Fed Gvt: Is that the best you can do!?!?
09-01-2005, 05:11 PM
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Fed Gvt: Is that the best you can do!?!?
After seeing the many pictures of Katrina, and the lawlessness that is currently occuring there it makes me incredibly angry that the federal government is not doing more. CBS news reported tonight that there was only a few dozen national guard troops currently in New Orleans. HOSPITALS are being looted, and police shot at. There are thousands of dead bodies floating and rotting throughout the city, and many people stuck and hurt within the city.
A few dozen national guard troops!? That makes me SICK! Goddamn, what is more important than the lives and livelyhood of your own citizens! War in Iraq? Yes, we can't leave but this is a more pressing issue! Only now is the army considering putting in 10,000 troops into New Orleans to restore order in the anarchy. New Orleans' mayor called the federal responce a "federal discrace" and from what I've seen, it looks pretty sad.
Sorry, a rant. agree or disagree, but IMO this is a complete disgrace to our country. We can't even help our own people
A few dozen national guard troops!? That makes me SICK! Goddamn, what is more important than the lives and livelyhood of your own citizens! War in Iraq? Yes, we can't leave but this is a more pressing issue! Only now is the army considering putting in 10,000 troops into New Orleans to restore order in the anarchy. New Orleans' mayor called the federal responce a "federal discrace" and from what I've seen, it looks pretty sad.
Sorry, a rant. agree or disagree, but IMO this is a complete disgrace to our country. We can't even help our own people
Last edited by Magish; 09-01-2005 at 06:01 PM. Reason: spelling... i'm bad at it
09-01-2005, 05:22 PM
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Like 9/11, it's a major wake-up call. The thing that gets me is that it's one (though widespread) location... imagine that x3.
One other thing that's hard to ignore, is that almost every single photo of the evacuees are of blacks... this is going to be interesting both socially and politically (i.e. "it's because they're black!)
One other thing that's hard to ignore, is that almost every single photo of the evacuees are of blacks... this is going to be interesting both socially and politically (i.e. "it's because they're black!)
09-01-2005, 05:32 PM
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No no… We'll leave this thread be. BTW, you say Baghdad in your first post.
I must concede There should be a wall of men in that damn city placing butt stocks and boots into the necks of every looter. Shot those that threaten others instead of letting them get away with hi-jacking medical supplys for drugs and killing cops. It really has nothing to do with Iraq if you think about it. If there's a surplus of 10,000 troops now then there certainly was before the storm, you know? It comes down to ****-poor planning at the State and Federal level. Bottom line.
Every damn one of them should have been on call when the warnings were first aired. Then all of them should of had their game faces on the night before it struck. Either have them all on0 2hr standby or in barracks already in uniform. Each soldier with their cargo pockets and assault packs filled to the brim with MRE's, water and CLS bags and extra IVs with catheters. I am NOT impressed whatsoever. Makes you wonder how we would react if it was a equally catastrophic disaster with zero warning (think WMD or 8.0+ quake).
I must concede
There should be a wall of men in that damn city placing butt stocks and boots into the necks of every looter. Shot those that threaten others instead of letting them get away with hi-jacking medical supplys for drugs and killing cops. It really has nothing to do with Iraq if you think about it. If there's a surplus of 10,000 troops now then there certainly was before the storm, you know? It comes down to ****-poor planning at the State and Federal level. Bottom line. Every damn one of them should have been on call when the warnings were first aired. Then all of them should of had their game faces on the night before it struck. Either have them all on0 2hr standby or in barracks already in uniform. Each soldier with their cargo pockets and assault packs filled to the brim with MRE's, water and CLS bags and extra IVs with catheters. I am NOT impressed whatsoever. Makes you wonder how we would react if it was a equally catastrophic disaster with zero warning (think WMD or 8.0+ quake).
Last edited by Salty; 09-01-2005 at 05:41 PM.
09-01-2005, 07:05 PM
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What I think is disheartening is this:
The Bush administration only gave NOLA 20% of the funds needed, and appropriated for levee maintanance and construction.
"The $750 million Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection project is another major Corps project, which remains about 20% incomplete due to lack of funds, said Al Naomi, project manager. That project consists of building up levees and protection for pumping stations on the east bank of the Mississippi River in Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Charles and Jefferson parishes.
The Lake Pontchartrain project is slated to receive $3.9 million in the president's 2005 budget. Naomi said about $20 million is needed.
"The longer we wait without funding, the more we sink," he said. "I've got at least six levee construction contracts that need to be done to raise the levee protection back to where it should be (because of settling). Right now I owe my contractors about $5 million. And we're going to have to pay them interest."
"The 2004 hurricane season was the worst in decades. In spite of that, the federal government came back this spring with the steepest reduction in hurricane- and flood-control funding for New Orleans in history. Because of the proposed cuts, the Corps office there imposed a hiring freeze. Officials said that money targeted for the SELA project -- $10.4 million, down from $36.5 million -- was not enough to start any new jobs. According to New Orleans CityBusiness this June 5:"
The Bush administration only gave NOLA 20% of the funds needed, and appropriated for levee maintanance and construction.
