HURRICANE KATRINA
Thursday, September 9, 2005.
READ THIS: I'm getting a lot of email about people who can't log into the FEMA site. This is NOT the FEMA site. I have no idea what is wrong with the FEMA site. I have no idea what you are doing wrong. If you can't figure it out on your own, then call the 1-800 number: 1-800-621-FEMA (3362)
Found this on the AP:
Carpenter Alan Perkins walks past a sign put up by a resident living in a tented city in Bay St. Louis, Miss., on Thursday. The storm victim put up the sign after she called four times for FEMA's assistance and was always prompted to leave a message.
That's about what I get from FEMA. They did send me a brochure and information packet when I registered on the website, though. At least they could have made the paper soft enough to wipe my butt with, but no such luck.
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I'm starting to get really tired of hearing about the failures of government to handle the aftermath of Katrina. The failure is that we don't have a standing army online 24/7 waiting to drop out of airplanes into a disaster area with enough supplies to feed, water, clothe, and shelter every man, woman and child in the country who might need that aid in the next 60 seconds. How realistic is that?
The area affected by Katrina is the size of England. If you were the president and you told your generals, "I want to invade England in 2 days.", it just isn't something that's humanly possible.
It's not a failure of any one person. It's a logistical failure. The ultimate failure is that there are a lot of people who expect government to take care of them, and make no provision to take care of themselves.
Yeah, I know that some people are poor. I know that some people don't have transportation. Last time I checked, though, those weren't the problems of government. Sometimes the unfit don't survive. That's the law of nature and every one of us has seen it in action. Get over it.
We are all victims of our own choices. That has nothing to do with race, class, or economic position. Bobby stayed in New Orleans. He is fairly well off economically. He eventually got out, but he endured days of various horrors without food or water. Bobby is pretty smart, but he made a bad choice and paid for it.
My next door neighbors - the Paladinos - went down and stayed at the Fairmont. They are really well off financially, and they are high class people. I don't expect I'll ever see them alive again. The last I heard they were put out on the street with their 40 year old Downs Syndrome child without any supply or transportation. They were put out after they had been in the hotel for three days and nights without food or water. They were both in poor health to begin with. As there were many reports of death there, I don't expect they made it, and I have a great fear for their son who was always very kind to me and who I liked very much. They made a bad choice.
Sometimes it just sucks to have that kind of karma.
Lots of people want to point fingers and see heads roll, but the truth is that New Orleans has been the 'nigger' of the country for a long time. At least since reconstruction. Now that the Yankee's gas prices are going through the roof, they might figure out which side the bread is buttered on.
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Hmmm... Sorry about that...
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I'm starting to get tired of the media and some black leaders whipping up the racial stuff. White folks lost homes just like black folks. Folks is folks. Get over it people.
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This is fairly shocking, at least to me.
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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 firearms, from civilians in preparation for a mass forced evacuation of the residents still living here. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Police officers looking for survivors today in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. No civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to carry pistols, shotguns or other firearms, said P. Edwin Compass III, the superintendent of police. "Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons," he said.
But that order apparently does not apply to hundreds of security guards hired by businesses and some wealthy individuals to protect property. The guards, employees of private security companies like Blackwater, openly carry M-16's and other assault rifles. Mr. Compass said that he was aware of the private guards, but that the police had no plans to make them give up their weapons.
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I really don't see how this is different than any other kind of looting.
Homeland Security in action. Here's a video link:
On O'Reiley they had a video of local police really going after an old woman who had a revolver in her hand . I'm surprised they did not break some of her bones. They took her to the ground in a surprise attack when she least expected it. She did not point the gun at them. It looked like she was just stating that she would be O.K.
So, am I getting this correctly? NATO troops on U.S. soil. Mexican troops on U.S. soil. House to house warrantless searches seizing all firearms? Sheesh.
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By Timothy Dwyer and Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, September 9, 2005; Page A01
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 8 -- Outside Kajun's Pub, between the relatively dry French Quarter and the heavily flooded Ninth Ward, bar owner JoAnn Guidos loaded up her 1991 Ford Econoline van with clothing, liquor and other necessities Thursday morning. After holding out for 10 days, Guidos and her friends were finally leaving New Orleans and heading to high ground.
The beer was still cold, thanks to a working generator, and hopes for customers were strong as the flood-ravaged city fills with thirsty soldiers and emergency workers.
But on Wednesday night, Guidos said, armed federal agents identifying themselves as U.S. marshals confiscated her weapons and ordered her and six friends to leave by noon Thursday.
"When you get 15 M-16s pointed at you and they line you up against the wall, it's kind of scary," said Guidos, 55.
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3:02 P.M. - (AP) -- The famed aquarium in New Orleans is sending surviving creatures to facilities in Dallas, Galveston and Monterey, California.
The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas wasn't badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
But officials say the loss of electricity and other storm impact on the complex knocked out the life-support systems. Most of its six-thousand animals died. But aquarium staff managed to save sea otters, penguins and other birds, some fish and a 250-pound green sea turtle named "Midas."
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Man... And I thought cleaning out my fish tank was nasty...
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I just love dealing with FEMA. I mean, the web site is so convient. I even get a nice message:
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Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
Please contact the server administrator, tdladmin@fema.gov and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.
More information about this error may be available in the server error log.
Apache/2.0.43 Server at www1.disasteraid.fema.gov Port 443
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Anything I might have done that may have caused the error? Um... OK... So now this is *my* fault. Sheesh.
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9:15 PM
We had a nice dinner tonight, but didn't do much exciting today. More phone calls, more dealing with various entities. I managed to go to the post office and send out a few things. I've gotten no less than four different pieces of mail from Louisiana Unemployment. It's nice to see my tax dollars and unemployment insurance payments being wasted so efficiently.
I think I'm getting bitter. I need something to do to change my outlook. I think I'll go buy supplies to fix my roof tomorrow.
What I really want to do is sit naked in my own living room, eating junk food, and watching bad science fiction shows. Alas...
