Musta' passed the orals.
Picking up a cockney accent?
"There are more thongs in heaven and earth, Fellatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Likely Master's thesis: "Deconstructing Freud: When is a cigar not a cigar?"
Lewinsky to Study in London
Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky is heading to Britain to study in a Masters in Psychology program at the prestigious London School of Economics.
The curvy 32-year-old, who shocked the world when reports of her sex antics with former President Bill Clinton hit newsstands, completed her first degree in psychology in 1995 before she started work for the former U.S. leader.
Although the program incurs a staggering $22,000 for non-European students, the fee shouldn't pose a problem for Lewinsky -- she reportedly commanded six-figure payouts for her revealing interviews after Clinton's autobiography was published last year.
#15
It's too bad Bob will be remembered mostly as Gilligan. The Adventures of Dobie Gillis was an incomparably superior show and Denver's character, a self-stereotyped beatnik named Maynard G. Krebs, deserves to be a cultural icon. Bob stole the show, but only a few of us are old enough to remember it.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/06/2005 23:31 Comments ||
Top||
#21
Too bad, and hey I liked F-Troop. You really feel old when you hear your generations music in the elevator.
# 13, what a way to go, with that filthy water still very vivid.
Posted by: Jan ||
09/06/2005 23:32 Comments ||
Top||
The French elites ignored Rule #1 - don't piss Lance off...
Raj, that's actually the corollary to Rule #1: Don't Mess With Texas.
Perhaps L'Equipe newspaper should have considered whether it wanted Lance Armstrong to win an eighth Tour before accusing him of using EPO. Armstrong said on Monday that he may return to the Tour just to spite the French. Heh...
Lance Armstrong has sensationally dropped hints that he may ride the 2006 Tour de France. Armstrong told the Austin American Statesman that a comeback would be the "best way to piss the French off" after L'Equipe's recent allegations that the Texan cheated his way to victory in the first of his seven Tour wins in 1999. I have little doubt he'd win; He'd also be the second oldest to have won the Tour (I think some French guy was 35 when he won it).
Armstrong, who vehemently denies the allegations, told the Statesman on Monday that he had been "exercising every day" ever since L'Equipe claimed two weeks ago that the American had used EPO in 1999. The former Discovery Channel rider, who will turn 34 on September 18, said that the idea of resuming his career had not crossed his mind until L'Equipe published its report. That sounds like how Larry Bird used to recover from a basketball season - take two weeks off and do absolutely nothing besides drink beer.
Speaking to cyclingnews.com, Discovery Channel manager Johan Bruyneel confirmed that Armstrong had recently recommenced training after admitting to boredom. "You know, we had some retirement parties in Nice after the Tour and then Lance went back to the States and took it easy for a few weeks. Then he called me three weeks later and said 'I'm back on the bike... I'm getting bored and missing the exercise, the riding'", Bruyneel said. Far from dismissing the Statesman report, Bruyneel confirmed that Armstrong may be tempted back to the sport. "It's not impossible," he said. I'd say it's likely...
The early stages of Armstrong's retirement are proving to be no less eventful than his 13 years in the pro peloton. Also on Monday, the American revealed that he had proposed marriage to long-term girlfriend Sheryl Crow and that he and the Missouri songstress were now engaged. Armstrong popped the question last Wednesday in Sun Valley, Idaho. With a five carat boulder, I reckon.
"We've told family and friends, stuff like that," he told the Statesman. Armstrong added that he discussed the engagement with his three children before he asked Crow. Had he waited a further couple of weeks, Armstrong could have also sought the counsel of the Dalai Lama, whom he is due to meet in Idaho in the coming days, or the showbusiness equivalent, Oprah Winfrey. Armstrong is set for what is now sure to be an intriguing second appearance on Winfrey's show on Wednesday. The Dalai Lama can't climb Mont Ventoux, though...
On a less light-hearted note for the record-breaking Tour star, World Anti-doping Agency chief Dick Pound opined yesterday that there was "a very high probability of doping" having examined the documents which formed the basis of the L'Equipe scoop. Pound stressed, however, that he was refering to the six anonymous tests performed in 1999 which so far only L'Equipe has attributed to Armstrong. Pound said that he would welcome DNA tests to establish whether the samples had indeed been provided by Armstrong. Why bother? There's the Canadian lab saying that EPO is unstable even after a few weeks, much less six years, whether or not the sample is frozen. I know when smoke's being blown up my ass.
In the interview with German online newspaper Netzeitung, the Canadian drugs czar said that he was eagerly waiting for the UCI to report the conclusions of their inquiry into L'Equipe's claims. UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani told procycling this morning that the UCI is likely make its reaction known before the weekend. Carpani would not comment on what the nature of this reaction was likely to be, nor on how the UCI is investigating L'Equipe's allegations. Refering to the French newspaper's assertion that EPO was found in the urine samples of up to six other riders in 1999, Pound said: "If the UCI reveals that a number of star riders tested positive a year after the Festina scandal in 1998, that proves that cycling has a very serious problem and that the UCI hasn't been able to resolve that problem." If any of those six riders are French, we'll never hear about it.
#4
6 year old urine sample with no controlling sample and the test was done by a lone tester without any supervisor present = doctored lab result. Piss off, lyon lyot.
#5
Why does Armstrong even want to mess with the Tour again? He proved that he is the best. Time to do something different. Old vaudaville axiom: leave 'em wanting more.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/06/2005 23:19 Comments ||
Top||
New observations by the international Cassini spacecraft reveal that Saturn's trademark shimmering rings, which have dazzled astronomers since Galileo's time, have dramatically changed over just the past 25 years.
Among the most surprising findings is that parts of Saturn's innermost ring -- the D ring -- have grown dimmer since the Voyager spacecraft flew by the planet in 1981, and a piece of the D ring has moved 125 miles inward toward Saturn.
While scientists puzzle over what caused the changes, their observations could reveal something about the age and lifetime of the rings.
Cassini-related discoveries were discussed Monday at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society's division of planetary sciences in Cambridge, England.
"I don't think Saturn's rings will disappear anytime soon, but this tells us how the rings are evolving and how long they might last, " deputy project scientist Linda Spilker said in a telephone interview from England.
Scientists are interested in Saturn's rings because they are a model of the disk of gas and dust that initially surrounded the sun. Studying them could yield important clues about how the planets formed from that disc 4.5 billion years ago.
The ring observations were made this summer. The $3.3 billion Cassini mission, funded by NASA and the European and Italian space agencies, was launched in 1997. Cassini is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/06/2005 00:40 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It's obvious why rings are dimming...all together now...BUSH DIDN'T SIGN KYOTO!
If Mars is going thru a warming spell and the dimming of Saturn's ring turns out to be because some of the ice in rings is melting...
Posted by: Stephen ||
09/06/2005 0:49 Comments ||
Top||
#2
worry not Stephen, We're gonna handle the warming thing at the next General Assembly for Saturn Ring fund drive.
/next year Uranus, plz cool the damn thing off funds
#3
Among the most surprising findings is that parts of Saturn's innermost ring -- the D ring -- have grown dimmer since the Voyager spacecraft flew by the planet in 1981, and a piece of the D ring has moved 125 miles inward toward Saturn.
Ooops. Couldn't be the old rock slide that begins with a few grains growing into a massive landslide could it? You just couldn't leave well enough alone. You had to go into the ring structure and upset an obviously delicate gravitationally balanced alignment. Scientist Destroy Natural Wonder!! Thank god there were no baby seals or caribou to hurt.
Base upon this limited data point, I recommend an international treaty to ban all future explorations which involve probes of any kind entering alien space with limits of 10 million miles. Let's call it the Cassini Treaty in memory of the horrors created by exploitative scientists.
#5
a piece of the D ring has moved 125 miles inward toward Saturn
Guess it's looking for one of the coveted spots in the E Ring.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/06/2005 9:05 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Has anyone checked the rings around Uranus?
Posted by: Chris W. ||
09/06/2005 9:32 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Years ago there was some dustup when one of the first probes to visit Saturn (Voyager, maybe?) found what appeared to be three rings threaded together. A science fact writer for Analog magazine coined the term "The Blivet in the B-Ring" for this oddity - which I don't believe can be seen in Cassini's pictures today.
So, where'd the blivet go anyway?
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle used the blivet as part of the plot for their novel Footfall (the threaded rings were an artifact of an alien spacecrafts' drive system).
Richard Hoagland has noted some very strange things regarding one of Saturns' moons as well (a strangely symmetrical polyhedral shape and a equatorial mountain range that looks very artificial from any standpoint).
Anyway you look at it, Saturn is a very strange place.
#8
Years ago there was some dustup when one of the first probes to visit Saturn (Voyager, maybe?) found what appeared to be three rings threaded together. A science fact writer for Analog magazine coined the term "The Blivet in the B-Ring" for this oddity - which I don't believe can be seen in Cassini's pictures today.
So, where'd the blivet go anyway?
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle used the blivet as part of the plot for their novel Footfall (the threaded rings were an artifact of an alien spacecrafts' drive system).
Richard Hoagland has noted some very strange things regarding one of Saturns' moons as well (a strangely symmetrical polyhedral shape and a equatorial mountain range that looks very artificial from any standpoint).
Anyway you look at it, Saturn is a very strange place.
Spanish police are scouring old people's homes on the east coast of Spain as the hunt closes in on a 91-year-old concentration camp doctor, regarded as one of the most wanted Nazis still alive. Investigators say there is a strong chance that Aribert Heim, who is alleged to have killed hundreds of prisoners at the Mauthausen camp in Austria, is still alive and living on the Spanish costas. Dr Heim is regarded as the second most wanted former Nazi by the Simon Wiesenthal centre in Israel, after Alois Brunner, Adolf Eichmann's righthand man. The centre has offered a â¬10,000 (£6,800) reward for Heim, in addition to the â¬130,000 being offered by the German police.
The Spanish police's specialist fugitive section was yesterday checking old people's homes and looking for elderly Germans with private nurses in the Alicante region, an official source confirmed. "They are going after him and think he may be in that region," the source told the Guardian. German police reopened the Heim case several years ago after evidence came to light that the doctor, who allegedly injected Mauthausen prisoners with cocktails of lethal drugs, might still be alive.
Regular money orders wired to a town near Alicante by Dr Heim's family may have been picked up by him as he hid among the large population of northern European pensioners living in the area, investigators believe.
More than a hundred payments were made between 2000 and 2003, the Spanish magazine Interviú reported yesterday. Dr Heim's family had claimed that he was dead, but several years ago German police discovered an account in his name at a Berlin savings bank, according to Der Spiegel magazine. Dr Heim is reported to own an apartment building in the city. Sources close to the investigation said yesterday that in 2001 a German lawyer had applied for tax exemption on the income it provided on the basis that Dr Heim was living abroad. The lawyer reportedly said his duty of confidentiality meant he could not reveal where Dr Heim was hiding.
Efraim Zuroff, of the Simon Wiesenthal centre, said Spain had "a pathetic record" in hunting down Nazis. "Now it is time to make up for years of apathy and inaction," he said. Dr Heim was briefly detained by US troops at the end of the war, but it was not until 1962 that he fled Germany as police began to investigate him. Both Germany and Austria have warrants outstanding for his arrest.
Never forgive. Never forget. Never stop.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/06/2005 14:34 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
He was a true monster, a second Mengele.
If they catch him it will be mostly symbolic.
But still...
Paris - President Jacques Chirac was said to be in good shape in hospital on Tuesday, as aides angrily rebutted newspaper speculation about the political fall-out of his sudden illness. On his fourth day of treatment for an eye disorder linked to a "minor vascular incident", the 72-year-old president was visited at Val de Grace Hospital by his wife, Bernadette, and his chief foreign affairs adviser Maurice Gourdault-Montagne. Doctors said the damage to his vision was limited and that Chirac would be out of hospital after a few more days of observation.
"M. le President! Stop doing that or you'll go blind!"
But, is he stable?
Anne Robert of the army medical service said: "It is a small haematoma, which explains the isolated and limited nature of his visual impairment."
Ahah! A subdural haematoma! I saw this on the teevee once... Maybe it was twice...
Robert said: "The clinical indications are on the decline, which means he is making very favourable progress.
"He's making favorable progress, Doctor!"
"We'll have to operate!"
"The president of the republic is resting and under simple medical observation. I confirm that he should be out in a few days."
"One way or the other"
Chirac was admitted on Friday evening. Cardiologists agreed that the president had most likely suffered a "transient ischemic attack" affecting his eye, which occurred when a mini blood clot lodged in his retinal artery, causing restriction to his field of vision.
"M. le President! Getcher hands outta yer lap! You'll go crazy!"
Chirac's agenda for the week had been cleared, and the regular cabinet meeting on Wednesday was to be chaired by Villepin.
Who is adjusting Chirac's chair and thinking how good it feels
Supporters of the president rejected charges that his true condition was being deliberately kept secret and said speculation about his political future was grossly premature.
"He ain't dead yet, Jim!"
"I live! I breathe! L'etat endures!"
Speaker of the national assembly, Jean-Louis Debre, said: "At no moment has there been a power vacuum. The continuity of the state has been assured because the president has received the prime minister, issued instructions, signed decrees and continued to fulfil his mission."
"Here ya go, M. le President! Sign this!"
"What is it?"
"It's a decree!"
"What's it say? I can't see it!"
"Just sign it!"
"I don't want to!"
"Nurse! He's having another spasm!"
"Oh, alright. I'll sign it."
Press commentators had said that Chirac's illness raised for the first time the question of his long-term health, and meant that in the last 18 months of his term in office attention would increasingly focus on his political replacement.
Does this make him a "lame frog"?
Commentators said the medical scare made it unlikely that Chirac would run for a third term in 2007, so a fierce succession battle could be expected between Villepin - Chirac's chosen heir - and Nicolas Sarkozy - the outspoken and highly ambitious interior minister.
"Yon Sarkozy has a lean and hungry look!"
"But Villepin can count on the help of his brothers — Margaret and Dolores!"
Debre also rejected the accusation made in Le Monde newspaper that the details of the president's health were masked in France by a "cult of secrecy which would have done the Kremlin proud in the former Soviet Union". The newspaper asked why it took 12 hours before even Villepin was informed of Chirac's illness. But, Debre said there had been "complete transparency".
"It was transparent. It just took 12 hours."
Posted by: Steve ||
09/06/2005 09:38 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I have a mental picture of the AFLAC duck with a little beret and a pair of crutches...
Well, schadenfreude IS a german word. Still, I guess that shows more about the left than about Germany itself, or at least I hope. Blog entry (Davids Medienkritik), see at link.
A close aide to President Viktor Yushchenko who was a chief organizer of the "Orange Revolution" protests said Monday he had resigned from the government because of systemic corruption around the Ukrainian leader. Oleksandr Zinchenko, who resigned Saturday, said the situation had grown "even worse" than under former President Leonid Kuchma. Zinchenko accused Petro Poroshenko, the head of Ukraine's Defense and Security Council, of being one of the most corrupt members of the government. He also criticized Oleksandr Tretyakov, a top aide to Yushchenko, and Mykola Martynenko, who heads the pro-presidential faction in parliament.
You can lead 'em to water, but you can't make 'em drink, and some of them will pee in it.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Below an excerpt from 9-5-2005 CNN Interview between mayor nagin and S. O'Brien S. O'BRIEN: Your evacuation plan before -- when you put people into the Superdome. It wasn't thought out. You got 20,000 people in there. And that you bear the brunt of the blame for some of this, a large chunk of it. NAGIN: Look, I'll take whatever responsibility that I have to take. But let me ask you this question: When you have a city of 500,000 people, and you have a category 5 storm bearing down on you, and you have the best you've ever done is evacuate 60 percent of the people out of the city, and you have never issued a mandatory evacuation in the city's history, a city that is a couple of hundred years old, I did that. I elevated the level of distress to the citizens.
And I don't know what else I could do, other than to tell them that it's a mandatory evacuation. And if they stayed, make sure you have a frigging ax in your home, where you can bust out the roof just in case the water starts flowing.
And as a last resort, once this thing is above a category 3, there are no buildings in this city to withstand a category 3, a category 4 or a category 5 storm, other than the Superdome. That's where we sent people as a shelter of last resort. When that filled up, we sent them to the Convention Center. Now, you tell me what else we could have done. Sounds like the good mayor may have a coke addiction.
S. O'BRIEN: What has Secretary Chertoff promised you? What has Donald Rumsfeld given you and promised you? NAGIN: Look, I've gotten promises to -- I can't stand anymore promises. I don't want to hear anymore promises. I want to see stuff done. And that's why I'm so happy that the president came down here, because I think they were feeding him a line of bull also. And they were telling him things weren't as bad as it was. He came down and saw it, and he put a general on the field. His name is General Honore. And when he hit the field, we started to see action. And what the state was doing, I don't frigging know. But I tell you, I am pissed. It wasn't adequate. And then, the president and the governor sat down. We were in Air Force One. I said, 'Mr. President, Madam Governor, you two have to get in sync. If you don't get in sync, more people are going to die.' See, it was like, I got the friggin' prez and gov together and told em "watt's up"
S. O'BRIEN: What date was this? When did you say that? When did you say... NAGIN: Whenever air Force One was here.
S. O'BRIEN: OK. NAGIN: And this was after I called him on the telephone two days earlier. And I said, 'Mr. President, Madam Governor, you two need to get together on the same page, because of the lack of coordination, people are dying in my city.' Com'on peeps, get your friggin' stuff together cuz I like, have my city goin' man..
S. O'BRIEN: That's two days ago. NAGIN: They both shook -- I don't know the exact date. They both shook their head and said yes. I said, 'Great.' I said, 'Everybody in this room is getting ready to leave.' There was senators and his cabinet people, you name it, they were there. Generals. I said, 'Everybody right now, we're leaving. These two people need to sit in a room together and make a doggone decision right now.'
S. O'BRIEN: And was that done? NAGIN: The president looked at me. I think he was a little surprised. He said, "No, you guys stay here. We're going to another section of the plane, and we're going to make a decision." He called me in that office after that. And he said, "Mr. Mayor, I offered two options to the governor." I said -- and I don't remember exactly what. There were two options. I was ready to move today. The governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision.
S. O'BRIEN: You're telling me the president told you the governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision? NAGIN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Regarding what? Bringing troops in? NAGIN: Whatever they had discussed. As far as what the -- I was abdicating a clear chain of command, so that we could get resources flowing in the right places. Look, I need the friggin juice, needed it to flow right, yall
S. O'BRIEN: And the governor said no. NAGIN: She said that she needed 24 hours to make a decision. It would have been great if we could of left Air Force One, walked outside, and told the world that we had this all worked out. It didn't happen, and more people died. Mayor Nagin, a mind is a terrible thing to lose (to coke)
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/06/2005 00:40 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
not to defend Nagin - but in his defense - but he did finally declare a mandatory evacuation order, a state of emergency and he did allow the Feds a clean chain of command, as this article confirms. Nagin may be woefully incompetent, but I'm starting to wonder if Blanco was intentionally obstructive.
#3
The mayor (and the Gubner) have much to answer for with regard to actions, or more specifically, the lack thereof. It is well known and hence the tirades, fits, and finger wagging with expletives from the Mayor. Pathetic.
#4
That's where we sent people as a shelter of last resort. When that filled up, we sent them to the Convention Center. Now, you tell me what else we could have done.
Okay. I'll bite. It might have been wise to send people to a place where there was something in the way of--just thinking out loud here--PROVISIONS laid in.
#6
Provisions? Like food and water? For flood victims in a city mostly below sea level? How could anyone possibly imagine a need for that?
Bah! My advice is not to push the Fed-bashing too hard here, Mayor. Once the inevitable People's Factfinding Committee gets fired up, you may not like the facts that come out.
#7
Nagin may be woefully incompetent, but I'm starting to wonder if Blanco was intentionally obstructive
Yup. Nagin said, turn control over to the Feds. The guv wasn't about to do that ... she wanted all the fed goodies but wouldn't let them control them AND she wanted the Guard to keep order but wouldn't declare martial law OR turn them over to federal control so that the Army could join in and order restored.
Meanwhile, she was busy setting up a rescue/rehab fund outside of the federal structures and hired Clinton's guy to come advise her.
#8
Nagin is clearly out of his element and so is the governor. I really don't understand how they could have been so unprepared.
Let's review: city below river/lake/sea level - check; history of hurricanes - check; sufficient emergency plans - HUH?
#10
Now, you tell me what else we could have done.
uh, the school busses, the transit busses, trains, all of the above?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/06/2005 9:01 Comments ||
Top||
#11
It is quite an indictment of local democratic administration. That fact won't change the minds of all too many voters though since the obligatory blame game story gets lapped up like mother's milk among the faithful of the local democratic machine.
#12
And this was after I called him on the telephone two days earlier. ... They both shook -- I don't know the exact date. They both shook their head and said yes. I said, 'Great.' I said, 'Everybody in this room is getting ready to leave.'
Did he the get them in this room and then called him on the phone?
#16
Blanco is still playing games. She must be angling for the #2 spot with Hillary.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/06/2005 9:36 Comments ||
Top||
#17
Fox & Friends asked the Gov the tougher questions this morning. She danced around and gave alot of non-answers, but I'm glad the questions were asked.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
09/06/2005 9:42 Comments ||
Top||
#18
'Mr. President, Madam Governor, you two need to get together on the same page, because of the lack of coordination, people are dying in my city.'
#19
Just a question to the crowd. Anyone have a nominee for a multigenerational partronage-corruption laden city [half-mil or larger in size] government that has been run by Republicans? The odds that a city of any significant size so deep in corruption would be able to address a major natural disaster? IIRC, a Chicago snow storm ousted even their old line in the post Sr. Daley period.
#20
I really thought that the Feds were to blame at first, but looking back I can see the missteps that occurred at the City and State level. Could the feds have done a better job? Perhaps, but nobody can claim to have the cataclysmic guide to disaster. Also, if they want the Feds to be in charge of everything why even have a City or State government?
In the arena of public perception, Hilary and the Dems have been working hard to discredit the President's handling of the war in Iraq. But it hasn't been all that successful. The last thing she wants is for the President to be seen as strong and competent regarding this disaster, and for the Dems and a woman governor, no less, to be seen as incompentent, as that would hurt her chances in the presidential race (i.e. guilt by association).
Calls are being made behind the scenes by the Hilary camp---so Gov Blanco takes orders from Hilary NOT to turn control over to the Feds under any circumstances. Then, out of nowhere and against all precedent, a former Clinton offcial shows up to "handle" the emergency.
Meanwhile, Hilary (and her minions) make calls to the media to "spin" the story as a failure on the part of the Feds, and Hilary herself heads up an investigation of federal (not state) performance regarding Hurricane Katrina.
End goal: Blame Bush / Deflect criticism away from a female, Dem leader.
They will hang Nagin out to dry if they can. Nagin wasn't the problem here.
Note: Hilary doesn't care about anything but Hilary, and the people of New Orleans are but a tool for her to attempt to build her own public perception as a leader. "Oh . . . if only Hilary had been here, this never would have happened."
#23
Wow - lotp / ex-lib. You guys have zoomed in on the Gov's motives and failure. The cat-cries (tearful strains) we hear are Gov Blanco being played (badly) like a flood-soaked fiddle. Sigh. Incredible partisan morons.
Blanco's ruined and it bought Hillary zip. Hell, it will be uphill, even with massive MSM collusion, to make anyone in the Dhimmi hierarchy look good - because they're either incompetent or irrelevant - the adults are in charge, now. Mayor Nugget's just the Town Fool / comic relief.
That people suffered while these games were afoot is where Rove & Co's press focus should be - showing them as the craven cretins they are... assuming anyone will publish it.
The congressional "investigation" will be another 9/11 Commission Spinfest - only this time Bush should naturally assume the worst and not allow it to be packed it with RINOs, Dhimmi BDS Moonbats, and Clintonian Camelot II refugees. Make Honore the Pub Chairman and (good) shit will happen, lol.
You can call me a conspiratorialist (if you really, really want to), but has anybody else wondered WHY the Lousiana State Emergency plans weren't activated AND the National Guard wasn't on standby, AND all the warnings disregarded, AND Federal help/involvement denied for so long--in the face of a category 5 storm, in a state totally familiar with the effects of hurricances, surrounded by other states totally familiar with hurricanes? That's an awful lot of gross incompetence, even for Louisiana. Not exactly inconceivable--just a tad bit improbable. Especially considering the fact that warnings were being called in from so many sources other than the White House.
But it's really not that much of a stretch to surmise that Hilary was controlling actions early on, and was all too eager and willing to sacrifice whatever would have, or could have been lost in the hurricane (she may or may not have underestimated the damage), for the chance to make Bush look bad, and the Dems (i.e. herself) look good. Would it really surprise anyone if she were planning behind the scenes for Louisiana to do exactly NOTHING, then float the perception that Louisiana did what they could but was caught "off guard," then call in the Feds, then call bloody murder? (Like she doesn't now it takes at least 72 hours to mobilize efforts/manpower?) Would a po-dunk, female Lousiana governor EVER go against commands from HIlary-Central? No way.
My guess is that the Dems will first try to hang the mayor out to dry (then will probably leave him alone because it won't work that well) then will go after the Gov if she breaks ranks and/or spills the beans. Wouldn't be surprised if someone doesn't have a "nice talk" with Blanco, informing her that going to jail is a better outcome than the outcomes have been for other whistle-blowers against the Clintons, as the "investigation" begins to uncover the underpinnings of this travesty. And as usual, the Clintons will skate free of it all.
Follow the money . . . in this case, the political capital (to be won or lost). At all costs, Hilary could not afford another 9-11 "victory" for Bush and the Republicans.
#25
This blog seems to have a great summation. Some tidbits:
...On June 3, 2004 an IEM Team to Develop Catastrophic Hurricane Disaster Plan for New Orleans & Southeast Louisiana involved James Lee Witt Associates. Make note of that name, because we will see James Lee Witt later...
... the New Orleans school system owns 205 buses, and elsewhere we learned there were 364 buses owned by the New Orleans public transit..
The mayor called the [evacuation] order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already cancelled all flights...
On August 26, the Governor declared a State of Emergency... On August 28, she sent a letter to George Bush requesting a declaration of a major disaster, which George Bush did on 8/29..She also said that she had directed execution of the State Emergency Plan. Which has two references to FEMA:
1. Alert FEMA of the situation and advise that the State may need Federal assistance.
2. Request FEMA send representatives to coordinate and prepare for possible deployment of the Advance Emergency Response Team.
... she asked for Hazard Mitigation for eligible applicants that have a FEMA Approved Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, and asked for some more monetary funding, and help with debris removal. She did not authorize active duty military, reserves, or National Guard from other states.
She issued a number of executive orders which recognize that "under the provisions of Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act, and R.S. 29:724 in particular, the governor (not the President) is responsible for meeting the dangers to the state and people presented by emergencies or disasters" ... None of which authorizes active duty military, reserves, or National Guard from other states.
On 9/2 she said she "previously requested significant federal support to include: an additional 40,000 troops; trailers of water, ice and food; commercial buses; base camps; staging areas; amphibious personnel carriers; deployable morgues; urban search and rescue teams; airlift; temporary housing; and communications systems."... ...in this letter she did request the return of her National Guard that are in Iraq (which obviously would take some amount of time)... she did request a number of other items, which arrived the same day.
WaPo reported on 9/3 that Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.
The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request...
Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency...
Blanco made two moves Saturday that protected her independence from the federal government: She created a philanthropic fund for the state's victims and hired James Lee Witt, Federal Emergency Management Agency director in the Clinton administration, to advise her on the relief effort. Remember where we heard that name before?
How many people (not counting those who would leave in their own cars) could New Orleans have evacuated in 24 hours or in 48 hours?
Did they have hurricane proof emergency shelters ready outside the city?
I hear that New Orleans has about 200 school buses and 300 public transport buses. That's 500. Let's say that 10% don't work. That's 450.
OK. You can get 50 people in a bus (more if time is too short). Let's assume you have hurricane proof shelters 100 miles out of town, every bus could make about 5 runs or so. Probably more.
And there's AMTRAK? Planes? Require cars leaving New Orleans to take passengers if they have seats?
So I guess you would have gotten everyone out.
I know the U.S. cherishes individualism but when your city is about to be flattened, this is as good as war.
Also, you don't give people the choice to stay behind since in the end they will have to be rescued anyway. "You are on your own" may work but in the end, you will have to rescue them if you can. Point a gun at them if you must, but get them into the bus.
#30
TGA,
All the right questions, but NO has a unique set of challenges, including a tradition of trying to ride out hurricanes while drinking like it is Octoberfest. I can't think of a good European comparison, other than maybe Amsterdam when trying to consider how people might comply with an evacuation order.
Some ran fled immediately, some waited and then got frightened, and others chose to wait and play bad odds.
And a legitimate number couldn't leave, because they didn't have access to "quick" money or a transportion plan... It is just that the actual number of these folks was far lower than the number who stayed and could have been better responded to in lower numbers.
The bottom line disaster plan for New Orleans has always been "Don't be here" and now it is obvious that "You are on your own"
#31
It's also my take that the number of people who go for the "we ride it out" was underestimated. Also the number of "underprivileged" who simply don't listen too anything anyway.
I often overestimate the knowledge of other people. I knew about that hurricane and what it meant. But I think you have a lot of people who just say: "Hurricanes. Yeah, had those before." And have another drink.
NO isn't called the Big Easy for nothing. I don't think you get that attitude in Florida.
#32
You are on your own is the botom line in every natural disaster regardless of where you live. Stupid people don't prepare and then complain that government didn't take care of them. No wonder the mayor and governor are Democrat.
TGA, The government can recommend that I leave my house, but if they want to try and force me, they better remember we've got a second amendment. But if you want to live that way, and I do, then you've got to accept that people who are too dumb to follow reasonable directions from the government deserve to personally suffer the consequences withoput recriminations to the government.
The only problem I see is that the government didn't make adequate provision to use transit and school busses, maybe Amtrak or freight cars, for those who don't own cars. The idiots left them to become rusting hulks in parking lots. That was unforgivable.
Just remember New Orleans was a French colony and it shows. Thank General Wolfe and consider what the world might be like had he not prevailed on the Plains of Abraham.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/06/2005 17:43 Comments ||
Top||
#33
There were photos of 250 school buses flooded in one parking lot. Another lot had 150 buses stranded. The three largest lots had more than 500 buses stranded. They are not the only lots. The national average for 500,000 people would have 750 school busses. Not being rural, N.O. most likely has 500-750 school busses. 3-400 public transportation busses sound about right. That gives 800-1150 buses pre-hurricane.
Houston is a 6 hour drive from New Orleans, so almost two round trips could be made in a day and there are cities even closer.
Posted by: ed ||
09/06/2005 17:43 Comments ||
Top||
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/06/2005 17:47 Comments ||
Top||
#35
Mrs Davis
I fully understand you. I'd still say: In such cases you shouldn't give people a choice. Because in the end they will need your help.
I think when Lower Manhattan was evacuated they didn't give people the choice to stay?
Virtually no one lives in lower Manhattan. Forcing people to leave work after seeing two giant towers fall under enemy attack and forcing someone to leave their home and worldly posessions for a threat that may not appear are two different things. The problem with these hurricanes is how many false positives they have for each true positive. The authorities start to look like the little boy who cried wolf. And if you leave your home, while the storm may or may not come, the looters always do.
I left California because I can see NO happening there easily after the Big One and I was just too old to rebuild if I survived.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/06/2005 17:54 Comments ||
Top||
#37
It's not a question of individualism.
The NOPD doesn't seem to be trusted by the majority of New Orleans' population of either race, and rightly so. Part of the reason you have people staying behind in the first place is fear of looters, and I think this would have made the situation worse.
TGA: they could have evacuated people to (for instance) Baton Rouge (about an hour and a half away if the interstates weren't crowded, which they were) and Lafayette (three hours away under the same conditions.) I'm sure you could have found enough volunteers to be evacuated away to cut the number of evacuees at the Superdome substantially, thus ensuring that the food/water/sewerage facilities there would have lasted longer.
Now if the interstate is bogged down you have a cutoff as to when you can send busses out because you don't want to be stuck in traffic on the Bonne Carre Spillway or the I-10 twin-spans if a Cat 4 hurricane's going to come through there. (This was another fear of the people who didn't evacuate, IMHO. It would scare the hell out of me. BTW, the twin spans going NE out of the city are gone, more or less).
That's another reason why you HAVE to start the evacuation more than 24 hours before the storm; most of the ways out of New Orleans go over causeways of one sort or another and the traffic can slow to a crawl if they get overloaded.
Oh, finally: You might want to consider Hammond as an evacuation location, but I don't know what facilities they might have there. Going farther out of the area there's some national guard facilities in Lafayette and Alexandria (probably five hours out of New Orleans on a good day) that might be usable for that purpose as well. The 256th is in the process of coming home from Iraq, but the 225th (about a brigade's worth of combat engineers) and its equipment is still in state. Of course how much of that is in the facilities at the time the storm hits and how much in transit at the time is a good question. (See iraqnow.blogspot.com for the details of Florida's NG groups' disaster relief logistics efforts in the past).
Finally, say you make one round trip and one one-way trip with the busses before the storm hits; you've moved (pessimistically speaking) 450*40*2=36,000 people and the busses are now out of the city when the storm hits and can go back in (probably through Gretna or something, which seems to be a usable route) and make another trip, rather than sitting there with water in their engine blocks.
For that matter, the busses could have been moved out of Mid-City and been in better shape once the weather cleared to still move people out. They could have even tried moving them after the levee broke but before the waters innundated them.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/06/2005 17:55 Comments ||
Top||
#38
TGA,
Lower manhatten was 16 horrific blocks of ground zero that could be cordoned off 20 blocks away. Katrina is 90,000 sq miles of some of the United States most rugged coastal waterway.
On a historical note that is not quite "politically correct" I am sure, I confess to having watched too much History Channel in my lift. I have to say that compared to the "refugee struggles" suffered during the conflicts of the last century, that the particular event last we saw last week would pale in comparison to the suffering of displaced people in many parts of Europe, Asia and elsewhere during WWII. Walk out under fire or die seemed to be the theme, not "How come my ground transportaion hasn't shown up yet?"
I am sure many past refugees would have gladly swapped places in history.
#40
Mrs D - here in Santee, east of San Diego, we faced mandatory evacuation during the fires 2 yrs ago. With all that booty available, power out, the citizens didn't loot, steal, or rape. They helped each other load vehicles and pets, they exchanged phone numbers. They were Americans. Don't put Watts or So. Central on every Californian face in a crisis....
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/06/2005 20:03 Comments ||
Top||
#41
rather than sitting there with water in their engine blocks.
Ummm, I'm a Mechanic, water will not hurt the engines unless they were running when covered with water.
Remove the air cleaner and dump out any water, if none, start her up.
If there's water in the air cleaner housing then take out all the spark plugs, drain and refill the oil with new, spin the engine with the starter for 30 seconds (Or so) to blow any water out the open plugholes and reinstall the plugs (Blow them off) and start her up. (Diesel is a bit harder, remove the glow plugs here, same procedure)
Fuel systems are sealed, there might be water in the gas tanks, but it's unlikely.
A team of 5 could go through the half-submerged busses and restart 80% easily, about 15-20 minutes per bus.
Any that don't start immediately leave to be cleaned out more thoroughly later.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/06/2005 20:45 Comments ||
Top||
#42
RNJ, I thought the issue was rust in the piston and rings.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/06/2005 21:01 Comments ||
Top||
#43
not a chance - oil/lack of air - short time period - RNJ's right...now water in the fuel, brakes and differential's are an issue, but less likely
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/06/2005 21:53 Comments ||
Top||
#44
Jim, you're probably right, the trucks would be fixable after a short immersion, but it would have taken less effort and people to have moved them out of the rising water to begin with (if anyone had thought to do so).
I'm relying on very fuzzy memories but I think the NO Metro bus system ran on diesel the last time I used it.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/06/2005 22:53 Comments ||
Top||
#45
I still think it was nuts to evacuate to the Superdome being that it was below sea level itself. For Nagin to feel he was responsible for getting the folks out that had their own cars, geez If he would have only bussed out the ones that didn't have any transportation, he could have started before the storm hit.
Also that the Superdome wasn't stocked with any essentials in preparation. Cots, Food, Water, Medical Assist where needed, etc. And staffed to help out where needed.
Posted by: Jan ||
09/07/2005 0:01 Comments ||
Top||
Unifying all Christians and healing the 1,000-year rift between Catholics and the Orthodox is "particularly urgent," Pope Benedict XVI said in a message released Monday. In the message to a Catholic-Orthodox symposium on Sunday, the pope called for intensified prayers and dialogue to help heal the rift, which he has said would be a fundamental priority of his pontificate. "The search for the full, visible union among all the disciples of Christ is seen as particularly urgent in our times, and for this one feels the need for a more profound spirituality and an increase in reciprocal love," the pope said.
The Catholic and Orthodox churches split in 1054 over several questions, including the issue of the primacy of the pope. More recently, relations between the two sides have been made tense by Orthodox charges of aggressive Catholic missionary work in eastern Europe and by property disputes.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I wouldn't say "made worse", just that both sides have all of a sudden become engaged again, and tons of old disputes, disagreements, arguments, debates and paperwork are being dug up out of their respective archives.
Much of the fight, which was really cultural and political, has become moot, which leaves the only real argument outstanding: "Do we get more out of the deal by reunifying, or by remaining two distinct, but separate churches?"
Eventually the two will mostly likely decide to have their cake and eat it, too. That is, to form an elaborate and profitable entente, with great exchanges of archival materials and resources, permanent councils to discuss minutiae, travel and courtesy protocols, etc. Not really reunifying, and carefully defending their "turf", but closing the gap a lot.
#2
I just wish that all Christian denominations would get it through their thick heads that they all work for the same boss ultimately. I'm sick of religous bickering especially in view of what we face today
#3
Cheaderhead: a lot of it goes back to the very origins of Xtianity. Does God always speak through men directly, or primarily through those who lead very chaste and forthright lives? The former, "Gnostic" viewpoint has its arguments, but creates no lasting "church"; whereas the latter view survives as an institution over time.
Other schisms are cultural and political, but do not underestimate the value of these differences. A "one size fits all" religion just does not exist, and the New Testament neither demands one nor endorses it--and yet maybe it does. The Papacy in Rome claims descent from Peter himself, but what does that mean?
For all things there are reasons. Wishing things were otherwise may not guarantee a desired outcome.
#4
Agreed, Anonymoose. The schism between Orthodox and Catholic was fairly early, with the Catholics working with bad translations from Greek to Latin (a great many of the early Churchmen were barely literate, even in their own tongue, being "of the people"), then accusing the Greek-speaking Orthodox of having changed the texts. Even before that there was the question of whether the Bishop of Rome had primacy over the other bishops, particularly of the Eastern Sees that had been established much earlier.
