September 01, 2005
Open Thread For September 2005
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
Here we continue our monthly open threads for readers to use to discuss whatever they wish (excluding the usual prohibition against comment spam, of course).
Every now and then we hear from readers who wish open threads existed here, so every month, at the start of the month, we will open up a thread such as this one.
In order to make sure people can always find the current month's open thread, a link to it will be kept at the top of the right-hand sidebar.
From here on out, any and all clearly off-topic discussion, or simply comments that for whatever reason don't appear to fit within the context of other posts, should be kept in that month's open thread.
Comments (24)
NHL on 01 Sep 2005
Tiring of people washing their hands and absolving their government of accountability for the clearly inadequate Katrina response. You can't avoid the accountability conversation by blaming other people for bringing up politics (*cough*cough*jackbog*cough*).
What part of: "It's been 5 days. The federal government is so unprepared they are leaving thousands to die" do you not understand?
Maybe the cartoon squirrel is the only one who gets it (link).
Hopper on 01 Sep 2005
Yeah...I know the government doesn't get a lot of credit and that the future is uncertain and storms are unpredictable, etc. but today's quote from the FEMA director was a pretty pathetic attempt to blame the victims.
I realize that some people refused to leave New Orleans but, like every other U.S. city, poverty is an issue in the Big Easy and not everyone has the option to hope in their sedan and join the exodus.
From CNN web site...
(CNN) -- 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 some responsibility for their fates.
Michael Brown also agreed with other public officials that the death toll in the city could reach into the thousands.
"Unfortunately, that's going to be attributable a lot to people who did not heed the advance warnings," Brown told CNN.
"I don't make judgments about why people chose not to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans," he said.
"And to find people still there is just heart-wrenching to me because, you know, the mayor did everything he could to get them out of there.
"So, we've got to figure out some way to convince people that whenever warnings go out it's for their own good," Brown said. "Now, I don't want to second guess why they did that. My job now is to get relief to them."
[snip]
This article especially caught my eye as I heard on OPB today some one talking about the long known realization that an evacuation of New Orleans for a hurricane scenario would have to take into consideration that 20% of the population has no personal transportation options. The caller went on to mention the apparent non-use of buses to help people vacate before Katrina struck.
Sorry I don't have the OPB info. referenced...probably will be available on their website tomorrow...I think it might have been Talk of the Nation and it was definitely on today (Sept. 1st).
Shouldn't we be doing better after these many days?
NHL on 01 Sep 2005
The Chinese evacuated 600,000 people before Typhoon Talim yesterday. It's not like most of those people have cars. Yet the Chinese were prepared.
Meanwhile, in this country, Patrick Rhode, FEMA's deputy director, insisted that "this has been probably one of the most efficient and effective responses in the country's history."
I see one country whose leaders aren't delusional, and it's not ours. Typhoon Talim. Hang your heads in shame, FEMA hacks.
It's over, people. I pledge allegiance to President Hu. Maybe he can annex us when he visits next week.
Jack Bog on 02 Sep 2005
Anybody who would sit in their armchair pointing fingers of blame while dead bodies are still floating in the streets, and thousands of lives are still at risk, must have no soul.
NHL on 02 Sep 2005
Anybody who would sit on their pompous blog and pat themselves on the back for "keeping politics out of it," and give the government a free pass, is too much of a statist to bear.
"It's hard"? Is that your excuse? Not when it's your job.
Do you realize that the federal government knew of the 17th street levee break on Monday afternoon and did NOTHING about it on Tuesday? Do you not realize that your president would not leave his vacation and still has not grasped the magnitude of this crisis? Do you not realize that the only reason marginally sufficiently aid is flowing on any kind of timescale is because the Mayor of New Orleans has had the courage to tell the truth, instead of sitting back and waiting for "help on the way"?
But no. Don't rock the boat. "I'm so moderate, I'm in the middle. No extremes for me. Everything nice and beige. No controversy. No hard opinions." Oregon nice. A nice comfortable, aging, Republican lite. And most importantly, I and only I can make up arbitrary moral-political rules like "you can only question when I say so and deem it proper" to cut off opinions you disagree with. Only I can imply that everyone else is against you.
