Fitz!

fitz

Fitz

Wow!! # Fitz’s at the same time. No wonder it took forever to load.

OH YEAH. I tell you, I am psychic.

You know all those Republican voters living along the coast in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida? Watch out. The storm is approaching.

#=3

nobody could have anticipated that three people would Fitz! at the same time…..

…Fitzly come lately….

Although I don’t live in a hurricane prone area, I do live in an earthquake prone area. What we need to do is ask all our republican neighbors “Do you trust this administration to help us if the big one strikes?”
Maybe that will get them thinking in a new way at this administration.

“Know where your levee is?”
Thanks Christy, LMAO.

I feel so much safer that the wealthy goopers got their tax cuts though.

Historically we have not relied on the federal government for natural catastrophes, rather, the state has been in charge. [sub-thread, federal government in role of creating catastrophes]

Katrina was too big for LA, at least, to cope with, plus the state resources were over in Iraq, especially the satellite phones and high-water trucks.

FEMA after being gutted of trained emergency response professionals wasn’t going to be much help even if they tried. And guess what, they didn’t try. THAT’S the scandal imho.

OfT: Washington Post intelligence reporter Dana Priest will be online Thursday, June 1, at 12:30 p.m. ET to discuss the latest developments in national security and intelligence
I am interested in her take on the SC’s weakening of whistleblower’s (watchdog’s) protections.

To all the FDL’ers, may the Fitz be with you!

Bullseye egregious at 6:56, thanks.
And the neocons are always bragging about how much they support “states rights” and “local government.”

From what I understand, the regional director of FEMA here in the Pacific Northwest is also a Bush crony appointment. Now I really feel safe.

egregious

You may have a point. This could form the basis for our own(non racist) version of the “southern strategy”

Heavy campaigning in the red states along the gulf coast to the tune of “who do want in charge when the next storm hits?”

I think you are on to something.

Bastion of uber liberalism, NPR report this am said that the levees were too low before Katrina b/c they had sunk or had been sinking and continue to sink, like the rest of New Orleans, so not Dubya’s fault. The buck doesn’t stop here.

What is going on with NPR lately (by lately, I mean the last few years)? I don’t recognize them any more

egregious at 5, that comes awfully close to sounding like gloating or victim-blaming. Maybe I’m just tetchy because I’m both a born Mississippian and longtime Floridian who got run over by four of the ‘04 hurricanes. But I’ll guarandamntee ya, NOBODY is asking for these and NOBODY deserves them — not even asshat Goopers.

OT– heads up: cspan1 playing last friday’s testimony re Media Role in Intelligence Leaks now.

Part of the problem is that no amount of money is going to make the area “storm-proof”. The levees need to be reinforced and upgraded, but the simple fact is that nature is stronger than all the works of man, and it’s the nature of the area to be destroyed periodically by storms.

On a long enough timeline, no place on Earth is safe from catastrophic storms/quakes/tsunamis/meteors/etc. We’re all living more or less on borrowed time, and we’re betting that whatever disaster is going to happen, won’t happen here and in our lifetime. We humans have very short memories, and I worry that these natural disasters are going to occur with greater loss of life simply because the population is growing all the time, and people choose to live near the shore/on faultlines/in brush-fire corridors/etc. There’s a certain futility in any actions planned…but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do what we can. We need to help the people as much as possible, but New Orleans WILL get hit again, and eventually WILL get flooded exactly as bad or worse, regardless of the state of the levees.

You can’t legislate nature (except, of course, in the broader sense that reducing global warming will reduce the number and strength of storms; but it won’t eliminate them, nor guarantee they won’t destroy the area yet again).

Try to imagine what will happen when the New Madrid fault wakes up from it’s nearly 200 year slumber…

As Nancy Pelosi’s report points out, Katrina was another opportunity to loot the treasury and enrich the already enriched. Look at it – $1 billion wasted and frauded (add it to the $9 bil from Iraq), cronies got most of the money that was doled out to rebuild and did they (is Bechtel in charge?). Not that I can tell. And Bush and the volunteerism? SOP for these guys – praise you to the world, on TV, while cutting off your legs off-camera. Shame shame shame.

Yeah, you were right, Christy. Nancy Griffith can sure sing a tear to my eyes.

By the way, the song is “From A Distance”, although the title cited here is part of the lyric.

Christy

Thank you so much for posting this….

For CT Bob – this was not a natural disaster – it was man made. God didn’t drain the wetlands for oil, nor did he make the million engineer mistakes that we call our levee system. W/o the levee failure, we would have had a ‘wet ankle’ storm. Now, well….

Not saying that ‘the big one’ couldn’t take us out – any more than floods/earthquakes/fires/tornadoes or terrorist attacks couldn’t take out some other place in this country that a sizeable number of its citizens call home.

Check out Boyd Blundell in TPM cafe – Giving up on America. I don’t always agree with him, but he hits this one right on in my book…

Sheez, what a buncha nitpickers.

Btw, it’s Nanci Griffith with an “i” :)

lotuslander, jmo, I simply read egregious’ 6:45 as an indictment of people who voted for bad government. When we make bad decisions as voters, we have to pay the consequences. I think another concern is that the billions of tax dollars wasted spent on “clean-up” have been soaked up by wingnut welfare no-bid contracts to Republicans, eg. Trent Lott’s railroad to nowhere kind of things instead of “clean-up.” Then to bring it full circle, we have Alito casting the deciding vote weakening the position of whistleblowers, whistleblowers who we desperately need against blatantly dishonest bad government.
Sorry, however, to hear you got hit by 4 of them in 2004.

We can complain all we want about the sorry state of affairs, but the ONLY thing that makes sense — the ONLY thing that will save lives — is for people in the area to be FAR MORE self reliant in the future than they were for Katrina. And yes, I understand that it is difficult for people on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder to prepare. But it is not impossible.

Both self reliance and small community-based plans (neighborhoods, churches, businesses) can take make preparations that do not required depending on broken, underfunded, inadequet and outdated state and federal emergency management systems.

As a limited example, a small church congregation — with say, 200 people — could pair up with a ’sister’ congregation farther inland to provide food and shelter (and transportation to that shelter). Contingencies should be made for what to do if the displacement last for 2-3 days, one week, two weeks, or longer. Commitments should be made, verified regularly and even tested periodically.

I think the message is crystal clear at this point – the state aned federal emergency response systems are broken and will remain so for the forseeable future. So if you live in that area you should not depend on such services at all. Make alternate plans that do not require assistence from state and federal authorities. Have 2nd and 3rd (even 4th) option plans.

Do not forget to have 2-3 options for communication strategies among family members. As Katrina clearly illustrated, communication was a huge problem that even the emergency response personnel were not fully prepared to deal with.

most of the Netherlands is below sea-level and has long had an elaborate levee and pumping system (what did you think those windmills were for? tourists?). In the 1930’s they recognized the country was vulnerable to monster North Sea storms but WW2 and its reconstruction delayed updating the dikes. In 1953 a giant storm devasted the country and 2000 were killed.
The levee system was rebuilt and redesigned with 10,000 year floods planned for. Holland is a densely populated and very successful economy while exposed to ravages of the roiling seas.
If the Dutch can do it, why not America? Peter Stuyvesant for Mayor of New Orleans!

Katrina can put to bed the myth of “government is bad” if Dems are willing to get out there on it. CT Bob is right – we can’t make NOLA absolutely hurricane proof, nor St. Louis quake proof (I shudder when I think of the New Madrid fault), nor make Kansas and Oklahoma tornado proof, etc. But what government CAN do – and do very well, thank you very much – is work to minimize the damage. I’m talking building codes, levee construction and maintainence, weather predictions, and things like that.

I’ve said it before, but let me repeat myself. Let anyone who says government bureaucrats are fools and lazy and can’t cut it in “the real world” of business take a look at Max Mayfield and his colleagues at the National Hurricane Center and throughout the National Weather Service. Max knows what he knows, knows what he doesn’t, knows the difference, and isn’t afraid to tell you about any of it.

NOAA is not Chicken Little – it’s the kid who said that the Chimperor Emperor is wearing no clothes. If Dubya thinks that “no one could have predicted . . .” then he’s either delusional, he’s not getting very good briefings, or he’s been ignoring the briefings he’s been getting.

NPR was hijinxed by the right. 90percent of their “news” is right wing flavored. Sure, they’ve got Garrison Keeler and some lefty programming, but their news arm (and its anchorpeople)is righty tighty.

Christy, a very moving post. Those statistics are overwhelming. Tears welling as I feel the sloppy intersection of sadness and anger and worry that the most vulnerable of our citizens are being completely ignored. It’s really too much to bear.

The call for “ethics training” has now become W’s answer to everything. As if.

as the New Hippies would say: Make Levees, Not War !

Sadly, Bill Moyers and sometimes Gwen Ifil are to only lib’s left at NPR

*ilson @32 -

So “everybody must get stoned,” and the higher the better?

That’s deep. . .

Fitz ‘n Spitz!

*ilson

Ah, the Dutch. I was there a few weeks ago. Cab driver, when he learned I was from NOLA pointed out that, though we were riding on land below sea level we were safe because, in the Netherlands, ‘we protect our people’….

lots of heavy stones would help secure the floodwalls and definitely, the higher the better!

Per *ilson “DUTCH DEFENSE DUTCH MASTERS”
“Both are below sea level and sinking deeper every year. But better technology and planning have put the Netherlands on a pedestal of flood protection that New Orleans is now looking up to…”
“(what did you think those windmills were for? tourists?)” LMAO

NPR used to be an intelligent choice presenting studied and informed opinion. Now it’s just another yah-yah blah-blah mouthpiece for the right-is-might elite. The Rovian revolution is complete.

fwiw, your Congresscritters have been checking out the Dutch Dike Experience – there have been several CoDels* over there recently…

*Congressional Delegation == officially-sanctioned junkets

They need to shitcan the head of NOAA. He is an industry tool, pooh-poohing scientific studies (that he admits he never read) on the effects of global warming on the intensity (not frequency) of hurricanes. As to frequency, NOAA consistently underestimates it. Last year, they undershot by close to 50%. This year they predict 17 named storms. So what will it really be — 35?

Last week’s Science Friday had a very interesting program wrt levees and hurricanes and Katrina

http://www.sciencefriday.com/p…..52606.html

CT Bob (22) — certainly the Gulf will have an onslaught of natural weather crises, just as the Midwest will have tornados, hail and blizzards, the West will have earthquakes, wildfires and the rarer volcano, the East will have noreasters and ice storms. We all know that and live with the risks. But when the event is far larger than aggregated individuals’ or the local and state governments’ ability to respond, there should be a reasonable response from the federal government. By reasonable I don’t expect a complete restoration to its previous condition or protection from all future events; those are unreasonable and possibly irrational expectations.

But it is not unreasonable for the federal government to establish a type of Marshall Plan that would not only have guided the recovery of Gulf but increase economic development there and across the U.S.; it is not unreasonable for the federal government to provide housing for those in need; it is not unreasonable for the federal government to assist those who cannot assist themselves, like children and the elderly in need of medical care. It is simply reasonable for us to expect the federal government at all levels to act responsibly, without self-interest, without corruption, on behalf of its constituents.

Unfortunately there is nothing reasonable about this administration. They are irrational in their thinking and actions on nearly every subject that falls in their jurisdiction.

lotuslander at 20, a misunderstanding! When I said a storm is coming, I meant a political storm. I meant that voters in these states were going to show their anger at the polls.

No one deserves to be the victim of destruction, that certainly was not my intent.

Please forgive my poor communication skills.

Ed N Sted – the problem with the type of system you are describing is that it is piece-meal. Without coordination, many, many people will end up with no help. In addition, it lets off the hook all the state and federal organizations that are funded and mandated to provide these services.
I absolutely agree that they current systems are broken, but the solution is not to write them off, but to fix them.

egregious and John Casper, I knew right away that I’d overreacted. Forgive me, it’s just such a visceral thing when you’ve been caught in a major elemental display like a cane or a quake.

But you’re right, the abject and criminal botching of the aftermath is the thing that counts. What was supposed to be my first day of law school at the U of Miami turned out to be the landfall of Andrew instead, so let me assure you that Poppy’s neglectfulness definitely cost him Florida in ‘92. No doubt in my mind that Katrina will cost the Goopers massively in the South, not just this year but for all our lifetimes. AS IT SHOULD.

Well, here we are rolling through midmorning and not a peep from Rolling Stone. You don’t suppose . . .

Naaah.

Anyhow, Attytood’s got a good one up — all about the revenge of five young women thrown out of a Barnes & Noble book-signing by Santorum goons last August.

http://www.attytood.com/archives/003472.html

I live in Florida in a house built in 1925, simple small bungalow, never damaged by any type of storm, no claims against any insurance company for anything, ever, in nearly 100 years! My insurance is expected to rise 67% next year because of past hurricanes, none of which, historically, have hit my city directly. They pass by, sometimes nearer than other times, but not directly.

I am paying for the luxury rich folks have of building a few feet from the St. Johns River, the ocean and the intracostal waterways. They get coverage which I, and other sensible, prudent inland Floridians have to cover with our contributions. The government is responsible for allowing such building, but, more importantly, for not saying, “you build, okay, but you have to pay for your folly if there is damage.” That kind of action, alone, would slow development and reconstruction after storms and would help to restore the wetlands along the Gulf, along all the coasts of Fla, Miss., Texas, etc, etc, etc, and, in the process, reduce the damage from hurricanes when they do occur. That was part of the reason New Orleans suffered so much flooding: the barrier islands were developed and compromised as a buffer to high water and wind.

First, the wealthiest people in this country don’t have to pay taxes for the Common Good, and then, they don’t have to pay their fair share of insurance for their willful disregard for the health of the environment. I am fed up with this
contempt for ordinary people who have enough sense to live in less damage-prone areas of Florida and the rest of the Southeast.

FEMA’s big failure has been in logistics and communications. They need someone who can deal with three basic questions: “Here’s what we need . . . how do we get it?” “Here’s what we have . . . where do we need it?” ” Here’s where it goes . . . how do we get there?”

Correct me if I’m wrong, people, but this sounds to me like job for a kick-ass soccer mom or a hard-core band dad.

I’ve run across my share of both, and there are some that would give the Pentagon a run for their money when it comes to getting the trains to run on time. Republican condescension of the women in minivans could come back to bite them in the tail. One thing they don’t care for is seeing ineptitude ruin what should have been a big deal for their families.

Political novice Patty Murray won her first political campaign, beating a Washington insider as a “mom in tennis shoes”. Has the time come for the rebellion of the soccer moms?

Ed N Sted (28) — we need all of us to be self-reliant, but there is a point at which our aggregated powers are more effective than the powers we possess by ourselves. It’s called government — of, by and for the people.

The problem with expecting every single person to simply handle all problems by pulling themselves up by the bootstraps is that we are not all of us gifted in the same way. Nor is it moral, for example, to expect that an elderly physically person without family nearby to simply buck up and suck it up.

Grover Norquist’s “drowning government in the bathtub” policy is based on the very premise that we need no government save for our military, that everything else from schooling to policing should be handled by well-armed individuals. Subscribing to complete self-reliance is nothing more than Norquistian libertarianism, leading to chaos born of “every man for himself” ethics (or lack thereof).

We need to encourage self-sufficiency and self-sustainability, but we need to be reasonable and moderate about this. I hate to think that Norquist won in the end.

lotuslander at 20

I read egregious’ comment in a very different way. I thought the storm he was referring to was a double entendre meaning the backlash from voters in those states against a republican led government that let them down.

When I made my comment in #48, I did not mean to imply that New Orleans should not be helped. The Bush Administration let the people there down, and in more ways than just how they handled the aftermath of Katrina. They did not build the levee, properly, they allowed too much development on the coast, and the shipping lanes into the city were not designed in such a way to protect the city from storm surges.

New Orleans is one of the most important cultural resources of this country with its people, its music, its art, its architecture. To deny it life through redevelopment is to deny American culture.

meta, plano tex:

I am so very sorry to say that I agree with both of you about NPR. So much so, in fact, that after donating to them regularly for over 20 years, I have stopped doing so and encourage others to stop donating as well.

The next time I want to listen to a 10 minute commercial for Flaming Hot Cheetos, or hear blatant promotions for Christianity, or listen to journalists allowing obviously misleading statements to go unchallenged, I’ll tune to Fox.

What’s being done to NPR is a disgrace. I will not assist in its destruction by continuing to donate. I’m sure someday somebody will write a book. Until then, I’m sure Ned Lamont won’t mind the extra money.

Curious Jim @41 -

Everyone undershot the hurricane forecast last year, not just NOAA. No one, not even the hardest core greenee, predicted so many storms.

As for the whole global warming debate, I think Mayfield is mostly trying to stay focused. That’s a climatology question, and he’s not a climatologist. He might have an opinion on global warming, but he knows that he’s not an expert and wants the media to go ask them about it.

I don’t know Mayfield’s position on global warming. From what I could see, he was answering questions about it as a good scientist would: “That’s not precisely my field, and I’m not as up to date on the research and scholarly debate as others are.”

There are enough folks throwing around generalizations. I’m glad he stayed out of the debate here.

One more note on the number of storms. Until the satellites went up, there were a lot of storms that went unnoticed, because they never came close to land. Was 2005 a bad year? Absolutely. Was it the worst year ever? We don’t know, because we’ve only got a couple of decades of good data. Was it the worst on record? Absolutely, by an order of magnitude. Was it the worst we’ll ever have? Doubtful . . . very doubtful.

lotuslander–thanks for your gracious reply. If I had been hit by -four- hurricanes I’d be tetchy too. Hope you and your loved ones are doing ok? Are you still rebuilding?

The model of state response to disasters can still work in most cases, with 3 additions:

(1) reciprocal arrangements to aid other states, like they do with fire-fighting;

(2) bring the National Guard home. You know, to GUARD the NATION. Wonder why recruiting is down. We need these people here for emergencies. Can governors refuse to send any more Guard troops over? Don’t the feds have to ask permission of the governor, and what if s/he just says no next time?

(3) a FEMA that re-hires those lost emergency professionals, boots the inexperienced politicos, and actually HELPS PEOPLE in time of trouble. [/rant]

Right, lhp — see me at 47. This ol’ bird just took it upon herself to have a flutter.

A short sidetrack..
From http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/
“Condoleezza Rice just really pissed off John Bolton, whom TWN has learned is seething about Rice’s offer of direct negotiations with Iran”….the worst president in 61 years’ team are eating each other, er, ah, you know what I mean..it is worth a read.

Agh. That should have been “physically-challenged”, not “physically”. I seem to be typo- and spelling-error enriched of late.

And John Casper you are an angel. You always seem to have my back. You were there at the beginning when me3 was scolding me for ‘giving up.’ Bipolar people are often tempted to give up, that is how we are wired. But we pick ourselves up and keep going.

Thank you John! :)

OT:

OSP IS BAAAACCCCKKKKK.

IF ANYONE THINKS WE’RE NOT GOING INTO IRAN, THINK AGAIN. And, this time, we get Liz Cheney to “help” make the decision because she is an expert on Iran, apparently.

And how do you like the new “dramatic” diplomatic move the US made by offering talks ONLY IF IRAN AGREES in advance TO STOP DOING EXACTLY WHAT WE’RE SUPPOSED TO TALK ABOUT.

http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp05302006.html

Now Introducing, the Office of Iranian Affairs (Formerly Doing Business as the Office of Special Plans)
By GARY LEUPP

According to Laura Rozen of the Los Angeles Times, the Office of Special Plans has been reincarnated as the Office of Iranian Affairs, apparently housed in the same Pentagon offices inhabited by its predecessor and involving some of the same slimy personnel. Notably, Abram Shulsky, who headed the OSP under Douglas Feith, is back. His crew will be reporting to none other than Elizabeth Cheney, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and daughter of the Vice President. Dick Cheney is generally understood to be the strongest advocate for an attack on Iran in the administration. (He is also, by the way, architect of Bush’s “signing statements” appended to laws entitling him to ignore them. He is the man behind the throne, surrounded by neocon acolytes.)

As I wrote last November, “it is too soon to speak of the ‘twilight of the neocons’ while [John] Hannah, [Stephen] Hadley, [William] Luti, [David] Wurmser, Elliott Abrams, John Bolton, John Negroponte and other neocons remain in power, with [Michale] Ledeen and [Abram] Shulsky still skulking about.”

NOLA rebuilding and safety is a Federal problem — it’s the world seaport for Indiana and a lot of other states. Hoosier farmers have a vested interest in keeping the port functioning well. It’s the fourth or fifth biggest seaport in the entire world!

http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/

Check THIS out- the venerable Peggy Noonan predicting a third party on account of today’s goopers aren’t conservative enough. Peggy lost it a long time ago- but apparently her editors didn’t notice- cause they lost it too!

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/…..29fa_fact2

Link to an article that provoked a pretty good discussion at Josh Marshall’s site.

lhp at 51 I thought the storm he was referring to…

I’m a girl.

Gang — I’ve updated the post above to include a link to a series of diaries that Alphageek did on DKos last year on disaster preparedness. Information is always a good thing — and in the case of a natural disaster or emergency, it could save your life. Thought it might be helpful to some of our readers. :)

Rayne at 7:48 am

I agree with you 100%. I should have perhaps been more clear. I don’t suggest we should stop trying to fix state and federal emergency response management.

I was thinking short-term — like the next couple of hurricane seasons. Long term, I’m with you – a combination of self-reliance and improved government systems is needed. Real change may have to wait until A.B. (after Bush)

Very off topic.

I met with aright-wing, military type friend last night, the first time in about nine months. We had parted with some animus between us because of a discussion we had with a third person, a major wingnut, about racism.

I deliberately did not talk politics for most of the evening. Spoke of our lives the past few months, I told him about my trip to Saudi Arabia.

But towards the end of the evening I asked him, “Where are you in politics these days. A lot has happened in past few months.”

What he said totally shocked me, left me speechless:

“I think things are going pretty well in Iraq. Abu Gharib was terrible. Haditha was awful. But mostly things are going very well.”

“So you are hopeful about Iraq?” I asked him.

“Yes, I am hopeful. When I talk to my friends in the military, they are upbeat. They believe they are successfully bringing liberty to Iraq.”

I think he saw my expression of shock and disbelief. He went on.

Sometimes I feel cynical and feel, just let the rest of the world deal with itself. Let Europe solve Iran. Let China solve North Korea. But then I ask, how much blood is it worth to bring freedom to those places?”

He did admit that the military coming home who gave him good reports would probably not complain in front of civilians.

I won’t go over my response. You know the drill. Just one final exchange, the last one before I got out of his car:

“You were thinking of rejoining the Navy last year, taking a commission. What changed your mind?”

