Hurricane Katrina

[Rex Hudler]

just an fyi that the bob & tom show along with peyton manning are having an online auction tomorrow 7am-12pm (central) benefitting katrina victims. a bunch of really cool stuff is going to be auctioned off...

 

 

Bob & Tom............ man I miss those guys!!

[Balta1701]

Now this one is truly heartwarming...in the midst of one of the greatest natural disasters in U.S. history, it's good to know that the Republicans weren't troubled by any crazy notions of wanting to appear bipartisan or allow for accoutability in their aid packages. Those damn treasonous Democrats...if we let them see the text of this bill...The Hurricanists Win!

 

In the wake of what the Wall Street Journal projected may be the most expensive natural disaster in American history, the Republican Leadership in the House of Representatives limited floor consideration of the $52 billion Katrina relief bill proposed by President Bush and voted to reject any Democratic efforts to amend the bill to include a wider array of relief measures, RAW STORY has learned.

 

Democrats said no one had even seen a copy of the legislation.

 

Voting along party lines, Republicans denied a measure that would have allowed for two hours of discussion and opened up the measure to be amended.

 

The Republican leadership pushed through a Suspension Rule in the House Rules Committee that blocked any members from offering amendments to the bill. Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY), the ranking Democrat on the Committee, led opposition to the rule.

 

The bill, which enjoys bipartisan support, is expected to pass on the House floor tomorrow.

 

Democrats implored Republicans to allow amendments, which would enable consideration of measures such as which areas and to which agencies relief dollars were most needed and how to restructure FEMA so that it would be more effective.

[southsideirish71]

Everyone its all right. Spicoli is back from his Iran fact finding mission to save the day. He got his leaky boat and his camera crew and is here to save all of the remaining children.

 

Spicoli to the rescue

 

 

 

Boat looks a little full there Spicoli.

Edited September 8, 2005 by southsideirish71

[Balta1701]

Boat looks a little full there Spicoli.

That is a big cake.

 

That's a nice guitar.

[YASNY]

Now this one is truly heartwarming...in the midst of one of the greatest natural disasters in U.S. history, it's good to know that the Republicans weren't troubled by any crazy notions of wanting to appear bipartisan or allow for accoutability in their aid packages.  Those damn treasonous Democrats...if we let them see the text of this bill...The Hurricanists Win!

 

For the record, this would also allow the Dems to "piggyback" any damn thing they wanted on to this bill knowing damn well it wouldn't be voted down. What's wrong with cutting the bulls*** and passing a disaster relief bill that's just a disaster relief bill?

 

There are two sides to all this spin, and there are two agendas ... always.

Edited September 8, 2005 by YASNY

[YASNY]

Maybe the more appropriate question is "Why does the government feel it more pressing to spend a half billion dollars on bridges to uninhabited islands in Alaska than the money the Army Corps of Engineers asked to continue protecting New Orleans from storm surges and hurricanes and other floods?"

 

If the federal government provides funds for both of these projects, perhaps they'd be better off making 50 people in Alaska use a ferry while they use the "scarce" funds to protect a half million.

 

This is an example of the nasty congressional habit of "pork barrel spending". There is not one of those two faced bastards up on the hill that does not partake of this folly. Before Pelosi or Delay (one of each, ya notice?) start pointing any fingers at anybody, they need to take a look in the damn mirror because they are just as much at fault that NOLA's levee failed as anyone they can possibly point their finger at.

Edited September 8, 2005 by YASNY

[Texsox]

For the record, this would also allow the Dems to "piggyback" any damn thing they wanted on to this bill knowing damn well it wouldn't be voted down.  What's wrong with cutting the bulls*** and passing a disaster relief bill that's just a disaster relief bill? 

 

There are two sides to all this spin, and there are two agendas ... always.

 

For the record, this would also allow the GOP to put any damn thing they wanted on to this bill knowing damn well it wouldn't be voted down. What's wrong with cutting the bulls*** and passing a the Republican disaster relief bill that's just a Republican disaster relief bill?

 

There are two sides to all this spin, and there are two agendas ... always.

Nice to know the GOP doesn't need any help. Somebody wrote the damn thing to begin with. That sounds like GOP members. And what happened to not playing politics here? What prevented some people from collaborating was *gasp* they are Democrats, and couldn't possibly be involved in writing a huge ass spending bill.

[YASNY]

For the record, this would also allow the GOP to put any damn thing they wanted on to this bill knowing damn well it wouldn't be voted down.  What's wrong with cutting the bulls*** and passing a Republican disaster relief bill that's just a Republican disaster relief bill? 