But the exercise will nontheless be helpful if approached openly and honestly by all parties. There has been a heavy accretion of history and doctrine over the last two millenia.
#5
I wasn't thinking of a "One size fit's all" Christianity. I was more thinking about rather than the RC and the GO fighting or the Baptist preacher railing against Papists (OK maybe that's extreme) they all realize that they are trying to bring the Word to people in their own way and also realize that others are bringing in theirs
A domestic airliner crashed in a busy residential area of Indonesia's third biggest city just after takeoff yesterday, killing 102 people aboard and 47 local residents in an inferno on the ground. Officials said 15 passengers in the tail section of the Mandala Airlines Boeing 737-200, including a toddler under the age of 2, survived the crash in Medan, capital of North Sumatra.
The plane was carrying 112 passengers and five crew on a flight to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. "The plane actually had taken off, but somehow it started to shake heavily and swerved to the left and then wham, a ball of fire came from the front of the plane toward the end," survivor Rohadi Sitepu told Metro Television from his hospital bed. "From our side of the plane there were maybe 10 people who survived and although they suffered some injuries, thank God, they managed to escape."
Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa told a news conference in Medan the number of passengers and crew killed totaled 102, although he gave no breakdown. Officials earlier said 104 people on board had died. The death toll on the ground was 47, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Tried again to find Bob, a guardsman who comments here but there are layers and layers of security and was allowed through all but the last one, which required a military pass, which I did not have. But was able to get another message to him about folks wishing him well.
Evacuees seem to be relaxed but you can still see that lost look on their faces.
A major pharmaceutical company has an 18 wheeler load of items setup for patients staffed with pharmacists with laptops at tables taking care needs of people who are under the care of a of nurses and doctors at the convention center. Saw lots of Huggie diaper boxes for the babies, barrels of iced down bottle water all through the center.
I saw several New Orleans evacuees walking around with bags full of all kinds of things such as shaving cream, toothpaste, and snacks. I even saw some of the usual Dallas homeless bums who were just outside the complex trying to sell things they managed to get from the Convention Center for themselves. Of course they were selling these things just around the corner from a liquor store, which is where the money would end up going if they could get something for it.
Rire trucks are pumping water to showers, even roach coaches, those rolling mobile kitchens usually seen going around to construction sites were at the convention center serving workers and evacuees roaming around outside.
FEMA has loads of people there, the vehicles, some with state tags as far away as Ohio are parked all around the Dallas, Texas Convention Center.
Evacuees are also getting money to go out to some of the restaurants around downtown and you can tell who the ones in the restaurants are from New Orleans because they look very tired.
Two buses pulled up and unloaded more people but I also saw people loading things into cars of others who most likely were relatives. So you have people coming in and now people going home with relatives most likely.
There are rows of tables where what looks like counselors are seated where people can come to, sit down and talk.
Hopefully the Red Cross can get these people into their own places real soon until they can get back home a few months from now.
SCIENTISTS have created "miracle mice" that can regenerate amputated limbs or damaged vital organs, making them able to recover from injuries that would kill or permanently disable normal animals.
The experimental animals are unique among mammals in their ability to regrow their heart, toes, joints and tail.
And when cells from the test mouse are injected into ordinary mice, they too acquire the ability to regenerate, the US-based researchers say.
Their discoveries raise the prospect that humans could one day be given the ability to regenerate lost or damaged organs, opening up a new era in medicine.
Details of the research will be presented next week at a scientific conference on ageing titled Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence, at Cambridge University in Britain.
The research leader, Ellen Heber-Katz, professor of immunology at the Wistar Institute, a US biomedical research centre, said the ability of the mice at her laboratory to regenerate organs appeared to be controlled by about a dozen genes.
Professor Heber-Katz says she is still researching the genes' exact functions, but it seems almost certain humans have comparable genes.
"We have experimented with amputating or damaging several different organs, such as the heart, toes, tail and ears, and just watched them regrow," she said.
"It is quite remarkable. The only organ that did not grow back was the brain.
"When we injected fetal liver cells taken from those animals into ordinary mice, they too gained the power of regeneration. We found this persisted even six months after the injection."
Professor Heber-Katz made her discovery when she noticed the identification holes that scientists punch in the ears of experimental mice healed without any signs of scarring in the animals at her laboratory.
The self-healing mice, from a strain known as MRL, were then subjected to a series of surgical procedures. In one case the mice had their toes amputated -- but the digits grew back, complete with joints.
In another test some of the tail was cut off, and this also regenerated. Then the researchers used a cryoprobe to freeze parts of the animals' hearts, and watched them grow back again. A similar phenomenon was observed when the optic nerve was severed and the liver partially destroyed.
The researchers believe the same genes could confer greater longevity and are measuring their animals' survival rate. However, the mice are only 18 months old, and the normal lifespan is two years so it is too early to reach firm conclusions.
Scientists have long known that less complex creatures have an impressive ability to regenerate. Many fish and amphibians can regrow internal organs or even whole limbs.
Troops scouring New Orleans for survivors and victims reported finding at least 40 mutilated bodies in the Convention Center refugee center.
Arkansas National Guardsman Mikel Brooks told the New Orleans Times Picayune many of the dead were elderly, or showed signs of trauma.
"There's another one in the freezer, a 7-year-old with her throat cut," he said.
I'll want confirmation on this. In our sunday paper, the Express-News, they had a story of a reporter being led all over the Superdome by a guy who swore there was a pile of bodies in the freezer.
Never found any.
As the searches became more organized since the Aug. 29 onslaught of Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said repair crews had patched the ruptured levee along the 17th Street Canal and had begun pumping out water.
The failure of the levee system after the storm left about 80 percent of the city flooded up to 20 feet deep, and Corps officials said it would take nearly three months to drain some neighborhoods, CNN reported.
Deputy Police Chief Warren Riley told reporters that thousands of people -- many of them with pets -- are insisting on staying in what he called "a hazard." "We advise people that this city has been destroyed. It has been completely destroyed," Riley said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/06/2005 14:06 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I haven't been able to find a second source for this on any of the news services. The closest I could find was a Friday Sept. 2 Reuters story that was not true: She said she found a dead 14-year old girl at 5 a.m. on Friday morning, four hours after the young girl went missing from her parents inside the convention center. "She was raped for four hours until she was dead," Joseph said through tears. "Another child, a seven-year old boy was found raped and murdered in the kitchen freezer last night."
My bet is that ScienceDaily is reprinting the Reuters' rumor-as-fact.
Posted by: ed ||
09/06/2005 15:30 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The only hits I can find for a Mikel Brooks is a Specialist who was some sort of infantryman on the Sinai peacekeeping detail a couple years ago, and a few unenlightening blog comments here and there. (Nothing political - don't get excited.)
I'm going to guess that some chowderhead of a reporter grilled the sentry standing guard outside of the convention center who wouldn't let said reporter in to look around, and quoted him repeating a bunch of juicy gossip, which said sentry wouldn't have seen himself since he's, y'know, stuck guarding the front door of an empty convention center.
I have no proof that this is the truth, but when did that ever stop the rumor machine when we're in full gear?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/06/2005 16:14 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I'm starting to think that the troops are pulling reporters' legs to see how gullible they are. The answer appears to be that they (and newspaper readers) will believe anything.
#4
The bit where the men were shot earlier by cops - were the cops wearing their uniforms - and were they visible? I'm starting to think that some of the gunshot victims might have been civic-minded armed citizens looking for looters.
#5
I understand that as a result of high winds, all the left handed smoke shifters in the NO area were destropyed. Lot's of people cooking over open fires are now having severe lung congestion due to the absence of these invaluable tools. Until some can be shipped in from the Army depost, perhaps the reporters should be sent out to look for some that may have escaped damage in the storm.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/06/2005 19:55 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Mrs. D, it's not fair to pick on the mentally unarmed like that! ;-)
#7
Awright - it's time for me to rent the John Woo/Van Damme movie - Hard Target, which covers chunks of the French Quarter. I don't think much of NO is going to be the way it was before.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/06/2005 23:04 Comments ||
Top||
#13
When I first saw this headline man. I hope this isn't confirmed. I'm starting to lose faith in our american citizens here with all of the OMG stories that have been coming out of there. I know some guys that are being deployed to NO, and I hope that I don't hear of any of them getting killed. The true tragedy in my mind is how our citizens have been behaving.
Posted by: Jan ||
09/06/2005 23:43 Comments ||
Top||
Yasmeen Elsamra had a simple request: While her classmates were eating lunch, she wanted to go off by herself for a few moments to pray.
The 14-year-old was told she couldn't, and went home distraught that afternoon in October 2003. Praying five times a day is a cornerstone of her Muslim faith.
"If I wasn't allowed to pray my second prayer at school, I couldn't do it at home," she said. "When school finishes, the third prayer begins."
Her family contacted a terrorist-affiliated Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which asked the school district to reconsider. Eventually, the district acknowledged it had no policy preventing a student from praying on his or her own during free time, and allowed Yasmeen to use an empty classroom to unfurl her prayer rug, face Mecca and touch her head to the floor in a few moments of worship.
Her case was part of a nationwide grassroots effort by Muslim parents to make public schools accept dhimmitude more friendly and accommodating to Muslim students. The movement has gained strength since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Paterson, New Jersey, home of the state's largest Arab-American community, lets some students out of class early Fridays to attend prayers with their parents' permission, and is one of a handful of New Jersey districts that closes schools for Eid-al-Fitr, a Muslim religious holiday.
#1
I think what the Suprem Court actually ruled on was Organized prayer, i.e. a prayer led by someone over the intercom or individual classroms being led in prayer by someone, where students are held captive to the praying is not legal. This is where the pro-prayer people and the anti-prayer people get it wrong. ANYONE can go off by themselves and say a prayer and a school not allowing them to do so is not following the law. Schools have closed for Christian religious holidays for many years, eg. Christmas and Easter although they are not celebrated as suchand are now called Winter Break and Spring Break.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/06/2005 11:54 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I think yor wrong,Decon.If you are then this absolutly outrageous.