"The $750 million Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection project is another major Corps project, which remains about 20% incomplete due to lack of funds, said Al Naomi, project manager. That project consists of building up levees and protection for pumping stations on the east bank of the Mississippi River in Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Charles and Jefferson parishes.
The Lake Pontchartrain project is slated to receive $3.9 million in the president's 2005 budget. Naomi said about $20 million is needed.
"The longer we wait without funding, the more we sink," he said. "I've got at least six levee construction contracts that need to be done to raise the levee protection back to where it should be (because of settling). Right now I owe my contractors about $5 million. And we're going to have to pay them interest."
"The 2004 hurricane season was the worst in decades. In spite of that, the federal government came back this spring with the steepest reduction in hurricane- and flood-control funding for New Orleans in history. Because of the proposed cuts, the Corps office there imposed a hiring freeze. Officials said that money targeted for the SELA project -- $10.4 million, down from $36.5 million -- was not enough to start any new jobs. According to New Orleans CityBusiness this June 5:"
09-01-2005, 07:25 PM
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I agree with Salty by ****ing some people UP! I love how the looters are going from store to store saying they NEED supplies laughing all the way.
I say after the evacuation is complete blow the banks and flood the lot of em. The problem is there is no order and like anything in life with no order the animals run the show. Sit little doggies Sit. Good doggie.
Someone ought to loose their job over this clustermuck
I say after the evacuation is complete blow the banks and flood the lot of em. The problem is there is no order and like anything in life with no order the animals run the show. Sit little doggies Sit. Good doggie.
Someone ought to loose their job over this clustermuck
09-01-2005, 09:49 PM
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Originally Posted by lojasmo
What I think is disheartening is this:
The Bush administration only gave NOLA 20% of the funds needed, and appropriated for levee maintanance and construction.
The Bush administration only gave NOLA 20% of the funds needed, and appropriated for levee maintanance and construction.
09-01-2005, 11:03 PM
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Does anyone have a decent source on how long the NO levys have been shafted in terms of funding? I can't find a damn thing about them wanting money and not having it for that cause except for recently...
09-02-2005, 05:26 AM
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Originally Posted by HellaDumb
Ummm, you do realize this is a 30yr old issue, right? Figured someone would try to blame GW for it.
"A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how New Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but the Bush administration ordered that the research not be undertaken. After a flood killed six people in 1995, Congress created the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, in which the Corps of Engineers strengthened and renovated levees and pumping stations. In early 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S., including a terrorist attack on New York City. But by 2003 the federal funding for the flood control project essentially dried up as it was drained into the Iraq war. In 2004, the Bush administration cut funding requested by the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent. Additional cuts at the beginning of this year (for a total reduction in funding of 44.2 percent since 2001) "
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/inte...372455,00.html
09-02-2005, 06:38 AM
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since 2001... I would say that, once again, it shows how the war in Iraq has weakened our national resolve
And here is another article blurb:
"Critics say President Bush's preoccupation with Iraq, his administration's focus on terror and bureaucratic incompetence have contributed to conditions that more closely resemble a Third World disaster area than a favorite American tourist destination."
And here is another article blurb:
"Critics say President Bush's preoccupation with Iraq, his administration's focus on terror and bureaucratic incompetence have contributed to conditions that more closely resemble a Third World disaster area than a favorite American tourist destination."
09-02-2005, 08:36 AM
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Originally Posted by dub2w
"Critics say President Bush's preoccupation with Iraq, his administration's focus on terror and bureaucratic incompetence have contributed to conditions that more closely resemble a Third World disaster area than a favorite American tourist destination."
Oh, and BTW, the "third world" comments are a racist reference to the overwhelming black populations hardest hit... amazing people are still so racist in this day and age.
09-02-2005, 08:57 AM
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Hmm
I think the rescue op is going to take a little planning. You can't just land a bunch of blackhawks and ch47s in the middle of a crowd. They'll get mobbed. The problem has to be fixed from the outside in. Bush has already put things in motion to get the funds for this operation. He said 10.5 billion initially and he said "that is just the beginning."
One thing I don't get though....If the state of Ca. told me that a massive tsunami wave or a massive hurricane was going to strike the coast and that we should evacuate....I'd leave. What the hell went wrong in the big easy?
I mean come on! If they said, a massive storm was going to hit at 8am tomorrow morning and we should evacuate.....I'm gone. That even give me plenty of time to get on my bicycle and ride out of here. How hard is it?!? If for some reason I had to stay. For example, if I had no way to bring my chest full of gold with me. I'd start filling everything I could with drinking water, then I'd spend whatever money I had on canned goods. At the very least go out and stock pile the government cheese. Then I'd load all my guns, lock my doors and windows and wait for help.
