Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Monday, September 05, 2005
Katrina deaths = casualties of war...plus: cops loot, Huey Long, Mike Davis, & replacing Rehnquist
“FEMA had to compete and had to help finance the creation of the Department of Homeland Security,” says Eric Tolbert, a former top disaster response official in the Bush administration. “They were taking chunks of money out of the budget. We always referred to it as taxes.”
(Another casualty of war in the Gulf)
June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: “It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that’s the price we pay.”
June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes.
(excerpted from: http://www.counterpunch.org/breitrose09032005.html)
Wait...there’s more:
As the National Guard delivered food to the New Orleans convention center yesterday, American Red Cross officials said that federal emergency management authorities would not allow them to do the same.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm
Vital measures to protect New Orleans from “catastrophic” hurricane damage were scrapped by the Bush administration to pay for its wars on terror and in Iraq, despite official warnings of impending disaster.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article310195.ece
(Sent to me by Greg Elich)
So, let me see if I’ve got this right: In order to pretend they’re keeping the homeland secure, the CEOs of America, Inc. have to divert funds from programs that might actually keep the homeland secure.
Now, I understand…
Two final questions:
1. When does the Katrina Commission convene?
2. How long till they string a “Mission Accomplished” sign across the Superdome?
(This post is presented in solidarity with the Progressive Blogger Union. For more information, please visit: http://www.pbu.blogspot.com.)
Tag: PBU36
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Huey Long says:
“Screw this! They’re lying! The president’s lying! The rich fat cats that are drowning you will do it again and again and again. They lead you into imperialist wars for profit, they take away your schools and your hope and when you complain, they blame Blacks and Jews and immigrants. Then they push your kids under. I say, Kick’m in the ass and take your rightful share!”
Mike Davis says:
“New Orleans had spent decades preparing for inevitable submersion by the storm surge of a class-five hurricane. Civil defense officials conceded they had ten thousand body bags on hand to deal with the worst-case scenario. But no one seemed to have bothered to devise a plan to evacuate the city’s poorest or most infirm residents.”
(WRITTEN 9-24-04)
Full article:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=6292
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In case you missed it…
Here’s some video of the police looting a Walmart in New Orleans:
http://www.zippyvideos.com/8911023771013466/countdown-looting-in-walmart.
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Judge Dread is dead
Rehnquist dies and sets off predictable cries of horror at the prospect of Dubya selecting two Supreme Court justices (as if Kerry or Gore could have been trusted with the task.) Renowned political thinker—and wrestling aficionado—Nick Mamatas, summed up my feelings before I even had time to do so myself when he was asked: “Why is this a bad thing? They’d have to work hard to find someone worse.”
Nick replied: “Oh, there are plenty of choices. One might suspect that Bush would choose an outright lunatic in order to make Roberts seem more palatable for the O’Connor slot, then after El Loony is shouted down, bring in a Rehnquist clone for that seat.”
Nick the “Nihilistic Kid” can be found here:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/nihilistic_kid
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Chris Floyd and John Elmer on Gorilla Radio...8:00 (EST) tonight…
Gorilla Radio: http://cfuv.uvic.ca
Floyd: http://www.chris-floyd.com
Elmer: http://www.fromoccupiedpalestine.org
Copyright © 2005-2007 Mickey Z.