As many people will die after the hurricane as during it. I'll give you this: it takes guts to be a good german in times like this.
I don't care if you don't think I have a soul. What I want to know is, what makes you think anyone cares whether you think they do?
Own up to the fact that no one cares whether you think it is the proper time. The fact that so many people are speaking out now casts no aspersions on the merit of their opinion. The point is that it is heard, which is more than I can say about your blog.
myrln on 02 Sep 2005
I agree that attacking an inept govt.response right now while the event continues to decline is fine. It demonstrates a MORAL concern, the very thing this inept administration is usually so high and mighty about, until such required of it in practice.
Right now there are two groups I will praise amid this disaster: the major cable news networks who for once have taken their true responsibility in hand and are saying: Okay, here's the truth of things. Deal with it. And instead of waiting 'til after the fact, they're pointing out shortcomings NOW when real people are really suffering NOW, and need help NOW.
The second group are those rescuers and police and volunteers on the ground now, going without rest to try to stem the tide of suffering even though they're too shorthanded to accomplish that. They keep trying. They are the heroes and the only heroes. The first politico who tries to take credit for their accomplishments needs a face slap. And believe me, there'll be lots of them looking to take the credit cuz they all know they've failed miserably.
So yes, Jack, this is exactly the time to take the inept to task: when the help is desperately needed and the inept are not providing it in any timely way. They need to be hammered 'til they get the message that they're fooling no one now.
John Bartley K7AAY on 02 Sep 2005
The Interdictor is a data center guy, blogging, with webcams, from DirectNIC.com, an ISP in a Central Business District highrise in New Orleans. Guess who I'm picking as my next web host, for this trial by fire shows they will be up and on line with my trivial babble until the Last Trump.
If there was a Pulitzer for blogging (present company excepted, of course), he'd be my recommendation for this year's ballot (last year being A View From A Broad, a female milblogger who just re-upped. (And, yes, as S.M. Sterling would say, I am distressingly liberal.)
This Wiki also gives you some idea about what's going on. There are other good Wikis, too; gotta get back to the phone bank.
Curious Stranger on 02 Sep 2005
What occured in New Orleans not only predicted, it was war-gamed, mulled over, thought about - pretty much everything but dealt with for the last several years. The fact that there still don't appear to be plans to deal with it means heads are going to roll. The folks with no soul are the ones who knew this could happen, in fact was likely to happen - ranked by FEMA with another terrorist attack on New York and a catastrophic earthquake in New Orleans as the most dire threats facing the country - and instead diverted the money set aside to improve the odds of New Orleans survival to Iraq. Read the passage below, written last October, and tell me its not exactly what is occuring. Here's hoping the final numbers don't end up the same.
TimNE on 02 Sep 2005
Anyone who would defend any admistration that sits back and does nothing as citizens of an American city are dying in the streets is an a**hole. I mean for christ sakes there are people dying needlessly because of inadequate planning and response (hum, that sound familar). Personally, I couldn't be more angry. If this isn't the time to call these people out for their BS, then when is the time? If people weren't complaining about the governement's response Bush would still be back in Texas with his thumb up his ass. Anyone who says "now isn't the time" or blames "liberals" is the problem.
And then all that crap about looters! These people are just trying to survive until the can get out of town.
The fact of the mater is that days after the storm the Federal Government had once again, bungled their responsiblity to the American people. Ultimatley, the buck stops at the top, and that responsiblity rest squarly on Bush's lap.
I can assure you that a terrorist attack would not give the option of evacuating 90% of the population of the stike area. This is how we will be protected when there is another terrorist stike? After all the screwups with this admisntration, when is America going to wake up? It kind of seems like it might be happening now. Only time will tell.
How many times do we have to watch this admisntration act incompetantly before it's "OK" to start blaming them? The time to blame is now. Being a leader means taking responsiblity for your actions. Conservatives oppose responsiblity when it is their leaders who have screwed up royally. It's called hypocrisy, and your damn right I am going to point it out.
Sorry for the rant, I am just so pissed right now, I have to get it out somehow or I am going to lose it.
