Hurricane Katrina

[Benman]

I am posting this for an open minded, refreshing look on what really happened with Katrina. It is very sad, but this is truth with many, many links posted for credibility.

It is most certainly worth a read.

http://freedom-force.org/freedomcontent.cfm?fuseaction=FEMA_Katrina&refpage=issues

Ben:addict:

[gjg]

Opinions vary on that subject .... here is another one:

An Unnatural Disaster:
A Hurricane Exposes the Man-Made Disaster of the Welfare State by Robert Tracinski
(Source: TIA Daily -- September 2, 2005)

It has taken four long days for state and federal officials to figure out how to deal with the disaster in New Orleans. I can't blame them, because it has also taken me four long days to figure out what is going on there. The reason is that the events there make no sense if you think that we are confronting a natural disaster.

If this is just a natural disaster, the response for public officials is
obvious: you bring in food, water, and doctors; you send transportation to evacuate refugees to temporary shelters; you send engineers to stop the flooding and rebuild the city's infrastructure.

For journalists, natural disasters also have a familiar pattern: the heroism of ordinary people pulling together to survive; the hard work and dedication of doctors, nurses, and rescue workers; the steps being taken to clean up and rebuild.

Public officials did not expect that the first thing they would have to do is to send thousands of armed troops in armored vehicle,as if they are suppressing an enemy insurgency. And journalists--myself included--did not expect that the story would not be about rain, wind, and flooding, but about rape, murder, and looting.

But this is not a natural disaster. It is a man-made disaster.

The man-made disaster is not an inadequate or incompetent response by federal relief agencies, and it was not directly caused by Hurricane Katrina. This is where just about every newspaper and television channel has gotten the story wrong.

The man-made disaster we are now witnessing in New Orleans did not happen over the past four days. It happened over the past four decades. Hurricane Katrina merely exposed it to public view.

The man-made disaster is the welfare state.

For the past few days, I have found the news from New Orleans to be confusing. People were not behaving as you would expect them to behave in an emergency--indeed, they were not behaving as they have behaved in other emergencies. That is what has shocked so many people: they have been saying that this is not what we expect from America. In fact, it is not even what we expect from a Third World country.

When confronted with a disaster, people usually rise to the occasion. They work together to rescue people in danger, and they spontaneously organize to keep order and solve problems. This is especially true in America. We are an enterprising people, used to relying on our own initiative rather than waiting around for the government to take care of us. I have seen this a hundred times, in small examples (a small town whose main traffic light had gone out, causing ordinary citizens to get out of their cars and serve as impromptu traffic cops, directing cars through the intersection) and large ones (the spontaneous response of New Yorkers to September 11).

So what explains the chaos in New Orleans?

To give you an idea of the magnitude of what is going on, here is a description from a Washington Times story:

"Storm victims are raped and beaten; fights erupt with flying fists, knives and guns; fires are breaking out; corpses litter the streets; and police and rescue helicopters are repeatedly fired on."

The plea from Mayor C. Ray Nagin came even as National Guardsmen poured in to restore order and stop the looting, carjackings and gunfire....

"Last night, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco said 300 Iraq-hardened Arkansas National Guard members were inside New Orleans with shoot-to-kill orders."
'These troops are...under my orders to restore order in the streets,' she said. 'They have M-16s, and they are locked and loaded. These troops know how to shoot and kill and they are more than willing to do so if necessary and I expect they will.' "

The reference to Iraq is eerie. The photo that accompanies this article shows National Guard troops, with rifles and armored vests, riding on an armored vehicle through trash-strewn streets lined by a rabble of squalid, listless people, one of whom appears to be yelling at them. It looks exactly like a scene from Sadr City in Baghdad.

What explains bands of thugs using a natural disaster as an excuse for an orgy of looting, armed robbery, and rape? What causes unruly mobs to storm the very buses that have arrived to evacuate them, causing the drivers to drive away, frightened for their lives? What causes people to attack the doctors trying to treat patients at the SuperDome?

Why are people responding to natural destruction by causing further destruction? Why are they attacking the people who are trying to help them?

Sherri figured it out first, and she figured it out on a sense-of-life level. While watching the coverage last night on Fox News Channel, she told me that she was getting a familiar feeling. She studied architecture at the Illinois Institute of Chicago, which is located in the South Side of Chicago just blocks away from the Robert Taylor Homes, one of the largest high-rise public housing projects in America. "The projects," as they were known, were infamous for uncontrollable crime and irremediable squalor. (They have since, mercifully, been demolished.) What Sherri was getting from last night's television coverage was a whiff of the sense of life of "the projects." Then the "crawl"--the informational phrases flashed at the bottom of the screen on most news channels--gave some vital statistics to confirm this sense: 75% of the residents of New Orleans had already evacuated before the hurricane, and of the 300,000 or so who remained, a large number were from the city's public housing projects.