“I realized how much I would miss back home. seeing my kids grow up. I’m scoutmaster to my son’s cubscout troop.”

“Yes, your family is most important,” I agreed.

“But I believe that the American military, America’s ability to extend its power around the world is a source of good. And if I believe that, I should be able to sacrifice what is important to me [his family] to be part of that.”

I told him that to serve under this administration is to waste your life for stupidity.

I am still shocked, stunned, by the bubble this kind, honorable, intelligent young man lives in. Thanks for listening.

President George W. Bush has been named the worst president in the last 61 years by American voters — with nearly twice the negative rating of Richard Nixon — in a new poll by Quinnipiac University, RAW STORY has learned. Catch this and other breaking political news at Political Wire. More from their release:

(Raw Story)

You’re very welcome.
You stepped up for *ilson and me a long time ago.

angie — I’m catching that CSPAN replay on leaks now, with Jane Harman, carefully walking both sides of the line on leaking. Good gravy, she needs to be replaced.

Turley has certainly turned out to be an unexpected hero. He laid it out, point blank, that no one has trust in Congress’ oversight. Phew. Told them to their faces they weren’t doing their jobs.

When President Bush showed up at a Baltimore-Washington International Airport hotel Wednesday night for a fundraiser for the Maryland GOP he found that the party’s top-of-the-ticket candidate already had boarded a plane and left town, Cox News blog reported Wednesday. Excerpts

(Raw story)

Egregious

So sorry. I had the same problem, many folks thought an ex- rugby player had to be a big sweaty guy (with a cauliflower ear no less) instead of a soccer mom.

My apologies. This will sound so sexist, but I think the screen name threw me in the wrong direction.

Yes, egregious, I and mine are okay — just out a new roof and skylights (which were about due anyway), plus the tax and insurance increases Margaret referred to. I live about four miles inland, on stilts in woods (which are doing their best to burn down these days, what with all that now-crispy blowdown awaiting any tossed butt or match) — and which Katrina proved is insufficient in certain hurricane circumstances. I’m trying to figure out where else in the country I could both stand and afford to live — but jeez, to leave so many and so much I love to face whatever may hit wherever? A puzzle. Druther think about how best to get rid of Chimpy & the Imps!

I can’t find anything on dailykos. Any suggestions or help out there? Thanks.

lotuslander, only if you find it helpful, I think a lot of us would be interested in how the rebuilding is going.

Made me spew-laff, lhp 71.

Sorry, dear chaps.

curious at 74 — what are you looking for on DKos? I put a link at the bottom of my post to the diaries I was talking about — did you try clicking through on that if that’s what you are talking about?

Rayne– you put it just right.

I am beginning to have a serious “crush” on Turley– he seems to love our Constitution more than anyone on teevee. He cares very much and constantly reminds us and them of the outrageous behavior of bushco and the negligence of Congress.

Subscribing to complete self-reliance is nothing more than Norquistian libertarianism, leading to chaos born of “every man for himself” ethics (or lack thereof).

Um, sounds like Grover might have gone to Ferengi schools. They do “unfettered capitalism” and “every person for himself” pretty well. (They probably also be willing to sell their grandmothers if it would make a decent profit.)

OT: from politicalwire.com

A new “Affective Encryption Analysis” study conducted by Media Psychology Affiliates is predicting with “93% accuracy” that “a landslide victory for former Democratic Vice President Al Gore in the 2008 presidential election. However, should Hillary Clinton gain the Democratic nomination, any potential Republican challenger will win the presidency.”

Ed N Sted (66) — cool, we’re on the same page then.

What worries me is that a lot of folks will simply wait for life A.B.

Like my staunchly right-wing father-in-law who’s lost his religion; he won’t tell me that to my “angry liberal Bush-hating” face, but he’ll tell my independent spouse he’s lost faith in the administration. When we discussed his and his wife’s prescription coverage and Medicare D before the sign-up deadline, went over all the drugs that made up MIL’s $900/month prescription drug bill, he did tell me he sure hoped somebody would fix this mess in the near future.

He’s waiting for life A.B.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him his wife could be dead before that ever happens, especially if he votes for another Republican Congress.

jlr:

Yes, I agree with you. I think maybe I gave an incorrect impression of my views. Sorry.

We absolute should NOT abandon state and federal emergency preparedness. It can be improved — significantly, I believe.

It’s just that until we have a better system in place, piecemeal preparations on a smaller level will be better than depending solely on the government to get it right next time. We know it’s broken, and we know it won’t be fixed by this hurricane season.

JC at 74, see slow-typing me at 72. Thanks for asking.

Yes, I clicked on the link in the post. I’m not familiar with diaries and may be scanning right past it. Sorry for the trouble, but I’d really like to read. Thanks.

Somewhat OT

1) Do we think the Rolling Stone/Kennedy article thing may have been another hoax?

2) What’s going on with Jason Leapold outing his sources as he promised to do?

Am I being toally parnoid or could “someone” have gotten the bright idea to spike the rising power of the netroots by engaging in a series of hoaxs in order to prove that raw data is dangerous, therefore the “filtering” done by old media is really a good thing?

If this is the front edge of a discredit the netroots strategy, how can we counter it before the infection gets too deep?

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. (a favorite cliche of mine)

Or have i got too much tinfoil piled on my head?

curious at 85 — each of the diaries listed has a “There’s more” button. If you click on that for each of them, it will take you to the contents of the individual diary on Kos. That’s where all the information is. HTH!

Anyone else get the “net neutrality” email from the ebay ceo? A powerful ally?

And there is an awful (but unfortunately, truthy) article in newsweek on the pathetic Dems. I refuse to link to it, but it’s on msnbc.com.

Christy,
This is OT but re: lotuslanders’ link #47 on the Santorum nonsense-what exactly is the role of off duty cops in these situations, are they liable under 42 USC 1983 as they present themselves as “on duty” are they really off duty if they put on the official uniform?

