Virtual_Burlesque
Former Ecdysiast
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Most have probably seen the sound-byte on television, but if you haven't seen the complete statement, you should.
Now is not the time to point fingers.
- Thread starter Virtual_Burlesque
- Start date
carsonshepherd
comeback kid
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Jesus Christ.
sophia jane
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It's an odd day when Walmart is coming to the rescue.
(Speaking of- Walmart is donating lots and lots here in Texas. I think up to $17 million.)
Also speaking of- 60 minutes tonight had an interesting interview with the NO mayor. He was calm tonight for a change. His remarks about his meeting with the president were interesting. I would love to have been a fly on the wall at the meeting.
(Speaking of- Walmart is donating lots and lots here in Texas. I think up to $17 million.)
Also speaking of- 60 minutes tonight had an interesting interview with the NO mayor. He was calm tonight for a change. His remarks about his meeting with the president were interesting. I would love to have been a fly on the wall at the meeting.
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Virtual_Burlesque said:
For someone who doesn't even live in this country you sure have a lot to say about how we should do things.
Fuck you.
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carsonshepherd said:
Yes.
LadyJeanne
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FEMA turning away trucks of water, cutting communications lines, why, why, why?
sophia jane
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LadyJeanne said:
That's the million dollar question.
Liar
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Good question.LadyJeanne said:
This guy's story, along with others I've heard referred to about fema people assuming that central NO was handled by local authorities screams to me that we have had the mother of all miscommunication going on. But still, turning down resources? Can't see how that would make sense.
sophia jane
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An article about FEMA from the Washington Post:
Destroying FEMA
By Eric Holdeman
Tuesday, August 30, 2005; Page A17
SEATTLE -- In the days to come, as the nation and the people along the Gulf Coast work to cope with the disastrous aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we will be reminded anew, how important it is to have a federal agency capable of dealing with natural catastrophes of this sort. This is an immense human tragedy, one that will work hardship on millions of people. It is beyond the capabilities of state and local government to deal with. It requires a national response.
Which makes it all the more difficult to understand why, at this moment, the country's premier agency for dealing with such events -- FEMA -- is being, in effect, systematically downgraded and all but dismantled by the Department of Homeland Security.
Apparently homeland security now consists almost entirely of protection against terrorist acts. How else to explain why the Federal Emergency Management Agency will no longer be responsible for disaster preparedness? Given our country's long record of natural disasters, how much sense does this make?
What follows is an obituary for what was once considered the preeminent example of a federal agency doing good for the American public in times of trouble, such as the present.
FEMA was born in 1979, the offspring of a number of federal agencies that had been functioning in an independent and uncoordinated manner to protect the country against natural disasters and nuclear holocaust. In its early years FEMA grew and matured, with formal programs being developed to respond to large-scale disasters and with extensive planning for what is called "continuity of government."
The creation of the federal agency encouraged states, counties and cities to convert from their civil defense organizations and also to establish emergency management agencies to do the requisite planning for disasters. Over time, a philosophy of "all-hazards disaster preparedness" was developed that sought to conserve resources by producing single plans that were applicable to many types of events.
But it was Hurricane Andrew, which hit Florida in 1992, that really energized FEMA. The year after that catastrophic storm, President Bill Clinton appointed James Lee Witt to be director of the agency. Witt was the first professional emergency manager to run the agency. Showing a serious regard for the cost of natural disasters in both economic impact and lives lost or disrupted, Witt reoriented FEMA from civil defense preparations to a focus on natural disaster preparedness and disaster mitigation. In an effort to reduce the repeated loss of property and lives every time a disaster struck, he started a disaster mitigation effort called "Project Impact." FEMA was elevated to a Cabinet-level agency, in recognition of its important responsibilities coordinating efforts across departmental and governmental lines.
Witt fought for federal funding to support the new program. At its height, only $20 million was allocated to the national effort, but it worked wonders. One of the best examples of the impact the program had here in the central Puget Sound area and in western Washington state was in protecting people at the time of the Nisqually earthquake on Feb. 28, 2001. Homes had been retrofitted for earthquakes and schools were protected from high-impact structural hazards. Those involved with Project Impact thought it ironic that the day of that quake was also the day that the then-new president chose to announce that Project Impact would be discontinued.
