On-Your-Ownistan: September 2005

Avian Flu in Russia may be sensitive to Amantadine

When the Gov't Can't Rely on a Flood in Iran: Pentagon Revises Nuclear Strike Plan

Pentagon Revises Nuclear Strike Plan: "Pentagon Revises Nuclear Strike Plan"

Coming Home: Louisiana National Guardsmen are briefed on their departure from Iraq.

"Louisiana National Guardsmen are briefed on their departure from Iraq. Officials said most of the brigade will likely help with hurricane relief."

Photo Credit: Pool Photo/by Anja Niedringhaus Via Associated Press Photo

SF Paramedics Were Numbered in Those Desperate Refugees Blocked From Leaving NOLA...and Fired Upon.

Here is their first-person account.

A chilling indictment of the police who blocked the bridge from NOLA to Gretna, LA.

Police made their storm misery worse

Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for refusing hospitality...

...so what should be the punishment of the mayor and law enforcement of Gretna (bedroom community bridged to NOLA)?

The crime: The Gretna police on orders of the mayor not just blocked the ONLY way to walk out of NOLA to safety, medical care, and aid...but also took away the water given to the NOLA residents trying to escape via that bridge.

BTW: Gretna voted Republican in 2004...NOLA went Democratic. Just a concidence?

United Press International - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

The Caption Says It All....

Bush: The Disaster (President)

Shame on the Administration

GFP: A Community Supported, Progressive Audio, Video & Image Archive - Last additions/Move-On and Katrina evacuees protest in front of WH

Top Federal Disaster Leaders Lacking Disaster Experience

Leaders Lacking Disaster Experience

So, the Department of Homeland Security is Incapable of Vetting the Director of FEMA?

Gosh, I feel safer with DHS in charge...don't you?
TIME.com Print Page: Nation -- How Reliable Is Brown's Resume?

CNN.com - Warehouse set up to process bodies - Sep 6, 2005

CNN.com - Warehouse set up to process bodies - Sep 6, 2005: "ST. GABRIEL, Louisiana (Reuters) -- In a long, low, nondescript warehouse in a Louisiana town that used to be a leper colony, Hurricane Katrina's victims will be identified and returned to their families."

The President Says "NO ONE" Could Have "PREDICTED" the Katrina Devistation

Ummm...How about THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE?

Can ANYONE at FEMA read? Should we suggest they start with "The Pet Goat?"

(Although I fear the ending is that we, the people, are the goats....)

Doucheblog: Yikes: "
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA

413 PM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

...EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE KATRINA CONTINUES TO APPROACH THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA...
...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED...

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED."

On Saturday, Before Katrina Made Landfall, National Hurricane Ctr Warned Bush in Crawford of Danger of Disaster

...so then, of course, Bush continues his vacation in California playing air guitar and eating cake...while Max Mayfield was too concerned to sleep and tried to raise the alarm.

Strike One: 911...Strike Two: NOLA...Strike Three: ???

State: For forecasting chief, no joy in being right: "Saturday night, Mayfield was so worried about Hurricane Katrina that he called the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi and the mayor of New Orleans. On Sunday, he even talked about the force of Katrina during a video conference call to President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas."

'Katrinagate' fury spreads...Even among formerly complacent American journalists

'Katrinagate' fury spreads

"'For God's sake, are you blind?,' a woman shouts at the head of the federal emergency management agency (FEMA), Michael Brown.

'You're patting each other on the back, while people here are dying.'

The woman is not a victim of Hurricane Katrina. She is a reporter with US television network MSNBC who is so affected by the misery she has witnessed she can hold back no longer."

New horrors discovered as search-and-recovery effort goes on

22 bodies lashed together around a pole - a desperate, futile attempt to survive the storm.
New horrors discovered as search-and-recovery effort goes on

CNN.com - Deputy chief: New Orleans 'a hazard' - Sep 5, 2005

"We advise people that this city has been destroyed. It has been completely destroyed." - NOLA Police Chief Riley
CNN.com - Deputy chief: New Orleans 'a hazard' - Sep 5, 2005

Unsettling to the extreme, if true...A Mole in Gov Blanco's office reports

Democratic Underground - A Mole in Gov Blanco's office reports

Dick Cheney Found! Why...He's Out and About Buying an Estate.

