Subj : Re: Um...no comment? To : alt.tv.farscape From : Jim Larson Date : Fri Sep 02 2005 01:07:08 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.farscape John Iwaniszek wrote: > Jim Larson wrote in > news:Xns96C4ACC6C8063v234oiwofui3284af93@130.133.1.18: > >> RR wrote: >> >>> In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of >>> the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration >>> cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq >>> war. >>> >>> A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how New >>> Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but the Bush >>> administration ordered that the research not be undertaken. >>> >>> After a flood killed six people in 1995, Congress created the Southeast >>> Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, in which the Corps of Engineers >>> strengthened and renovated levees and pumping stations. In early 2001, >>> the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating that a >>> hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely >>> disasters in the U.S., including a terrorist attack on New York City. >>> But by 2003 the federal funding for the flood control project >>> essentially dried up as it was drained into the Iraq war. In 2004, the >>> Bush administration cut funding requested by the New Orleans district of >>> the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake >>> Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent. Additional cuts at the beginning >>> of this year (for a total reduction in funding of 44.2 percent since >>> 2001) forced the New Orleans district of the Corps to impose a hiring >>> freeze. The Senate had debated adding funds for fixing New Orleans' >>> levees, but it was too late. >>> >>> The New Orleans Times-Picayune, which before the hurricane published a >>> series on the federal funding problem, and whose presses are now >>> underwater, reported online: "No one can say they didn't see it coming >>> ... Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions >>> are being asked about the lack of preparation." >>> >>> By Sidney Blumenthal >>> Salon.com Wednesday 31 August 2005 >>> >> >> (You're trying to make Iwa explode, right?) >> > > (I've been tracking the flood conrol budget cuts for a few days.) (Watch this get next to no coverage in the general media.) -- Jim .