Water, water everywhere – Day 2

Good morning! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and yep – the water’s still here. The Sewer Treatment Plant shut down last night, so we’re being told to conserve water. I imagine we’re going to see a boil advisory soon, but I’ve been doing that anyway.

I would like to point out that our area is populated with a lot of idiots. Example? People who decide to stay put despite knowing the very spot they live in flooded up to the eaves during the April ’05 flood.

First, if you’re crazy enough to live next to a river, you need to understand that your home will flood and might wash down the river, so get the hell out!

Another example? Employers who do not realize that in a declared state of emergency, only emergency vehicles and those leaving evacuation areas or returning from work are allowed on the roads. Despite Tioga County’s “state of emergency” declaration most businesses still had their employees report to work.

From the Gannett News Service:

Tioga County, N.Y., banned all unnecessary travel and threatened to ticket anyone who violated the order. BC Transit, BC Lift and BC country bus routes didn’t operate Wednesday. Some buses were used for evacuations.

The same state of emergency was declared in Bradford County, so stay the heck off the roads!
At the same time, we have a lot of heroes, and I hope they’re not forgotten when all this is over. I’m talking about the volunteer fire companies, ambulance companies, the Red Cross volunteers, the animal rescue teams, and those who’ve volunteered time and/or materials just to help out their friends and neighbors in the Valley.

They’ve been working non-stop since Tuesday afternoon. Sandbagging, water rescues, feeding and sheltering the evacuees, working out response plans with their mutual aid companies to provide services once they were cut off by rising water. The animal rescue team has rescued about 300 pets, and is providing shelter for them at various locations

Also, huge rounds of applause go to the businesses helping out. Several restaurants are providing meals for the emergency shelter. Businesses like Walmart and Kmart have been working like crazy to get supplies in, not just for the evac. center, but for those like me who are unaffected by water, but have relatives seeking refuge.

There was some sort-a good news: The supposed crest of 33 feet was a goof of some kind, and our area saw a crest of 23.4 feet early this morning. The river is cresting in Towanda at 21 feet currently.

We also got some sad (but not unexpected) news: The 4th of July celebration, normally at the Sayre Little League park has been cancelled. You can see why:

That yellow line you see in the picture is the top of the fences at the Little League field.

The National Weather Service is calling for rain off and on for the next 10 days, and the river isn’t expected to drop below flood stage (11 feet in Sayre) anytime before Sunday or Monday.

You can read more at: The Star-Gazette (Elmira NY), The Daily Review (Towanda PA), and WICZ-TV (Binghamton NY).

Pork replaces Katrina & Iraq spending

Not that I'm surprised one bit, but isn't it nice to know that our Congr– the Republican-controlled Congress cares about its people…the rich corporate ones, that is.

From Peter Whoriskey in the Washington Post:

This city's east side remains largely abandoned, a bleak panorama of empty lots and abandoned homes left behind by the tradesmen, shrimpers and casino workers who once lived here.

Hundreds had little or no insurance. For people such as 83-year-old Elzora Brown, a retired dry-cleaning presser whose little frame house was waterlogged up to the eaves, there's not enough federal disaster aid for repairs. "Whatever the Lord sees fit, that's what I'll have," she said.

Just down the coast in Pascagoula, defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. similarly didn't have enough insurance to cover hurricane losses at its shipyards. But the company isn't awaiting divine intervention.

It had an ally in the U.S. Senate and is slated to receive $140 million for rebuilding.

[snip]

Critics have pointed to the bill as a monumental example of earmarking taken to extremes, with many noting that while the bill was supposed to address "emergency" spending for the war and Katrina relief, many of the outlays had little to do with an emergency, the war or the hurricane.

Usually the critics attack earmarks as wasteful, but the experience in Mississippi reveals another problem, according to some local officials here. No one doubts that the state needs recovery money. The question is whether some of the earmarks for Gulf Coast projects such as Northrop's are coming at the expense of the urgent needs reflected in the abandoned streets.

