My Katrina Rant

[TIES2]

As I write this there are apparently 17 or more buses sitting idle a few miles outside of New Orleans. According to the news reporter, the drivers won't go in to take poeple out because they fear for their safety...

Meanwhile 350 miles away the Astrodorm is stocked with food and water for 25K yet only a handful are there...

Just drive in and get the people...who cares if they crowd onto the bus. sit on top of the bus, hang off the sides, just drive slow and help get them out of there....

Waiting isn't helping, these people are not going to be any calmer later....or, maybe they will, only because they will all be dead!

I just saw a news clip of what is going outside the convention center. These people have been told to gather there, yet there is no food or water (why can't we get food and water into these people??? Why can't we airdrop this stuff? Why not air drop the food packs like we did in Afghanistan and Iraq? Why is it taking so long? Why are people just holding press conferences and talking and not doing anything???).

There was a mother with a listless child, probably suffering from dehydration, the mother is frantic, who can blame her...unless help arrives soon that child will die in her arms.


A Navy medical ship is scheduled to leave Baltimore on Friday. Friday???? By the time it gets there, more and more of these people will be dead -- what the heck is taking so long??????
By the time it gets there it will be used as a floating morgue.

I heard last night that they could evacuate approximately 2,500 people per day (on buses), couple that with an estimated 100K left in the city...well, do the math...

And what about those Home Depot commercials, where the truck turns left rather than right in response to an emergency --where are the Home Depot trucks now???

Why haven't water companies simply loaded up their trucks and headed south? Why haven't food companies done the same?

How is it the news media is able to be there? If the News Media can be there why can't they get other relief there? What is taking so long????????????????

The Red Cross has collected over $23M so far, why aren't they using it??? Setting up shelters is all fine and good but you first need to get the poeple out...this thing goes on much longer and the death toll is going to escalate.

Despite what has been posted elsewhere, the problem is not that we have no troops, the problem is there is too much talking going on about what is going to be done and not enough actual doing...


Now for the next part of my rant....

following 9/11, I was outraged that the federal government was compensating the families of the victims of 9/11. Some Cantor Fitzgerald families were distraught concerning the cap (around $270K per year). Yet, despite this, these families walked away with millions ... yet you can be darn sure that the poeple we are watching on the rooftops in New Orleans, who have lost everything, who have no insurance, who now have no jobs, who basically no longer have anything, will not get anything....and certainly not get anything along the magnitude of the compensation provided the victims of 9/11. So while Cantor Fitzgerald families get to keep their nail appointments and their kids in private schools...there are families in New Orleans, Biloxi, Gulf Port whose lives will never ever be the same. Heck, 13 years after Hurricane Andrew there are families who are still struggling with the losses suffered. The areas hit hardest by that storm never fully recovered. The same is probably true of damages left behind from Charley, Ivan and Jeanne.

[Daddy-O]

As I write this there are apparently 17 or more buses sitting idle a few miles outside of New Orleans. According to the news reporter, the drivers won't go in to take poeple out because they fear for their safety...

Meanwhile 350 miles away the Astrodorm is stocked with food and water for 25K yet only a handful are there...

Just drive in and get the people...who cares if they crowd onto the bus. sit on top of the bus, hang off the sides, just drive slow and help get them out of there....

Waiting isn't helping, these people are not going to be any calmer later....or, maybe they will, only because they will all be dead!

I just saw a news clip of what is going outside the convention center. These people have been told to gather there, yet there is no food or water (why can't we get food and water into these people??? Why can't we airdrop this stuff? Why not air drop the food packs like we did in Afghanistan and Iraq? Why is it taking so long? Why are people just holding press conferences and talking and not doing anything???).

There was a mother with a listless child, probably suffering from dehydration, the mother is frantic, who can blame her...unless help arrives soon that child will die in her arms.


A Navy medical ship is scheduled to leave Baltimore on Friday. Friday???? By the time it gets there, more and more of these people will be dead -- what the heck is taking so long??????
By the time it gets there it will be used as a floating morgue.

I heard last night that they could evacuate approximately 2,500 people per day (on buses), couple that with an estimated 100K left in the city...well, do the math...

And what about those Home Depot commercials, where the truck turns left rather than right in response to an emergency --where are the Home Depot trucks now???

Why haven't water companies simply loaded up their trucks and headed south? Why haven't food companies done the same?

How is it the news media is able to be there? If the News Media can be there why can't they get other relief there? What is taking so long????????????????

The Red Cross has collected over $23M so far, why aren't they using it??? Setting up shelters is all fine and good but you first need to get the poeple out...this thing goes on much longer and the death toll is going to escalate.

Despite what has been posted elsewhere, the problem is not that we have no troops, the problem is there is too much talking going on about what is going to be done and not enough actual doing...



From what I can tell, FEMA has done absolutely nothing so far. Anything that has been done has been done by Louisiana officials, local police, and the (relatively) few National Guard troops that are there.

President Bush needs to put his big ole Texas cowboy boot way up somebody's ass at FEMA and get them moving. And he needs to do it NOW. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Daddy-O]

And another thing: According to the news reports, Congress is "weighing an emergency session" to address additional funding for hurricane relief. Considering?!? WTF???? What's to consider? Not sure if you want to get off your dead ass and help your fellow American in their hour of most need? One of the most destructive natural disasters in our history, and you're thinking about it? Why aren't you there already? GET IN THERE NOW AND COME UP WITH THE DAMN MONEY.

Any politician who is "too busy" or can't put aside "personal commitments" to get in there personally does not deserve a single vote in their next election. It's not like we're asking them to go into the city personally and deliver supplies. We're just expecting them to do their goddamn jobs. :redmad:

And tell FEMA they'd better get off the schneid. Pronto.

[mhafinancial]

Any politician who is "too busy" or can't put aside "personal commitments" to get in there personally does not deserve a single vote in their next election. It's not like we're asking them to go into the city personally and deliver supplies. We're just expecting them to do their goddamn jobs. :redmad:

And tell FEMA they'd better get off the schneid. Pronto.

Yesterday Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif, requested the Congress return early from its summer hiatus to deal with this.

Speaker of the House Hastert- R- Illinois, was reported to have taken the suggestion under advisement.

[Daddy-O]

OK, that's more like it. Emergency session of Congress tonight.

[Daddy-O]

Yesterday Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif, requested the Congress return early from its summer hiatus to deal with this.

Speaker of the House Hastert- R- Illinois, was reported to have taken the suggestion under advisement.

Dennis Hastert can take my foot in his ass under advisement :mad:

[mhafinancial]

As I write this there are apparently 17 or more buses sitting idle a few miles outside of New Orleans. According to the news reporter, the drivers won't go in to take poeple out because they fear for their safety...

Meanwhile 350 miles away the Astrodorm is stocked with food and water for 25K yet only a handful are there...

Just drive in and get the people...who cares if they crowd onto the bus. sit on top of the bus, hang off the sides, just drive slow and help get them out of there....
It is not an issue of "crowding the bus". It is an issue of commandeering the bus because these people have lost everything but firearms. There has been at least one instance of a hospital vanor church van being taken at gunpoint.

Waiting isn't helping, these people are not going to be any calmer later....or, maybe they will, only because they will all be dead!

I just saw a news clip of what is going outside the convention center. These people have been told to gather there, yet there is no food or water (why can't we get food and water into these people??? Why can't we airdrop this stuff? Why not air drop the food packs like we did in Afghanistan and Iraq? Why is it taking so long? Why are people just holding press conferences and talking and not doing anything???).
Leadership seems to be lacking, don't you think?


A Navy medical ship is scheduled to leave Baltimore on Friday. Friday???? By the time it gets there, more and more of these people will be dead -- what the heck is taking so long??????
By the time it gets there it will be used as a floating morgue.
That ship, which one can see during a daily commute to Baltimore off I-95, might not have been appropriately stocked for the emergency at hand. It's staff might have been on leave if it wasn't scheduled to be anywhere, and they would have to be recalled. Ships are not the most effective way of getting anywhere soon. Remember how silly it sounded when the Brits went to war in the Falklands - "The mighty British navy will be there in 14 days to take back the Falklands."

I heard last night that they could evacuate approximately 2,500 people per day (on buses), couple that with an estimated 100K left in the city...well, do the math...

And what about those Home Depot commercials, where the truck turns left rather than right in response to an emergency --where are the Home Depot trucks now???

Why haven't water companies simply loaded up their trucks and headed south? Why haven't food companies done the same?
They are not amphibious vehicles. Which might be a big part of the problem.

How is it the news media is able to be there? If the News Media can be there why can't they get other relief there? What is taking so long????????????????
Helicopters.


Despite what has been posted elsewhere, the problem is not that we have no troops, the problem is there is too much talking going on about what is going to be done and not enough actual doing...
Meaning lack of leadership from the top.


Now for the next part of my rant....

following 9/11, I was outraged that the federal government was compensating the families of the victims of 9/11. Some Cantor Fitzgerald families were distraught concerning the cap (around $270K per year). Yet, despite this, these families walked away with millions ... yet you can be darn sure that the poeple we are watching on the rooftops in New Orleans, who have lost everything, who have no insurance, who now have no jobs, who basically no longer have anything, will not get anything....and certainly not get anything along the magnitude of the compensation provided the victims of 9/11. So while Cantor Fitzgerald families get to keep their nail appointments and their kids in private schools...there are families in New Orleans, Biloxi, Gulf Port whose lives will never ever be the same. Heck, 13 years after Hurricane Andrew there are families who are still struggling with the losses suffered. The areas hit hardest by that storm never fully recovered. The same is probably true of damages left behind from Charley, Ivan and Jeanne.
Now you're talking. Sounding like a Democrat, almost.

[Daddy-O]

Yesterday Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif, requested the Congress return early from its summer hiatus to deal with this.

Speaker of the House Hastert- R- Illinois, was reported to have taken the suggestion under advisement.

Dennis Hastert just got my vote for Prick of the Century. As a citizen in his state, he is gonna hear from me, and it ain't gonna be pretty. What a complete and total . How goddamn insensitive and STUPID can you be? :eek: :redmad:

And if I ever get to Waterbury Conn, someone's getting a boot planted up the wazoo there as well... :redmad:

Got this off the Jazzfest chat board...

And now House Speaker Dennis Hastert says it makes no sense to rebuild New Orleans. From nola.com: House Speaker: Rebuilding N.O. doesn't make sense Thursday, 2:55 p.m. By Bill Walsh Washington bureau WASHINGTON - House Speaker Dennis Hastert dropped a bombshell on flood-ravaged New Orleans on Thursday by suggesting that it isn’t sensible to rebuild the city. "It doesn't make sense to me," Hastert told the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago in editions published today. "And it's a question that certainly we should ask." Hastert's comments came as Congress cut short its summer recess and raced back to Washington to take up an emergency aid package expected to be $10 billion or more. Details of the legislation are still emerging, but it is expected to target critical items such as buses to evacuate the city, reinforcing existing flood protection and providing food and shelter for a growing population of refugees. The Illinois Republican’s comments drew an immediate rebuke from Louisiana officials. “That’s like saying we should shut down Los Angeles because it’s built in an earthquake zone,” former Sen. John Breaux, D-La., said. “Or like saying that after the Great Chicago fire of 1871, the U.S. government should have just abandoned the city.” Hastert said that he supports an emergency bailout, but raised questions about a long-term rebuilding effort. As the most powerful voice in the Republican-controlled House, Hastert is in a position to block any legislation that he opposes. "We help replace, we help relieve disaster," Hastert said. "But I think federal insurance and everything that goes along with it... we ought to take a second look at that." The speaker’s comments were in stark contrast to those delivered by President Bush during an appearance this morning on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “I want the people of New Orleans to know that after rescuing them and stabilizing the situation, there will be plans in place to help this great city get back on its feet,” Bush said. “There is no doubt in my mind that New Orleans is going to rise up again as a great city.” Insurance industry executives estimated that claims from the storm could range up to $19 billion. Rebuilding the city, which is more than 80 percent submerged, could cost tens of billions of dollars more, experts projected. Hastert questioned the wisdom of rebuilding a city below sea level that will continue to be in the path of powerful hurricanes. "You know we build Los Angeles and San Francisco on top of earthquake issures and they rebuild, too. Stubbornness," he said. Hastert wasn't the only one questioning the rebuilding of New Orleans. The Waterbury, Conn., Republican-American newspaper wrote an editorial Wednesday entitled, "Is New Orleans worth reclaiming?" "Americans' hearts go out to the people in Katrina's path," it said. "But if the people of New Orleans and other low-lying areas insist on living in harm's way, they ought to accept responsibility for what happens to them and their property."

