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/29/231313/246>">www.dailykos.com/story/20...31313/246></a> by TealVeal MSNBC Video Horrific -- Its getting worse by the minute. Dead bodies are laying around, no sanitation, no water, no food, just throwing blankets over dead bodies outside. ---- <<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/>">www.msnbc.msn.com/></a> "This is a national disgrace," said Terry Ebbert, head of New Orleans' emergency operations. "FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control," Ebbert said. "We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans." "We have got a mayor who has been pushing and asking but we're not getting supplies," he said. He said the evacuation was almost entirely a Louisiana operation. "This is not a FEMA operation. I haven't seen a single FEMA guy." --- MY GOD. onnyturf.com <<a href="http://onnyturf.com>">onnyturf.com></a> - Collective Political and Community Journalism by NYers for NYers by atomicBirdsong Damn Straight He's a Hero -- And if he were a middle-class white man or woman, his face would be splashed on every available news outlet that continues to print or broadcast. Bless that young man. by lost Where are the rest??? That guy is a damn hero. So where are the rest? If the government cannot get the people out of there, then the people have to do it. Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? by johnny rotten The police and Guard... ought to be smashing open stores themselves and distributing the contents in an orderly fashion. As the proverb says, needs must when the devil drives. The owners will write it all off to insurance anyway. God, this is so Third World. But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas. by sagesource that made me cry </comments/2005/9/1/142049/1430/128?mode=alone;showrate=1>) in a GOOD way. Finally! by d to the f 'These individuals will not take control of New Orleans' -- LA Attorney General -- Well DUH! What do you expect when officials abrogate their responsibility to maintain order???? Whathefu??? Restore ORDER??? YOU NEED TO EVACUATE -- The looting is basically done-with -- there's nothing LEFT to loot!!! I just can't understand this endless 'we are doing everything possible to rescue them' while the obvious fact is -- they AREN'T!!! 'I assure you, our priority is to preserve the safety of those in NO.' -- Police official. LIE -- LIE -- LIE. You've got to see this video from Booman Tribune, via Crooks & Liars <<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/1/134421/3748>">www.dailykos.com/story/20...4421/3748></a> Tom Kertes <<a href="http://tomkertes.com>">tomkertes.com></a> MoralMeaning.com <<a href="http://moralmeaning.com>">moralmeaning.com></a> disclosure <<a href="http://tomkertes.com/1.html>">tomkertes.com/1.html></a> by Tom Kertes And... wwltv.com just took on FEMA. One anchor said her husband is a policeman at the SuperDome and he said that FEMA bugged out. They talked about how the FEMA heads for parishes haven't been seen and the Parish Presidents are pretty pissed off because they haven't seen a FEMA person at all. Short bit but very telling. GWB: best argument I know of to refute "Intelligent Design" by Pandora <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eyes.gif ALT=":rolleyes"> Note: Update: NBC News confirms: Coast Guard Siper Puma Rescue Helicopter just crashed, both pilots escaped with minimal injury. No further details. These GD 'news' reporters keep hyping the 'fear' and violence card -- Yet everyone they ask about concerns minimizes the alarm factor -- It really gets under my skin, these irresponsible reporters are evidently playing to the dramatic audience infotainment and inadvertantly enflaming anxiety, spreading unsubstantiated rumours for purely specious reasons -- such as, the 'sniper shooting rescue helicopters' meme is likely entirely bogus -- as the FAA is reported as saying there were NO reports of air-incident shootings. Every French Quarter corner is now occupied by groups of military troops -- I DETEST the shameless ass-kissing glorification of the army by this unthinking, superficial idiot (don't know his name), while his female in-the-field counterpart is MUCH savyier, trying to fill him in on the reason WHY tens of thousands of angry, suffering, confused, uninformed, hungry and thirsty crowds have led to anxious tensions, he's SUCH a clueless dolt -- Christ, what a turd -- He's trying to play up the drama with voice-inflection and loaded-questions, what a sad excuse for a journalist. MSNBC. LSU researchers' computer models predict 10,000 dead in NO -- Which I think is lowball. At least they're also showing Parish President Broussard's claims that the bureaucracy's ineptness has caused murder -- while Gen. Honare is making absurd claims to excuse the FUBAR with such statements as, "You can't preposition troops in the eye of a hurricane", and Brown and Chertoff and now Rumsfeld are trying to promote the 'we couldn't ever imagine' and 'we're doing everything we could' and 'the storm and the lecee breaking are two different incidents', etc. But the turning-away help is inexcusable. Plenty of mistakes to go around alright. Starman

by **seemslikeadream** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 9:46 pm

<a href="http://p216.ezboard.com/frigorousintuitionfrm10.showMessage?topicID=668.topic">p216.ezboard.com/frigorou...=668.topic</a>

Martial law in New Orleans

Re: Martial law in New Orleans

Re: Death toll will climb past 15,000 as conditions worsen

POLICE SHOOT 8 ON BRIDGE

"Law enforcement have lost their minds"

Re: "Law enforcement have lost their minds"

Re: "Law enforcement have lost their minds"

FEMA knew storm's potential, Mayfield says

Re: "Law enforcement have lost their minds"

Re: "Law enforcement have lost their minds"

Wealthy Form "tribes"

Re:FEMA cutting phone lines in Jefferson Parish why?

Homeland Security Excercise

Re: Homeland Security Excercise

re: Bus-Driver Hero Busted for Courage, Resourcefulness

Re:LSU predicted 100,000 dead

Who is online