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The catastrophe that hit three states of the USA has received great concern on this MB. Much of the anger and anguish displayed has been directed at the government at its various levels, particularly the highest. Today, the following evaluation reached me which I share with you. The thought that this evaluation may be accurate fills me with horror and disgust. But if what is said in the first paragraph is factually correct then the American Administration should be found criminally incompetent. (In a parliamentary democracy the government would resign.) Can anyone very the FEMA report?
Here is what I received:
In 2001 FEMA released a report describing what were by their estimation the disasters most likely to be unleashed upon the people of America. Among the top three was the possibility of a catastrophic terrorist attack in New York City, and the very real possibility of a flooded New Orleans in the near future. In addition, a Government scientist warned that any further development of the wetlands south of New Orleans would result in a further weakening of the natural protections to the city.
Given that, one would think that our Government might step up to the plate - take an in-depth and honest look at the possibility of a terrorist attack - and direct resources to a program already in place designed to bolster the protection of New Orleans. Instead, the threat of terrorism was ignored by the current administration and thousands died on 9/11.
As if that incompetence were not enough, the Bush administration then proceeded to lead the country into a questionable war in Iraq. To help pay for it, Bush cut funding for the New Orleans project and personally approved the further development of the wetlands to the south of the city. As a result, two tragedies of Biblical proportion have befallen the country on Bush's watch - tragedies that could have been avoided if only competent leadership would have been present in Washington. As of today, only God knows how many dead lie buried beneath the rancid waters covering New Orleans.
And what was this administration's response to the tragedy unfolding in New Orleans? Golfing on Tuesday, and an unrelated political speech on Wednesday. While thousands of easily accessible refugees begged for water in the streets of New Orleans, our President counseled us to not buy gas if we don't need it. We can drop MRE's on the mountaintops of Afghanistan but our brilliant Homeland Security Department couldn't seem to figure out how to do the same for our own desperate citizens. I feel much safer now.
Lest anyone think that slave owner mentality has died in the south, take another look. Look closely at who is being marginalized in New Orleans this week. I'm ashamed to call myself an American.
The real tragedy is however yet to come - the hidden yet deliberate ethnic cleansing of New Orleans will become a reality in the years to come. The poorest of the poor are being carried away while the wolves and jackals of the development community salivate over the flooded remains of their lives.
These homes can't be saved - they will be bulldozed in the coming months. What will be built in their place? A token few low income housing projects - probably.
Will there be a concerted effort to accommodate all of those working poor who have been forced to leave their lives behind? Probably not.
If you don't think this could happen, think again. And while you're thinking, watch closely.
You'll have to watch closely because it will happen slowly - so slowly that most Americans won't even notice. It will be hailed as the grand rebirth of a lost American City. As the lost tribes of Israel were carried away to assimilation, so to will be the pesky poor blacks of New Orleans.
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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This document apprared in several news papers last week.
The FEMA evaluation of 2001 is real..... although only paraphrased in the article.
The present administration is definately lacking in leadership.
Somehow I can picture GW playing with army men on the oval office floor.
I really believe the idiot can not make a decision on his own.
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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Marc wrote:
> The FEMA evaluation of 2001 is real
In which case the American Administration is guilty of criminal negligence and crass incompetence.
Thousands of people have lost their lives because of this administration.
How can the President and his "team" bear to live with themselves? Anyone with even the smallest amount of decency and humanity would have resigned already.
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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Well there you go....... you answered your own question.....
The administration hasn't a shread of decency nor do they have the capacity to exhibit any humanitarian traits.
Any other world leader would have acted faster with aid.
This includes those we went to war over.
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13796
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On that basis, and assuming the document to be true, what is the constitutional mechanism for removing the president from office in disgrace?
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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Well, see thats the thing...
His constituancy believes he is all correct in his wrongness.
These are the same people that wel deal with in incidences such as the dealings with the boy "Zach"...
They are right because God says so.....
Or so they are led to believe.......
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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Marc wrote:
> They are right because God says so..... Or so they are led to believe.......
By God, someone should prove them wrong!
(And to think whose finger it is on the nuclear trigger! Jeeeeesh!)
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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Yup.... for sure......
The inmates have the keys to the assylum.....
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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"New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and a direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been working with state and local officials in the region since the late 1960s on major hurricane and flood relief efforts. When flooding from a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.
Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside."
Add to this the fact that the city is sinking about 1/2" per year.
I will not defend the president, but even if the money for levee reconstruction had been approved, the work would not have been completed in time to have made any difference for this storm.
Info from National Geographic:
"Levee Upgrade
Until the day before Katrina's arrival, New Orleans's 350 miles (560 kilometers) of levees were undergoing a feasibility study to examine the possibility of upgrading them to withstand a Category Four or Five storm.
Corps officials say the study, which began in 2000, will take several years to complete.
Upgrading the system would take as long as 20 to 25 years, according to Al Naomi, the Corps' senior project manager for the New Orleans District."
Some historical background:
"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been building levees along the Mississippi River since the late 1800s. The artificial, reenforced soil embankments are designed to curb periodic and destructive floods.
But determining the level of protection needed versus what Congress and the public are willing to pay for isn't often easy.
Acceptable risks must be weighed, including the statistical likelihood of catastrophic events and the possible consequences if they do occur, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials......
....The current system (of levees)in New Orleans was designed decades ago and has been shaped over time by past storms.
An unnamed hurricane on September 1947 flooded Jefferson Parish, which includes metropolitan New Orleans, to depths of about three feet (one meter). The storm caused 100 million dollars (U.S.) worth of damage.
After the storm, hurricane protection levees were built along Lake Pontchartrain's south shore.
Hurricane Betsy made landfall some 50 miles east of New Orleans on September 10, 1965. Winds in the city reached 125 miles per hour (200 kilometers an hour) and the storm surge neared 10 feet (3 meters). After extensive flooding, the Orleans Levee Board raised existing levees to a height of 12 feet (4 meters).
In 1998 Hurricane Georges triggered a mandatory evacuation of the Crescent City. The storm devastated much of the Caribbean but largely spared New Orleans.
Still, traffic snarls illustrated the difficulty and danger that would accompany evacuation in the face of a more direct hit—like the one delivered by Hurricane Katrina."
(\\__/) And if you don't believe The sun will rise
(='.'=) Stand alone and greet The coming night
(")_(") In the last remaining light. (C. Cornell)
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