Now that news is saying they have the national guard on scene locked and loaded and have orders to use deadly force if necessary. Is this Dawn of the Dead or something? Blood thirsty zombies running around killing eachother. Don't these people want to be rescued, why all the violence? Did every criminal in the U.S. catch wind of the storm before it hit and say to themselves, "Oh snap, I got to get down there for this one!".
Finally, what does "Lock and Load" or "Locked and loaded" really mean? I know you can lock the bolt to the rear, but that has nothing to do with going to a full load. Slap in a mag and rack a round. I guess if you had an UZI that fired from the open bolt position you could LOCK the bolt to the rear and insert a LOADed magazine. Then you'd be locked and loaded. Did I just answer my own question? I think I did,..doh, I just did it again.
Some donations just quoted from KRON news:
Chevron $1mil (they might have said 10, I'm not sure)
Bank Of America $1mil
Big spenders, I see corporate America really gives a crap about the situation.
One thing I don't get though....If the state of Ca. told me that a massive tsunami wave or a massive hurricane was going to strike the coast and that we should evacuate....I'd leave. What the hell went wrong in the big easy?
I mean come on! If they said, a massive storm was going to hit at 8am tomorrow morning and we should evacuate.....I'm gone. That even give me plenty of time to get on my bicycle and ride out of here. How hard is it?!? If for some reason I had to stay. For example, if I had no way to bring my chest full of gold with me. I'd start filling everything I could with drinking water, then I'd spend whatever money I had on canned goods. At the very least go out and stock pile the government cheese. Then I'd load all my guns, lock my doors and windows and wait for help.
Now that news is saying they have the national guard on scene locked and loaded and have orders to use deadly force if necessary. Is this Dawn of the Dead or something? Blood thirsty zombies running around killing eachother. Don't these people want to be rescued, why all the violence? Did every criminal in the U.S. catch wind of the storm before it hit and say to themselves, "Oh snap, I got to get down there for this one!".
Finally, what does "Lock and Load" or "Locked and loaded" really mean? I know you can lock the bolt to the rear, but that has nothing to do with going to a full load. Slap in a mag and rack a round. I guess if you had an UZI that fired from the open bolt position you could LOCK the bolt to the rear and insert a LOADed magazine. Then you'd be locked and loaded. Did I just answer my own question? I think I did,..doh, I just did it again.
Some donations just quoted from KRON news:
Chevron $1mil (they might have said 10, I'm not sure)
Bank Of America $1mil
Big spenders, I see corporate America really gives a crap about the situation.
09-02-2005, 09:11 AM
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Originally Posted by lojasmo
The Bush administration Cut NOLA flood control funding by 44% THAT has not been going on for 30 years.
"A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how New Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but the Bush administration ordered that the research not be undertaken. After a flood killed six people in 1995, Congress created the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, in which the Corps of Engineers strengthened and renovated levees and pumping stations. In early 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S., including a terrorist attack on New York City. But by 2003 the federal funding for the flood control project essentially dried up as it was drained into the Iraq war. In 2004, the Bush administration cut funding requested by the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent. Additional cuts at the beginning of this year (for a total reduction in funding of 44.2 percent since 2001) "
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/inte...372455,00.html
"A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how New Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but the Bush administration ordered that the research not be undertaken. After a flood killed six people in 1995, Congress created the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, in which the Corps of Engineers strengthened and renovated levees and pumping stations. In early 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S., including a terrorist attack on New York City. But by 2003 the federal funding for the flood control project essentially dried up as it was drained into the Iraq war. In 2004, the Bush administration cut funding requested by the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent. Additional cuts at the beginning of this year (for a total reduction in funding of 44.2 percent since 2001) "
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/inte...372455,00.html
I've been hearing about this story. And if it's true then dub2w is correct. You do realize it was written by Sidney Blumenthal, right? I'm not denying the story. I’m just asking for a better source is all... AP or Reuters would be preferable for a story like this.
09-02-2005, 12:42 PM
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Intricate Flood Protection Long a Focus of Dispute
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/na...l/01levee.html
No one expected that weak spot to be on a canal that, if anything, had received more attention and shoring up than many other spots in the region. It did not have broad berms, but it did have strong concrete walls.
Shea Penland, director of the Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of New Orleans, said that was particularly surprising because the break was "along a section that was just upgraded."
"It did not have an earthen levee," Dr. Penland said. "It had a vertical concrete wall several feel thick."
So, the levee that was breached was a new concrete levee. The levee had recently benefited from an upgrade. The upgrade was complete. Therefore Bush is to blame.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/na...l/01levee.html
No one expected that weak spot to be on a canal that, if anything, had received more attention and shoring up than many other spots in the region. It did not have broad berms, but it did have strong concrete walls.
Shea Penland, director of the Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of New Orleans, said that was particularly surprising because the break was "along a section that was just upgraded."
"It did not have an earthen levee," Dr. Penland said. "It had a vertical concrete wall several feel thick."
So, the levee that was breached was a new concrete levee. The levee had recently benefited from an upgrade. The upgrade was complete. Therefore Bush is to blame.