Jack Wakeland then gave me an additional, crucial fact: early reports from CNN and Fox indicated that the city had no plan for evacuating all of the prisoners in the city's jails--so they just let many of them loose. There is no doubt a significant overlap between these two populations--that is, a large number of people in the jails used to live in the housing projects, and vice versa.

There were many decent, innocent people trapped in New Orleans when the deluge hit--but they were trapped alongside large numbers of people from two groups: criminals--and wards of the welfare state, people selected, over decades, for their lack of initiative and self-induced helplessness. The welfare wards were a mass of sheep--on whom the incompetent administration of New Orleans unleashed a pack of wolves.

All of this is related, incidentally, to the apparent incompetence of the city government, which failed to plan for a total evacuation of the city, despite the knowledge that this might be necessary. But in a city corrupted by the welfare state, the job of city officials is to ensure the flow of handouts to welfare recipients and patronage to political supporters--not to ensure a lawful, orderly evacuation in case of emergency.

No one has really reported this story, as far as I can tell. In fact, some are already actively distorting it, blaming President Bush, for example, for failing to personally ensure that the Mayor of New Orleans had drafted an adequate evacuation plan. The worst example is an execrable piece from the Toronto Globe and Mail, by a supercilious Canadian who blames the chaos on American "individualism." But the truth is precisely the opposite: the chaos was caused by a system that was the exact opposite of individualism.

What Hurricane Katrina exposed was the psychological consequences of the welfare state. What we consider "normal" behavior in an emergency is behavior that is normal for people who have values and take the responsibility to pursue and protect them. People with values respond to a disaster by fighting against it and doing whatever it takes to overcome the difficulties they face. They don't sit around and complain that the government hasn't taken care of them. They don't use the chaos of a disaster as an opportunity to prey on their fellow men.

But what about criminals and welfare parasites? Do they worry about saving their houses and property? They don't, because they don't own anything. Do they worry about what is going to happen to their businesses or how they are going to make a living? They never worried about those things before. Do they worry about crime and looting? But living off of stolen wealth is a way of life for them.

The welfare state--and the brutish, uncivilized mentality it sustains and encourages--is the man-made disaster that explains the moral ugliness that has swamped New Orleans. And that is the story that no one is reporting.

Source: TIA Daily -- September 2, 2005

[Benman]

Originally posted by gjg
Opinions vary on that subject .... here is another one:

The worst example is an execrable piece from the Toronto Globe and Mail, by a supercilious Canadian who blames the chaos on American "individualism." But the truth is precisely the opposite: the chaos was caused by a system that was the exact opposite of individualism.

People with values respond to a disaster by fighting against it and doing whatever it takes to overcome the difficulties they face. They don't sit around and complain that the government hasn't taken care of them. They don't use the chaos of a disaster as an opportunity to prey on their fellow men.

But what about criminals and welfare parasites? Do they worry about saving their houses and property? They don't, because they don't own anything. Do they worry about what is going to happen to their businesses or how they are going to make a living? They never worried about those things before. Do they worry about crime and looting? But living off of stolen wealth is a way of life for them.


Source: TIA Daily -- September 2, 2005
Actually George, this guys opinion is very much in line with the one I posted. He comes to the same conclusion, just from a different path.

He makes excellent points about the welfare state and how it leads to problems, and does NOT solve them. People with nothing don't care about property because they HAVE no property. They just wait till the government will hand them out some more.

The many links in my post show that the local government (although still incompetent) had a better plan than they were allowed to use. For their own "protection" people were neither allowed in OR out, unless they were FEMA approved personel (mostly military). Such was the very sad example of the old man's friend who lost his mother at the care home. City officials wanted to do something but were not allowed. Help was turned AWAY! (the Walmart example was a classic example of Pro Union companies refusing NON Union help).

It is fine for government to encourage donations, but interestingly, only then to be used in ways the government deems appropriate. A local talk radio station had a couple of nurses and doctors testify that they were tired of the red tape so they spent their OWN money, got flights and hotel rooms and the four of them went out on their own! No government hand outs, no reimbursements.

In the few short days they were there, they documented that they had helped around 1000 individuals receive medical attention. They each spent a total of @$4,000.00 fora grand total of far less than $20,000.00 to help 1000 people! Now do the math. Even multipying that by 300 (for the @300,000 people still IN New Orleans) that would be LESS than $6,000,000.00 to give EVERYONE left in New Orleans medical attention. Yet the government (in all forms) were crying for many times that figure! And yet STILL, no one was getting help. And coincidently enough, those four nurses and doctors were PROMPTLY asked to leave as soon as they were discovered they were there! Again, it was for their "protection".

And this is the point that the reporter that you quoted understood BEST! It is NOT individualism, but COLLECTIVISM that hurts us!

BTW, the link I posted is from the very same author who wrote "The Creature from Jeckyll Island, a Second look at the Federal Reserve System" and "Vitamin B17, a World without Cancer".

Another good link for info on the welfare state and the like is: www.mises.org

:cheers:

Ben:addict:

[gjg]

City officials wanted to do something but were not allowed.

well, this is not true statement - you can safely say that the CIty and State officials did not do didly *$@& when they should have and later they all came heavilly complaining about feds not doing their job.

Sure, fed's screwed up some, but the problem would not been - even remotely - to such extend if the local and state "leaders" would get oof their asses in timely fashion.

Easy way out to blame someone else for my problems, specially when I have major share in making it ....

here some other interesting articles:

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/larryelder/2005/09/22/155678.html

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0905/lowry091605.php3


For All Those Who Blame Bush, Only The Governor Can Call Out The National Guard...I Have Not Found Anything That Tells Us When The Louisiana Governor Called Them Out... Bravo To Texas For Stepping Up So Quickly And Generously.

In Case You Aren't Familiar With How Our Government Is Supposed To Work.
The Chain Of Responsibility For The Protection Of The Citizens In New Orleans Is:

1. The Mayor
2. The New Orleans Director Of Homeland Security (A Political Appointee Of The Governor Who Reports To The Governor)
3. The Governor
4. The Head Of Homeland Security
5. The President

What Did Each Do?

1. The Mayor, With 5 Days Advance, Waited Until 2 Days Before He Announced A Mandatory Evacuation (At The Behest Of The President). Then He Failed To Provide Transportation For Those Without Transport Even Though He Had Hundreds Of Buses At His Disposal.

2. The New Orleans Director Of Homeland Security Failed To Have Any Plan For A Contingency That Has Been Talked About For 50 Years. Then He Blames The Feds For Not Doing What He Should Have Done. (So Much For Political
Appointees)

3. The Governor, Despite A Declaration Of Disaster By The President 2 Days Before The Storm Hit, Failed To Take Advantage Of The Offer Of Federal Troops And Aid. Until 2 Days After The Storm Hit.

4. The Director Of Homeland Security Positioned Assets In The Area To Be Ready When The Governor Called For Them.

5. The President Urged A Mandatory Evacuation, And Even Declared A Disaster State Of Emergency, Freeing Up Millions Of Dollars Of Federal Assistance, Should The Governor Decide To Use It.

Oh And By The Way, The Levees That Broke Were The Responsibility Of The Local Land owners And The Local Levee Board To Maintain, Not The Federal Government.

Observations:

The Disaster In New Orleans Is What You Get After Decades Of Corrupt Government Going All The Way Back To Huey Long. Funds For Disaster Protection And Relief Have Been Flowing Into This City For Decades, And Where Has It Gone, But Into The Pockets Of The Politicos And Their Friends.

Decades Of Corrupt Government In New Orleans Has Sapped All Self Reliance From The Community, And Made Them Dependent Upon Government For Every Little Thing.

Years Ago The Wetlands And Swamps That Nature Designed To Absorb The Onslaught Of Hurricanes That Regularly Hit The Coastal Regions Were Built Upon By Developers Bent On Making A Profit. Of Course, Government Gave Them Permits To Do So And Thus The Natural Barriers Were Virtually Eliminated.

Political Correctness And A Lack Of Will To Fight Crime Have Created The Single Most Corrupt Police Force In The Country, And Has Permitted Gang Violence To Flourish. The Sad Thing Is That There Are Many Poor Folks Who Have Suffered And Died Needlessly Because Those That They Voted Into Office Failed Them.

[Benman]

Originally posted by gjg
"City officials wanted to do something but were not allowed."

well, this is not true statement - you can safely say that the CIty and State officials did not do didly *$@& when they should have and later they all came heavilly complaining about feds not doing their job.

Sure, fed's screwed up some, but the problem would not been - even remotely - to such extend if the local and state "leaders" would get oof their asses in timely fashion.


http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/larryelder/2005/09/22/155678.html

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0905/lowry091605.php3

Re read my statement. They "wanted" to do something. Never said they did.:hahahehe: No, the city officials most definately could have done more. However as soon as a "Declaration Of Disaster" (which by the way, as you stated was two days BEFORE the hurricane hit) is declared, it is now FEMA's game, NOT local law enforement. FEMA from that point on has control of who will and who will NOT be allowed to help. When volunteers are turned away by US officials, that is not something the mayor did.

