[scifinoir2] Re: Feds Prevent States From Sending Troops to New Orleans
Of course! This is the kind of thing that happens when you put FEMA in the defense department. For heavens sake! I even heard on the news that a couple of years ago President Bush wanted to privatize FEMA. This entire thing is so annoying. Considering they researched this scenario a couple of years ago and even then figured out that 25% of the people couldn't be evacuated. What's the use of researching worst case scenarios if they don't put their findings into place? -C --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Tracey de Morsella \(formerly Tracey L. Minor\) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5253757,00.html Congress Likely to Probe Guard Response President Bush was asked that question Friday as he toured the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast area and said he disagrees with criticism the military is stretched too thin. ``We've got a job to defend this country in the war on terror, and we've got a job to bring aid and comfort to the people of the Gulf Coast, and we'll do both,'' he said. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Life without art music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/FXrMlA/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[scifinoir2] Aid for African Americans hurricane Katrina victims
Hi Everyone, I have been both saddened and outraged by the images I have been seeing and the reports I have been hearing. Anyone who does not see that the African-American community has been largely discriminated against is just not paying attention. It may be a race issue, it may be a poverty issue, but the fact remains, it is affecting us in disproportionate numbers. My church is raising funds to assist in rescue, aid and recovery of the African-American community in the area. The regional conference of my denomination in the area has already done much, like opening a warehouse in Jackson, MS for AA refugees, providing rescue and transport to those who have made it out of the affected areas and opening homes of church member in the area to take in individual familes, and setting up resource and feeding facilities in the Gulf States and Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. My church, based in Riverside, is raising funds to send to the efforts. Any cash donations can be made out to Kansas Avenue Church - Hurricane Katrina. 100% of the funds are going the relief effort. If you prefer, you can donate the following items, as we will be sending our own truck to the area towels, toothpaste, nail files, washcloths, disposable razors, non-perishable food, shampoo, shaving cream, band aids, toothbrushes, soap, hair combs and brushes, new socks, new underwear, femine products. The truck is scheduled to leave next Sunday, so if you plan to send anything, please send it this week. Donated items can be delivered or shipped to the following location: Kansas Avenue Seventh Day Adventist Church 4491 Kansas Avenue, Riverside, CA 92507 (951) 682-9810 or You can contact the following conferences to find out their addresses: South Central Conference and Gulf States Conferences (seves Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama and Northeast Florida) - Temporary contacts: Derek Lane 601-362-3411 Ray Elsberry 334-462-2999 or web pages: http://www.gscsda.org http://www.scc-adventist.org There is not much about Hurrican Katrina on the SCC website, understandably. They are currently working on the rescue efforts. Sorry to take up your time, but I know many want to help, and it can be difficult to find resources geared to helping our people. Be talking to you all soon. Leslee [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Life without art music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/FXrMlA/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [scifinoir2] levee repairs faked
And you're surprised by this. Hell (forgive my language) but everything Bush does for the common people is for show. -GTW [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Life without art music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/FXrMlA/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Feds Prevent States From Sending Troops to New Orleans
In a message dated 9/4/05 4:52:12 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Of course! This is the kind of thing that happens when you put FEMA in the defense department. For heavens sake! I even heard on the news that a couple of years ago President Bush wanted to privatize FEMA. This entire thing is so annoying. Considering they researched this scenario a couple of years ago and even then figured out that 25% of the people couldn't be evacuated. What's the use of researching worst case scenarios if they don't put their findings into place? Another thing is Clintion (who I have problems with) actually improved FEMA enough that it was the type of organization that could have handled things like this. Now it's back to it's pre-Clintion self. Namely the worse organization in the US goverment. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Life without art music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/FXrMlA/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Feds Prevent States From Sending Troops to New Orleans