No doubt he's getting a proper jump on spending all that Halliburton money from the NOLA clean-up contract.

Nice guy. And I thought the "Imelda-leeza Rice" Ferragamo-Gate thing was callous.
Where the Rumsfelds Retreat, The Cheneys Soon Could Follow

Meanwhile, at the Other Photo-Op...

Looking comfortable in the role of comforting.

Photo-Op Hell...

Democratic Underground - Posted by bvar22

sakabatou's GWB Photo-op Captions

Democratic Underground - My captions

I work for the Corps of Engineers...George, you sonofabitch...

Democratic Underground - George, you sonofabitch

SWAT teams getting unnecessarily tough with last holdouts in NOLA

What ever happened to "We're here to help. Evacuation in now manditory. Please come along"...?
City getting tough with last holdouts

INCREDIBLE First Person Katrina Account: NOLA Police Chief Promises Aid, Sends Residents to Bridge Where Gretna Police Fire on Them

Democratic Underground - INCREDIBLE First Person Katrina Account

Barbara Bush: They're Better Off At the Shelters...They Were Disadvantaged, Right?

The woman who once said regarding her husband's war casualties, that she'd rather not bother her "beautiful mind" about dead soldiers says now that the working poor on cots are (she chuckles) better off at a relief center.

Lots of those people had homes, but no cars, Babs. Better off? WTF? Presidential parents have been so absent, so not a very good return to public life, this.

Click here and then click on the "Listen To This Story" link next to the "Houston, We May Have a Problem" reportage to listen to Babs' "wink and smirk" comment for yourself."

Click on the image above for a commentary
on Barbara's original "Beautiful Mind" quote.

Really, listening live it sounds far more callous than it reads...which in itself is astounding.
Barbara Bush: Things Working Out 'Very Well' for Poor Evacuees from New Orleans

Save lives without permission? Go to jail,

THE NEWS BLOG

September is NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH: Department of Homeland Security

Missed it by thaaat much, eh?

THE NEWS BLOG - We Told You So

A New York blogger rips off their veil and then rips into the Bush Administration. Strong language. Strong message. THE NEWS BLOG

CNN.com - The Big Disconnect on New Orleans - Sep 2, 2005

CNN.com - The big disconnect on New Orleans - Sep 2, 2005

"The Lord Jesus Christ is going to come on time....If we just wait." - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Whisky. Tango. Foxtrot?

"The Lord Jesus Christ is going to come on time....If we just wait." - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Print Story: Rice says race had nothing to do with Katrina aid on Yahoo! News

What is There to Say - Really?

(Haughty Photo-op and Haute-y Couture: Will the REAL Condoleeza Rice please stand up? On her new $500+ Ferragamos, of course.)

From What is there to say - really? by Bud Beck: "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is on vacation and enjoying a little Broadway entertainment. So much for the cabinet level task force!

While she is there she’s also getting a few private tennis lesson working on her backhand with Monica Seles.

But it's August, opps! - September, and they all go on vacation in August - er' September, don't they?

While thousands go without food and water since Monday, Condy was in Ferragamo on 5th Avenue spending several thousands of dollars on some nice, new shoes. While she was there, with government body guards, a fellow shopper, unable to fathom the absurdity of Rice’s timing, went up to the Secretary and shouted at her.

“How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!” the angry woman demanded.

One can only wonder about the fellow shopper. I am sure she was there buying shoes to send to New Orleans. She had to have been. Only a Democrat would challenge Ms. Rice.