Indeed, the advent of the Bush administration in January 2001 signaled the beginning of the end for FEMA. The newly appointed leadership of the agency showed little interest in its work or in the missions pursued by the departed Witt. Then came the Sept. 11 attacks and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Soon FEMA was being absorbed into the "homeland security borg."
This year it was announced that FEMA is to "officially" lose the disaster preparedness function that it has had since its creation. The move is a death blow to an agency that was already on life support. In fact, FEMA employees have been directed not to become involved in disaster preparedness functions, since a new directorate (yet to be established) will have that mission.
FEMA will be survived by state and local emergency management offices, which are confused about how they fit into the national picture. That's because the focus of the national effort remains terrorism, even if the Department of Homeland Security still talks about "all-hazards preparedness." Those of us in the business of dealing with emergencies find ourselves with no national leadership and no mentors. We are being forced to fend for ourselves, making do with the "homeland security" mission. Our "all-hazards" approaches have been decimated by the administration's preoccupation with terrorism.
To be sure, America may well be hit by another major terrorist attack, and we must be prepared for such an event. But I can guarantee you that hurricanes like the one that ripped into Louisiana and Mississippi yesterday, along with tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, floods, windstorms, mudslides, power outages, fires and perhaps a pandemic flu will have to be dealt with on a weekly and daily basis throughout this country. They are coming for sure, sooner or later, even as we are, to an unconscionable degree, weakening our ability to respond to them.
The writer is director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.
Destroying FEMA
By Eric Holdeman
Tuesday, August 30, 2005; Page A17
SEATTLE -- In the days to come, as the nation and the people along the Gulf Coast work to cope with the disastrous aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we will be reminded anew, how important it is to have a federal agency capable of dealing with natural catastrophes of this sort. This is an immense human tragedy, one that will work hardship on millions of people. It is beyond the capabilities of state and local government to deal with. It requires a national response.
Which makes it all the more difficult to understand why, at this moment, the country's premier agency for dealing with such events -- FEMA -- is being, in effect, systematically downgraded and all but dismantled by the Department of Homeland Security.
Apparently homeland security now consists almost entirely of protection against terrorist acts. How else to explain why the Federal Emergency Management Agency will no longer be responsible for disaster preparedness? Given our country's long record of natural disasters, how much sense does this make?
What follows is an obituary for what was once considered the preeminent example of a federal agency doing good for the American public in times of trouble, such as the present.
FEMA was born in 1979, the offspring of a number of federal agencies that had been functioning in an independent and uncoordinated manner to protect the country against natural disasters and nuclear holocaust. In its early years FEMA grew and matured, with formal programs being developed to respond to large-scale disasters and with extensive planning for what is called "continuity of government."
The creation of the federal agency encouraged states, counties and cities to convert from their civil defense organizations and also to establish emergency management agencies to do the requisite planning for disasters. Over time, a philosophy of "all-hazards disaster preparedness" was developed that sought to conserve resources by producing single plans that were applicable to many types of events.
But it was Hurricane Andrew, which hit Florida in 1992, that really energized FEMA. The year after that catastrophic storm, President Bill Clinton appointed James Lee Witt to be director of the agency. Witt was the first professional emergency manager to run the agency. Showing a serious regard for the cost of natural disasters in both economic impact and lives lost or disrupted, Witt reoriented FEMA from civil defense preparations to a focus on natural disaster preparedness and disaster mitigation. In an effort to reduce the repeated loss of property and lives every time a disaster struck, he started a disaster mitigation effort called "Project Impact." FEMA was elevated to a Cabinet-level agency, in recognition of its important responsibilities coordinating efforts across departmental and governmental lines.
Witt fought for federal funding to support the new program. At its height, only $20 million was allocated to the national effort, but it worked wonders. One of the best examples of the impact the program had here in the central Puget Sound area and in western Washington state was in protecting people at the time of the Nisqually earthquake on Feb. 28, 2001. Homes had been retrofitted for earthquakes and schools were protected from high-impact structural hazards. Those involved with Project Impact thought it ironic that the day of that quake was also the day that the then-new president chose to announce that Project Impact would be discontinued.