TimNE on 02 Sep 2005
Just ran acroos this from Reuters on Yahoo:
"Operational effectiveness is an 'F' or a grade lower, if there is such a grade," said U.S. Sen. David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana.
Hopper on 02 Sep 2005
Check out this recent link regarding the different perceptions of reality on the New Orleans situation.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/katrina.response/index.html
(Sorry it's a cut and paste. I'm not too web fluent)
I wonder if the biggest head to role will be FEMA's director Brown. He sounds like a bit of a dolt.
NHL on 02 Sep 2005
All you wingers, all you self-righteous White House-talking-point critics patting yourself on the back from "keeping politics out of it": Take it straight from Ray. And I mean take it. Strap yourself down and let the truth make your ears bleed:
Audio link 1
Backup link from msnbc
Mayor Ray Nagin, you are a hero. Without you, nobody in the public, nobody in the media, nobody in the government itself would have a clue about what has really gone on. If you are not re-elected by a landslide, it may be the Democratic party that "has no soul".
Jack Peek on 02 Sep 2005
The local news last night on FOX 12 during their "most wanted" segment featured a violent sex offender who had violently raped 3 different women and he just recently walked away from a halfway house in Portland and is loose on the street.
And of course the problem in the South is bigger, but here is the same one some of you have "dissed" me for to long.
There is a solution to the problem of halfway houses and "criminally insane" group homes in our neighborhoods, neither the electeds I copy or wanna be electeds like Amanda Fritz will listen.
All say your "tone," your hate, your rant, is the reason I cannot get action.
I say...Its' you, your Political correctness, your lack of caring outside your own neighborhood, that remark goes to Jack Bog, Frank Bird, Frank Dixon, and a host of others, like Randy Leonard, Sam Adams, Diane Linn, all of the Multnomah county council.
Last week it was Beaverton, and a PSRB home where, the "WALKAWAY" here was quote ,"a danger to herself and the community."
Keep this crap up, and one of you will stand before a "Mike" with a profound idea to name a law for the poor victim.
The national weather service told the people of the area hit,."Hello, its a CAT 4 or 5, GET THE HELL OUT." Didn't they?
I'm telling you ... it's coming! Jack Peek
allehseya on 02 Sep 2005
The Community Arts Network (CAN) represents and reflects the issues and opportunities that are relevant to an emerging genre of “community artists” – the genre combines artistic medium, social awareness and urban planning (wherein the blurred lines between ‘artist’, ‘activist’ and ‘community building’ are erased and placed under one umbrella term as these areas and ‘identity constructs’ overlap).
In any event, all introductions aside, the CAN member’s newsgroup just announced their new blog. Many of us have been anticipating it for a while now, and Katrina basically had us all wondering how our peers, related organizations, etc. were holding up in New Orleans. They responded to emails of concern and for those of you interested in the Arts and Culture – community activism, etc. and how they are affected, or what you can do to help – you can bookmark the following url and drop in from time to time as the blog grows…
http://www.communityarts.net/blog/index.php
The CAN intro to the blog states:
”Welcome to our new weblog! We've been wanting to get this weblog off the ground for months now, but our plans have been grandiose and we just didn’t think we were ready to take on a new project of that scale. But recent events including the gulf coast hurricane and its aftermath have convinced us that grandiosity could wait and we’d just get this thing up and running. It’s important that we have a vehicle on the CAN website where we can relay what we’re hearing and comment and respond quickly to events that are important to our network, however modest that vehicle may be. So instead of premiering something grand, we’ll just get to work and you can watch it grow along with us. —Steven Durland, 9/1/05”
and ...speaking of blogs -- b!X -- I do hope all is well --- it's been rather slow around here and ... well ... we miss you
Terry on 02 Sep 2005
I do not know if anyone has seen or talked about this but FEMA had a large scale "planning exercise" of just this senario. It was called Hurricane Pam.
For the President to say that no one could have forseen this is just lying again.
The question is what happened to this plan? Did anyone even look at it when this monster was on the way? Did anyone actually try to implement this? I understand that the plan assumed that 100,000 poor people would be left in the city.
This is a huge failure in leadership.
Here is the link. Check it out!
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=13051
NHL on 03 Sep 2005
Rep. Brad Miller (D, NC-13), today on the house floor :
"Earlier today on this floor Mr. Lewis [CA-41] said, 'now is not the time for finger pointing.'
"Mr. Wamp [TN-03] said, 'now is not the time for finger pointing.'
"Mr. Kirk [IL-10] said, 'now is not the time for recrimination.'
"Mr. Lungren [CA-03] said, 'now is not the time for recrimination or for finger pointing.'
"They say now is the time to grieve for the victims of the hurricane.
"Mr. Speaker, I do grieve for the victims of the hurricane.
"They say now is the time to help the victims of the hurricane.
"Mr. Speaker, I want to help the victims of the hurricane in every way that I can. I am here today and like millions of Americans, my wife and I are contributing to private relief efforts.
"But Mr. Speaker, there has to come a time for accountability. If there is not accountability for the stunning failures that we have seen in our government's response to this hurricane, we will fail again and again.
"I know that this administration thinks that accountability is an ephemeral thing. If there is an attempt at accountability too soon, it's finger pointing. If there is an attempt at accountability too late, then it's something you should get over. There is just a moment for accountability.
"Mr. Speaker, tell me when that moment will be. Tell me precisely when the moment will come for accountability for the failures of our response, for the failures of our planning that have led to the devastation and the hardships that we are see now.
"And Mr. Speaker, tell me where the line forms to ask hard questions. I yield back the balance of my time."
Life does not start and stop at your convenience, you miserable, incomptent, sanctimonius human para-quats.
Jack Peek on 03 Sep 2005
70th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--1999 Regular Session
HA to A-Eng. SB 1040
LC 2528/SB 1040-A17
HOUSE AMENDMENTS TO
A-ENGROSSED SENATE BILL 1040
By COMMITTEE ON WATER AND ENVIRONMENT
July 16
On page 1 of the printed A-engrossed bill, line 2, after the
semicolon insert 'creating new provisions; amending ORS
169.690;'.
Delete lines 5 through 26 and delete pages 2 and 3 and insert:
' { + SECTION 1. + } ORS 169.690 is amended to read:
' 169.690. { + (1) The Legislative Assembly finds and declares
that:
' (a) Healthy and safe communities are fundamentally important
to Oregon's vitality; and
' (b) Communities provide the best context for healthy, vibrant
citizens.
' (2) The Legislative Assembly recognizes that the safety of
the community and opportunity for reformation of offenders must
be maximized. + }
' { - (1) - } { + (3) + } Before the Department of
Corrections { + , the Oregon Youth Authority, the State Office
for Services to Children and Families + } or any city, county or
other public agency { - establishes any halfway house, work
release center or any other domiciliary facility for persons
released from any penal or correctional facility but still in the
custody of the city, county or other public agency - } { +
funds a facility + }, the { + department, youth authority, state
office, + } city, county or other public agency { - must
designate a citizens advisory committee in the proposed affected
geographic area. If there is an established citizens group or
neighborhood organization in the affected geographic area which
is established or recognized by the city or county where it is
located, it shall be asked to nominate the committee. If there is
none, the local government body having jurisdiction over the
affected area shall appoint a committee selected from residents
of the area. - } { + shall ensure that:
' (a) A formal process is in place, or cause a process to be
developed, for gathering citizen input regarding the siting of
the proposed facility; and
' (b) A security plan for the operation of the proposed
facility is in place. + }
' { - (2) The local governmental body having jurisdiction over
the affected geographic area shall appoint to the citizens
advisory committee persons from those nominated under subsection
(1) of this section and shall invite the participation of
officers of local governments having jurisdiction over the
area. - }
' { - (3) - } { + (4) + } { - For each proposed house,
center or other facility, the agency responsible for establishing
the house, center or facility shall inform fully the citizens
advisory committee of each affected geographic area of the
following - } { + The process required by subsection (3) of
this section must:
' (a) Include the opportunity for citizens to provide input
about the following + }:
' { - (a) - } { + (A) + } The proposed location, estimated
population size and use { + of the facility + };
' { - (b) - } { + (B) + } The numbers and qualifications of
resident professional staff;
' { - (c) - } { + (C) + } The proposed { - rules of
conduct and discipline to be imposed on - } { + level of
supervision of + } residents; and
' { - (d) - } { + (D) + } Such other relevant information
{ - as - } { + that + } the agency responsible for
establishing the { - house, center or - } facility considers
appropriate or { - which the advisory committee requests - }
{ + that citizens request and the agency is legally able to
release + }.
{ + ' (b) Inform citizens of the identity of any other
facilities the provider operates and whether there have been
violations of any security plan implemented for the other
facilities by employees of the provider or any person receiving
services from the facility.
' (c) Require that the provider, not later than 60 days prior
to the proposed siting of a facility, give notice to all owners
or occupants of record of real property located in the community.
The provider shall give the notice in person or by first class
mail. In addition, the provider shall give notice by placing an
advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation. The
advertisement must measure at least 8 inches by 10 inches and run
for at least five consecutive days. + }
' { - (4) - } { + (5) + } { - The citizens advisory
committee shall advise the agency responsible for establishing
the house, center or facility as to the suitability of the
proposed house, center or other facility and may suggest changes
in the proposal submitted under subsection (3) of this section.
The advice shall - } { + Citizens' advice under this section
must + } be in writing { - and must represent the view of the
majority of the committee - } .
' { - (5) - } { + (6) + } If the agency responsible for
establishing the
{ - house, center or - } facility rejects any of the advice
{ - of the - } { + received from + } citizens { - advisory
committee - } { + of the affected geographic area + }, it must
submit its reasons in writing to the
{ - committee - } { + citizens offering the advice + }.
' { - (6) No person serving on a committee established under
this section should be entitled to receive any compensation or
reimbursement for service on such committee. - }
' { + SECTION 2. + } { + As used in ORS 169.690 and sections
2 to 8 of this 1999 Act:
' (1) 'Community' means all real property containing a
residence, school or business that is located within 250 feet of
a proposed facility.
' (2)(a) 'Facility' means any facility primarily used for the
treatment, rehabilitation, detention or monitoring of persons who
are:
' (A) Convicted of a felony or a Class A misdemeanor, except
for persons under the jurisdiction of the Psychiatric Security
Review Board; or
' (B) Youth offenders, as defined in ORS 419A.004, who have
committed acts that if committed by an adult would constitute a
felony or a Class A misdemeanor.
' (b) 'Facility' does not include:
' (A) Health care facilities as defined in ORS 442.015 (14)(a);
' (B) Private, nonprofit counseling centers;
' (C) Department of Corrections institutions as defined in ORS
421.005;
' (D) Local correctional facilities or lockups as defined in
ORS 169.005;
' (E) Detention facilities as defined in ORS 419A.004 when they
are used for the detention of delinquent youth;
' (F) Youth correction facilities as defined in ORS 420.005;
' (G) Nursing facilities;
' (H) Adult foster homes as defined in ORS 443.705;
' (I) Assisted living facilities; or
' (J) Residential care facilities as defined in ORS 443.400.
' (3) 'Provider' means a person, organization, corporation or
publicly funded professional or team of professionals that
manages, supervises, oversees, administers or in any way controls
the daily functions of a facility or hires another to do so.
' (4) 'School' does not include post-secondary educational
institutions. + }
' { + SECTION 3. + } { + (1) If locating a proposed facility
requires a change in zoning or other land use ordinance, in
addition to any other information or materials the provider is
required to provide to the person making the decision regarding
the change, the provider shall provide the person with an impact
study of any area within the community where the safety of the
community may be threatened by the presence of the facility.
Areas where the safety of the community may be threatened
include, but are not limited to, schools, parks, playgrounds and
licensed child care centers.
' (2) The provider must make good faith, documented efforts to
determine the impact the facility may have upon the community.
The provider shall include in the study the impact the facility
will have on traffic, parking, criminal activity and police and
other public services.
' (3) In a hearing concerning a change in zoning or other land
use ordinance to locate a facility, the notice required by ORS
197.763 must be sent to all owners of record of real property
within the community in which the facility is to be located. + }
' { + SECTION 4. + } { + A provider shall obtain and have in
force at all times:
' (1) General liability insurance in an amount of $1 million;
' (2) Professional liability insurance in an amount of $1
million; and
' (3) Directors' and officers' liability insurance in an amount
of $1 million with a deductible of $1,000. + }
' { + SECTION 5. + } { + If the facility is located:
' (1) Within 750 feet of a school or licensed child care
center, the facility may not provide services to persons:
' (a) Convicted of rape or found to be within the jurisdiction
of the juvenile court for having committed acts that if committed
by an adult would constitute rape;
' (b) Determined to be predatory sex offenders under ORS
181.585; or
' (c) Convicted of sexual offenses in which the victims are
children or found to be within the jurisdiction of the juvenile
court for having committed acts that if committed by an adult
would constitute a sexual offense in which the victim is a child.
' (2) In an area zoned for residential use, the facility may
not provide services to persons:
' (a) Convicted of rape or found to be within the jurisdiction
of the juvenile court for having committed acts that if committed
by an adult would constitute rape;
' (b) Determined to be predatory sex offenders under ORS
181.585;
' (c) Convicted of sexual offenses in which the victims are
children or found to be within the jurisdiction of the juvenile
court for having committed acts that if committed by an adult
would constitute a sexual offense in which the victim is a child;
or
' (d) Convicted of violent crimes against other persons or
found to be within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court for
having committed acts that if committed by an adult would
constitute violent crimes against other persons. + }
' { + SECTION 6. + } { + (1) Any person may bring an action
against a provider in circuit court seeking injunctive relief or
monetary damages if the person is adversely affected by the
provider's failure to comply with:
' (a) The requirements of section 4 or 5 of this 1999 Act; or
' (b) A written agreement concerning the facility entered into
between the provider and the person or another person acting on
the person's behalf.
' (2) The court shall award reasonable attorney fees and costs
to a prevailing plaintiff in an action under this section. + }
' { + SECTION 7. + } { + After the Department of
Corrections, the Oregon Youth Authority, the State Office for
Services to Children and Families or any city, county or other
public agency or contractor thereof has established a facility,
the department, youth authority, state office, city, county,
public agency or contractor shall establish a process for
maintaining communication with the citizens of the affected
geographic area. The process must include:
' (1) Methods for addressing:
' (a) Citizen complaints;
' (b) Program integration in the neighborhood or community; and
' (c) Programmatic changes at the facility; and
' (2) A means for mediating problems, when mutually agreeable,
that arise between the department, youth authority, state office,
city, county, public agency or contractor and the citizens of the
affected geographic area. + }
' { + SECTION 8. + } { + The Department of Corrections, the
Oregon Youth Authority, the State Office for Services to Children
and Families and any other state agencies that utilize facilities
shall report to the Seventy-first Legislative Assembly and each
following Legislative Assembly on the effect this 1999 Act has on
the ability to successfully site facilities. + }
' { + SECTION 9. + } { + The provisions of this 1999 Act
apply only to facilities established on or after the effective
date of this 1999 Act. + }
' { + SECTION 10. + } { + The implementation of this 1999
Act must be consistent with all applicable local ordinances and
state and federal laws. + }
' { + SECTION 11. + } { + This 1999 Act shall be submitted
to the people for their approval or rejection at the next regular
general election held throughout this state. + } ' .
----------
HERE IS A BILL THAT NEEDS TO BE RE-INTRODUCED..BEFORE SOME IDIOT LIKE RANDY LEONARD GIVES IT A NAME FORTHE VICTIM THAT PROVIDED THE REASON TO RE-INTRODUCE IT.. JPEEK
John Bartley K7AAY on 03 Sep 2005
http://k-help.blogspot.com
is my compilation of All Things Katrina. If you have stuff to add, the e-mail link for the webmaster at at the end of the right hand column.
Lily on 05 Sep 2005
As usual, the troll Jack Peek has to use ANY opportunity to promote his own agenda. Shame on you, Peek. There are hundreds of thousands of victims from the flooding and you choose a time like this to type out the above?
Tenskwatawa on 05 Sep 2005
Propaganda has a set formula and can be formalized in a teachable textbook style, for self-paced or lecture learning. Here it is, the real thing, (except he re-invented it by reverse-engineering from all the events all the times he saw it used). I found the link through the BuzzFlash headlines today.
http://www.pensitoreview.com/2005/09/05/this-week-rove-must-revise-reality/
Team Rove uses three tactics for changing reality:
* Spin: Message is carefully crafted to change reality with bumpersticker phrases that fit neatly into sound bites. All spokespersons stay on message, repeating the bumperstickers in interviews - media plays along because they need the sound bites. This is why we’re hearing about a “blame game.” It isn’t a game. The buck stops at the top in this great country.
* Stage management: Photo ops, carefully chosen backdrops and people as props are presented to bolster the spin campaign. Rove took a hit yesterday when, in a helicopter flyover, Sen. Mary Landrieu showed George Stephanopolous the “lonely” crain working on the levee where there had been a hive of activity during the president’s stage managed visit last week.
* Smears: Rove uses whispering campaigns carried out by surrogates. His team spent much of last week doing opposition research on New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco. Whatever they discovered that can be cast as unsavory or salacious will be released to the public through Rush, Hannity and the rest of the goons. If they found nothing they can use, they’ll simply make something up.
These tactics are only effective when the media are complicit.
-- snip --
Except, WRONG-O on the last sentence. Media makes no matter, it is only waves in the air or ink splots on paper. The tactics only effect when PEOPLE think thoughts and ACT according to the waves they watch and ink they read.
Boycott mainstream media and you kill the propaganda.
Boycott consumer goods and you kill the corporations.
The (ir)responsibility is OURS, in our thinking and in our hands and in our purses.
Tenskwatawa on 05 Sep 2005
Wayne Madsen deserves a Pulitzer or Nobel Prize or something. Medal of Honor.
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
An ex-NSA (spy, ours, and when you are ever around someone qualified to be hired at CIA or related jobs, you invariably find they are exceptionally bright, not easily fooled; no doofusses need apply), analyst, and today having him webwork what he knows and what he consolidates from his network of contacts is like having our very own intelligence agency. D.I.A.'s for civilians is what we need -- Distributed Intelligence Agents, not centralized and secret.
Madsen anchors a switchboard into which is connecting an increasing number of excellent ex-spies, with prior contacts intact, who have become increasingly alarmed at the dictatorial murderousness of Team Bush and their Gestapo Pentagon. Heed the German history, where the nazis were your neighbors and they look just like ordinary people and are walking around doing ordinary things the while they are supporting-by-not-confronting the frog-waterbath hotter to boiling. Because, you know, everybody's busy with their life... ... ... but - ... ... what if it's about to end? Whoa, I don't think anyone could have anticipated something like that would happen.
Here's a snip of his latest material, about 12 hours old now. But if you go the site, read down into the part with the documentation of Bush Sinister, (not Bush Jughead), and our boy Osama sharing the same bank, the bank where 5-figure checks were drawn to pay the quotes fanatic islamist hijackers unquotes. (Which information, when put on the website, caused this reaction in gestapo headquarters. For no reason, since it's all plainly a bunch of lies to ignore that Madsen makes up out of thin air.)
September 5, 2005 -- Urgent International Appeal. U.S. troops in New Orleans are treating hurricane victims as members of "Al Qaeda." Reports coming to WMR report that the greater New Orleans area has been turned into a virtual military zone where troops threaten bewildered and hungry survivors who approach them for help.
... A natural disaster has now turned into a human rights catastrophe in the making. Our corporate news media is totally controlled by the Bush administration with an information embargo now in force from the Gulf coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi. The cable news channels are now praising the White House's response. This is a blatant lie from a dictatorship that controls the media through financial control and intimidation. The web is our only way to get the [true] news out to the rest of the world.
As a U.S. human rights activist who has reported on genocide in Rwanda, Sudan, West Papua and other parts of the world, I am appealing to my human rights and civil liberties contacts around the world -- Africa, Europe, Latin America, Australia, Canada, Asia and the Pacific -- to immediately bring this humanitarian crisis to the attention of your elected representatives, your governments, and international organizations. They must make immediate demarches to the American diplomatic embassies and offices in your countries. The United States is under the control of a despotic regime that is permitting American citizens and legal residents to die from starvation and disease. This is why the Bush regime refused offers of international assistance -- they are depopulating an entire city that before the storm was 70 percent African American, with the remaining 30 percent largely comprised of those of Creole, French Acadian, and American Indian descent. The United Nations must take this up as an urgent unfolding crisis that has an international impact. Please help our people.
Meanwhile, the communications jamming in the New Orleans continues. it is now being reported as affecting the Citizens' Band (CB) frequencies by truck drivers on Interstate-10. (See earlier reports, below.)
-- snip --
The blackest humor appears in all the talking heads repeating 'incompetent,' 'inept,' 'bumbling dummies' talk to explain why what happens, happens. How are 'they' fools in public and precise tacticians in their offices? Consider these Why's: The 'bumbling' is a ruse, a hoax, premeditated murder disguised as 'accidents of incompetents,' and 'innocent.' (As in the cover-up of 9/11 lies and the cover-up of Iraq invasion lies and the cover-up of Katrina-response lies: all premeditated murders.) Who are the fools? Think about it.
Jack Peek on 06 Sep 2005
Lily: You old crone, there is more then me blasting other issues, and you as usual still put your old nose in the wrong place.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Twice in the last two weeks. high risk, dangerous people have caused police amd community officals to admitt that some of these "poor souls", you protect and make excuses for have gotten loose..one of them raped a woman.
I know about the flood.....some of them ...well, were to stupid to get to higher ground, the others, like you expected a rented boat, with all the amenties to pull their rears out of a mess.
Lastly...its an open thread...mind your own business.
Terry on 16 Sep 2005
Bush says “no tax increase to pay for Katrina.” You have to say the guy is consistent.
This is so typical of the GOP financial fantasy. That fantasy is that you can have a war, you can have tax cuts (watch as they extend the tax cuts and eliminate the inheritance tax, oh I am sorry I mean the “death tax”) and you can have $200 billion in Katrina aid, you can even have a prescription drug benefit in Medicare and not have to pay for any of it. To say that this guy is a “conservative” is a joke. If it did not denigrate drunken sailors I would say he is spending money like a drunken sailor.
This administration is the most fiscally irresponsible one in decades. He is going to leave the nation with no standing in the world community and with a debt that our children’s children will pay for into the future.
Keep buying real-estate as the only policy options is going to be to print money to inflate our way out of this mess.
jon self on 28 Sep 2005
My name is Jon Self. I have enjoyed playing music in my spare time accross the street from pioneer square for 4 years now. I play solo instrumental acoustic guitar and have used a portable busking amp hundreds of times. I have never had a single complaint and have actually been encouraged many times by police even being tipped by them on occasion. Today at 12:30 a police officer told me while I was playing, that amplification was against the law in portland and further stated that I could not have cd's out without a venders permit. Over the past 4 years that I have been doing this I have spoken on many occasions with local law enforcement regarding these things just in passing as they would stand or sit on thier bikes watching me play my guitar through my amp. My understanding of the local law's regarding vending and amplification have been 1. Amplification of any kind is not allowed in public parks, but is o.k anywhere else so long as you cannot be heard from across the street. 2. That it is O.K. to have cd's out so long as you do not put a price on them, and if you do want to advertise the cost of your disks by putting up a card or by writing the price on the cd cases you need a vending permit.
I give my cd's away if someone asks for one as a promotional gimmick to advertise my website. I write the name of my website on each disk. I have never put a price on my cd's for this reason or put up a card or anything else. I have enjoyed brightening peoples day with soothing instrumental guitar music for the past 4 years untill today. The most upsetting thing about today for me was looking across to another corner where the herion junkies sit with signs spare changing and I was shut down. I cannot play my acoustic downtown without some sort of amplification like I could if I had bag pipe or a trumpet and even be heard over the busses. Any how, if anyone out there knows where I can find out what my rights are regarding using amplification please contact me at jonselfmusic@yahoo.com
I will send you a free cd of my music for your troubles. If you are curiouse as to what kind of music I play I have free mp3 instrumental music on my web site http://jonself.com
Thanks again.
Jon Self.