Subj : Re: Um...no comment? To : alt.tv.farscape From : John Iwaniszek Date : Fri Sep 02 2005 01:12:50 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.farscape "RR" wrote in news:zFMRe.12755$Nx.1336@tornado.texas.rr.com: > Jim Larson 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?) > > (The "Larry King" thread was becoming bloated and difficult to wade > through.) > I still think Larry King should be plastinated and stored. .