#3
The vast majority of prayer at school is done by Xtian children, and done discreetly and politely. Out West, Mormon kids often have small, again discreet, prayer meetings during school hours on their own time. Even some orthodox Jewish and Catholic children can be seen mumbling a prayer at certain times. The only difference for a Moslem child would be that they both have an obvious, if quiet, ritual to perform, and one that must be done in private, as other children would take advantage of them in that vulnerable position.
As long as the school doesn't direct, guide, endorse, or provide extraordinary resources in the furtherance of religion, it is demanded of them that they provide modest accommodation and respect to children's religious needs. The same rules apply to children who do not wish to use any school facility or time for any religious function.
#4
I think Anonymoose has it right. I went to six years of high school football games (as a parent, wise guys!) and there was a prayer led by students before the kickoff. Somebody made a stink after my kids graduated, so I'm not sure if it's still going on.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/06/2005 15:18 Comments ||
Top||
#5
And Deacon, too.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/06/2005 15:18 Comments ||
Top||
#6
The vast majority of prayer in school occurs just before the first final exam of the year -- totally unorganized, utterly private, and completely heartfelt. And not all those prayers are made to any god at all. ;-)
The United States on Tuesday appealed a World Trade Organization panel report which found Washington failed to comply with the global commerce body's rulings in a long-running lumber dispute with Canada, trade officials said.
The dispute centers on Canadian claims that the United States disregarded decisions made by the WTO last year, when U.S. import duties on Canadian lumber were judged to be too high. Washington claims it has adopted the WTO's recommendations.
In 2002, the United States slapped import duties on Canadian softwood lumber, which is used by house builders. Washington accused Ottawa of hurting U.S. manufacturers by subsidizing its lumber industry.
Most U.S. timber is harvested from private land at market prices, while in Canada the government owns 90 percent of timberlands and charges fees -- called stumpage -- for logging. The fee is based on the cost of maintaining and restoring the forest.
U.S. timber companies contend that Canada's stumpage fees are artificially low and amount to subsidies that allow Canadian mills to sell wood below market value.
While the U.S. timber industry generally applauded the tariffs, home builders on both sides of the border say they have driven up the cost of new homes and rebuilding in hurricane-stricken areas in the United States and hurt Canadian lumber exporters and communities that depend on them.
If Canada wants to subsidize its lumber sales to us, let it. Heck, if it wants to send us free lumber, I'm OK with that.
Aired September 5, 2005 - 07:31 ET After days of outrage, a massive military relief effort is pouring into New Orleans and some of the other devastated areas. Lieutenant General Russel Honore is the commander overseeing military relief efforts. Joint Task Force Katrina it is called. He joins us from Camp Shelby in Mississippi.
General, good to have you with us.
LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE, JOINT TASK FORCE KATRINA: Good morning.
M. O'BRIEN: Could you bring us up-to-date right now, number of boots on the ground and what the situation is right now?
HONORE: Yes. We have approximately 30,000 National Guard troops on the ground with more on the way, and approximately 10,000 active- component troops. And our priority of work will focus -- continue to focus on search and rescue, of providing food and water, and assisting the people in the devastated area that goes from Mobile to the west side of New Orleans. This is a disaster of enormous proportion. And the big impact on the region in Mississippi, where the coastline was destroyed for two or three miles inward, then damage north of that, all the way up to I- 20, almost the entire span -- width of the state of Mississippi.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, I'm told, general...
HONORE: A significant challenge there in the rural areas.
M. O'BRIEN: ... it's the size of the country of Great Britain. Is40,000 troops enough? Do you need more people?
HONORE: Well, we have -- we still have the local officials to get the job done. And if we need more troops, they will flow. Right now, we are linking up with each one of the four parishes in Louisiana that had significant damage and in the flood areas. And we're doing the same thing in the state of Mississippi. We are just completing the search and rescue phase of this. After we do the search and rescue and evacuate the people, we'll work off the priorities of the governor is what we do. And we'll continue to do that. And right now, we have enough people to get that done, based on what we know.
But phase two and three of this might be harder than phase one, which is to do search and rescue. We're going to have to determine what we're going to do to mitigate the water in New Orleans. And much has to be done about establishing shelter. So, there's a lot left to be done, and much of that is a task that the industry do, not military equities. We don't build buildings, per se, or build cities, but we'll do what we are told to do to help mitigate this situation. Over.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about chain of command for a minute, general, if we could. You mentioned the governors being in the mix here. The president has made an offer, put an offer on the table to federalize this whole thing, to streamline your chain of command. I assume that's something you'd like to see happen.
HONORE: We are working with the arrangements we have now, which is in relationship to the national response plan, where the inner agency led by FEMA on the homeland security will work in response to the governors at their request for support. That's what we are doing. We're getting the job done. We evacuated 20,000 people at one location from the Convention Center the day before yesterday. We evacuated another 3,000 yesterday. We cleared the hospitals in New Orleans. We are working the outlying parish of St. Bernard and Jefferson parish...
M. O'BRIEN: General...
HONORE: ... in New Orleans...
M. O'BRIEN: General, let me ask you though...
HONORE: ... and Hancock County in Mississippi.
M. O'BRIEN: General, let me ask you this, though. If it were federalized, if the chain of command were such that it was streamlined, wouldn't that make your job easier?
HONORE: We're getting the job done. We're focusing on our search and rescue. Troops are doing a great job. That question -- I'm hearing your question, but that's a question you need to answer at a higher level.
I'm telling you, we're achieving success, and we're getting the job done working with the generals or working for the governor and meeting the requirements of FEMA. Boots on the ground, as we continue to deploy the forces in there, get the hospital ships off the coast and the aircraft carriers, we have more of ability to help coordinate the effort.
Right now, we are still in the crisis phase of this, because we have not gotten the people out of the destroyed area, because we're still looking for them. There are still people hiding in the top of their houses. If we could see them, we would go to them. And in some cases, we're getting phone calls from them, and they're telling us where they are. And we're going after them, and we're getting them. That's what my focus is right now.
We might be in the half-time in this game, we might be losing 50- 0, but I'm going to focus on this next half. We're going to win this half, and we're going to get it done, and we're going to get it done as quick as we can. And the people of New Orleans need to know that. And there has been much talk about the security of New Orleans. We are moving freely in and around New Orleans. And there are isolated incidents, but we're getting the job done, and we're going to continue to do it. And I wish we could of been there on day one, but wishing something is not making it happen.
M. O'BRIEN: Well...
HONORE: Playing something is not reality.
M. O'BRIEN: Let me show viewers who might have missed it over the weekend what happened when you finally got there on the ground. Let's take a look at this piece of tape and how you handled the troops in the situation there for just a moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put those (EXPLETIVE DELETED) weapons down! I'm not going to tell you again, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! Get those (EXPLETIVE DELETED) weapons down!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Well, I've got to tell you, general, if you told me to put my weapon down, I would. You went in there, and you took control very quickly. People literally applauding there. Isn't it a shame that it took that long, that it was Saturday for you to be there, and that whole scene had to even occur as it did?
HONORE: I wish we didn't have to do that. But the reality of the situation, when we got the mission, we went in and got it done. The New Orleans Police Department was decisively engaged with that operation, and we evacuated that center. And as much talk as had been had, there were ill people there, but there was not mass starvation. People were taking care of one another. They used the local stores in the region to provision themselves. And this was not -- it was filthy. It was crowded. It was uncomfortable. It was every description you could give of a situation you would not want to be in. But the people took care of themselves. And in spite of this, they kept good order.
There was some activity inside the Convention Center. But much has been said about that. But we evacuated over 20,000 people from there. And you'll be able to go in and get the count of how many people didn't survive that. But this should be looked at as somewhat of a success that the number of people that were there, living in the conditions that there were, that many days later, we were able to evacuate them. And, look...
M. O'BRIEN: General, this is your home.
HONORE: This was -- yes.
M. O'BRIEN: This is your home. What was that like being there, having to do that job in your home state of Louisiana? Did you ever envision that?
HONORE: Now, look, the storm had a vote here. It's the storm that did this. It's not anything any government did or any individual. The storm had a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) vote, and the storm is still there. The water is there! You can't vote that water out of the city of New Orleans. That's reality, folks. We need to get on with it. We need the big brain people in America finding a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) solution and stop worrying about the first-half. The second-half is yet to come. Take care of the evacuees. Let's get it on. And I need to go to work. Any other questions? Over.
M. O'BRIEN: No, sir. Over and out. Thank you.
HONORE: See you.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/06/2005 10:12 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
ROFL!
Love this guy.
Giuliani / Honore 2008... Damn! I need a spot for Kurilla, too.
#4
Background: General Honore is a native of Lakeland, Louisiana. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Infantry and awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Vocational Agriculture upon graduation from Southern University and A&M College in 1971. He holds a Master of Arts in Human Resources from Troy State University as well as an Honorary Doctorate in Public Administration from Southern University and A&M College.
General Honore has served in a variety of command and staff positions. His overseas assignments include tours in Korea and Germany. He served as Commanding General, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea; Vice Director for Operations, J-3, The Joint Staff, Washington, D.C.; Deputy Commanding General and Assistant Commandant, United States Army Infantry Center and School, Fort Benning, Georgia; and Assistant Division Commander, Maneuver/Support, 1st Calvary Division, Fort Hood, Texas. Most recently, General Honore served as Commander, Standing Joint Force Headquarters â Homeland Security, U.S. Northern Command.
General Honoreâs awards and decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with four Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters.
There were two babies who had their throats slit. The seven-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in the Superdome. And the corpses laid out amid the excrement in the convention centre. In a week filled with dreadful scenes of desperation and anger from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina some stories stood out. But as time goes on many remain unsubstantiated and may yet prove to be apocryphal.
New Orleans police have been unable to confirm the tale of the raped child, or indeed any of the reports of rapes, in the Superdome and convention centre. New Orleans police chief Eddie Compass said last night: "We don't have any substantiated rapes. We will investigate if the individuals come forward." And while many claim they happened, no witnesses, survivors or survivors' relatives have come forward.
Nor has the source for the story of the murdered babies, or indeed their bodies, been found. And while the floor of the convention centre toilets were indeed covered in excrement, the Guardian found no corpses.
"Katrina's winds have left behind an information vacuum. And that vacuum has been filled by rumour." "There is nothing to correct wild reports that armed gangs have taken over the convention centre," wrote Associated Press writer, Allen Breed. "You can report them but you at least have to say they are unsubstantiated and not pass them off as fact," said one Baltimore-based journalist. "But nobody is doing that."
Either way these rumours have had an effect.
Reports of the complete degradation and violent criminals running rampant in the Superdome suggested a crisis that both hastened the relief effort and demonised those who were stranded. By the end of last week the media in Baton Rouge reported that evacuees from New Orleans were carjacking and that guns and knives were being seized in local shelters where riots were erupting. The local mayor responded accordingly. "We do not want to inherit the looting and all the other foolishness that went on in New Orleans," Kip Holden was told the Baton Rouge Advocate. "We do not want to inherit that breed that seeks to prey on other people."
The trouble, wrote Howard Witt of the Chicago Tribune is that "scarcely any of it was true - the police confiscated a single knife from a refugee in one Baton Rouge shelter". "There were no riots in Baton Rouge. There were no armed hordes."
Similarly when the first convoy of national guardsmen went into New Orleans approached the convention centre they were ordered to "lock and load". But when they arrived they were confronted not by armed mobs but a nurse wearing a T-shirt that read "I love New Orleans". "She ran down a broken escalator, then held her hands in the air when she saw the guns," wrote the LA Times. "We have sick kids up here!" she shouted.
"We have dehydrated kids! One kid with sickle cell!"
Civil rights leader Randall Robinson has also retracted his Drudge-publicized claim that "black hurricane victims in New Orleans have begun eating corpses to survive." No word yet if Aunty Entity is still running Bartertown
Posted by: Steve ||
09/06/2005 10:01 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
This storm was so awful that anyone could say anything and be believed. The folks who run Snopes have their work cut out for them...
#2
here is a comment from over at Arianna Huffinpuff's blog. The moonbats are out in full force now. she also says the MSM is covering for the President and his Evil Genius, Karl Rove.
Explosions were heard by the levees before they broke. Was it another 'inside job' 911? It sure has the desired effect. Of course Dems think OSAMA did 911.
Posted by: booboolinsky on September 06, 2005 at 02:12PM
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/06/2005 16:04 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Yeah, Ship, I really am amazed at the truly insane people walking around us all the time. This gut was seriously mentally impaired. By the way, cudos to your Seminoles. AU made too many mistakes.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/06/2005 19:09 Comments ||
Top||
#6
The NOPD, backed by National Guard, has shot and killed at least some thugs who, when encountered looting, made the police 'feel' threatened (for once rule by 'feelings' is good). It appears the 'victims' of these shootings are essentially left where they fell, with reports generally not filed. I don't think this is just rumor - heard it first hand from two cops who monitor radio transmissions and second hand from a third.
NEW ORLEANS -- Well before dawn, he fires up his first Dutch Masters of the day and with his huge frame folded into the back seat of a command truck begins barking orders and gusts of cigar smoke. "That is your mission!" he thunders into a satellite phone, in a voice that could peel paint. "I am the joint task force commander and you are an asset. Now get the (bleep) moving!"
The enormous task of coordinating the U.S. military forces finally flowing into Hurricane Katrina's disaster areas has fallen to this man, Russel L. Honore, a 6-foot-2-inch African-American infantry officer who wears the three stars of a lieutenant general, the authority of the commander of all active-duty forces assigned to Katrina relief (Joint Task Force Katrina), and the demeanor of a man in a hurry.
Blocked by a military convoy stalled in 4 feet of water outside the Superdome, he leans out and bellows at a young enlisted driver: "Hey! Back up! Give us some room!" The driver complies and Honore sails through with a dazzling grin and a thumbs-up. Hours later, striding across the airport tarmac to greet the commanding general of the incoming 82nd Airborne Division, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, he yells out delightedly, "Hey Bill!"
"It comes down to relationships," he said in an interview here, speaking of his impatience and his seeming ability to coax the best out of soldiers and commanders with a soft word and a grinning pat on the back. "You gotta build trust. You build trust, you got speed. And you need speed in a crisis."
Speed and relationships will be critical in the days ahead as some 7,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne and 1st Cavalry Divisions begin pouring in to join Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps units already at work in Louisiana and along the coasts of Alabama and Mississippi. Merely to get them here is a job, given that roads and airports are jammed with incoming cargo, and the troops must be sustained with food, water, communications facilities and medical care.
And their work must be coordinated with National Guard units and the dozens of other local, state and federal agencies at work. These include U.S. Border Patrol agents and Air Force security police in combat gear and federal and state civilian disaster workers from around the country. On the air side alone, Army, National Guard, Navy, Marine and Coast Guard helicopters are swarming into a makeshift logistics base at the Superdome delivering boots, water and communications gear and evacuating sick and elderly refugees.
Honore is the commanding general of 1st Army, a headquarters based in Atlanta that oversees the mobilization and training of National Guard and reserve troops for Iraq. It's a job through which he has come to know hundreds of National Guard officers and commanders.
First Army's secondary mission is to coordinate military support to civilian authorities in a crisis, and it is in that capacity that Honore plunged into work on Hurricane Katrina days before the storm hit last week. He has a personal interest as well: His grown daughter was among the tens of thousands evacuated from New Orleans, and his son is serving in Iraq with a brigade of the Louisiana National Guard. "So we feel the pain," Honore said.
And a sense of urgency. Over the weekend -- during a long and hurried span that aides wearily described as typical -- Honore rose at 4 a.m. Saturday and got back to bed at 2 a.m. Sunday for his typical two hours of sleep. His main sustenance seemed to be his ever-present cigars.
In a hurried conference with Maj. Gen. Caldwell, whose 82nd Airborne troopers were alerted only Friday for Hurricane duty and began arriving late Saturday, Honore worked out a brief mission order: search and rescue in sectors of New Orleans and assist as needed in humanitarian relief. That means paratroopers will go door to door in flooded neighborhoods.
In an interview, Caldwell said it had been "disheartening" for his troops to watch the hurricane disaster unfold without being called to help. "Send us down there, we'd love to help other Americans, was the feeling of most of us," he said, and now "we're honored to be here."
In the unusual role of acting inside the United States, Caldwell said, "we will be operating rifles down, weapons for self-protection only." He added, "What we bring to the fight are men and women highly disciplined and trained to do the right thing."
As the paratroopers and cavalry units move into the city, the potential for misunderstandings and miscommunications with local law enforcement officers seems high. It is a problem Honore is racing to head off in a stream of personal meetings and phone calls with the Pentagon and its domestic military headquarters, U.S. Northern Command, and with dozens of other military headquarters, mayors, police officials and National Guard officers. That kind of command-by-schmoozing is dictated by the sensitive position Honore occupies here. The active-duty military, even though it has the most resources, takes a back seat to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state and local offices.
"We are assisting, we keep that line very clear," Honore said in an interview. "That is to protect the sovereignty of the states and that goes back to the Constitution." But it means he's got an enormous amount to do, and -- because people are dying -- each second counts.
"You guys are working off a calendar," he tells his staff. "I'm looking at my watch."
Posted by: Steve ||
09/06/2005 09:23 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"We are assisting, we keep that line very clear," Honore said in an interview. "That is to protect the sovereignty of the states and that goes back to the Constitution."
All you need to know to see through the lying bitching of the Left.
September 6, 2005: Using troops and military equipment for natural disasters is nothing new, but the procedure for getting them in motion is complicated by federal and local law, as well as local politics. New Orleans, which has been getting hammered by hurricanes and floods for over two centuries, has to start the process by appealing to the state governor. The states control any National Guard troops who are not federalized (about two thirds of Louisiana troops were not federalized, and available to the governor for the recent hurricane Katrina). The governor also has to request that federal assistance, including outside troops (both National Guard from other states and federals). FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is set up to expedite this. FEMA is mainly a supervisory organization. The actual relief work is done by federal and National Guard troops, as well as many public and private relief agencies. In the case of New Orleans, any requests from the Louisiana, for federal assistance, go first to a Department of Defense headquarters already established to deal with the situation (Joint Task Force, or JTF, Katrina) at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. The staff officers there will, if need be, translate the request into language the military understands (specific types of military units, equipment and supplies), and transmit it to Northern Command headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. There, units, equipment and material available will be matched with the request, and then the document will be transmitted to the Pentagon, where the Secretary of Defense signs it and has orders sent out to all units involved, to get moving. Many of those units may have already been alerted by Northern Command, that they might be ordered out for disaster relief operations. The activation process takes less than a day. Additional requests from the state governor are handled the same way.
The governor can mobilize National Guard troops at any time, and some governors do so before a major hurricane hits. The problem with Hurricane Katrina was that it was the largest to ever hit the city directly. Historically, about once every 35 years, a category 4 hurricane hits within 160 kilometers of New Orleans. The last category 4 to come close (but not as close as Katrina) was in 1965. Before that, water came over the levees in 1940. Each time the city got flooded, the levees were reinforced, and more pumping capacity added. Katrina was different because several levees actually failed, flooding most of the city, more than at any time in the past. This was a worst case situation, and the city government had no plan in place to deal with it. The attitude in New Orleans was to âmuddle through,â some how.