[snip]

Among the projects in the Senate version of the bill are $38 million to repair historic Mississippi properties such as Jefferson Davis's home overlooking the beach in Biloxi; $176 million to build a military retirement home in Gulfport; and the biggest project, $700 million to buy an 80-mile stretch of railroad over which a new highway would be built. That project, which has become known as the "railroad to nowhere," was inserted into the bill by Lott and Mississippi's other senator, Thad Cochran (R), chairman of the Appropriations Committee. It would reroute a train line damaged by Katrina — and already rebuilt at a cost of at least $250 million. [emphasis mine]

[snip]

"What they're saying to Northrop Grumman is 'Here — here's $140 million. Go get yourself back together,' " said Bill Stallworth, a Biloxi City Council member running a relief center out of a church building here. "What we're saying is 'Look, people, we need more money to get people back in their homes. We need housing. Volunteers can't do it all.' " He said that if the volunteer building crews he uses could just hire a handful of licensed plumbers and electricians, they could increase the number of homes being rebuilt in the area from 10 a month to 100. But there isn't enough money.

Welcome to BushWorld….where money goes where it's least needed. 

What none of these Congressional piggies seem to realize is that giving money to corporations and pet projects – under the guise of re-starting the economy –  in an area where people have no homes is just plain stupid. Most places would see a more effective, longer-term boost to their economies if the people are spending on home improvements and the like.

Read the full article here. 

 

Words aren’t enough

There aren't any words to describe the emotions flooding my body. Rage and despair are twisting and twirling throughout, and all I want to do is scream. And I'm not from New Orleans; I've never even been to New Orleans.

I'm just your average American who cannot believe – even 8 months later – that this is what America has become: a country receiving foreign aid after a botched disaster response that killed many and left many homeless and jobless.

Two things:

FEMA – the Futile Emergency Management Agency – is closing its New Orleans office.

From Associated Press:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is closing its long-term recovery office in New Orleans, claiming local officials failed to meet their planning obligations after Hurricane Katrina.

The office is responsible for helping the city devise a blueprint to rebuild destroyed houses, schools and neighborhoods.

[snip]

City officials were angered by the move, saying New Orleans is again being abandoned by the federal government. Deputy Mayor Greg Meffert said the FEMA office and the city worked in tandem initially but had a falling out over funding earlier this spring.

“We have a city that has an enormous planning need, and you need planners. To date, we haven’t gotten any monetary support to bring in planners,” Meffert said.

Meanwhile, Qatar – which pledged $100 million to the recovery effort, has announced its distribution of $60 million dollars of that.
Also from the Associated Press:

The oil-rich Persian Gulf nation Qatar has decided on the distribution of about $60 million of a $100 million gift announced last September for victims of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

The beneficiaries include $22 million for Habitat for Humanity to build 293 homes in the three states; $12.5 million to expand the facilities of Xavier University’s college of pharmacy; $10 million for scholarships at Tulane University for students who are Katrina victims; $5 million for scholarships for Katrina victims at Xavier University; and $3.3 million for a student relief fund at Louisiana State University.

Also, according to Mike Holtzman, a spokesman for the Qatar embassy, $5 million will be used to establish a Qatar Cares fund at Chidren’s hospital in New Orleans; another $351,651 for repair and renovation of clinics at the hospital; and $3 million for the March of Dimes to purchase and equip vans.

[snip]

“It is our duty to help people who were hurt,” said Nasser Bin Hamad al-Khalifa, Qatar’s ambassador to the United States. “Today’s globalization is making this one world and if any tragedy takes place we are all aware of it.”

[snip]

Also, Saudi Arabia, which pledged $100 million, intends to contribute its donations directly to the area without going through the U.S. government, said a U.S. official who could not be identified because she was not assigned to make such announcements. [emphasis mine]

Among the major donations received were nearly $100 million from the United Arab Emirates; $5 million from Bahrain, $5 million from China; $3.8 million from South Korea; $2 million from Taiwan; $1 million from Brunei; and $1 million from Nigeria.

How much has our government pledged? And, how much of that has actually been received and put to work helping residents of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana?! Meanwhile, FEMA is leaving?!

Oh. my. dear. freaking. god! It's not that foreign governments are giving us money, because heaven knows it's needed. It's that we need it because our own government is broke and incompetent.

 

Senate Panel says ‘Abolish FEMA’

Arrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!! Do these people just not get it? The problem with FEMA – as with every other agency since Bush took office – is that incompetent 'Buddies of George' were put in charge, instead of people who had actual experience!

Does anyone remember FEMA being this incompetent prior to the Bush administration? Could it be that FEMA did its job well prior to that because the former Presidents appointed FEMA directors who knew what their jobs were and did them? Hurricane Andrew, anyone? Hurricane Hugo? Ringing any bells there?

Simply put, the problem is not the department, it's the idiots running it. Brown (until he quit/was fired) and Chertoff, and the man who appointed them, the chief boob himself. 

From the Associated Press:

Hurricane Katrina’s latest fatality should be FEMA, the nation’s disaster response agency, a Senate inquiry concluded in calling for a government overhaul to avoid future failures like those the devastating storm exposed.

Eighty-six recommendations by the bipartisan panel indicate the United States is still woefully unprepared for a storm of Katrina’s scope with the start of the hurricane season little more than a month away.

The new authority would be “better equipped with the tools to prepare for and respond to a disaster,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who led the inquiry by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

[snip] 

Though the proposed changes do not place blame on any official or government agency, Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., will offer “additional views” to the panel’s findings in a statement accusing President Bush of failing “to provide critical leadership when it was most needed.”

“The United States was, and is, ill-prepared to respond to a catastrophic event of the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina,” said the recommendations. “Catastrophic events are, by their nature, difficult to imagine and to adequately plan for, and the existing plans and training proved inadequate in Katrina.”

The recommendations were being released Thursday morning and will be included in the Senate panel’s full report to be issued next week.

[snip] 

Former FEMA Director Michael Brown, who resigned under fire after Katrina, said the new agency would basically have the same mission FEMA had a year ago before its disaster planning responsibilities were taken away to focus solely on responding to calls for help.

“It sounds like they’re just re-creating the wheel and making it look like they’re calling for change,” Brown said. “If indeed that’s all they’re doing, they owe more than that to the American public.”

Hero Sheriff faces prosecution

Of all the unbelievable government nonsense we’ve heard about since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, this one just about takes the cake:

From the AP:

Randy Walker swears he would have died from his diabetes after Hurricane Katrina had a sheriff not seized two FEMA trucks filled with ice and distributed it to residents, many of whom had to keep their insulin cold.

Now, that sheriff could be prosecuted on charges of interfering with a federal operation.

Forrest County Sheriff Billy McGee commandeered two 18-wheelers full of ice from Camp Shelby, a Federal Emergency Management Agency staging area, after five days passed with little relief for residents living without electricity in the wake of the deadly storm.

[snip]

McGee had worked out a deal to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of interfering, intimidating and impeding a federal officer, but U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton withdrew from the case without explanation and the Justice Department sent it to federal prosecutors in Louisiana. U.S. Attorney David R. Dugas in Baton Rogue, La., said he has not decided whether to prosecute McGee.

[snip]

The ice trucks had been sitting idle at Camp Shelby, a National Guard base just south of Hattiesburg, before the sheriff ordered them sent to the towns of Petal and Brooklyn on Sept. 4. McGee has said his deputies detained a National Guard soldier who tried to interfere.

What utter bullshit! To prosecute a man who took his obligation ‘to serve and protect’ seriously and did what had to be done to save lives?!

Maybe if FEMA could have gotten off their asses and done their job, he wouldn’t have had to do their job for them.