 

There are two sides to all this spin, and there are two agendas ... always.

 

The "liberal" viewpoint had already been expressed, thank you.

[Rex Kickass]

This is an example of the nasty congressional habit of "pork barrel spending".  There is not one of those two faced bastards up on the hill that does not partake of this folly.  Before Pelosi or Delay (one of each, ya notice?) start pointing any fingers at anybody, they need to take a look in the damn mirror because they are just as much at fault that NOLA's levee failed as anyone they can possibly point their finger at.

 

I completely agree.

[southsider2k5]

Moveon.org jumps in to exploit the hurricane victims to get people to vote against Roberts for Head Justice of the Supreme Court.

[Controlled Chaos]

"City of New Orleans Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan."

 

The plan makes it evident that New Orleans knew that evacuation of the civilian population was the primary responsibility of the city – not the federal government.

 

The city plan acknowledges its responsibility in the document:

 

As established by the City of New Orleans Charter, the government has jurisdiction and responsibility in disaster response. City government shall coordinate its efforts through the Office of Emergency Preparedness.

 

The city document also makes clear that decisions involving a proper and orderly evacuation lie with the governor, mayor and local authorities. Nowhere is the president or federal government even mentioned:

 

The authority to order the evacuation of residents threatened by an approaching hurricane is conferred to the Governor by Louisiana Statute. The Governor is granted the power to direct and compel the evacuation of all or part of the population from a stricken or threatened area within the State, if he deems this action necessary for the preservation of life or other disaster mitigation, response or recovery. The same power to order an evacuation conferred upon the Governor is also delegated to each political subdivision of the State by Executive Order. This authority empowers the chief elected official of New Orleans, the Mayor of New Orleans, to order the evacuation of the parish residents threatened by an approaching hurricane.

 

It is clear the city also recognized that it would need to move large portions of its population, and it would need to prepare for such an eventuality:

 

The City of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas. Those evacuated will be directed to temporary sheltering and feeding facilities as needed. When specific routes of progress are required, evacuees will be directed to those routes. Special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific life saving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedures as needed. ...

 

Evacuation procedures for small scale and localized evacuations are conducted per the SOPs of the New Orleans Fire Department and the New Orleans Police Department. However, due to the sheer size and number of persons to be evacuated, should a major tropical weather system or other catastrophic event threaten or impact the area, specifically directed long range planning and coordination of resources and responsibilities efforts must be undertaken. [You can read New Orleans' Emergency Plan for hurricanes at its Web site: http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=26]

 

The city's plan also specifically called for the use of city-owned buses and school buses to evacuate the population. These were apparently never deployed, though the Parish of Plaquemines just south of the city evacuated its population using school buses.

 

The plan, written well before Katrina was even a teardrop in God's eye, was obviously never heeded or implemented by local leaders.

 

But why should the New Orleans mayor and Governor Blanco take responsibility when they can blame George Bush and the Republicans in Washington?

 

With congressional elections fast approaching, Democrats who are out of power in every branch of the federal government know they need to change the tide quickly.

 

They have apparently seized on the Katrina disaster to harm the president politically.

 

Criticism of the federal government's response is fair and warranted. But putting full responsibility for this disaster on the Bush administration is way over the top.

 

Primary responsibility for this disaster remains with local officials like Nagin and Blanco, not President Bush.

[kapkomet]

They have apparently seized on the Katrina disaster to harm the president politically.

 

Criticism of the federal government's response is fair and warranted. But putting full responsibility for this disaster on the Bush administration is way over the top.

 

Primary responsibility for this disaster remains with local officials like Nagin and Blanco, not President Bush.

Stop being so logical. We wouldn't or couldn't have that around here.

[Balta1701]

Primary responsibility for this disaster remains with local officials like Nagin and Blanco, not President Bush.

If that were the case, then why are the Republicans working overtime to prevent any sort of a bipartisan investigation into the disaster?

 

The Republicans have already rejected calls for an independent, 9/11 commission style investigation into the disaster...that commission if you'll remember, was composed of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans and had subpoena power distributed evenly across the commission.

 

Instead, the Republicans want it done only in Congress, where the Republicans have a full majority and therefore they will be the only ones with subpoena power...if the Democrats want to subpoena a witness, they will be unable to do so without the consent of the Republicans on the committee, while the Republicans can do anything they want and decide who they want to investigate without even consulting the Democrats.

 

So I must ask the question...what is it that they are hiding?

[southsideirish71]

If that were the case, then why are the Republicans working overtime to prevent any sort of a bipartisan investigation into the disaster?