New Orleans also has some unique leadership problems. The city is one of the most corrupt in the nation. Residents consider themselves survivors not only of the climate and weather, but also their own elected officials. The police force often provides ugly headlines about corrupt cops, and other city officials arenât much better. It is a wild and lawless city even in the best of times. The murder rate in the city is one of the highest in the nation, ten times the national average, and higher than many cities in Iraq.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/06/2005 09:22 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Yep, the utter depths of corruption. You can hid a lot in the goodtimes, but when events happen that are unforgivable, all the rot comes out in the resultant pain and suffering. Rebuilding NO without fundamental governmental reform is about as smart as rebuilding Iraq with the Ba'athist still in charge.
#3
The biggest failure, hands down, is in the area of communication. ALL kinds of communication. Truth is most of the right things were done, and done about as quickly as was possible (there are exceptions, for sure, but in an operation this size that is inevitable). But political ass-covering, spin, and back-stabbing seemed to dominant the information flow. At the lower levels the lack of ability for elements to talk to each other badly degraded efficiency of both the rescue and the law enforcement efforts, but that is something to be addressed in 'lessons learned', not argued about right now.
The second biggest problem is breakdown in leadership. Most of the 'leaders' here have never been tried by fire; they seem to show bursts of the right stuff, but lack the stamina to endure day after day of extreme hardship and pressure. I personally feel most of that shortfall is forgivable - people can't generally excel during on-the-job training. The unforgivable leadership failures are by so-called leaders who sacrifice their 'troops' while posturing for glory. They should be hanged.
Blog entry. Nice to see there's always something to piously complain about, in a very nice Holier-than-you style... From 1993 to 2005, the NYT thought there was too much money pouring into the rivers and wetlands, excerpts at link.
#1
"the National Guard must be treated as America's most essential homeland security force,"
That being the case,I wonder if the NYT would have any objection to putting the
gaurd to patrolling the border
Lieutenant General Russel Honore lived up to his 'John Wayne dude' nickname, blasting complaints that red tape or poor security were snarling relief efforts as "B.S." The fiery general, in charge of the military component of the mission, lost his rag during a press conference after President George W. Bush's visit to rescue coordinators here.
"That's B.S. It's B.S.," Honore raged. "I can tell you that is B.S. We have got 300 helicopters and some of the finest EMS workers in the world down there. "There is no red tape ... there are isolated incidents that people take to paint a broad brush."
Honore also lashed out at questions from journalists at the Baton Rouge emergency operations center concerning the security situation in New Orleans. "You need to get on the streets of New Orleans, you can't sit back here and say what you hear from someone else.
"It is secure, we walk around without any issues. Why the hell are you trying to make that the issue, if you can help, get there and help," he said, saying that people were being scared away by reports of violence.
When one reporter argued that there still reports of bureaucracy and unrest stalling relief efforts in some outlying parishes of New Orleans, Honore fumed: "I don't care if it is Hancock County, Mississippi -- we are not going to have that kind of issue."
The comments that sparked Honore's verbal blast were apparently made by US Representative Bobby Jindal, who represents a New Orleans district.
"The bureaucracy needs to do more than one thing at a time. It's appropriate to save people with helicopters, but it can't be done to the exclusion of everything else," Jindal was quoted by Time magazine as saying. Honore did not discount that Jindal may be basing his complaints on "isolated" incidents, and said he would follow up with him.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin dubbed Honore 'one John Wayne dude' in admiration for his efforts when he showed up in the city last week.
"He came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving," Nagin said in a radio interview on Thursday.
I saw that broadcast, Lt. Gen. Honore is one very large scary dude. He reminded me more of Patton than John Wayne. And for those who might be worried he could get in trouble with the "politically correct" crowd for his remarks, he's also black.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/06/2005 00:42 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Got any links on the General's arrival and this interview.Sounds like this guy is a lot like Stormin Norman when it comes to dealing with the press.My favorite Swarzkoff quote"That's a bunch of Bovine Scatology".
#2
We need more can-do people like Lt. General Honore in the public view. And when slime-spewers like CNN give them crap, and the can-do people dump it back in the faces of the reporters, we need the higher-ups in the government, like the Cabinet and the President back them up and tell the CNNoids, that, well, that is how we call them.
Press: Do you always look at the press negatively like that?
General: Yes, Ma'am. We certainly do. Most of you are, uh, shall we say, biased, agenda driven, lazy, cowardly, and worthless, nothing personal, you understand.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/06/2005 16:35 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Saw an interview of the mayor this morning (CBS?). It was an incredibly soft interview primarily allowing him to blame the federal government, instead of his administration's unpreparedness or the lawless citizens of N.O. There was not one tough question.
Later I saw an interview of an aircraft carrier captain. The newsbabe was trying her hardest to get the captain to fault FEMA and the feds. No matter how many times she tried, he wouldn't bite. Near the end, the captain said the ship had taken on extra rations and water before the hurricane in case relief operations were needed. The flight deck was piled high with goods. Too bad the N.O. administration didn't have the foresight to stock their emergency shelter (Superdome) with food and water.
Posted by: ed ||
09/06/2005 18:00 Comments ||
Top||
#4
One thing I was wondering about was the newschoppers . Why the fuck didn't the fucking networks order them to pick people up instead of broadcasting their misery.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A week after Hurricane Katrina swept through, engineers plugged the levee break that had swamped much of the city and floodwaters began to recede.
Crews had put up metal sheets and dropped 3,000-pound sandbags from helicopters onto the 17th Street canal leading to Lake Pontchartrain to plug the 200-foot-wide gap, and water was being pumped from the canal back into the lake. State officials and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say once the canal level is drawn down two feet, Pumping Station No. 6 can begin pumping water out of the bowl-shaped city.
Some parts of the city already showed slipping floodwaters as the repair neared completion, with the low-lying Ninth Ward dropping more than a foot. In downtown New Orleans, some streets were merely wet rather than swamped.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/06/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
Assume a square mile ten feet deep. That's just a litle over two billion gallons. Now assume five six-foot diameter pipes (pump outlets) blasting away at 10 feet per second (almost 7 mph) and it'd take just over four months to pump it out. And the electric bill!
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/06/2005 15:32 Comments ||
Top||
Female survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans were urged by government rescuers to flash their breasts in order to receive help in the immediate aftermath of the storm. That according to English tourists who are now just returning to the United Kingdom, relating their horror stories to British media. Ged Scott, 36, of Liverpool, was on his annual vacation at New Orleans' Ramada Hotel with his wife Sandra, 37, and their 7-year-old son, Ronan. I could not describe how bad the authorities were, taking photographs of us as we are standing on the roof waving for help, for their own personal photo albums, little snapshot photographs," Scott told BBC News. Scott said there was a group of girls standing on the lobby's roof, calling out to passing rescuers for help. "[The authorities] said to them, 'Well, show us what you've got' â doing signs for them to lift their T-shirts up. The girls said no, and [the rescuers] said 'well fine,' and motored off down the road in their motorboat. That's the sort of help we had from the authorities," he said. Now we know why Bill Clinton is part of the resuce operation.
#1
The Australian media has whipped themselves into a frenzy of idiocy over a few dozen Australians 'trapped' in New Orleans, which culminated in the Labour leader saying Australia should have sent in troops to rescue them. Most are now in Houston where they have been extensively interviewed. Of course no one asked what they were doing in NO after the mandatory evacuation. Since the answer is likely 'We were there to experience the hurricane'. And had they done something similar in Australia they would certainly be charged and made to pay the costs of their rescue.
#8
Well I did read that tourists were desperate to leave New Orleans but couldn't because there weren't any rental cars and no bus or train services.
I don't think you could expect them to walk and get caught by the storm?
#11
TGA,
Once again, correct observation, but the issue is just when do you call an evacuation on a primary tourist location in the height of the vacation season? Had they called for it 48 hours out, more options would have been available. However the fallout to local politicians who said "run away" only to have the hurricane turn elsewhere would also be great.
Make no mistake, the pressure to "not evacuate" those tourists in addition to the city and region is always underlying the decision making process in tourist areas.
#12
Here's a BBC page with various dire experiences. None of them explains how they managed to get caught in the city, except for one couple whose travel agency told them that the "tropical storm" would last for only a day. They flew in on the 27th. The couple...fled from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, where they were forced to scavenge for food, while hiding from armed gangs. Hiding from armed gangs in Baton Rouge?
There's also this:The military told all non-US citizens to stay together for safety, Ms Sachs added...They later told them they would be secretly smuggled out in groups of 10 under cover of darkness as it had become too dangerous for them to remain in the stadium, she told BBC News.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Paris - President 
A close aide to President Viktor Yushchenko who was a chief organizer of the "Orange Revolution" protests said Monday he had resigned from the government because of systemic corruption around the Ukrainian leader. Oleksandr Zinchenko, who resigned Saturday, said the situation had grown "even worse" than under former President Leonid Kuchma. Zinchenko accused Petro Poroshenko, the head of Ukraine's Defense and Security Council, of being one of the most corrupt members of the government. He also criticized Oleksandr Tretyakov, a top aide to Yushchenko, and Mykola Martynenko, who heads the pro-presidential faction in parliament.
Unifying all Christians and healing the 1,000-year rift between Catholics and the Orthodox is "particularly urgent," Pope Benedict XVI said in a message released Monday. In the message to a Catholic-Orthodox symposium on Sunday, the pope called for intensified prayers and dialogue to help heal the rift, which he has said would be a fundamental priority of his pontificate. "The search for the full, visible union among all the disciples of Christ is seen as particularly urgent in our times, and for this one feels the need for a more profound spirituality and an increase in reciprocal love," the pope said.
A domestic airliner crashed in a busy residential area of Indonesia's third biggest city just after takeoff yesterday, killing 102 people aboard and 47 local residents in an inferno on the ground. Officials said 15 passengers in the tail section of the Mandala Airlines Boeing 737-200, including a toddler under the age of 2, survived the crash in Medan, capital of North Sumatra.
