George Bush Hates Nigerians
A dam collapses (aka, blown up by Bush) in Nigeria:
Rescue workers dispensed water purification tablets Monday to crowds of people whose homes were washed away after a dam collapsed in northern Nigeria, as surveyors worked to determine what caused the disaster.
An emergency official said Monday that no one died in the weekend collapse, contradicting earlier reports from police and witnesses.
The Gusau dam in the north of the West African country collapsed Saturday after heavy rains. The torrent of water released washed away hundreds of homes and witnesses said entire families were pulled into the rushing flood.
Ah, yes. Those marvelous water purification tablets. Shame they didn't live in the United States where they would receive free housing for a year, debit cards with $2000.00, free food, free medical attention, and 15 minutes of fame in the drive by media for complaining about how Bush does not like black people.
Posted by Aaron at 11:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
When the Mayhem Settles Truth Begins to Surface
Have you ever noticed that Bush gets beaten to death in the height of hysteria, but when the dust settles, is usually vindicated?
We now have more on the utter incompetence of the local officials in New Orleans from Spike Lee's latest documentary:
The New Orleans police chief during Hurricane Katrina, Eddie Compass, says he unnecessarily "heightened people's fears" by repeating unconfirmed reports of out-of-control crime in the city during the aftermath of the storm, adding to the confusion caused by the disaster and potentially hampering rescue efforts.
"There were reports of rapes and children being raped. And I even got one report … that my daughter was raped," Mr. Compass says in the Spike Lee documentary "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts," scheduled to air on HBO tonight.
Mr. Compass resigned from his post as New Orleans police superintendent in September 2005.
"In hindsight, I guess I heightened people's fears by me being the superintendent of police, reporting these things that were reported to me," Mr. Compass said of the unverified accounts of crime and disorder in flooded New Orleans that he repeated to the press and on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
"But there was really no way for me to check definitively. So instead I erred on the side of caution. I didn't want people to think we were trying to cover anything up. So I repeated these things without being substantiated, and it caused a lot of problems," he said.
Officials and local commentators have long suggested that the false reports of rampant crime following the hurricane were a reason for the slowness of rescue efforts. With recovery teams and humanitarian aid groups frightened to enter the city, many storm survivors were left stranded on roofs without food and water, in makeshift rafts, and in filthy conditions at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
What upsets me most is that leftists always believe the worst about black people. They actually believed that going 48 - 72 hours without food that people started to EAT each other.
Yes, I saw some people looting Walmart for Xbox and such, but mostly, we just saw people who were tired and frustrated.
Posted by Aaron at 07:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Better Said
The Washington Times says it better than I did:
This week's Associated Press reporting on the leaked Katrina briefing tapes contains a seemingly minor but actually quite significant factual error and subsequent hit job on President Bush. The reporting buried among sturdier assertions the claim that Mr. Bush was warned about possible breaches of the levees on Aug. 28-29, right before and during Hurricane Katrina's onslaught on the Gulf Coast. In reality, he was warned about many potential problems on these tapes -- but levee breaches weren't among them. The AP reported this as though it were fact, and then uncritically quoted Democratic partisans who were only too happy to parrot it.
As the tapes show, the president was warned extensively about storm surges, water topping over the levees, flooding in addition to storm surges and the possibility of significant losses of life across the Gulf Coast. Clearly, warning signs were in place for a major disaster. "I'm sure it will be in the top 10 or 15 when all is said and done after the post-analysis," said the half-prescient National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield.
But breaches? There was only one mention of breaches -- which Mr. Mayfield raised briefly in a confused-sounding sentence only to dismiss the possibility. "Louisiana can talk a little bit more about this than I can, but it looks like the Federal levees around the City of New Orleans will not have been [incomprehensible] any breaches to," he said on Aug. 29. This was the very day the levees were breached.
The previous day, Mr. Mayfield had actually dismissed the possibility of major flooding in New Orleans. "[T]he forecast we have now suggests that there will be minimal flooding in the city of New Orleans itself," he said. Storm surges were the overwhelming preoccupation. "The big question is going to be: will that top some of the levees?"
In other words, if the president heard any predictions that the levees would be breached, or even reports of breaches as they occured, the evidence is nowhere on these leaked tapes.
"We keep getting reports in some places that maybe water is coming over the levees. We heard a report unconfirmed, I think, we have not breached the levee." Governor Kathleen Blanco 08.29.05
The AP reports:
In fact, the National Weather Service received a report of a levee breach and issued a flash-flood warning as early as 9:12 a.m. that day, according to the White House's formal recounting of events the day Katrina struck.
