US GOVERNMENT FUCKS UP, PEOPLE DIE

[fermentor666]

 

The clock tower never moved during the whole speech, cancelling out the image of getting power back in the city that the presidents string-pullers were trying to give. No audience, no reporters, just the monkey reading from the script.

 

 

Get out of the kitchen if you can't stand the heat.

[fermentor666]

http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/091805...blanco001.shtml

 

Nearly three weeks after Hurricane Katrina raged ashore, Gov. Kathleen Blanco still wants one question answered.

 

Where were the buses?

 

Hours after the hurricane hit Aug. 29, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced a plan to send 500 commercial buses into New Orleans to rescue thousands of people left stranded on highways, overpasses and in shelters, hospitals and homes.

 

On the day of the storm, or perhaps the day after, FEMA turned down the state's suggestion to use school buses because they are not air conditioned, Blanco said Friday in an interview.

 

Even after levees broke and residents were crowding the Louisiana Superdome, then-FEMA Director Mike Brown was bent on using his own buses to evacuate New Orleans, Blanco said.

 

During the delay, misery and mayhem mounted in the Dome, thousands gathered in desperation at the nearby convention center, and Americans watched in shock as dead and dying New Orleans residents were broadcast on national television.

 

The state had sent 68 school buses into the city on Monday.

Blanco took over more buses from Louisiana school systems and sent them in on Wednesday, two days after the storm. She tapped the National Guard to drive them. Each time the buses emptied an area, more people would appear, she said.

 

The buses took 15,728 people to safety, a Blanco aide said. But the state's fleet of school buses wasn't enough. On Wednesday, with the FEMA buses still not in sight, Blanco called the White House to talk to Bush and ended up speaking to Chief of Staff Andy Card.

 

"I said, 'Even if we had 500 buses, they've underestimated the magnitude of this situation, and I think I need 5,000 buses, not 500,'" Blanco recounted.

 

"'But, Andy, those 500 are not here,'" the governor said.

 

Card promised to get Blanco more buses.

 

Later Wednesday night, Blanco walked into the State Police Communications Center and asked if anyone knew anything about the buses.

 

An officer told her the buses were just entering the state.

 

"I said, 'Do you mean as in North Louisiana, which is another six hours from New Orleans?,'" Blanco recalled in the interview. "He said, 'Yes, m'am.'"

 

It was at that point, Blanco said, that she realized she had made a critical error.

 

"I assumed that FEMA had staged their buses in near proximity," she said. "I expected them to be out of the storm's way but accessible in one day's time."

 

It was late Wednesday. The buses wouldn't get to New Orleans until Thursday. By then, many of the sickest and the weakest were dead or dying.

 

The buses weren't the only resource to arrive late, Blanco said.

 

It took days to get a communications system and outside troops. In the first days after the hurricane hit, Louisiana National Guard communicated by sending text messages on cell phones.

 

The death and destruction multiplied as looters armed themselves and residents languished waiting for rescue.

 

Brown was the first bureaucratic casualty in the massive governmental breakdown in responding to Katrina.

 

He resigned last week amid criticism that he responded sluggishly to the hurricane. Brown lashed out a few days later, telling The New York Times that Blanco and her staff were "incapable of organizing a coherent state effort."

 

Brown said that, on the day before the storm hit, he asked Blanco and Maj. Gen. Bennett Landreneau, head of the state's National Guard, what resources they needed.

 

"The response was like, 'Let us find out,' and then I never received specific requests for specific things that needed doing," Brown told The New York Times last week.

 

Blanco said it shouldn't have been up to her to provide a list.

 

"Specific things, my God," she said. "(If) they didn't know that we were in the middle of search and rescue and needed to evacuate people, then they were not on the ground with us. We needed buses and helicopters."

 

Besides, Blanco said, she thought Brown was in control of the situation.

 

"I had security in the knowledge that there were 500 buses," she said. "Mike had emphasized the buses to me personally. That was not my first concern until I realized that they were not there."

