Katrina's Aftermath, Crisis and the Lack of Action...
May the Powers that be show mercy to the survivors of Katrina. Day four and people are still being rescued from attics and roof tops in New Orleans. Thousands of refugees are stranded on highway overpasses and hundreds remain at the Convention Center. Desperately needed shipments of food and water finally arrived TODAY...but not everyone who needs it is getting it. Evacuations are promised but not happening and more people are dying because of bureaucratic red tape...that is unacceptable.I have friends in Louisiana so I have been checking all the news I can and also watching live feeds from a television station in Baton Rouge, LA., in order to see what is happening...it is heartbreaking, infuriating and unforgivable to watch American citizens go through unnecessary hardship as they are after surviving the worst natural disaster of our time. Two of the hospitals just got evacuated TODAY, people are dropping dead from lack of food, water and/or medication for days, the conditions in the area are unsanitary (raw sewage and waste everywhere), no shelter...when is the Federal govt. going to take this disaster seriously?
The official version of what is happening from Michael Brown, Bush's appointment to FEMA, is almost the total opposite of the reality on the ground and unless the chief of FEMA starts to become realistic, New Orleans will have to do without a great deal more aid that they should have had already...they should not have had to wait four days for help to actually get to them in the first place. The Mayor of New Orleans has stated that the situation is a National disgrace and he is absolutely correct. Brown has defended his actions on national television but the mainstream media has busted him on it (article) and even Bush has stated that the actions of FEMA have not been enough.
I saw an interview this afternoon with the Mayor of Slidell, LA, in which he stated that FEMA had sent aid and then would not give his people access to it (generators, equipment, etc.) because of red tape (generators brought were not available because an inspector had not ok'ed the location, etc) and FEMA was actually CONFISCATING some of their supplies (gasoline, trucks, etc.) that they were using to clean up the area. Slidell is a direct neighbor of New Orleans for those of you who do not know. FEMA has actually begun confiscating loads of diesel fuel that Corporate America has bought for the normal operations of their companies...I know this for a fact.
It is embarrassing enough that America's president did not get into the situation for four days after the devastation happened, using the excuse that he did not want to get in the way. For Heaven's sake, he IS the president, his JOB is to be involved with the crisis and take care of the American people...excuses are not acceptable. Some would defend his delay in reacting but an intelligent person would know that the sooner our elected president got involved, the sooner aid would materialize for those who needed it.
Many Americans take the attitude that Nobody ever helps us so why should we care what anybody else thinks?. I can put that attitude to task in the wake of Katrina's devastation...many have stepped up to the plate to help the U.S. in this crisis, including countries we have caused a good deal of grief for like Venezuela and Cuba. I have listed some of the countries below and would like to offer my heart felt appreciation. Also the governments in Europe have agreed to open up oil reserves to help the American people with the gas crunch we are seeing. They will be sending crude oil AND gasoline to relieve our hardship.
Russia, Japan, Canada, France, Honduras, Germany, Venezuela, Jamaica, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, China, South Korea, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, Guatemala, Paraguay, Belgium, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Italy, Guyana, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia. Austria, Lithuania, Spain, Dominica, Norway, Cuba and Bahamas. Article
It appears that the ongoing crisis in New Orleans is a great distraction for our Republican controlled government...
The longer this situation continues, the more outraged I get. Today is September 2 and is the first day of real effort New Orleans has seen from the Federal government. Yesterday, September 1, the Navy hired Houston-based Halliburton Co. to restore electric power, repair roofs and remove debris at three naval facilities in Mississippi damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Halliburton subsidiary KBR will also perform damage assessments at other naval installations in New Orleans as soon as it is safe to do so.
KBR was assigned the work under a "construction capabilities" contract awarded in 2004 after a competitive bidding process. (We all know how competitive it is, the one person with the guts to stand and be counted for her honesty was retaliated against) article
KBR has not been asked to repair the levees destroyed in New Orleans which became the primary cause of most of the damage.
Is it not odd that Halliburton and it's subsidiary can be hired to fix up Naval Bases but our government had not, as of the time it hired Halliburton, even seen the devastation of New Orleans nor had they made sure the survivors had essentials for sustaining life (food and water)? It is shameful for Halliburton to get away with what it has in Iraq at taxpayer expense but this is not Iraq and these are American citizens we are talking about...why in the hell is Hallibuton's contracts more pressing than the people who need help?
I have to wonder, as any reasonable person should, why the Bush administration has dragged their feet to help our own...is it because Katrina could not be held accountable as a terrorist? ENOUGH ALREADY! Instead of jumping the gun to attack another country, how about focusing on the home front. Instead of focusing on repealing the Estate Tax, as Senator Frist plans as early as Tuesday, how about putting the focus on helping people who desperately need it instead of adding to our financial burden with more perks and easements for the wealthiest. Instead of allowing Bolton to try to derail the upcoming U.N. summit, how about trying to assist the U.N. in it's efforts for all nations instead of trying to exempt the U.S. and Israel from accountability...after all, even the U.N. has offered assistance for our hurricane survivors.
How about not letting America or it's people become the next failed business opportunity, George...
posted by Myst @ 10:03 PM
12 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
I appreciate your input and link but I honestly do not see how a site called trafficforless.com is going to be of interest for me at this point.
It is good to get the news first hand because, like the events in Iraq, which the Bush administration does not want us to hear the whole truth, the spin being put on the catastrophe in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast is nothing close to the truth.
As of yesterday, Mississippi areas affected had not seen any relief as far as basics yet (water,food). New Orleans (Emergency services) has been stretched to the breaking point and have not seen much of the help that has been promised, they have seen very little.
Bush's appointees to FEMA had absolutely no experience in Emergency Preparedness and as a result the crisis has become worse instead of better.
Why am I outragedd? Because Bush has cut funding for first responders and projects that would help protect our cities from events like this, all the while filling important posts with people who have no idea of what they are doing...giving his good friends great saleries and running our country into the ground.
People are dying and until yesterday they had no water...all the while the Chiefs of Homeland Security stated that FEMA was doing an "outstanding job" and FEMA was saying they had everything "under control"
"Homeland Security" is an oxy-moron. We have no homeland security...we have a worsening crisis and George's friends to thank for it.
If your comment does not have anything to do with the subject at hand, do not post it because it will be deleted. If you add a link that does not pertain to the subject matter, expect it to disappear as well.
If you have nothing better to do than scratch your head and spam blogs for entertainment you should try making something out of the life you have.
Comments about the subject matter are welcome, otherwise you are wasting your time as well as everyone else's.
I suppose people can not read, either...
Links not having to do with the subjecy at hand but being such classified as spam WILL be deleted...
I have posted twice that comments of no value to the subject matter will be deleted and yet more idiotic comments with spam links appear.
That pretty much proves that many Americans do not bother or do not know how to read and/or they do not pay attention either by choice or stupidity,
No wonder "Dubya" is where he is and we all have to suffer together for it...many Americans are stupid and inattentive.
It actually makes me feel a little better when I can look these people up and delete their stupidity so nobody else has to see their ignorance.
Stipidity runs amok and spam links are still being deleted.
I guess it does not dawn on a stupid person that as soon as they try to spam this topic I am notified.
I guess they think that everybody will see this post and want to read it and then see their spam links.
That would be kind of difficult considering their links are quickly deleted.
Blatent stupidity...
More spam crap under the words...
Blatent Stupidity
A tragic subject where people try to advertize themselves because they see tragedy as a way to pimp themselves...
Welcome to America.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Kinda makes you wonder just how stupid and callous some people are to spam a topic like this only to pimp themselves...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Pimping again, huh...
Open a store because it isn't selling here.
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