Not until the day after Katrina roared ashore did the White House confirm that its surge had, in fact, breached the levees - a delay that critics charge held up repair efforts and allowed the deadly flooding to worsen.
Two points:
One, the AP's decision to drop the Bush tape (of which there were already released transcripts) before the "follow-up" with the Blanco tape (which they probably also sat on) doesn't sound like an agency trying to get to the bottom of anything.
Two, I didn't know that the White House needed to confirm breaches before it became true. I remember seeing it on television as it was happening (which was after reporters spoke of New Orleans "dodging a bullet").
Posted by Aaron at 10:26 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Scumbags!
Hurricane victims? Not so fast; see how your hard earned money paid in taxes is being scammed by lowlifes in Colorado:
The Mile High Red Cross Chapter told 9NEWS it's investigating six other suspicious evacuees in Colorado.
"I'm thankful I'm living," wailed Rhoda Gray to reporters visiting her at her new apartment in Denver. Gray said her home was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina Aug. 30. Her brother Roosevelt Gray, sister Lindetta Brewer and friend Antoinette Allen were apparently also left homeless.
"We couldn't take all of our belongings with us. So we took what we could, like our food and clothing, and got out," said Gray.
But without a car, Gray's daughter said they sought shelter in the Louisiana Superdome. There, she and her family got a car and drove to Denver to stay with her brother who lived here, according to Gray.
But Gray's story didn't hold up to weeks of fact-checking by the 9NEWS I-Team. Records show all four of them are long time Colorado residents and have state identification cards or a driver's license. Still, Rhoda, Lindetta and Antoinette have received free rent, utilities, RTD bus passes, food, clothing and as much as $1,500 on debit cards from agencies like the Mile High Red Cross Chapter and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They asked for the assistance when they checked into the shelter at the former Lowry Air Force Base in early September, claiming to be from New Orleans. Roosevelt Gray registered himself as Gray Roosevelt, according to the Colorado database of evacuees.
"It's a slap in the face to those people who have lost everything and really need the help for people to jump on the gravy train and to take advantage of it," said Robert Thompson of the Mile High Red Cross Chapter.
Court and police records show the so-called evacuees have been in and out of jails in Colorado over the past decade. Property records list them at living at various addresses around Denver and Aurora since the early 1970's. For the last year, Roosevelt has been living on South Victor Way in Aurora, according to his next-door neighbor Katie Maver.
"I've seen him out working on people's cars," said Maver.
Just two weeks before the hurricane hit the Gulf Coast, Rhoda and Lindetta were being interviewed by Aurora Police, according to police records.
Meanwhile, when the hurricane was ripping up Louisiana August 30th, Antoinette Allen was living at the Landing Apartments in Denver. Records show she lived there from July through the first week of September when her landlord evicted her.
"She didn't pay rent and I put all of her things outside," said Business Manager Maurena Estrada. Landings Apartment sued Allen for August rent which has not been paid, according to court records.
This crap really burns me up. Jail time is necessary for these evil people.
Posted by Aaron at 01:32 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
This Is Going to Disappoint Many
Remember that guy, the hero, that had the sense to comandeer a school bus and brought 60 to safety in Houston?
Busted for heroine trafficking. Shame.
Posted by Aaron at 08:29 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Climate Change Can Be Good!
I remember reading all sorts of tales in the late 80s when I was in elementary school about how in 2005 I would have to wear a space suit to go outside because the earth wouldn't have anymore trees (or that I would wade through filth or some other such nonsense).
I also remember reading that half of North America was under ice--but no longer is. Is that a bad thing? Should we have stopped global warming 11k years ago so that most of North America is inhabitable?
The New York Times breathlessly reports today that the entire Arctic Tundra could be destroyed by "global warming," or "climate change," or what I like to call WEATHER.
New Study Warns of Total Loss of Arctic Tundra
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
If emissions of heat-trapping gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere at the current rate, there may be many centuries of warming and a near-total loss of Arctic tundra, according to a new climate study.
We REALLY need to get on the ball about battling volcanos. They put more heat-trapping gases into the air each year than man has (probably in the last 100 years). That is where our priority should be.
Over all, the world would experience profound transformations, some potentially beneficial but many disruptive, and all at a pace rarely seen in nature, said the authors of the study, being published today in The Journal of Climate.