Make no mistake, I am NOT in any way trying to stick up for city officials, simply stating that ALL government is incompetent. ALL (including the mayor), will blame the other guy. I do not blame Bush, afterall, he is merely a puppet and does as is told. The entire government's main objective is "supposed" to be to protect the citizens, but in fact it is to protect themselves. This applies to local as well as Federal government. If the Feds can blame it on the mayor and local officials, then they look good. If the mayor and local officials can blame it on the Feds, then THEY look good. It is a never ending cycle of as you mention, "Easy way out to blame someone else for my problems, specially when I have major share in making it ...."

And your two links were appreciated but one seemed to want to offend more than understand. In the townhall link, the reporter states, " A 1998 study by the Heritage Foundation . . . found that an average single black man will pay $13,377 more in payroll taxes over his lifetime than he will receive in benefits, a return of just 88 cents on every dollar paid in taxes."

Interestingly, he does not state how much the middleclass single white man will pay in vs. what he gets in return.:vhmmm: I'm betting the ratio is just as (if not more so) unfavorable. He goes on to say things like, "the minimum wage law to be one of the most, if not the most anti-black law on the statute books." Now, I'm not a supporter of any government intervention, but if there was no minimum wage, then every single person in So Cal would be bitching about the Mexicans taking ALL the jobs (not that they don't already).

And another quote, "Social Security. Although Congress did not intend for Social Security to disproportionately hurt blacks, it does." Really, disproportionately... funny, considering it won't even EXIST when I'm old enough to use it, I would think it would "disproportionately" hurt ME! But you don't see me blowing smoke about it being anti white.:rolleyes: After some of his quotes, I found him to be a tad on the "BIG chip on my shoulder side".

No, in the end, the Katrina tradgedy was a direct result of ALL forms of government failure. City, State, AND Fed. Freemarket volunteers and non union persons were turned away. The government wanted to acheive "salvation" all by themselves and accomplished none! Instead as you mentioned many, many individuals lost their lives. It's ammusing to listen to how many preach the evils of "free market" and "individualism", yet these people who believed in these things were the ones trying to help. The big government that everyone claims to want did a piss poor job to say the absolute very least.

If everyone was truely allowed to help his fellow man the way he saw fit without being nannied all the time by Big Brother, maybe more could be accomplished. But it seems we will never know. All that Katrina will accomplish is yet MORE legislation, and yet MORE laws. And that is the sad part.

And a reminder, this is in the Off Topic forum, so any who want to join in the discussion are more than welcomed to (although George is plenty cool to speak (type:D ) with.

Ben:addict:

[gjg]

little bit of contraversial opinion never hurts, Ben ... sometimes we are so "politically correct" we are afraid to call things the way they are .... Appeasement would be correct word?

People need to take care of their own - once you depend on goverment (any goverment), than you have what you have,

Freined on mine has a big dog - he says when the dog sees a bone he slobers almost as much as politician smelling money ... :D

[gjg]

2 States, 22 Observations


Things I have noticed while watching media coverage of the recent hurricanes.

1. Texas: Productive industrious state run by Republicans.

Louisiana: Government dependent welfare state run by Democrats.

2. Texas: Residents take responsibility to protect and evacuate themselves.

Louisiana: Residents wait for government to protect and evacuate them.

3. Texas: Local and state officials take responsibility for protecting their citizens and property.

Louisiana: Local and state officials blame federal government for not protecting their citizens and property.

4. Texas: Command and control remains in place to preserve order.

Louisiana: Command and control collapses allowing lawlessness.

5. Texas: Law enforcement officers remain on duty to protect city.

Louisiana: Law enforcement officers desert their posts to protect themselves.

6. Texas: Local police watch for looting.

Louisiana: Local police participate in looting.

7. Texas: Law and order remains in control, 8 looters tried it, 8 looters arrested.

Louisiana: Anarchy and lawlessness breaks out, looters take over city, no arrests, criminals with guns have to be shot by federal troops.

8. Texas: Considerable damage caused by hurricane.

Louisiana: Considerable damage caused by looters.

9. Texas: Flood barriers hold preventing cities from flooding.

Louisiana: Flood barriers fail due to lack of maintenance allowing city to flood.

10. Texas: Orderly evacuation away from threatened areas, few remain.

Louisiana: 25,000 fail to evacuate, are relocated to another flooded area.

11. Texas: Citizens evacuate with personal 3 day supply of food and water.

Louisiana: Citizens fail to evacuate with 3 day supply of food and water, do without it for the next 4 days.

12. Texas: FEMA brings in tons of food and water for evacuees. State officials provide accessible distribution points.

Louisiana: FEMA brings in tons of food and water for evacuees. State officials prevent citizens from reaching distribution points and vice versa.

13. Louisiana: Media focuses on poor blacks in need of assistance, blames Bush.

Texas: Media can't find poor blacks in need of assistance, looking for something else to blame on Bush.

14. Texas: Coastal cities suffer some infrastructure damage, Mayors tell residents to stay away until ready for repopulation, no interference from federal officials.

Louisiana: New Orleans is destroyed, Mayor asks residents to return home as another hurricane approaches, has to be overruled by federal officials.

15. Louisiana: Over 400 killed by storm, flooding and crime.

Texas: 24 killed in bus accident on highway during evacuation, no storm related deaths.

16. Texas: Jailed prisoners are relocated to other detention facilities outside the storm area.

Louisiana: Jailed prisoners are set free to prey on city shops, residents, and homes.

17. Texas: Local and state officials work with FEMA and Red Cross in recovery operations.

Louisiana: Local and state officials obstruct FEMA and Red Cross from aiding in recovery operations.

18. Texas: Local and state officials demonstrate leadership in managing disaster areas.

Louisiana: Local and state officials fail to demonstrate leadership, require federal government to manage disaster areas.

19. Texas: Fuel deliveries can't keep up with demand, some run out of gas on highway, need help from fuel tankers before storm arrives.

Louisiana: Motorists wait till storm hits and electrical power fails. Cars run out of gas at gas stations that can't pump gas. Gas in underground tanks mixes with flood waters.

20. Texas: Mayors move citizens out of danger.

Louisiana: Mayor moves himself and family to Dallas.

21. Texas: Mayors continue public service announcements and updates on television with Governor's backing and support.

Louisiana: Mayor cusses, governor cries, senator threatens president with violence on television, none of them have a clue what went wrong or who's responsible.

22. Louisiana: Democratic Senator says FEMA was slow in responding to 911 calls from Louisiana citizens.

Texas: Republican Senator says "when you call 911, the phone doesn't ring in Washington, it rings here at the local responders".


What if state and local elected officials were forced to depend on themselves and their own resources instead of calling for help from the federal government?

Texas cities would be back up and running in a few days.

Louisiana cities would still be under water next month. Republicans call for action, Democrats call for help.

You draw your own conclusions... :thumb:

[Benman]

Originally posted by gjg
little bit of contraversial opinion never hurts, Ben ... sometimes we are so "politically correct" we are afraid to call things the way they are .... Appeasement would be correct word?

People need to take care of their own - once you depend on goverment (any goverment), than you have what you have,

George, on this, I couldn't agree more. It is always good to have debates on points and ideas without resorting to "my M3 is better than your S4!:bye2: " :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

And yeah, it's ashame so many are so politically correct that they can't even speak their mind.

I disagree with the townhill link for the reason that it seems (at least from what I read), that the author was trying to convey that the system is biased against Blacks and minorities. To me (and perhaps I am just extremely ignorant), if ANYTHING, it is rigged in their favor. For example, even in subliminal things such as the freeway banners for "State Paid College Education" that are throught Southern California. It usually features 6 to 8 kids. Now of the kids, how many are White? Usually one, perhaps two at most. The rest are "minorities". Hmm...

Are how many White College Funds do you see in this country? Well, the answer is NONE. Yet it is a proud thing that there is a National Negro College Fund (and for the LIFE of me, I can't understand why it's called that. NONE of my Black friends like being called Negros so change the freaking name already!:rolleyes: ).

Social Security AGAINST Black men... come on, that is just crap, it screws everyone the same!

I read over your 22 points and they are very good points (I'm thinking you may just a wee bit favor Republicans over Democrats:D ). However, something that also played a little into it was the fact the no one wanted a repeat of LA happening in TX. But what is interesting is how quickly Americans forget how the Hurricane in Florida was handled just last year. Sure, there was devestation, sure there were even some deaths, but nothing, nothing like the circus in LA. Not even close. And this was not because of the severity of the LA vs Florida storm. Both were big time.

No, both Texas and Florida (as you stated) had less casualties because the residents DID evacuate, whereas LA residents didn't. They stayed. It's interesting to think for a moment why? Why stay? Most would say, "To protect my home against looters". Funny, so even though there was just last year a MAJOR hurricane in Florida and there were virtually NO reports of looting, many residents ASSUMED there would be mass looting in LA. Why is that? Perhaps because they too would join in the looting, or maybe they just new there neighbors.

I understand that you mention the prisinors being released in LA, but at the time BEFORE Katrina hit, the residents of LA did NOT know this. They did not know that criminals would be ransacking the neigborhood. No they stayed behind to "protect" their homes from another threat. Hmm... interestingly, the media never gave much attention to their motives.

Yet in Florida, where the average price of a home is much higher, and the content inside of each home is much more valuable, those residents were NOT saying on the NEWS, "No, despite the evacuation warnings, I'm going to stay here and protect my home from looters!:trash: ". No, they LEFT! They listened, they LIVED! Same reasoning in Texas.

I still don't understand the mentality of the LA residents. They were warned to leave but did not. As incompetent as their governor was, he still warned them to leave! But no, they had to stay to protect their homes from "looters". Maybe the residents of LA are not as smart as the populace of Florida. I don't know.

What I do know is that once the crap hit the fans, ALL forms of government did a lousy job helping. FEMA didn't do the job they claimed they did (at least the job some media was covering). The mayor didn't do the job he shoud have and could have.

A point you state that I am in 100% agreement with is this: "People need to take care of their own - once you depend on goverment (any goverment), than you have what you have."

Amen. Why do we need the government to help us? They don't. They take, then when it's time to pay it's "Ooh, let me transfer you to another department". People should be allowed to help as they see fit and help THEMSELVES as they see fit. Government is government FIRST, and then the people a very far second. That goes for Democrates as well as Republicans.

Ben:addict:

[gjg]

The world-famous Internet site of the Nationally Syndicated Neal Boortz Show!

http://boortz.com/more/newsletter.html


THEY DANCED WITH WHO BRUNG THEM

http://boortz.com/nuze/200509/09192005.html#attitude

During the past week I read story after story about how so many of New Orleans' middle and upper income residents were able to flee the city as Katrina approached, but the poor were left to fend for themselves. The difference here wasn't money. The difference here was attitude. It was the self-sufficient vs. the dependent. The evil rich and middle-income residents fled New Orleans because they are used to accepting the responsibility for their own welfare and safety. The poor stayed behind because they're mired in the sludge of generation after generation of dependency on government. The accomplished class knows that they bear the responsibility for meeting their own needs and
providing for their safety. The poor by-and-large bear no such responsibility.

To them, it's the government's job. Instead of taking responsibility for their own safety --- they just sat there, waiting for government to come and save them. The achievement-oriented residents of New Orleans were spared the horrors of the violence and filth that followed the flooding because they kept
doing what they had been doing all along -- accepting responsibility. The poor were subjected to the violence and filth because they also kept doing what they had been doing all along -- depending on government.

Hurricane Katrina illustrated the truth behind the contention that poverty is a behavioral disorder.

JUST THE SAME ... IT'S ALL BUSH'S FAULT

Now here's something you probably didn't know about Louisiana and Hurricane Katrina.

At the very time Katrina was bearing down on New Orleans, there were several top-level officials in the very department of Louisiana government that prepares for emergencies such as Katrina sitting around and waiting for their trial. Trial, you say? Trial for what? Let's try corruption and throw in a bit of fraud.

It seems that these Louisiana officials either misspent or misplaced or . worse ... about 60 million federal taxpayer bucks. Here are some details ...

In March of this year -- that's about five months before Katrina -- FEMA was asking for the return of $30.4 million that the federal government had sent to Louisiana for emergency planning and preparedness. Most of this money was sent to some state office called the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Wait .. it gets worse. According to the Los Angeles
Times, much of that money was sent to Louisiana under some federal program called the Click here: Hazard Mitigation Grant program. That is a program that is, in part, supposed to help states improve flood control facilities. Flood? Did someone say flood?

Hazard mitigation would have been a great idea in New Orleans, don't you think? Especially that "improve flood control facilities" part, but nobody seems to know where the money went! OK ... let's follow the trail of $15.4 million dollars that was spent by the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. The $15.4 million was part of a $40.5 million grant of your money that was sent to Louisiana for the Hazard Mitigation Program. You know ... flood control and all that. Oops! Hold on a second here. My bad. It seems we can't follow that $15.4 million.. You see, the Louisiana officials say that they awarded that money to subcontractors for 19 major hazard
mitigation programs, but they just can't seem to find any receipts to account of 97% of the funds. Ninety-seven percent of $15.4 million, my friends. No receipts. That's $14.94 million .. gone, and nobody can trace it.

Do any of you think that something good might have been done with some of this money? Lives saved? Flooding prevented? If you're thinking that, remember. we're talking Hurricane Katrina here, and we all know that every bad thing that happened in Hurricane Katrina was ---

All together now ---- Bush's Fault!

Perhaps if these Louisiana officials ever actually go to trial now they will be able to use the "Blame Bush" defense.

AND THAT'S NOT ALL .....

Let's see ... what else have we learned in the past week about the response to Katrina.

Doctors from across the United States poured into Louisiana to offer their services in shelters and hospitals treating Katrina's victims. They could do nothing. They just sat. You see, they weren't licensed to practice medicine in Louisiana. It took the amazing Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco, five days to sign a waiver to allow these doctors to practice medicine in Louisiana.
Five days, while people were suffering and dying. Don't blame Blanco, though.

It was clearly... Bush's fault.

New Orleans' Mayor Ray Nagin

On the Saturday before the hurricane New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin received a call from Amtrak. There was a passenger train sitting in the New Orleans station with 900 empty seats. Did the Mayor want to put some evacuees in those seats? No thanks. The train left nearly empty. You cannot blame Mayor Nagin for this
decision, that clearly would be racist. It just has to be... Bush's fault.

In 1997 (See "Story")

By Rita Beamish

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The U.S. Congress appropriated $500,000 of your money -- not federal money, taxpayer's money -- to the State of Louisiana. The money was set aside to create a "comprehensive analysis and plan of all evacuation alternatives for New Orleans." Now correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the big deal here, isn't it? New Orleans didn't get evacuated, right? Well, for two years nothing
happened. Then the Congress demanded of Louisiana a plan for evacuation in the event of a category 3 story, a levee break, a flood or some other natural disaster. The $500,000 of your money got to Louisiana .. but then what? It was spent by the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission, not on an
evacuation plan, but things that needed to be done to the Lake Pontchartrain causeway over the next fifteen years or so. What does the incredible Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness have to say about the funds and the causeway study? The spokesman says that they can't find any
information. Actually, we shouldn't be holding the Louisiana emergency preparedness folks or the state responsible for this ... not when we all know, it was... Bush's fault.

Speaking of flood control. You did know, didn't you, that in 1996 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was going to raise and strengthen the very levees that failed in New Orleans. They were going to, but they didn't. And why not? Because of a
lawsuit, that's why. The plaintiff in the lawsuit didn't want the work done until extensive and expensive environmental impact statements were prepared by the Corps of Engineers and approved by the EPA. And who filed that lawsuit?
Why .. it was the Sierra Club. The very same Sierra Club, by the way, that listened with rapt attention in San Francisco on September 9th while Al Gore told them that the leaders of this country ought to be held accountable for the flooding in New Orleans. Now, some of us might be so twisted as to think that
the very Sierra Club that was so enthralled by Gore's rantings should bear some of the blame here ... but that's only because we just don't realize that it was all...Bush's fault. Oh .. and by the way. Why haven't we heard more about this Sierra Club lawsuit in the mainstream media? Remember the template.

Mayor Ray Nagin is inviting residents of some areas of New Orleans to come back to their homes and businesses and begin the cleanup process. There's another possible hurricane bearing down on the Florida Keys --- a tropical storm that could become a hurricane and could head toward New Orleans. Now it's possible
that if over 100,000 residents return to New Orleans and are further victimized by another hurricane and another flood .. will it be Mayor Ray Nagin's fault?

Of course not, you idiot!

It will be George Bush's fault! Haven't you been paying attention?

[gjg]

speaking of enviromental issues - Yucca Mountain in US is yet another example of idiots now screaming about pisspoor secutiry in Los Alamos ....

And it is not only in US, you have the same in Europe ... people would try to block construction of anything ...

[Benman]

Originally posted by gjg
Ninety-seven percent of $15.4 million, my friends. No receipts. That's $14.94 million .. gone, and nobody can trace it.


George:cheers: ,

Some very good stuff my friend. I found it extremely interesting. Remember, I don't blame Bush (unlike some rap artists), but Government. Bush is one man, incompetent maybe, but not important enough to screw up anything. No, government, all of it, is to blame.

I'm thinking with that certain $14.94 million he mentions, it was NEVER FEMA's intention for there to BE any receipts. Typical government wasting. But then, when someone in the media DOES get hold of this info (can anyone say disgruntled ex union officer?), then all of a sudden, FEMA "demands" for receipts!:p Funny how that works. Gee, when someone gives you a loan for a SPECIFIC reason, you would think there would already BE an implemented proceedure for receipt keeping. Hmm...

