Subj : Re: Um...no comment? To : alt.tv.farscape From : Nick Date : Fri Sep 02 2005 01:19:43 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.farscape Jim Larson wrote: > 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.) > (Who is trying to make him explode?) .