Subj : Re: Um...no comment? To : alt.tv.farscape From : John Iwaniszek Date : Fri Sep 02 2005 14:58:18 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.farscape John Iwaniszek wrote in news:Xns96C54B84B50Ejoiwhnanri@66.26.32.9: > "RR" wrote in > news:a0QRe.210679$0f.188639@tornado.texas.rr.com: > >> John Iwaniszek 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 >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Here's a timeline for the gutting of FEMA, starting, you guessed it, >>> in 2001. >>> >>> http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_ > 09/007023.ph >>> p >> >> Is is just me, or - based on the above info - does this smack of >> heaping amounts of bullshit insult to injury?: >> >> http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/01/katrina.fema.brown/index.html >> > > It's all part of hte new Bush Admin talking points: The people dying > in NO deserve it because they failed to heed the evacuation order. > They are blaming the victim to cover for their own incompetence. And > when they aren't blaming the victim, they are lying: > > " Robert Siegel: We are hearing from our reporter, heAs on another > line right now, thousands of people at the convention center in New > Orleans with no food, zero. > > Chertoff: As I said, IAm telling you we are getting food and water > to areas where people are staging. The one about an episode like this > is if you talk to someone or you get a rumor or an anecdotal version > of something I think itAs dangerous to extrapolate it all over the > place. > > [Snip] > > Robert Siegel: But Mr. Secretary when you say we shouldnAt listen > to > rumors. These are things coming from reporters who have not only > covered many many other hurricanes, theyAve covered wars and refugee > camps. These arenAt rumors, they are saying there are thousands of > people there. > > Chertoff: I would beaI have not heard a report of thousands of > people in the convention center who donAt have food and water." > > > > Imagine what kind of mess this would be if Bush's first choice for > Director of HS, Bernie Kerik, had been confirmed. > > > FEMA: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/2/34622/68348 "the man responsible for directing federal relief operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, sharpened his emergency management skills as the "Judges and Stewards Commissioner" for the International Arabian Horses Association... a position from which he was forced to resign in the face of mounting litigation and financial disarray." .