However, never one to have any of her decisions questioned, especially ones concerning her fashion choices, Rice had security remove the woman from the store. Rank does have its privileges, even as people die. Condy handed her bags to her body guard and walked out to her waiting limo. As she did, CNN was showing a dead grandmother in a wheelchair abandoned on the street in New Orleans."

BELLACIAO - Italy: While Bush fiddles, New Orleans dies

BELLACIAO - While Bush fiddles, New Orleans dies - newsday - Collective Bellaciao

Interactive Flash Timeline: The Impact of Hurricane Katrina - New York Times

Maps: The Impact of Hurricane Katrina - New York Times

The Perfect Storm and the Feral City

Tomgram: Iraq in America :: from www.uruknet.info :: news from occupied Iraq - ch: "The Perfect Storm and the Feral City"

Knight Ridder Exposes Horsey Background of FEMA Chief

We Asked for a FEMA Director Trained and Tempered in Emergency Management...And All We Got is This Lifelong Caretaker for Arabian Horses' Asses...Knight Ridder Exposes Horsey Background of FEMA Chief

Remember: To raise Arabian Horses and breed the best, you have to have incredibly tight relationships (read: hat-in-hand) with the wealthy Arabic horse stable owners, as their horses are (understandably)their pride and joy...and jealously guarded.

A guy that can pander to wealthy (not the average Saudi) Arabians and be certain that precious horse sperm can get where it's sent...way better appointee than an emergency management expert...?

Hurricane Center Director Tells Paper He Briefed Brown and Chertoff on Danger of Severe Flooding

So...Umm...Do You Think They Think That Perhaps Military-Grade Sonic Blasters Will Raise the NOLA Dead?

Wired News: Sonic 'Lasers' Head to Flood Zone

Wired News: Sonic 'Lasers' Head to Flood Zone

Three magnetic acoustic devices from HPV Technologies (www.getmad.us), during a demo for military, law enforcement, and government tech experts from the US and abroad, at Edwards Air Force Base in Palmdale (Sep 1, 2005).
Photo: Xeni Jardin

Anne Rice Criticizes Katrina Response

Printable Version

The Lost City - Newsweek Hurricane Katrina Coverage - MSNBC.com

For Days Bush Administration Members Argued Over Who Was in Charge of the Disaster...Meanwhile..."Imelda-leeza" Rice Shopped for $500 Shoes at Ferragamo in NYC...The Lost City - Newsweek Hurricane Katrina Coverage - MSNBC.com

Yahoo! Groups : katrina-refugees Messages : Message 144 of 148

Important: A Rescue Volunteer Account of New Orleans Yahoo! Groups : katrina-refugees Messages : Message 144 of 148

An Angry 'Times-Picayune' Calls for Firing of FEMA Chief and Others in Open Letter to President On Sunday

NOLA Overwhelmed Officers Quit the Force; 2 Kill Themselves

Overwhelmed officers quit the force; 2 kill themselves

New Orleans 911

"They said they're doing it by quadrant and we'll just have to take a number and get in line," Cunningham said. "They are there without food. Some were on dialysis and needed medical attention. . . . Their lives are threatened. I'm not even sure they'll be alive when we get there."

Jefferson Parrish MTP Lays a Righteous Slapdown on the Bush Administration for Criminal Incompetence...and, Yes...It Breaks Your Heart. (QT file)

Jefferson LA Parrish-QuickTime Video

Newsday.com: While Bush fiddles, New Orleans dies

Here's How to Get A Donation Directly to the People of Louisiana...Zero Middleman...

katrina.louisiana.gov

HurricaneHousing.Org from MoveOn.org: Donate or Find Housing

MoveOn.org: Democracy in Action

Blah3 - The Potemkin Photo Op

Democratic Underground - Welcome to 'You're-On-Your-Ownistan"

Welcome to On-Your-Ownistan

"You're On Your Ownistan" is a term coined by "mopaul"...a member of the Democratic Underground forum. Thank you mopaul...if you'd like this blogname, just contact me via comment, and it's yours.

On-Your-Ownistan

Sunday, September 18, 2005