The ‘Friends Equal Money Agency’

Surprise, surprise. FEMA has announced it is not going to re-open four bids given out to politically-connected firms after Katrina, despite promising to do so last fall. Three of those contracts being ones given to companies that federal auditors say wasted the millions given to them.

From the Associated Press:

Officials said they awarded the four contracts last October to speed recovery efforts that might have been slowed by competitive bidding. Some critics, however, suggested they were rewards for politically connected firms.

Acting FEMA Director R. David Paulison pledged last fall to rebid the contracts, which were awarded to Shaw Group Inc., Bechtel Corp., CH2M Hill Inc. and Fluor Corp. Later, the agency acknowledged the rebidding wouldn’t happen until February.

This week, FEMA said the contracts wouldn’t be rebid after all. In fact, they have been extended, in part because of good performance, said Michael Widomski, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

I’m sure political connections had nothing to do with it.

The Shaw Group’s lobbyist, Joe Allbaugh, is a former FEMA director and friend of President Bush. Bechtel CEO Riley Bechtel served on Bush’s Export Council from 2003-2004, and CH2M Hill Inc. and Fluor Corp. have done extensive previous work for the government. The companies have denied political connections played a factor.

As far as ‘speeding recovery efforts’….is anyone in Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama seeing any real recovery yet? Did New Orleans get back to normal, and I missed it?

Damn Those Democrats!

The President’s latest mouthful of bullshit? “If you want to keep your hard-earned money, vote Republican.”

From the Associated Press:

President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney launched a one-two political punch against Democrats on Friday, saying they are ill-equipped to handle the economic recovery or the war on terror.

Shouldering dismal poll ratings, Bush worked to frame the debate ahead of this year’s congressional elections by telling supporters that “the difference is clear” between the two parties on how to sustain the recovery.

“If you want the government in your pocket, vote Democrat,” Bush said. “If you want to keep more of your hard-earned money, vote Republican.”

Okay. Right.

Time for a little history lesson, Georgie.

The Democrats are actually rather well-equipped to handle the economic recovery, seeing as how they had to do it after Ronald Reagan and your father ran the deficit to then-record levels. Let’s review some facts:

1. During Bill Clinton’s eight years in office, 23 million jobs were created, the budget was balanced, the debt incurred during the Reagan-Bush years was paid off and the country was in a state of great prosperity.

2. In 2001, when you took office, the country had a billion-dollar surplus.

3. In 2002, one year after you took office, the budget surplus was gone. Vanished. Why? Well, first, you cut taxes for some folks out there. However, you Republicans did nothing to cut spending at the same time. Instead, spending increased under your watch.

4. Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Current cost of the Iraq war? Over 2300 military personnel dead, over 16,000 injured, plus $259 billion dollars and counting.

5. Fraud, mismanagement, and waste – a hallmark of your administration. How much money was stolen by Halliburton and its subsidiaries (and other politically-connected companies) for doing jobs in Iraq that were done by military units in previous wars for much lower costs? How much money was stolen, wasted, or misused by FEMA and politically-connected companies in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina?

So, here we are, in 2006, facing future economic disaster – and I do mean disaster on a ‘Great Depression’ scale – and you’re busy cutting money to programs that help the less fortunate in our society – including veterans of current and former wars, while making sure your rich friends are making lots of money and paying less taxes on that money.

And may your God help us if China decides it doesn’t want to loan us any more money, or asks us to pay back what we’ve already borrowed. The current deficit is so large that each man, woman, and child living in the United States currently owes $30,000.

Here’s some more facts: The Democrats have zero power in DC. None. The Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, so even if every Democrat votes against them, they still pass whatever legislation they want.

Plus, even with a Republican Congress that cheerfully rubber-stamped everything that crossed their desks (until Dubai Ports World) you continue making ‘signing statements’. Signing statements that – in effect – mean you don’t care what Congress says because you’ll do what you want.

What’s the definition of ‘tyrant’ again?