Gotcha lotuslander, thanks.
If any of this is helpful great, if not, sorry for wasting your time. I have zero expertise in “fire-retardants,” but share your concerns about the stilts.
http://www.natfire.com/
I also have no idea about the cost/effectiveness of these products.

The wars we have fought and the WTC were not the worst injuries we have had. We face the worse injuries when we betray ourselves– it’s about a loss of faith… J.Turley

lhp 72

No sweat! :)

Egregious – as a rugger, looseheadprop’s used to getting thrown in the wrong direction . . . and the rest of us could stand to be thrown as well from time to time.

Keeps us just a little bit off balance, and as Susan Sarandon’s character said in Bull Durham, that can be a good thing . . .

Rayne – new hearings or replay? Agree or disagree with him on various points, Turley is very consistent and backs it all up. Too bad no one is doing a vote for the worst Congress in the last 60 years or so.

lhp/npr – I was thinking it was just me. The pressure must be on and hard. (ps -if only I’d realized at an earlier age that anarchist librarian was a career option)

For all the allocations of aid funds, the only effective distribution process has been to contractor cronies. See – it can be done, if there is motivation. *s*

More than that, I still don’t see any work on the issues relating to the barrier reef and how it will be addressed, which is not only the biggest job to tackle but the one with the largest long term impact. Who pumps money into short term rebuild projects without first making determinations about how the long term aspects will be handled? Like building a house with no foundation and deciding you’ll get around to that later.

Sections of Florida still look bad as well. On the insurance front, the overarching question of how they are going to address the storm waters/flood waters & storm damage/flood damage issue has been around and unresolved for awhile, and began building with the earlier Florida hurricanes. Still no coherent response on how the structure is going to be implemented, how the parameters will work, and how prudent people are going to be able to make sure all bases are covered (aside and apart from the true disaster relief). Instead, an ad hoc state response which, considering you are also dealing with a FEDERAL program, the FEMA flood insurance, is probably not the best response and it also does put insurers in a bind since they don’t know the rules.

OTOH – what competent person wants to work with and through an administration that needs a post-hurricane private issue dvd to understand that there is a problem? Or that has to make sure they work in some references to aggrandize the President’s handling of the WOT with every speech on benefits or response planning that they give?

Someone who posted a day or two ago had a link on their site to the Goebbels outline of effective propaganda. Granted, propaganda is propaganda, so it shouldn’t be surprising that it was so similar to the Rove/Mehlman approach through the last few years, still, it was a little creepy. Over and over the centralization, repetition and focus on “talking points” (although not called that) are highlighted.

It would seem that is why something like blogs are so destructive to the propaganda process. They are not nearly as subject to the standardization of message and centralized control. It also explains why the Rove approach was so much quicker to embrace right wing blogs – to keep them on talking point(s) and keep the message standardized. Creepy.

I heart those anarchist librarians more and more every day. If only I could do the bun thing without help.

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x11385.xml?ReleaseID=919

Link to new quinnipiac poll cited by Raw Story. Clusterfuck at 35% JAR- worst president in the world!

lhp:

1) Do we think the Rolling Stone/Kennedy article thing may have been another hoax?

Raw Story and Huff are still linking to the BradBlog story on this.

Unlike the Leopold Affair, we should know for certain on this by the end of the day.

Some people say that repressive ideology creates adverse weather patterns…But they could be wrong

;>)

angie — is it just me, or is that John Eastman from Chapman bucking for a job with this administration? Damn, that’s a nearly Yoo-like defense of the government’s oppression of reporters covering whistleblowers.

Now comes Turley to interject — thank you, thank you — regarding the loss of faith in government.

What exactly did the NYT release that was so damaging? There were no technical specs, no actual description of the spying involved, other than insinuation that every communication was being monitore, yes? How was this an actual leak of classified information? Did the public not already know that the NSA was spying on American citizens, and the NYT merely confirm it? We are beating a dead horse with these inquiries, wasting time on what is clearly overreach of the government; we are watching the government trying to change the damned subject.

OT: http://www.sendabrick.com

The Brick Bitch is on MSNBC right now touting the thousands of bricks they’ve sent already.

No question’s asked of who are the “we” as in “we were sitting around talking about what to do about immigration and border security.”

Interviewer ends with “We wish you success…always nice to see a grassroots group in action….”

Brickbats to MSNBC this morning for misleading hype and ignoring the obvious astroturf.

Qunnipiac poll result of 35% JAR is the lowest they have ever polled for Clusterfuck- unaccountably they conclude that “he may have hit bottom”- a sentiment that is not supported by any data.

Peterr (54):

I’m not talking about Mayfield of the Hurricane Center. I’m talking about Goldenberg at NOAA:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05…..mp;emc=rss

Kirsten whatsername – the one in charge of sending bricks to congress – just got a free 5 minute platform on MSNBC to talk about her “project.”

The idiot anchor ended by telling her “Good luck – it’s always good to see a grassroots group taking action.”

Just caught the last part of it, but it was obvious MSNBC was doing its part for the extreme rightwing cause.

I wonder if anyone caught the first part of it – and if MSNBC identified her correctly as a GOP operative.

And, I wonder if we can we demand equal time

John at 89 -

Thanks for that link.

Actually it’s not the stilts at issue — it’s more the wind-carried embers we fear. I’m in a hardwood hammock (that a few decades ago ran down the whole east side of Florida, I’m told, but has only vestiges left here and there anymore). The piney woods nearby are much scarier — dry pine goes up nearly explosively and pretty quickly generates its own wind.

You Californians, Texans and Okies know that drill too, I bleeve? Crikey.

Asked about his position on Roe v. Wade, Bush replied, “I don’t care how they evacuate New Orleans.”

The sad part is, most people, after the initial laughter, wonder if this is a true story.

What is known is the Administration is incompetent and doesn’t care.

And that is a true statement.

Clusterfuck speaking out in favor of his immigration plan. He’s pickin a fight with congressional goopers- if he loses- he proves his own impotence with his own party. There will be LOTS of pressure on goopers to allow Clusterfuck a victory on this one- but lots of pressure from the “base” to hold the line.

We’ve got a good gooper fight goin gang. Should be fun. It’s a lose/lose battle for em.

Ed at 95

If I had an explosive articcle like that and knew that the netroots were talking it up in anticipation, I would want to get it out as early on a Thursday as possible so that it could get buzz in the Sunday papers and on the talk shows.

A few years ago I went to candidate training at Yale (which I heartily recommend) and there I learne dthat if you don’t get your newsevetn tot happen before 3 pm on a Thursday, you have missed the window for the weekend (unless it is something so huge that it is a “stop the presses” kind of moment)

That’s why they release all the news they want to hide during the “Friday dumps”

Not for nothing, but as a news outlet itself. Rolling Stone is well aware of this. If they had it up first thing in the AM, the story could have been gaining momentum all day to day and possible gained a better position in the Sunday papaers and on the talk shows.

The later in the day it is posted, the less RS stands to gain.

So, I am very suspicious/ paranoid/ well dressed in foil.

ain’t just you, Rayne– Abu Wannabe Eastman.

My entire family of origin lives in NOLA.
My parents lost their home. They are in their late seventies and have relocated to Mississippi much to my mother’s dismay. Their entire income is from a small office building in Metairie. The insurance company has been out five times with adjusters and is refusing to repair the roof adequately. My sister can’t figure out when or where to move. My brother’s home was totally untouched. His business is in my father’s building but his inventory was safe. You would think he was one of the lucky ones. In reality his home and business may soon be worthless and, of course, he will not have coverage for that. He said that his life is like the movie Ground Hog’s Day only the ending is not happy. He works 12 hours a day trying to save his business and “do the right thing”. These are people who have played by the rules (lesson there) and now have a full understanding of the corrupt nature of this government. BILLIONS spent on the Gulf Coast and in Iraq but nothing seen by the folks at the bottom of the corporate food chain. The suicide rate is way up in NOLA and I am worried about my siblings.
The description of these circumstances does do justice to the reality of life in LA and MS.
I hate George Bush and Dick Cheney with all my being.
The damage and cruelity that they have done and are doing is incalculable.

Meant to say:
The description of these circumstances does do NOT justice to the reality of life in LA and MS.

LHP,

I believe Mr. Wenner is waiting for the Left Coast to rise and shine before releasing the RFK, Jr. article

and yeah, egregious, John Casper sits very high on my list of folks making me glad I chose this side. (sorry if you’re here and now embarassed JC,)

Something has gone alarmingly wrong in Afghanistan, previously touted as the Bush administration’s one quasi-successful venture in nation-building. Afghanistan’s rising carnage still has not reached Iraq-like levels. But the trend is running in decidedly the wrong direction. Poorly thought-out American policies are at least partly to blame.

(From NYT editorial now up and running)

Whenever I watch any of the coverage of the “recovery” effort, I am simply overwhelmed by the magnitude and duration of what the people affected by the hurricanes have had to deal with. I’m trying hard to think of one thing the government handled well, and I am at a loss. I know it was a monumental event, but I still have trouble rationalizing the level of incompetence and bureaucratic stupidity that has impeded more than it has helped in the recovery effort.

This morning I heard everyone from the Army Corps of Engineers to the mayors of a couple parishes say that the levees are back to where they were pre-Katrina. What does that mean, given that the pre-Katrina levees didn’t protect the city?

What really makes me angry is that, nine months later, the emergency response structure is no closer to being better able to handle future disasters. They can talk all they want about whatever internal changes they’ve made, but I keep thinking about how they thought they had a good system in place right up until Katrina hit. It’s like everything else in this administration – they just move things around a bit, change one face for another, and expect magic to happen. The only magic that happens is the disappearing of the money – where does it go, and what good has it done? No one knows, but look for some of it in the pockets of contractors who overcharged the government.

This isn’t just incompetence, in my opinion. I’m sure many of the people in place are competent to some degree or another, but they don’t understand government, and they don’t know how to make it work. You don’t use the country’s emergency response structure to reward campaign contributors or big fundraisers unless they are otherwise qualified.

This is sure to be in the EPU zone, but I just had to rant a bit.

margaret 48,
I live in a very modest house that was damaged in the storms we had in 2004 (Ohio, it rained for a month following in late summer) and never repaired. Insurance didn’t cover it and FEMA didn’t either. We need a roof, we have part of the dining room ceiling that fell in and has plywood and roofjacks holding it up, can’t get a loan, can’t get an urban renewal loan till 2008.
I use a fan a lot and buckets. And antihistamines.

lotuslander @ 20 and John Casper at 27(?):

I read egregious’s comments as:
“The real storm will be when the voters who were GOP and harmed by the storm come BACK to the polls and kick these jerks out.”

I read those GOP voters as empowered with the vote, and a new opinion. Not as to blame, or suffering for their last vote. Never occurred to me to read egregious’s post as a “they got theirs” sort of post. Interesting how different people can read the same thing completely differently! Has to do with point of view, our own individual experiences, I guess.

video: I was astounded at how the damage just goes on and on and on…

Ever since those levees were breached and the reports came back about how poorly constructed they were, I’ve been waiting for the phone call for us to go down and investigate. Either that or evidence that our competitors are down there working. We offer a very specialized form of drilling which is instrumental in quickly testing soil conditions.

The call hasn’t come and our competitors aren’t there either.

Conclusion: the Army Corps and everybody else involved in fixing the levee system are inept, incompetent and aren’t doing a damn thing.

Oh, and while we are at it how ’bout if we END THE DAMN WAR!!!

New thread from Christy—Zombie Journalism

Curious Jim @ 100

Thanks for the link. Goldenberg isn’t the head of NOAA, but part of the research division.

I don’t know what to think of the end of that NYT piece. Apparently Goldenberg has previously expressed problems with linking increased hurricane intensity with global warming, and that’s probably why the Times went to him for a comment. Once he admitted that he hasn’t read the new studies, however, you would think that the Times would either (a) ask him to read them and then get back to them with a comment, or (b) get a comment from someone who HAD read the reports. (Even ask Goldenberg “Could you suggest a colleague that we might talk to who shares you opinion, who might have read these studies already?”)

In science, it’s called “peer review” and that’s why the folks from Purdue and MIT put their research out there. “Read it, and let us know what you think.” Along with that goes the implied “if you don’t read the report, you don’t give a review.” Too bad the Times doesn’t seem to understand that.

What’s next? Movie reviews from folks who never saw the flick? Restaurant reviews from people who never eat out? Please.

National weather service is predicting an “active” hurricane season this year. When I read their understated stuff, I listen.

http://www.weather.gov/

Follow the top link to the full article.
-sofistic

lhp:

I hear what you are saying and stand in the shade of your tin foil hat. I does have the “too good to be true” feel about it — like the Leopold piece.

Check out the various buzz about this piece:

http://www.technorati.com/sear…..002891.htm

I visited NOLA a few months ago, saw the destruction in Midcity, Lakeside, Gentilly, the Lower Ninth Ward, and bought Chris Rose’s “1 Dead in the Attic” while I was down there. It is an amazing read. Highly recommended. Thanks for highlighting this book.

Mary McCurnin at 108–your story is heartbreaking. I hope you will write again with updates. There’s no substitute for hearing from people who are directly experiencing the pitiful response our government is providing.

I just got back from a trip last weekend to NOLA to see my brother, who lives there. Saw copies of 1 Dead in Attic for sale everywhere. The city is moving again but it’s still a shadow of its former self. While I was there, the Times-Picayune reported on two more “Katrina-related” bodies found.

I did go with my brother to see the Lakeview (where his grilfriend’s house was totalled)and Lower Ninth Ward areas, and they’re both highly disturbing. These are huge neighborhoods with virtually no people in them, like a scene from The Day After. I felt guilty about being there, but I think every American ought to see them. It’s been 10 MONTHS since the hurricane, and these areas are still devastated. The stories my brother tells about constant battles with insurers, utilities, FEMA, etc., etc. are absolutely infuriating.

The folks I saw there are defiantly determined to rebuild, but there’s a feeling in the air like, “one more bad season and I’m out of here”. We all need to pray for them.

Christy:

I don’t know if it’s just my ISP or what, but the scouting reporting on Scout is a blank slate from where I type: the link to that video comes up a blank; and your link to the TPM Cafe produces a post by one Lois Dunn.

Has Cheney gotten inside my computer again, or what?

Chris Rose is the WORST spokesperson for New Orleans imaginable during this ordeal. He’s not even a native. The fact that the Times-Pic gives him such a high-profile platform to display his yuppie douchebaggery is a crime against the city’s citizenry.

I’m headed to NOLA for 4th of July weekend — gf has a house in the FQ. We will have a car for a quick getaway if necessary.

Chimp could move himself and the dogs into a Gulf Coast White House for the season. It would be a real time saver. No more shutting down air space for fly overs, no more photo ops with dirt. He could be right in the thick of it, in the fox holes, as Nixon once said.

Keep up the good reportage on the ongoing neglect, Christy. This is the ongoing shame of the nation and the most visible evidence of its failed leadership.

This is the final outcome of the GOP’s Southern Strategy.

I was sick tuesday and so was at home to see Oprah do a fearmongering show on birdflu. The message was: after Katrina, you are on your own, do not expect the government to help you period. So big money media is passing along the Bush swan song- we’re on our own, don’t know where, don’t know when…( remember that was the last song in Dr Strangelove) Make sure the american people expect nothing from their incompetent money swilling government. The radical right has normalized incompetent government that owes it’s citizens nothing.

Hi, I wanted to post the link to Chris Rose’s site for his book. (author of 1 Dead in Attic). Proceeds from every sale of this book will be shared with ARTDOCS and the Tipitina’s Foundation — rebuilding New Orleans, one song at a time.

jeffrey, you couldn’t be more wrong about Chris Rose. He is absolutely marvelous and the city loves him. Try going to a book signing — you won’t even get close enough to see him. He has helped people in New Orleans to keep up the spirit and ALWAYS elicits a smile or two with an outloud chuckle in every column. He is devoted to New Orleans. You are WRONG.

He is devoted to yuppie bullshit. Rose is the worst thing about that paper.. and that’s saying something. Everything he writes is self-congratulatory faux hipster poseurism at best and seriously damaging to what is left of authentic New Orleans at worst. Remember.. before the storm.. this guy’s beat was Hollywood gossip and American Idol coverage. Writing about Katrina’s aftermath has been a nice boost to his career. I’m sure he’ll get a nice raise from his next employer when he decides to leave New Orleans for “somewhere safer” in the next six months or so.

It sounds to me like you really haven’t read Chris Rose’s columns or his book.

Unfortunately I have read him. Go back and click the link I posted a few comments ago and I’ll elaborate for you. I’m not trying to be mean.. I just.. really hate Chris Rose.

Thank you for blogging about New Orleans. I’m living and blogging from New Orleans, and we have our good days and our bad days. Give us better levees and I think we can do the rest.

It sounds funny, but your friend who got the rejection letter from FEMA should be happy. It’s a good thing as I explained in my blog back in January in my post:
http://timsnamelessblog.blogsp…..rwork.html

Thanks again! Peace,

Tim