"The question is no longer whether we will need to address this problem, but when we will need to address the problem," said Kenneth Caldeira, an author of the study and a climate expert at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology, based at Stanford University.
"We can either address it now, before we severely and irreversibly damage our climate, or we can wait until irreversible damage manifests itself strongly," Dr. Caldeira said. "If all we do is try to adapt, things will get worse and worse."
"Some potentially beneficial but many disruptive." What does that mean? I call an explosion in population and farming in Canada disruptive--but is that bad? Couldn't we move all the folks living in deserts who need farmland and food to these new areas?
The earth at one time was covered in lava. No one then protested the great global cooling. Again, this is weather and the increase in earth's temperatures is most likely done by changes in our heat source: the sun.
But we should not be haphazzard in our treatment of the environment. Careful stewardship is always the way to go, but blaming weather on exhaust is totally unscientific. Why is LA hotter now with less smog than before when it was nothing but a gray haze?
Posted by Aaron at 06:34 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
More on Global Warming (aka Weather)
Thanks to Jonah at the Corner for pointing this out.
A stalagmite from an Alpine cave may indicate that global warming is not as unusual as many think.
Deposits laid down in the stalagmite have enabled a European team to probe past climates confirming a Medieval Warm Period between AD 800 and 1300.
The warm spell is also indicated in some studies of tree-rings, ice-cores and coral reef growth records.
Writing in Earth and Planetary Science Letters the researchers suggest that global warming is a natural process.
Other scientists, however, say phenomena such as the Medieval Warm Period become less significant when broad sets of so-called "proxy data" are calibrated and synthesised to give a truly global picture - not just regional ones.
When this is done, they argue, the warming witnessed in the past few decades appears to be very unnatural....
Posted by Aaron at 02:59 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
About those Dead at the Dome
After five days managing near-riots, medical horrors and unspeakable living conditions inside the Superdome, Louisiana National Guard Col. Thomas Beron prepared to hand over the dead to representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Following days of internationally reported killings, rapes and gang violence inside the Dome, the doctor from FEMA - Beron doesn't remember his name - came prepared for a grisly scene: He brought a refrigerated 18-wheeler and three doctors to process bodies.
"I've got a report of 200 bodies in the Dome," Beron recalls the doctor saying.
The real total was six, Beron said.
Of those, four died of natural causes, one overdosed and another jumped to his death in an apparent suicide, said Beron, who personally oversaw the turning over of bodies from a Dome freezer, where they lay atop melting bags of ice. State health department officials in charge of body recovery put the official death count at the Dome at 10, but Beron said the other four bodies were found in the street near the Dome, not inside it. Both sources said no one had been killed inside.
Posted by Aaron at 11:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hurricane Rita vanden Heuvel: The Players
Let's all see the vast difference in response when there are competent (republican) people on the ground at the state and local level:
Lyda Ann Thomas, Mayor of Galveston
Rick Perry, Governor of Texas
Now, Perry is a little soft around the edges. He's more of a rancher than a cowboy, but I suspect he will manage the disaster just fine.
Posted by Aaron at 09:21 AM | Comments (0)
Mother Moonbat Off the Rails
Our buddy the Leather Penguin pointed me to Cindy Sheehan's latest ravings, and while it's not my normal beat, I just had to do a little fisking.
The title? "Amid the Miserable Failures on the Same Planet". Now, considering that Cindy's a miserable failure herself, and she's writing on Michael Moore's website (currently #2 on Google Search under "miserable failure") and she's hanging out with Malik Rahim, perhaps we should give her credit for truth in advertising. Unfortunately, the rest of the piece does not live up to that standard.
The people in LA who were displaced have nice, if modest homes that are perfectly fine. I wonder why the government made them leave at great expense and uproot families who have been living in their communities for generations.
Well, the homes that are perfectly fine are probably being moved back into as we speak. Of course, the ones that are rotted and waterlogged won't.
One thing that truly troubled me about my visit to Louisiana was the level of the military presence there. I imagined before that if the military had to be used in a CONUS (Continental US) operations that they would be there to help the citizens: Clothe them, feed them, shelter them, and protect them. But what I saw was a city that is occupied. I saw soldiers walking around in patrols of 7 with their weapons slung on their backs. I wanted to ask one of them what it would take for one of them to shoot me.
But remember, Cindy respects the troops! And this bit strikes me as nothing more than a ridiculous lie:
Sand bags were removed from private property to make machine gun nests.
Yeah. Machine gun nests. Whatever, Cindy.
The vast majority of people who were looting in New Orleans were doing so to feed their families or to get resources to get their families out of there. If I had a store with an inventory of insured belongings, and a tragedy happened, I would fling my doors open and tell everyone to take what they need: it is only stuff.
LOL! As long as the insurance company's footing the bill, right?
When our fellow citizens are told to "shoot to kill" other fellow citizens because they want to stay alive, that is military and governmental fascism gone out of control. What I saw today in Algiers lifted up my spirits, but what I also saw today in Algiers frightened me terribly.
Anybody know if any looters were actually shot? I know there was that group of five or six people on a bridge who were shot after firing on a military convoy, but I don't think anybody actually got shot while looting (except for that one guy who was shot by another looter).
Even though Algiers came through Katrina relatively unscathed, our federal government tried to force (mostly successfully) the people out of the community.
In fact, it has been rather well-reported that agents of the federal government (the military and FEMA search & rescue teams) have not been trying to force people out of the community, because they do not have the power to force anything. Local police do.
But Cindy closes with a bang here:
George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans and Iraq, and excuse his self from power.
Occupied New Orleans?
Posted by pat at 03:35 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
New Term and Definition: Katrinahawks
Katrinahawks: individuals, because they have not given any money, supplies or shelter to Katrina victims, cannot criticize the government's response to the Katrina disaster.
Posted by Aaron at 12:59 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Michael Brown Resigns
I think Bush would give anyone a chance to first resign before he fired him/her.
Link to come soon.
Posted by Aaron at 03:00 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
I Want $20,000
Well, that's what some black guy wants from the federal government. His home was destroyed; he (and his white wife) were packed on a bus like "slaves;" and only received $700 in assistance thus far (in the one week they have been displaced).
Asked by the reporter, "what is it precisely you want from the federal government?"
The guy's reply: "I want $20,000." He went on to use the F-word on national television.
Can I send a shout-out to this guy in Houston?
Fuck you.
Posted by Aaron at 03:14 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
When the Levee Breaks...
Over at Brainster's I've been covering the Left's insistence that when President Bush said "I don't think anybody anticipated the breaching of the levees," he was lying. I've done some digging and it certainly appears that for the most part, the President was right. This is an ongoing effort, and I welcome anybody who can come up with information that proves me (and President Bush) wrong. What I've found indicates that this is another "98.55% turnout in Miami County, Ohio" story; something that the Left has made a big to-do about but which turns out on investigation to be bogus.
Posted by pat at 01:59 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Brown Stepping Down
I saw it on Drudge and saw it again at Polipundit. Michael Brown will resign and replaced with Vice Admiral Thad Allen (whom I've met once).
Posted by Aaron at 01:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Landrieu Steps in It
Remember when she threatened to punch President Bush in the face for criticizing local and state authorities and workers?
Ace has a great catch on her website:
Emergency management operations for disasters include three phases: preparedness, response, and recovery. In the preparedness phase, state and local governments administer emergency preparedness programs with ongoing activities to help ensure that they are ready to respond to disasters. The Louisiana Department of Emergency Preparedness is responsible for all initial damage assessment prior to federal involvement. [emphasis mine]
It's going to blow-up in their faces.
Posted by Aaron at 10:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Louisianna State (democrat) Government at Work
The Corner points us to our must read article today. Here's a clip:
Before Hurricane Katrina breached a levee on the New Orleans Industrial Canal, the Army Corps of Engineers had already launched a $748 million construction project at that very location. But the project had nothing to do with flood control. The Corps was building a huge new lock for the canal, an effort to accommodate steadily increasing barge traffic.
Except that barge traffic on the canal has been steadily decreasing.
In Katrina's wake, Louisiana politicians and other critics have complained about paltry funding for the Army Corps in general and Louisiana projects in particular. But over the five years of President Bush's administration, Louisiana has received far more money for Corps civil works projects than any other state, about $1.9 billion; California was a distant second with less than $1.4 billion, even though its population is more than seven times as large.
Am I surprised? No. This always happens; Democrats see an opening to complain anew and then over reach immediately before waiting for all the facts to come out about the problem. This is going to blowup in their faces again.
Posted by Aaron at 08:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Katrina Wiki
Check it out. If you live near the area, there are specific plees for help with addresses of people trapped or need for firefighters.
Posted by Aaron at 10:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Foreign Statements on Katrina
Americans know that when crisis strikes in the world, we will do our best to assist. The fundamental basis of charity is to do so without expecting anything in return. We jokingly ask, "when will the world send us aid?" "When will Kofi get in front of the camera?" I appreciate the sentiment in criticizing the UN because of the arrogant assumptions they made during the Boxer Day Tsunami crisis. The UN scolded the United States and demanded charity.
But take a moment to see what nations are saying:
The fierce storm has left in its wake a still unknown death toll. In Mississippi alone it is estimated 125 people lost their lives in what French President Jacques Chirac called "terrible days" for Americans.
"In these painful circumstances, I wish to express the solidarity of the French people and my sincerest condolences for the tragic disappearance of so many of your compatriots," Chirac said in a letter to his US counterpart, George W. Bush, whom he addressed as "dear George".
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II voiced sorrow in a message to Bush.
"I was deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the deaths and injuries caused by Hurricane Katrina, and the scale of the damage and destruction now becoming apparent across the southern states," said the message made public by Buckingham Palace.
"My sympathy goes to you and the people of the United States, especially to the families of those who have lost their lives, to the injured and to all who have been affected by this terrible disaster."
An offer of support for the US rescue operation came from Russia's emergency situations ministry, which said it had two transport planes at the ready, together with rescuers, search helicopters and equipment for autonomous operations in a disaster zone.
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah also assured Bush in a telephone conversation of the "support of the kingdom to its friend the United States during its misfortune."
King Abdullah said the kingdom, the world's top oil exporter, was prepared to "do everything that it can to help towards lessening the consequences of the hurricane."
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sent a brief message of condolence and support to Bush.
"Dear George, I am with you and the American people in this moment of distress," read the message released by Berlusconi's office.
Sympathy also came from the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in a message to Bush as well as from Greece's prime minister.
"Our thoughts go out to the relatives of the victims and to all those who are suffering the consequences of this catastrophe," said the Greek leader, Costas Karamanlis.
As rescuers search for survivors and officials begin to assess the massive property damage from the fierce hurricane, the Chinese government hailed the resilience of the American people.
"The American people will overcome the aftermath of the disaster and rebuild their homeland," Chinese President Hu Jintao said in a message.
Hu is set to hold talks with Bush in Washington next Wednesday on his first visit to the US as China's head of state.
The OPEC oil cartel also sent a message of condolence to the US government and people, vowing to do its utmost to ensure the stability of the global oil market in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
"Our deepest sympathy goes out to the families and friends of all those who lost their lives or who have been injured in this natural catastrophe of unimaginable dimensions," the organisation said.
Thank you for your concern and pledges of aid.
Posted by Aaron at 06:22 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Concert for Katrina Victims
The NBC Universal Television Group, which has been active in raising money during previous national disasters, has scheduled a live benefit special, A Concert For Hurricane Relief, in high-definition on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC at 8 p.m. Friday.
The hour music- and celebrity-driven broadcast will air live on the East Coast, tape delayed on the West.
The telethon, hosted by NBC's Matt Lauer, will be broadcast entirely from 30 Rock.
The special will feature performances by artists with ties to the affected areas, including Tim McGraw, Harry Connick, Jr., and Wynton Marsalis, ...
Bad news:
and feature an appearance by Leonardo DiCaprio, among others.
What's the over-under on him bringing up global warming? I have an idea--let's call global warming what it really is: weather.
Posted by Aaron at 03:43 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Right Wing News All Wrong
We love John Hawkins. But I take exception (extreme exception) to his post on looting. He believes that there is no moral justification for looting--even if it were for food.
So I have a family and we haven't eaten in three days. What am I supposed to do? John is guilty of what we often criticize the left of doing: complain but offer no solutions. What are the 100,000 plus people who have no food supposed to do? And what about the children? It's not their fault their parents didn't heed the evacuation orders. So they should starve as well?
I'll go a step further and say that not only is looting food morally acceptable, but also medical supplies and medicine. I think it's perfectly acceptable for a person to walk into a CVS and get bandages, peroxide, even bug spray, and even break into the pharmacy to get needed medicine.
This looting business--and the images of it on TV--shames myself and should shame the rest of the black community. But only the looting of merchandise--not food.
Posted by Aaron at 12:01 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Hurricane Trivia
A Category 5 hurricane hit the United States during the terms of all these presidents but one. Which president's term in office did not see such a storm?
- Franklin Roosevelt
- Richard Nixon
- Bill Clinton
- George H.W. Bush
Answer below...
I guess there was no global warming going on during his administration. Geez! Did this guy face anything challenging during his administration (other than Rwanda and terrorism, which he ignored)?
Posted by Aaron at 07:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack