Politics 101 - Indictments.

A few days ago Tom DeLay was indicted for conspiracy that essentially accuses House Republican Majority leader Tom Delay of money laundering.

The indictment alone does not say anything at all. A lot of people do not understand what an indictment is or how it works. Sadly, though. But lawyers who have seen hundreds and hundreds of them know that indictments list specific charges and alludes to some of the evidences. There are no evidences presented whatsoever by Ronnie Earle. None. What is interesting is that the District Attorney Ronnie Earle failed to get any indictments out of five previous grand juries against Tom DeLay over the same thing. It took a sixth grand jury that finally got one very shaky count of a conspiracy charge. The weakest of all "charges" with no real specific charges at all. Just a conspiracy one. Even Tom Delay doesn't know exactly what he's charged with other than it's a conspiracy one. The five attempts is the equivalent of a person in any court getting tried five different times over the same thing.

Now, he's a little Politics 101 in the realm of partisian hacking whenever Liberals look for ways to stick it to the other guy the best (and most ridiculous) way possible using even the weakest legal avenues. A "conspiracy" is a charge that prosecutors use when they have nothing else. Look at it this way. For four years, District Attorney Ronnie Earle has thrown all kinds of stuff up against DeLay hoping it will stick. Nada. So, all they could come up with, after 5 tries with 5 different Grand Juries without any real evidence to speak of other than the check, was a "conspiracy" charge. The weakest of all charges that one can dream up. Basically, Ronnie Earle has accused Tom DeLay essentially of money laundering and there's no charge of money laundering in Ronnie Earle's indictment of Tom DeLay. Just an accusation. Again, the weakest of all weak charges when lawyers have nothing left to go but to indict him for conspiracy. It's an accusation, not a charge. Enough to get Tom DeLay to *temporarily* step down as House Majority Leader. All this was simply an accusation , an indictment without a nary of evidence to prove the conspiracy deal actually took place. Mr. Earle was finally able to find a Grand Jury who would hand down the indictment that he was begging for. The first five grand juries issued no indictment. Remember that one. The sixth time was a charm, apparently so.

National Review Online goes over what Ronnie Earle's indictment is against Tom DeLay:

"Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle has charged DeLay with conspiracy to make a contribution to a political party in violation of the Texas Election Code. The alleged violation involved a money swap between the now-defunct Texans for a Republican Majority PAC (TRMPAC), which DeLay helped found but never managed, and the Republican National State Elections Committee (RNSEC). TRMPAC sent a check for $190,000 to RNSEC, and RNSEC then sent checks totaling approximately the same amount to Texas House candidates in October of 2002. Earle, a Democrat, calls this money laundering, because the money that TRMPAC sent to RNSEC came from corporations, which are barred from contributing to campaigns in Texas."

But there is a problem with this charge by DA Ronnie Earle according to former DoJ official Barbara Comstock:

Neither the RNC nor RNSEC constitute a political party under Texas election law. They are considered PACs, just as the DNC is.

Corporations in Texas could have legally made contributions to the RNC or RNSEC during the period in question under Texas election law.

There was no violation of the Texas Election Code. There was no conspiracy. The underlying transaction was legal. Had corporations sent money directly to the RNC or RNSEC, the transaction would be legal. How could anyone conspire to do indirectly what could legally have been done directly?

A PAC (Political Action Committee) is nothing more than a political organization and not a polical party. Even the Texas Democratic Party, a PAC organization, did the same thing on what Tom Delay did. But the difference here is that Tom Delay is the House Republica Majority leader and Liberals will do anything petty to try and get Tom Delay out.

Don't look at the "seriousness" of these allegations but the evidences, which there are none. Like money, people would say "Show me the money" and that's true for charges, show me the evidence. There are none. And that's why this Liberal DA Ronnie Earle ended up with nothing but to charge him with conspiracy. The weakest of all weak charges in any courts.

Someone asked Ronnie Earle about the vagueness of the DeLay indictment on Foxnews:

Q: What role did DeLay actually play? Earle has no concrete answer.

Q: What is the proof DeLay conspired? Again, no concrete answer.

Q: Did you seek money-laundering charges against DeLay? Grand jury returned indictments it thought were appropriate.

Q: It's said that conspiracy is a last-resort charge? Our job is to enforce the law as written.

Again, where is the evidence? Show me the evidence! A simple request that even Ronnie Earle cannot even address it.

If Tom DeLay broke the law, then he needs to face trial for it and answer for his actions, no question. However, there are no evidences presented by Ronnie Earle when he read the indictment against Tom DeLay.

That's it, kiddies. Learn something here for once. Do some deep digging, not that kind, for once when you do the research on the case that even a Proctologist would be proud of.

New Orleans Cops, Looters?

Aside from New Orleans' massive corruption involving ghost cops, we have also cops who have looted as well. But according to a police spokesman Marlon Defillo who said that

Police are looking into the possibility that up to 12 officers were involved in misconduct.

According to Marlon Defillo, he rejected the use of the term "looting."

How nice. I guess when cops take items from a store along with the rest of the people who are also taking non-food or non-emergency essential items (e.g. pants, tvs, radios, jewelry, money) are just simply taking an inventory and they are trying to salvage what's left for the store owner?

Let me laugh for a moment there. Ha...ha..........ha.

But the killer here is when authorities said that they'll investigate "the possibility of appropriation of non-essential items during the height of Katrina, from businesses." Yet it is the police' responsibility to prevent the looting. They have guns. Use 'em.

Of course, I wonder how many Democrat police officers of New Orleans bailed out? Or even looted? Yet, many of the officers had homes that were destroyed by the flood continued on with their duties.

Time will tell about all of this mess made by the cops of New Orleans and Democrat Mayor Nagin.

New Orleans Ghost Cops?

Well, seems like corruption have been abound at New Orleans for a long time like some people have been saying for awhile. This time the sniffer goes out on "ghost cops" that are on the city's payroll where numbers have been magically inflated from 1000 to 1700 cops. People are saying it's really 1000 or so cops out there. Not 1700.

I smell blood in the waters. So does the " The Black Commentator":

The degree of Democratic callousness in the New Orleans tragedy may be shocking at first, but it is actually consistent with the direction the party has taken for the past two decades. The Democrats are dying a slow political death. Their inaction and acquiescence in New Orleans is just the latest symptom presented by a terminal patient.

And isn't any wonder that New Orleans are run mostly by Democrats? And yet this is how some of the actual New Orleans cops treated the soon-to-be Hurricane Katrina surivors?

Bad planning. Bad Mayor. Bad ghost cops.

Numbers Schmumbers....The Anti-war Protest Crowds, Stretching the Truth

The only overhead photo shot of the recent September 24, 2005 anti-war protest was from the Yahoo News Reuters photo shot of the crowd of anti-war protesters at the famed 52-acre ellipse (officially known as the President's Park South or "The Ellipse") located in front of the White House. One of the Kos kids, Armando, claimed that 1/2 million protesters attended the rally. A laughable number considering when in October 16, 1995 a "Million Man March" took place at the "The Mall," which is a 146-acre stretch of lawn, where upon an estimated crowd of 837,214 people, with a 20 percent margin of error, was computed by the National Park Service and Dr. El-Baz.

EL-Baz and his colleagues adapted a methodology originally developed to count dunes in a desert and trees in a forest in order to determine the number of participants at the October 16, 1995 Million Man March.

On October 18, ABC News in Washington scanned (at 300 dots per inch) a series of color prints (from 35 mm negatives) taken of the march by the National Park Service. The scanned images were uploaded through the internet to the Center for Remote Sensing.

The photos were taken from a helicopter with a hand-held camera and showed views of the crowd along the Mall. They were taken from several different heights and at various oblique angles. Scientists at the Center downloaded the images to their computers and began literally to count heads in places where the crowd was dispersed.

The process began with two graduate students breaking the photos down into small sections and enlarging those sections on their computer screens. By concentrating on open areas where individuals were clearly visible, they painstakingly "clicked" on the shadows corresponding to each marcher.

In areas where the crowd was tightly packed, Dr. El-Baz and his colleagues estimated the maximum density per unit area - that is, how many individuals could stand in a single square meter. He simply measured a square meter on the lab floor and saw how ma ny of his students would fit comfortably. He found that six was a high-density count and concluded that six people per square meter corresponded to the most densely packed areas of the march, such as the base of the Capitol and the area around the half-d ozen closed-circuit television screens on the Mall.

Now, "The Mall" is nearly 3 times larger than "The Ellipse," it is reasonable to see how impossible it is to consider a number of 500,000 of people who attended the Sheehan/anti-war rally at The Ellipse and then to the streets.

Dr El-Baz figured, as a maximum, 6 people per square meter. Since only half of the ellipse was taken up by the crowd which leaves 26 acres or 105 square meters. Multiply that by 6 and you get 631,308. That is if people are packed like sardines at a concert trying to get a closer look at their idols which was not the case here. Comfortably two persons could be able to occupy a square meter of space (roughly 3.3 feet by 3.3 feet square) whether carrying a sign or not as in the case in one anti-war protest that took place at The Mall in 2002. Since they walk to their destination and they tend to sit on the grassy lawn with anywhere from 1 to 2 persons per square meter, if it's a reasonably sized event. Since this is the case, the total number of people who attended the anti-war rally gets notched down to about 200,000. But the occupation of space is never uniform for every square meter since you have large banners being carried by 2 or more people, large signs being carried by one person, and mommies or daddies pushing their babies in strollers taking up more needed space and so on. People milling about occupies the full square meter of space. So, in effect the total number of people is realistically over 100,000 but under 150,000.

The march route itself consist of approximately 3.5 miles of street pounding after arriving at the Ellipse for the anti-war rally. With an overly conservative estimate of what a typical width of a Washington D.C. street (including sidewalks) is approximately 100 feet wide. With 3.5 miles of linear space comes to about 4 acres or 16,700 square meters. And if it's in a "packed sardine" scenario with 6 persons per square meter, it comes to a street holding capacity of about 100,000. Bad news if there's a stampede. But being packed like sardines how would they move? 100,000 is an unrealistic number just for the march route alone which would be wall to wall people. The number would be more like anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 thousand people that walked the street while others go and do their own rants and antices since they come in disorganized and untimed waves according to one liberal Mahablog:

I have no idea how many people were there, and I think it would be difficult to estimate because the demonstrators, being liberals, did not follow directions. The plan was to rally at the Ellipse next to the White House and then march from there. Only a small part of the crowd actually went to the Ellipse, however. Most seem to have just showed up and either stayed in groups scattered all over Capitol Hill, or else they just did impromptu unofficial marches as a warmup to the Big March.

Total crowd capacity including the Ellipse and the march route of 3.5 miles of street and sidewalks, you'd have it at about 800,000 to 900,000 in a complete packed sardine scenario. So, considering 500,000 it is a laughable figure.

Washington Post has it pegged at 200,000 for attendance. But the police has it at 150,000. But the rule of thumb goes here when it comes to crowds. At a protest rally = 2 persons per square meter. At a concert (or even on the Capitol steps with limited number of signs being carried) = 6 persons per square meter. In a phone booth? About 25. All in all, realistically I believe the number is more likely over 100,000 but under, perhaps, 150,000. But 200,000 may be just a tad bit too much.

So much for the Kos Kids for stretching the truth on numbers here.

UPDATE: Of course, gotta figure in the heavier/overweight people protesting out there when one person would take up more of its fair share of 1 meter square of space. In today's society there are more people who are overweight than not. Thanks for the reminder, Sherry.

Simich Jr's Hearing Set for October.

According to the Post Gazette a competency hearing for Thomas Simch Jr is set:

A competency hearing will be held Oct. 6 for Thomas Simich Jr., who is charged with killing his sister and brother-in-law last spring.

Simich's father said Simich, 46, of Freedom, reportedly suffered a brain injury when he was mugged nearly 20 years ago. Beaver County Deputy Court Administrator Aileen Bowers said making arrangements for the hearing has been complicated because Simich and his mother are deaf, and his father, Thomas Simich Sr., is partially deaf. Bowers said interpreters are being provided through Pittsburgh Caring and Deaf Services.

According to police, Simich shot his sister, Marilyn Bergman, and brother-in-law, Steven Bergman, at his parents' house May 2 following a discussion about putting his parents into an assisted-living facility. Simich lived with his parents.

Past postings on the brutal double homicide where Simich Jr used a 20-gauge shotgun are found here, here, here and here. Will Thomas Simich Jr. be found competent to stand trial? Will attorneys for Simich Jr. plead Insanity? Will he get jail for life? Mental institution? Or the death penalty? Stay tuned....

Deaths Caused by a 1000 Sitting Buses - Accountability Issues.

The pre- and post- hurricane disaster and fiasco at New Orleans, as always, started at the local level. New Orleans had years of opportunity to make adequate evacuation plans to help the people of New Orleans safely evacuate in case of a Category 3 hurricane or higher comes roaring in. Sadly, this was never the case. However, there were mistakes at all levels of the government starting with the local, state and then finally at the Federal level regarding and specifically the city of New Orleans. But it took a bigger person to admit the mistakes seen in their own government and take responsibility for it. President Bush made the first move. He was the bigger man.

President Bush took it upon himself to accept responsibility for the Federal government's weaknesses in responding to national emergency on September 13, 2005 at 12:30 PM.

"I take responsibility' for failures in dealing with Hurricane Katrina and said the disaster raised broader questions about the government's ability to respond to natural disasters as well as terror attacks."

"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government. To the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility."

Taking cue from President Bush Mayor Nagin then took responsibility for his mistakes for the many deaths later in the day on September 13, 2005.

And then finally Governor Blanco of Louisiana took responsibility of her state's government fiasco and blunders (hers) on September 15, 2005 after waiting 48 hours to decide on going for the accountability route after Nagin's acceptance of responsibility.

But, again, it's way too late for Blanco and Nagin. They've done more harm to themselves than they ever imagined. They and the MSM did their non-stop blame game by demonizing and pointing fingers at President Bush for nearly two weeks, blaming everyone except themselves.

Deaths caused by a 1000 sitting buses....literally so.....first by Mayor Nagin. All of this could have easily been prevented or reduced drastically the number of deaths and injuries had there been an adequate, well thought out hurricane evacuation plan for the city of New Orleans. It never happened.

If only Mayor Ray Nagin had cooperated when President Bush urged him to order a mandatory evacuation instead of waiting.

If only Mayor Nagin had used those hundreds of busses to get people without their own cars to safety.

If only Governor Kathleen Blanco had put people first and accepted President Bush's offer to have the federal government take control.

If only Governor Blanco's people had not kept the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army out of New Orleans.

"The actions and inactions of Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin are a national disgrace due to their failure to implement the previously established evacuation plans of the state and city."

Next time, don't issue a mandatory evacuation 24 hours before the storm hit and be an example of Mayor Nagin's incompentence and illogical moves. Even the Mayor's own people blamed him and not President Bush. And next time, don't wait 24 hours to decide on whether to accept a President's offer of immediate Federal help and be an exact shining example of Governor Blanco's mental incompetence.

Next time, don't be a twit like the governor and mayor, or be like the mainstream media that get "stuck on stupid."

When Loony Liberals Failed to Get Recriminating Responses from Black Evacuees of New Orleans against President Bush in a LIVE ABC taping

It wasn’t suprising when ABC Dean Reynolds tried to goad the 6 Evacuees being interviewed during a LIVE! tv show hoping to elicit some sort of hate from the Evacuees toward President Bush for the evacuation disaster. Dean Reynolds reported from the parking lot of the Houston Astrodome, speaking with black evacuees from New Orleans during a LIVE! ABC taping.

See the video provided by the “The Political Teen.”

The full transcription of Reynolds' interviews below:

Reynolds: “I'd like to get the reaction of Connie London who spent several horrible hours at the Superdome. You heard the President say retpeaedly that you are not alone, that the country stands beside you. Do you believe him?”

Connie London: “Yeah, I believe him, because here in Texas, they have truly been good to us. I mean-”

Reynolds: “Did you get a sense of hope that you could return to your home one day in New Orleans?”

London: “Yes, I did. I did.”

Reynolds: “Did you harbor any anger toward the President because of the slow federal response?”

London: “No, none whatsoever, because I feel like our city and our state government should have been there before the federal government was called in. They should have been on their jobs.”

Reynolds: “And they weren't?”

London: “No, no, no, no. Lord, they wasn't. I mean, they had RTA buses, Greyhound buses, school buses, that was just sitting there going under water when they could have been evacuating people.”

Reynolds: “Now, Mary, you were rescued from your house which was basically submerged in your neighborhood. Did you hear something in the President's words that you could glean some hope from?”

Mary: “Yes. He said we're coming back, and I believe we're coming back. He's going to build the city up. I believe that.”

Reynolds: “You believe you'll be able to return to your home?”

Mary: “Yes, I do.”

Reynolds: “Why?”

Mary: “Because I really believe what he said. I believe. I got faith.”

Reynolds: “Back here in the corner, we've got Brenda Marshall, right?”

Brenda Marshall: “Yes.”

Reynolds: “Now, Brenda, you were, spent, what, several days at the Superdome, correct?”

Marshall: “Yes, I did.”

Reynolds: “What did you think of what the President told you tonight?”

Marshall: “Well, I think -- I think the speech was wonderful, you know, him specifying that we will return back and that we will have like mobile homes, you know, rent or whatever. I was listening to that pretty good. But I think it was a well fine speech.”

Reynolds: “Was there any particular part of it that stood out in your mind? I mean, I saw you all nod when he said the Crescent City is going to come back one day.”

Marshall: “Well, I think I was more excited about what he said. That's probably why I nodded.”

Reynolds: “Was there anything that you found hard to believe that he said, that you thought, well, that's nice rhetoric, but, you know, the proof is in the pudding?”

Marshall: “No, I didn't.”

Reynolds: “Good. Well, very little skepticism here. Frederick Gould, did you hear something that you could hang on to tonight from the President?”

Frederick Gould: “Well, I just know, you know, he said good things to me, you know, what he said, you know. I was just trying to listen to everything they were saying, you know.”

Reynolds: “And Cecilia, did you feel that the President was sincere tonight?”

Cecilia: “Yes, he was.”

Reynolds: “Do you think this is a little too late, or do you think he's got a handle on the situation?”

Cecilia: “To me it was a little too late. It was too late, but he should have did something more about it.”

Reynolds: “Now do you all believe that you will one day return to your homes?”Voices: “Yes” and “I do.”

Reynolds: “I mean, do you all want to return to your homes? We're hearing some people don't even want to go back.”

Mary: “I want to go back.”

Reynolds: “You want to go back.”

Mary: “I want to go back. That's my home. That's all I know.”

Reynolds: “Is it your home for your whole life?”

Mary: “Right. That's my home.”

Reynolds: “And do you expect to go back to the house or a brand new dwelling or what?”

Mary: “I expect to go back to something. I know it ain't my house, because it's gone.”

Reynolds: “What is the one mistake that could have been prevented that would have made your lives much better? Is it simply getting all of you out much sooner or what was it?”

Mary: “I'm going to tell you the truth. I had the opportunity to get out, but I didn't believe it. So I stayed there till it was too late.”

Reynolds: “Did you all have the same feeling? I mean, did you all have the opportunity to get out, but you were skeptical that this was the really bad one?”

Unnamed woman: “No, I got out when they said evacuate. I got out that Sunday and I left before the storm came. But I know they could have did better than what they did because like they said, buses were just sitting there, and they could have came through there and got people out, because they were saying immediate evacuation. Some people didn't believe it. But they should have brung the force of the army through to help these people and make them understand it really was coming.”

London: “And really it wasn't Hurricane Katrina that really tore up the city. It was when they opened the floodgates. It was not the hurricane itself. It was the floodgates, when they opened the floodgates, that's where all the water came.”

Reynolds: “Do you blame anybody for this?”

London: “Yes. I mean, they've been allocated federal funds to fix the levee system, and it never got done. I fault the mayor of our city personally. I really do.”

Reynolds: “All right. Well, thank you all very much. I wish you all the best of luck. I hope you don't have to spend too much more time here in the Reliant Center and you can get back to New Orleans as the President said. Ted, that is the word from the Houston Astrodome. And as I said, when the President said that the Crescent City will rise again, there were nods all around this parking lot.”

Again, it goes like this when it comes to responsibility of getting people out whenever a hurricane is heading their way.

1) Evacuate yourself. If you can move out of the way, do it. Look after numero uno, yourself, your family and friends.

2) Next, the city’s must help evacuate those who cannot or are unable to move. That means using transportation such as subway or rail systems, and buses.

3) The state provides help in the next step to help protect life and property such as looting. Also, they have the option to request Federal help such as FEMA and the National Guards or the Army.

4) Lastly, the Federal government finally steps in bringing in massive supplies, food, shelter, medical and other support.

It took the Federal government 3 days to move man, machine, food and supplies to the affected areas devastated by hurricane Katrina. This was 2 days faster than the response to Homestead, Florida devastated by Hurricane Andrew that was a Category 5 hurricane when it Homestead in 1992. Overall, the hurricane Katrina response was much faster than all of the hurricanes of that similar size in magnitude.

Keep trying the lot of you loony liberals to blame everything on President Bush. Even the Evacuees knew better on who to blame first. Mayor Nagin. And secondly, Governor Blanco of Louisiana.

Here Comes Hurricane Rita...aiming for Texas?

Here comes hurricane Rita (athough it's a tropical storm and I'm getting ahead of myself) taking aim on Texas! Even Louisiana is facing a possible hit given that hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico have much lateral room to go anywhere where it can go.

Now, last month hurricane Katrina damaged lot of the shipping ports in Louisiana rending them mostly unsuable to serve as shipping prots. Cargo ships had to find alternative ports to unload the goods. Ports in Texas received much of the redirected shipping traffic away from Louisiana's ports.

The possibility that some of the important ports in Texas may get savagely beaten by hurricane Rita. Just as well, oil refineries and platforms may also feel the wrath of hurricane Rita should it become worse than a Category 2 hurricane.

What will happen if the one of the gulf ports of Texas get slammed by a Category 3 hurricane or higher? Are you willing to pay for the increased price on goods and materials that may need to be unloaded elsewhere? Can Miami or Fort Lauderdale ports be able to handle it if ports in Texas and Louisiana go down? Can the Louisiana ports recover in time? Can we withstand another drama of more hurricane disasters wrecking our industrious ports?

Holy Rita, Batman!

Stay tuned for more battiness...

Incredible Wastful Spending of Fed Money Meant for Studies on Saving Lives

Absolutely incredible. Examples on the abuse of Federal money meant for studies on finding ways to help improve plans for evacuation.

Here's one story of FEMA dollars that was meant to improve evacuation plans for New Orleans:

As far back as eight years ago, Congress ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a plan for evacuating New Orleans during a massive hurricane, but the money instead went to studying the causeway bridge that spans the city's Lake Pontchartrain, officials say.

The outcome provides one more example of the government's failure to prepare for a massive but foreseeable catastrophe, said the lawmaker who helped secure the money for FEMA to develop the evacuation plan.

"They never used it for the intended purpose," said former Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La. "The whole intent was to give them resources so they could plan an evacuation of New Orleans that anticipated that a very large number of people would never leave."

.

.

Frustrated two years later that nothing materialized, Congress strengthened its directive. This time it ordered "an evacuation plan for a Category 3 or greater storm, a levee break, flood or other natural disaster for the New Orleans area."

The $500,000 that Congress appropriated for the evacuation plan went to a commission that studied future options for the 24-mile bridge over Lake Pontchartrain, FEMA spokesman Butch Kinerney said.

The hefty report produced by the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission "primarily was not about evacuation," said Robert Lambert, the general manager for the bridge expressway. "In general it was an overview of all the things we need to do" for the causeway through 2016. Lambert said he could not trace how or if FEMA money came to the commission. Nor could Shelby LaSalle, a causeway consulting engineer who worked on the plan.

And now we have the state of Louisiana's abuse of Federal money

For instance, a Nov. 30, 2004, report by Tonda L. Hadley, a director in the Denton field office, examined $40.5 million sent to the Louisiana agency, mostly for the Hazard Mitigation program. The report found that the state's emergency office did not have receipts to account for 97% of the $15.4 million it had awarded to subcontractors on 19 major projects.

Wait it gets better.

In addition to alleged misspending reported in the two audits, FEMA has asked for the return of $10.7 million allocated to a program for buying property in high-risk flood areas. Most of that money was passed on to local communities to determine which property owners would benefit.

FEMA alleged the Louisiana agency had not properly monitored expenditures, and failed to ensure that properties receiving the funds were eligible.

About $2.8 million of the refund sought by FEMA went to consultant fees. Most of that money went to Aegis Innovative Systems, a Baton Rouge firm hired by many parishes to administer the flood buyout program. Aegis owners include Mark Howard, a former official at the Louisiana agency.

State Sen. Reggie Dupre said it appeared that parishes employing Aegis were especially successful in winning money from the state emergency preparedness agency.

"It smells like a horrible brother-in-law deal to me, " he said in a phone interview.

And you say it was all President Bush' fault? You're dreaming aren't you?

When Cindy Sheehan Loses It.

As a final grasp for dire attention to her withering self-styled celebrity status of the pandering left, Cindy Sheehan finally loses it after her channeling experience with her dead son:

I don't care if a human being is black, brown, white, yellow or pink. I don't care if a human being is Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, or pagan. I don't care what flag a person salutes: if a human being is hungry, then it is up to another human being to feed him/her. George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans and Iraq, and excuse his self from power. The only way America will become more secure is if we have a new administration that cares about Americans even if they don't fall into the top two percent of the wealthiest.

Cindy, you're losing it. And, no, you cannot compete with the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina.

Deaf to Sue to Allow Stock Trades Over Relay

A hearing impaired client at Morgan Stanley (MWD) is expected to file a lawsuit later Tuesday claiming the securities firm discriminated against him because it doesn't accept stock trade orders using a system that allows the deaf to communicate by telephone.

The lawsuit, which is expected to be filed in federal court in the District of Connecticut on Tuesday afternoon, is seeking class-action status under the Americans with Disabilities Act for Donald A. Brunner Jr., who is deaf, and other similarly situated individuals.

The complaint asks that Morgan Stanley be ordered to accept stock trade orders via a relay system for the deaf or hard of hearing as a "public accommodation" under ADA.

Gary Phelan, Brunner's lawyer, initially said Brunner is no longer a client of Morgan Stanley, but later clarified that Brunner continues to have accounts at the firm. Brunner no longer makes trades with Morgan Stanley because of the rule, Phelan said.

A Morgan Stanley spokesman didn't immediately have a comment on Tuesday. According to the complaint, Brunner claims Morgan Stanley allowed him to make trades from 1999 to June 2004 using a teletypewriter, also known as Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, and Telecommunications Relay Services, or TRS. A teletypewriter, also known as a TTY, combined with TRS allows the deaf or hard of hearing to communicate via telephone by typing messages back and forth instead of talking and listening, according to the lawsuit.

Read more here. Pesky sign-up is required for free reading. Some companies' habits die hard.

Remember 9/11 and Those Who Fight for Our Security and Freedom

Today is the fourth year since the senseless attack by Islamic terrorists who believes that killing non-Islamic believers is the answer in their fight. On that day 9/11 sparked and galvanized the United States and the world to fight terrorism on all fronts, in every country that harbor and support these terrorists.

We must remember the victims of those who sacrificed their lives to rescue those who needed help.

We must remember the innocent children of God who had nothing to do with this world.

We must remember the valiant heros who helped so many knowing that they were already at death's door.

We must remember.

We must see the videos of the planes crashing into the towers again and again.

We must remember seeeing the victims jump out of the buildings in sheer desperation to end their own way of dying.

We must remember those who were widowed, fatherless, motherless and without their siblings because of the senseless attacks and those who fought overseas.

We must remember.

We must remember those who fought to help keep America free from tyranny and help those who need our help so they can be free of tyranny.

We simply must remember that 9/11 is the turning point and the start of World War III.

We are in the battle for our lives. And we join the fight with others across the earth to fight the battle on terrorism.

It is better to do something than nothing at all than to make ourselves vulnerable.

Before President George W. Bush we had so many Islamic terrorists attacks we did nothing to pursue and eliminate those terrorists on the war on terrorism.

In 2000 the bombing U.S.S. Cole was attacked killing 17 sailors and yet we did nothing. (Clinton's time)

In 1998 the bombing of two U.S. Embassies were attacked killing 224 and yet we did nothing. (Clinton's time).

In 1996 the bombing of the Khobar Towers military complex killed19 American servicemen and injuring hundreds of others, and yet we did nothing (Clinton's time).

In 1995 a car bomb exploded at U.S. military headquarters in Riyadh Saudi Arabia, killing 5 U.S. military servicemen, and yet we did nothing (Clinton's time).

In 1993 bomb exploded in basement garage of the World Trade Center killing 6 and injuring thousands, and yet we did nothing (Clinton's time).

But in 2001 on 9/11 we sure as hell did something about it. Finally, we are now fighting terrorism. Thank you President Bush.



This is who we are dealing with, the Islamic terrorists:

Islamic governments have never and will never be established through peaceful solutions and cooperative councils. They are established as they [always] have been by pen and gun.

Small minds have no room to grow. So, we must fight these people who will always see death as the only answer and never about peace.

Be ever so vigilant. And always remember 9/11.

"Crescent of Embrace" - a Memorial for Flight 93?

They have got to be kidding!! The National Park Service is in the midst of selecting one of the few architectural design to honor and remember the heros on Flight 93 that went down in Pennsylvannia fighting and preventing al Qaeda nutheads from reaching Washington D.C., which many believed that the White House was the target. One of the design is called "Crescent of Embrace."



Credit: Zombie

Go here for another intersting look at the suggested Flight 93 memorial park.

For a powerpoint presentation of the Flight 93 memorial park, go here.

The color red are the trees that make up the crescent that would change to a bloody red during the autumn season. The design is so large, because of the numerous trees that make up the crescent shape, would be easily seen from above from a passing airplane!

This is a total outrage. The National Park Service has not yet selected the design. If you want to lodge a protest go here which will automatically submit your comments to the National Park Service. Be sure to read Michelle Malkin's blogsite on this. She is keeping a close eye on this as well as hundred other bloggers.

Here's my complaint:

As a U.S. taxpayer with a conscious, I object strenuously to the crescent design to be used (if selected) as a memorial park for the heros on Flight 93.

The Crescent shaped memorial does a disservice to those who were killed by Islam fanatics who will kill innocent people under their Crescent flag. So does the red color that colors the crescent. And the killer of it all is the title of the Flight 93 memorial, "Crescent of Embrace." It was the believers of the CRESCENT flag who EMBRACED murderous deaths upon innocent people in the name of their fanatical religion!

This memorial would be nothing but a constant reminder (ie. the red crescent) of Islam and the fanatics who murdered 40 people on Flight 93. Some memorial I tell you.

Please, let this not be another victory for Islam fanaticism. Let's not the quaint 40 windchimes overlook the bigger picture. The, red Crescent shaped memorial with the title is disgusting and dishonorable to those who know better.

Mike McConnell
New Mexico.

We need to stop this utter idiocy by this one supremely stupid architect designer. Let's hope that the National Park Service won't embarrass themselves further by selecting the crescent-shaped, red colored memorial park. Let the National Park Service know about your displeasure in this memorial design.

Don't Blame Bush for Hurricane Katrina

A few truths, for those who have ears and eyes and care to know the truth:

1.) The hurricane that hit New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama was an astonishing tragedy. The suffering and loss of life and peace of mind of the residents of those areas is acutely horrifying.

2.) George Bush did not cause the hurricane. Hurricanes have been happening for eons. George Bush did not create them or unleash this one.

3.) George Bush did not make this one worse than others. There have been far worse hurricanes than this before George Bush was born.

4.) There is no overwhelming evidence that global warming exists as a man-made phenomenon. There is no clear-cut evidence that global warming even exists. There is no clear evidence that if it does exist it makes hurricanes more powerful or makes them aim at cities with large numbers of poor people. If global warming is a real phenomenon, which it may well be, it started long before George Bush was inaugurated, and would not have been affected at all by the Kyoto treaty, considering that Kyoto does not cover the world's worst polluters -- China, India, and Brazil. In a word, George Bush had zero to do with causing this hurricane. To speculate otherwise is belief in sorcery.

5.) George Bush had nothing to do with the hurricane contingency plans for New Orleans. Those are drawn up by New Orleans and Louisiana. In any event, the plans were perfectly good: mandatory evacuation. It is in no way at all George Bush's fault that about 20 percent of New Orleans neglected to follow the plan. It is not his fault that many persons in New Orleans were too confused to realize how dangerous the hurricane would be. They were certainly warned. It's not George Bush's fault that there were sick people and old people and people without cars in New Orleans. His job description does not include making sure every adult in America has a car, is in good health, has good sense, and is mobile.

6.) George Bush did not cause gangsters to shoot at rescue helicopters taking people from rooftops, did not make gang bangers rape young girls in the Superdome, did not make looters steal hundreds of weapons, in short make New Orleans into a living hell.

7.) George Bush is the least racist President in mind and soul there has ever been and this is shown in his appointments over and over. To say otherwise is scandalously untrue.

8.) George Bush is rushing every bit of help he can to New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama as soon as he can. He is not a magician. It takes time to organize huge convoys of food and now they are starting to arrive. That they get in at all considering the lawlessness of the city is a miracle of bravery and organization.

9.) There is not the slightest evidence at all that the war in Iraq has diminished the response of the government to the emergency. To say otherwise is pure slander.

10.) If the energy the news media puts into blaming Bush for an Act of God worsened by stupendous incompetence by the New Orleans city authorities and the malevolence of the criminals of the city were directed to helping the morale of the nation, we would all be a lot better off.

11.) New Orleans is a great city with many great people. It will recover and be greater than ever. Sticking pins into an effigy of George Bush that does not resemble him in the slightest will not speed the process by one day.

12.) The entire episode is a dramatic lesson in the breathtaking callousness of government officials at the ground level. Imagine if Hillary Clinton had gotten her way and they were in charge of your health care. God bless all of those dear people who are suffering so much, and God bless those helping them, starting with George Bush.



http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1479739/posts

Hyperbole and Exaggeration

Hyperbole and exaggeration are the mainstay of such people whose livelihood is based on the constant complaining and whining about other people in their own blog. It's incredible. This is who they are. This is their personality. You can't change it. You can only sit by with your mouth open and shake your head. This is what they love to do.

Now, why would people ever snicker at other innocent people's plight or deaths such as the survivors of Hurricane Katrina or the deaths of lightning victims? Let's be a bit more specific here, why would a Deaf man's "melodramatic" facial expressions (or other deaf people's "melodramatic" and descriptive behaviors) seen in the CNN videotape on deaf survivors of Hurricane Katrina elicit such a snicker, a smile, or a short guffaw response? Does anybody ever show any sense of sympathy or moral support for those who survived such a terrible ordeal? Is making contorted facial features from survivors in a show of grief or the horrors of surviving such an ordeal be worthy of a snicker or two? Is that how people contribute to the Hurricane relief effort to those who need help? A snicker and a laugh or two, and you're on your way?

The person I am referring to if you're able to follow the link above said he snickered, and now says his friend snickered. "Snickered" means funny as in "ha ha" and not as in "strange," "weird" or "something funny going on." Or else he wouldn't put in "I had to snicker."

I'm Sorry But I Had To Snicker: I know the tragedy in Gulf Coast communities are difficult and crazy but Deaf people sometimes are so melodramatic.

Yeah. I certainly can understand that. He had to. Really. He had to laugh. It was so funny. Facial expressions from traumatized Hurricane Katrina survivors are a real knee slapper moment. Whooeeee! It even rival the "funniness" of Bozo the Clown, too! Kids laughing at the odd and funny looking clown's face. Hee hee! EVERYBODY understands that. Surrreee. Yessiree Bob! Perhaps someday the traumatized Deaf guy who doesn't even know where his mother is and cried into the shoulders of a concerned Deaf friend will meet "R" and have him explain why the videotape of Deaf survivors of Hurricane Katrina was so funny? Yeah, more backpeddling moment there folks. He has a genuine feel for this guy and the people who survived the storm. Laughing about it is proof enough.

That is what many people have commented to me lately and so I now blog this as a confirmation of my own earlier response to that appalling behavior.

As for Patti Raswant, "R" initiated first contact to me via email (for the very first time!) after I removed his comment in deafsurvivors blog about him looking for Patti along with some snide comments about a different subject not related to deaf survivors. So, I banned him. It was my fault not to put the IP address of "R" in the first place and this whole thing would have been avoided. Supposedly so.

I neatly and calmly explained to "R" that he's simply "persona non grata" on all of my blogsite. He knows why. He just won't accept it. I've explained to him several times why. If you have a rule breaker, would you trust him? You got it, bro. No more of him in my blog comments.

Now, if he wanted to, he could request help via email to me if it's Hurricane Katrina related such as looking for a missing deaf person which I understand completely. That is what I said to him. But with his past abusive commentaries in my blog comment box toward me, attacked other commenters, and the use of foul language numerous times, I simply don't trust him to post comments in my blog because I've warned him several times to not do those things. He never bothered to respect my house rules. So, he's history on all of my blogs. It was a simple request. He never followed it to a "T". So, his only option was to email me.

However, in fairness and against my better judgement, I will "unban" him on deafsurvivors blog if he issue a public apology on his blog for making an offhand remark toward me in the blog comment that had nothing to do with Deafsurvivors topic. Everybody can contribute, even with those who disagree, on helping Deaf/deaf/hh survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Being disrespectful to the owner of the blog who is trying to help by making back-handed remarks is not the way to go.

Now, I want to help these survivors, both deaf and hearing, of which I have contributed donations (toys for children), supplies and effort to this. I don't need people mucking up in my blog comment just because he or she holds a past grudge against me. This is not about politics but about helping people get back on their feet. And "R" never helped at all when he posted that first comment that had nothing to do with Hurricane Katrina. Nothing! Other than looking for somebody. I can't get any plainer than that.

Now, in the second email to me after my first to his didn't fare well with his laced profanities and name calling. And so, bye bye. Didn't even bother to read the 3rd one which is probably laced with profanities and name calling like always. Like a spurned 5 year old kid. And so he lost his chance, again. He can't reach me via email no more. Better let a grown up do his job if he's looking for somebody. It's a matter of principle here, folks.

So there you go folks. Sometimes only a half a story with half-truths told by other people. This will also be my last blog (or anything related to his blogsite) about him. Yes, I have that willpower. He doesn't have it. We've seen it happen again and again and again. He essentially claims that every story he comes up with in his blog was all his idea. Fine. Whatever. Such as the CNN video is one example in his email to me. But, as I explained it to him in my last email, I don't read his blog first in the morning. I read Deafreedom.com (and other news blogs such as Michelle Malkin, Little Green Football, Kos, Huffington, Powerline..etc) first. A DF reader pasted a link about the video and so I thanked her and put it on my blogsite. I never knew about "R" CNN video until later when I finally got around to his blogsite a day or two later. Paranoidal delusion is a sick thing to watch.

"It's my idea! You can't have it! Liar! Liar! I thought of it first! You stole my idea! Mine! Mine! Mine! Miiinnneeee!"

OK.

And that's it as the world turns with "Hyperbole and Exaggeration."

Hurricane Katrina Pre-empts Cindy Sheehan's March

Looks like Cindy Sheehan cancelled her "Peace" march in Brunswick, Maine since she cannot compete against the destructiveness of Mother Nature against humanity and the tragedies that follow it. The MSM is more interested in Katrina's destruction than Sheehan's blatherings.

Organizers of a peace march from the Brunswick Mall to Brunswick Naval Air Station on Saturday morning — the first day of the Great State of Maine Air Show — hope to call attention to the role of the military in American society.

Cindy Sheehan — the woman who has been pressing President Bush for an answer to why her son died in the war in Iraq and who spent most of August camped with supporters outside Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch — had been scheduled to march with protesters and to speak, but has canceled and will not march.

And the group was understandably disappointed without their leader.

Peace groups in Maine were disappointed this week to hear that Cindy Sheehan had called off her plan to appear in Brunswick on Saturday.

Awwww....

A spokeswoman for Sheehan said last week that she had canceled a trip to Italy to participate in Brunswick. But a new spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday that Sheehan had opted to join a bus caravan in Atlanta.

Cancelled a trip to Italy for a bus tour to Maine??

Sheehan also canceled a scheduled appearance in Colorado, Buffa said.

Three cancelled appearances? Why? Could it be that there wouldn't enough MSM reporters trying to get a shot of her?

Sheehan apparently agreed to visit Brunswick before she drew the spotlight during her vigil in Texas. Last winter, she appeared on a public access cable show hosted by Gagnon in Brunswick. Doug Rawlings, president of Veterans For Peace in Maine, speculated that Sheehan's choice to join the caravan in Atlanta was strategic, based on her ability to draw media attention.

No kidding? I'm sure Cindy Sheehan is angry at Hurricane Katrina for messing up her media frenzy tour. I'm upset at Hurricane Katrina, too, but not for that reason. She'll effectively blame President Bush for the hurricane that messed up her destiny for the tour spotlight.

Go back home, Cindy.

Al Franken if Now Officially Knee Deep in a $875,000 "Loan"

Michelle Malkin uncovers a very revealing side of Al Franken's sloppy lying side (Part I, see Brian Maloney's Part II), who, ironically, wrote a book called "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." But even more telling is his new book called "The Truth" already on sale.

Al Franken was on Air America telling listeners that he had nothing to do with the $875,000 loan:

So I'm trying to be as responsible as I can, to know as much as I can about this, but I really have nothing to do with it. (laughter)

But, perhaps Al Franken need to revisit his own signature on a legal document signed on November 22, 2004 that specifically outlined the loans to Gloria Wise and required Air America to pay them back. In short, Al Franken knew. And he got caught with his pants down...all the way down to his ankles.





He may be a "comedian" but he is certainly an idiot the way he keeps digging himself a hole everytime he opens his mouth.

Keep up the good work Michelle and Brian!

More on Air America scam at:

When Randi Rhodes is Actually the Star of Air America...not Al Franken

When NYTimes Gets Busted for Lying to Help Cover Up Air America's Scandal

A Live Air America Radio Band Aid Solution

When Mainstream Media Refuse to Cover Air America Scandal

Lawyers Weigh In on Air America If "Stealing" of Kiddie Funds Actually Existed

Air America Stealing Money from Poor-Inner City Kids and Elderly?

When Hurricane Katrina Donations Exceeded Tsunami and 9/11 Donations

The bigger the catastrophe in the United States, the bigger outpouring of love, donations, and money to those affected by a disaster because it could happen to us. According to "The Chronicle of Philothrophy" total donations so far is $404 million dollars.

The pace of giving is unprecedented in recent American history. In the 10 days after September 11, Americans donated $239-million to charitable causes, and in the 9 days after the tsunamis hit, major American relief groups raised $163-million.

What's more, it hasn't been 10 or 11 days so far. It's barely a week old and we're still collecting donations. Besides money, there is an unknown amount of donations of food, clothing, toys, medicine and other essential supplies. A good donation is better than having no donation at all.

Way to go. This is how America works, neighbors helping neighbors.


Give a hoot! Please contribute.

Being Good Neighbors

People need to understand that there are people who need our help. This goes beyond partisan lines. No time to hold grudges. If they can't let themselves go and get past their inner hatreds, then those are the people we cannot trust to help others regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and such in times of needs.

Right now, I have two boxes of toys, children books, coloring books and crayons that my daughters have decided to give away after I told them about one family's house that was hit by the storm. The toys are to be donated to two little girls age 5 and 2. I don't even know whether the family is white or not. Nor do I care. It's the little ones that remember the horrors the most because they simply do not have the capacity to understand why it happened. What greater joy in seeing other children open up a box from strangers seeing toys, dolls, stuffed animals, coloring books, crayons and children's reading books? A little bit of Christmas and birthday all rolled into one.

Now, if people want to complain, point fingers all the time, choose not to help, and subject themselves to their own obnoxious pettiness to continue with their little political hackings as much as possible, then be my guest. Fine. I'd rather be neighborly as possible at a time like this to help bring a little bit of hope into their lives after losing everything. There are two types of people, those that want to help, those that do not.

Some people will NEVER learn!! They need to get over their stupid petty differences! What have they done lately besides complain and hold grudges about what happened in the past? Be a "man" and let it go. Let your big ego and pride go.


And start helping.

When Disaster Preparedness at the Local Level Fails

We know that the city of New Orleans had some time to work on improving their Disaster Plan but the more we look at it the more questions we have for officials at the state and local government levels. Even after a near hit with Hurricane Ivan last year the city of New Orleans was still trying to improve it's disaster preparedness plans. Only after realizing that Ivan pointed out flaws in Louisiana's disaster plan.