Indeed, the advent of the Bush administration in January 2001 signaled the beginning of the end for FEMA. The newly appointed leadership of the agency showed little interest in its work or in the missions pursued by the departed Witt. Then came the Sept. 11 attacks and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Soon FEMA was being absorbed into the "homeland security borg."
This year it was announced that FEMA is to "officially" lose the disaster preparedness function that it has had since its creation. The move is a death blow to an agency that was already on life support. In fact, FEMA employees have been directed not to become involved in disaster preparedness functions, since a new directorate (yet to be established) will have that mission.
FEMA will be survived by state and local emergency management offices, which are confused about how they fit into the national picture. That's because the focus of the national effort remains terrorism, even if the Department of Homeland Security still talks about "all-hazards preparedness." Those of us in the business of dealing with emergencies find ourselves with no national leadership and no mentors. We are being forced to fend for ourselves, making do with the "homeland security" mission. Our "all-hazards" approaches have been decimated by the administration's preoccupation with terrorism.
To be sure, America may well be hit by another major terrorist attack, and we must be prepared for such an event. But I can guarantee you that hurricanes like the one that ripped into Louisiana and Mississippi yesterday, along with tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, floods, windstorms, mudslides, power outages, fires and perhaps a pandemic flu will have to be dealt with on a weekly and daily basis throughout this country. They are coming for sure, sooner or later, even as we are, to an unconscionable degree, weakening our ability to respond to them.
The writer is director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.
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LadyJeanne said:
As far as trucks of water, I have no idea but I'm fairly sure there is a good reason.
As far as cutting communications lines there is a VERY good reason. Telephone systems run on low voltage electricity, 40 volts to be exact. If there are damaged lines down in flooded areas (and I'm sure there are) those lines will short out in the water and will take the entire Teleco Central Office down. So in order to restore communications to areas thet are still operable damaged lines need to be cut.
Look, people, rescue efforts are underway and everything that can be done IS being done, but it isn't an overnight deal. It WILL take a considerable amount of time to get things straightened out.
The other thing you have to remeber is that when Katrina passed out of the New Orleans area that was not the end of the problem. Katrina continued on a northerly course dumping heavy rain in Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Most of that rain runs off into local streams and rivers wich run into either the Mississippi river or the Ohio river (a major tributary of Old Miss. I don't know about other states but here in Columbus Ohio we got more than six inches of rain in a 24 hour period on wednesday and thursday. That's half our average annual rainfall. In Cincinnati the Ohio rive was more than 25 feet above normal by friday morning and still rising. That water is reaching New Orleans right about now.
So for those of you who were thinking this was like the tsunami and a day after the water would be gone and cleanup could start, you are WRONG.
You want to help? Then help. You want to bitch about what's NOT being done? Get in you car and drive your ass down to New Orleans and HELP.
Let's see how far you get.
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yui
A Different Scene
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This makes me cry. Why did it take so long? I've thought about going there with my car and transporting as many people as I could to where they needed to go. I wish I were a rescue worker. I wish my dog were a rescue dog and that I could go and search for survivors. I wish that I had training as a medical professional and that I could go and offer help. I am helpless to help and that makes me hurt.
My understanding is that FEMA is the most powerful Federal agency. It is an organization that has more power than the President of the United States or the Congress; it has the power to suspend laws, move entire populations, arrest and detain citizens without a warrant and hold them without trial, it can seize property, food supplies, transportation systems, and can suspend the Constitution. Why have they failed her citizens to such a degree?
I am so saddened.
My understanding is that FEMA is the most powerful Federal agency. It is an organization that has more power than the President of the United States or the Congress; it has the power to suspend laws, move entire populations, arrest and detain citizens without a warrant and hold them without trial, it can seize property, food supplies, transportation systems, and can suspend the Constitution. Why have they failed her citizens to such a degree?
I am so saddened.
Pure
Fiel a Verdad
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check another thread,
the one on the national guard. i posted some michael roberts material there.
https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=366086&page=4
----
btw, it makes sense if FEMA's gutted. the Homeland Security apparatus, as a kind of super-snoop FBI, mechanism for arbitrary arrest and imprisonment is the key thing for this admin's 'war on terror.'
i believe the philosophy is the old 'thousand points of light': let the local baptist churches hand out the bottled water for the poor.
the one on the national guard. i posted some michael roberts material there.
https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=366086&page=4
----
btw, it makes sense if FEMA's gutted. the Homeland Security apparatus, as a kind of super-snoop FBI, mechanism for arbitrary arrest and imprisonment is the key thing for this admin's 'war on terror.'
i believe the philosophy is the old 'thousand points of light': let the local baptist churches hand out the bottled water for the poor.
