One of the things I write about often is how the Bush Adminsitration often fires (or marginalizes) knowledgeable people who contradict made-up policy with annoying things like facts, common sense, and honest-to-god expertise and experience. I wonder if one of those guys was Mike Parker, a former Republican congressman from Mississippi who briefly served as head of the Army Corps … Read More
Outrage at FEMA And BushCo Grows
UPDATE: Don’t miss Kevin Drum’s chronology of FEMA as it relates to flood control projects (or, alternatively, take a peak below the fold here). Atrios: Someone emails Josh Marshall a question a bunch of people have been raising in comments and email. The emergency preparedness for a medium scale biological or chemical attack, or the "dirty bomb" scenario, would be … Read More
Canada Offers Help
Writes one Kos commentator: The Vancouver [Canada] Urban Search and Rescue team is one of the best trained and qualified rescue teams in the world for land or water. They were at 9/11, and the earthquakes in both Iran and Turkey. Great! Can they come down here and help? A specialized urban search and rescue team from Vancouver will be … Read More
“I Don’t Think Anyone Anticipated The Breach Of The Levees.”
I couldn’t believe it. I heard it in my car this morning, but apparently on this morning’s "Good Morning America", George Bush spoke to Diane Sawyer and said, "I don’t think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." (I’ll try to get a transcript link when/if it becomes available, but you can see the video replay of the interview here). … Read More
Fuel Situation
Here in North Carolina, gas prices are $3.00. That’s pretty much the same effect that everyone is feeling. However, there are reports of gas stations in South Carolina and Georgia running out of gas, and closing shop. Is there a pending fuel shortage? Airlines seem to think so. UPDATE: Just came across this statement from N.C. governor Mike Easley: The … Read More
Superdome Shock Horror
These poor people: A 2-year-old girl slept in a pool of urine. Crack vials littered a restroom. Blood stained the walls next to vending machines smashed by teenagers. The Louisiana Superdome, once a mighty testament to architecture and ingenuity, became the biggest storm shelter in New Orleans the day before Katrina’s arrival Monday. About 16,000 people eventually settled in. By … Read More
Katrina-propa-Gate
Perhaps responding to the criticism that Bush has been largely AWOL on Katrina, even though hundreds if not thousands of Americans have died, the White House has now put up its "hurricane relief" page, which you can see here. Right now, the photo on the page shows Bush engaging in (according to the caption) a "video teleconference with federal and … Read More
Opportunity Cost For Iraq
Via Corrente: Philly’s own Will Bunch follows the money (via the man in the grey turtleneck here) Yes, if you follow the money it turns out Bush took the money that should have been spent on New Orleans levees and pissed it away in Iraq. In fact, the very levee that burst, 17th Street, was a victim of Bush cutbacks: … Read More
The Apocalypse
Well, let’s see. The death toll from Katrina is rising. Snakes, gators and corpses are floating around in New Orleans, making the second evacuation difficult. Attempts to fix the breaks in the New Orleans levees have failed. There are whitecaps on Canal Street. Prisoners stranded in a New Orleans prison have rioted, taking a deputy, his wife and their four … Read More
Oy
According to Amanda Marcotte at Pandagon, there’s an email making the rounds. It carries the picture below and the following text: The image of the hurricane above with its eye already ashore at 12:32 PM Monday, August 29 looks like a fetus (unborn human baby) facing to the left (west) in the womb, in the early weeks of gestation (approx. … Read More
Where’s Bush?
FEMA is calling Katrina the worst disaster to hit America . . . ever. Parts of New Orleans are on fire, even though most of the city is underwater. There are fears that the entire city could turn into a "toxic lake", as the flood waters continue to pour in. Over sixty people are known dead (so far) in Mississippi. … Read More
Dodged A Bullet? Not So Much.
Looks like things are not going so well for New Orleans. A two-block section of the levee apparently gave way last night. Reports suggest that 80% of the city is flooded. Of course, I’m sure there’s plenty of Louisiana National Guardmen to help out, right? As southern Louisiana wades its way out of its terror and destruction, they will find … Read More
Katrina Blogging
WDSU (New Orleans) has a blog with good up-to-the-minute coverage. Wikipedia has good coverage round-up and background, although it is not as up-to-the-minute (and beware the troll attacks). Obviously, my decision to have a Katrina slideshow is affecting loading time of the sidebar, but I will maintain it throughout much of the day. UPDATE 11:17 a.m. EDT: Katrina downgraded to … Read More
Katrina Is Really Really Bad – Part II
From the NOAA: MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS…PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL…LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW … Read More