KATRINA NEWS & STORIES

More than 95 percent of Gulf oil production lost

8/30/2005, 2:24 p.m. CT By ALAN SAYRE The Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — As oil prices flirted with the $70 per barrel mark, more than 95 percent of the Gulf of Mexico's normal daily oil production was shut in Tuesday because of Hurricane Katrina, a federal agency said.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service said 645 of the 819 staffed production platforms in the Gulf were shut down, delaying production of 1.43 million barrels of oil. On a normal day, the Gulf produces 1.5 million barrels.

The shutdowns also delayed production of 8.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas, or 88 percent of the Gulf's normal daily gas production of 10 billion cubic feet, the MMS reported from a survey of 68 companies.

Since Katrina first threatened Gulf platforms, 4.63 million barrels of oil and 25.4 billion cubic feet of gas have been delayed from reaching market.

Storm-related production delays in the Gulf, which accounts for about a third of nation's domestic oil production, have figured increasingly into energy price jumps. In July, three Gulf storms interrupted production.

Hurricane Emily delayed production of 240,024 barrels of oil and 1.58 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Hurricane Dennis interrupted the production of 5.29 million barrels of oil and 23.3 billion cubic feet of gas. Tropical Storm Emily delayed production of 312,127 barrels of oil and 1.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas, the MMS said.

Last fall's Hurricane Ivan damaged seven platforms, 100 underwater pipelines and resulted in the loss of nearly 44 million barrels of oil production between September 2004 and February 2005.

The Gulf normally produces 547.5 million barrels of oil and 3.65 trillion cubic feet of gas a year.

On Tuesday, the MMS also said 90 drilling rigs exploring for petroleum in the Gulf were evacuated.

On the Net: U.S. Minerals Management Service: http://www.mms.gov (http://www.mms.gov)

White House to Tap Oil Reserves A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP August31,20058:21a.m.
WASHINGTON -- Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman said Wednesday the Bush administration has decided to release oil from federal petroleum reserves to help refiners affected by Hurricane Katrina.

"In a word. It is going to be done," Mr. Bodman said during a CNBC interview.

The move, which was expected later in the day, is designed to give refineries in the Gulf Coast area a temporary supply of crude oil to take the place of interrupted shipments from tankers or offshore oil platforms affected by the storm.Mr. Bodman also rejected the idea of imposing a nationwide cap on the price of gasoline. "I don't think you'd find a lot of support for that," Mr. Bodman said on CNN. No one has asked him for one, he said.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service said Tuesday that 95% of the Gulf of Mexico's oil output was out of service. Oil prices surged back above $70 in European markets on Wednesday but slipped quickly to $69.56 after disclosure of the decision involving the release of supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Eight refineries were shut down due to Katrina -- half of them producing gasoline.

The government's emergency petroleum stockpile -- nearly 700 million barrels of oil stored in underground salt caverns along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast -- was established to cushion oil markets during energy disruptions.

The production and distribution of oil and gas remained severely disrupted by the shutdown of a key oil import terminal off the coast of Louisiana and by the Gulf region's widespread loss of electricity, which is needed to power pipelines and refineries.

President Bush, meanwhile, was returning to Washington on Wednesday to oversee the federal response to Katrina. He planned to chair a meeting of a White House task force set up to coordinate federal efforts, across more than a dozen agencies, to assist hurricane victims.

Mr. Bush also was expected to visit the ravaged region by week's end, but details on that trip were in flux as the White House worked to make sure a presidential tour would not disrupt the relief and response efforts.

Mr. Bodman said the decision to release reserves was made late Tuesday and was too early to say how much oil would be released. He said the reserve was contained in five sites, four of which are operative. The site in New Orleans is not.

He said his department was dealing with inquiries from three companies about getting oil from the reserve. On Monday, Citgo Petroleum Corp. asked for 250,000 to 500,000 barrels to ensure that its Lake Charles, La., refinery doesn't run out.

"There is an issue with respect to getting electrical power so that we can operate the various pipe lines that supply fuel to the rest of the country," he said, noting that these facilities "deliver finished products, diesel and gasoline, to the Northeast and to the Southeast."

"Our job is to get the infrastructure going again," Mr. Bodman said. "To the extent that we have delays in getting these pipelines functioning, then were are going to have the potential for gasoline shortages." Mr. Bodman said the administration will "do everything we can do to get fuel available to the rest of the country."

Of tapping the SPR, Mr. Bodman said: "Technically it's called an exchange of oil that we deliver today and that we will get oil back plus some interest, if you will, in the future. We will be tapping that today."

Interviewed on the Fox News Channel, Mr. Bodman was asked if price gouging is taking place.

"I would like to believe that in this time of crisis that all of us are going to pull together to try to deal with this very difficult circumstance and situation that's confronting not just this region, but this country," he replied. "We're hopeful of that, but if we have some bad actors, we have a mechanism to deal with it."

Mayor: Katrina May Have Killed Thousands
Aug 31 2:38 PM US/Eastern

http://img.breitbart.com/images/ap.gif
By BRETT MARTEL class=bylineAssociated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS
The mayor said Wednesday that Hurricane Katrina probably killed thousands of people in New Orleans.

"We know there is a significant number of dead bodies in the water," and others dead in attics, Mayor Ray Nagin said. Asked how many, he said: "Minimum, hundreds. Most likely, thousands."

The frightening prediction came as Army engineers struggled to plug New Orleans' breached levees with giant sandbags and concrete barriers, while authorities drew up plans to move some 25,000 storm refugees out of the city to Houston in a huge bus convoy and all but abandon flooded-out New Orleans.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco said the situation was desperate and there was no choice but to clear out.

"The logistical problems are impossible and we have to evacuate people in shelters," the governor said. "It's becoming untenable. There's no power. It's getting more difficult to get food and water supplies in, just basic essentials."

The Pentagon, meanwhile, began mounting one of the largest search-and- rescue operations in U.S. history, sending four Navy ships to the Gulf Coast with drinking water and other emergency supplies, along with the hospital ship USNS Comfort, search helicopters and elite SEAL water- rescue teams. American Red Cross workers from across the country converged on the devastated region in the agency's biggest-ever relief operation.

The death toll from Hurricane Katrina has reached at least 110 in Mississippi alone. But Louisiana has put aside the counting of the dead to concentrate on rescuing the living, many of whom were still trapped on rooftops and in attics.

A full day after the Big Easy thought it had escaped Katrina's full fury, two levees broke and spilled water into the streets Tuesday, swamping an estimated 80 percent of the bowl-shaped, below-sea-level city, inundating miles and miles of homes and rendering much of New Orleans uninhabitable for weeks or months.

"We are looking at 12 to 16 weeks before people can come in," Nagin said on ABC's "Good Morning America, "and the other issue that's concerning me is we have dead bodies in the water. At some point in time the dead bodies are going to start to create a serious disease issue."

With the streets awash and looters brazenly cleaning out stores, authorities planned to move at least 25,000 of New Orlean's storm refugees _ most of them taking shelter in the dank and sweltering Superdome _ to the Astrodome in Houston in a vast exodus by bus.

Around midday, officials with the state and the Army Corps of Engineers said the water levels between the city and Lake Pontchartrain had equalized, and water had stopped rising in New Orleans, and even appeared to be falling, at least in some places. But the danger was far from over.

The Army Corps of Engineers said it planned to use heavy-duty Chinook helicopters to drop 3,000-pound sandbags Wednesday into the 500-foot gap in the failed floodwall. But the agency said it was having trouble getting the sandbags and dozens of 15-foot highway barriers to the site because the city's waterways were blocked by loose barges, boats and large debris.

Officials said they were also looking at a more audacious plan: finding a barge to plug the 500-foot hole.

"The challenge is an engineering nightmare," the governor said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

As New Orleans descended deeper into chaos, hundreds of people wandered aimlessly up and down Interstate 10, pushing shopping carts, laundry racks, anything they could find to carry their belongings. Dozens of fishermen from up to 200 miles away floated in on caravans of boats to pull residents out of flooded neighborhoods.

On some of the few roads that were still passable, people waved at passing cars with empty water jugs, begging for relief. Hundreds of people appeared to have spent the night on a crippled highway.

In one east New orleans neighborhood, refugees were being loaded onto the backs of moving vans like cattle, and in one case emergency workers with a sledgehammer and an ax broke open the back of a mail truck and used it to ferry sick and elderly residents.

Police officers were asking residents to give up any guns they had before they boarded buses and trucks because police desperately needed the firepower: Some officers who had been stranded on the roof of a motel said they were being shot at overnight.

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Storm economic impact seen modest-WHouse Aug 31 11:57 AM US/Eastern

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Katrina is likely to have only a modest impact on the U.S. economy as long as the hit to the energy sector proves transitory, White House economic adviser Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.

"Clearly, it's going to affect the Gulf Coast economy quite a bit," Bernanke told CNBC television. "That's going to be enough to have at least a noticeable or at least some impact on the aggregate (national) data.

"Looking forward ... reconstruction is going to add jobs and growth to the economy," he added. "As long as we find that the energy impact is only temporary and there's not permanent damage to the infrastructure, my guess is that the effects on the overall economy will be fairly modest."

He added that most indications suggested the effect on the energy sector would indeed be temporary.

Bernanke, chairman of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, said the administration's decision to release oil from emergency stockpiles should be helpful.

"There are some petroleum refineries that don't have crude and by allowing them to draw from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve they will be able to produce more gasoline," he said.

Bernanke said the bond market's reaction to the hurricane, pushing market-set interest rates lower, showed more concern about the potential hit to growth than to the risk of a broad inflation surge due to soaring energy prices.

"I think that is a vote of confidence in the Federal Reserve," the former Fed governor said. "People are confident that inflation will be low despite these shocks to gasoline and oil prices."

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"No One Can Say they Didn't See it Coming" By Sidney Blumenthal
In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.

Biblical in its uncontrolled rage and scope, Hurricane Katrina has left millions of Americans to scavenge for food and shelter and hundreds to thousands reportedly dead. With its main levee broken, the evacuated city of New Orleans has become part of the Gulf of Mexico. .....................................

A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how New Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but the Bush administration ordered that the research not be undertaken. After a flood killed six people in 1995, Congress created the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, in which the Corps of Engineers strengthened and renovated levees and pumping stations. In early 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S., including a terrorist attack on New York City. But by 2003 the federal funding for the flood control project essentially dried up as it was drained into the Iraq war. In 2004, the Bush administration cut funding requested by the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent. Additional cuts at the beginning of this year (for a total reduction in funding of 44.2 percent since 2001) forced the New Orleans district of the Corps to impose a hiring freeze. The Senate had debated adding funds for fixing New Orleans' levees, but it was too late.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune, which before the hurricane published a series on the federal funding problem, and whose presses are now underwater, reported online: "No one can say they didn't see it coming ... Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions are being asked about the lack of preparation."

The Bush administration's policy of turning over wetlands to developers almost certainly also contributed to the heightened level of the storm surge. In 1990, a federal task force began restoring lost wetlands surrounding New Orleans. Every two miles of wetland between the Crescent City and the Gulf reduces a surge by half a foot. Bush had promised "no net loss" of wetlands, a policy launched by his father's administration and bolstered by President Clinton. But he reversed his approach in 2003, unleashing the developers. The Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency then announced they could no longer protect wetlands unless they were somehow related to interstate commerce.

In response to this potential crisis, four leading environmental groups conducted a joint expert study, concluding in 2004 that without wetlands protection New Orleans could be devastated by an ordinary, much less a Category 4 or 5, hurricane. "There's no way to describe how mindless a policy that is when it comes to wetlands protection," said one of the report's authors. The chairman of the White House's Council on Environmental Quality dismissed the study as "highly questionable," and boasted, "Everybody loves what we're doing."

"My administration's climate change policy will be science based," President Bush declared in June 2001. But in 2002, when the Environmental Protection Agency submitted a study on global warming to the United Nations reflecting its expert research, Bush derided it as "a report put out by a bureaucracy," and excised the climate change assessment from the agency's annual report. The next year, when the EPA issued its first comprehensive "Report on the Environment," stating, "Climate change has global consequences for human health and the environment," the White House simply demanded removal of the line and all similar conclusions. At the G-8 meeting in Scotland this year, Bush successfully stymied any common action on global warming. Scientists, meanwhile, have continued to accumulate impressive data on the rising temperature of the oceans, which has produced more severe hurricanes.

In February 2004, 60 of the nation's leading scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates, warned in a statement, "Restoring Scientific Integrity in Policymaking": "Successful application of science has played a large part in the policies that have made the United States of America the world's most powerful nation and its citizens increasingly prosperous and healthy ... Indeed, this principle has long been adhered to by presidents and administrations of both parties in forming and implementing policies. The administration of George W. Bush has, however, disregarded this principle ... The distortion of scientific knowledge for partisan political ends must cease." Bush completely ignored this statement.

In the two weeks preceding the storm in the Gulf, the trumping of science by ideology and expertise by special interests accelerated. The Federal Drug Administration announced that it was postponing sale of the morning-after contraceptive pill, despite overwhelming scientific evidence of its safety and its approval by the FDA's scientific advisory board. The United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa accused the Bush administration of responsibility for a condom shortage in Uganda -- the result of the administration's evangelical Christian agenda of "abstinence." When the chief of the Bureau of Justice Statistics in the Justice Department was ordered by the White House to delete its study that African-Americans and other minorities are subject to racial profiling in police traffic stops and he refused to buckle under, he was forced out of his job. When the Army Corps of Engineers' chief contracting oversight analyst objected to a $7 billion no-bid contract awarded for work in Iraq to Halliburton (the firm at which Vice President Cheney was formerly CEO), she was demoted despite her superior professional ratings. At the National Park Service, a former Cheney aide, a political appointee lacking professional background, drew up a plan to overturn past environmental practices and prohibit any mention of evolution while allowing sale of religious materials through the Park Service.

On the day the levees burst in New Orleans, Bush delivered a speech in Colorado comparing the Iraq war to World War II and himself to Franklin D. Roosevelt: "And he knew that the best way to bring peace and stability to the region was by bringing freedom to Japan." Bush had boarded his very own "Streetcar Named Desire."

Sidney Blumenthal, a former assistant and senior advisor to President Clinton and the author of "The Clinton Wars," is writing a column for Salon and the Guardian of London.

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Carnival: Feds Ask About Using Ships Aug 31 2:08 PM US/Eastern http://img.breitbart.com/images/ap.gif

MIAMI

Carnival Cruise Lines said Wednesday the federal government has asked whether its cruise ships could be used as emergency shelters or help Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in some other way.

The world's largest cruise line said that although "to undertake such an endeavor would involve many complicated issues, we are actively taking a look at it."

Carnival operates 21 ships, each of which holds anywhere from about 1,500 to 3,000 passengers.

"It is our intention to work with federal officials to determine the feasibility of moving a ship into the area if that is their desire," the company said.

Carnival is owned by Miami, Fla.-based Carnival Corp.

Market Rises, but Katrina Is Roiling Stocks A WALL STREET JOURNAL NEWS ROUNDUP September1,2005
The effects of Hurricane Katrina are beginning to be felt throughout the stock market.
While the oil, airline and insurance industries would appear to be financial casualties of the storm that pounded the Gulf Coast, other far-flung industries have been affected, too.
Tourism was among the hardest hit, with casinos, hotels and restaurants bearing a fair share of the brunt of Katrina's wrath.

Many of the casinos on the Gulf Coast sustained significant damage, says Harry Curtis, an analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. The resulting flooding from the storm's surging waters devastated the facilities, which are nearly all built on barges alongside docks in the Gulf or surrounding bays, Mr. Curtis says.

Dennis Forst, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets in Los Angeles, says the companies with the greater exposure are regional companies such as Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. and Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., which own properties in the area. Isle of Capri's shares have fallen 9% this week, including yesterday's decline of 88 cents to $21.99 on the Nasdaq Stock Market; Pinnacle Entertainment's shares have dropped 13%, including yesterday's fall of $1.41, or 6.6%, to $19.94 on the New York Stock Exchange.

That doesn't mean that the bigger players didn't experience problems. Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment Inc. has two properties along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and a large casino in New Orleans. The casinos in Biloxi and Gulfport sustained significant damage after being ripped from their moorings and thrashed by Katrina. Both casinos are closed indefinitely.

In New Orleans, the company said its casino there suffered less damage but was expected to remain closed for at least a month. Worried investors continued to knock down the stock as the true extent of the damage unfolds. Harrah's was down $1.34 to $69.56 yesterday on the Big Board.

Rival MGM Mirage, which operates the large Beau Rivage property in Biloxi, says the property made it through the worst of Katrina with little damage. But the stock was down 34 cents to $42.26 on the NYSE.

In the lodging sector, closely held Hyatt Corp. has reported major damage. The 1,184-room Hyatt Regency New Orleans had many of its windows blown out by the storm's high winds. A Hyatt spokeswoman says the company is calling guests who have reservations through at least Sept. 15 and telling them the hotel will be unable to accommodate them.

The storm also hit fast-food restaurant companies hard, "making an already bad third quarter even worse," said John Glass, an industry analyst for CIBC World Markets in Boston. "It's going to have a negative impact on earnings."

Stocks for fast-food and casual-dining restaurant chains already had suffered in recent months as an uncertain economy prompted consumers to eat outside the home less frequently than earlier in the year. Stock prices of McDonald's Corp., Yum Brands Inc. and Wendy's International Inc. quivered this week as investors fretted over the temporary shuttering of hundreds of outlets as a result of the hurricane, analysts say.

John McMillin, an analyst at Prudential Equity Group, notes that food makers also could face higher packaging costs because petroleum is used to make many of the chemicals in packaging. "Energy is a big component for food, beverage," he says.

Chiquita Brands International Inc. said its port facilities at Gulfport, which handle about one-quarter of the company's U.S. banana imports, sustained severe damage. The company said it was shifting deliveries to Texas and Florida. Chiquita's shares were up 36 cents to $25.20 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Tyson Foods Inc., the nation's biggest meat company, said yesterday that four of its chicken-slaughtering plants in Mississippi were idled on Monday and Tuesday. Only the Tyson plant in Carthage, Miss., was able to resume production yesterday, the company said. Tyson operates 58 poultry plants companywide. Tyson's stock yesterday rose 44 cents to $17.78 on the Big Board.

With back-to-school season in full swing, some retailers were facing uncertain prospects. Gap Inc., for instance, has closed dozens of its clothing stores -- including Banana Republic, Old Navy and its namesake chain -- as a result of the hurricane. Spokeswoman Kris Marubio said the company still is assessing the impact on its real estate, merchandising operations and sales. Gap's shares were up 30 cents to $19.01 on the NYSE.

The hospital industry also has "a significant amount of exposure" to Katrina and its aftermath, according to a Goldman Sachs Group report issued yesterday. Earnings for the rest of the year will be impaired for some operators, especially Universal Health Services Inc. and Tenet Healthcare Corp., the report said.

Home Depot Inc.'s share price, however, gained on investor sentiment about demand for its lumber and nails in the hurricane's aftermath. Rival Lowe's Cos. also was higher.

Meanwhile, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it is likely to use mobile homes to house the hundreds of thousands of people left homeless from the storm. Shares of all mobile-home makers rallied.

Stock prices also rose for some of the heavy construction and engineering companies that likely will contribute to rebuilding efforts along the Gulf Coast. At Caterpillar Inc., where the stock price was up 3.2% on the Big Board, spokesman Jim Dugan said it was too early to know how the hurricane would affect business. "Obviously, the equipment might be used in cleanup and rebuilding," he said, "but at this point our focus is on helping those folks."

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

Some analysts believe Hurricane Katrina's devastating effects on petroleum supply and production facilities along the Gulf Coast could boost demand for ocean tankers. Magnus Fyhr, an analyst at Jeffries & Co., said he expects that some of the shortfall created by the storm likely will be filled with gasoline and crude oil hauled from other parts of the world, which will boost demand for tankers.

Mr. Fyhr said OMI Corp. is already a short-term beneficiary of the hurricane, as spot charter rates for tankers carrying refined products soared to about $27,000 a day from $18,000 a day since the hurricane hit Monday morning.

Railroads could sustain short-term harm from the storm in the form of damaged tracks and lost business. But they also could reap the rewards of the eventual rebuilding effort along the Gulf. "Initially, it will be railroads that deliver the chlorine needed to purify drinking water and relief goods to those who have lost their homes," Donald Broughton, an analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., said in a research note yesterday.

Mr. Broughton continues to recommend Norfolk Southern Corp. of Norfolk, Va., and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. of Fort Worth, Texas, with "buy" ratings. He added that Norfolk Southern and Burlington are among the best operating railroads and "hence will capture the majority of this business."

In terms of the region's agriculture, Katrina apparently spared much of the Mississippi Delta's farm economy, which revolves around crops such as cotton, rice and soybeans. The Delta's cotton fields are particularly vulnerable to wind and rain this time of year, because the bolls have begun to open, exposing the white lint to the elements.

But Katrina's most damaging winds took a path slightly east of the region's biggest cotton-producing counties, though heavy rains in some parts of the state of Mississippi could lower the quality of the cotton harvested there in a few weeks.

Still, power outages have idled the grain-exporting facilities around New Orleans, and it isn't immediately clear when shipments will resume. New Orleans-area ports handle roughly half of the corn, wheat and soybeans exported from the U.S., much of which reaches the city on barges traveling on the Mississippi River.

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[rokid]

Wonder Woman wrote: "No One Can Say they Didn't See it Coming" By Sidney Blumenthal
In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.


That's what happens when you elect an incompetent to the world's most powerful position. :X

[mlk_man]

The only thing the president can do by himself is declare war.....................

'Fats' Domino Missing in New Orleans Thursday, September 01, 2005 By Roger Friedman http://www.foxnews.com/images/foxnews_story.gif

Katrina Benefits Should Acknowledge Local Legends

Before NBC, MTV or anyone else puts on a telethon to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, they might want to explore some ancillary issues. To wit: New Orleans is a city famous for its famous musicians, but many of them are missing. Missing with a capital M.

To begin with, one of the city’s most important legends, Antoine "Fats" Domino, has not been heard from since Monday afternoon. Domino’s rollicking boogie-woogie piano and deep soul voice are not only part of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame but responsible for dozens of hits like “Blue Monday,” “Ain’t That a Shame,” “Blueberry Hill” and “I’m Walking (Yes, Indeed, I’m Talking).”

Domino, 76, lives with his wife Rosemary and daughter in a three-story pink-roofed house in New Orleans’ 9th ward, which is now under water.

On Monday afternoon, Domino told his manager, Al Embry of Nashville, that he would “ride out the storm” at home. Embry is now frantic.

Calls have been made to Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s office and to various police officials, and though there’s lots of sympathetic response, the whereabouts of Domino and his family remain a mystery.

In the meantime, another important Louisiana musician who probably hasn’t been asked to be in any telethons is the also legendary Allen Toussaint.

Another Rock Hall member, Toussaint wrote Patti LaBelle’s hit “Lady Marmalade” and Dr. John’s “Right Place, Wrong Time.”

His arrangements and orchestrations for hundreds of hit records, including his own instrumentals “Whipped Cream” and “Java” are American staples. (He also arranged Paul Simon’s hit, “Kodachrome.”)

Last night, Toussaint was one of the 25,000 people holed up at the New Orleans Superdome hoping to get on a bus for Houston’s Astrodome. I know this because he got a message out to his daughter, who relayed to it through friends.

Also not heard from by friends through last night: New Orleans’s “Queen of Soul” Irma Thomas, who was the original singer of what became the Rolling Stones’ hit, “Time is On My Side.”

Let’s hope and pray it is, because while the Stones roll through the U.S. on their $450-a-ticket tour, Thomas is missing in action. Her club, The Lion’s Den, is under water, as are all the famous music hot spots of the city.

Similarly, friends are looking for Antoinette K-Doe, widow of New Orleans wild performer Ernie K-Doe. The Does have a famous nightspot of their own on N. Claiborne Avenue, called the Mother-in-Law Lounge, in honor of Ernie’s immortal hit, “The Mother-in-Law Song.”

Ernie K-Doe, who received a 1998 Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, died in 2001 at age 65.

Dry and safe, but in not much better shape, is the famous Neville family of New Orleans. Aaron Neville and many members of the family evacuated on Monday to Memphis, where they are now staying in a hotel.

But most of the Nevilles’ homes are destroyed, reports their niece and my colleague at “A Current Affair,” Arthel Neville. She went down to her hometown yesterday and called me from a boat that was trying to get near town.

“This isn’t like having two feet of water in your basement,” she said, holding back tears. “Everything is destroyed. I am just so lucky to have been born here and to have had the experience of New Orleans."

She confirmed that there had been rumors of dead bodies floating around her Uncle Aaron’s house yesterday. So far, the Nevilles are unannounced to participate in Friday’s TV telethon.

And still there are plenty of other famous musicians associated with New Orleans who would probably like to be on TV if they’re high and dry.

The Marsalis family comes from the city, and they’ve played at most of the well known clubs like Tipitina’s, The Maple Leaf, Preservation Hall and Muddy Waters.

New Orleans is also one of the few cities with a House of Blues. And Jimmy Buffet’s Margharitaville Café chain has a local franchise that is still an attraction.

New Orleans’ trademark sounds are Cajun and Zydeco. So far none of the listed benefits have named an act that plays that kind of music.

Talk Host Helps Out

Meantime, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres’ spokeswoman tells me she will address the hurricane on her first new show of the season. The show tapes this afternoon in Los Angeles and will air on Tuesday.

DeGeneres is a New Orleans native, although it’s unclear whether or not she still has family there. But city residents will no doubt be looking to her as a strong public voice and advocate.

Her publicist, Melissa Gross, says she’s received many calls from people all over the country asking what DeGeneres would do to help victims of Katrina. Gross says a plan will be in place by Tuesday.

[EW_ret]

For thosewho work forDepartment of Navy, the Employee Benefits internet access (EBIS) is down due to damage caused by Katrina. I just received this information from our command admin.

EBIS is currently unavailable due to Hurricane Katrina. The internet/NIPRNET access for EBIS is through the New Orleans Metropolitan Area Network (NOLA MAN). The NOLA MAN is currently down until further notice.

You may call The Benefits Line on 1-888-320-2917. You may make unassisted transactions by following the menu prompts. Transactions made with an effective date on or after 29 August will not be processed (they will remain in a pending or "projected" status) until connectivity is re-established. This includes FEGLI Open Season elections made last September, with an effective date of 4 September 2005.

Counselors are available 7:30 am - 7:30 pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except on Federal holidays. Overseas employees who have access to DSN service can connect to The Benefits Line by dialing the DSN number to Randolph AFB (RAFB), 487-1110. Once the RAFB operator answers please indicate that you want to make an "official off net call" and give the operator The Benefits Line telephone number, 888-320-2917.

The Storm After the Storm By DAVID BROOKS (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/davidbrooks/index.html?inline=nyt-per)September 1, 2005

Hurricanes come in two waves. First comes the rainstorm, and then comes what the historian John Barry calls the "human storm" - the recriminations, the political conflict and the battle over compensation. Floods wash away the surface of society, the settled way things have been done. They expose the underlying power structures, the injustices, the patterns of corruption and the unacknowledged inequalities. When you look back over the meteorological turbulence in this nation's history, it's striking how often political turbulence followed.

In 1889 in Pennsylvania, a great flood washed away much of Johnstown. The water's crushing destruction sounded to one person like a "lot of horses grinding oats." Witnesses watched hundreds of people trapped on a burning bridge, forced to choose between burning to death or throwing themselves into the churning waters to drown.

The flood was so abnormal that the country seemed to have trouble grasping what had happened. The national media were filled with wild exaggerations and fabrications: stories of rivers dammed with corpses, of children who died while playing ring-around-the-rosy and who were found with their hands still clasped and with smiles still on their faces.

Prejudices were let loose. Hungarians then were akin to today's illegal Mexican immigrants - hard-working people who took jobs no one else wanted. Newspapers carried accounts of gangs of Hungarian men cutting off dead women's fingers to steal their rings. "Drunken Hungarians, Dancing, Singing, Cursing and Fighting Amid the Ruins" a New York Herald headline blared.

Then, as David McCullough notes in "The Johnstown Flood," public fury turned on the Pittsburgh millionaires whose club's fishing pond had emptied on the town. The Chicago Herald depicted the millionaires as Roman aristocrats, seeking pleasure while the poor died like beasts in the Coliseum.

Even before the flood, public resentment was building against the newly rich industrialists. Protests were growing against the trusts, against industrialization and against the new concentrations of wealth. The Johnstown flood crystallized popular anger, for the fishing club was indeed partly to blame. Public reaction to the disaster helped set the stage for the progressive movement and the trust-busting that was to come.

In 1900, another great storm hit the U.S., killing over 6,000 people in Galveston, Tex. The storm exposed racial animosities, for this time stories (equally false) swept through the press accusing blacks of cutting off the fingers of corpses to steal wedding rings. The devastation ended Galveston's chance to beat out Houston as Texas' leading port.

Then in 1927, the great Mississippi flood rumbled down upon New Orleans. As Barry writes in his account, "Rising Tide," the disaster ripped the veil off the genteel, feudal relations between whites and blacks, and revealed the festering iniquities. Blacks were rounded up into work camps and held by armed guards. They were prevented from leaving as the waters rose. A steamer, the Capitol, played "Bye Bye Blackbird" as it sailed away. The racist violence that followed the floods helped persuade many blacks to move north.

Civic leaders intentionally flooded poor and middle-class areas to ease the water's pressure on the city, and then reneged on promises to compensate those whose homes were destroyed. That helped fuel the populist anger that led to Huey Long's success. Across the country people demanded that the federal government get involved in disaster relief, helping to set the stage for the New Deal. The local civic elite turned insular and reactionary, and New Orleans never really recovered its preflood vibrancy.

We'd like to think that the stories of hurricanes and floods are always stories of people rallying together to give aid and comfort. And, indeed, each of America's great floods has prompted a popular response both generous and inspiring. But floods are also civic examinations. Amid all the stories that recur with every disaster - tales of sudden death and miraculous survival, the displacement and the disease - there is also the testing.

Civic arrangements work or they fail. Leaders are found worthy or wanting. What's happening in New Orleans and Mississippi today is a human tragedy. But take a close look at the people you see wandering, devastated, around New Orleans: they are predominantly black and poor. The political disturbances are still to come.

Highlight and copy to Word to make for a larger font.

[rokid]

David Brooks is very perceptive for a conservative.Our problems are just beginning.

[Quips]

The Administration should portray the aftermath of Katrina as a challenge no less than that of rebuilting Europe and Japan after WWII.

Then it was the Marshall Plan, and no less than that is needed now there. I worked before and it can work again; it shows vision as well to give the people there hope.

The best thing for the refugees now is to re-open shuttered Army/Navy barricks and chow halls, etc; get those things back on line and transport the people there via C-130's, DC-10's, 747's, trains and by any means possible. And divide up the refugees: women and children here, men there.

Plus the Navy hasits amphib ships: LST's LSD's and etc. to get in close to shore and get them people out..

It will be quite a while before that area goes back to normal.

The Astrodome and buses aren't much of solution.

[grandma]

Quips wrote: Plus the Navy hasits amphib ships: LST's LSD's and etc. to get in close to shore and get them people out..
It will be quite a while before that area goes back to normal.
The Astrodome and buses aren't much of solution.

Great ideas!My understanding is that attempts toair drop supplies in have been met with gunfire from the ground. (sleeper terrorists awakened??)

Somewhere I read that utilizing camping trailors, etc was being considered. How about placing trailors, mobile homes on the flight decks of any oo commission aircraft carriers? What would be involved to get them secured? (My Navy son is laughing, I can hear him thru the airwaves!)

Do any of us really believe that things will return to anything near the `normalcy' in the NO area.? The 9/11 disater took only a part of NYC, the rest of the city , the state & across country people pitched in. Here, it is: how do you even get into where the need is. Paratroopers - to get shot at? Why aren't the folks in the vicinity of the shooters taking them down?Why isn't the gov't putting a cap on the rescuers' fuel? We were paying for fuel already in the ground & paid for!

I can understand thoughts on splitting males from the others. However, unless the guys are assigned work to do (like CCC, YCCC) and can think of being away from their families as a `job-related absence' - there will be a different kind of trouble.

Is Administration listening to, reading, taking in laymen ideas? Blamers & critics of the why & wherefore'sneed to stop, and start focusing on creating ideas forhow toget done what needs to be donenow. They would be better to exchange their dirty mouths for dirty hands -

[mlk_man]

Lord I hope they aren't terroists. Just read on CNN that they are finding bodies riddled with bullets and one man's head completely shot off.

Are these inner city gang's? Is this only happening in New Orleans?

I've gone from feeling sympathetic towards the people that live there,to disgusted at the local and federal leadership,to pissed off at the :@'s doing these crimes........................:X

What is there to gain from shooting people and burning buildings?

No education and no family foundation will do it every time................:(

[grandma]

mlk_man wrote: No education and no family foundation will do it every time................:(
...ahhh ! the village that made/raised the family ????

[Sr]

"Civic arrangements work or they fail. Leaders are found worthy or wanting. What's happening in New Orleans and Mississippi today is a human tragedy. But take a close look at the people you see wandering, devastated, around New Orleans: they are predominantly black and poor. The political disturbances are still to come."

Political disturbance to come? No it will not for they donot have any political clout and perhaps that is why they were left to fend for themselves. Sick. disabled, elderly. children and poor ) be they black or white) do not vote. This is a symptom of deeper problem that makes Washington and even local power centersblind and insensitive towardsthe silent, desperate second America that do not even have money to buy a tank of gas to get out of town.

[teknobucks]

http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/katrina/

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/special/eia1_katrina.html

[teknobucks]

Live Feeds of Public Safety Communications
http://www.radioreference.com/wiki/index.p...ina#Mississippi (http://www.radioreference.com/wiki/index.php/Hurricane_Katrina#Mississippi)

Update on the state of communications in New Orleans, and links to internet feeds from public service radio.

The following is known about Public Safety Communications Systems in the affected areas:

Louisiana

* NOPD's Wide Area EDACS ProVoice system is currently DOWN and NOT operational. The system survived the initial hurricane, but subsequent flooding has knocked out generators. Currently, NOPD is working off of NPSPAC-1 and NPSPAC-2, with 1 being dedicated to all east bank operations, and 2 being dedicated to west bank operations. NOFD and EMS operations are unknown at this time.

* St Tammany Parish's EDACS ProVoice system is currently DOWN and NOT operational. Units are using legacy VHF repeaters (Covington Fire?) for all communications.

* Most sites for the Lousisiana State Smartzone system are operational, however reports indicate that the North Shore Smartzone sites are currently down. Communications are occuring on the Smartzone system in the New Orleans Metro Area.
o The Bridge City Site is Down
o The LaPlace Site is UP
o Northshore Sites are Down


Mississippi

* Harrison County EDACS system is currently operational
* Gulfport - Unknown
* Biloxi - Unknown


Alabama

* Mobile - Unknown

[Dave M]

If you are addicted to morphine, coke, H, whatever, then after a few days without you get sort of crazy.

My Almanac gives data which allow me to estimate the population of N.O proper as being around 425,000. The mayor said 80% got out. That leaves some 85, 000 behind, plus a smattering of visitors and travelers just passing through at the time. In any group that size, there are going to be some bad guys.

"...see it coming..." We see it coming here in the islands but that doesn't stop us from living here -- and doing virtually nothing about it.There are 42 bridges between Key West and the mainland. If any one of then went down, it might easilybe a couple of months before it was restored. What then? Would we descend into chaos in three days? Maybe.

Dave

[Spaf]

My Analysis of Katrina!

For any known hazard, those in control (officials) should be proactive.
A hurricane for the area was a known threat.
A hurricane is a natural occurance for the east and gulf coasts.
Did the authorities (those in control) do everything to minimize the hazard by proper planning?

Your answer?

Rgds, :% Spaf

[biggdog1]

Do you wonder about all those school buses setting in the water? Why wasn't Marshall Law declared 4-5 days before and all could have been evaculated not3 days after the storm and taken to Houston and other outlaying areas. The Fed really dropped the ball on this one. Looks like Galveston, Tx. only 100 years later.

[rokid]

A different perspective.

Julian Borger of the Guardian reporting from the New Orleans Convention Center:

A man walked past the bodies dragging a pallet loaded with big bottles of ginger ale, some plates and a frying pan. To the rest of America watching the tragedy unfold on their televisions, he was one of the looters, denounced by President Bush.
But to the people inside the convention centre, he was one of a band of heroes keeping them alive. "The people who were going into the stores would give us water and food, said Edna Harris, Henry Carr's aunt. "There would be ladies with babies and they had no milk, and these guys would break in and bring them milk."

[teknobucks]

OK....this whole thing shows how unprepared we really are.

1) we knew it was coming

2) we knew the town was below sea level

3) we told folks they should leave and put 15,000 street urchins with no meansina confined nightmare.

if we do not use tools and procedures that will function in some sort of orderlymanner then we become stuck in our own hell.

coping with "crisis" and shortages will define the winnersof this century.

[Dave M]

Yes, the new century has brought a new wave of misery to us all. I have played Koko Taylor's "(Don't Mess With) Mother Nature" quite a few times today. I think Chicago should accept refugees,itmight have aninteresting musical result.

But seriously the system is working,within its limitations. A day or two to become organizedand mobilized, a day or two in transit,help arrives on day five at the latest. We can'tknow where to send the crewsbefore the storm;we can't be be sending them inwhile the storm is raging; big things take time.

They tell us to be ready to lasta week without assistance. In practice I can go three days. After three days I will run out of fuel for the stand-by generator and it will be time for a barbeque at Dave's Diner. Every year I refresh our emergency supplies but I'll tell, you, I am getting sort of fed up. What I need is rest.

Dave

[teknobucks]

true it was a BFS and de-wateringnew orleans is no small task.


http://www.img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/burpzilla/wkat29a.jpg http://www.img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/burpzilla/Superdome.jpg

here are a few more Hurricane Katrina links:

Local newspapers, good articles/photos:
New Orleans Times-Picayune: http://www.nola.com (http://www.nola.com/)
Jackson Clarion-Ledger: http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage (http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage)
Biloxi Sun Herald: http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald (http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald)

How to help
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9115520 (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9115520)
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=7560966 (http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=7560966)
http://www.redcross.org/donate/donate.html (http://www.redcross.org/donate/donate.html)
http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/animal_environ/hurricanes (http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/animal_environ/hurricanes)
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=7573960 (http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=7573960)

This place matches your donation with another 50%
http://www.mccormicktribune.org/mtf/hurricanerelief.htm (http://www.mccormicktribune.org/mtf/hurricanerelief.htm)

Donate stock!
http://www.redcross.org/donate/donatestock.html (http://www.redcross.org/donate/donatestock.html)

Animal Rescue
http://www.americanhumane.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pa_disaster_relief (http://www.americanhumane.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pa_disaster_relief)
http://www.nsalamerica.org/feature/katrina (http://www.nsalamerica.org/feature/katrina)
http://www.hsus.org (http://www.hsus.org)



Charitable Organizations:


American Red Cross (https://secure2.convio.net/arc/site/Donation?ACTION=SHOW_DONATION_OPTIONS&CAMPAIGN_ID= 1161)
Salvation Army (http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/)
Charitable Resources from FEMA (http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18473)
The Humane Society of the United States (https://secure.hsus.org/01/disaster_relief_fund_2005)
United Way (http://www.unitedway.org/)
See More Charities (http://katrinahelp.info/wiki/index.php/Aid_Agencies)
Health & Safety:

Donate Blood (http://www.givelife.org/)
Drinking Water Purification (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/health.asp#drinkingcooking)
Washing Your Hands in a Emergency Situations (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/handwashing.asp)
Power Outage Safety (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/electrical.asp)
Keeping Food & Water Safe (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/foodwater.asp)
Avoid Carbon Monoxide Poisoning (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/carbonmonoxide.asp)
Keeping Pets Safe (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/petprotect.asp)
Simple Safety Checklist (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/recoverysummary.asp)
Emergency Wound Care (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/woundcare.asp)
Local Resources & Information:

Shelter information: 1 (866)-GET-INFO (438-4636)
Disaster Assistance (http://www.fema.gov/about/process): 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) | (TTY) 1-800-462-7585 (Hearing impaired)

Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov/)

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (http://www.msema.org/index.htm) (Site intermittently down)

Louisiana Governor's Office (http://www.gov.state.la.us/)

City of New Orleans (http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx)

File an Insurance Claim (http://www.fema.gov/nfip/infocon.shtm)
Find a Missing Person (http://www.nowpublic.com/node/17228)
Helpful Phone Numbers (http://katrinahelp.info/wiki/index.php/Helpline_Numbers)



Watch for the next storm
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/)

[Show-me]

One thing that we need to realize is that you need to have a plan. Where to meet in an emergency. You also need to the basic provisions for you and your families. Have them packed and ready to go in case you have to leave the area quickly. I live in a rural and I am the last one to get service when the power goes out because the main line and the small towns have precedence. “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.” We all need to learn from this horrible disaster. Organizing a tremendous rescue and relief effort is a time critical task.

As a former Marine I am not at all impressed with the rescue and relief effort. The local guard unit was put on notice on Tuesday evening. That tells me they knew that it was bad. Left for Springfield, IL on Wednesday after some briefings and training. Left for N.O. on Thursday and spent the night in Memphis, TN on Thursday night. That the last update I received. They should have been already trained and on the way by Wednesday. Any briefings could be done on the way or upon arrival. I am just saddened by the response of the greatest county in the world. If you watch Meet the Press today you would be too.

[biggdog1]

I agree as a former Scoutmaster for 15 years I stand by BSA's motto "BE PREPARED". Apparently our Fed Government needs to call Irving, Tx. for some advice.

[teknobucks]

few posts from other boards about no and looting>>>>

Imagine... you are in a flooded city. It's 90+degrees and humid, garbage and dead bodies in the streets. You haven't eaten for days. There is a store with food, medicine, toilet paper, maybe guns and ammo you might be able to use to protect yourself since the cops have turned in their badges. You have no money, and even if you did there is no cashier to take it. What would you do?

This is the kind of crime I support.
This guy will probably go to prison because he out-thought the Mayor and Govenor!

News report: "Stolen" Bus to Astrodome (http://www.newschannel5.tv/2005/9/1/4255/Taking-refuge-in-the-Astrodome)
"In an extreme act of looting, one group actually stole a bus to escape ravaged areas in Louisiana.
About 100 people packed into the stolen bus. They were the first to enter the Houston Astrodome, but they weren't exactly welcomed."

WHY DIDN'T THEY DEPLOY THE BUSES DURING THE MANDATORY EVACUATION?

Hindsight is always better than foresight. http://traders-talk.com/mb2/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif



Humble

You'll find that EVEN!!! the majority of the poor folk(including black folk) in ANY area are just as law-abiding as any white folks in good areas......But these folks just don't get a look in on the media anytime(criminality sells,especially black criminality)...good law-abiding behaviour doesn't.

What you've been watching on tv media is/was not "Looting" but out and out 'SURVIVAL' ........Me and EVERYONE! else on this board would do EXACTLY THE SAME! in the same situation......Anyone on here who says different is LYING!

Who knows,these well-manicured/lip-glossed reporters might go out to film and talk to the REAL criminals.....But then again nooooo! they won't, tis far too dangerous for the media-luvvies(the real criminals/looters have guns).....Much easier to give the tag of 'looter' to husbands/wives/sons/daughters/grandads & grandmas(not forgetting they have to be black) who have been left with NO! option/choice,but to HELP themselves.........Again tis called "SURVIVAL" matey.
_______________________________

Hows the major catastrophy playing over here?.....It isn't......Sure we're getting all the pictures......But the commentary isn't about how we folks over here can help(i.e...Info/phone numbers etc so people can donate to help USA out).....Honest tis all about.. "How can we the media pin all this on 'Bad ol' George' again.

SHAMEFUL nothing less!.........IMVHO!!!!

Over & out!.........V

[teknobucks]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/01/orleans.levees/index.html

and ....... http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,16494464%5E1702,00.html

aol keyword 4 penn=looooooser!

[Rolo]

teknobucks wrote: You'll find that EVEN!!! the majority of the poor folk(including black folk) in ANY area are just as law-abiding as any white folks in good areas......But these folks just don't get a look in on the media anytime(criminality sells,especially black criminality)...good law-abiding behaviour doesn't.

Yes, morality is not inversely proportional to income. It is unfortunate that we glorify immorality and shun good behaviour. It really makes the case for fascism.

teknobucks wrote: What you've been watching on tv media is/was not "Looting" but out and out 'SURVIVAL' ........Me and EVERYONE! else on this board would do EXACTLY THE SAME! in the same situation......Anyone on here who says different is LYING!


I'm not so sure about that (depends on context), BUT, they DID save the bus, didn't they? Besides, they borrowed it for a very compelling reason...I doubt anyone was going to KEEP it.

teknobucks wrote: But the commentary isn't about how we folks over here can help(i.e...Info/phone numbers etc so people can donate to help USA out).....Honest tis all about.. "How can we the media pin all this on 'Bad ol' George' again.

SHAMEFUL nothing less!.........IMVHO!!!!


Very. The Media are heartless, callous. Which is worse, free press or a state-controlled one? hmmmmm....

[Rolo]

rokid wrote: Wonder Woman wrote: But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.


That's what happens when you elect an incompetent to the world's most powerful position. :X




Do you fund a definite national interest or a 'likely' local one? What has the state/county/city done to prepare?

More robust evacuation routes (Interstates) would be a big help. Evacuating from Ivan was a real PITA and a reason for reluctance.

[Show-me]

http://www.dhs.gov/dhs/images/themeTitle_DHSOrganization.gif



The DHS Transition

Department Six-point Agenda

A six-point agenda for the Department of Homeland Security is planned to ensure that the Department’s policies, operations, and structures are aligned in the best way to address the potential threats – both present and future – that face our nation.

The six-point agenda will guide the department in the near term and result in changes that will:


1. Increase overall preparedness, particularly for catastrophic events

2. Create better transportation security systems to move people and cargo more securely and efficiently

3. Strengthen border security and interior enforcement and reform immigration processes;

4. Enhance information sharing with our partners

5. Improve DHS financial management, human resource development, procurement and information technology

6. Realign the DHS organization to maximize mission performance.

Mission
We will lead the unified national effort to secure America. We will prevent and deter terrorist attacks and protect against and respond to threats and hazards to the nation. We will ensure safe and secure borders, welcome lawful immigrants and visitors, and promote the free-flow of commerce.

Strategic Goals
Awareness -- Identify and understand threats, assess vulnerabilities, determine potential impacts and disseminate timely information to our homeland security partners and the American public.

Prevention -- Detect, deter and mitigate threats to our homeland.

Protection -- Safeguard our people and their freedoms, critical infrastructure, property and the economy of our Nation from acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies.

Response -- Lead, manage and coordinate the national response to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies.

Recovery -- Lead national, state, local and private sector efforts to restore services and rebuild communities after acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies.

Service -- Serve the public effectively by facilitating lawful trade, travel and immigration.

Organizational Excellence -- Value our most important resource, our people. Create a culture that promotes a common identity, innovation, mutual respect, accountability and teamwork to achieve efficiencies, effectiveness, and operational synergies.

This is most disappointing. Point 1 and 2 failed of the six point agenda. I would say the Protection, Response, and Recovery parts of the “Strategic Goals” fell short. Someone need to get fired over this but I sure they get to stick around like George Tenent did. FEMA failed, Homeland Security failed, the Governor of Louisiana failed, the Mayor of New Orleans failed, the Guard failed, the cops failed and on and on and on. What if this were a dirty bomb or a nuke power plant? What’s going to happen if there is a bio-hazard, SARs, bird flu, ect. They saw this coming. Isn’t there catch phrase “Be Prepared”. A lot of tax payer money obviously got poured down a big black private industry hole and the tax payer got the shaft. SNAFU!!!!! It sickens me to no end and I sure it will continue. I am now going to get very drunk and watch Deer Hunter because I have never seen it. End of rant.

[Rolo]

hehe...good rant.

Typical thing of government/management in all levels: It has to be a crisis to get funded...who'd wanna waste money on that preventative stuff?

[Show-me]

Decided not to get drunk. Going to take the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's to go swimming later.

[teknobucks]

Another view: An Unnatural Disaster: A Hurricane Exposes the Man-Made Disaster of the Welfare State

by Robert Tracinski
Sep 02, 2005
by Robert Tracinski
It has taken four long days for state and federal officials to figure out how to deal with the disaster in New Orleans. I can't blame them, because it has also taken me four long days to figure out what is going on there. The reason is that the events there make no sense if you think that we are confronting a natural disaster.

If this is just a natural disaster, the response for public officials is obvious: you bring in food, water, and doctors; you send transportation to evacuate refugees to temporary shelters; you send engineers to stop the flooding and rebuild the city's infrastructure. For journalists, natural disasters also have a familiar pattern: the heroism of ordinary people pulling together to survive; the hard work and dedication of doctors, nurses, and rescue workers; the steps being taken to clean up and rebuild.

Public officials did not expect that the first thing they would have to do is to send thousands of armed troops in armored vehicle, as if they are suppressing an enemy insurgency. And journalists--myself included--did not expect that the story would not be about rain, wind, and flooding, but about rape, murder, and looting.

But this is not a natural disaster. It is a man-made disaster.

The man-made disaster is not an inadequate or incompetent response by federal relief agencies, and it was not directly caused by Hurricane Katrina. This is where just about every newspaper and television channel has gotten the story wrong.

The man-made disaster we are now witnessing in New Orleans did not happen over the past four days. It happened over the past four decades. Hurricane Katrina merely exposed it to public view.

The man-made disaster is the welfare state.

For the past few days, I have found the news from New Orleans to be confusing. People were not behaving as you would expect them to behave in an emergency--indeed, they were not behaving as they have behaved in other emergencies. That is what has shocked so many people: they have been saying that this is not what we expect from America. In fact, it is not even what we expect from a Third World country.

When confronted with a disaster, people usually rise to the occasion. They work together to rescue people in danger, and they spontaneously organize to keep order and solve problems. This is especially true in America. We are an enterprising people, used to relying on our own initiative rather than waiting around for the government to take care of us. I have seen this a hundred times, in small examples (a small town whose main traffic light had gone out, causing ordinary citizens to get out of their cars and serve as impromptu traffic cops, directing cars through the intersection) and large ones (the spontaneous response of New Yorkers to September 11).

So what explains the chaos in New Orleans?

To give you an idea of the magnitude of what is going on, here is a description from aWashington Times story:

"Storm victims are raped and beaten; fights erupt with flying fists, knives and guns; fires are breaking out; corpses litter the streets; and police and rescue helicopters are repeatedly fired on.

"The plea from Mayor C. Ray Nagin came even as National Guardsmen poured in to restore order and stop the looting, carjackings and gunfire....

"Last night, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco said 300 Iraq-hardened Arkansas National Guard members were inside New Orleans with shoot-to-kill orders.

" 'These troops are...under my orders to restore order in the streets,' she said. 'They have M-16s, and they are locked and loaded. These troops know how to shoot and kill and they are more than willing to do so if necessary and I expect they will.' "

The reference to Iraq is eerie. The photo that accompanies this article shows National Guard troops, with rifles and armored vests, riding on an armored vehicle through trash-strewn streets lined by a rabble of squalid, listless people, one of whom appears to be yelling at them. It looks exactly like a scene from Sadr City in Baghdad.

What explains bands of thugs using a natural disaster as an excuse for an orgy of looting, armed robbery, and rape? What causes unruly mobs to storm the very buses that have arrived to evacuate them, causing the drivers to drive away, frightened for their lives? What causes people to attack the doctors trying to treat patients at the Super Dome?

Why are people responding to natural destruction by causing further destruction? Why are they attacking the people who are trying to help them?

My wife, Sherri, figured it out first, and she figured it out on a sense-of-life level. While watching the coverage last night on Fox News Channel, she told me that she was getting a familiar feeling. She studied architecture at the Illinois Institute of Chicago, which is located in the South Side of Chicago just blocks away from the Robert Taylor Homes, one of the largest high-rise public housing projects in America. "The projects," as they were known, were infamous for uncontrollable crime and irremediable squalor. (They have since, mercifully, been demolished.)

What Sherri was getting from last night's television coverage was a whiff of the sense of life of "the projects." Then the "crawl"--the informational phrases flashed at the bottom of the screen on most news channels--gave some vital statistics to confirm this sense: 75% of the residents of New Orleans had already evacuated before the hurricane, and of the 300,000 or so who remained, a large number were from the city's public housing projects. Jack Wakeland then gave me an additional, crucial fact: early reports from CNN and Fox indicated that the city had no plan for evacuating all of the prisoners in the city's jails--so they just let many of them loose. There is no doubt a significant overlap between these two populations--that is, a large number of people in the jails used to live in the housing projects, and vice versa.

There were many decent, innocent people trapped in New Orleans when the deluge hit--but they were trapped alongside large numbers of people from two groups: criminals--and wards of the welfare state, people selected, over decades, for their lack of initiative and self-induced helplessness. The welfare wards were a mass of sheep--on whom the incompetent administration of New Orleans unleashed a pack of wolves.

All of this is related, incidentally, to the apparent incompetence of the city government, which failed to plan for a total evacuation of the city, despite the knowledge that this might be necessary. But in a city corrupted by the welfare state, the job of city officials is to ensure the flow of handouts to welfare recipients and patronage to political supporters--not to ensure a lawful, orderly evacuation in case of emergency.

No one has really reported this story, as far as I can tell. In fact, some are already actively distorting it, blaming President Bush, for example, for failing to personally ensure that the Mayor of New Orleans had drafted an adequate evacuation plan. The worst example is an execrable piece from the Toronto Globe and Mail, by a supercilious Canadian who blames the chaos on American "individualism." But the truth is precisely the opposite: the chaos was caused by a system that was the exact opposite of individualism.

What Hurricane Katrina exposed was the psychological consequences of the welfare state. What we consider "normal" behavior in an emergency is behavior that is normal for people who have values and take the responsibility to pursue and protect them. People with values respond to a disaster by fighting against it and doing whatever it takes to overcome the difficulties they face. They don't sit around and complain that the government hasn't taken care of them. They don't use the chaos of a disaster as an opportunity to prey on their fellow men.

But what about criminals and welfare parasites? Do they worry about saving their houses and property? They don't, because they don't own anything. Do they worry about what is going to happen to their businesses or how they are going to make a living? They never worried about those things before. Do they worry about crime and looting? But living off of stolen wealth is a way of life for them.

The welfare state--and the brutish, uncivilized mentality it sustains and encourages--is the man-made disaster that explains the moral ugliness that has swamped New Orleans. And that is the story that no one is reporting.

[rokid]

And the spin begins..... If the Republicans and Karl Rove can spin their way out of this, they deserve the Nobel Prize for Spin.

Let's see, weight of welfare state causes New Orleans to sink below sea level. Levees, straightening of Mississippi, slashing of FEMA's budget and mission,withholding of funds from Army Corps of Engineers, and global warming found not to be at fault by intelligent design scientists.

Ockham's Razor would suggest that the simplest solution, i.e. criminal incompetence by FEMA’s Mike Brown,the Department of Homeland Security’s Mike Chertoff, and President Bush, is probably correct.

You also might want to consider that the FEMA director’s previous job (prior to FEMA) was Director of International Arabian Horse Association – and they asked him to resign. Brown’s previous FEMA boss and mentor, Joe M. Allbaugh, is now a contractor competing for FEMA contracts.Hmmmm.

Finally, the Washington Post retracted their statement that Louisiana’s Governor Blanco didn't ask for federal assistance. Apparently, the Post accepted the lie, delivered by senior administration officials on behalf of the Rove damage control operation, as the truth, without checking it with Governor Blanco.

This is going to be very interesting - "high crimes and misdemeanors?" The independant investigation into this failure should start just as Iraq heats up and Independent Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald’s report on who in the administration outed CIA agent Valerie Plame is released.

As Yogi Berra says, “you can look it up!”

[teknobucks]

rokid wrote: And the spin begins..... If the Republicans and Karl Rove can spin their way out of this, they deserve the Nobel Prize for Spin.

Let's see, weight of welfare state causes New Orleans to sink below sea level. Levees, straightening of Mississippi, slashing of FEMA's budget and mission,withholding of funds from Army Corps of Engineers, and global warming found not to be at fault by intelligent design scientists.

Ockham's Razor would suggest that the simplest solution, i.e. criminal incompetence by FEMA’s Mike Brown,the Department of Homeland Security’s Mike Chertoff, and President Bush, is probably correct.

You also might want to consider that the FEMA director’s previous job (prior to FEMA) was Director of International Arabian Horse Association – and they asked him to resign. Brown’s previous FEMA boss and mentor, Joe M. Allbaugh, is now a contractor competing for FEMA contracts.Hmmmm.

Finally, the Washington Post retracted their statement that Louisiana’s Governor Blanco didn't ask for federal assistance. Apparently, the Post accepted the lie, delivered by senior administration officials on behalf of the Rove damage control operation, as the truth, without checking it with Governor Blanco.

This is going to be very interesting - "high crimes and misdemeanors?" The independant investigation into this failure should start just as Iraq heats up and Independent Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald’s report on who in the administration outed CIA agent Valerie Plame is released.

As Yogi Berra says, “you can look it up!”




Rokid!! u r kidding right???:shock:

Bush declared NOa disaster area prior 2 landfall.He called blanco and urged her to evac the city...offered all the federal aid she needed. The feds can not move in on a city and take over operations w/o the mayor and gov. giving them a green light.

do agree mikebrown is a little thin on experience......but that is the only thing in your post i can hang my hat on. this storm's dire outcome has nothing 2 do with ms. plame, iraq, or republicans v. democrats.

granted once the leeves failed the rate and quality at which govt. overall functioned was very poor and has no doubt added to the fatalities.

jmo

tekno

[walli1]

Screw it, never mind. Wouldn't be worth it anyway.

[Spaf]

What should of, could of, will take time to sort out. What is, is important.

Spin will come from both extremes, the truth may remain cloudy for a long time.

Guard members in our office left immediately. I hope they are Ok!

Rgds, and be careful :? Spaf

[JohnnieB1]

Not to sound like someone that only cares about $, but I have a question..... Are there any deals out there to invest in manufactured housing companies in light of the storm? What do you think?? A short term stock play on some of these companies???

[teknobucks]

JohnnieB1 wrote: Not to sound like someone that only cares about $, but I have a question..... Are there any deals out there to invest in manufactured housing companies in light of the storm? What do you think?? A short term stock play on some of these companies???CTX, NVR, LEN, TOL, DHI and PHM

[Spaf]

JohnnieB1,

What I do is check in with http://www2.barchart.com/ You can sellect the market and sort the stocks by % increase. I use ETF's. Check the individual stocks out to see their chart trend, opinion, etc. Yahoo can give you similiar and backup information.
I try to pick 5 (IVV, 2Caps, 1Sec. and, 1foreign) and sellect the best 3 for a start in a bull market. When the bear appears, it's back to trading cash.

Rgds :) Spaf

[rokid]

teknobucks wrote:
Rokid!! u r kidding right???:shock:

Bush declared NOa disaster area prior 2 landfall.He called blanco and urged her to evac the city...offered all the federal aid she needed. The feds can not move in on a city and take over operations w/o the mayor and gov. giving them a green light.

do agree mikebrown is a little thin on experience......but that is the only thing in your post i can hang my hat on. this storm's dire outcome has nothing 2 do with ms. plame, iraq, or republicans v. democrats.

granted once the leeves failed the rate and quality at which govt. overall functioned was very poor and has no doubt added to the fatalities.

jmo

tekno

Yeah, I was kidding.

You're right, it was the welfare state that caused the disaster. And, the Washington Post lied in their retraction.

As Groucho Marx said "Who do you believe, me or your lying eyes?":^

[Pete1]

Don't worry, I just heard Chris Matthews of Hardball say that Dick Cheney is on his way to save the day.

[teknobucks]

JohnnieB1 wrote: Not to sound like someone that only cares about $, but I have a question..... Are there any deals out there to invest in manufactured housing companies in light of the storm? What do you think?? A short term stock play on some of these companies???

better play... http://www.quote.com/qc/research/marketguide.aspx?symbols=NYSE:SGR

of course how could u go wrong with HAL...lol

[teknobucks]

rokid wrote: teknobucks wrote:
Rokid!! u r kidding right???:shock:

Bush declared NOa disaster area prior 2 landfall.He called blanco and urged her to evac the city...offered all the federal aid she needed. The feds can not move in on a city and take over operations w/o the mayor and gov. giving them a green light.

do agree mikebrown is a little thin on experience......but that is the only thing in your post i can hang my hat on. this storm's dire outcome has nothing 2 do with ms. plame, iraq, or republicans v. democrats.

granted once the leeves failed the rate and quality at which govt. overall functioned was very poor and has no doubt added to the fatalities.

jmo

tekno

Yeah, I was kidding.

You're right, it was the welfare state that caused the disaster. And, the Washington Post lied in their retraction.

As Groucho Marx said "Who do you believe, me or your lying eyes?":^

went from "added to" to "caused" got it thanks.....had wondered why cuba had so many storms.bet JFK new allalong.......geeezzzzzzzz

poor folks with no means to leave town have unfortunately been the victims ofthe 4 P's and SHODDY PREPARATIONS BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

lookwe live in florida, grew up here....the feds do not get involved until all hell has broken loose (after the hit). to count on them to handle matters for us is NUTZ! the planning and preparations are done by local govt. and mainly by the individual household. we have bertha storm panels, generators, food, water, camping equip., and yes a few guns....that along with important docs and photographs already packed in suitcases ready for hurrevac.

we just went thru our checklist yesterdayduetohttp://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200516_5day.html . if u choose to live in an area where hurricanes frequent it isyour duty to be on top of your survival preparations period.

[teknobucks]

the real deal is for everyone in every area of the country to be prepared for the worst.;)

even if the area you live in does not have hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc......the threats from bio, nuke, chem, fire storms,riots/civil unrest, or just plain violent wx may cause you and your loved ones to take life saving actions.

jmho

tekno

[teknobucks]

Katrina PICS.....

Batch ZIP Files
Images can be downloaded in batches via ZIP files. To reduce overhead on the server, each mission flight is divided such that the ZIP files are approximately 100MB each. You should only download this data if you have a high speed internet connection

If you are looking for a specific image or just browsing, please return to the previous page and click on the thumbnail image of Katrina's path to locate and view individual images.

NOTE: Some of these images were made available earlier under different packaging. The following have been organized in a manner that is easier to generate and maintained. Flights 8 through 19 will be available soon.


Flight 1:
Katrina1_1.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina1_1.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina1_2.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina1_2.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina1_3.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina1_3.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina1_4.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina1_4.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina1_5.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina1_5.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina1_6.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina1_6.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM

Flight 2:
Katrina2_1.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina2_1.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina2_2.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina2_2.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM

Flight 3:
Katrina3_1.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina3_1.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina3_2.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina3_2.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina3_3.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina3_3.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina3_4.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina3_4.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina3_5.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina3_5.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina3_6.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina3_6.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina3_7.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina3_7.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina3_8.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina3_8.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina3_9.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina3_9.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina3_10.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina3_10.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina3_11.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina3_11.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM

Flight 4:
Katrina4_1.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina4_1.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina4_2.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina4_2.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina4_3.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina4_3.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina4_4.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina4_4.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM

Flight 5:
Katrina5_1.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina5_1.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina5_2.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina5_2.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina5_3.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina5_3.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM

Flight 6:
Katrina6_1.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina6_1.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina6_2.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina6_2.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina6_3.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina6_3.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM

Flight 7:
Katrina7_1.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina7_1.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina7_2.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina7_2.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM
Katrina7_3.ZIP (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/Katrina7_3.ZIP)Last Modified: September 6, 2005 11:05 AM



great tune 2 listen 2 while d/l'ing........ http://geronimo-vietnam.com/A1/FB/Anim_HotRS.wma

tekno

[Show-me]

Hey Tekno,

Don’t forget caldera's, meteors, and Hillary!

[teknobucks]

Show-me wrote: Hey Tekno,

Don’t forget caldera's, meteors, and Hillary!

we do have a NEO problem looming in 2026 or so...do not have data handy, but by then we should be able to melt it with particle beams...LOL

Mayor dropped the ball..
http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=26 (http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=26)

[teknobucks]

here is one source 4 such data....gotta run off to work

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/

Katrina hits home for Prince George’s businesses
Despite climbing costs, companies aid relief efforts


Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005

by Marcus Moore

The effects of Hurricane Katrina — including higher prices for everything from gasoline to oysters — are being felt by Prince George’s businesses, even as they mount efforts to send relief to the Gulf Coast.

‘‘Our gas prices have gone up 37 percent in a week,” said Bridget Burns, CEO of Century Fence Construction, LLC in Upper Marlboro.
Before Katrina, Burns estimated it cost $65 to fill up one of her construction trucks. Last week, it cost $90.

‘‘It’s something you have to figure into your costs,” Burns said. The increased gas costs, she said, ‘‘really gives you a perspective.”

Yet while Century Fence is feeling the pinch at the pump, it is donating $500 to the American Red Cross and canned goods for hurricane survivors to the Associated Builders & Contractors of Metro Washington.

The seafood industry is being squeezed, too: The pre-Katrina price for a box of oysters was $42. Now, seafood restaurants pay $48, said Greg Daley, president of Mid-Atlantic Seafood in Prince George’s.

‘‘The cost of eating seafood could go up,” Daley said. ‘‘Supplies are limited, and what’s available costs more.”

Crab supplies have also been decimated, after Slidell, La., a major distributor of crabs to Maryland, was ‘‘all but wiped out” when Katrina knocked out portions of the Interstate 10 bridge over Lake Pontchartrain, he said.

Not all county businesses have been hurt, though.

Supermarket chain Giant Food LLC of Landover has not been at all affected, said spokesman Barry Scher.

Last week, Giant launched a fund-raising relief drive, collecting donations from customers and employees. Proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross and America’s Second Harvest, a food bank network.

Some officials said they still don’t know if their businesses have been affected by the hurricane.

‘‘To be honest, it’s too early to tell yet,” said Gregory TenEyck, a spokesman for grocer Safeway.

Immediately after the hurricane struck, Safeway’s Texas stores donated truckloads of water to the devastated areas, TenEyck said.

The Safeway Foundation also started a fund-raising drive last week — it is matching employee contributions — and has donated $100,000 to the American Red Cross and 10,000 emergency preparedness kits, which contain blankets, flashlights and first-aid supplies.

Some Prince George’s companies are donating services, rather than money.

Spherix Inc. of Beltsville has expanded its call center in Cumberland to perform disaster recovery services for the Thrift Savings Plan call center in New Orleans, which has closed.

Spherix has also expanded its government call center operations for other agencies dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane.

‘‘Running a parallel call center with disaster recovery responsibilities is one of our specialties,” Richard Levin, president and CEO, said in a statement. ‘‘We were prepared for the worst. We started taking 100 percent of the calls early in the morning on Aug. 29, and we’ll continue to do so for as long as necessary.”

Officials with Dimensions Healthcare System of Cheverly, which operates several hospitals in the county, and the Maryland Hospital Association did not return phone calls seeking comment on whether their institutions were providing any services to hurricane victims.

The storm’s economic impact will be felt for many years in many parts of the country, says analyst Peter Morici, an economics professor at the University of Maryland, College Park.

‘‘Rebuilding will be much delayed, and the impact on neighboring regions will be larger and longer lasting,” Morici said.

Morici speculated the impact will be ‘‘much broader and deeper than initially estimated by economists.”

Repairing refineries, oil rigs and pipelines will help stabilize fuel prices, but that is not the most daunting task to stanch the economic damage, he said. The loss of the port of New Orleans — the nation’s largest — will be compounded by the loss of east-west transportation routes across the Mississippi River, Morici said.

‘‘The crisis created by Katrina will only serve to exacerbate the consequences of rising energy prices and of other fundamental shifts in the economy,” Morici said.

Copyright © 2005 The Gazette

[teknobucks]

El Vis wrote: Katrina hits home for Prince George’s businesses
Despite climbing costs, companies aid relief efforts

[See complete article above]

word has it forrest gump is getting into the roofing business;)

[rokid]

How many Bush administration officials does it take to change a light
bulb?


1. One to deny that a light bulb needs to be changed;

2. One to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs
to be changed;

3. One to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb;

4. One to arrange the invasion of a country rumored to have a secret
stockpile of light bulbs;

5. One to give a billion dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton for the
new light bulb;

6. One to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing on a step ladder under the banner: Light Bulb Change Accomplished[/b];

7. One administration insider to resign and write a book documenting in detail how Bush was literally in the dark;

8. One to viciously smear #7;

9. One surrogate to campaign on TV and at rallies on how George Bush has had a strong light-bulb-changing policy all along;

10. And finally one to confuse Americans about the difference between
screwing a light bulb and screwing the country.:^

[Birchtree]

Rokid,

My dear man, I think Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi could use your support for their presidential aspirations. They are however not running under the Democratic Party platform - they are heading up a new party to be called the [bleep] Party. The welcome mat is out to anyone who wants to join.

Dennis

[Quips]

If the Fed Stops Pushing, Might Bond Yields Rise?: Chet Currier
Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Should the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina deter the Federal Reserve from raising short-term interest rates this month, an odd thing might happen.

The bond market could at last give us some of the higher longer- term interest rates that the Fed has been trying without success to promote since the middle of last year.

While the central bank's next move is the subject of much debate, the disaster in four southern states has clearly altered the calculations it must make in setting monetary policy.

After more than a year of uninterrupted increases in short-term rates, ``the Fed will probably stop a little bit short of where they would have because of Katrina,'' Bill Gross, chief investment officer at Pacific Investment Management Co. and manager of the biggest of all bond funds, said in an interview this week.

Since June 30, 2004, the Fed has steadily increased the overnight bank rate in quarter-point increments to 3.5 percent from 1 percent. Yet at recent levels of about 4.1 percent, the yield on 10-year Treasury notes stands almost half a percentage point below where it was at mid-2004.

With the devastation inflicted by Katrina, Fed policy makers face pressure from Congress, among other places, to hold off on the next quarter-point increase in money rates -- which until the hurricane struck was projected for Sept. 20 by all 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Tough Choice

Some say the Fed will put economics ahead of politics and keep raising rates; others say the situation is simply too grim in human terms for that. Whatever the central bank does, there is likely to be a response from bond traders as well as political commentators. If the Fed decides to stand pat, it might intensify concern about inflation in the bond market, and prompt a drop in bond prices and a rise in bond yields.

The reasoning goes like this: Until now, with its steady barrage of rate increases, the Fed has been taking steps to counter whatever inflationary impulses might be stirring in a surprisingly vibrant economy. If the central bank strays even temporarily from that mission, bond investors might decide they needed to take up the cudgels themselves.

``Going into the end of August, the U.S. economy was expanding at about a 4 percent rate by our measures,'' said Jason Rotenberg, an analyst at Bridgewater Associates Inc., the largest U.S. hedge fund manager by assets, in a commentary this week. ``There was no longer any slack in the economy. Inflation was at 3 percent and rising.''

Question Marks

In this setting, ``current yields of slightly higher than 4 percent don't make much sense to us,'' Rotenberg said. ``U.S. credit markets are underestimating inflationary pressures -- both cyclical and related to rising commodity prices -- and overestimating the likely economic impact of the hurricane.''

The after-effects of Katrina are a study in short-term uncertainty, says David Kelly, economic adviser at mutual-fund manager Putnam Investments in Boston.

``Katrina will raise inflation and cut profits, but only for a short period of time,'' Kelly says. ``On balance, it will hurt economic growth also, but we still cannot tell with assurance by how much.''

``This uncertainty alone may be enough to cause the Federal Reserve to pause in its monetary tightening when it meets on Sept. 20,'' he says. ``If it does so, however, this should only be a temporary pause. When the U.S. economy has shaken off Katrina's effects, the Fed will not want to maintain an overly easy monetary policy.''

Contrary

And yet -- wouldn't Fed policy makers be interested to see any sort of rise in long-term interest rates that might accompany its pause? If one primary object of its policy lately has been to cool the housing market and other economic hot spots stoked by easy money, the Fed ought to be happy to see higher bond rates working toward that end.

If the Fed does pause, whether sooner or later, it would be entirely in character for the bond market to decide it was time for some rate increases of its own.

Bond traders have demonstrated their contrariness over the last 15 months, refusing to raise long-term rates on demand. That makes them just the sort to deliver higher rates once they were no longer being pushed.

[Quips]

Birchtree wrote: Rokid,

My dear man, I think Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi could use your support for their presidential aspirations. They are however not running under the Democratic Party platform - they are heading up a new party to be called the [bleep] Party. The welcome mat is out to anyone who wants to join.

Dennis

Democrats'symbol is the donkey.

Republican's symbol isthe elephant.

[bleep] Pary's symbol is the [bleep].

LHM!

[Dave M]

Gentlemen, please. Are we blaming the po' folks because they got left behind? The city and the state had good plans on paper but never fulfilled them. They knew exactly what would happen, and it did. If that is criminal negligence itwill result in some of these former elected officialsspending time behind bars.

Here in Florida the state and local EM-types know the score. They are on the move instantly and the results are generally good. Floridapositioned men and equipment in West Florida beforehand. When they turned out not to be needed, they moved into Alabama and Mississippi right away. The first people on the ground there were from...Florida.

For my money, Graig Fugate, Florida EM director, should be made #2 at FEMA with Jeb Bush #1. After his term as gov expires, Jeb can do the PR thing and work with Congress, run interference, etc, while Craig gets the job done on the ground.

Blame it on the welfare state! Hah! LMAO!

Dave

[rokid]

Good News!

According to Ed Helms, while others, like Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, are griping and finding fault; due to the president's leadership,the federal government willbuild a billion dollar dam in Arkansas. The president’s plan is:"to fight the water there, so we don't have to fight the water here....in New Orleans".

Tosee video of this importantreport,click onthe "Beleaguered Bush" clipat the following site.


http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/videos/ed_helms/index.jhtml

[teknobucks]

rokid wrote: Good News!

According to Ed Helms, while others, like Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, are griping and finding fault; due to the president's leadership,the federal government willbuild a billion dollar dam in Arkansas. The president’s plan is:"to fight the water there, so we don't have to fight the water here....in New Orleans".

Tosee video of this importantreport,click onthe "Beleaguered Bush" clipat the following site.


http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/videos/ed_helms/index.jhtml




most agree with u Rokid ... http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050910/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_ap_poll

[rokid]

Technobucks,

Sorry, if I beenshrill lately. I believe in good government - local, state, and federal. I've been military/federal civil servant for over 35 years and HATE to see the fedsscrew up because of poor leadership. There are too many good people in both the military and the federal government putting their lives on the line and giving 110%.

I'm sure there's plenty of blame to go around. In addition,I don't expect too much from New Orleans or Louisiana - too poor, too racist, and too corrupt. However, I do expect a lot of the federal government - they've got the money and the expertise. When I don't get the appropriate federal response, I'm mad as hell!

Rokid

[Show-me]

rokid,

Your not alone.

Quips wrote: Democrats'symbol is the donkey.

Republican's symbol isthe elephant.


On January 19, 1870, a political cartoon by Thomas Nast appearing in Harper's Weekly titled "A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" for the first time symbolized the Democratic Party as a donkey. Since then, the donkey has been widely used as a symbol of the Party, though unlike the Republican elephant, the donkey has never been officially adopted as the Party's logo.

In the early 20th century, the traditional symbol of the Democratic Party in Midwestern states such as Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Ohio was the rooster, as opposed to the Republican eagle. This symbol still appears on Kentucky and Indiana ballots.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a242/elvis256/rooster.gif

1937 - Bill Cox - The Democratic Donkey is in His Stall Again

I've been a good old donkey, but they turned me out to die
They had me on the common, where the grass don't grow so high
But now I'm in the clover, and a field of golden grain
I'm back in old Columbie, in the same old stall again
They had me upsalt river, but I kicked the stable down
I knew that mister Roosevelt would ride me into town
He mounted to the saddle, he grabbed the bridle rein
I'm back in old Columbie, in the same old stall again

Chorus: He-haw hallelujah, he-haw hallelujah
I'm back in old Columbie, in the same old stall again

He shouted, on to Washington, cut a track and let us by
You never saw a donkey, in your life that jumped so high
He rode me on to victory, I carried him to fame
I'm back in old Columbie, in the same old stall again
The rooster and the eagle, fought a duel in the skies
While I was throwin gravel, in the big white elephant's eyes
The rooster fought the eagle, he proved that he was game
I'm back in old Columbie, in the same old stall again

Chorus;

They had me on the race track, for another stake this fall
Mister Roosevelt he rode me, to the presidental hall
Then he led me to the manger, to feed my hungry frame
I was back in old Columbie, in the same old stall again
You'll see my handsome profile, in the papers everywhere
And soon you'll hear em singin, about me on the air
The world is goin to miss me, when I'm dead and gone
But when the angels find me, I'll be sleepin in the White House lawn

[rokid]

El Vis,

Very interesting. Were did you get that info? It really captures the feeling of the depression era.

rokid wrote: El Vis,

Very interesting. Were did you get that info? It really captures the feeling of the depression era.

It is a song actually from 1937. Mr. Cox is more famous for his song "NRA Blues" from 1938.

Norman Blake, my favorite musician, recorded "Democratic Donkey" in 1996 on hisalbum "The Hobo's Last Ride" (with Nancy). He must have thought it would be timely since Clinton was in the White House after Republicans being in for 12 years. I could send you a mp3 of the song.

"The New Lost City Ramblers" also rerecorded it back in the early 1960s.

[rokid]

El Vis,

Thanks for the info. Howver, don't go to the trouble of sending a copy. I'll have my son download a version.

[Quips]

For those conspiracy theorists and those who believe them, the following may be of some interest:

Katrina and the Politics of Disaster | Paul Collins
http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/Commentary/Katrina_Politics_Disaster.htm


In the wake of hurricane Katrina, many within the government are ducking for cover as the blame game begins. One individual who has been targeted is Michael Brown, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Associated Press reported the following:



The top U.S. disaster official waited hours after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast before he proposed to his boss sending at least 1,000 Homeland Security workers into the region to support rescuers, internal documents show.

Part of the mission, according to the documents obtained by The Associated Press, was to ``convey a positive image'' about the government's response for victims.

Acknowledging that such a move would take two days, Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29.

Before then, FEMA had positioned smaller rescue and communications teams across the Gulf Coast. But officials acknowledged the first department-wide appeal for help came only as the storm raged.

Brown's memo to Chertoff described Katrina as ``this near catastrophic event'' but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, ``Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities.'' (No pagination)
Michael Brown is not the only one with a bull's eye on his chest. Former Clinton advisor Sydney Blumenthal also got in on the fun, placing blame squarely on the President's shoulders:


In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war. (No pagination)
Many in the mainstream media have interpreted these revelations the same way: gross incompetence on the part of the government. Apparently, Uncle Sam cannot get a thing right these days. What the media has completely missed (or ignored) is how certain factions within government could use the Katrina catastrophe to introduce social changes previously unthinkable. There is a discomforting possibility that Americans must consider in light of the fact that there is no one else looking out for their best interest. It is the possibility that warnings were ignored and assistance was intentionally delayed to create a pretext for unprecedented government growth.

One supporter of this contention is Paul Craig Roberts, the former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. On the 5th September 2005 Alex Jones show, Roberts: "agreed that FEMA has deliberately withheld aid, and cut emergency communication lines, and automatically made the crisis look worse in order to empower the image of a police state emerging to 'save the day'" (Watson and Jones, no pagination). Steve Watson and Alex Jones also report:


Roberts further commented "There is no excuse for this, we have never had in our history the federal government take a week to respond to a disaster...this is the first time ever that the help was not mobilized in advance. The proper procedure is that everything is mobilized and ready to go." (No pagination)
Roberts can hardly be called a conspiracy theorist. The former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury has recognized a certain game plan at work in the Katrina situation. This game plan has been used for centuries. Researcher Ralph Epperson elaborates:


The first step consisted of having the conspiracy's own people infiltrate the government (the "pressure from above.")

The second step was to create a real or alleged grievance, usually through either an action of government or through some situation where the government should have acted and didn't.

The third step consisted in having a mob created by the real or alleged grievance that the government or the conspiracy caused demand that the problem be solved by a governmental action (the "pressure from below.")

The fourth step consisted in having the conspirators in the government remedy the real or alleged situation with some oppressive legislation.

The fifth step is a repeat of the last three. The government does not solve the problem and the mob demand more and more legislation until the government becomes totalitarian in nature by possessing all of the power. (37)
If this method were fully implemented, it would be no exaggeration to describe the end result as being a Soviet-style America. One of the government agencies that have much to gain from the execution of this technique is FEMA.

Michael Brown may become a sacrificial lamb. However, the Agency he heads, FEMA, has much to gain from the Katrina catastrophe. The hurricane disaster may lead to calls for increasing FEMA's budget and power. In a hopes of silencing his critics, the President may favor such a move. America would then fall back to sleep, believing FEMA had its back covered in the event of another disaster. However, several researchers have recognized that FEMA has little to do with emergency relief. One such individual was deceased researcher Jim Keith. In his book, Black Helicopters Over America (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1881532054/ref=ase_conspiracyarc-20/102-5485159-1789706?v=glance&s=books), Keith noted the following concerning FEMA:


FEMA is intended to assume the powers of government during "emergencies," even to the extent of taking over the powers of the President, if the situation is believed to warrant it. The organization is located in the top secret National Security Agency facility in Fort Meade, Maryland. In its more benign aspects, FEMA is seen as an "umbrella" agency that, during times of disaster or natural cataclysm, will step into to throw the stricken populace life preservers. But there are aspects of FEMA which have some worried, one being that only a small percentage, less than 10% of FEMA employees according to a Congressional investigation, is engaged in anything having to do with disaster relief. So what the hell is FEMA doing behind those closed doors at Fort Meade? Among other things, the agency is engaged in compiling computer records on millions of Americans, to provide a database for CAPS, Crisis Action Programs, to be deployed whenever the non-elected bureaucrats of FEMA anticipate something which might compromise almighty COG, what they term the "Continuity of Government." (108)
Was Keith merely being an alarmist when he penned these words? In his book The Triangle of Death (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385314752/ref=ase_conspiracyarc-20/102-5485159-1789706?v=glance&s=books), former DEA agent Michael Levine records a conversation he had with a CIA agent that reinforces Jim Keith's contention:


"How can you be so good at what you do and have so little understanding of what really pulls your strings? Don't you realize that there are factions in your government that want this to happen - an emergency situation too hot for a constitutional government to handle."

"To what end?" I asked.

"A suspension of the Constitution, of course. The legislation is already in place. All perfectly legal. Check it out yourself. It's called FEMA. Federal Emergency Management Agency. 'Turn in your guns, you antigovernment rabble rousers. And who would be king, Michael?" (353)
In an interview with William Norman Grigg, Levine made it clear that this account was not fictitious:


According to Levine, this shocking exchange is not the product of an imagination fed by alarmist myths. "That scenario…came from a specific conversation I had with a CIA officer in Argentina in 1979," Levine informed The New American. "There was a small group of us gathered for a drinking at the CIA guy's apartment. There were several Argentine police officers there as well; at the time, Argentina was a police state in which people could be taken into custody without warning, tortured, and then 'disappeared.'"

"At one point my associate in the CIA said that he preferred Argentina's approach to social order, and that America should be more like that country," Levine continues. "Somebody asked, 'Well, how does a change of that sort happen?' The spook replied that it was necessary to create a situation of public fear - a sense of impending anarchy and social upheaval…"(11)
The lack of response on the part of the government to hurricane Katrina created a situation just like that described by Levine's CIA acquaintance. An August 31, 2005 WWLTV news report seems to sugg