 

Meanwhile, the state continued to send school buses into the affected areas.

 

One of Blanco's aides, Leonard Kleinpeter, said FEMA told him at one point that the state could stop sending school buses because the agency was going to bring in helicopters and use them instead of the commercial buses that still weren't there.

 

Blanco told Kleinpeter to ignore those instructions.

 

"She said, 'I'll be damned. You keep loading the wagons on the school buses,'" Kleinpeter said.

 

Kleinpeter said he now wonders if FEMA temporarily halted its buses because the agency thought helicopters would work better.

 

By Tuesday, the day after the hurricane, Brown was ready to cede control of state and federal relief efforts to the White House.

 

Two days later, President George W. Bush met with Blanco on Air Force One and asked her for control of the troops that were finally pouring into the state. Blanco asked if Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour would be under the same regime. The answer was "No."

 

Blanco told Bush she'd get back to him in 24 hours. The president didn't wait. That night, the White House faxed a memorandum of understanding for her to sign to cede control of the troops. Her answer was "No."

 

"If I thought that it was going to bring one more resource to bear, if I thought that he was denying me resource because of it, and I don't think he was, then it might have been something that I would have considered," she said.

 

"By that time, we were already getting the resources and commitments," the governor said.

 

It wasn't the response that the White House wanted. People close to the Bush administration started criticizing Blanco, saying she bungled the state response.

 

When Bush returned to the state a few days later, he didn't tell Blanco he was coming. The night before that second visit, Blanco learned about the visit from a news reporter and wrangled an invitation to accompany Bush on his tour.

 

There was a noticeable tension between the president and the governor throughout the trip.

 

"What was going on is the national media people started picking on the president. So the White House began to defend the president. So they turned some guns on me," Blanco said.

 

"It was a colossal waste of our time and energy to get into the blame game," she said.

 

Blanco said things are now fine between her and Bush.

 

Bush has since acknowledged that his administration failed to respond adequately to the hurricane. The president has ordered a review of the sluggish response.

 

"Four years after the frightening experience of Sept. 11, Americans have every right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency," he told the nation in an address from Jackson Square Thursday night.

 

"When the federal government fails to meet such an obligation, I as president am responsible for the problem, and for the solution," Bush said.

 

Blanco is less emphatic in taking blame for the breakdown.

 

She said she takes responsibility "for assuming that help was on the way" when it wasn't.

 

Blanco said she's also learned a lesson.

 

"In the end, in a really dangerous, life-threatening situation, there is no army that's going to be there to save you," she said. "It's going to be person-to-person, helping each other. Some people are putting their lives on the line to help other people whose lives are at risk. And that's the bottom line."

[!@#$%]

black people are only allowed on certain buses in the south.

[fermentor666]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=1...-name_page.html

 

EXCLUSIVE: UP IN FLAMES

Tons of British aid donated to help Hurricane Katrina victims to be BURNED by Americans

From Ryan Parry, US Correspondent in New York

 

HUNDREDS of tons of British food aid shipped to America for starving Hurricane Katrina survivors is to be burned.

 

US red tape is stopping it from reaching hungry evacuees.

 

Instead tons of the badly needed Nato ration packs, the same as those eaten by British troops in Iraq, has been condemned as unfit for human consumption.

 

Katrina crisis victim

 

NEEDY: Evacuees from New Orleans

 

 

And unless the bureaucratic mess is cleared up soon it could be sent for incineration.

 

One British aid worker last night called the move "sickening senselessness" and said furious colleagues were "spitting blood".

 

The food, which cost British taxpayers millions, is sitting idle in a huge warehouse after the Food and Drug Agency recalled it when it had already left to be distributed.

 

Scores of lorries headed back to a warehouse in Little Rock, Arkansas, to dump it at an FDA incineration plant.

 

The Ministry of Defence in London said last night that 400,000 operational ration packs had been shipped to the US.

 

But officials blamed the US Department of Agriculture, which impounded the shipment under regulations relating to the import and export of meat.

