Clueless! That's what they are, clueless. Neither department had any idea of what to do.
First they told the Red Cross to leave New Orleans before Katrina hit while they were trying to get people out. Then after Katrina was done they were not allowed back in to try to rescue those who couldn't get out or had gotten trapped.
FEMA and DHS would not allow the Red Cross to go in to deliver food and water, saying it wasn't safe. Two semis full of bottled water from WalMart were not allowed to take the water to those in need.
A barricade was set-up on the bridge which was the only escape route for those in the Superdome and would not allow supplies in or survivers out.
Food stations were set-up for photo ops for Bush. As soon as Bush and the media left these were torn down or abandoned.
When the Idiot in Chief and the First Bitch showed up everything came to a halt. No food and water was handed out. Rescue choppers were grounded. Everyone had to wait for food and water and rescue until they had enough pictures taken of those two assholes.
FEMA and DHS waited five days before they started doing anything, while people were suffering and dying. Babies went without formula. People in need of medications received none. More people died.
All through this Bush was praising FEMA chief Michael Brown. My feelings, take Brown out and shoot him for allowing so many people to suffer and die.
So here's my advice to FEMA and DHS. Get the FUCK out of the way of those who really care and are really trying to help. These REAL helpers have enough obstacles to deal with. They do not need you getting in the way and preventing them from doing their job.
I have some advice for the Idiot in Chief and the First Bitch, too. Take your photo ops and shove them up your asses. The New Orleans residents and their rescuers don't need you going in and stopping the work they are trying so hard to get done. This is not the time to worry about your political vanity. Fuck your photo ops! Stay the fuck away and let these people who are really trying to help do what they need to do!
Monday, September 05, 2005
MORE ON BUSH'S PHOTO OP BULLSHIT
That evil prick has used the disaster that Katrina left as an opportunity for political gain, all while the people are going without food, water, and medical attention.
From Buzz Flash this morning:
The Bush Potemkin Village Photo-op: He Lies and Lies Amidst Hollywood Style "Sets" as Lives are Lost. His Entire Presidency is a Game of Smoke and Mirrors. 9/5
New Orleans Paper to Bush: Bush gave another nationally televised interview the next morning and said, "We�ve provided food to the people at the Convention Center so that they�ve gotten at least one, if not two meals, every single day." Lies don�t get more bald-faced than tha! t, Mr. President. Yet, when you met with Mr. Brown Friday morning, you told him, "You�re doing a heck of a job." 9/5
From Buzz Flash this morning:
The Bush Potemkin Village Photo-op: He Lies and Lies Amidst Hollywood Style "Sets" as Lives are Lost. His Entire Presidency is a Game of Smoke and Mirrors. 9/5
New Orleans Paper to Bush: Bush gave another nationally televised interview the next morning and said, "We�ve provided food to the people at the Convention Center so that they�ve gotten at least one, if not two meals, every single day." Lies don�t get more bald-faced than tha! t, Mr. President. Yet, when you met with Mr. Brown Friday morning, you told him, "You�re doing a heck of a job." 9/5
Sunday, September 04, 2005
A GOVERNMENT BUILT ON LIES AND DECEIT
I am so tired of hearing and reading all the lies being told by Bush, Homeland Security's Chertoff, and FEMA's Brown. Lie and cover-up, lie and cover-up. That's all those assholes can do. They are all more concerned with themselves than they are with saving peoples lives.
Today, Chertoff was on NBC's Meet The Press trying to cover his ass. Tim Russert started right in on him.
Today, Chertoff was on NBC's Meet The Press trying to cover his ass. Tim Russert started right in on him.
MR. RUSSERT: "Now, let's turn to Hurricane Katrina. Joining us is the man in charge of the federal response to the disaster, the director of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff."
"Mr. Secretary, this is yesterday's Daily News: "Shame Of A Nation." And I want to read it to you and our viewers very carefully. It says, "As for Chertoff, if this is the best his department can do, the homeland is not very secure at all. It is absolutely outrageous that the United States of America could not send help to tens of thousands of forlorn, frightened, sick and hungry human beings at least 24 hours before it did, arguably longer than that. Who is specifically at fault for what is nothing less than a national scandal... It will never be known exactly what a day could have meant to so many unfortunates whose lives came to an end in those hopelessly tortured hours--on scorching roadsides, for lack of a swallow of water, in sweltering hospital bads, for lack of insulin. But what is already more than clear is that the nation's disaster-preparedness mechanisms do not appear to be in the hands of officials who know how to run them."
