Subj : Re: Um...no comment? To : alt.tv.farscape From : Nick Date : Fri Sep 02 2005 01:46:56 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.farscape Jim Larson wrote: > Nick wrote: > >> 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?) >> > > (Ruediger. I'm helping.) > (And it's a damn fine job you're doing.) .