It is only going to get worse as the confirmation hearings for Roberts begin. And, of course, Bush and Co. will also be committing their full attention towards replacing Rehnquist and starting a war with Iran. And the current cycle of hurricanes (not just this season) will only get worse. __ James Landrith [EMAIL PROTECTED] cell: 703-593-2065 * fax: 760-875-8547 AIM: jlnales * ICQ: 148600159 MSN and Yahoo! Messenger: jlandrith Taking the Gloves Off - http://www.jameslandrith.com The Multiracial Activist - http://www.multiracial.com The Abolitionist Examiner - http://www.multiracial.com/abolitionist/ __ In a message dated 9/4/05 4:52:12 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Of course! This is the kind of thing that happens when you put FEMA in the defense department. For heavens sake! I even heard on the news that a couple of years ago President Bush wanted to privatize FEMA. This entire thing is so annoying. Considering they researched this scenario a couple of years ago and even then figured out that 25% of the people couldn't be evacuated. What's the use of researching worst case scenarios if they don't put their findings into place? Another thing is Clintion (who I have problems with) actually improved FEMA enough that it was the type of organization that could have handled things like this. Now it's back to it's pre-Clintion self. Namely the worse organization in the US goverment. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Life without art music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/FXrMlA/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[scifinoir2] Re: Feds Prevent States From Sending Troops to New Orleans
What gets me, though, is that in spite of all evidence to the contrary, all the government officials keep saying that the response is adequate because we have enough national guards. It's like being told not to believe what your mind is telling you is so clear. I mean...today they only have 60 or so helicopters out there taking people off roofs. Repeat: 60 or so helicopters Is it me or if there are people locked up in attics, amputees stuck in houses, nuns in retirement homes, people in hospices, pregnant women -- not to mention able-bodied people, ALL STARVING AND DEHYDRATING-- shouldn't we have way more helicopters and national guard folks out there knocking down doors and pulling up roofs? Yes, they're evacuating the dome and the shelters...but they don't have a lotta people out there searching for houses. But they say a big communal lie to our face and we're expected to say oh yes! The war hasn't destroyed our resources. I just hate bold-faced lies spoken to me as if I'm an idiot. -C --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It is only going to get worse as the confirmation hearings for Roberts begin. And, of course, Bush and Co. will also be committing their full attention towards replacing Rehnquist and starting a war with Iran. And the current cycle of hurricanes (not just this season) will only get worse. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Life without art music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/FXrMlA/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[scifinoir2] FW: Halliburton Gets Katrina Contract -HIRES FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR
-Original Message- From: Mel Cragwell, II [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2005 5:25 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: HALLIBURTON GETS KATRINA CONTRACT, HIRES FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR life is goodfor Halliburton... actually...they're a great example of how a company has so leveraged itself into the framework of all of the principal decision makers in US business sector and beyond. They've got 'brand name' recognition and no matter how politically connected they are, to the dismay of the 'little guy'.the truth is...Halliburton is on the short list...ALWAYS. +++ Halliburton Watch - 1 Sept. 2005 HALLIBURTON GETS KATRINA CONTRACT, HIRES FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- The US Navy asked Halliburton to repair naval facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina, the Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3335685 reported today. The work was assigned to Halliburton's KBR subsidiary under the Navy's $500 million CONCAP http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/news/CONCAP_extension.html tract awarded to KBR in 2001 and renewed in 2004. The repairs will take place in Louisiana and Mississippi. KBR has not been asked to repair the levees destroyed in New Orleans which became the primary cause of most of the damage. Since 1989, governments worldwide have awarded $3 billion http://www.halliburton.com/kbr/govServ/US/stateLocalRegional/ emergencyResponse.jsp contracts to KBR's Government and Infrastructure Division to clean up damage caused by natural and man-made disasters. Earlier this year, the Navy awarded $350 million in contracts to KBR and three other companies to repair naval facilities http://www.halliburton.com/default/main/halliburton/eng/news/ source_files/news.jsp?newsurl=/default/main/halliburton/eng/news/ source_files/press_release/2005/kbrnws_020105.html northwest Florida damaged by Hurricane Ivan, which struck in September 2004. The ongoing repair work involves aircraft support facilities, medium industrial buildings, marine construction, mechanical and electrical improvements, civil construction, and family housing renovation. In March, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is tasked with responding to hurricane disasters, became a lobbyist for KBR. Joe Allbaugh http://www.dcexaminer.com/articles/2005/03/22/news/d_c_news/ 02newsdc23kkr.txt director of FEMA during the first two years of the Bush administration. Today, FEMA is widely criticized for its slow response to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Allbaugh managed Bush's campaign for Texas governor in 1994, served as Gov. Bush's chief of staff and was the national campaign manager for the Bush campaign in 