"Mr. Secretary, are you or anyone who reports to you contemplating resignation?"
Resignation? I think the end of a rope would be a more fitting end to Chertoff's career. He has lied to us about when food and water were delivered to the people in New Orleans area. He lied about when the people who are stranded will be brought out. Just like the fuckin' chimp, one lie after another.
FEMA's Brown said that they were working to help the vicitms of Katrina, another lie. Aaron Broussard, President of Jefferson Parrish, was also on Meet The Press. He had a whole different story to tell of just how much FEMA and Homeland Security have not done and what they have done to impeed the ability of rescuers to get help to people and get them out.
He said "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."
"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."
"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."
Those bastards from FEMA, which is under the control of Homeland Security, actually cut the emergency communication lines! That alone proves that the Feds don't care about those people. If they don't care about those people, they don't care about the rest of us either.
FEMA put up barriers and armed guards on the bridge for the highway near the Convention Center. This was the only way out for those who were trapped at the Center and they wouldn't let them out. There were trucks with food waiting to go in and deliver to those trapped and FEMA wouldn't let them pass.
And then you have the repukes fearless leader. Bush used his visit for a photo op. Equiptment was set-up on the 17th Street levy so it would look good...like Bush made sure things were getting done...and after his photo op the equiptment was removed. What a fuckin' lying bastard! He didn't care about the people stranded in NOLA. He only cares about his image and how he will be viewed by historians. Motherfuckin', cocksuckin', asshole. Fuckin' evil little bastard.
Anyone who thinks that this fiasco isn't politically conected needs to be kicked in the fuckin' head by an army mule.
Those bastards at FEMA and Homeland (In)Security don't give a shit about any of us. After this bullshit I have no doubt that there is no way they would be able to protect us from a terrorist attack. We have been hit by a terrorist attack, it's called the Bush administration. That son-of-a-bitch has done more damage to every area and facet of this country then Osama bin Laden could ever dream of.
We need a change in the executive branch of the federal government, and we need it RIGHT NOW! No waiting for 2008 to get here. We need change right now today.
Time for impeachment hearings to start. Find everyone of those bastards guilty. Then retire all of those lying deceitful motherfuckers at the end of a rope!
Where's the rope? Who's got the rope? I need a whole bunch of ropes here people! It's time for a good ol' fashioned neck-tie party.
BUSH IS A HAZZARD TO AMERICA'S SAFTY AND SECURITY
The fuckin' chimp doesn't care about our safty and security.
Go read this I found via Buzz Flash:
Master of Disaster George Bush Made Fatal Changes to Render FEMA Ineffective in Rapidly Responding to Disasters in America, According to the Chicago Tribune. The Man is a Threat to Our Personal Safety and National Security.
Go read this I found via Buzz Flash:
Master of Disaster George Bush Made Fatal Changes to Render FEMA Ineffective in Rapidly Responding to Disasters in America, According to the Chicago Tribune. The Man is a Threat to Our Personal Safety and National Security.
BUSH PHOTO OPS, PART II.......EVEN MORE OF AN ASSHOLE
Found this thismorning via Buzz Flash:
Times-Picayune
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Bush visit halts food delivery
By Michelle Krupa
Staff writer
Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s visit to New Orleans, officials said.
The provisions, secured by U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, and state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, baked in the afternoon sun as Bush surveyed damage across southeast Louisiana five days after Katrina made landfall as a Category 4 storm, said Melancon’s chief of staff, Casey O’Shea.
“We had arrangements to airlift food by helicopter to these folks, and now the food is sitting in trucks because they won’t let helicopters fly,” O’Shea said Friday afternoon.
The food was expected to be in the hands of storm survivors after the president left the devastated region Friday night, he said.
Times-Picayune
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Bush visit halts food delivery
By Michelle Krupa
Staff writer
Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s visit to New Orleans, officials said.
The provisions, secured by U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, and state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, baked in the afternoon sun as Bush surveyed damage across southeast Louisiana five days after Katrina made landfall as a Category 4 storm, said Melancon’s chief of staff, Casey O’Shea.
“We had arrangements to airlift food by helicopter to these folks, and now the food is sitting in trucks because they won’t let helicopters fly,” O’Shea said Friday afternoon.
The food was expected to be in the hands of storm survivors after the president left the devastated region Friday night, he said.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
BUSH PHOTO OPS.......ASSHOLE
Bush loves his photo ops. Now he's gone way too fuckin' far.
Take a look at this item I found (and stole) from Via at Church Of The Front Porch
"From a press release LA Senator Mary Landrieu sent out today:
But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street levee. 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 annd old - deserve far better from their national governmeent."
If this is true, I hope the MSM highly publicizes it. They have shown an admirable amount of backbone during this crisis.
Take a look at this item I found (and stole) from Via at Church Of The Front Porch
Bush faked levee repair for photo op yesterday
by John in DC - 9/03/2005 06:29:00 PM Americablog"From a press release LA Senator Mary Landrieu sent out today:
But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street levee. 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 annd old - deserve far better from their national governmeent."
If this is true, I hope the MSM highly publicizes it. They have shown an admirable amount of backbone during this crisis.
THE FUCKING ARROGANCE OF LAURA BUSH
The First Bitch is just as much low-life pond-scum as the First Motherfucking Idiot is.
Found this through Buzz Flash.
These people had not had a decent meal in days and they had to wait for that bitch to tour the Dome. That's fuckin' bullshit.
Found this through Buzz Flash.
Evacuees at Cajundome wait for first lady, and for lunch As the first lady toured the Red Cross shelter at the Cajundome this morning, a line of evacuees waiting to eat their lunch trickled out the door of the Dome. First lady Laura Bush arrived about midday to tour the shelter and meet evacuees. |
| Originally published September 2, 2005 |
These people had not had a decent meal in days and they had to wait for that bitch to tour the Dome. That's fuckin' bullshit.
BUSH IGNORED WARNINGS ABOUT BUDGET CUTS
The Emperor Chimp was warned in advance of the effects his budget cuts would have on the safety along the Gulf coast.
This from David Sirota:
This from David Sirota:
Engineers' Warnings and Pleas for Money Went Unheeded
www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/01/news/flood.php
Assistant Army Secretary Forced Out
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/03/06/army.secretary/
White House Blistered Army Corps Chief In Memo Before Firing
www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0302/030802cdam1.htm
Ex-Army Corps Officials Say Budget Cuts Imperiled Flood Mitigation Efforts
www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=32144&dcn=todaysnews
FEMA Head Forced to Resign From Last Job
http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=100857
BUSH COULDN'T CARE LESS
People all over the world have seen the pictures and heard the reports coming out of Louisianna, Alabama, and Mississippi. They have seen the devastation, death, and destruction. Everyday, people everywhere are sending financial help. Many are even offering physical help.
A number of countries have offered to send aid to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Offers have come from Canada, Venezuela, Jamaica, and Cuba to name just a few.
Has the Emperor Chimp accepted any of these honorable offers? HELL NO! You ask why? Because he's an arrogent fuckin' bastard that doesn't care about real people. He has proved this time and time again.
He ignored the warnings about Osama bin Laden and the probability of a large scale attack on the US. He ignored the warnings from the CIA and military about what would happen if he invaded Iraq. Now he has ignored the warnings of what would happen to New Orleans should it be hit by a large hurricane.
If the fuckin' Idiot in Chief doesn't like something someone is telling him he either ignores it or gets mad and walks off. Sometimes those people get demoted, transfered, or even fired.
That bastard didn't have a problem with sending aid to brother Jeb in Florida right after it was hit by Hurricane Andrew. But then, Florida helped him steal the 2000 election by not being able to use simple math to count votes. So that could have been a favor returned.
It took the asshole five days...that's 120 hours...to do anything at all. ANYTHING, including mentioning it. Then he was such a great guy...gag me...that he cut his vacation short by one day. Wow, wasn't that nice of him. The fuckin' assbag didn't take this long to respond to the Tsunami last year.
Just what the fuck is wrong with that bastard? Doesn't he care about his own countrymen? The answer to the first question is he's a self-centered uncaring prick. The answer to the second question is the same, he's a self-centered uncaring prick.
There is one good thing that hopefully will come out of this ominus tragedy. This just might be enough to bring about his downfall and in turn the release of the strangle-hold the repukes have on this country.
I wish to appologize to all those countries which have offered aid that have been turned down. I am very sorry that your offers were not accepted by that fuckin' fool who claims...illegally...to be President of these United States. We really do need your help. As a citizen of the United States I greatly appreciate your offers and wish I could accept them for the health and welbeing of my fellow countrymen.
GEORGE W. BUSH IS NOT MY PRESIDENT!
NEVER HAS BEEN AND NEVER WILL BE!
 |
| Cuban President Fidel Castro has offered the US assistance |
 |
| New Orleans is short of food, |
A number of countries have offered to send aid to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Offers have come from Canada, Venezuela, Jamaica, and Cuba to name just a few.
 |
| Dead bodies are lying in the |
Has the Emperor Chimp accepted any of these honorable offers? HELL NO! You ask why? Because he's an arrogent fuckin' bastard that doesn't care about real people. He has proved this time and time again.
He ignored the warnings about Osama bin Laden and the probability of a large scale attack on the US. He ignored the warnings from the CIA and military about what would happen if he invaded Iraq. Now he has ignored the warnings of what would happen to New Orleans should it be hit by a large hurricane.
 |
| An effective rescue plan for the city has yet to kick in |
If the fuckin' Idiot in Chief doesn't like something someone is telling him he either ignores it or gets mad and walks off. Sometimes those people get demoted, transfered, or even fired.
That bastard didn't have a problem with sending aid to brother Jeb in Florida right after it was hit by Hurricane Andrew. But then, Florida helped him steal the 2000 election by not being able to use simple math to count votes. So that could have been a favor returned.
 |
| Thousands are feared dead and |
It took the asshole five days...that's 120 hours...to do anything at all. ANYTHING, including mentioning it. Then he was such a great guy...gag me...that he cut his vacation short by one day. Wow, wasn't that nice of him. The fuckin' assbag didn't take this long to respond to the Tsunami last year.
Just what the fuck is wrong with that bastard? Doesn't he care about his own countrymen? The answer to the first question is he's a self-centered uncaring prick. The answer to the second question is the same, he's a self-centered uncaring prick.
There is one good thing that hopefully will come out of this ominus tragedy. This just might be enough to bring about his downfall and in turn the release of the strangle-hold the repukes have on this country.
I wish to appologize to all those countries which have offered aid that have been turned down. I am very sorry that your offers were not accepted by that fuckin' fool who claims...illegally...to be President of these United States. We really do need your help. As a citizen of the United States I greatly appreciate your offers and wish I could accept them for the health and welbeing of my fellow countrymen.
GEORGE W. BUSH IS NOT MY PRESIDENT!
NEVER HAS BEEN AND NEVER WILL BE!
Friday, September 02, 2005
ONCE AGAIN HALLIBURTON WINS
The corruption of the Bush mis-administration has reared it's butt-ugly head again and given a no-bid contract to Cheney's buddies at Halliburton. So once again Cheney's pockets get lined with taxpayer's money.
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 in 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 in 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 was 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."
Here we go again. One hand washes the other. Bastards!
Halliburton gets Katrina contract, hires former FEMA director
1 Sept. 2005
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- The US Navy asked Halliburton to repair naval facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina, the Houston Chronicle reported today. The work was assigned to Halliburton's KBR subsidiary under the Navy's $500 million CONCAP contract 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 in 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 in 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 was 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."
Here we go again. One hand washes the other. Bastards!
Thursday, September 01, 2005
WHY KATRINA STRUCK NEW ORLEANS
Columbia Christians for Life have no functioning gray matter.
The real cause of Hurricane Katrina?
Sometimes, it's hard to keep up.
We reported last night on the cause of Hurricane Katrina -- at least in the eyes of an antiabortion group called Columbia Christians for Life. The storm, the group says, is God's way of punishing Louisiana for having 10 abortion clinics.
Well, at least that's what the Columbia Christians for Life were saying yesterday. We've just received another e-mail from the group, and now it seems to be saying that God sent Katrina after Louisiana to prevent Southern Decadence, an annual gay-themed bash that was scheduled for Labor Day weekend in New Orleans.
The Columbia Christians for Life forwarded to us a press release from a Philadelphia-based outfit called Repent America. In it, Repent America director Michael Marcavage explains: "Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city. From 'Girls Gone Wild' to 'Southern Decadence,' New Orleans was a city that had its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin. May it never be the same."
THE WORLD'S REACTION TO OUR DISASTER
Here is a sampling of world reaction to Hurricane Katrina via Salon.com:
Katrina to the rest of the world
Katrina to the rest of the world
Among the responses: Sadness, sympathy, but not a lot of charity.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Scott Lamb
Aug. 31, 2005 | As rescue teams still struggled to locate survivors in Louisiana and Mississippi, the rest of the world began trying to understand the disaster unfolding along the Gulf Coast. Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway's pronouncement -- "This is our tsunami" -- was picked up by the global media as a banner for the catastrophe on Wednesday, and the story was front-page news all around the world, with the arresting photos of a submerged New Orleans appearing in papers from Brisbane, Australia, to Belfast, Ireland.
British papers were dominated by coverage of the damage to Louisiana, with even the usually hyperbolic Sun devoting pages to fairly sober coverage of the storm and its aftermath: "There were apocalyptic scenes in the city, where thousands of citizens lost everything as homes were destroyed -- some torn clean off their foundations. Coastguard helicopters clattered in the skies as they plucked frantic survivors from rooftops." The BBC put together a special section devoted to the hurricane on its Web site, which carried related headlines for most of the day. One article wondered if the storm was "nature's revenge," writing that "for generations, many who live and work in the Big Easy have feared the worst."
Another reported on Queen Elizabeth's message to President Bush, saying she is "shocked and saddened" at devastation.
France's Le Monde ran several front-page hurricane-related stories, and Le Figaro printed Prime Minister Jacques Chirac's message of support to President Bush, assuring that "the solidarity of the people of France" was behind him. "During these terrible days, I've followed the progression of this catastrophe with a deep emotion," Chirac wrote.
Even smaller European papers were devoting major coverage to the story. The Kleine Zeitung in Graz, Austria, carried an enormous front-page photo of the floods, with the headline "The Real Catastrophe Is Just Beginning."
The Times of India found a local angle of sorts: a profile of Indian-American Rep. Bobby Jindal, who was one of the many thousands left homeless by the storm. The paper notes, "Soon after he came into Congress this year, he began to lobby and successfully got passed legislation reversing an earlier ruling that would have taxed compensation to his state's residents for monies they got as a result of natural disasters."
The stories of looting also got international attention. South Africa's Independent Online was running an AP wire article on looters as its top hurricane story on Wednesday afternoon, and the Times of India also ran a looting story.
The world's reaction, though, has been noticeably different from what it was to the tsunami that struck the Indian Ocean rim last December. Part of the reason is obvious -- whereas the Indian Ocean tsunami struck many countries that simply had no way of dealing with a disaster of such scope, the U.S., it's assumed, has the means and resources to deal with the catastrophe on its own. And for the most part, the calls for donations that appeared after the Indian tsunami have not appeared. As Der Spiegel points out, the European Web sites for organizations like the Red Cross haven't put up calls for donations, though they are carrying news items about the relief effort. A worker for Caritas, one of Germany's major aid groups, told the magazine it had received only one donation by midday Tuesday. "America has a strong army and are well equipped for disaster relief," she said. "It makes no sense for us to go in and try to help. What really would we do? They have enough personnel to handle the crisis alone."
Some reactions, though, have had less to do with U.S. disaster preparedness than with U.S. environmental policy. As some scientists have pointed out, there is the possibility of a link between storms like Katrina and the trend of global warming. In Germany, minister of the environment Jürgen Trittin drew the line directly to Bush's stance on the Kyoto Protocol in an editorial in the Frankfurter Rundschau: "The American president has closed his eyes to the economic and human damage that natural catastrophes such as Katrina -- in other words, disasters caused by a lack of climate protection measures -- can visit on his country."
Der Spiegel's original article on German reactions got picked up by the Drudge Report on Tuesday night, leading to a firestorm of correspondence, which the magazine has since begun posting.
In an article blasting Trittin, Der Spiegel writes, "The worst of it is that Trittin isn't alone with his cold, malicious tenor. The coverage from much of the German media tends in the same direction: If Bush had only listened to Uncle Trittin and signed the Kyoto Protocol, then this never would have happened."
"It's not the American people's fault that the storm hit and they couldn't have stopped it," the magazine writes. "The Germans, on the other hand, could have done a lot to prevent World War II. And yet, care packages still rained down from US troops. Trittin's know-it-all stance is therefore not only tasteless, it is also historically blind."
- - - - - - - - - - - -
About the writer
Scott Lamb is an editorial fellow at Salon.
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE OIL
Well, the Idiot in Chief finally came out and admitted it. The war is now all about the oil in Iraq. His numbers are on a steady drop so now it's time to change the focus from 9/11 to oil. I think most of us knew from the get-go that it was the oil...that and control.
Here's something from Salon.com with more on this:
Here's something from Salon.com with more on this:
Bush on Iraq: It's about the oil
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll has George W. Bush's approval rating at 45 percent, the lowest point the poll has recorded for his presidency. Some of that's due to the soaring price of gasoline -- something that's going to get worse, not better, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina -- and some of it's the war.
We don't remember too much from junior high mathematics, but we recall something about how you can multiply two negatives and come up with a positive. Maybe that's what Bush was trying to do yesterday when, during a speech in California, he came up with a whole new justification for the war in Iraq: It's about the oil.
Bush says that we've got to keep fighting in Iraq to keep the nation's oil supplies from falling into the wrong hands. "If Zarqawi and bin Laden gain control of Iraq, they would create a new training ground for future terrorist attacks; they'd seize oil fields to fund their ambitions; they could recruit more terrorists by claiming an historic victory over the United States and our coalition," the president said.
37 MILLION LIVING IN POVERTY IN THE US
That's right, 37,000,000 of your fellow citizens are living below the poverty line. That's 12.7 of the total United States population.
If we are the richest nation in the world, why is it we have so many people living in poverty. Is it something these people did to deserve this? I don't think so.
None of these people gave hugh tax breaks to the rich with the promise of better jobs and better pay. George W. Bush did that. So, just where the hell are these better jobs? Nowhere! Those tax cuts were for the chimp's buddies. Sort of a payback for the 2000 election theft.
The Emperor Chimp is also the one who decided it was more important to spend hundreds of billions of dollars...tax dollars that is, your's and mine...on his little game called War and Domination. To him it is far better to spend tax dollars on death and destruction than it is to spend it on the health and wellbeing of the citizens of this country.
The poverty rate in this country has gone up every single year since that bastard in the White Whorehouse stole the 2000 election from the people of this used-to-be great land.
The last time there was a decline in the percentage of people living in poverty was the last year of Bill Clinton's second term. Of course that was also the last time this country didn't have a deficit.
Now you can add on Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans was not prepared for this type of onslaught from mother nature. Why, you ask? Because the fuckin' chimp gutted the funds that were supposed to go for hurricane preparedness by 44% over the last two years so he could fund his "little war" in Iraq.
Things in New Orleans keep going from bad to worse. Dead bodies floating. Looters. It's gotten so bad that the mayor had to pull the police of search and rescue to try to stop the looting. This shows another good picture...in a bad light...of what this country has become. And this all starts at the top with the asshole in charge.
Maybe it's time to step up and take this country back from the corporations, the ultra-rich, the theocrats, the neo-cons, and all the other bastards who have taken control. It's our country and I think it's time we reminded them all of that.
If we are the richest nation in the world, why is it we have so many people living in poverty. Is it something these people did to deserve this? I don't think so.
None of these people gave hugh tax breaks to the rich with the promise of better jobs and better pay. George W. Bush did that. So, just where the hell are these better jobs? Nowhere! Those tax cuts were for the chimp's buddies. Sort of a payback for the 2000 election theft.
The Emperor Chimp is also the one who decided it was more important to spend hundreds of billions of dollars...tax dollars that is, your's and mine...on his little game called War and Domination. To him it is far better to spend tax dollars on death and destruction than it is to spend it on the health and wellbeing of the citizens of this country.
The poverty rate in this country has gone up every single year since that bastard in the White Whorehouse stole the 2000 election from the people of this used-to-be great land.
The last time there was a decline in the percentage of people living in poverty was the last year of Bill Clinton's second term. Of course that was also the last time this country didn't have a deficit.
Now you can add on Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans was not prepared for this type of onslaught from mother nature. Why, you ask? Because the fuckin' chimp gutted the funds that were supposed to go for hurricane preparedness by 44% over the last two years so he could fund his "little war" in Iraq.
Things in New Orleans keep going from bad to worse. Dead bodies floating. Looters. It's gotten so bad that the mayor had to pull the police of search and rescue to try to stop the looting. This shows another good picture...in a bad light...of what this country has become. And this all starts at the top with the asshole in charge.
Maybe it's time to step up and take this country back from the corporations, the ultra-rich, the theocrats, the neo-cons, and all the other bastards who have taken control. It's our country and I think it's time we reminded them all of that.
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