The Minister of Propaganda…Scott McClellan keeps telling us you want to ‘work with the Congress’ and that you’ll be happy to listen to their ‘ideas and suggestions’. Since when does the Constitution say that Congress’ only role is that of advisory committee?
As for the War on Terror – do you really believe anyone can do a worse job than you already have?! I think my thirteen-year-old daughter could run this war better than you!

Another few salient points:

1. Osama Bin Laden – remember him? He’s the guy who actually planned the 9-11 attacks, and he is still on the loose nearly 5 years later.

2. Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11. They were not connected to Al-Qaida, except by Saddam’s attempts to infiltrate their organization. Saddam hated Osama, and Osama hated Saddam. Why? Because, moron, Osama wanted a Taliban-type regime, while Saddam – because he was a power freak – ran a secular government.

3. You’ve admitted that that your little war was a failure, and that you will not be cleaning up your own mess.

Walkin’ To New Orleans – The End

From Bring Them Home Now:

I met Scott Schmelling the morning of Monday, the 12th, when only a handful of us were at the Saving Our Selves (SOS) relief warehouse in Mobile, preparing for the next day’s kickoff leg of Marchin’ to New Orleans.

[snip]

Count me in” was Scott’s response. Though he knew not a soul on the March and was neither a veteran nor kin to a serving troop, he fit seamlessly into our expanding crew. He walked mile after mile without complaint, worked hard when there was work to be done, partied hard when that was on the agenda, and went skinny dipping in Bayou Liberty after dark despite the signs warning of alligators.

Best of all, in the middle of our trek, Scott came up with a black marker and started having the rest of us sign his official March tee shirt. And I do mean everyone–from Katrina survivors we met en route to Cindy Sheehan, from WW2 vet Gene Glazer to Grumble, our chief cook and bottle washer. I have no idea whre folks squeezed the last few names on.

During the closing rally in Louis Armstrong Park earlier today, Scott bounced onto the stage and auctioned off that tee shirt. He raked in $2000! People are starting to recognize that our March has made history, real history, and they want a taangible piece of it. Scott took his two grand and split it down the middle–$1000 to SOS and $1000 to Common Ground. a NOLA-based relief outfit. After the rally, he jumped in a car going to Mobile to work with SOS.

Dennis O’Neil
VFP, New York City

* * *

The Green zone in Baghdad is the area where the coalition forces are “safe.” Here in New Orleans there is no Green zone. Here as we walked in, we entered the Baghdad of this war zone. This war zone is just as much so as it is in Iraq and here too the war is a human cost more than anything else.

[snip]

The look on the eyes here are the same as the eyes of Iraqis who have seen the horrors of war. Americans cannot see this and cannot know they must do something, which is why the American people, not the government, are doing all the rebuilding. Save Our Self is as we speak doing the work that our government says cannot be done. As my boots leave this place tomorrow I will never again place them on my feet. My combat boots will be retired and set aside as a reminder of the two wars they saw the war in the Persian Gulf and the war in the Gulf Coast.

Geoffrey Millard
Iraq Veterans Against the War
18 Mar 2006

Walkin’ To New Orleans

From KATC.com:

War veterans and hurricane victims are walking to New Orleans. The march from Mobile to the Crescent City was organized by veterans for peace.

They’ll walk about 140 miles protesting the war in Iraq and urging federal financial support for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Bring Them Home Now has daily updates from walkers.

FEMA – Band of Fools

Anyone surprised? No? I didn’t think so.

A GAO report says the government wasted millions of dollars in Hurricane Katrina relief funds.

From the Associated Press:

The government wasted millions of dollars in its award of post-Katrina contracts for disaster relief, including at least $3 million for 4,000 beds that were never used, federal auditors said Thursday.

(snip)

Waste and mismanagement were widespread due to poor planning and miscommunication, according to the five-page briefing paper released Thursday. That led to money that was paid for work never used.

(snip)

Of more than 700 contracts valued at $500,000 or greater, more than half were awarded without competition, often to politically connected companies such as Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root,