 

The Republicans have already rejected calls for an independent, 9/11 commission style investigation into the disaster...that commission if you'll remember, was composed of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans and had subpoena power distributed evenly across the commission.

 

Instead, the Republicans want it done only in Congress, where the Republicans have a full majority and therefore they will be the only ones with subpoena power...if the Democrats want to subpoena a witness, they will be unable to do so without the consent of the Republicans on the committee, while the Republicans can do anything they want and decide who they want to investigate without even consulting the Democrats.

 

So I must ask the question...what is it that they are hiding?

 

 

The secret weather making device that created Katrina and steered it into the Democratic city. Its all a plan by the evil Republicans to take over the world.

 

 

Thanks for the conspiracy theory. I haven't had one of those since the last election.

Edited September 8, 2005 by southsideirish71

[Controlled Chaos]

The secret weather making device that created Katrina and steered it into the Democratic city.  Its all a plan by the evil Republicans to take over the world. 

 

 

Thanks for the conspiracy theory.  I haven't had one of those since the last election.

 

Wow that is just scary cause I had typed the below post out in response to Balta's a while ago, but I had to go work away from my desk for a while...and forgot to post it when I got back here....

 

Clearly they need to hide the new high tech super secret reality globe, which Bush and Co were huffing and puffing on resulting in the catastrophic winds of Katrina. I mean can you imagine if that got out??

[Balta1701]

The secret weather making device that created Katrina and steered it into the Democratic city.  Its all a plan by the evil Republicans to take over the world. 

Frighteningly enough...I managed to catch a radio show out here last Friday where the host was doing basically exaclty that...except he was blaming it on the Democrats (Bill Cohen in 1998 testified that weather weapons are practical!) etc. He was casually suggesting that it was a plot to convince people to be more dependent on government. He had a voice that sounded remarkably like Limbaugh too, although it wasn't actually him.

 

P.S. I just got back from dropping a pint of my blood into a bag for the Red Cross.

[KipWellsFan]

http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Connected...y-F-himself.mov

 

Dick Cheney finally shows up and gets told by some clown to "go f*** himself"

[Balta1701]

http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Connected...y-F-himself.mov

 

Dick Cheney finally shows up and gets told by some clown to "go f*** himself"

Supposedly he was shopping for a $2 million mansion in Jackson, Wyoming the week after the Hurricane hit...I was just north of there...just missed my own version of a "How dare you" moment like the one Condi got...if only I had known...

[Balta1701]

This is odd...This blogger...Bob Harris...may have stumbled across something...he took a look at the pre-Katrina hit list of LA counties that were declared to be in states of emergency by FEMA...somehow it seems that none of the counties in Southern LA were actually given "State of Emergency" declarations by FEMA before the Hurricane hit, and they only corrected their error after it hit.

 

He's still not sure if he should believe it, but he hasn't yet found anything to dispute that finding.

[Balta1701]

These 11 Congressmen voted against the GOP-written bill to provide $50 billion more in funding for Katrina aid.

 

Rep. Joe Barton - TX

Jeff Flake - AZ

Virginia Foxx - NC

Scott Garrett - NJ

John Hostettler - IN

Steve King - IA

Butch Otter - ID

Ron Paul - TX

James Sensenbrenner - WI

Tom Tancredo - CO

Lynn Westmoreland - GA

 

If you're in any of those districts, it might be worth calling/emailing and asking for an explanation as to why they didn't want the moneys going to the relief effort. (By the way, they're all Republicans)

[Soxy]

A very interesting article. I'm on Sojourner's Listserve (a progressive Christian zine) and this got sent out today. Food for thought. . .

 

 

Acts of God or sins of humanity?

by Wes Granberg-Michaelson

 

From a vacation cottage Karin and I watched on TV as the desolation unfolded in New Orleans and the Gulf coast. Through that agonizing week we sat helpless with millions, while the world's most technologically powerful nation could not provide food, water, and rescue to fellow citizens whose desperate faces filled our screen and haunted our consciences.

 

Commentators described Hurricane Katrina as a "natural disaster," or at times as an "act of God," like language used in some insurance policies describing events beyond human control. It means no one is liable. Except, of course, God. And that's what troubles me. How can a God of love, Creator of all that is, be responsible for such terrible, destructive disasters?

 

But as I listened, reflected, and prayed during that week, another question emerged. Just how "natural" was this disaster? Consider this, for instance. When Katrina left the Florida coast, it was classified as a "tropical storm" - not even a hurricane. It picked up tremendous power as it passed through the Gulf of Mexico, in part, experts think, because the waters of the Gulf were two degrees warmer than normal. So by the time it reached New Orleans, it was a category four hurricane.

 

Years before becoming general secretary of the Reformed Church in America, I led a group studying global warming and the responsibility of the churches for preserving the environment when I served as director of Church and Society for the World Council of Churches. Even then (1990), a clear global scientific consensus warned that global warming due to human causes - especially the accelerated use of fossil fuels - was causing disruptive climate changes. And I clearly remember listening to scientists say that one effect could be that storms such as hurricanes would increase in their intensity and destructive effects because of warmer waters and changing sea levels. So a part of Katrina's fury was not completely "natural."

 

And there's more. New Orleans was built between the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, with much of the city below sea level. Its vulnerability to flooding from hurricanes was partly protected by the wetlands between the city and the Gulf. These act like a "speed bump," absorbing and lowering some of a hurricane's force. But they've been disappearing, making way for shopping malls, condos, and roads, so 25 square miles are lost each year - an area the size of Manhattan. And the city has kept moving closer to the Gulf.

 

Moreover, the levees and dams constructed to protect the city and "control" the Mississippi deprive the wetlands from the sediments and nutrients that naturally would replenish its life. There's a lot "unnatural" about this "act of God."

 

And then, consider the victims. Those who have suffered the most are the poorest, and most of them are black. Twenty-seven percent of New Orleans residents lived below the poverty line, and many of those simply had no cars, or no money, and no way to leave. That also isn't "natural." The poverty rate, and the gap between rich and poor, continues to increase in this nation, and that is a national disgrace. More to our point, that's a sin, condemned by literally hundreds of verses of scripture. Those most vulnerable to Katrina have been kept on society's margins by persistent economic injustice and racism.

 

I celebrate the tides of compassion flowing in the wake of Katrina. Organizations such as Church World Service and the Salvation Army bear the compassion of Christ to the desolate, homeless, and hopeless. And I still don't fully understand why, in the providence of a loving and all-powerful God of creation, things like hurricanes and earthquakes happen.

 

But I do know this. When I see the devastating effects of Katrina, I don't simply regard these as an inexplicable "act of God." I also focus on the sins of humanity. We've disobeyed God's clear biblical instructions to preserve the integrity of God's good creation, and to overcome the scourge of poverty. In the aftermath of Katrina, we desperately need not only compassion, but also repentance.

 

Wes Granberg-Michaelson is general secretary of the Reformed Church in America. Reprinted from the Church Herald, October 2005. © 2005 by the Church Herald, Inc. Used with permission. Another version of this article will appear in the print version of the October 2005 Church Herald and on the Church Herald Web site herald.rca.org.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Wes Granberg-Michaelson, giving God some positive spin.

 

On the climate change stuff though, Katrina's not the place to hang your hat. I'm of ardent belief that the growing body of evidence overwhelmingly supports the contention that human activity is inducing global climate change. But is a deceit (or at least "junk science") to suggest the proof of the matter was patently manifest in Katrrina. Katrina made a low Cat5 and struck as a high Cat4, so it's not one for the record books in terms of intensity.

 

As far as the increased activity of tropical storm seasons, yes that is directly tied to a warmer than normal tropical Atlantic Basin. Which may be part of a trend related to anthropogenic activity, or may be simply a function of nature's stochasticity.

 

The case is analogous to that of Big Tobacco in the 90s. Tobacco lawyers could effectively argue that no single case of cancer or lung disease in a smpker could be absolutely tied to smoking activity. One strong, not record-breaking, hurricane that happened to hit the Achiles' heel of the southeastern US is by itself not convincing evidence of human-induced climate change.

 

There is plenty of much more convincing evidence, however.

[Balta1701]

If you want a perfect analysis of global warming and hurricanes, head over to This RealClimate piece.

[FlaSoxxJim]

If you want a perfect analysis of global warming and hurricanes, head over to This RealClimate piece.

Yep, and here's the uncertainty angle Big Tobacco exploited for so long:

 

For a single event, regardless of how extreme, such attribution [ie smoking and cancer, or human industrial activity and climate change] is fundamentally impossible.

[JUGGERNAUT]

$52B !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shock with no Awe. I heard that LA had a windfall of revenue from the casinos but that doesn't matter. People at the Federal level get paid a lot of $$ to assess these things when it comes to budgeting. Regardless of whether it was the state of LA's responsibility or the Fed the cost of neglect is crazy in comparison to the cost of prevention.

 

They both share the blame.