I also very much enjoyed his comments on "The evil rich and middle-income residents". Very, very true. People NEED to realize to depend on themselves. They need to SAVE $$$ (what a concept!) and not reason, "I don't need to save diddly since I'll get social when I retire. Gas money for an emergency? Why bother? I'll wait for hand outs!":trash:

If you come across any more related info, please post, I find all of this "politically incorrect" topics very educational. The kind of education you will not receive at any college.:thumb:

Ben:addict:

[gjg]

The kind of education you will not receive at any college.

just listen Jesse Jackson if you're interested in racism - he is the best in preaching it .... puke: double, heck, what am I talking about double - tripple or make it quadrupple, standards when it comes to him and his crownies and everybody is scared shitless to call the cat black (oh, how apporpriatte in this case .... :applause: ).

Appeasement is the right word - it is amazing how deep some politically "correct" people can stuff their head up to someone's else #$% without kentucky jelly ... just to be "politically" correct.

anyway, it just pisses me off when I see money wasted like that :vgrumpy:

[Benman]

Originally posted by gjg

Appeasement is the right word - it is amazing how deep some politically "correct" people can stuff their head up to someone's else #$% without kentucky jelly ... just to be "politically" correct.


Kentucky Jelly must be some high quality stuff!:hihi:

Yeah, already knew the Jesse Jackson thing. In fact a black man named Jesse Lee Peterson wrote an excellent book entitled SCAM that is ALL about people like Jesse Jackson who exploit their fellow man for their own gain.

Link:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0785263314/qid=1129315876/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-0685708-9807225?v=glance&s=books

Great read.:thumb:

No, I was speaking of any more Katrina links you might have access to. Would be appreciated. BTW, check out the book, worth the read. And NO, it will never be featured in mainstream media.

Ben:addict:

[gjg]

will get the book, thanks for the info - and I will check for more info. That Farrakhan stuff is just out of this planet ... worse, he makes very comfortable living out of that $%^& :confused:

[gjg]

Carlin on New Orleans


"Been sitting here with my ass in a wad, wanting to speak out about the bullshit going on in New Orleans. For the people of New Orleans... First we would like to say, Sorry for your loss. With that said, Let's go through a few hurricane rules: (Unlike an earthquake, we know it's coming)


#1. A mandatory evacuation means just that...Get the hell out. Don't blame the Government after they tell you to go. If they hadn't said anything, I can see the argument. They said get out... if you didn't, it's your fault, not theirs. (We don't want to hear it, even if you don't have a car, you can get out.)

#2. If there is an emergency, stock up on water and non-perishables. If you didn't do this, it's not the Government's fault you're starving.

#2a. If you run out of food and water, find a store that has some. (Remember, shoes, TV's, DVD's and CD's are not edible. Leave them alone.)

#2b. If the local store has been looted of food or water, leave your neighbor's TV and stereo alone. (See #2a) They worked hard to get their stuff. Just because they were smart enough to leave during a mandatory evacuation, doesn't give you the right to take their stuff...it's theirs, not yours.

#3. If someone comes in to help you, don't shoot at them and then complain no one is helping you. I'm not getting shot to help save some dumbass who didn't leave when told to do so.

#4. If you are in your house that is completely under water, your belongings are probably too far gone for anyone to want them. If someone does want them, let them have them and hopefully they'll die in the filth. Just leave! (It's New Orleans, find a voodoo warrior and put a curse on them.)

#5. My tax money should not pay to rebuild a 2 million dollar house, a sports stadium or a floating casino. Also, my tax money shouldn't go to rebuild a city that is under sea level. You wouldn't build your house on quicksand would you? You want to live below sea-level, do your country some good and join the Navy.

#6. Regardless of what the Poverty Pimps Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton want you to believe, The US Government didn't create the Hurricane as a way to eradicate the black people of New Orleans. The US Government didn't cause global warming that caused the hurricane (We've been coming out of an ice age for over a million years).

#7. The government isn't responsible for giving you anything. This is the land of the free and the home of the brave, but you gotta work for what you want. McDonalds and Wal-Mart are always hiring, get a damn job and stop spooning off the people who are actually working for a living. President Kennedy said it best..."Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."


Thank you for allowing me to rant.

[Benman]

Originally posted by gjg
(It's New Orleans, find a voodoo warrior and put a curse on them.)
ROFL!!!:lovl: :lovl: :lovl:

Those 7 points (9 really) are freaking hilarious!

Ben:addict:

[gjg]

here is some "evidence" .....

[gjg]

and, of course ....

[gjg]

and why there was no looting in Texas ..... :thumb:

[Benman]

Originally posted by gjg
and why there was no looting in Texas ..... :thumb:
Everyone should have the right to defend their property.:D

Ben:addict: