Bush inquires

Bush to lead inquiry into Katrina US President George W Bush says he will lead an investigation into how the Hurricane Katrina disaster was handled. So he can blame others and take no responsibility for his own handling of the situation.

"I'm going to find out over time what went right and what went wrong," he said in reply to criticism that the authorities were too slow to respond. Make sure you look in a mirror, buddy.

His focus, he added, was on helping the victims but there would be "ample time" for an investigation. Just like the "ample time" it took for him to respond to the crisis.

In an open letter, the city's Times-Picayune newspaper has demanded the sacking of top emergency service officials. Hear that, Brown? You best resign.

Ex-President Bill Clinton, and his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, have been among those to call for an inquiry. Looks good for Clinton '08.

How the different levels of government had reacted to Katrina would be examined, Mr Bush said, but he refused to "play the blame game". Unlike the rest of his party and the radical right.

"We got to solve problems - there will be ample time to figure out what went right and what went wrong," he said in Washington. He's never solved a problem, only caused them.

America, he added, had to be sure it could respond properly to another disaster, whether natural or an attack with weapons of mass destruction. WMDs caused the hurricane.

Stressing his focus on victims, Mr Bush also pledged not to allow "bureaucracy... to get in the way of getting the job done for the people". So you put soldiers on the streets who are ready to shoot at any time- that'll eliminate the bureaucracy, for sure. Fewer people to file paperwork.

He also announced that Vice President Dick Cheney would visit Gulf Coast region on Thursday to help assess the government's work. And to see how Halliburton can be of service.

Iraqi Taliban takes city

Insurgents Assert Control Over Town Near Syrian Border

BAGHDAD, Sept. 5 -- Fighters loyal to militant leader Abu Musab Zarqawi asserted control over the key Iraqi border town of Qaim on Monday, killing U.S. collaborators and enforcing strict Islamic law, according to tribal members, officials, residents and others in the town and nearby villages.

Residents said the foreign-led fighters controlled by Zarqawi, a Jordanian, apparently had been exerting authority in the town, within two miles of the Syrian border, since at least the start of the weekend. A sign posted at an entrance to the town declared, "Welcome to the Islamic Republic of Qaim."

I thought we were winning.

"Cairing" for others

US Muslims Pledge $10m for Katrina Victims The people the right loves to hate.

The Muslim Hurricane Relief Task Force (MHRTF) was announced at the 42nd annual convention of ISNA, currently in session in Chicago.

It comprises, in alphabetical order, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), ISNA, Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Islamic Relief, Kind Hearts, Life for Relief and Development, Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), Muslim American Society (MAS), Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), and Muslim Ummah of North America (MUNA).

CAIR last week urged American Muslims to offer assistance to alleviate the suffering of people impacted by Katrina.

How many times has CAIR been called a terrorist organization by the radical right? Do terrorists donate money to disaster victims?

Halliburton gets Katrina clean up contract

I'm not kidding. From today's Houston Chronicle:

The Navy has hired Houston-based Halliburton Co. to restore electric power, repair roofs and remove debris at three naval facilities in Mississippi damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Halliburton subsidiary KBR will also perform damage assessments at other naval installations in New Orleans as soon as it is safe to do so.

KBR was assigned the work under a "construction capabilities" contract awarded in 2004 after a competitive bidding process. The company is not involved in the Army Corps of Engineers' effort to repair New Orleans' levees.

More rightwing disaster opportunism.

The bratty right

When I was in first grade, I read the Judy Blume books about the Hatcher family. The first book was called "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing." In it, Peter Hatcher, a 12 year old kid, had to put up with a bratty brother nicknamed Fudge. As I am the oldest of three children, I related to the book. My favorite of all the Hatcher books was "Superfudge," but it always made me sad when I read it. See, the Hatchers were going to have a third child, and they were moving to a new town. Even as a seven year old, I came to realize that everything in life changes, and there are things everyone must leave behind.

But... there is one thing that remains constant as the world wobbles on its axis: human nature. Men have been trying since the dawn of time to understand what it is that makes humans do the things they do. Countless scholars have developed their ideas on how to make the world a better place, from democracy and communism to such evils as Islamic fundamentalism.

Human nature will never change. We will always have good and evil. There will always be people slaughtering each other. There will always be poverty and inequality. And why? Because there are people who are afraid of change and want to conserve the status quo, even if it means letting others suffer.

This disaster that is our national focus should really make people think about life. People should think about their obsession with possessions. There are hundreds of thousands of people who have absolutely nothing now. NOTHING. Can you even imagine that? Of course, Condi's out there buying a thousand-dollar pair of shoes and living it up in NYC. People who have so much don't ever have to think about having nothing. They don't even comprehend that there are people who have nothing. Indeed, the fact that there are those heartless people who blame people for staying in the city shows that there is no comprehension of having no place to go. I wonder if they have ever lived paycheck to paycheck. Even if those people were able to get out of the city, hotels aren't free.

What has happened to our country that the left and right are at each others' throats, laying blame and pointing fingers at whomever they see as connected to the disaster? This country has changed. I feel like I've switched schools like Peter Hatcher. I don't know anyone; I recognize nothing. The generosity that I have seen in the past week has been countered by the hatred I have seen.

The reason I bring up a book from my childhood is that as I am only 16 months from 30, and I am about to embark on a major change in my life. (Career related, but not sure what it is yet.) I wanted to serve people, but I don't want to serve people like Michelle Malkin, Neil Boortz, or those at Moldy Footballs. My whole outlook on life has changed as a result of the realization that there are some people out there who really only do care about themselves.

There was an economist who said something along the lines of modern conservativism constantly trying to find a moral justification for their selfishness (Galbraith, maybe?) I believe that. People like Malkin are gloryseekers, and their sheep give them that glory they seek. I don't want to serve people like this. I don't want to serve people who say government should only exist to fight wars and that it has no responsibility to govern the people. I don't want to serve the irrational hateful radical right whose answer to looters is to shoot them. I don't want to serve people who claim to want a "culture of life" who support this kind of barbaric behavior, who only care about embryos and not actual born people.

Everything in life changes. Everything, that is, except human nature.

A glimpse into the future

Drowning New Orleans (written October 2001)

A major hurricane could swamp New Orleans under 20 feet of water, killing thousands. Human activities along the Mississippi River have dramatically increased the risk, and now only massive reengineering of southeastern Louisiana can save the city... New Orleans is a disaster waiting to happen. The city lies below sea level, in a bowl bordered by levees that fend off Lake Pontchartrain to the north and the Mississippi River to the south and west. And because of a damning confluence of factors, the city is sinking further, putting it at increasing flood risk after even minor storms.

Too bad science is just something to "believe in" these days.

Anarchy in the USA

"Now with all this happening in the U.S. we can easily see where the civilized part of the world's population is."

The world has watched amazed as the planet's only superpower struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with some saying the chaos has exposed flaws and deep divisions in American society.

...many have also been shocked by the images of disorder beamed around the world -- looters roaming the debris-strewn streets and thousands of people gathered in New Orleans waiting for the authorities to provide food, water and other aid.

"Anarchy in the USA" declared Britain's best-selling newspaper The Sun.

"Apocalypse Now" headlined Germany's Handelsblatt daily. full

My shock and disbelief are slowly succumbing to anger. Each year, the United States is pounded by several hurricanes, and though not as large as Katrina, we have never seen anything like this chaos. It has brought out the best and worst in people. The good news is that most Americans are doing everything they can to help. Generosity has always been a mainstream American trait to the extent that there is a mainstream America anymore. The bad news is the divisions in American society have been exposed.

Comments from the Free Republic:

"I hope somebody buys a bunch of Eddie Murphy and Cedric the Entertainer DVDs to put on the Jumbotron. That might just keep things down to a roar."

"...we need the zeroist of zero tolerance when it comes to behavior in these refugee camps. I'm not in any mood to put up with bussed-in criminals. We've got enough grown in our own backyard."

These and more ludicrous rightwing comments were discovered by Pam's House Blend.

Maybe this disaster will provide the stage we so desperately need to talk about race in this country. I have seen "criminals" used to describe the survivors more times than I care to count. Because they're BLACK? The radical right loves to say that poor people are poor because they are lazy. So, it's just a coincidence that much of the black population of New Orleans and the rest of the country are all lazy, right? I don't know if it is stupidity, ignorance, or prejudice that makes the right believe this. The chaos that has ensued after this disaster is an example of how America is not invincible. There are areas of this country that are just like third world countries; indeed, one could argue that many places in the South, especially some of the poorer black communities, are like third world neighborhoods.

It will be difficult to start a civil discourse on race in this country when much of the radical right views blacks as "lazy" or "criminals." The "me, me, me" attitude of these people is such that they can't see beyond their own picket fences. While the neocons senselessly create Islamic republics in foreign lands, the problems in this country go ignored. It may take a national tragedy to wake them up, but then again, rationality is scarce in their land of make believe.

So, here's a wake-up call to you radical righties. This disaster is very much about race. No, there are no firehoses and lynchings (although there are fingers on M-16 triggers right now.) It is not overt or even conscious racism, but the fact that one race has been disproportionately affected by this disaster should make you see that there ARE race problems in this country. I guess it still can't make you care, though.

To get into contact with Katrina victims

Air America Radio's Public Voicemail

1-866-217-6255

Air America Radio's Public Voicemail is a way for disconnected people to communicate in the wake of Katrina.

Here's how it works:

Call the toll-free number above, enter your everyday phone number, and then record a message. Other people who know your everyday phone number (even if it doesn't work anymore) can call Emergency Voicemail, enter the phone number they associate with you, and hear your message.

You can also search for messages left by people whose phone numbers you know.

Air America Radio will leave Public Voicemail in service for as long as this crisis continues. You can call it whenever you are trying to locate someone, or if you are trying to be found.

Air America Radio brings you Emergency VoiceMail in conjunction with VoodooVox.

Please spread the word so that people can get into contact with their families.

That's right, BLAME THE VICTIMS

Heartless bastard.

The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Thursday those New Orleans residents who chose not to heed warnings to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina bear responsibility for their fates. "Unfortunately, that's going to be attributable a lot to people who did not heed the advance warnings," Brown told CNN.

What were they supposed to do, walk? Has he seen the sick and the dead? Is it so unfathomable that there are people who do not own cars? BLAME THE POOR! BLAME THE POOR! Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, and let them die!

Your agency is a mess, Brown. But, like all of this administration, you choose to blame others instead of taking responsibility. Just do your job.

Give them condoms

Ohio High School has 64 Pregnant Students

Joanne Hinton, whose 16-year-old daughter, Raechel Hinton, is eight months pregnant, said she believes the school's abstinence-based sex education program isn't enough.

"It's time to take the blinders off and realize that these kids are having sex," she said. "Obviously, abstinence is not working. If we have to, just give them condoms."

Well, DUH!

Abstinence-based programs have been growing nationwide at schools over the past few years. In Ohio, the Bush's administration and the state's health department have awarded $32 million in grants to Ohio agencies for abstinence education since 2001.

The Right is destroying this country.