2000. Along with Karen Hughes and Karl Rove, Allbaugh was one of Bush's closest advisers. This is a perfect example of someone cashing in on a cozy political relationship, said Scott Amey, general counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington watchdog group. Allbaugh's former placement as a senior government official and his new lobbying position with KBR strengthens the company's already tight ties to the administration, and I hope that contractor accountability is not lost as a result. ### Source: http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/ HOW-TO-JOIN: Join Boston Blacks Online via the World Wide Web at http://www.blackpeople.com/bbo HOW-TO-LEAVE: To stop receiving mail from this list, send an email message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a BLANK subject line and the message leave bbo Please note that NOTHING else should be in the message and the message must be sent in plain text. If your mail is being sent in HTML, the automated list manager will not be able to process your request. If you are not removed, send a copy of whatever you sent to the list manager to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that you will NOT receive any kind of personal assistance until AFTER you have attempted to remove yourself via the automated list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] * BlackPeople.com is one of the Communiversal Electronic Communities -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.10.18/89 - Release Date: 9/2/2005 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.10.18/89 - Release Date: 9/2/2005 Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Life without art music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/FXrMlA/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[scifinoir2] White House Shifts Blame to State and Local Officials
the pass the buck bush team are at it again http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301 680_pf.html Many Evacuated, but Thousands Still Waiting White House Shifts Blame to State and Local Officials By Manuel Roig-Franzia and Spencer Hsu Washington Post Staff Writers Sunday, September 4, 2005; A01 NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 3 -- Tens of thousands of people spent a fifth day awaiting evacuation from this ruined city, as Bush administration officials blamed state and local authorities for what leaders at all levels have called a failure of the country's emergency management. President Bush authorized the dispatch of 7,200 active-duty ground troops to the area -- the first major commitment of regular ground forces in the crisis -- and the Pentagon announced that an additional 10,000 National Guard troops will be sent to Louisiana and Mississippi, raising the total Guard contingent to about 40,000. Authorities reported progress in restoring order and electricity and repairing levees, as a hospital ship arrived and cruise ships were sent to provide temporary housing for victims. As Louisiana officials expressed confidence that they had begun to get a handle on the crisis, a dozen National Guard troops broke into applause late Saturday as Isaac Kelly, 81, the last person to be evacuated from the Superdome, boarded a school bus. But there remained an overwhelming display of human misery on the streets of New Orleans, where the last 1,500 people were being evacuated from the Convention Center amid an overpowering odor of human waste and rotting garbage. The evacuees, most of them black and poor, spoke of violence, anarchy and family members who died for lack of food, water and medical care. About 42,000 people had been evacuated from the city by Saturday afternoon, with roughly the same number remaining, city officials said. Search-and-rescue efforts continued in flooded areas of the city, where an unknown number of people wait in their homes, on rooftops or in makeshift shelters. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by the flooding -- 250,000 have been absorbed by Texas alone, and local radio reported that Baton Rouge will have doubled in population by Monday. Federal officials said they have begun to collect corpses but could not guess the total toll. Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday. The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals, said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly. A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor. Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said. The federal government stands ready to work with state and local officials to secure New Orleans and the state of Louisiana, White House spokesman Dan Bartlett said. The president will not let any form of bureaucracy get in the way of protecting the citizens of Louisiana. Blanco made two moves Saturday that protected her independence from the federal government: She created a philanthropic fund for the state's victims and hired James Lee Witt, Federal Emergency Management Agency director in the Clinton administration, to advise her on the relief effort. Bush, who has been criticized, even by supporters, for the delayed response to the disaster, used his weekly radio address to put responsibility for the failure on lower levels of government. The magnitude of the crisis has created tremendous problems that have strained state and local capabilities, he said. The result is that many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need, especially in New Orleans. And that is unacceptable. In a Washington briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said one reason federal assets were not used more quickly was because our constitutional system
[scifinoir2] When are we going to learn?
We're hearing so much about technology infrastructure failure in New Orleans and Mississippi: lack of cell phone networks, cops draining gas from stranded cars, power gone, backup generators failing in hospitals that went days longer than they should have on emergency power. One guardsman said his men had gone back to ancient times, sending men as runners from place-to-place, as that was the only way to communicate between units. I've long been a proponent of aggressively moving forward to alternative energy sources such as hybrids, solar, and fuel-cell. The naysayers scoff at it as impractical and expensive. But what if there'd been advanced solar power cells on the roofs of the NO hospitals? What if all the buildings--even the cop's communication devices and laptops--ran on portable fuel cells? We could have seen people plugging their oxygen tanks and dialysis machines into outlets receiving power from still-functioning buildings, rather than dying for want of electricity. A year ago I wrote the following as a response to a conversation with someone in this group (was it you, Astro?) about the need to push toward a day when those alternative sources become mainstream sources of energy. In light of what's happened after the hurricane, i think this is still appropros. Sometimes science fiction themes *should* become science fact... [From June 2004] Well, I agree alternative energy sources would be expensive at the start, but so is any new technology. The problem is that we waited too long to get started. Had this country bit the bullet and dedicated funds and research to solar/wind/fuel cell power back during the Energy Crisis of the '70's, we'd have cheaper, more affordable sources by now. It's like the new hybrid cars. Those things are selling like hotcakes, the waiting list is a year or more, yet now some people complain they aren't getting the super gas mileage expected, and they cost too much. Well, if Detroit had seriously started working on hybrids a couple of decades ago, they'd be more advanced and not cost as much. Sometimes you suffer living in a land of plenty. You don't start working on problems until they become critical. We're not very good with longe-range thinking. Americans also don't like to think about doing more than one thing. The ultimate solution is a combination of oil, fuel from other sources such as corn, and the solar/wind/fuel cell thing. No one energy source will meet all our needs in the foreseeable future. But Americans don't like it: it's too complicated. That's what I meant about the land of plenty. In war-torn European and Asian nations they had no choice but to rebuild in the last few decades. They learned there to be more concerned about efficiency and backups than about the biggest and best as Americans do. Many Asians can't afford fancy cars and SUVs, so they ride bikes. Europeans like to travel from one country to the other and love their natural beauty, so they have incredibly efficient rail systems. Many poor nations make it mandatory for large buildings such as hospitals to have realiable backup power systems, as their national grids can't be trusted. Suggest that here and people look at you like you're an alien. I think every large building could/should have fuel cell/solar systems that could power it even if the whole nation's electrical grid were sabotages. But we Americans want the biggest cars with the fanciest stereos, the biggest engines, etc., and didn't care how much oil they were burning. We laughed at alternative fuel advocates as hippy Greenpeace nuts, and the big mega-corporations saw no profit in it. Well now we're reaping the results of our egocentricism, selfishness, and greed. We have no choice. The national mindset HAS to change to start appreciating diverse fuel sources, efficient cars, and an increase in mass transit. As for the oil, it takes millions of years for nature to convert dead animals into the oil found underground. Nothing we take is going to be replenished anytime in the next few thousand years [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Life without art music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/FXrMlA/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[scifinoir2] FW: Do You Know What It Means to Lose New Orleans?
-Original Message- From: Chris de Morsella [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2005 7:09 PM To: Lists for Tracey deMorsella; julia demorsella Subject: RE: Do You Know What It Means to Lose New Orleans? September 4, 2005 Do You Know What It Means to Lose New Orleans? By ANNE RICE La Jolla, Calif. WHAT do people really know about New Orleans? Do they take away with them an awareness that it has always been not only a great white metropolis but also a great black city, a city where African-Americans have come together again and again to form the strongest African-American culture in the land? The first literary magazine ever published in Louisiana was the work of black men, French-speaking poets and writers who brought together their work in three issues of a little book called L'Album Littéraire. That was in the 1840's, and by that time the city had a prosperous class of free black artisans, sculptors, businessmen, property owners, skilled laborers in all fields. Thousands of slaves lived on their own in the city, too, making a living at various jobs, and sending home a few dollars to their owners in the country at the end of the month. This is not to diminish the horror of the slave market in the middle of the famous St. Louis Hotel, or the injustice of the slave labor on plantations from one end of the state to the other. It is merely to say that it was never all have or have not in this strange and beautiful city. Later in the 19th century, as the Irish immigrants poured in by the thousands, filling the holds of ships that had emptied their cargoes of cotton in Liverpool, and as the German and Italian immigrants soon followed, a vital and complex culture emerged. Huge churches went up to serve the great faith of the city's European-born Catholics; convents and schools and orphanages were built for the newly arrived and the struggling; the city expanded in all directions with new neighborhoods of large, graceful houses, or areas of more humble cottages, even the smallest of which, with their floor-length shutters and deep-pitched roofs, possessed an undeniable Caribbean charm. Through this all, black culture never declined in Louisiana. In fact, New Orleans became home to blacks in a way, perhaps, that few other American cities have ever been. Dillard University and Xavier University became two of the most outstanding black colleges in America; and once the battles of desegregation had been won, black New Orleanians entered all levels of life, building a visible middle class that is absent in far too many Western and Northern American cities to this day. The influence of blacks on the music of the city and the nation is too immense and too well known to be described. It was black musicians coming down to New Orleans for work who nicknamed the city the Big Easy because it was a place where they could always find a job. But it's not fair to the nature of New Orleans to think of jazz and the blues as the poor man's music, or the music of the oppressed. Something else was going on in New Orleans. The living was good there. The clock ticked more slowly; people laughed more easily; people kissed; people loved; there was joy. Which is why so many New Orleanians, black and white, never went north. They didn't want to leave a place where they felt at home in neighborhoods that dated back centuries; they didn't want to leave families whose rounds of weddings, births and funerals had become the fabric of their lives. They didn't want to leave a city where tolerance had always been able to outweigh prejudice, where patience had always been able to outweigh rage. They didn't want to leave a place that was theirs. And so New Orleans prospered, slowly, unevenly, but surely - home to Protestants and Catholics, including the Irish parading through the old neighborhood on St. Patrick's Day as they hand out cabbages and potatoes and onions to the eager crowds; including the Italians, with their lavish St. Joseph's altars spread out with cakes and cookies in homes and restaurants and churches every March; including the uptown traditionalists who seek to preserve the peace and beauty of the Garden District; including the Germans with their clubs and traditions; including the black population playing an ever increasing role in the city's civic affairs. Now nature has done what the Civil War couldn't do. Nature has done what the labor riots of the 1920's couldn't do. Nature had done what modern life with its relentless pursuit of efficiency couldn't do. It has done what racism couldn't do, and what segregation couldn't do either. Nature has laid the city waste - with a scope that brings to mind the end of Pompeii. . I share this history for a reason - and to answer questions that have arisen these last few days. Almost as soon as the cameras began panning over the rooftops, and the helicopters began chopping free those trapped in their attics, a chorus of voices rose. Why didn't they
[scifinoir2] Nagin said slow response cost lives
Nagin said slow response cost lives Sunday, Sept. 4, 2005 7:57 p.m. Frustrated and grieving, Mayor Ray Nagin on Sunday again ripped the painfully slow response of state and federal authorities to the plight of tens of thousands of stranded New Orleanians in the days following Hurricane Katrina, saying their inaction cost lives and caused needless misery. Nagin singled out Gov. Kathleen Blanco for criticism, saying that the governor had asked for 24 hours to think over a decision when time was a luxury that no one, especially refugees, had. When the president and the governor got here, I said, 'Mr. President, Madame Governor, you two have to get in synch. If you don't, more people are going to die. Blanco and Bush met privately at his insistence, Nagin said, after which Bush came out and told Nagin that he had given Blanco two options, and she requested a full day to decide. It would have been great if we could have walked off Air Force One and told the world we had it all worked out, Nagin said. It didn't happen, and more people died. Police spokesman Capt. Marlon Defillo said Sunday that about a dozen corpses were being taken out of the Superdome. The convention center has not been swept yet, he said. Apart from the deaths, Nagin said people needlessly suffered, particularly at the Dome. There was suffering at an unprecedented level in this city, at this place and at the convention center, he said. This is one of the richest countries in the world. I'm looking at my city and I see death and destruction, and I see a lot of it. And I'm pissed. Nagin said while much of the suffering was borne by poor people, it would be a mistake to think it was limited to the poor. When the final script is written, they're going to see that everyone suffered, he said. Not just black people - white people, Hispanics, people from Italy. At the convention center, you had tourists, you had people from hospitals, you had a mixture of people. Asked whether he himself bore responsibility for the debacle, Nagin responded: I'll take what responsibility I have to take. But let me ask you this: When you have a city of 500,000 people, and you have a Category 5 bearing down on you, and the best you've ever done is evacuate 60 percent of the people. and there's never been a mandatory evacuation in this city's history. I did that, and I elevated the level of stress to the citizens. I said to make sure you have a fricking axe in your house. And as a last resort, there are no buildings in the city to withstand a Category 3 storm other than the Superdome, and when that filled up, we started sending them to the convention center. You tell me what else I was supposed to do. Nagin said the government needs to learn quickly from its nightmarishly slow reaction to Katrina. Our response to a significant disaster is appalling, he said. What went down is a national and state disgrace. The mayor said his next fear is that the decomposing bodies of those who died in the storm and its wake will spread disease, via mosquitoes, across the region if the corpses aren't picked up soon. Again, he feels the response has lagged. I requested a crop duster as soon as possible, the mayor said. I still don't see a plane flying. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Life without art music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/FXrMlA/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: White House Shifts Blame to State and Local Officials
--- sancochojo [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Nobody took the time to upgrade the levees, in the State of Louisiana, that are over 100 years old. Who's fault is that, since that is the main reason why the flooding occured. Let me guess, that's Bush's fault as well. I can't stand Bush, but to blame the white house out of convenience or because you don't beleive in his policies is simply ridiculous. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509010170sep01,1,5853346.story?coll=chi-news-hedctrack=1cset=true http://www.bobharris.com/content/view/629/1/ I haven't followed much discussion on this but these two articles we're really informative. The Army Corp of Engineers who were in the process of retooling the levee and pump systems along the Mississippi Delta make no bones about the fact that their work was necessary and that it would help divert the impact of a disaster like Katrina when it struck. They also make no bones about the fact that the Bush administration has been actively involved in cutting their funding over the last few years to divert funds to the war in Iraq. it shoudl be noted they express on opinion on the lack of funding, just that it was a reality. The White House and the Congress have both been clearly aware of the possibilities of this kind of disaster and the need for the Army Corp Of Engineer's work. They decided the war in Iraq was more important. So to some degree the present administration and it's policies absolutely deserve some of the blame in regards to the present disaster that has struck New Orleans. Bosco __ Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Life without art music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/FXrMlA/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