 

The aid worker, who would not be named, said: "This is the most appalling act of sickening senselessness while people starve.

 

"The FDA has recalled aid from Britain because it has been condemned as unfit for human consumption, despite the fact that these are Nato approved rations of exactly the same type fed to British soldiers in Iraq.

 

"Under Nato, American soldiers are also entitled to eat such rations, yet the starving of the American South will see them go up in smoke because of FDA red tape madness."

 

 

Child suvivor of Katrina

 

PAIN: Child survivor cries

 

The worker added: "There will be a cloud of smoke above Little Rock soon - of burned food, of anger and of shame that the world's richest nation couldn't organise a p**s up in a brewery and lets Americans starve while they arrogantly observe petty regulations.

 

"Everyone is revolted by the chaotic shambles the US is making of this crisis. Guys from Unicef are walking around spitting blood.

 

"This is utter madness. People have worked their socks off to get food into the region.

 

"It is perfectly good Nato approved food of the type British servicemen have. Yet the FDA are saying that because there is a meat content and it has come from Britain it must be destroyed.

 

"If they are trying to argue there is a BSE reason then that is ludicrously out of date. There is more BSE in the States than there ever was in Britain and UK meat has been safe for years."

 

The Ministry of Defence said: "We understand there was a glitch and these packs have been impounded by the US Department of Agriculture under regulations relating to the import and export of meat.

 

"The situation is changing all the time and at our last meeting on Friday we were told progress was being made in relation to the release of these packs. The Americans certainly haven't indicated to us that there are any more problems and they haven't asked us to take them back."

 

Food from Spain and Italy is also being held because it fails to meet US standards and has been judged unfit for human consumption.

 

And Israeli relief agencies are furious that thousands of gallons of pear juice are to be destroyed because it has been judged unfit.

 

The FDA said: "We did inspect some MREs (meals ready to eat) on September 13. They are the only MREs we looked at. There were 70 huge pallets of vegetarian MREs.

 

"They were from a foreign nation. We inspected them and then released them for distribution."

 

Voice of the Mirror: Page 6

[!@#$%]

i was set to volunteer

 

now i'm wondering if i should just blow up d.c. instead.

it would do a lot more good, obviously.

 

this shit is so exasperating.

 

we eat fucking mcdonalds.

that means ANYTHING is fit for consumption.

 

i'm screaming.

[Stereotype V.001]

"now i'm wondering if i should just blow up d.c. instead.

it would do a lot more good, obviously."

This is a fantastic idea!! The best way to do this is by wearing a highly visible vest packed with explosives, climbing the front fence and screaming loudly. It's so obvious, they'll never suspect a thing!!

 

FIGHT TEH MAN MY INTERNET BROS!!!! RIGHTEOUSZ!!!

 

fermentor- That first post with all of the pictures and clever remarks might have been a little bit better had you actually touched on anything he said. But it was very witty all the same.

[fermentor666]

I can't actually listen to the man talk for more then a few seconds without clenching my teeth in anger and changing the channel. Basically, what I got from the internets is that he said a whole bunch of shit about rebuilding and putting money in the right place and blah, blah, god, oil, cowboy.

[shai]

If, let's say, New Haven, CT, or Portland, OR, were suddenly beset by some natural disaster, you could bet all of the "rules and regulations" would be bent and evacuees would be tits-deep in food, shelter, and water...more than they ever needed or expected.

 

However, a gentleman showed up at the Oakland Federal Building yesterday, and explained that he was from New Orleans, and needed simply to obtain a form from the Social Security to try to get a license and get his life started.

 

He was informed that he couldn't enter the building without a state issued ID.

 

I get waved in the Fed to do research ALL THE TIME. Guess what the difference between me and this gentleman is?

 

(BTW, I am interested in trying to do a database research project to try to help evacuees replace their state or federal ID so they can collect mail or benefits, travel or drive, or get work. If anyone has any experience in this field, or CONSTRUCTIVE ideas on how this could be done, pm me or email me through 12 oz. Thanks. I'm serious about this...don't waste my time with bullshit, please.)

 

In the end, the gentleman was referred to a Red Cross center who got him the forms he needed, finally.

[dumy]

FUCK RACISM

[Stereotype V.001]

Originally posted by fermentor666@Sep 21 2005, 01:26 AM

I can't actually listen to the man talk for more then a few seconds without clenching my teeth in anger and changing the channel. Basically, what I got from the internets is that he said a whole bunch of shit about rebuilding and putting money in the right place and blah, blah, god, oil, cowboy.

Quoted post

 

They have some pills for that. Actually he admitted that he was responsible, and that the response was unacceptable. I don't think I saw that mentioned anywhere on here though. That might call for some sort unbiased thought process, which is a rare thing in these parts.

 

And in order to call him an "Oil cowboy" he would have had to actually come from Texas, and had some sort of success with that oil business he ran into the ground.

[NightOwl]

have you heard of this?! they handed out credit cards that have around a $200,000-$300,000 limit on it and when they checked the records, they found that most of these careds are being used for stripclubs designer bags and beer. here in hawaii, the people of new orleans have been flying out here to shop at our mall. how do they get out here? by thier credit cards! i'd rather get an apartment and go to school.

but now they have a category 5 hurricane about to hit the texas coast... i think its following those whom havent leanred.

[shai]

"And in order to call him an "Oil cowboy" he would have had to actually come from Texas, and had some sort of success with that oil business he ran into the ground." :haha:

 

New Orleans Comes To My Town Update!!!!!!!

 

I was doing a bank deposit today...two guys, who were black, came in to cash a check...one showed a VALID Louisiana ID...and was told that he needed TWO forms of ID.

 

"Well, I'm here because of the storm," he said. "This is all the ID I have."

 

So, the other fellow offers to have the first fellow sign it over, and show two forms of ID. No dice.

 

I caught up with them, and told them to go to the Red Cross to get a temporary ID of some sort.

[fermentor666]

Originally posted by Stereotype V.001+Sep 21 2005, 08:10 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Stereotype V.001 - Sep 21 2005, 08:10 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-fermentor666@Sep 21 2005, 01:26 AM

I can't actually listen to the man talk for more then a few seconds without clenching my teeth in anger and changing the channel. Basically, what I got from the internets is that he said a whole bunch of shit about rebuilding and putting money in the right place and blah, blah, god, oil, cowboy.

Quoted post

 

They have some pills for that. Actually he admitted that he was responsible, and that the response was unacceptable. I don't think I saw that mentioned anywhere on here though. That might call for some sort unbiased thought process, which is a rare thing in these parts.

 

And in order to call him an "Oil cowboy" he would have had to actually come from Texas, and had some sort of success with that oil business he ran into the ground.

Quoted post

[/b]

 

 

 

No, no, no, I was saying what his thoughts were, as in "God, oil, cowboy". I'm aware that he admitted responsibility, but this was 2 weeks after the hurricane and well after his poll numbers started spiralling downwards. His admittance was scripted, forced, and came way too late. And even if it didn't, fuck him anyway.

 

 

 

And I know they make pills for that sort of thing, but they don't work too well.

[shai]

 

Besides, the pills look like this....

[fermentor666]

LOL. Now THAT'S a big pill to swallow.

[shai]

...And, they're, uh, rectally administered...once a day, and twice on Sundays...

 

I didn't see that whole speech, but I tell ya, I'm waiting for Dubya's pep rally in Texas sometime next week post-Rita...After this, Halliburton can probably afford the "happy ending" at the massage parlor...Five bucks says they get to Rebuild Texas, No-Bid Style. Never mind. I'm starting to wonder if there IS a hurricane machine out there. Or, Blame Castro sounds good too...:lol2:

 

I wonder what's going on in Haiti? They're trying to have "elections" right now...even though the most popular candidate is locked up in prison for the unspeakable crime of....being the most popular candidate. :huh2:

 

I just checked the Houston Chronicle, and Rita is now being called "Stronger than Katrina". Goodbye, Galveston!

[Dawood]

Originally posted by symbols@Sep 20 2005, 03:41 PM

black people are only allowed on certain buses in the south.

Quoted post

 

Not to say that racism doesn't exist in the south, because I live here and it is here full swing. But , do you have proof for that statement?

I mean, this is 2005, not 1965 , I think If some white bus driver tried to stop bus stop full of black people from getting on the bus because they are black in 2005, i beleive he would have a bad day.

 

help me out with that one, Maybe I misunderstood you

[hobo knife]

Originally posted by Stereotype V.001@Sep 21 2005, 03:10 PM

And in order to call him an "Oil cowboy" he would have had to actually come from Texas, and had some sort of success with that oil business he ran into the ground.

Quoted post

 

You're right! He wasn't born in texas...but he's spent most of his life there. Hell, he runs a ranch there, so he must be a cowboy. Gets his hands dirty out in the fields...yeehaw! Drives his ford f250 and chops wood when he's bored then he milks cows and does some boot scootin boogie, heyah! heyah! And sometimes he shoots his guns just to exercise his goddamn rights. yehaw!

 

.....aaaannnddd, then he executes retared people in the gas chamber.

[!@#$%]

i'm gonna merge this.

[SF1]

I thought it was only a $2,000 limit?

[beardofzeus]

government issued credit cards

 

Residents of affected by Katrina received a $2,000 credit card if they qualified I believe.

 

Federal Employees received cards with a 250,000 limit for purchases related to katrina. A move which has led to abuse in the past.

Let me ask one question: What the fuck do federal employees need to be buying for Katrina? Way to fuck the american dollar over even more, pretty soon it's not going to be worth shit outside of this country

[angelofdeath]

my thoughts exactly. we all know what those 250,000 cards are gonna be used for. what makes me mad, is the private donations are being turned down.

the 2000$ debit cards... haha, read an article yesterday about how people were going to atlanta with those things and buying luis vuitton purses. all hail the welfare state.

[Stereotype V.001]

Originally posted by fermentor666@Sep 21 2005, 11:31 PM

His admittance was scripted, forced, and came way too late.

Quoted post

 

I highly doubt that any president of recent years has had a speech that wasn't just that.

[fermentor666]

Not in the same way as Bush. And even so, it doesn't make it right.

[DISTRACT]

Why doesn't someone assasinate Bush already. How much longer is it going to fucking take.

[Krakatau]

Originally posted by DISTRACT@Sep 23 2005, 08:23 PM

Why doesn't someone assasinate Bush already. How much longer is it going to fucking take.

Quoted post

Yeah, Chaney would be tons better. Why don't you get off your bullshittin' ass and take care of it?

[fermentor666]

It's Cheney, with two e's. Someone just needs to kill the whole administration. They would love for Bush to be killed, because then Cheney would be president and would be able to run for re-election and could potentially serve three terms.

[dumy]

that would be horrible! I heard the dems are going to try to run Hilary in '08..bad move..

[fermentor666]

Ressurecting this thread for this:

 

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles...ine_1129309408/

 

"Last week, the U.S. House killed a bill by U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., to postpone the new portions of the bankruptcy law for areas hit by Katrina and Rita. The U.S. Office of Trustees, which oversees bankruptcy cases for 48 states, said it would allow for special circumstances on a case-by-case basis for people affected by natural disasters."

 

 

Yes, they are still fucking us. Hopefully someone with a better understanding of this whole new bankruptcy law thing will start a thread on it because it seems that no one here is aware of it.

[villain]

All I know is that you can still lock in a bankruptcy because the new law hasn't gone into effect yet.

But some of the attributes of the new law I know of are that it makes it harder to declare;

They can in some instances also force you to pay on a debt...

I haven't actually read the bill but I'm sure I wouldn't like it.