Katrina fall-out

in article , cjcampbell
at wrote on 9/7/05 7:08 PM:


john smith wrote:
I don't think most people are fooled by the usual idiot media reporting
of federal incompetence. The next local elections in Louisiana may show
a real backlash, if a recall movement or even impeachment proceedings
are not organized before then.

Except that FEMA is proving itself to be lead by incompetent and inept
individuals. The military is proving to be the primary source of
organized relief.

Well, it is easy to say that. But as President Bush said, what have
they done wrong? If the President is going to fire people or ask for
resignations, he is going to need some specifics other than general
allegations of incompetence. Following federal and state regulations is
not generally considered to be incompetence, so it will take some
deeper investigation to see what, if anything, can be done about FEMA.
Personally, I think a lot of the trouble will be found to have started
at Homeland Security. This agency was a bad idea in the first place,
and it has yet to demonstrate an ability to deal with any emergency
competently. I am not sure how anyone could expect FEMA to operate
efficiently with Homeland Security breathing down their necks. "Before
we send in the National Guard, we have to confiscate all the tweezers."
:-)

I actually agree with much of what you say here. On the other hand, it
should be noted that "Brownie", the head of FEMA, needed to be informed by
TV reporters that evacuees were being sent to the New Orleans convention
center. He honestly had no idea what was happening.

"Philip S." wrote in message
See my earlier post. She requested federal help, in unambiguous terms, two
days before the storm struck.

What assistance did she ask for?

Jay Honeck wrote:

What would have happened if the citizens of N.O. had raised funds to
reinforce their levees themselves?

*Gasp!* Imagine!

Unheard of, I know, but couldn't the locals have actually taken action for
themselves?

It's not their property. That would be sort of like the State of Tennessee
trying to take over or enhance some of TVA's stuff. The Feds will not stand for
that sort of thing. They certainly didn't when Tennessee tried to take control
of the Telico project.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

"Philip S." wrote in message
...
in article , Doof at
wrote on 9/7/05 8:37 AM:


Only upon request by the local officials.

From the Louisiana governor, August 27:

http://www.gov.state.la.us/Press_Rel...ail.asp?id=976

"Pursuant to 44 CFR § 206.35, I have determined that this incident is of
such severity and magnitude

It hadn't even occured yet.

that effective response is beyond the
capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that
supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect
property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a
disaster."

This is "unambiguous"?

So they didn't know WHAT assistance they would need, only that SOMETHING was
going to happen.

At that point in time?

What it sounds like is the typical "disaster relief funds" request, not
direct SPECIFIC assistance they would later need. Contrast this situation
with what occurred after Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Until the levee broke later on, what damage was there?

Great Point George!
Down on Clark Hill Lake in Georgia, the Corps of Engineers has strict
rules as to what a person can build on their own property. The Corps of
Engineers built the dam.....but what does that have to do with someone
building a shed on his property 25 miles from the dam?

Patrick
student SPL
aircraft structural mech

"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:YUNTe.644$0Q2.157@trndny01...
Jay Honeck wrote:

What would have happened if the citizens of N.O. had raised funds to
reinforce their levees themselves?

*Gasp!* Imagine!

Unheard of, I know, but couldn't the locals have actually taken action
for themselves?

It's not their property. That would be sort of like the State of Tennessee
trying to take over or enhance some of TVA's stuff. The Feds will not
stand for that sort of thing. They certainly didn't when Tennessee tried
to take control of the Telico project.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

Jay Honeck wrote:

When the budget for improving the levees was cut by the Feds, New
Orleans tried over and over again to get the money reinstated as a basic
safety measure for the city. Bringing the issue to a vote in the city
would have done nothing to free up the federal funds, which is where the
money had to come from.


What would have happened if the citizens of N.O. had raised funds to
reinforce their levees themselves?

*Gasp!* Imagine!

Unheard of, I know, but couldn't the locals have actually taken action for
themselves?

Here's a tidbit for you. Reported today was the fact that the Feds gave
NO tens of millions of dollars to fix/repair/upgrade the levees. What
did they do with this money? They built a statue in town and pocketed
the rest. They got what they deserved.

Some of us, you know, are sick and tired of spending federal disaster
relief funds to bail out people in the Midwest who are so stupid as to
live in an area that is regularly devastated by tornadoes. They all
ought to just move out of there.

The federal government has never spent $100 Billion on tornado recovery
for the whole country!

I didn't write this!

john smith wrote:
I don't think most people are fooled by the usual idiot media reporting
of federal incompetence. The next local elections in Louisiana may show
a real backlash, if a recall movement or even impeachment proceedings
are not organized before then.

"Newps" wrote

Here's a tidbit for you. Reported today was the fact that the Feds gave
NO tens of millions of dollars to fix/repair/upgrade the levees. What
did they do with this money? They built a statue in town and pocketed
the rest. They got what they deserved.

Source?

Martin wrote:
many people here are not really well educated, read the headlines of
tabloids and watch news similar to FOX news ...


On Aug. 31, two photos published on the Yahoo News website caught the
attention of many readers. In both, people are wading through
chest-deep water with food in their hands. One caption describes the
young Black man shown as "looting a grocery store," while the other
describes the two white people as "finding bread and soda from a
local grocery store."

The media still continue to contribute to the racial devide.