Re: [Fwd: The Mind Continues to Boggle]

In article
<PainInAss__williamwag-4837C5.20123407092005@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
William Wagner <PainInAss__williamwag@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> In article <11huvk265u88i31@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> "Bob (this one)" <Bob@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > -------- Original Message --------
> > Subject: The Mind Continues to Boggle
> > Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 18:47:02 -0400
> > From: Josh Hill <usereplyto@xxxxxxxxx>
> > Reply-To: joshuaphill@xxxxxxxxx
> > Newsgroups: misc.writing
> >
> > 'Others who went out of their way to offer help were turned down, such
> > as Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who told reporters his city had
> > offered emergency, medical and technical help as early as last Sunday
> > to FEMA but was turned down. Only a single tank truck was requested,
> > Daley said. Red tape kept the American Ambulance Association from
> > sending 300 emergency vehicles from Florida to the flood zone,
> > according to former senator John Breaux (D-La.) They were told to get
> > permission from the General Services Administration. "GSA said they
> > had to have FEMA ask for it," Breaux told CNN. "As a result they
> > weren't sent".
> >
> > [ . . . ]
> >
> > ' "It's such an irony I hate to say it, but we have less capability
> > today than we did on September 11," said a veteran FEMA official
> > involved in the hurricane response. "We are so much less than what we
> > were in 2000," added another senior FEMA official. "We've lost a lot
> > of what we were able to do then".'
> >
> > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301
> > 65
> > 3_pf.html
>
> Total control yields total paralysis.
>
> Perhaps enabling local response is the way to go.
>
> If you see a problem fix the MTF.
>
> Bill
Last post on this disaster.

Once again Money talks.

Please vote with your heart in 3.5 years. Meanwhile congressional
stuff is sooner.

Bill who believes we get what we deserve.

..........................................



New Orleans Begins Confiscating Firearms as Water Recedes
By ALEX BERENSON
and TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Published: September 8, 2005
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 8 - Waters were receding across this flood-beaten
city today as police officers began confiscating weapons, including
legally registered weapons, from civilians in preparation for a mass
forced evacuation of the residents still living here.No civilians in New
Orleans will be allowed to carry pistols, shotguns, or other firearms of
any kind, said P. Edwin Compass, the superintendent of police. "Only law
enforcement are allowed to have weapons," he said.
But that order apparently does not apply to the hundreds of security
guards whom businesses and some wealthy individuals have hired to
protect their property. The guards, who are civilians working for
private security firms like Blackwater, are openly carrying M-16's and
other assault rifles. Mr. Compass said he was aware of the private
guards, but that the police had no plans to make them give up their
weapons.
Nearly two weeks after the floods began, New Orleans has turned into an
armed camp, patrolled by thousands of local, state, and federal law
enforcement officers, as well as National Guard troops and active-duty
soldiers. While armed looters roamed unchecked last week, the city is
now calm. No arrests were made on Wednesday night or this morning, and
police received only 10 calls for service, a police spokesman said.
The city's slow recovery is continuing on other fronts as well, local
officials said at a press conference late this morning. Pumping stations
are now operating across much of the city, and many taps and fire
hydrants have water pressure. Also, tests have shown no evidence of
cholera or other dangerous diseases in flooded areas, though health
officials have said the waters contain levels of E. coli bacteria and
lead 10 times higher than what is considered safe.
Efforts to recover corpses have also started, although only a handful of
bodies have been recovered so far.
In Washington, the House approved $51.8 billion for relief efforts, the
second disbursement since the storm devastated the Gulf Coast on Aug.
29. The Senate is expected to approve the funding bill this evening. The
money would include $50 billion for FEMA, $1.4 billion for the
Department of Defense and an additional $400 million for the Army Corps
of Engineers. The request follows a $10.5 billion package that President
Bush signed on Friday and is intended to address the immediate needs of
survivors.
With pumps running and the weather here remaining hot and dry, water has
visibly receded across much of New Orleans. Formerly flooded streets are
now passable, although covered with leaves, tree branches and mud.
Still, many neighborhoods in the northern half of New Orleans remain
under 10 feet of water, and Mr. Compass said today that the city's plans
for a forced evacuation remain in effect because of the danger of
disease and fires.
Mr. Compass said he could not disclose when New Orleans residents might
be forced to leave en masse, but other police officers and law
enforcement officials said the city planned to start as early as tonight.
The city's Police Department and federal law enforcement officers from
agencies like the United States Marshals Service will lead the
evacuation, Mr. Compass said. Officers will search houses in both dry
and flooded neighborhoods, and no one will be allowed to stay, he said.
Many of the residents still in the city said they did not understand why
the city remained intent on forcing them out.
"I know the risks," said Renee de Pontchieux, as she sat on a stool
outside Kajun's Pub in the working-class Bywater neighborhood east of
downtown. "We used to think we lived in America - now we're not so sure.
Why should we allow this government to chase us out and allow people
from outside to rebuild our homes? We want to rebuild our homes."
But Ms. De Pontchieux said she was resigned to being evacuated if the
police insisted. "It would be foolish" to fight, she said.
This afternoon, President Bush announced a series of measures intended
to make it easier for evacuees to receive state and federal aid, like
Medicaid and food stamps, to make the aid as "simple as possible to
collect."
"There will be many difficult days ahead, especially as we recover those
who did not survive the storm," he said. The president declared Friday a
National Day of Prayer and Remembrance.
Vice President *** Cheney surveyed damaged neighborhoods in the Gulf
Coast region this morning, and pledged that the federal government would
help rebuild the devastated area.
Mr. Cheney visited Gulfport, Miss., and New Orleans, where flood waters
are growing increasingly fetid and thousands of people are still
insisting on staying, despite the evacuation order.

--
Garden Shade Zone 5 S Jersey USA in a Japanese Jungle Manner.39.6376 -75.0208
This article is posted under fair use rules in accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and is strictly for the educational
and informative purposes. This material is distributed without profit.
Moose I'm trying to understand why Kamikaze pilots wear helments?
.