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LadyJeanne
deluded
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yui said:
If I were to guess, Dept. of Homeland Security may be what you're thinking of, not FEMA. But I don't know which group has what powers and responsibilities. Whichever it is, they're slow.
Pure
Fiel a Verdad
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FEMA on FEMA; DHS on DHS
http://www.fema.gov/about/history.shtm
In March 2003, FEMA joined 22 other federal agencies, programs and offices in becoming the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The new department, headed by Secretary Tom Ridge, brought a coordinated approach to national security from emergencies and disasters - both natural and man-made. Today, FEMA is one of four major branches of DHS. About 2,500 full-time employees in the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate are supplemented by more than 5,000 stand-by disaster reservists.
As it has for more than 20 years, FEMA's mission remains: to lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters with a vision of "A Nation Prepared." At no time in its history has this vision been more important to the country than in the aftermath of Sept. 11th.
----
DHS site
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home1.jsp
FAQ
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/faq.jsp
How does the mission of the Department of Homeland Security differ from those of other agencies?
The new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has three primary missions: Prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce America's vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage from potential attacks and natural disasters.
Hurricane Katrina, What the Government is Doing
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=16&content=4772
http://www.fema.gov/about/history.shtm
In March 2003, FEMA joined 22 other federal agencies, programs and offices in becoming the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The new department, headed by Secretary Tom Ridge, brought a coordinated approach to national security from emergencies and disasters - both natural and man-made. Today, FEMA is one of four major branches of DHS. About 2,500 full-time employees in the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate are supplemented by more than 5,000 stand-by disaster reservists.
As it has for more than 20 years, FEMA's mission remains: to lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters with a vision of "A Nation Prepared." At no time in its history has this vision been more important to the country than in the aftermath of Sept. 11th.
----
DHS site
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home1.jsp
FAQ
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/faq.jsp
How does the mission of the Department of Homeland Security differ from those of other agencies?
The new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has three primary missions: Prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce America's vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage from potential attacks and natural disasters.
Hurricane Katrina, What the Government is Doing
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=16&content=4772
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AngeloMichael
Literotica Guru
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Now is not the time to point fingers. Damn straight. Now is the time to get those people the FUCK out of there!!! It's past time it's 6 fucking days past time!!!
Here is a link to Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera vehemently asking why those people are still there.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/02.html#a4763
And if anyone missed what NBC cut out of their hurricane relief program, here is what Kanye West said:
link
Edit: sorry couldn't get the film clip to work.
I don't necessarily agree with him, but I understand his outburst. I believe the problem is the breakdown in communication in the bureaucracies and the government not caring about poor people, it just so happens that many of the poor in NO are black.
Here is a link to Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera vehemently asking why those people are still there.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/02.html#a4763
And if anyone missed what NBC cut out of their hurricane relief program, here is what Kanye West said:
link
Edit: sorry couldn't get the film clip to work.
I don't necessarily agree with him, but I understand his outburst. I believe the problem is the breakdown in communication in the bureaucracies and the government not caring about poor people, it just so happens that many of the poor in NO are black.
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my home boy.carsonshepherd said:
seriously though...
we cant come up with any logical synopsis because we are not directly involved and the media is biased...so we can only draw conclusions.
it was horrid that it took so long for the 'government' to send help
it was horrid that the local 'government' obsconded with all the money they had to set up for just such an event.
from my point of view...
please read above statement before you blast me...
we were faster sending aid to another country when the tsunami hit
we have always given to others before ourselves
fine
good
its time to see to us for a change and not how we look but honestly taking care of our own. its time
no more bush left overs in fema
no more donating to pat robertson in the name of disaster
lets do what is right and good for our own this time, shall we?
carsonshepherd
comeback kid
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vella_ms said:
too bad it's not in time for these people
but we rise, and do better. we rise.
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