Residents and travelers looking to flee the wrath of Hurricane Ivan in Louisiana ran into traffic jams that lasted hours. Yet others could not afford to leave the city and had to find their own shelter. While the state avoided a direct hit from the storm, it exposed what experts call major flaws in the state's civil disaster plans -- especially in New Orleans.

"If the government asks people to evacuate, the government has some responsibility to provide an option for those people who can't evacuate and are at the whim of Mother Nature," Joe Cook of the New Orleans ACLU told The Associated Press.

It's always been a problem, but the situation is worse now that the Red Cross has stopped providing shelters in New Orleans for hurricanes rated above Category 2. Stronger hurricanes are too dangerous, and Ivan was a much more powerful Category 4. With Ivan just hours away, the city decided to open the Louisiana Superdome to the public.

The main safety measure -- getting people out of town -- raised its own problems. More than 1 million people tried to leave the city and surrounding suburbs, creating a seven-hour-long crawl for the 60 miles between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Eventually, police opened inbound lanes to outbound traffic.Gov. Kathleen Blanco acknowledges the need to improve traffic flow and said state police should consider reversing highway lanes earlier. They also promised meetings with governments in neighboring localities and state transportation officials to improve evacuation plans.

Perhaps a second time is a charm to make things work the next time, unfortunately.

However, nothing in the Disaster Preparedness plan talked about evacuating those without any means of transportation (ie. public school buses). Mayor Nagin failed to give an order on implementing the hundred of school buses to help evacuate those who have no means of transportation. How could he? The city never had a disaster plan in place specifically for that.

What's more interesting is that in April of 2003 Mayor Nagin proudly introduced the city's "IntelliCast Target Notification" to add to the city's safety plan. The ITN is an emergency warning system used to notify citizens of New Orleans for a wide spectrum of crises from hurricanes to missing children.

IntelliCast Target Notification is a telephone-based emergency notification tool used by public safety officials to rapidly identify, notify and instruct affected individuals in crisis situations. Intrado is a new corporate partner of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Mayor Nagin is the Chair of the Business Council for the Conference.

IntelliCast Target Notification is a cost effective, mass notification service for rapidly distributing critical information. It is a more comprehensive service than competitive systems because of its high calling capacity, and the accuracy of is telephone number and geographic information system (GIS) database. As a result, New Orleans officials will be able to contact thousands of the right individuals within minutes, delivering instructions on precisely how to respond to any emergency.

If the ITN is so cost effective and has the ability to mass notify the thousands of "right individuals" within minutes, then were the names of bus drivers included in their database as part of their hurricane evacuation preparedness plan? If not so, why not? And if so, did the city use ITN to try and round up bus drivers or emergency volunteer drivers to help evacuate the people of New Orleans?

The irony continues,

George Heinrichs, president and CEO of Intrado, maker of ITN, about the recent contract win from the city of New Orleans said, "Mayor Nagin's decision to implement IntelliCast Target Notification underscores that even in times of tight municipal budgets, our service is a must have public safety tool for New Orleans' safe city arsenal."

Here's another one:

"Public safety continues to be a top priority for mayors in this country," said New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, chairman of The Mayors Business Council, USCM. "We need to maintain our focus on keeping citizens secure. Public/private partnerships such as this one with Intrado (make of Intellicast Target Notification help us to further the USCM’s stated goal of working hand-in-hand with members of the business community."

Yet, those yellow school buses never moved once. Why?

And let us not forget the U.S. Coast Guard post-hurricane rescue efforts who have plucked almost 16,000 stranded people off of their roofs when those yellow school buses could've done the job before the storm hit:

But, within hours of Hurricane Katrina striking the city, and even before the deadly floods began, Coast Guard helicopters from Mobile and other stations were flying rescue missions over the city.

By Sunday evening, the helicopter missions operated out of the Coast Guard Aviation Training Center in Mobile had saved 4,243 lives from Katrina, officials said. The entire Coast Guard-wide effort had reached 15,655 lives saved, and Chief Petty Officer Paul Rhynard reported, "This is unprecedented for the Coast Guard."
Rhynard said further,

"These are continuous flights, around-the-clock, 24-hours-a-day."

The howling winds of the hurricane had barely died down Monday evening when helicopter crews began being dispatched from the Coast Guard Aviation Training Center at Mobile to pluck Katrina's victims out of the water and off the rooftops.

In more ways than one, the city of New Orleans was woefully inadequate to help people evacuate at the very beginning which would have alleviated many of the problems down the road.

For more information on other state and local preparedness plans, along with a partial timeline, and the outline on responsibilities of state and local governments, go here:

Everything start at the local level to help people evacuate. Then it goes to the state for more help and then finally a request to the White House for federal help from the Governor. But it is the Governor who has the power to request Federal help in disaster emergencies, not the Mayor.

When Decadence Day is a Dud at New Orleans

With all the horrors and ravages of Hurricane Katrina ruining New Orleans, one such annual festival will certainly not transpire this week is the "Southern Decadence Day" which is nothing more than a Gay Mardi Gras day. This is where gays, lesbians and transgendered would decend upon the French Quarters like moths to a flame.

Amid the tragedy, about two dozen people gathered in the French Quarter for the Decadence Parade, an annual Labor Day gay celebration. Matt Menold, 23, a street musician wearing a sombrero and a guitar slung over his back, said: "It's New Orleans, man. We're going to celebrate."

Nothing to cry about for this event. No biggie.

When a Democrat Mayor of New Orleans and Democrat Gov. of Louisiana Mess Up

It's all President Bush' fault and yet people refuse to look at Louisiana Governor Blanco's (white, Democrat) and Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans (black, Democrat) who have basically fumbled in this whole evacuation process.

From the home page of http://www.drudgereport.com
Louisiana disaster plan, pg 13, para 5 , dated 01/00

'The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating'...

Why didn't Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans use school buses that are now sitting damaged and useless in floodwaters? Remember, the brunt of Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana on August 27.

But thanks to Governor Blanco, she belatedly signed an Executive Order releasing school buses for evacuation uses on SEPTEMBER 1, 2005!! Leaving those behind unable to leave New Orleans and condemning them to their own fate to the raging storm and rising floodwaters.

Date: 9/1/2005

Contact:Denise Bottcher or Roderick Hawkins at
225-342-9037

Governor Blanco Announces Executive Order Baton Rouge, LA

Governor Blanco today announced the following Executive Order:Executive Order NO. KBB
2005- 31- provides that pursuant to the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act, R.S. 29:721, et seq., grants emergency powers to the governor, where, she has in consultation with school superintendents, utilized public school buses for transportation of Hurricane Katrina evacuees. As you are aware most public school districts will not begin school until Tuesday, September 6th 2005. The full text of the above mentioned
proclamation is available on the Internet at www.gov.state.la.us.

And you still think it's President Bush' fault?

Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday (August 26!), the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state’s emergency operations center said Saturday.

The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law.

Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. “Quite frankly, if they’d been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals,” said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.

A senior administration official said that Bush (see here when Congress actually has this authority) has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and
the New Orleans mayor.

Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wedesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.

“The federal government stands ready to work with state and local officials to secure New Orleans and the state of Louisiana,” White House spokesman Dan Bartlett said. “The president will not let any form of bureaucracy get in the way of protecting the citizens of Louisiana.

Gee, a funny thing happened on August 30, 3 days later after President Bush talked to Governor Blanco, Mayor Nagin declared Martial Law for New Orleans AFTER consulting with Governor Blanco. Although a Mayor nor a Governor can declare Martial Law. They can, however, declare a state of emergency. Declaring Martial Law is a Federal action.

The Governor of Louisiana was thinking politics while President Bush was thinking ahead for the safety and protection of people of Louisiana. Now, if ya'll thinking impeachment, better look at Louisiana Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin of New Orleans first.

