Hannah's Blog

Double-dipping

There is growing consternation in the general public that the charitable institutions to which they have donated for disaster relief are also being compensated by governmental funds. Why should this be objectionable?

Regarding the appropriateness of having charitable intitutions compensated by the government for their expenditures. Why should this be objectionable behavior?

Well, for one thing it's double-dipping. Let me explain what I mean by that.
Whenever someone accepts a gift, there's an implicit expectation, if not obligation, for the recipient to pay back with the coin of gratitude and appreciation. If then the donor is paid back by a third party, he's being compensated twice.

Then, of course, there's the problem with religiously oriented charities that their activities are Constitutionally required to be separated from the state or government. There's a good reason for this requirement. When the government, which retains the ultimate physical power to coerce some kinds of behavior, combines with organizations whose mandate is to coerce the mind or spirit of those they offer to assist, then the individual recipient is virtually stripped on any autonomy and thus of his humanity. It was the combination of the physical and spiritual coercive powers that the framers of our Constitution wanted to avoid when they incorporated the separation of church and state.

And it is, of course, the totalitarian effect of this combination which the proponents of authoritarian control seek to promote when they enlist the assistance of religious institutions to distribute benefits which, by all rights, the citizens are entitled to receive without strings--physical or spiritual.

Now, it is, of course, possible for individuals to take or accept benefits without any concern for an obligation to reciprocate in any manner. And, indeed, this capacity seems to be increasingly prevalent in people who have set themselves up as leaders of our nation. So, perhaps they don't even recognize the emotional and psychological stress they are imposing on individuals for whom the coin of gratitude is freighted with the realization that they are being forced to chose between the survival of the body and the survival of their spirit.

Nevertheless that's the choice the lust for power is imposing on the survivors of Katrina. It is also the choice that is being imposed on the citizens of Iraq. "Believe what we tell you, or die" is the message from the occupation. And that, in my book, is the essence of evil.

Myth v. Fact

As reported by the Independent, a British paper.

Fact and fiction about New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina

* MYTH: Shootings and stabbings at the Superdome.

TRUTH: If there were, they were not fatal.

* MYTH: 24 dead at convention centre amid gun violence.

TRUTH: Four bodies recovered, one showed signs of murder.

* MYTH: Affluent suburbs taken over by gangs of looters.

TRUTH: Looters did not take over communities.

* MYTH: In Baton Rouge, evacuees created a crime wave. (In the atmosphere of panic Louisiana State University was locked down.)

TRUTH: One crime occurred in the city; a minor incident involving a knife at a temporary shelter. No one was hurt.

Dean on Sheehan

Howard Dean's report of his impressions of Cindy Sheehan is posted on the Democratic National Committee's official blog. Nice of him to mention that the politics of personal destruction have been going on since Nixon. Perhaps it's a central component of government by Public Relations.

Meeting with Cindy Sheehan

I met with Cindy Sheehan and three activist supporters here in my office at the DNC (two of whom were involved in the Presidential race) on Saturday after the rally. Some of you have met her, but for those who have not, I thought I would share my impressions.

She is a delightful person. She had not a drop of holier than thou zealotry. She is unpretentious and very clear. All this I expected, given the terrible sacrifice she has made, and her willingness to speak out.

What I was surprised at was her ability to be so comfortable in her own skin. After she became a phenomenon in Crawford, the Republican spin team realized she was a real threat. Cindy Sheehan, made a tremendous personal sacrifice. A sacrifice being made by too many American families who have had loved ones killed or maimed in this war.

Cindy has credibility the Administration does not have. Even the President tried to diminish her by saying that she did not believe in fighting terrorism. His minions, of course, did much worse, trying to make out that she was a media savvy manipulator -- and even spreading false rumors that she was anti-Semitic.

No one is untouched in the face of personal attack, but Cindy exudes an inner calm and a self-confidence which made it clear to me that she will not back down. I respect and support what she is doing in standing up and speaking out.

Whether you think the Iraq war is a good idea or not, all of us should support Cindy Sheehan. Perhaps the grossest disservice the Republican leadership has inflicted on our country is not the war, the huge deficits, or even the divisive appeals to the worst fears of voters. Rather it is the notion that it is unpatriotic to disagree with the most partisan President in our life time, and that dissent harms our country. Nothing could be farther from the truth -- we are a strong country because we have the right to dissent.

In fact it is the attempts of the Administration to fight dissent with personal attacks as they did during the Nixon era are that diminish our country in the long term.

Cindy Sheehan is honest in the face of a dishonest and corrupt Washington culture. She is plain spoken in an era of cynicism and propaganda, she in committed and idealistic in a time where our government has abandoned what is right for America in favor of what is right for the Republican party. We need more Cindy Sheehans.

Posted by Howard Dean at 06:06 PM | Comments (20) | TrackBack (0)

Sunset Cruise

No on Roberts for SCOTUS

The designation of Judge John G. Roberts, Jr. as Chief Justice supports the belief that the purpose of government is to rule over or subjugate the people, rather than, as the American Revolution established, be subject to the will of the people.

The current Administration is directed by the proposition that the "consent of the governed" is a one-time event, periodically refreshed by a rubber-stamp election and reinforced by the legislative and judicial support for its executive decisions.

While Judge Roberts seems to have given some Senators the assurance that he recognizes the "potential" for executive abuse of power, his commitment to absolute power, only slightly modified by a limited number of individual (civil) rights, makes that assurance ring hollow. In failing to recognize man's God-given human rights, Roberts' ruling on the captives in Guantanamo tells us all we need to know about where his sympathies lie. They do not lie with the common man, or woman for that matter. They don't even lie with the Constitution as written.

Face of Compassion

MESSAGE TO THE GULF---I CARE

Less than a month after the towers and the Pentagon were attacked, the President conspired with members of the Cabinet and Agency heads to withhold "sensitive" national security information from all but eight members of the Congress. The rationale for this effort to preclude Congressional over-sight was the so-called "War on Terror" which is turning out to be more a reign of terror than anything else.

But the question now is why did the gang of eight, including Democrats Graham, Daschel and Pelosi go along with this executive power grab? Did they even realize the implications when the President called and told them that from then on the rest of the people's representatives would be kept in the dark on what was being planned for Afghanistan and Iraq and, as the victims of Katrina and Rita have now discovered, the American people themselves?

Did they even answer the phone?

Since Graham and Daschel and Gebhardt are now out of office perhaps they can reveal why Frist and Hastert and Roberts of Kansas, continue to conspire with the Administration to deceive the American people. Surely they're not fearful of being arrested and charged with treason for revealing information that the people have a right to know.

One suspects that perhaps a feeling of guilt at having been complicit keeps them silent. It shouldn't. As long as the Bush Administration isn't called to account, matters can only go from bad to worse. How many more people have to die?

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/HowSenate_Intelligence_chairman_fixed_intelligence_and_diverted_blame_fromWhite_House__0811.html

March Against War

There was a good DFA contingent in D.C. among the 250,000 marchers.

MAKE LEVEES--NOT WAR

had lots of supporting signers, but no frontal picture

Capitalism Fails--US style

The capitalist economy of the United States fails periodically. Why? Prejudice is the reason.

It isn't racial. Prejudice isn't necessarily connected to any particular body of opinions or attitudes. Prejudice is actually a neutral concept. It simply refers to a body of knowledge or information, or attitudes, which the individual holds BEFORE he has the opportunity to learn from personal experience.

Prejudice, when it is present in the form, for example, of the wisdom gleaned and passed on by those who have already benefited from their own experience, is essentially beneficial. It is what is transmitted under the guise of education and training and enables the student to acquire the knowledge of how to respond to his environment, without having to suffer the slings of misfortune first.

The recipient of the information which provides the basis for a pre-judgement tends to assume that his own well-being is the motive for outfitting him with this protective information. But, sometimes that assumption turns out to be false. And sometimes the information being provided is accidentally or intentionally false.

That, I would argue, happens to be the case in one of the fundamental premises of the capitalist economy in the United States and, in my opinion, accounts in large part for why our economy collapses periodically. What is this false assumption, amounting to a negative prejudice? It's that man (all human beings) is essentially lazy and must be forced to work.

Step back for a minute and ask what would happen if someone were taught to believe that all dogs are vicious and bite and, as a result of this prejudice, were to pre-emptively kick every dog with which he came into contact. I think we could fairly predict that he would be bitten. Which experience, because of the way prejudice works, would reinforce the initial assumption that dogs are vicious. Prejudice interprets supportive experience as re-inforcing and contrary experience as "the exception that proves the rule."
Which is why prejudice, regardless of whether the basis is factual, rules.

Now let's get back to the assumption (or prejudice) that men are lazy and must be forced to work. If one believes that assumption (as the economics profession in the West does), then the logical next question is what strategy should be employed to force men to work. How is that force to be applied? At what point does force become counter-productive?

Obviously, the last question is easiest to answer. If people are subjected to enough force to kill them, they obviously can't work. So, the force must be less than what's needed to kill them, but enough to make them comply with whoever's directing their enterprise. In other words, the threat to their survival must be made real, but their capacity to work must be sustained.

Oddly enough, the concept of private property actually assists in this delicate endeavor. By restricting the use of the earth's natural resources to those who have "earned" the right to call a portion their own, those who resist the call to acquire the right to be sustained, are effectively precluded from sustenance. Conversely, the accumulation of resources one can call one's own ostensibly demonstrates compliance with the economic "rules."

But what if the assumption that man must be forced to work isn't just wrong, but that the delicate application of that force periodically goes awry? What if the cumulative effect of applying force (stressing man's ability to survive) is to reduce or eliminate the actual capacity of man to work? Would it not follow logically that the economy which is based on this false prejudice will collapse?

It has been argued that the collapse of capitalist economies is inevitable because of some flaw inherent in capitalism itself. I would disagree. Capitalism is like prejudice a neutral principle. How it is used can be either good or bad. Indeed, I might even go so far as to assert that capitalism is always good. That's because capitalism is nothing more than a strategy which counsels that some portion of current assets should be preserved for future use, rather than being consumed or allowed to go to waste. How can that be bad? Behaviors which we might classify as "predatory capitalism" or "vulture capitalism," are flawed not because they violate the principle of saving for future use, but because the manner in which capital assets or wealth are acquired is fraudulent. Wealth is being created not by the fusion of intellect with the resources provided by nature, but by depriving others of the sustenance to which they are entitled.

The predator and the scavenger are integral to the fabric of organic nature. However, when their characteristic behaviors are combined with the powers of the human intellect to decipher the processes of nature and anticipate the consequences of those processes, the potential for self-destruction (the demise of the species) increases exponentially. Instead of promoting human existence, man's intellectual capacities can make him into his own worst enemy.

But if that's the case. If our economic prejudices produce periodic and sometimes catastrophic failure, why do economist and social threorists continue to adhere to them? I think it's because it's emotionally satisfying to believe that men resist direction because they are morally flawed. Also, the assumption that men are lazy justifies the use of force. Some people just seem to prefer making others do their bidding to doing something worthwhile themselves. Though the rewards are uncertain, at least someone else can be blamed for failure.

The human brain's capacity to judge itself may not actually be perceived as a good. So other people's failure may well be preferable to an accurate assessment of one's own flaws. And every down-turn in the economy attests to the accuracy of the assumption that other people are lazy and justifies a renewed effort to make them work harder.

Houston's Turn

Hi, it is late but wanted to let you know we chose not to enter the
fray. We had a nice day, cooking stuff from freezer. And cleaning out
box next door and drawing water. We are almost finished filling a huge
assortment of bottles, pails ect. things look a bit better tonight,
though Billie has been weak all night. There are sirens now. Fires I
imagine. Will call Cindy in the morning.

September 23--

Dear Everyone,
This is my plan. We will stay the course of the storm in Houston.
When it passes and it seem feasible we will hit the road.
These are my alternative plans.

Short term,
If we feel it is safer we will go to our neighbors house. \
When we drive out of this I plan to head West

Short term:
Tucson: or Los Alamos

Long term, catch a plane to someone's house, either Cathy or Phil's I
think. Probably Cathy's since we will be in that direction anyway.

I do not want to live without services for too many days and Billie is a
concern.

If I can make it as far as Arizona or New Mexico I think we can get gas.
Hopefully the state and feds will get some into Texas after the storm
and will not be adverse to people leaving the scene.

We are all nervous, but grateful that we didn't get on the road
yesterday. Should have on Wednesday. Yes but that is hindsight.
And it is so damn hard to switch courses in your life particularly twice
in such a short time. I like being home. I got up at 4 am and gathered
up all our food and storm rations and supplies. I have all of us packed
and ready to go at some point or at least live downstairs for a while.
The big problem is we have a lot of old pecan trees and one huge oak on
our property or others. My friend Pat is coming over in a bit to advise
how to make the windows safer. We have gathered our tape and cardboard
and will start putting that up this morning. Also those windows that
have shades I will duck tape them to the window frames. A new paint
job later but might save if winds heavy. I guess I worry most about
flying glass. We will get into the closet under the stair if necessary.

Billie came down this morning and kept looking for Laura. She does keep
her close. Keep the faith if you don't hear for a while. But we will
move. I don't want you to catch us at a shelter on CNN.

If any of you have other suggestions make them now, but understand it is
a very difficult situation. I want you all to ask why there wasn't fuel
set up on Wednesday. This is horrible, Poor Louisiana is going to get
it again and East Texas is going to be a mess.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi Jere's folks.

I taked to Jere and Ted about an hour ago. They and Billie
are relocating at this moment to their friend Pat Meisters'
B&B, into a guest suite there. The B&B's windows are boarded
up, so it is much safer. Ted told me they have some (a few?)
cases of bottled water (enough for a few days drinking water
only), but also bathtubs etc. filled with water. It sounds
like, with Pat's help, they are now well prepared to weather
the weather.

Jere now has the address of and driving directions to my house,
and my home and cell phone numbers. I live about 1000 miles
from Houston.

I asked Ted if they have household bleach (he says they do)
told him in a pinch questionable water can be made safe to
drink by adding some bleach to it. What I didn't tell him
is the recipe, so I have added one below.

Stay safe,

********
Disinfecting small quantities of water

Boiling:

Boiling is the best way to kill bacteria, viruses and parasites.
A full boil for at least one minute is recommended. At elevations
over 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) you should boil water for at least
two minutes to disinfect it.

NOTE: This is not appropriate for water that is obviously heavily
polluted, or subject to chemical contamination.

To remove the flat taste of boiled water, leave the boiled water
in a clean covered container for a few hours or pour the cooled
boiled water back and forth from one clean container to another.

Disinfection using chemical methods:

Unscented household bleach (5% chlorine) can sometimes be a good
disinfectant - e.g. when the water is not heavily polluted, or
when beaver fever or cryptosporidiosis are not a concern.

Disinfection using bleach works best with warm water. Add 1 drop
(0.05 mL) of bleach to 1 Litre (quart) of water, shake and allow
to stand for at least 30 minutes before drinking.

Double the amount of bleach for cloudy water, or for cooler water.

A slight chlorine odour should still be noticeable at the end of
the 30 minute waiting period if you have added enough bleach.

The disinfection action of bleach depends as much on the waiting
time after mixing as to the amount used. The longer the water is
left to stand after adding bleach, the more effective the
disinfection process will be.

NOTE: Bleach does not work well in killing off beaver fever
(Giardia) or Cryptosporidium parasites. The amount of bleach
needed to kill these parasites makes the water almost impossible
to drink. If beaver fever or Cryptosporidium are in your water,
boiling is the best way to ensure safe drinking water.

(From http://www.bchealthguide.org/healthfiles/hfile49b.stm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Una, thanks very much for the update. I have trying to reach Jere by phone
since yesterday but have been getting all-circuits-busy or
unable-to-complete your call messages.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 24

Thanks for sending out the word on where we would be. I think you are
the last person we talked to before leaving the house for Pat's. We
passed a safe night and checked on the house this morning. Everything
at the house and my neighborhood is good. Electricity, water, and
minimal tree damage. Our area was developed in the early 1900's. the
original houses and businesses schools have survived a lot of weather.
We have many sycamore and pecan trees as well as oak. Most of the trees
are natives and most people only plant native gardens and new trees. So
we are built for staying power. New construction has entered in the
form of the three story jobs that are so popular these days. I have no
idea how they made out.

Billie and I didn't sleep well so have been making up for that since
arriving home. I think all the lifting and twisting and packing finally
caught up with me and my back hurts like a hell this morning. A sure
sign that it is time to lay down a while. Lots to do though and shall
begin.

Thank you all for the concern and willingness to take in the three of
us. We will stay put since we have what we need here and we don't have
the energy at this point for another move.

A word on the bus that exploded. That assisted living place was very
nice. I had talked to them when we were contemplating moving Aunt Anna
here from Kilgore. She was too frail for their services. I recently
called to inquire about a possible spot for Aunt Billie. I decided she
was too frail at this time and that she wanted to return to Covington if
possible. So was putting off any decision till we could revisit family
and friends there. I doubt that I would have let her travel by bus to
Dallas, but I would have considered it as a safer option for her. I just
would not have subjected her to another trip and shelter at this point.

At any rate, she could not make the stairs up to the bedrooms at Pat's
last night so they brought down two mattresses for us. At around 2:30
she needed to go to the bathroom and it was obvious that she was not
going to make it up from the floor too many more times, so I put her on
a sofa, but it was the room next to me, so I slept with an ear out for
her. At some point I just got on the sofa with her, it was roomy, but
we were life two peas in a pod. I would never have expected to end up on
sofa with Billie in the middle of a hurricane. But that is why we both
collapsed on arriving home. The thing about Billie at this point is she
is resigned to what ever fate brings her. She feels safe with Ted and I
and will do what ever we say. There is a deep sadness about her but
still she laughed and joked with a bunch of "queer boys" (her words for
three couples of men who have been partners for many years) who were
rather outrageous at dinner last night. They had all helped to secure
our safe haven. One of the guests was a woman from Marin County
California whose return flight was booked for Saturday at noon and
couldn't get out earlier. She and Billie and Ted and I played gin for
an hour before bedtime. As we were falling asleep last night, Billie
said, "I never thought I would be spending the evening with so many
'queer boys.' They are very nice men." She meant it. They all are nice
men. Two teachers, a realtor, a financial advisor, a house husband who
keeps the B&B running, and an ex-priest turned chaplain. We passed a fun
time, yea. And William Mary was the queen of the fete.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 26, back to normal--thinking about other people

We Don't Exist
By Cindy Sheehan
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Sunday 25 September 2005

Last weekend, Karl Rove said that I was a clown and the anti-war movement was "non-existent." I wonder if the hundreds of thousands of people who showed up today to protest this war and George's failed policies know that they don't exist. It is also so incredible to me that Karl thinks that he can wish us away by saying we aren't real. Well, Karl and Co., we are real, we do exist and we are not going away until this illegal and immoral occupation of Iraq is over and you are sent back to the depths of whatever slimy, dark, and loathsome place you came from. I may be a clown, Karl, but you are about to be indicted. You also preside over one of the biggest three-ring, malevolent circuses of all time: the Bush administration.

The rally today was overwhelming and powerful. The reports that I was arrested today were obviously false. The peace rally was mostly very peaceful. Washington, DC was filled with energetic and proud Americans who came from all over to raise their voices in unison against the criminals who run our government and their disastrous policies that are making our nation more vulnerable to all kinds of attacks (natural and "Bush"-made disasters).

I led the march for peace alongside such venerable activists as the Reverends Al Sharpton, Bob Edgars, and Jesse Jackson Jr., and Julian Bond. Two of our Congresswomen with cajones from California, Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey, also led the march.

Many people told me thank you for coming. I want to tell America "Thank you!!" At the Camp Casey reunion this evening, I was so overcome with emotion and gratitude that I wanted to hug every citizen of this country. We in the Camp Casey movement are so proud and thrilled that America showed up in such great numbers.

So much happened today! I am exhausted but very content. I am again filled with a renewed sense of hope that we will get our country back and get our troops home. I was also thrilled at the number of young people who came out today. That is another great sign that the side of good is winning.

With the Reverends, we stopped in front of the White House and said a prayer. After the prayer, I said that we are light and they are darkness. Darkness can NEVER overcome the light, ever. As long as there is one spark, the darkness has lost. We will prevail, we will be victorious. The darkness has lost because our beacons of peace and truth are shining for the entire world to see. And it is a very pretty sight. Take that Karl.

No Apple for Cindy

Be ashamed New York, be very ashamed

NYPD Unplugs Cindy Sheehan
City?s Finest pulls move even Bush wouldn?t have tried

by Sarah Ferguson
September 19th, 2005 5:54 PM

Cindy Sheehan may be the Rosa Parks of the anti-war movement. But that didn't stop members of the New York Police Department from marching into the crowd of about 150 people gathered in Union Square Monday to hear her speak and yanking away the microphone.

The NYPD pulled the plug just as Sheehan was calling on the audience not to lose heart in the fight to end the war in Iraq.

"We get up every morning, and every morning we see this enormous mountain in front of us," said Sheehan, speaking on behalf of the other parents and family members of fallen soldiers who have taken up the crusade to bring the troops home.

"We can't go through it, we can't go under it, so we have to go over it," she continued, just as the cops rushed the makeshift podium.

http://villagevoice.com/news/0538,fergusonshee,67983,2.html

Hard to be a Republican

Demetrius' genius!!!!!!

and then there was Subway

"Hard to be a Republican"

If I think of all the things I've got
The work of all my life
Multi-million dollar house
Preppy kids and trophy wife

I thank those country stars
That shill for me today
I've got the flag to wrap up in
as I push the poor away

And It's hard to be a Republican
'Cause the best things just aren't free
So a yellow ribbon for those who died
adorns my S-U-V

And I'd gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
'Cept I've got other priorities
and a pimple on my A.

From estates down in Florida
In gated communities
Vacation ranch in Texas
You'll find proud GOP

Screw Detroit and Chicago
and New York and LA
The blue that flows there's not the blood
So screw 'em all, I say

And It's hard to be a Republican
'Cause the best things just aren't free
So a yellow ribbon for those who died
adorns my S-U-V

And I'd gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
'Cept I've got other priorities
and a pimple on my A.

And It's hard to be a Republican
'Cause the best things just aren't free
So a yellow ribbon for those who died
adorns my S-U-V

And I'd gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
'Cept I've got other priorities
and a pimple on my A.

http://www.walkthroughlife.com/midis/christian/GodBlesstheUSA.mid

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

When tomorrow all the things are gone,
We've worked for all our lives,
And the right has saved the nation,
From homosexuals and their wives,

I'll wish on every star,
We'd had Clinton here today,
Or wish to hear that Howard scream,
And make it go away!

And it's hard to be a Republican,
Where I thought my lunch was free.
And I can't believe the spinmeisters,
Who sold that crap to me.

And I'd gladly stand up if I could,
But they'd haul my ass away.
'Cause there ain't no doubt I bought their scam,
And screwed the USA.

From the words of Bill O'Reilly,
That I heard on my tv,
From Novak and Rush Limbaugh,
It all made sense to me.

The Liberals and the Feminists,
Were the ones we had to blame.
But my best friend drowned in sewage,
And the Bush response was lame.

And it's hard to be a Republican,
Where I thought my lunch was free.
And I can't believe the spinmeisters,
Who sold that crap to me.

And I'd gladly stand up If I could,
But they'd haul my ass away.
'Cause there ain't no doubt I bought their scam,
And screwed the USA.

Faces of Katrina

Kyanna Smith and her stepsister Regine Walker live in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. Kyanna is looking for her brother?s Pernell and Jermaine Smith and her sister Kylia Smith. To contact Kyanna and Regine call the Bayou Black Recreation Center at (985) 876-4270 or (985) 876-4723.

The Houma, LA paper has a photogallery of Katrina survivors

http://www.houmatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=HC&Date=20050906&Category=PHOTOGALLERY06&ArtNo=906001&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=3

Not all the faces showing up are hearwarming:

These three pro-Big Oil, anti-environmental Congressmen do not
represent their state. Instead, Jeff Miller, Cliff Stearns, and Michael
Bilirakis, represent their masters, the big donors to their
campaigns. Behind them, from left to right, one of the 20 oil
platforms destroyed during Hurricane Katrina, oil spill cleanup
efforts on a beach and a duch who was polluted by a spill.

Kimmy Does a Rant

Hi guys!! Good morning Monica!

Have been so so so friggin' busy with the kids / work I don't have a clue about whats going on politically. I swear to god.. I'm grossing myself out and will catch up immediatly, starting here!

BUT

I just had to pop in and comment on the ugh.. cruise...

Ummm..Well..anyone have any diamond earrings I can borrow to go on said cruise because umm..I'm just NOT going on a CRUISE without 'em!!!

Sheeeeeeeeeesh that is just... thats.. buckwild. Okay I'll leave it at that and I hope everyone has a beautifully informed day

xoxo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
hi Kimmy! oh, no! are you saying I have to wear those things to get on the cruise? Monica, I might not be able to accept your kind offer of a ticket - I DON'T HAVE DIAMOND EARRINGS! maybe if I borrow a pair of cubic zarconias...

Kimmy, honey, perhaps you're thinking of a BIG, LUXURIOUS BOAT, when you think of a cruise on my lake? lol! click for pics!

http://www.lakechamplaincruises.com/gallery.htm#

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...kimmy wrote on September 19, 2005 06:11 AM:

Jo*in*Vermont wrote on September 19, 2005 06:05 AM
hahahahahahaha

I TOTALLY WAS!! Cruise is like.. going to Jamaica, Walt Disney Resort, some beautiful tiki-d out land o' exotica or something to me.. I dunno *shrug& hehehe

One look at that and I decided to brush my teeth and try going to bed one more time. I thought I landed on a GOP site or somethin'...

Yeah, yeah it pays to know what the hell you're talking about and all that..a friggin' lake..who knew?!

And thanks Monica!

What would I do without you guys?!
hehehehe

Back to that bed thing! *friggin' mumble mumble bad word mumble insomnia!*
arrrrrrrrgh

Yeah, yeah it pays to know what the hell you're talking about and all that..a friggin' lake..who knew?!
__________________________
Of course it says LAKE on that logo..

whatever. ;)

Goodnight!!

http://www.dfalink.com/fallcruise

Umpire Roberts

And now a word from the spouse:

At a recent Senate confirmation hearing, Judge Roberts took a swing at a question by claiming that he would, as Chief Justice, be an umpire rather than a player.

As the founder and (as yet) only member of CHASM (Concerned Humanists Against Sports Metaphors), I invite other acrimonious acronymics to join a coalition. Let SPASM (Serious People Against Sports Metaphors) and ORGASM (Outraged Radical Gays Against Sports Metaphors) and all the other -asms huddle together and hold the line against such gamey rhetoric. Only through teamwork . . . oh, never mind.

Julian Smith

I SCREAM --redux

I SCREAM

YOU SCREAM

WE ALL SCREAM FOR NEW ORLEANS

The first Howard Dean campaign for the presidency came to a premature end in part because the major media managed to reduce his efforts to a rallying cry he uttered after his first outing in Iowa.

For some of us, that rallying cry became a sort of mantra. Union workers in New Mexico used it to identify their interests with his.

Now, it strikes me as appropriate that the nation will not only benefit from being reminded that Howard Dean, whatever the occasion of his scream, was right, but it needs to set up a scream of its own. There has been a lot to scream about and, unfortunately, if past is prologue, there will be more to come. Because the people who brought us the disaster in Iraq, are gearing up to make the disaster in Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama worse.

Which is why, when the citizens from all over the country march on Washington this September 24, they should make sure their lungs are in good shape and come prepared to let out a scream for peace and justice that will be heard around the globe, especially in Baghdad and New Orleans.

Should Have Known

When an agency of our government puts out the kind of drivel DHS has on its site, there's no question we're going to be in trouble. But why is it that the very people who made sport of the Soviet attempt to plan, can't seem to recognize that words on paper just don't cut it with Mother Nature?

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=60&content=306

Hazard Mitigation

Planning Ahead in Case of Disaster

Hazard mitigation is sustained action to alleviate or eliminate risks to life and property from natural or man-made hazard events. Through such actions as sound land use planning and landscape design, adoption of building codes, property acquisition and relocation outside of floodplains, mitigation activities can protect critical community facilities to assure functionality following an event, reduce exposure to liabilities, and minimize disruptions to the community. A goal of mitigation is to decrease the need for a response as opposed to increasing the response capability. In-turn, hazard mitigation activities may reduce post-disaster expenditures across all levels of government and to property owners.

Mitigation can be best implemented through three stages of the disaster cycle: planning, response, and recovery. Some of the work in the planning stages before a disaster includes building public awareness of mitigation techniques, creating state and local hazard mitigation plans, integrating hazard mitigation criteria into comprehensive plans, and engineering public facilities to withstand the effects of an event. Immediately following an event, typical response phase activities include evacuation activities and location of emergency equipment and supplies out of high-risk areas. Through lessons learned, recovery activities following an event may include relocation or retrofitting.

Much as already been accomplished in the hazard mitigation arena at all levels of government and withi

n the public and private sector. However, these accomplishments have been replaced by future challenges. Working with our state, local and private partners we hope to be contributing players in moving our communities towards meeting those challenges.

Mark Fiore on NO

http://www.markfiore.com/animation/gras.html

Jere Speaks Her Mind

Since George the Lesser is unlikely to read his mail, it only seems fair to publish it for the world to see.

Are they keeping all the e-mails in the White House like they are supposed to?

Sister-woman's are certainly worth it.

Dear President Bush,

I am a 64 year old woman from Houston. I have never missed voting in an election since I turned 21, the legal age, at that time. I had to take a test in order to vote, a tricky test. I want you to know how much I honor the power of the vote.

I am writing to you to strongly urge you to meet with Cindy Sheehan and speak with her. Listen to her. Listen with your heart to a woman who has made the ultimate sacrifice for a war that you have supported and pushed for. I would hate to see anything happen to Ms. Sheehan, like her being roughed up or arrested. I think that would awaken a very strong populous.

It is time for you to begin to really engage with the people of this country. Your pat little sound bites and pat answers to everything are not serving your agenda or the American people. Please do speak to this woman. Perhaps then you could become what you have always wanted to appear as, a compassionate man. Like so many other mothers and grandmothers I will be watching. There are all kinds of prisons, Mr. President. I think you have found yours. But you hold the key to freedom.

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

Dear Mr. President,

The news of the inflated resume of Mr. Brown is disturbing. You appointed a man who was not only unqualified to head up this agency, he has demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of the complexities of getting the help to the people and governments that have been affected by Katrina. His actions have compounded the misery and suffering and the deaths of many people. How could you be so callous, self serving, to allow this injustice to happen. Are you truly stupid? Are do you just not care? It is time to stand up and be a man. Fire the man, and hire someone who is qualified. You seem to have finally chosen someone to run thing in the disaster zone, now get someone with some smarts and qualifications in Washington. He is probably sitting behind a desk there already, weeping in frustration.

I want to know where the FBI was? Where was Congress? Where were the real Christian churches?

This is what I want you to really get. People are losing trust, Republicans too, in the Federal Government. You have destroyed American confidence. Allow reporters in to New Orleans to observe the forces picking up the dead. This needs to be documented. Everything you do from now on needs to be documented and held up to the light of day for public scrutiny. You are all there is right now. I am praying for your almighty soul and the soul of the United States and its people. Grow up now, be a man and take your licks.

Winifred S. Pfister

Native of Covington, LA, born and married in New Orleans, four children born in New Orleans, family buried in New Orleans.

Day 16

While Mr Hollingsworth lay on a couch in his home -- apparently alone, forgotten, without food or water, sinking into unconsciousness -- Mr Bush was doing the following :

Golfing

Licking cake frosting off his fingers

Strumming a guitar

Giving a propaganda speech in San Diego comparing Iraq to WWII and himself to FDR

Flying 2,000 feet overhead

Dragging his feet - sitting on his LAZY ASS - for FIVE LONG DAYS, while he and his gov't were in a state of PARALYSIS

Telling that horse's ass, 'Brownie you're doing a heck of a job'

Engaging in a pissing match with the Governor of Louisiana

Playing the Blame Game to try to pin his own inaction and negligence on everyone else

Taking full responsibility for the federal government failure to save people like Mr Hollingsworth ( Will Mr Bush receive consequences for his deadly inaction ? WILL HE ? )

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/14/12516/3649

NO Report

directNIC has been maintaining the

Survival of New Orleans Blog

http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/

and offers this vignette of how the rescues went:

Monday, September 12th, 2005
5:05 pm
Robert LeBlanc
Information and stories from Robert LeBlanc as passed on to me by a friend.

Jeff Rau, a family and now personal friend to whom I will forever be linked, and I were volunteering with a boat and pulling people out of the water on Wednesday. I have a first-hand experience of what we encountered. In my opinion, everything that is going on in the media is a complete bastardization of what is really happening. The result is that good people are dying and losing family members. I have my own set of opinions about welfare and people working to improve thier own lot instead of looking for handouts, but what is occurring now is well beyond those borders. These people need help and need to get out. We can sort out all of the social and political issues later, but human beings with any sense of compassion would agree that the travesty that is going on here in New Orleans needs to end and people's lives need to be saved and families need to be put back together.

Now. I will tell you that I would probably disagree with most of the people that still need to be saved on political, social, and cultural values. However, it must be noted that these people love thier friends and families like I do, desire to live like I do, and care for their respective communities (I was even amazed at the site of seemingly young and poor black people caring for sickly and seemingly well-to-do white people and tourists still needing evacuation from New Orleans' downtown area) the same way I care for mine.

Eight people in particular who stood out during our rescue and whose stories deserve to be told:

1.) We were in motor boats all day ferrying people back and forth approximately a mile and a half each way (from Carrolton down Airline Hwy to the Causeway overpass). Early in the day, we witnessed a black man in a boat with no motor paddling with a piece of lumber. He rescued people in the boat and paddled them to safety (a mile and a half). He then, amidst all of the boats with motors, turned around and paddled back out across the mile and a half stretch to do his part in getting more people out. He refused to give up or occupy any of the motored boat resources because he did not want to slow us down in our efforts. I saw him at about 5:00 p.m., paddling away from the rescue point back out into the neighborhoods with about a half mile until he got to the neighborhood, just two hours before nightfall. I am sure that his trip took at least an hour and a half each trip, and he was going back to get more people knowing that he'd run out of daylight. He did all of this with a two-by-four.

2.) One of the groups that we rescued were 50 people standing on the bridge that crosses over Airline Hwy just before getting to Carrolton Ave going toward downtown. Most of these people had been there, with no food, water, or anyplace to go since Monday morning (we got to them Wed afternoon) and surrounded by 10 feet of water all around them. There was one guy who had been there since the beginning, organizing people and helping more people to get to the bridge safely as more water rose on Wednesday morning. He did not leave the bridge until everyone got off safely, even deferring to people who had gotten to the bridge Wed a.m. and, although inconvenienced by loss of power and weather damage, did have the luxury of some food and some water as late as Tuesday evening. This guy waited on the bridge until dusk, and was one of the last boats out that night. He could have easily not made it out that night and been stranded on the bridge alone.

3.) The third story may be the most compelling. I will not mince words. This was in a really rough neighborhood and we came across five seemingly unsavory characters. One had scars from what seemed to be gunshot wounds. We found these guys at a two-story recreational complex, one of the only two-story buildings in the neighborhood. They broke into the center and tried to rustle as many people as possible from the neighborhood into the center. These guys stayed outside in the center all day, getting everyone out of the rec center onto boats. We approached them at approximately 6:30 p.m., obviously one of the last trips of the day, and they sent us further into the neighborhood to get more people out of homes and off rooftops instead of getting on themselves. This at the risk of their not getting out and having to stay in the water for an undetermined (you have to understand the uncertainly that all of the people in these accounts faced without having any info on the resc! ue ef!
forts, how far or deep the flooding was, or where to go if they want to swim or walk out) amount of time. These five guys were on the last boat out of the neighborhood at sundown. They were incredibly grateful, mentioned numerous times 'God is going to bless y'all for this'. When we got them to the dock, they offered us an Allen Iverson jersey off of one of their backs as a gesture of gratitude, which was literally probably the most valuable possession among them all. Obviously, we declined, but I remain tremendously impacted by this gesture.

I don't know what to do with all of this, but I think we need to get this story out. Some of what is being portrayed among the media is happening and is terrible, but it is among a very small group of people, not the majority. They make it seem like New Orleans has somehow taken the atmosphere of the mobs in Mogadishu portrayed in the book and movie "Black Hawk Down," which is making volunteers (including us) more hesitant and rescue attempts more difficult. As a result, people are dying. My family has been volunteering at the shelters here in Houma and can count on one hand the number of people among thousands who have not said "Thank You." or "God Bless You." Their lives shattered and families torn apart, gracious just to have us serve them beans and rice.

If anything, these eight people's stories deserve to be told, so that people across the world will know what they really did in the midst of this devastation. So that it will not be assumed that they were looting hospitals, they were shooting at helicopters. It must be known that they, like many other people that we encountered, sacrificed themselves during all of this to help other people in more dire straits than their own.

It is also important to know that this account is coming from someone who is politically conservative, believes in capitalism and free enterprise, and is traditionally against many of the opinions and stances of activists like Michael Moore and other liberals on most of the hot-topic political issues of the day. Believe me, I am not the political activist. This transcends politics. This is about humanity and helping mankind. We need to get these people out. Save their lives. We can sort out all of the political and social issues later. People need to know the truth of what is going on at the ground level so that they know that New Orleans and the people stranded there are, despite being panicked and desperate, gracious people and they deserve the chance to live. They need all of our help, as well.

This is an accurate account of things. Jeffery Rau would probably tell the same exact stories.

Regards,
Robert LeBlanc

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September 13th, 2005 4:45 pm
Arizona Food Not Bombs shares food with truckers, evacuees

by Emrys / New Orleans Independent Media

After receiving word that over 100 truckers were sitting in a Target parking lot in east Baton Rouge, the AZ Food Not Bombs mobile kitchen showed up with several pots of beans, chili and rice.

We spent a couple hours talking with the semi drivers, who were operating under FEMA to bring water and food into New Orleans ? but, as we saw, all were just sitting in the parking lot waiting for directions. Some had been there for days, some for more than a week, without any food or supplies from the government or any other relief agencies.

Many shared stories of frustration with the bureaucracy of the federal government and FEMA. Dozens of tanker trucks carrying 50,000 gallons of water each were parked in rows, awaiting orders to travel into affected areas and fill up 10-gallon jugs to hand out. Only a few trucks at a time are allowed in, and it takes nearly 24 hours to empty a tanker, leaving the majority of them sitting around doing absolutely nothing.

?They?ve got their thumbs up their asses,? said one driver talking about the incompetence of FEMA.

On the way to the truck staging area, the FNB crew had attempted to feed the Louisiana National Guard at the homeland security complex in Baton Rouge, but were told that they had two cafeterias and were well taken care of.

After spending about two hours serving the truck drivers, the FNB bus headed back across the city to the River Center where a few thousand refugees are still being housed. Our bus arrived about an hour before the 10:00 pm curfew and was able to catch people as they trickled by to stand in a 2-hour long security line to re-enter the shelter.

Many refugees were from New Orleans, some only having left yesterday under the mandatory evacuation, others had been there for over a week. Some had spent time in the Super Dome and recounted horrific stories that nearly brought them to tears. It is a highly emotional scene, as each has their own story of loss and their own vision of hope.

The FNB bus will head out to Covington, a town about an hour east of Baton Rouge where Veterans for Peace is organizing a major shelter. We have made contact with several other areas in eastern Louisiana that need help and supplies, and plan to begin visiting those areas throughout the week.

www.foodnotbombs.net

History in Pictures

http://skogsblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/its-9-11-do-you-know-where-osama-is.html

On Katrina's Front Lines

A Doctor's Message from Katrina's Front Lines
September 7, 2005 · Hemant Vankawala, 34, is a doctor with one of the nine Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) medical groups set up at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, treating evacuees from New Orleans. He is an emergency room physician in Dallas, Texas, and joined a Dallas-based DMAT just two months ago -- just in time for the biggest natural disaster in American history.

Here are excerpts from an e-mail he sent to family, friends and colleagues about his experience:

My team was activated 11 days ago. For the past eight days, I have been living and working at the New Orleans airport, delivering medical care to the Katrina hurricane survivors.

Let me start by saying that I am safe, and after a very rough first week [I] am now better-rested and fed. Our team was the first to arrive at the airport and set up our field hospital. We watched our population grow from 30 DMAT personnel taking care of six patients and two security guards [to] around 10,000 people in the first 15 hours.

These people had had no food or water or security for several days and were tired, frustrated, sick, wet, and heartbroken. People were brought in by trucks, buses, ambulances, school buses, cars and helicopters. We received patients from hospitals, schools, homes ... the entire remaining population of New Orleans, funneled through our doors.

Our little civilian team, along with a couple of other DMAT teams, set up and ran the biggest evacuation this country has ever seen. The numbers are absolutely staggering.

In hindsight, it seems silly that a bunch of civilian yahoos came in and took over the airport and had it up and running -- exceeding its normal operating load of passengers -- with an untrained skeleton crew and generator partial power. But we did what we had to do, and I think we did it well.

Our team has been working the flight line, off-loading helos [helicopters]. Overnight, we turned New Orleans' airport into the busiest helicopter base in the entire world. At any given time, there were at least eight to 10 helos off-loading on the tarmac, each filled with 10 to 40 survivors at a time, with 10 circling to land ... It was a non-stop, never-ending, 24-hour-a-day operation.

The CNN footage does not even begin to do it justice -- the roar of rotor blades, the smell of jet-A [fuel] and the thousands of eyes looking at us for answers, for hope...

Our busiest day, we off-loaded just under 15,000 patients by air and ground. At that time, we had about 30 medical providers and 100 ancillary staff. All we could do was provide the barest amount of comfort care. We watched many, many people die. We practiced medical triage at its most basic -- "black-tagging" the sickest people and culling them from the masses so that they could die in a separate area.

I cannot even begin to describe the transformation in my own sensibilities, from my normal practice of medicine to the reality of the operation here. We were so short on wheelchairs and litters we had to stack patients in airport chairs and lay them on the floor. They remained there for hours, too tired to be frightened, too weak to care about their urine- and stool-soaked clothing, too desperate to even ask what was going to happen next.

Imagine trading single-patient-use latex gloves for a pair of thick leather work gloves that never came off your hands -- then you can begin to imagine what it was like.

We did not practice medicine. There was nothing sexy or glamorous or routine about what we did. We moved hundreds of patients an hour, thousands of patients a day, off the flightline and into the terminal and baggage area. Patients were loaded onto baggage carts and trucked to the baggage area ... like, well, baggage. And there was no time to talk, no time to cry, no time to think, because they kept on coming. Our only salvation was when the bureaucratic Washington machine was able to ramp up and streamline the exodus of patients out of here.

Our team worked a couple of shifts in the medical tent as well. Imagine people so desperate, so sick, so like the five to 10 "true" emergencies you may get on a shift ... only coming through the door non-stop. Now imagine having no beds, no [oxygen], no nothing -- except some nitro, aspirin and all the good intentions in the world.

We did everything from delivering babies to simply providing morphine and a blanket to septic and critical patients, and allowing them to die.

During the days that it took for that exodus to occur, we filled the airport to its bursting point. There was a time when there were 16,000 angry, tired, frustrated people here. There were stabbings, rapes and people on the verge of mobbing. The flightline, lined with two parallel rows of Dauphins, Sea Kings, Hueys, Chinooks and every other kind of helicopter imaginable, was a dangerous place -- but we were much more frightened whenever we entered the sea of displaced humanity that had filled every nook and cranny of the airport.

[It's] only now that the thousands of survivors have been evacuated -- and the floors soaked in bleach, the putrid air allowed to exchange for fresh, the number of soldiers [outnumbering] the patients -- that we feel safe.

I have met so many people while down here -- people who were at Ground Zero at 9-11, people who have done tsunami relief, tours in Iraq -- and every one of them has said this is the worst thing they have ever seen. It's unanimous, and these are some battle-worn veterans of every kind of disaster you can imagine.

For those of you who want to help, the next step is to help [evacuees] who arrive in your local area. The only real medical care these survivors will receive is once they land in a safe, clean area far from here. For the 50,000 people we ran through this airport over the last couple of days -- if they were able to survive and make it somewhere else -- their care will begin only when providers in Dallas and Houston and Chicago and Baton Rouge volunteer at the shelters and provide care.

And yes, there are many, many more on their way. Many of the sickest simply died while here at the airport. Many have been stressed beyond measure and will die shortly, even though they were evacuated. If you are not medical, then go the shelters, hold hands, give hugs and prayers. If nothing else, it will remind you how much you have, and how grateful we all should be.

These people have nothing. Not only have they lost their material possessions and homes, many have lost their children, spouses, parents, arms, legs, vision... everything that is important.

Talk to these survivors, hear their stories and what they have been through. Look into their eyes. You will never think of America the same way. You will never look at your family the same way. You will never look at your home the same way. And I promise, it will forever change the way you practice medicine.

Hemant H. Vankawala, M.D.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``
The perspective of repair crews:

Power crews diverted
Restoring pipeline came first

By Nikki Davis Maute

RANDY SNYDER | Hattiesburg American

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina roared through South Mississippi knocking out electricity and communication systems, the White House ordered power restored to a pipeline that sends fuel to the Northeast.

That order - to restart two power substations in Collins that serve Colonial Pipeline Co. - delayed efforts by at least 24 hours to restore power to two rural hospitals and a number of water systems in the Pine Belt.

At the time, gasoline was in short supply across the country because of Katrina. Prices increased dramatically and lines formed at pumps across the South.

"I considered it a presidential directive to get those pipelines operating," said Jim Compton, general manager of the South Mississippi Electric Power Association - which distributes power that rural electric cooperatives sell to consumers and businesses.

"I reluctantly agreed to pull half our transmission line crews off other projects and made getting the transmission lines to the Collins substations a priority," Compton said. "Our people were told to work until it was done.

"They did it in 16 hours, and I consider the effort unprecedented."

Katrina slammed into South Mississippi and Southeast Louisiana on Aug. 29, causing widespread devastation and plunging most of the area - including regional medical centers and rural hospitals - into darkness.

The storm also knocked out two power substations in Collins, just north of Hattiesburg. The substations were crucial to Atlanta-based Colonial Pipeline, which moves gasoline and diesel fuel from Texas, through Louisiana and Mississippi and up to the Northeast.

"We were led to believe a national emergency was created when the pipelines were shut down," Compton said.

White House call

Dan Jordan, manager of Southern Pines Electric Power Association, said Vice President Dick Cheney's office called and left voice mails twice shortly after the storm struck, saying the Collins substations needed power restored immediately.

Jordan dated the first call the night of Aug. 30 and the second call the morning of Aug. 31. Southern Pines supplies electricity to the substation that powers the Colonial pipeline.

Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Mike Callahan said the U.S. Department of Energy called him on Aug. 31. Callahan said department officials said opening the fuel line was a national priority.

Cheney's office referred calls about the pipeline to the Department of Homeland Security. Calls there were referred to Kirk Whitworth, who would not take a telephone message and required questions in the form of an e-mail.

Susan Castiglione, senior manager of corporate and public affairs with Colonial Pipeline, did not return phone calls.

Compton said workers who were trying to restore substations that power two rural hospitals - Stone County Hospital in Wiggins and George County Hospital in Lucedale - worked instead on the Colonial Pipeline project.

The move caused power to be restored at least 24 hours later than planned.

Mindy Osborn, emergency room coordinator at Stone County Hospital, said the power was not restored until six days after the storm on Sept. 4. She didn't have the number of patients who were hospitalized during the week after the storm.

"Oh, yes, 24 hours earlier would have been a help," Osborn said.

Compton said workers who were trying to restore power to some rural water systems also were taken off their jobs and placed on the Colonial Pipeline project. Compton did not name specific water systems affected.

Callahan's visit

Callahan is one of three elected public service commissioners who oversee most public utilities in the state. Commissioners, however, have no authority over rural electric power cooperatives.

Nevertheless, Callahan said he drove to Compton's office on U.S. 49 North in Hattiesburg to tell him about the call from the Department of Energy. Callahan said he would support whatever decision Compton made.

Callahan said energy officials told him gasoline and diesel fuel needed to flow through the pipeline to avert a national crisis from the inability to meet fuel needs in the Northeast.

Callahan said the process of getting the pipelines flowing would be difficult and that there was a chance the voltage required to do so would knock out the system - including power to Wesley Medical Center in Hattiesburg.

With Forrest General Hospital operating on generators, Wesley was the only hospital operating with full electric power in the Pine Belt in the days following Katrina.

"Our concern was that if Wesley went down, it would be a national crisis for Mississippi," Callahan said. "We knew it would take three to four days to get Forrest General Hospital's power restored and we did not want to lose Wesley."

Compton, though, followed the White House's directive.

Nathan Brown, manager of power supply for the electric association, was responsible for overseeing the delicate operation of starting the 5,000-horsepower pumps at the pipeline.

Engineers with Southern Co., the parent company of Mississippi Power Co., did a dual analysis of what it would take to restore power and Brown worked with Southern Co. engineers on the best and quickest way to restore power.

Work began at 10 a.m. Sept. 1 and power was restored at 2 a.m. Sept. 2 - a 16-hour job.

Night work

A good bit of the work took place at night.

Line foreman Matt Ready was in charge of one of the teams that worked to power the substations and the pipeline. Ready's shift started at 6 a.m. Sept. 1; he received word about the job four hours later and saw it to completion.

"We were told to stay with it until we got power restored," Ready said. "We had real safety issues because there were fires in the trees on the lines and broken power poles."

Ready described working on the lines in the dark like attempting to clear fallen trees out of a yard with a flashlight and a chain saw.

"Everything was dangerous," he said.

Ready said the crew members did not learn they were restoring power to pipelines until after the job was done.

How did they feel about that?

"Is this on the record?" Ready asked. "Well, then, we are all glad we were able to help out."

Compton said he was happy to support the national effort. But he said it was a difficult decision to make because of the potential impact in the region had the plan not worked and the area's power restoration was set back days.

"It was my decision to balance what was most important to people in South Mississippi with this all-of-a-sudden national crisis of not enough gas or diesel fuel," Compton said.

"In the future, the federal government needs to give us guidelines if this is such a national emergency so that I can work that in my plans."

Originally published September 11, 2005

Update from Houston

Houston is doing a wonderful job.  The people are generous and we have
lots of apartment space evidently.  We have a good mayor who has a
successful business background.  The plan is to move everyone out of
shelters by next week.  Will that work, I don't know. The mega and
smaller churches are chipping in. 

Houston has its own poor and people
need to remember them.  The Houston Chronicle's editorial today was
about Texas providing a month of free medicine to PWAs and birth control
and family planning for women, prescription drugs to any one from the
Katrina zone.  It asks about why we aren't providing those benefits to
our own citizens and why there have been so many cut backs in mental
health.  Services are set to be restored December 1, but what about now.
None of this is any good if it is just short term.  How much of the
country really realizes the extent of this disaster.  Will there be a
movement to make the whole country more people friendly.  I read where
the Republicans are pushing for school vouchers to be given out so
parents can get their kids into better schools.  As in faith based. As
in what?  White flight, religious schools are exactly what hurt the
public schools of New Orleans.  No, correction destroyed them.  All of
you parents who are so determined that your children have the best
chance in the world had better start asking, "At what child's expense?"
Close every private school in this country.  Demand that they turn over
their facilities and faculty, administrators to the public sector. 
Also demand that reporters be allowed to travel with the body recovery
teams in New Orleans and Mississippi. 

News from Houston

This is what cronyism has deprived the country of because, of course, it was always expected that people of this caliber would have the resources at the local level to work wonders BEFORE a natural disaster becomes a catastrophe, instead of AFTER.

September 09, 2005
From Texas, a First-Hand Account

I was sent this message from Melissa Noriega, the wife of Texas State Representative Rick Noriega who is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army. Last week, Houston Mayor Bill White appointed him to run operations at the George R. Brown Convention Center (GRB as it's in the letter), which houses 4000 evacuees. Lt. Colonel Noriega just returned from a tour in Afghanistan, and while there his wife Melissa held his seat in the Texas legislature.
My husband, Rick Noriega, humble public servant and state rep extrordinaire, has managed once again to blow me even me away. You all really should see what God, Mayorbill and Col. Rick Noriega have wrought.

The GRB is organized, orderly and automated. When the folks arrive, we cheer and clap for them, whisk away their dirty clothes while they shower and get them squared away. The moms get queensized air mattresses and the single men cots, in different areas, separated by police and National Guard walking around being very present and very nice. Everyone gets a blanket and a pillow, and if they ask, they can have a second one. The sheets are clearly donated and the floor of the GRB is a sea of quilt squares and out-of-style stripes. The generous people of Houston reached into their linen closets and made up the visitors' beds.

There is a chow hall. It is set up with round tables and chairs in groups. There are handwashing stations set up everywhere, with the hand gel to kill germs--so far the group is pretty healthy.There are port-a-potties tucked away from everyone. There is bottled water everywhere. The guests (that's what they are called--NOT refugees or victims) sit down and eat, with plasticware and napkins. There is a schedule for meals, and lots of lines, so folks don't have to stand long.
Upstairs there is a ballroom set up with TWO FULL SIZE parks gym set ups for the children. With chopped rubber chips underneath. If parents need to leave the kiddos to do paperwork or med stuff, they get a wristband that matches the kids and the volunteers will watch them while they play with the toys donated, again by the wonderful people of Housotn.

The middle ballroom is a TV room, with CNN and Fox going--these folks are needing info and news. As I stood in the doorway, a woman pointed at the screen and began to cry. There was a volunteer holding a fat cheeked baby on her shoulder. The mother said she had been under the bridge up on the TV at that moment for 6 days, holding this fat baby until she thought she couldn't hold him one more minute. She said when she got to GRB, a vounteer held the baby until she could shower and put on fresh clothes. She said she waded out from her house to the bridge with her son and two others in a
laundry basket over her head while the water was up to her chin. She was terrifed that she would hit a hole and she and the three babies would all drown.

The third ballroom is a library, with carrels of books, games and activites and a reading area. They just set up a computer lab there, so anyone can check websites or their email. There are also some computers for the older kids. The Parks folks set up both the park room and the library and have done an amazing job with a VERY small crew.

There is a command center, where they are building automated programs to figure out how many beds are left, how many folks they have and who they are. CenterPoint (our Electric Utility and Rick's company) and Second Baptist executives, as well as the City of Houston, folks are front and center, with a smattering of Marathon Oil folks doing the IT stuff with a guy from a mangement consulting firm who is our brother-in-law, Jerry Weisenfelder. He was here all Sat nite automating the whole record system. Incredible.

Mayor White gave Rick what he needed and the authority to do it. Every hour a new challenge arises and they march through it--the Rodeo folks showed up to help, and they got handed the transportation needs--getting families back together, getting people to other locations--and anyone who has been to the Rodeo know what geniuses they are at moving people!

There is a hospital--with mobile vans for dental and X-ray. (Thanks to UT and Mike McKinney.) There is a full size pharmacy (thanks to CVS), with security and staff. All of it has been built in 48 hours.

The City of Houston, CenterPoint, all the hundreds of volunteers, Second Baptist (the "2nd" folks are VERY sharp--Pastor Young lent at least three command staff level folks who are incredible.) The George Brown staff are brilliant and handing hairy things, like med hazardous waste and moving huge groups of people with great competence and a lovely attitude. The fancy Hilton next door is washing the guest clothes and returning them, as well as washing soiled linens. LOTs of babies and very small children.

The fire dept. folk, HPD--all are performing at max with a great attitude. I haven't even begun to name all the groups and individuals that deserve kudos, but there is what amounts to a city under the roof of Houston's George Brown Convention Center, and your son-in-law has done an incredible, magnificent job. I am beyond proud of my husband, grateful to God for the attitude and help everyone has provided, impressed with the City folks and just downright amazed at what has been done so quickly and so well. Next--a school. That stuff starts tomorrow.

This is NOT a permanent solution for these folks--a shelter is not housing, but Houston has risen to the task and has been magnificent. Please remember that this will not be over tomorrow when the news cameras go away and everyone goes back to work. We will need to work this hard to get these folks hooked up with opportunites to work and live again.

Pray for everyone down here--God bless,

Melissa Noriega

NO--September 7, 2005

Macabre Reminder: The Corpse on Union Street

By DAN BARRY
Published: September 8, 2005

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 7 - In the downtown business district here, on a dry stretch of Union Street, past the Omni Bank automated teller machine, across from a parking garage offering "early bird" rates: a corpse. Its feet jut from a damp blue tarp. Its knees rise in rigor mortis.

The sight of corpses has become almost common on the mostly abandoned streets of New Orleans, as rescue and evacuation operations have taken priority over removing the dead.

Six National Guardsmen walked up to it on Tuesday afternoon and two blessed themselves with the sign of the cross. One soldier took a parting snapshot like some visiting conventioneer, and they walked away. New Orleans, September 2005.

Hours passed, the dusk of curfew crept, the body remained. A Louisiana state trooper around the corner knew all about it: murder victim, bludgeoned, one of several in that area. The police marked it with traffic cones maybe four days ago, he said, and then he joked that if you wanted to kill someone here, this was a good time.

Night came, then this morning, then noon, and another sun beat down on a dead son of the Crescent City.

That a corpse lies on Union Street may not shock; in the wake of last week's hurricane, there are surely hundreds, probably thousands. What is remarkable is that on a downtown street in a major American city, a corpse can decompose for days, like carrion, and that is acceptable.

Welcome to New Orleans in the post-apocalypse, half baked and half deluged: pestilent, eerie, unnaturally quiet.

Scraggly residents emerge from waterlogged wood to say strange things, and then return into the rot. Cars drive the wrong way on the Interstate and no one cares. Fires burn, dogs scavenge, and old signs from les bons temps have been replaced with hand-scrawled threats that looters will be shot dead.

The incomprehensible has become so routine here that it tends to lull you into acceptance. On Sunday, for example, several soldiers on Jefferson Highway had guns aimed at the heads of several prostrate men suspected of breaking into an electronics store.

A car pulled right up to this tense scene and the driver leaned out his window to ask a soldier a question: "Hey, how do you get to the interstate?"

Maybe the slow acquiescence to the ghastly here - not in Baghdad, not in Rwanda, here - is rooted in the intensive news coverage of the hurricane's aftermath: floating bodies and obliterated towns equal old news. Maybe the concerns of the living far outweigh the dignity of a corpse on Union Street. Or maybe the nation is numb with post-traumatic shock.

Wandering New Orleans this week, away from news conferences and search-and-rescue squads, has granted haunting glimpses of the past, present and future, with the rare comfort found in, say, the white sheet that flaps, not in surrender but as a vow, at the corner of Poydras Street and St. Charles Avenue.

"We Shall Survive," it says, as though wishing past the battalions of bulldozers that will one day come to knock down water-corrupted neighborhoods and rearrange the Louisiana mud for the infrastructure of an altogether different New Orleans.

Here, then, the New Orleans of today, where open fire hydrants gush the last thing needed on these streets; where one of the many gag-inducing smells - that of rancid meat - is better than MapQuest in pinpointing the presence of a market; and where images of irony beg to be noticed.

The Mardi Gras beads imbedded in mud by a soldier's boot print. The "take-away" signs outside restaurants taken away. The corner kiosk shouting the Aug. 28 headline of New Orleans's Times-Picayune: "Katrina Takes Aim."

Rush hour in downtown now means pickups carrying gun-carrying men in sunglasses, S.U.V.'s loaded with out-of-town reporters hungry for action, and the occasional tank. About the only ones commuting by bus are dull-eyed suspects shuffling two-by-two from the bus-and-train terminal, which is now a makeshift jail.

Maybe some of them had helped to kick in the portal to the Williams Super Market in the once-desirable Garden District. And who could blame them if all they wanted was food in those first desperate days? The interlopers took the water, beer, cigarettes and snack food. They did not take the wine or the New Orleans postcards.

On the other side of downtown across Canal Street in the French Quarter, the most raucous and most unreal of American avenues is now little more than an empty alley with balconies.

The absence of sweetly blown jazz, of someone cooing "ma chère," of men sporting convention nametags and emitting forced guffaws - the absence of us - assaults the senses more than any smell.

Past the famous Cafe du Monde, where a slight breeze twirls the overhead fans for no one, past the statue of Joan of Arc gleaming gold, a man emerges from nothing on Royal Street. He is asked, "Where's St. Bernard Avenue?"

"Where's the ice?" he asks in return, eyes narrowed in menace. "Where's the ice? St. Bernard's is that way, but where's the ice?"

In Bywater and the surrounding neighborhoods, the severely damaged streets bear the names of saints who could not protect them. Whatever nature spared, human nature stepped up to provide a kind of democracy in destruction.

At the Whitney National Bank on St. Claude Avenue, diamond-like bits of glass spill from the crushed door, offering a view of the complementary coffee table. A large woman named Phoebe Au - "Pronounced 'Awe,' " she says - materializes to report that men had smashed it in with a truck. She fades into the neighborhood's broken brick, and a thin woman named Toni Miller materializes to correct the record.

"They used sledgehammers," she said.

Farther down St. Claude Avenue, where tanks rumble past a smoldering building, the roads are cluttered with vandalized city buses. The city parked them on the riverbank for the hurricane, after which some hoods took them for fare-free joy rides through lawless streets, and then discarded them.

On Clouet Street, where a days-old fire continues to burn where a warehouse once stood, a man on a bicycle wheels up through the smoke to introduce himself as Strangebone. The nights without power or water have been tough, especially since the police took away the gun he was carrying - "They beat me and threatened to kill me," he says - but there are benefits to this new world.

"You're able to see the stars," he says. "It's wonderful."

Today, law enforcement troops began lending muscle to Mayor C. Ray Nagin's vow to evacuate by force any residents too attached to their pieces of the toxic metropolis. They searched the streets for the likes of Strangebone, and that woman whose name sounds like Awe.

Meanwhile, back downtown, the shadows of another evening crept like spilled black water over someone's corpse.

Falls Creek, OK

Now that a few more days have passed since the disasterous aftermath of Katrina, it does seem that FEMA was well prepared with detention facilities for the victims, complete with a cell tower for communications, fire engines, ambulances and a contract to feed up to 5000 detainees at Falls Creek youth camp.

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/fema.html

I just got back from a FEMA Detainment Camp
Valhall

The Divine Sibyl
Keeper of the Mystic Fish

I'm extremely depressed to report that things seem to only be getting sadder concerning the people so devastatingly affected by Katrina last week. Two car loads of us headed over to Falls Creek, a youth camp for Southern Baptist churches in Oklahoma that agreed to have its facilities used to house Louisiana refugees. I'm afraid the camp is not going to be used as the kind people of the churches who own the cabins believe it was going to be used.

Jesse Jackson was right when he said "refugees" was not the appropriate word for the poor souls dislocated due to Katrina. But he was wrong about why it is not appropriate. It's not appropriate because they are detainees, not refugees.

Falls Creek is like a small town that is closed down about 9 months out of the year. It is made up of cabins that range from small and humble to large and grandiose, according to how much money the church who owns the cabin has. Each cabin has full kitchen facilities, bathrooms and usually have two large bunkrooms - one for women and one for men. The occupancy of the cabins varies according to the church. This past week the Southern Baptist association of Oklahoma offered the facility as a place to house refugees from the Katrina disaster. Each church owning a cabin was then called to find out if they would make their cabin available. Churches across the state agreed.

I started my journey by loading six large trash bags full of clothes in the back of my beetle buggy. I then went to the local Dollar General and purchased various hygiene products, snacks and even a set of dominoes and a deck of cards. I had my daughter take her own shopping cart and go and select her own items that she wanted to take. I told her to imagine herself without anything in the world and then select what she would need to live every day.

We then met up with my elderly parents who had gone to the Dollar Store themselves, and to the grocery store and had spent WAY too much of their limited social security on the venture. But that's okay. We ended up having to take both vehicles on the 150 mile round trip because they were both pretty full. My son showed up and wanted to go. He drove my parents while my daughter and I rode in my car.

To say we all left with excitement would be appropriate. My 78 year old mother is a "fixer". She loves to help people and she absolutely needs some one to dote over. That she was about to be able to help some people who had lost all in their lives had her feeling physically healthier than I've seen her in days. I was glad to get the chance to actively do something other than donate what little I can to some faceless charity hoping it would get to the people who needed it. I felt glad I could do some small something that might cut through the helplessness I've felt over this situation. Both of my kids were eager to assist.

The only odd thing that occurred prior to setting off happened while I was gassing up in our small town. My daughter was pumping the gas and a lady she knew pulled up to an adjacent pump. My daughter started telling her where we were going and that we were taking things to the refugees. The lady told my daughter that she had been told the Red Cross was not allowing any one to deliver supplies. When I returned to the car from paying for the gas my daughter informed of this. I told her that the Red Cross would not be preventing the members of our church from entering our own cabin, so it really didn't matter. It was at that point we decided to stop back by the house and get my daughter's camera so that she could take pictures if required.

From the moment I heard about Falls Creek being scheduled to receive refugees I had two thoughts run through my mind:

1. What a beautiful place to be able to stay while trying to get your life back in order.

2. What a terrible location to be when you're trying to get your life back in order.

The first thought is because Falls Creek is nestled in the Arbuckle Mountains of south central Oklahoma. One of the more beautiful regions of the state. It would be a peaceful and beautiful place to try to start mending emotionally, and begin to figure what you're going to do next.

The second thought comes because Falls Creek is very secluded and absolutely no where near a population center. The closest route from Falls Creek to a connecting road is three miles on a winding narrow road called "High Road" (It gets that name for two reasons - it's goes over the mountain instead of around it like "Low Road" does, and it's where the teenagers of the area go to party). The road has not a single home on it for over 3 miles. After battling that 3 miles over mountains, you'll find yourself about 5 miles from the nearest town, Davis, Oklahoma, population ca. 2000. This is no place to start a new life.

[...]

All of sudden the landscape changed from picturesque mountainous rural America, to something foreign to me as we approached the rear gate of the camp. Two Oklahoma State Patrol vehicles and four Oklahoma Troopers guarded the gate. We started through and they stopped us.

"Can I help you, ma'am?"

I informed him we're here to deliver supplies to *our church's name* cabin. He stood silent and stared at me. My daughter turned and snapped a picture of his vehicle - very conspicuously.

I smiled at him and he asked, "Do you know where that cabin is located?"

I informed him I did. He looked at me a bit longer and then said, "Ok" and stepped away from the car. They stopped my parents' vehicle as well, but I assume my son informed them he was with us. They let them pass.

We made our way through the narrow streets toward our church's cabin.

We noticed that the various church cabins had numbered placards on them that normally weren't there.

We arrived at our cabin and started toting the clothes in. We finally found a group of men upstairs in the dorms trying to do something alien to them - make beds. They had almost completed the room of bunk beds and told us we could go over to the ladies' dorm room and start on it. We lugged our sacks of clothes back down the stairs. Then we got the first negative message. "You can't bring any clothes in. FEMA has stated they will accept no more clothes. They've had 30 people sorting clothes for days. They don't want anymore." My mind couldn't help but go back over the news articles that have accused FEMA of refusing water in to Jefferson Parrish, or turning fuel away.

We lugged the bags of clothes back to the car. We then turned to bringing in our personal hygiene products. That's when we learned our cabin had been designated a "male only" cabin. Approximately 40 men, ranging from age 13 on up would be housed there. We started resacking the female products and sorted out everything that would be useful for men.

We lugged the bags of female products back to the car. We asked if they knew of a cabin that had been designated for women. The "host" (the hosts are Oklahoma civilians who have been employeed??? by FEMA to reside at each cabin and have already gone through at least one "orientation" meeting conducted by FEMA at "BASE" which is some unknown but repetitively referred location within the camp) told us he believed McAlester cabin was dedicated to females. He then explained there were male, female and family cabins designated.

We then started lugging in our food products. The foods I had purchased were mainly snacks, but my mother - God bless her soul - had gone all out with fresh vegetables, fruits, canned goods, breakfast cereals, rice, and pancake fixings. That's when we got the next message: They will not be able to use the kitchen.

Excuse me? I asked incredulously.

FEMA will not allow any of the kitchen facilities in any of the cabins to be used by the occupants due to fire hazards. FEMA will deliver meals to the cabins. The refugees will be given two meals per day by FEMA. They will not be able to cook. In fact, the "host" goes on to explain, some churches had already enquired about whether they could come in on weekends and fix meals for the people staying in their cabin. FEMA won't allow it because there could be a situation where one cabin gets steaks and another gets hot dogs - and...

it could cause a riot.

It gets worse.

He then precedes to tell us that some churches had already enquired into whether they could send a van or bus on Sundays to pick up any occupants of their cabins who might be interested in attending church. FEMA will not allow this. The occupants of the camp cannot leave the camp for any reason. If they leave the camp they may never return. They will be issued FEMA identification cards and "a sum of money" and they will remain within the camp for the next 5 months.

My son looks at me and mumbles "Welcome to Krakow."

My mother then asked if the churches would be allowed to come to their cabin and conduct services if the occupants wanted to attend. The response was "No ma'am. You don't understand. Your church no longer owns this building. This building is now owned by FEMA and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. They have it for the next 5 months." This scares my mother who asks "Do you mean they have leased it?" The man replies, "Yes, ma'am...lock, stock and barrel. They have taken over everything that pertains to this facility for the next 5 months."

We then lug all food products requiring cooking back to the car. We start unloading our snacks. Mom appeared to have cornered the market in five counties on pop-tarts and apparently that was an acceptable snack so the guy started shoving them under the counter. He said these would be good to tied people over in between their two meals a day. But he tells my mother she must take all the breakfast cereal back. My mother protests that cereal requires no cooking. "There will be no milk, ma'am." My mother points to the huge industrial double-wide refrigerator the church had just purchased in the past year. "Ma'am, you don't understand...

It could cause a riot."

He then points to the vegetables and fruit. "You'll have to take that back as well. It looks like you've got about 10 apples there. I'm about to bring in 40 men. What would we do then?"

My mother, in her sweet, soft voice says, "Quarter them?"

"No ma'am. FEMA said no...

It could cause a riot. You don't understand the type of people that are about to come here...."

I turn and walk out of the room...lugging all the healthy stuff back to the car. My son later tells me the man went on to say "We've already been told of teenage girls delivering fetuses on buses." My son steps toward him and says "That's because they've almost been starved to death, haven't had a decent place to get a good night's sleep, and their bodies can't keep a baby alive. I'm not sure that's any evidence some one should be using to show these are 'bad people'."

We then went to the second dorm room and made up beds. When we got through and were headed outside the host says to me and my daughter, "How did you get in here?" I told him we came in through the back gate. He replies, "No, HOW did you get in here? No one who doesn't have credentials showing is supposed to be in here." (I had noticed all the "hosts" had two or three badges hanging around their necks.) I told him it might have had something to do with the fact my daughter was snapping pictures of the OHP presence at the gate. He then tells us, "Well, starting in the morning NO ONE comes in. So if you have further goods you want to donate you will have to take them to your local church. They will collect them until they have a full load and then bring them to the front gate."

Me and my two kids then walked over the hill to the camp's amphitheater.

The amphitheater is full of clothes (but I'm not sure I'm seeing enough for 5000 people for 5 months).

But there was more...an Oklahoma Department of Safety truck and a military vehicle...

and a cell phone tower (which fretling didn't get a pic of...grrr). Falls Creek, because it sits in a "bowl" surrounded by mountains, is notorious for no cell phone coverage.

There were buses coming in the front gate at about a rate of 1 every 2 or 3 minutes. We could hear them below us as we walked back up the hill. We could also see their white tops through the trees. We figured these were busloads of refugees arriving, but we never saw these buses in the camps, nor were any refugees visible at the camp while we were there.

We then loaded back into our vehicles and headed toward the cabin we had been told was for women so that we could off-load our appropriate products. When we arrived there was no one in the cabin so we preceded to unload our vehicles and take the merchandise in to the cabin. A horde of "hosts" who had been hovering at a nearby cabin head toward us.

"Can we help you?"

I explained to them what we were doing.

"Uhh... you can't just leave donated goods in the cabins. FEMA has stated they want all supplies to go to their central warehouse. They said they have had far too many supplies come in and they need to handle them. You can't leave ANY clothes."

I just stared at them.

One chubby-checker, after several moments of pregnant pause broken only by the sound of my 82 year old dad continuing to shuffle boxes out of the back of his car (GO DAD!), says "I'll call "BASE" and confirm what should happen here."

I continue to stare.

He pounds out the number on his cell phone and when some one picks up he chickens out and just asks "I need to verify that cabin 11 is a female only facility." When he hangs up he says that it is and I respond, "Well, good, we'll get on with this then." It's at that point my son pulls me aside and says, "Every damned one of them have the same phone. That's what the comm tower is for at the amphitheater. Now we know how FEMA runs through billions, they've given every one of these people a Cingular phone when walkie-talkies would have worked just fine."

We off-load our goods into the McAlester cabin. Fretling takes pics of the buckets of toys that have been donated by citizens for the kiddos coming this way.
[...]

We then start out of the camp. I tell my daughter I want to go out the main gate this time. Here is what we saw on the way out:

This cabin was apparently commandeered by a group of people in navy blue jumpsuits with insignias all over them. You can see them in the left side of this pic. But they were standing all over the place on both sides of the narrow street.

[...]

Talk about a surreal moment...troops (unknown if Regular or National Guard) have taken up residency in the Durant First Baptist Church cabin very near the main gate of the camp.

Two things to point out in the pictures above...we passed a row of about 6 or 8 ambulances parked in the street just in front of the troop cabin, and the large tent on the top of the hill...we have no idea what that is for.

Now I'm starting to understand why it doesn't matter that this location is not conducive to starting a new life.

Green Report--II

Although this report is by the people from A.N.S.W.E.R, it's anchored in the report from Algiers. Ergo the title.

If you keep in mind that the conservative prejudice is the belief that the sole function of government is to control a potentially unruly population, then what we are seeing is what we should have expected. To a certain extent, while Iraq is Vietnam redux, New Orleans is Iraq redux. The purpose of government is to establish order and to make itself comfortable.

On Saturday September 3, award-winning filmmaker Gloria La Riva, internationally-acclaimed photographer Bill Hackwell and A.N.S.W.E.R. Youth & Student Coordinator Caneisha Mills, a senior at Howard University, arrived in New Orleans. The following is an eyewitness report of the crisis in the area written on Sunday, September 4.

Algiers While 80 percent of New Orleans was submerged in water, Algiers is one of the few districts that have been spared the worst of the flooding as it sits higher than most of the city. An historic district established in 1719, Algiers is on the west bank of the Mississippi river, across from the French Quarter.

Probably 15% of the residents still remain behind, most of them determined to stay in their homes. The majority of homes are still intact, although many have suffered damage. While their houses survived, the peoples? chance of survival seemed very bleak since there was no electricity or disbursement of food, water or other supplies. We arrived in the Algiers district of New Orleans after getting through seven checkpoints.

We quickly learned that the current media reports that relief and aid have finally arrived to New Orleans are as false as all earlier reports that also had as their origin government sources. The people in the Algiers area have received nothing or next to nothing since the Hurricane struck. Left without any way to escape, people are now struggling to survive in the aftermath.

Now they are being told they have to abandon their homes, even though they want to stay. They are not being given what they need to stay and survive, and are being told they must leave. ?Imagine being in a city, poor, without any money and all of a sudden you are told to leave and you don?t even have a bicycle,? stated Malik Rahim, a community activist in the Algiers section of New Orleans. ?90% of the people don?t even have cars.?

One woman told us it was not possible for her to evacuate. She said, ?I can?t leave. I don?t have a car and I have nine children.? She and her husband are getting by with the help of several men in the community who are joining resources to provide for their neighbors. The government claims that people can get water, but residents have to travel at least 17 miles to the nearest water and ice distribution center. Only one case of water is available per family. Countless people have no way to drive.

While the government is touting the deployment of personnel to the area, there is a huge military and police presence but none of it to provide services. All of them, north and south of the river, are stationed in front of private buildings and abandoned stores, protecting private property. The goods that the government personnel are bringing in are for their own forces. They are not distributing provisions to people who desperately need them.

Not one of them has delivered water to Algiers or gone to the houses to see if sick or elderly people need help. There is no door-to-door survey to see who was injured. The overwhelming majority of people who have stayed in Algiers are Black but some are white. One man in his late 50s in Algiers pointed across the street to a 10-acre grassy lot. It looks like a beautiful park. He said, ?I had my daughter call FEMA. I told them I want to donate this land to the people in need. They could set up 100 tractor trailers with aid, they could set up tents. No one has ever called me back.? He is clearly angry. Although some of the residents do express fear of burglaries into houses, acts of heroism, sacrifice and solidarity are evident everywhere.

Steve, a white man in his 40s, knocks on Malik?s front door. He tells us, ?Malik has kept this neighborhood together. We don?t know what we?d do without his help.? He has come in because he needs to use the phone. Malik?s street is the only one with phones still working. Malik and three of his friends have been delivering food, water and ice to those in need three times a day, searching everywhere for goods.

There is a strong suspicion among the residents that the government has another agenda in the deliberately forced removal of people from Algiers, even though this particular neighborhood is not under water and is intact. Algiers is full of quaint, historic French-style houses, with a high real estate value, and the residents know that the government and real estate forces would like to lay their hands on their neighborhood to push forward gentrification which is already evident.

Downtown New Orleans
Although entry is prohibited into downtown New Orleans north and east of the Mississippi, we were able to get in on Sunday.

The Superdome is still surrounded by water and all types of military helicopters, army trucks, etc are coming in and out of the area; however, most of the people who survived have already left. On US-90, the only road out of New Orleans, convoys of National Guard troops are pouring into the city, too late for many. According to an emergency issue of The Times-Picayune, 16,000 National Guard troops now occupy the city.

Thousands of troops are in New Orleans but water is premium and still not available. One African American couple we met looking for water told us, ?We have four kids. When they told us to leave before the hurricane we couldn?t. We have no car and no money.? Undoubtedly it is similar in the other states that got the direct hit of Katrina, Mississippi and Alabama. On the radio we hear reports of completely demolished towns. What differentiates the rest of the Gulf coast from New Orleans is that the many thousands of deaths in New Orleans were absolutely preventable and occurred after the hurricane. On everyone?s lips is the cutting in federal funds to strengthen the levees of Lake Pontchartrain. Two reporters from New York tell us they just came from the New Orleans airport emergency hospital that was set up. We made our way to the airport.

New Orleans International Airport
The New Orleans International Airport was converted into an emergency hospital center. Thousands of people were evacuated there to get supplies and food, and for transportation that would take them out of the city. Many people arrived with only one or two bags, their entire lives reduced to a few belongings.

Some people did not want to leave their homes, but say they were forced to do so. For example, one white woman and her husband were forced to evacuate. She said, ?The military told us that we had one minute to evacuate. We said that we weren?t ready and he said they can?t force us to leave but if we don?t leave anybody left would be arrested ? but it was the end of the month. The two of us have been living for a couple of months on $600 a month and rent is $550. At the end of the month, we only had $20 and 1/8 of a tank of gas. There was no way we could leave.?

When it became apparent that nobody was coming back to pick them up, the couple walked five miles to the airport to see if they could get help.

Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, doctors, nurses and community organizations came from as far as San Diego, California and Kentucky to provide support during the crisis. None of them were dispersed into the community. When we arrived at the airport on Sunday, September 4, there were approximately 20 medical people for every one patient while people in regions such as Algiers and the 9th ward were left to fend for themselves. The majority of people in New Orleans blame the local and national government for the catastrophe. One young Black man said, ?The government abandoned us ? [it?s] pre-meditated murder.? Another said, ?Why would you [the government] protect a building ? instead of rescuing people that have been without food or water for three or four days? It seems like that was the plan. ? We couldn?t starve them out, the hurricane didn?t kill them, it seems planned.?

Baton Rouge
As we drive to Baton Rouge tonight to visit evacuated people, we hear on local radio that possibly 10,000 people have died in the flooded areas of New Orleans. Tonight in one announcement, we hear the names of some of the missing people still being searched for, a 90-year-old woman named Lisa, a man 102 years old, two women 82 and 85 years old. The elderly, the most vulnerable, left to their own devices.

Bodies are lying everywhere, and hidden in attics and apartments. The announcer describes how one body, rotting after days in the sun, was surrounded by a wall fashioned from fallen bricks by survivors, and given a provisional burial to give her some dignity. Written on the sheet covering her is, ?Here lies Vera, God Help Us.?

At a Red Cross shelter outside of Baton Rouge, we meet Emmanuel, who can?t find his wife and three sons after the floods. His story is shocking but not unusual. His home is near the 17th Street Canal, where the Pontchartrain levee broke through.

?I stayed behind to rescue my neighbors while I sent my wife and kids to dry land,? he says. It is difficult for him to relate what happened. He had a small boat so he went from house to house picking up neighbors. While doing so, he encountered many bodies in the water. ?My best friend?s body was floating by in the water. One mother whose baby drowned tied her baby to a fence so she could bury him after she returned.? Because troops kept driving by him and others without helping them, he had to walk 30 miles north until he was picked up.

The people of New Orleans did not have to die; their lives did not have to be destroyed. This conduct of the government is a crime of the highest magnitude. There is not a single adjective that is adequate. Negligence, incompetence, callous disregard while all are true, none are sufficient. Those who manage a system that always and everywhere puts the needs of business and private property ahead of the people, that always find money to fund wars that benefit the rich of this country rather than meeting people?s needs should be held responsible and accountable. The real problem however, is not with the managers of the system, but with the system itself. They call it the free market. It is the economic and social system of plutocracy, this system of modern capitalism, of, by, and for the rich that in words declares itself to be of, by and for the people. The reality, however, can now been seen in the streets of New Orleans.

Emergency Response

It's becoming increasingly clear that Emergency Response is simply a matter of public relations.

Of course, government is cheap if all it does is tell lies.
Which picture is fake? Both.

Frustrated: Fire crews to hand out fliers for FEMA

By Lisa Rosetta
The Salt Lake Tribune
 
 
Firefighters endure a day of FEMA training, which included a course on
sexual harassment. Some firefighters say their skills are being wasted.
(Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune)
 

ATLANTA - Not long after some 1,000 firefighters sat down for eight
hours of training, the whispering began: "What are we doing here?"
   As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded on national television for
firefighters - his own are exhausted after working around the clock for
a week - a battalion of highly trained men and women sat idle Sunday in
a muggy Sheraton Hotel conference room in Atlanta.
    Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and throughout the
United States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thought they
were going to be deployed as emergency workers.
    Instead, they have learned they are going to be community-relations
officers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to
disseminate fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA.
    On Monday, some firefighters stuck in the staging area at the
Sheraton peeled off their FEMA-issued shirts and stuffed them in
backpacks, saying they refuse to represent the federal agency.
    Federal officials are unapologetic.
    "I would go back and ask the firefighter to revisit his commitment
to FEMA, to firefighting and to the citizens of this country," said FEMA
spokeswoman Mary Hudak.
    The firefighters - or at least the fire chiefs who assigned them to
come to Atlanta - knew what the assignment would be, Hudak said.
    "The initial call to action very specifically says we're looking for
two-person fire teams to do community relations," she said. "So if there
is a breakdown [in communication], it was likely in their own
departments."
    One fire chief from Texas agreed that the call was clear to work as
community-relations officers. But he wonders why the 1,400 firefighters
FEMA attracted to Atlanta aren't being put to better use. He also
questioned why the U.S. Department of Homeland Security - of which FEMA
is a part - has not responded better to the disaster.
    The firefighters, several of whom are from Utah, were told to bring
backpacks, sleeping bags, first-aid kits and Meals Ready to Eat. They
were told to prepare for "austere conditions." Many of them came with
awkward fire gear and expected to wade in floodwaters, sift through
rubble and save lives.
    "They've got people here who are search-and-rescue certified,
paramedics, haz-mat certified," said a Texas firefighter. "We're sitting
in here having a sexual-harassment class while there are still [victims]
in Louisiana who haven't been contacted yet."
    The firefighter, who has encouraged his superiors back home not to
send any more volunteers for now, declined to give his name because FEMA
has warned them not to talk to reporters.
    On Monday, two firefighters from South Jordan and two from Layton
headed for San Antonio to help hurricane evacuees there. Four
firefighters from Roy awaited their marching orders, crossing their
fingers that they would get to do rescue and recovery work, rather than
paperwork.
    "A lot of people are bickering because there are rumors they'll just
be handing out fliers," said Roy firefighter Logan Layne, adding that
his squad hopes to be in the thick of the action. "But we'll do
anything. We'll do whatever they need us to do."
    While FEMA's community-relations job may be an important one -
displaced hurricane victims need basic services and a variety of
resources - it may be a job best suited for someone else, say
firefighters assembled at the Sheraton.
    "It's a misallocation of resources. Completely," said the Texas
firefighter.
    "It's just an under-utilization of very talented people," said South
Salt Lake Fire Chief Steve Foote, who sent a team of firefighters to
Atlanta. "I was hoping once they saw the level of people . . . they
would shift gears a little bit."
    Foote said his crews would be better used doing the jobs they are
trained to do.
    But Louis H. Botta, a coordinating officer for FEMA, said sending
out firefighters on community relations makes sense. They already have
had background checks and meet the qualifications to be sworn as a
federal employee. They have medical training that will prove invaluable
as they come across hurricane victims in the field.
    A firefighter from California said he feels ill prepared to even
carry out the job FEMA has assigned him. In the field, Hurricane Katrina
victims will approach him with questions about everything from insurance
claims to financial assistance.
    "My only answer to them is, '1-800-621-FEMA,' " he said. "I'm not
used to not being in the know."
    Roy Fire Chief Jon Ritchie said his crews would be a "little
frustrated" if they were assigned to hand out phone numbers at an
evacuee center in Texas rather than find and treat victims of the
disaster.
    Also of concern to some of the firefighters is the cost borne by
their municipalities in the wake of their absence. Cities are picking up
the tab to fill the firefighters' vacancies while they work 30 days for
the federal government.
    "There are all of these guys with all of this training and we're
sending them out to hand out a phone number," an Oregon firefighter
said. "They [the hurricane victims] are screaming for help and this day
[of FEMA training] was a waste."
    Firefighters say they want to brave the heat, the debris-littered
roads, the poisonous cottonmouth snakes and fire ants and travel into
pockets of Louisiana where many people have yet to receive emergency
aid.
    But as specific orders began arriving to the firefighters in
Atlanta, a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight
headed for Louisiana. The crew's first assignment: to stand beside
President Bush as he tours devastated areas.
    lrosetta@sltrib.com

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Addendum--personal report from Baton Rouge on september 3rd

Hi Classmates,  I just got an update from Bev (Carole's sister).  Carol is at her son's house in Baton Rouge.  Her son has a t