[mhafinancial]

Dennis Hastert just got my vote for Prick of the Century. As a citizen in his state, he is gonna hear from me, and it ain't gonna be pretty. What a complete and total . How goddamn insensitive and STUPID can you be? :eek: :redmad:

And if I ever get to Waterbury Conn, someone's getting a boot planted up the wazoo there as well... :redmad:

Got this off the Jazzfest chat board...

And now House Speaker Dennis Hastert says it makes no sense to rebuild New Orleans. From nola.com: House Speaker: Rebuilding N.O. doesn't make sense Thursday, 2:55 p.m. By Bill Walsh Washington bureau WASHINGTON - House Speaker Dennis Hastert dropped a bombshell on flood-ravaged New Orleans on Thursday by suggesting that it isn’t sensible to rebuild the city. "It doesn't make sense to me," Hastert told the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago in editions published today. "And it's a question that certainly we should ask." .....
I don't make this stuff up.

Well, there was that one alleged Bush speech I posted that was actually made by LBJ, but I 'fessed up on that. ;)

And people come over and wonder why this book is out on the coffee table:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1560255080.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[mhafinancial]

Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, told the New Orleans Times Picayune on June 8, 2004 "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."

More from the article:

For the first time in 37 years, federal budget cuts have all but stopped major work on the New Orleans area's east bank hurricane levees, a complex network of concrete walls, metal gates and giant earthen berms that won't be finished for at least another decade.

"I guess people look around and think there's a complete system in place, that we're just out here trying to put icing on the cake," said Mervin Morehiser, who manages the "Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity" levee project for the Army Corps of Engineers. "And we aren't saying that the sky is falling, but people should know that this is a work in progress, and there's more important work yet to do before there is a complete system in place."

...

"I can't tell you exactly what that could mean this hurricane season if we get a major storm," Naomi said. "It would depend on the path and speed of the storm, the angle that it hits us.

"But I can tell you that we would be better off if the levees were raised, . . . and I think it's important and only fair that those people who live behind the levee know the status of these projects."

...

The Bush administration's proposed fiscal 2005 budget includes only $3.9 million for the east bank hurricane project. Congress likely will increase that amount, although last year it bumped up the administration's $3 million proposal only to $5.5 million.

"I needed $11 million this year, and I got $5.5 million," Naomi said. "I need $22.5 million next year to do everything that needs doing, and the first $4.5 million of that will go to pay four contractors who couldn't get paid this year."

...

The challenge now, said emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri in Jefferson Parish and Terry Tullier in New Orleans, is for southeast Louisiana somehow to persuade those who control federal spending that protection from major storms and flooding are matters of homeland security.

"It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay," Maestri said. "Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."

...

Levee-raising is only part of the flood-related work that has stopped since the federal government began reducing Corps of Engineers appropriations in 2001, as more money was diverted to homeland security, the fight against terrorism and the war in Iraq.

[BruceNut]

If they truely do evacuate N.O.
then why not start over from scratch and fill in the city and bring it up above sea level?
Put all the bull aside.Save the people first. All people.
Then do it right and plow it under.
If you really think about it,it makes perfect sense.
One thing must be obvious to anyone with half a brain is where ever water wants to go,it will go.

[TIES2]

If they truely do evacuate N.O.
then why not start over from scratch and fill in the city and bring it up above sea level?
Put all the bull aside.Save the people first. All people.
Then do it right and plow it under.
If you really think about it,it makes perfect sense.
One thing must be obvious to anyone with half a brain is where ever water wants to go,it will go.

Not a bad idea! Another, certainly lmuch less important factor, is the loss of architecture. N'Orleans was a treasure trove and much of it is now gone forever.