Geez, those loony Lefties right off the bat condemning President Bush without even looking at the regional and local levels of incompentency surrounding New Orleans.

Right now, we need to rescue people stuck out in New Orleans out of New Orleans so clean up can begin.

U.S. Forest Service Waives Camping Fees for Hurricane Victims

Looks like everybody is doing their part to temporarily help relieve the transititioning for Hurricane Katraina survivors. The U.S. Forest Service is waiving camping fees for those people:

The USDA Forest Service is taking another step to assist survivors of Hurricane Katrina by temporarily rescinding the fee requirement for campgrounds and the 14-day stay limit for camping on some National Forest System lands in the Southern Region. The normal fee range is $4.00 to $25.00 depending on the location.

The forests offering free camping include the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana, the National Forests of Alabama, the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest in Arkansas, the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas and Oklahoma and the National Forests and Grasslands of Texas. In all, 106 campgrounds are open without charge to victims of Hurricane Katrina as they transition through these first weeks of the disaster.

Hints to Complainers

Day by Day.

Exactly. Don't stand there. Do something for a change!

Donations Exceed $287 Million

The surging amount of donations is surpasing $287 million dollars in 6 days. Compare that to the tsunami and the 9/11 donation efforts.

In an unprecedented surge of giving, individuals and companies donated more than $125 million in the past two days to help those devastated by Hurricane Katrina, bringing the total to more than $287 million, charities reported Friday.

The pace of donations has exceeded the outpouring after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, which tracks charitable giving.

Thanks for the donations. Please, keep it coming. Contact your favorite charity for donations.

Deaf Survivors Found at the Houston Astrodome

Click on Deaf Survivors Blog for more information.

If You Are Complaining, You Are Not Helping

I've noticed on several blogs lately where instead of finding ways to help victims of Hurricane Katrina whether it's through donation, blogging, or volunteering help, these bloggers want to complain and politicize every conceivable actions against people who are trying to help. Actions are worth more than words alone. Roll up your sleeves and start doing something. Anything.

Now, I understand there were some terrible lapses but then again we have never dealt such a situation as this, nor the enormous logistical nightmare that lay before us in the first few days after Hurricane Katrina. The breaching of Lake Ponchartrain just made things worse adding more to the logistical nightmare.

Again, the internet has once again proven its power to help and move people around the world.

Help the victims of Hurricane Katrina anyway you can. Even posting a simple link to the American Red Cross. Contribution effort is the heart of the soul.

Group of Deaf People Found at Houston Astrodome

GROUP OF DEAF PEOPLE FOUND AT HOUSTON ASTRODOME!

Please contact deafsurvivors@hotmail.com to submit names of people you are looking for.

Visit Deaf Survivors Blog for more info and instructions.

NOLA Aerial Photos of Destruction

Go here and check out a 31-picture slideshow showing the destruction of Hurricane Katrina's wrath and the vulnerability of Lake Ponchartrain's levee system had on the city of New Orleans. One of the slideshow, #30, shows New Orleans yellow school buses sitting, unused, in floodwaters when the Mayor of New Orleans could have put them into live saving use in the evacuation efforts for those who had no means of transportation.


Approximately 95 yellow school buses seen
sitting in floodwaters.


Now, each bus is capable of carrying approximately 40 people. One trip alone evacuating New Orleans would evacuate 3800 people (using the 95 buses seen in the picture, and we may be talking about several hundred yellow school buses sitting unused, now forever damaged by floodwaters) multiplied however many trips needed throughout the day in shuttling those out of New Orleans. With all of the yellow school buses already available, they can easily transport 30,000 to 40,000 evacuees every two hours out of New Orleans fish bowl for those who do not own cars or have other means of transportation. Why didn't the Mayor of New Orleans choose to do this? Hey, better look a bit closer at New Orleans than President Bush.

No, Michael Moore, those are not Twinkies. Remember, Twinkies are no longer being made.

Using Currently Closed Military Bases as Semi-Permanent Refugee Centers

Here's an idea. Use currently closed military bases that can be used as semi-permanent city for Hurricane Katrina refugees? I think people are already starting to suggest this.

Here's one site that list the "Planned Property Disposals at 23 Bases Closed in the 1993." 1993 was the most recent BRAC closing of military bases.

Check out the "Timeline for 2005 Base Closures"

September 8, 2005: Deadline for the Base Closure Commission to transmit its recommendations to the President. The President has until September 23, 2005, to approve or disapprove the recommendations. If he approves, he transmits them to Congress. The list is binding unless both Houses of Congress pass a joint resolution of disapproval within 45 legislative days.

So, we might have an answer on where to put these refugees over the next 3 to 4 months. How fast can this go for President Bush to enact an emergency measure to use closed military bases, current and future, for Hurricane Katrina refugees?

Using closed military bases for homeless people, click on the link, scroll down and read the "Base Closure Process" and
"Recommendations for Acquiring Property to Serve the Homeless."

In fact, use Walter Reed hospital , slated to be closed, which have beds, cafeteria, other amenties and dormitories!

Michelle Malkin, are you listening? President Bush, are YOU listening??

More Updates On Deaf Survivors Blog

Please check out Deaf Survivors Blog for more information on emergency contacts, missing deaf and hard of hearing people, more names or organizations to contact, and other people who can help with proper communication emergency help for deaf and hard of hearing people. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is testing everybody's resolve.

Also, check out Michelle Malkin's list of Texas bloggers doing their best to help out.

UPDATE: Got a neat idea suggested by Eve and Lantana. Why not use the now already closed military bases to relocate refugees to and get them out of those crampy Astrodome and relief centers? Michelle Malkin, are you listening??

UPDATE 2: Oh, yeah, and relocate those Hurricane Katrina refugees before President Bush ultimately decides to convert closed military bases into future oil refineries. A smart thing to do when oil refineries are out of commission in Louisiana to Hurricane Katrina.

UPDATE 3: Of course, just don't send the Hurricane Katrina refugees here. Michelle Malkin et al, are you listening??

Deaf Survivors Blog - Where are you?

There is a new blog dedicated to help deaf and hard of hearing friends and loved ones find each other after catastrophic events such as Hurricane Katrina. Communication is the biggest hurdle to overcome for these people. Please visit Deaf Survivors Blog to submit names of friends and loved ones that you are looking for hoping. Please spread the word so that others won't be left wondering where these people are.

Before and After Satellite Photos of New Orleans, and Deaf Survivors of Hurricane Katrina

See the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans in before and after satellite photos.

Where are deaf and hard of hearing survivors of Hurricane Katrina survivors? Has anyone heard of Suzy Ledet who lives just outside of New Orleans? What about Biloxi or other hard hit areas? Did any deaf people stay behind to try and ride out the storm?

National Association of the Deaf is keeping a close eye on areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. Communication issues will be addressed as soon as possible when it becomes practicable. But is this "wait-and-see" attitude a good thing?

Deaf Coffee of New Orleans, Louisiana, survivors of the storm?

Louisiana Commission for the Deaf has a list of offices throughout the state where assistance or direction for deaf/hh survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Will they be helping out to provide services and other needs to deaf/hh survivors?

Will Sorenson VRS help with the communication part? Perhaps set up interpreters via their product?

Are deaf/hh bloggers doing anything to help? Are they covering news on deaf/hh people that may be missing or need help? Are they helping them find other lost or missing people find each other? Or are they sitting on their duffs and politicizing the whole thing and do the whole blame game instead?

Contact the American Red Cross for help or donation for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

If you don't have a Sorenson, use the Sprint Relay from your computer to make phone calls to the American Red Cross or other charities, or contact services for more information regarding people or areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina.