I know I've been on a different path but to me it's important to seek the truth, we can not just become sheep like in the past. Today it's a lot harder to hide the truth, you may be able to suppress for a while but the truth will come to light.



Witnesses link missile to small military jet parts found at Pentagon on 9/11

Missile & remote control systems added to small jets before 9-11; same parts found at PentagonTwo civilian defense contractor employees--told to remain silent--say other workers quietly retro-fitted missile and remote control systems onto A-3 jets at Colorado public airport prior to September 11 when similar A-3 parts much smaller than a Boeing 757 were found at PentagonPresidential candidate says scores of retired and active military and intelligence officials would testify before current grand jury probing government involvement in 9/11 attacksby
Tom Flocco

Fort Collins, Colorado -- May 26, 2005 -- TomFlocco.com -- According to two civilian defense contractor employees working at commercial corporate facilities at Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport (left), in the months before the September 11 attacks U.S. Air Force defense contractors brought in A-3 Sky Warrior aircraft under cover of darkness to be completely refitted and modified at the small civilian airport in Colorado.The revelations are important evidence for a reportedly ongoing secret 9/11 probe because widely available Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) photographs taken during the attacks clearly show that the few aircraft parts found at the Pentagon belonged to a small jet very similar to a modified A-3 Sky Warrior--not the American Airlines Boeing 757. It is not known whether all members of Congress are aware of the under-the-radar-screen grand jury proceedings, who has already testified, and whether the probe is purposefully being kept from public knowledge, according to government intelligence sources. The two witnesses say that separate military contractor teams--working independently at different times--refitted Douglas A-3 Sky Warriors (above) with updated missiles, Raytheon's Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote control systems, fire control systems, engines, transponders, and radio-radar-navigation systems--a total makeover, seemingly for an operation more important than use as a simple missile testing platform for defense contractor Hughes-Raytheon. The employees asked not to be identified for personal safety reasons and fear of job retaliation; but both told 2008 independent presidential candidate Karl Schwarz (left) "the Air Force brought in separate teams to do top-secret military work unrelated to commercial aviation at our airport, and we were told by our bosses not to discuss what we had seen with anyone.
"The witnesses were quite fearful about several recent "suicides, car wrecks--mysterious deaths--directly related to the aviation experts" working on the systems that were installed on the A-3s at Fort Collins-Loveland--having breached the government-blocked information flow at great personal risk, according to Schwarz--but providing more evidence for a New York 9/11 investigation.Schwarz, a former Republican from Arkansas now living in Georgia and running as an independent to clean up government corruption and crime told TomFlocco.com that he met with the employees for about an hour in February to discuss the issue.The witnesses told Schwarz that each jet was placed in a hanger just big enough for a work crew and one A-3 Sky Warrior; and "we were under strict orders not to discuss what the military teams were doing or what we saw." The presidential candidate told us "there are about 150 retired and active U.S. military and federal intelligence officers who will come forward and testify regarding government involvement in the September 11 attacks--but only if there is a serious criminal grand jury. "Small plane evidence moved at PentagonThe approximate 16-foot entry hole at the outside facade of the Pentagon on 9/11 has been the subject of countless questions by those who say the hole was caused by an air-to-ground missile (AGM) fired from a small military jet rather than an impact from a Boeing 757.Interestingly, the Hughes division manufactures the AGMs; and the Raytheon division maintains the last few A-3 Sky Warriors in operation save 2-4 Air Force jets--while also manufacturing the Global Hawk UAV remote control systems.Some reasons cited to support a missile hole include evidence that a) the wings and rear stabilizer caused virtually no damage to the outside walls and windows at point of impact, b) no 757 interior or exterior parts were found at the scene, c) the soft nose of a 757 would have had difficulty piercing through three Pentagon wall rings, and d) three aircraft parts found were similar to the somewhat outdated but still serviceable Douglas A-3 Sky Warrior military attack jet rather than the much larger Boeing 757.Air-traffic controllers from the Washington, DC sector originally said the incoming plane was a military jet according to reports; but no grand jury has called them to testify and they have been strangely gagged from speaking out.One air traffic controller from another Northeast sector revealed to a 9-11 widow that FBI threats were made of both a personal and career nature: "You are ordered never to speak about what you saw on your screen during the attacks; and if you do, things will not go well for you and your family."Curiously, a large piece of wreckage was found in the entry hole; but the public was kept from closely observing what appears to be a sheared-off piece of wing from a much smaller jet than a Boeing 757. A group of military personnel and federal officials in suits tightly covered the piece of wreckage with a blue tarp and carried it away to a waiting truck. No reporters or independent aircraft experts have been permitted to examine any of the recovered aircraft parts and no subpoenas have been issued to hear public grand jury testimony from the "movers. "Other government officials who looked more like FBI agents than rescue workers were also photographed moving evidence around immediately after the crash; but none have been subpoenaed to publicly testify as to whether they were bringing evidence to or removing it from a mass murder crime scene. As if they had prior knowledge, within minutes after the Pentagon crash--FBI agents quickly confiscated a) video tape from a gas station security camera aimed directly at the exact point of impact while recording the size of the plane and/or missile, b) security camera video film from a nearby Sheraton hotel and c) film from a Virginia Transportation Department freeway overpass camera.This, raising significant questions about obstruction of justice since no reporter, independent crime scene expert or grand jury has been able to view and analyze the film since it was confiscated or certify that it was not tampered with--and those surrendering the film were again told not to discuss the matter.It is not known whether the FBI has invoked immunity from prosecution regarding this evidence--or cited "National State Secrets" in a manner similar to FBI linguist Sibel Edmonds' case linked to financing the 9-11 attacks, drug money laundering and political campaign contributions. The explosive evidence raises questions as to whether the grand jury will subpoena all Pentagon wreckage to determine whether it was a section from an A-3 Sky Warrior as many knowledgeable sources believe but also whether the recovered parts do not match a Boeing 757 as asserted by many.Schwarz told us military officials will likely say the A-3s were being fitted with system platforms to test-fire missiles; but the time-line of secret refitting prior to the attacks and recovered parts consistent with an A-3 attack jet found at the Pentagon provide credible evidence that an unregistered Sky Warrior was diverted to be used on September 11 to fire a missile into the Pentagon.
The Defense Secretary spilled the beans at least once in a national interview.One month after the attacks on October 12, 2001 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told Parade Magazine, "Here we're talking about plastic knives, and using an American Airlines flight filled with our citizens, and the missile to damage this building, and similar (inaudible) that damaged the World Trade Center [para. #12]." Schwarz also indicated that New York City District Attorney Robert Morgenthau (left) has more than enough evidence for a 9-11 NYC criminal case, and that prosecutors should investigate who authorized the refitting of the A-3 Sky Warriors with remote control and air-to-ground missiles at the civilian airport, given the A-3 jet parts found at the Pentagon.A-3 Sky Warrior parts found--not Boeing 757 partsA-3s are smaller than a Boeing 737 with a wing-span of about 72.6 feet as opposed to the 737 which has a wing span of between 93 ft and 112.6 ft depending upon the manufacturer version--a twin engine jet with the engines mounted under the wing like a 737.
"The Air Force has four to six A-3s in current operation and Hughes-Raytheon has about 12-14 operational Sky Warriors according to available records," said Schwarz.The candidate added, "the plane used at the Pentagon on 9/11 may have been brought in from Tucson, Arizona from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base which has numerous decommissioned planes taken out of service and stored there in an arid environment--using an out-of-service plane would diffuse the paper trail identifying the actual jet.""Whoever did this had about a billion dollars to work with, according to my intelligence sources who have come forward," said Schwarz, adding "one crew came in to fit the jet for remote-UAV systems, another crew put in the fire control systems and another installed the new jet engines, another the AGMs, etc., and all at different times to spread out the information flow on who did what."The part here at the left--recovered after the Pentagon impact--is a "diffuser case," a component from the types of "dual chamber" turbojets represented by the Allison J33, J71, Pratt & Whitney J57 and JT8D. "It is not part of a Boeing 757 engine," said Schwarz, adding, we even inspected a 757 engine in a jet maintenance shop."The part sheet at left shows a diffuser case design for the 757 jet engines and it's quite different from the one found at the Pentagon (left). Schwarz said "the difference is between the "duel-chamber turbojet" versus the newer "high bypass jet fan" designs found on the 757 and 767 jets.The key difference between the diffuser case found at the Pentagon and a Boeing 757 diffuser case (left & below) is the triangular bezels around the openings. [The triangular bezel reinforcments can more easily be observed near the top of the photo below.] Note that the Pentagon diffuser case has no such opening or reinforcing points--no triangular bezels.According to Schwarz, the diffuser is built into a much larger component, not a separate component in the newer 757 type jet engines--and not a single one of these was found at the Pentagon. "This is not a component that would have melted or evaporated in any manner at all," said Schwarz, the chief executive of a corporation specializing in military remote control warfare systems.Another component found at the Pentagon was a wheel hub--a type made by B.F.Goodrich's aerospace division. Here, Schwarz gets very specific: "They also made the wheels for the 757 but a simple proportional check of width versus diameter will easily show that the photo (left) is not a wheel hub from a 757, which has a much larger radius than width. This radius is about the same as the width of the wheel hub, and is another clue that the ' 757-crashed-into-the-Pentagon' story is a Bush lie," he said."If one looks very closely at the diameter versus width of the tire that was found at the Pentagon," said Schwarz, "this is the type of tire used for aircraft carrier-based and general rear wheels of smaller military planes--not commercial airlines." [The now somewhat outdated Douglas A-3 Sky Warrior "Whale" served as an aircraft carrier attack plane, capable of supporting missile platforms.] Schwarz told us he had much difficulty identifying and acquiring photos to compare the Pentagon recovered parts consistent with the A-3 with the size of the Boeing 757 parts due to what he called "intentional internet content blocking," which criminal prosecutors would call obstruction of justice.Ultimately Schwarz found the A-3 Sky Warrior part photos and numbers on the websites for Praxair and Evergreen International Airlines, the latter of which is a Central Intelligence Administration (CIA) cutout airline, referred to in award-winning author Pete Brewtons book as:"...a company that was formed from the assets of a CIA proprietary, Intermountain Aviation, after its cover was blown in the mid-1970s. In fact, Evergreen is listed on Global Airlines creditor list directly after [infamous] Southern Air Transport...Evergreen operates the giant air base at Marana, Arizona, northwest of Tucson, which Intermountain Aviation had owned.
Evergreens founder and principal owner, Delford Smith, told the Portland Oregonian that his company had one contract with the CIA to assist foreign nationals that the CIA wanted removed from other countries or brought into the United States. Smith told the Oregonian that he believes in the CIAs cause. And we dont know when we supported them and when we didn't as a contract carrier, he said. News reports in July 1984 stated that the CIA was using Southern Air Transport and the Du Ponts Summit Aviation, as well as Evergreen Air, to transport weapons to the Iran-Contras." (The Mafia, CIA and George Bush: Corruption, greed and abuse of power in the nations highest office, by Pete Brewton, SPI Books/Shapolsky Publishers, Inc.,1992, pp. 206-207)"Only the Raytheon executives and the Air Force would have known which team installed a particular system on the A-3 and who was involved in the operation," said Schwarz.Coincidentally, five key Raytheon executives died on 9-11: Stanley Hall--Director of Electronic warfare program management (American 77), Peter Gay--VP of Electronic Systems on special assignment at the El Segundo, CA division office where the Global Hawk UAV remote control system is made (American 11), Kenneth Waldie--Senior Quality Control Engineer for Electronic Systems (American 11), David Kovalcin--Senior Mechanical Engineer for Electronic Systems (American 11), and Herbert Homer--Corporate Executive working with the Department of Defense (United 175).Curiously, the five Raytheon executives chose three of the four doomed jets and all happened to fly on September 11. Have their family members been interviewed? Other co-workers? Defense Department officials?Raytheon's top people tied to the Global Hawk remote control UAV aircraft systems all died on 9/11 without a grand jury probing their memos, electronic messages, phone records, meeting calendars, visits or calls to Ft. Collins-Loveland airport and testimony linked to related matters.Weekend warrior narcotics traffickers & U.S. banksThe two witnesses also said they ware suspicious about drug smuggling at Colorados Fort Collins-Loveland airport, according to Schwarz.
This revelation offers a close link to what FBI translator Sibel Edmonds told TomFlocco.com three weeks ago regarding what she heard during FBI intercept translations, telling us she personally identified ten well-known Americans who are politicians and heads of federal agencies linked to drug-money laundering in the federal banking system which was used for political campaigns--but also linked to financing the World Trade Center/Pentagon 9-11 attacks. She has yet to divulge the names, however.Recent widespread reports also revealed that a large shipment of the drug ecstasy was intercepted aboard an incoming Air National Guard flight at Stewart Air Force Base in Newburgh, New York--just 40 miles from downtown Manhattan and the World Trade Center.This, while elected congressmen and senators wink, nod and look the other way as drug profits are laundered into election campaign war-chests and to finance the 9-11 attacks, if you believe former FBI contract linguist Sibel Edmonds--gagged by Federal District and Appellate Courts as she seeks appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.The two civilian aviation contractors at Fort Collins thought it strange that top-secret military aviation work was being conducted at their civilian airport, that they were being told not to tell anyone what they saw and that there was talk of drug smuggling and money laundering in the banking system.Sibel Edmonds (left) has faced fierce judicial pressure to keep quiet about what she heard while translating electronic intercepts, having had her case about drug money ties to U.S. political campaigns--and which ten prominent American politicians and officials she identified on the intelligence intercepts as linked to the 9/11 attacks--dismissed by District Court and Appellate Circuit judges for rarely used and arcane "National State Secrets." Who is protecting whom? Questions remain whether New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, New York City District Attorney Robert Morganthau and a federal grand jury will attempt to overturn the Edmonds ruling in a criminal probe regarding money laundering in the U.S. banking system, narcotics trafficking for political benefit, and obstruction of justice to cover-up treason in the September 11 attacks. Spitzer and Morgenthau have faced very little pressure from American citizens to pursue a criminal probe, even from the September 11 victim families--many of whom have moved on with their lives.This, despite convincing Pentagon findings and devastating criminal evidence found in actual television news coverage on the day of the attacks in the form of interviews, footage of Twin Tower implosions and planes impacting the buildings while evidence indicates they were taken down simultaneously by controlled demolition charges.Notwithstanding the Pentagon findings, most Americans are not aware of meritorious evidence that the WTC towers were imploded by controlled demolition which should subject all insurance companies making payouts on the towers to intensive litigation via shareholder lawsuits--which do not seem forthcoming despite strong evidence of massive insurance fraud.Many 9/11 citizen researchers have privately felt that insurance fraud litigation would ultimately be the "Al Capone income tax evasion" charge that could ultimately hang the September 11 perpetrators--drawing more evidence out into the public eye to refute the "19 wily and cunning Arabs did it" conspiracy. Patsies? Probably. But no one has publicly testified to seeing them actually enter the planes. Their names were not even on the flight manifests.Warehouses & remote control flying machinesAlso of critical importance to a 9/11 criminal investigation is the fact that Fort Collins-Loveland Regional Airport was being used as a final testing site for remote control UAVs, and that is what originally drew the attention of Karl Schwarz.Schwarz is the CEO of a company which designs remote control/UAVs for the U.S. Army and had a $392 million dollar Defense Department order for 32 UAVs canceled "because they would see too much over in Iraq, and because we could put in a fleet of them for what our competition was paying for a couple."Lockheed-Martins Missiles and Fire Control Systems UAV used in Iraq is called the Predator, which costs $45 million for each unit, has three sensors and requires a crew of 55 individuals to operate one of them, according to Schwarz."Our Project Medusa has 11 high-powered sensors that can all operate simultaneously, can stay aloft at least 24 hours, has the worlds most advanced hyper-spectral system augmented by two technologies to speed up pixel analysis and detect minute anomalies in the field of view (FOV) if the operator is paying attention or not, or if his human eyes cannot even see the detail that the software detects and highlights for the operator to zoom in on," said the UAV corporate CEO."A crew of 55 is required to operate 5 Medusa Skypods simultaneously. A single pilot operator flies them from a single laptop or personal computer. In short, 55 operators running 55 high powered sensors with far more processing and pixel engine detection power versus 55 operators running a single Predator and only one sensor capable of running at a time. The five Medusas cost about $65 million each but have far more technology capabilities and at any given time cover a far larger area with more visual assets, " said Schwarz. "In short, they are not toys.
They even have AIM 100 lasing devices and can light up targets up to 30 miles in all directions for air strikes, artillery, mortar, or helicopters to dispose of problems...The combined area of coverage, and the number of troops they could possibly protect if all of the pet [Defense Department] aerostats were airborne at the same time, or not riddled full of machine gun holes, is about the area that a single Medusa Skypod covers...we are at least one to two years ahead of Lockheed in HAA technology...To my group it was an honor to have been asked and we proved we could deliver only to get jerked around by for months by bureaucrats protecting pet projects [like the vastly inferior Lockheed Predator]. (One-Way Ticket to Crawford, Texas: A Conservative Republican Speaks Out, by Karl W. B. Schwarz, Reichenbach Publishing Company, 2004, p. 379 [821 pages]) Karl Schwarz is concerned that the Defense Department is protecting favorite pet projects instead of seeking the very best equipment to provide air security and support for Americas young warriors: "We also turned down some business to have the priority slot available, for we surely thought someone in our Army would care about saving more lives.""They didn't want civilians involved because the army would have to hire us to show them how to operate the UAVs, he said, offering further that "they had a fellow named John Geddes who was totally unable to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of our Medusa system versus the Predator system made by Lockheed-Martin--one of their pet projects group."Schwarz added, "and all this remote control/UAV testing was being done at Fort Collins-Loveland Airport around the same time the A-3 Sky Warriors were being refitted before September 11!""They were watching every move I made when I was at Fort Collins," said Schwarz, adding "they also had a lot of freight hangers and warehouses--a lot of regular warehousing, which I thought strange for a small civilian airport."Retired U.S. Navy Lt. Commander and former Office of Naval Intelligence officer and Iran-Contra insider Al Martin would not have thought it strange. He said in his book:"Marty [Greenberg--Denver, Colorados Atlantis Securities syndicator] used to syndicate real estate deals, principally small airport developments and secure warehouse facilities around airports...Jeb Bush was on the Board of Directors of a West Palm Beach Airport development deal where all those supposedly ultra-secure warehouses were going to be built around West Palm Airfield, way out in the western section which the military still controls...what those warehouses were going to be used for was the storage of narcotics.
That was the intent. And Oliver North was directly involved in that West Palm Beach Airport deal (The Conspirators: Secrets of an Iran-Contra Insider, by Alexander Martin, National Liberty Press, 2002, pp. 238-239)"Many of the hanger doors were too small to fit a plane; but Raytheon and Boeing are there--a small civilian regional airport with lots of defense contractors according to intelligence sources who told me," said Schwarz. "The people I met with at Fort Collins--the two witnesses--told me they were afraid for their lives. Everyone seemed paranoid and afraid of their shadow. Both witnesses said they heard and saw too much about A-3s being brought in at night to be fitted for missiles--and all this was before the 9/11 attacks," he said."Moser": one who prosecutes 9-11 criminals?Deborah Simon, one of this site's 9-11 researchers who was married into a very prominent Jewish family, told us about something she called the "moser" issue--indicating that Eliot Spitzer and Robert Morganthau are both of Jewish extraction. Moser is a Jewish word for "rat-fink" or informer--punishable by death according to historical culture.According to many polls, Eliot Spitzer (left) garners much support from Americans for making real progress in rooting out corruption in the national securities markets and prosecuting criminal fraud in the insurance industry.
But Simon provided us with some insight into the grave, potentially life or death predicament the two are facing. Both are likely experiencing intense internal pressure to tread lightly regarding the prosecution of wealthy Jewish bankers and other corporate executives for potential capital offenses linked to financing the September 11 attacks via money laundering in the federal banking system, according to Simon.Intelligence sources have come forward to speak off-the-record to Schwarz and others about drug money laundering to finance the 9-11 attacks; moreover, FBI linguist Sibel Edmonds has intimated similar information, linking it to a group of well-known politicians and heads of federal agencies.Given astonishing physical, visual and audio evidence of government involvement in the September 11 attacks, the glare of a public probe will undoubtedly force Americans to observe Spitzer and Morgenthau closely to ascertain the placement of loyalties regarding thoroughness, rigor and intensity of the ongoing but secret 9/11 grand jury criminal investigation.9-11 was the supposed justification for a) invading Afghanistan and Iraq, b) formation of the Department of Homeland Security, c) the controversial Patriot Act, and d) many more years of a "War on Terror;" but not one person has been held accountable or prosecuted.Schwarz and others have already hand-delivered the above evidence and much more to both Spitzer and Morgenthau; unfortunately however, Morgenthaus track-record regarding past prosecutions involving the Iran-Contra arms/drugs and the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scandals went a little farther than nowhere regarding justice for corrupt U.S. officials.
We have heard reports indicating that the New York federal grand jury in Albany is so displeased with Spitzer and Morgenthaus paucity of action and lack of subpoenas or indictments over 9/11 (given the evidence already handed over) that it has assumed its own independent constitutional and federal authority to take control of the criminal proceedings.We were also told that Spitzer was dismissed from the grand jury hearing room at least once so that jurors could privately consider evidence of possible U.S. government treason, leaving questions as to whether the moser issue--or Spitzer's upcoming race for New York governor and his need for campaign contributions from the wealthy elite--may be holding back 9-11 criminal subpoenas and indictments.No matter how high the federal officials or elected representatives implicated, or which print and electronic media executives committed obstruction of justice to cover up criminal evidence, or which military and government officials supervised the two-hour Air Force stand-down during the attacks, New Yorkers who elected Spitzer and Morgenthau (and all Americans who trust them with their personal safety and protection in their jurisdiction over 9-11 criminal proceedings) have a right to expect the two to proceed full bore with obvious, credible, and prosecutable evidence that the U.S. government played a part in the September 11 attacks.
This includes the above Pentagon-related evidence.If Spitzer and Morgenthau decline to do their duty to the fullest extent possible as elected officials because, as Deborah Simon implies, they fear being branded "moser-ratfink-informers" who betrayed wealthy Jewish bankers, associated other financial tycoons or Zionist moving van and art student spies reportedly following the "hijackers" around the United States before 9-11--then Americans may call for their resignations so that someone else can quickly and effectively seek indictments and prosecution by independent, non-political, career prosecutors trained in criminal entrapment.The United States cannot permit mass murder to go unpunished with zero accountability--especially when the evidence is staring the country in the face and New Yorks two most prominent elected law enforcement officials are prosecuting soft investigations out of the public eye.Deborah Simon contributed additional research for this story.

Are "po folk" considered less than animals in America?
Oh I'm sorry we're not his base.

Date Published: September 14, 2005
College administrator loses job after remark about evacuees


The Associated Press
A Greenville Technical College administrator who called Hurricane Katrina evacuees "yard apes" during a staff meeting is out of a job.Renee Holcombe, associate vice president of student services, said Wednesday she no longer worked for the school but would not say whether she was fired or she resigned."I'm just numb and in a state of shock," Holcombe told The Associated Press. When asked if she meant the comment as a racial slur, she said: "Heavens, no."A message left for school president Tom Barton was not immediately returned Wednesday. Barton said Tuesday that Holcombe had apologized in a separate meeting. He said the comments were reported to him by staff members who attended the meeting last Thursday."We're going to rectify the situation and make it very much known that we won't ever tolerate that kind of situation - ever," Barton said.Barton said Holcombe, associate vice president for student services, made the comment at a briefing to inform college employees of their roles as Greenville Tech bused hurricane refugees from the Palmetto Expo Center for registration."It's even hard for me to repeat because I can't imagine anybody that would make such an asinine statement," Barton said. "It was stated that 'We will take these yellow buses and go pick up these yard apes.' My God, how bad can bad get?"More than 100 people have lived at the exposition center since last week when they were flown from New Orleans to Greenville as part of a mandatory evacuation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.Holcombe works in admissions and registration, Barton said."It's not like she just came to work," he said. "She's been here and she knows our philosophy and she knows the institution. I just can't imagine why she did it."Holcombe said Wednesday she did not want to discuss the incident because she didn't want "to add fuel to the fire," but she said she looks forward to the day her side of the story can be told.



What’s wrong with this picture?





A truckload of evacuees arrives at the Metairie evacuation center outside New Orleans












Gretna police officer Ray Lassiegne stands guard over a busload of evacuees after they were picked up near the Greater New Orleans Bridge just south of New Orleans.












Over 150 dogs and other animals were evacuated from an animal hospital after their owners had left town without them




Good thing they weren't po folk or they would have had a long wait.

Louisiana residents gather together in a triage area on Interstate 10 in Slidell, La., after being rescued from the Eden Isles subdivision after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.(AP/Mari Darr-Welch)Aug. 31, 2005

Incompetence? or something more malevolent?

Feds willfully obstructed rescue and aid efforts, rebuffed offers of assistance, sabotaged supplies and communications
The president of Jefferson Parish, La., Aaron Broussard, stated in an emotional interview on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sun. Sept. 4th that
We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn’t need them. This was a week ago. FEMA, we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. When we got there with our trucks, FEMA says don’t give you the fuel. Yesterday – yesterday – FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards and said no one is getting near these lines . . .
Cutting communication lines during a natural disaster is evidence all by itself of gross criminal activity.
Doctors Hamstrung in Relief Efforts—Marilynn Marchione, MyWay News, Sept 4 2005
Volunteer physicians are pouring in to care for the sick, but red tape is keeping hundreds of others from caring for Hurricane Katrina survivors while health problems escalate. . . .
U.S. Northern Command was in position, waited 4 days for Presidential orders—BBC, Sept 3 2005The link is to a video interview with Lt. Cmdr. Sean Kelly remarking that everything was at a standstill until He Who Shall Remain Nameless had returned from his vacation (playing guitar, eating cake, and grandstanding his latest Medicare scam to dementia patients) on Thursday evening, Sept. 1st, four days after Katrina made landfall, five days after he himself had declared the Gulf Coast a Disaster Area.
More about the National Guard deployment: Congress Likely to Probe Guard Response—Sharon Theimer, AP, Sept 3 2005
. . . New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state’s National Guard last Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn’t come from Washington until late Thursday.
California troops just began arriving in Louisiana on Friday, three days after flood waters devastated New Orleans and chaos broke out. . . .
Fearing riots, Guard rejects food airdrops—Jeff Schogol, Stars & Stripes, Sept 3 2005
Note how the excuse of “unruliness,” “anarchy,” “riots” is repeatedly given as a reason for nonaction. These clowns claim to be able to go into war zones and “create stability,” “restore order,” yet they can’t even manage an airdrop of food and water to natural disaster victims in our own borders.
No airdrops from the military—and no relief from the Red Cross, the resource I thought any disaster victim could count on: Homeland Security won’t let Red Cross deliver food—Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept 3 2005
. . . “The Homeland Security Department has requested and continues to request that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans,” said Renita Hosler, spokeswoman for the Red Cross.
“Right now access is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities. We have been at the table every single day [asking for access]. We cannot get into New Orleans against their orders.” . . .
A contingent of doctors from the Washington D.C. area were given the bureaucratic runaround and could not get “authorization” to enter the area: Bad Communication Hinders Area's Aid Efforts—Michael Laris & Karin Brulliard, Washington Post, Sept 3 2005. The article also notes that a search and rescue team from Fairfax County was sent to an area of Mississippi that was not hard hit by the storm and wasted most of a week looking fruitlessly for victims.
[Chicago Mayor Richard] Daley ‘shocked’ as feds reject aid— Stephanie Zimmermann & Scott Fornek, Chicago Sun-Times, Sept 3 2005
. . . offered emergency, medical and technical help to the federal government as early as Sunday to assist people in the areas stricken by Hurricane Katrina, but as of Friday, the only things the feds said they wanted was a single tank truck. . . .
An affidavit posted at Democratic Underground notes that
I was managing director of a Russian-American telephone company providing rapid communications in the former Soviet Union and have helped with disaster communications projects around the world. . . . When the storm approached the Gulf coast I called offering simple suggestions to government types (since this was obviously from all reports going to be a terrible storm) of how to bring communications systems up as soon as the storm passed. I recommended bringing in Blimps with portable cell transceivers and VHF, UHF and other types of broadcast equipment and also equipment to aid in the search and rescue effort. No one was interested.
When the storm hit and everyone knew the worst had happened, I contacted the Red Cross, (someone there hung up on me) and then FEMA where someone told me it was all up to the DOD -- and I wondered why the Pentagon was in charge of FEMA? I was also told that FEMA was being privatized and a number of the experienced staff trained in hurricane relief had been told they had to resign from FEMA and then be rehired by the private company.
. . . Then Putin offered helicopters, search and rescue personnel, water purification equipment, and doctors and so much more. Had the State Department allowed the Russian humanitarian mission to proceed, Russian help would have been on the ground a good 24–48 hours before FEMA was in many of the poorer and worst-affected areas.
Everyone here now knows that all international help was turned down . . .
note: I will not accept criticism for printing “unverified sources.” Any semblance of a free press died back in November 2000 and We The People have been forced to comb the internet and foreign press for any real news. Because BushCo insists on manipulating what we see and hear, the true facts about Katrina response and effects will have to come from first-person survivor and responder accounts. Though the press does seem to be having a bit of an epiphany during this disaster.
Airboaters stalled by FEMA—Nancy Imperiale, Orlando Sun Sentinel, Sept 2 2005
As a flooded New Orleans sinks further into despair, up to 500 Florida airboat pilots have volunteered to rescue Hurricane Katrina victims, transport relief workers and ferry supplies.
But they aren’t being allowed in. And they're growing frustrated.
“We cannot get deployed to save our behinds,” said Robert Dummett, state coordinator of the Florida Airboat Association. He said the pilots, who range from commercial airboat operators to weekend pleasure boaters, “are physically sick, watching the New Orleans coverage and knowing that the resources to help these poor people is sitting right in our driveways.”
On standby since Monday, the pilots — many from Central Florida — have spent thousands of their own dollars stocking their boats and swamp buggies with food, water, medical supplies and fuel.
But the Federal Emergency Management Agency will not authorize the airboaters to enter New Orleans. . . .
FEMA “turned away police and doctors at the state line”— Sept 2 2005
LEESBURG, Va. (AP) - A group of Loudoun County sheriff's deputies heading to Louisiana to help maintain order among hurricane refugees had to turn around at the Virginia border when they couldn't get confirmation from emergency management officials, the Loudoun County sheriff said.
After attempting for 12 hours to reach officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Louisiana Emergency Operations Center, the deputies were told to head home . . .
The deputies were to be sworn in locally as law enforcement officers in Jefferson Parish, La. near New Orleans. Their assistance had been requested by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Department through the National Sheriff’s Association in an Aug. 31 letter . . .
Thus was exposed the lie that “security” was a top concern.
National Guard not allowing aid into the city—from the blog at Get Your Act On
. . . There are supplies sitting in Baton Rouge for the folks in New Orleans, but the National Guard has the city surrounded and is not letting anyone in or out. They are turning away people with supplies, claiming it is too dangerous. If we have planes that can drop bombs on people in Iraq, certainly we can air drop supplies into the city. Our goverment is KILLING the people of New Orleans.
See the full story by a group that organized a supply truck, at the link.
Russian offer of rescue teams refused—CBS News, Sept 1 2005
MOSCOW (AP) The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency has rejected a Russian offer to send rescue teams and other aid in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a Russian emergency official said Thursday.
Russia offered to send two transport planes with rescue teams, helicopters and other equipment to help deal with Katrina's aftermath.
[Homeland Security Chief Michael] Chertoff blames refugees and the dead for their fate in an interview on NBC Today—Democratic Party Blog, Sept 1, 2005
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco requested federal assistance on August 28th Link is to a 4-page PDF file of her official communication with "President Bush” by way of the regional director of FEMA in Denton, Texas.
Another unfathomable fake-turkey photo op
. . . the president’s visit was a completely staged event. Reports on German TV showed open-air food tables immediately dismantled and taken away after his little photo shoot in Mississippi. Hurricane victims were left to fend for themselves. See the letter to War and Piece, Sept. 3 2005.
Bush faked levee repair for photo op yesterday—La. Senator Mary Landrieu, press release, Sept. 3 2005
. . . I understand that the U.S. Forest Service had water-tanker aircraft available to help douse the fires raging on our riverfront, but FEMA has yet to accept the aid. When Amtrak offered trains to evacuate significant numbers of victims – far more efficiently than buses—FEMA again dragged its feet. Offers of medicine, communications equipment and other desperately needed items continue to flow in, only to be ignored by the agency.
But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street levee. Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment. The good and decent people of southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast—black and white, rich and poor, young and old—deserve far better from their national government.
Bush visit halts food delivery—Times-Picayune, Sept 3, 05
Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s visit to New Orleans, officials said.
The provisions, secured by U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, and state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, baked in the afternoon sun as Bush surveyed damage across southeast Louisiana . . .
Let’s not forget the photo-ops for Laura Bush, either. Peasants Evacuees had to wait until her arrival to get some food: Baton Rouge evacuees at Cajundome wait for first lady, and for lunch—Lafayette Daily Advertiser, Sept 2 2005
(I can't resist adding a link to a story and graphic about presideath Bushit stage-managing a phony photo exactly one year ago in Florida, following hurricane Ivan)

It seems to me it runs in the family, what do you think?

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's son arrested
21-year-old charged with public intoxication, resisting arrest

AUSTIN, Texas - The youngest son of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was arrested early Friday and charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest, law enforcement officials said.
John Ellis Bush, 21, was arrested by agents of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission at 2:30 a.m. on a corner of Austins Sixth Street bar district, said commission spokesman Roger Wade.
The nephew of President Bush was released on $2,500 bond for the resisting arrest charge, and on a personal recognizance bond for the public intoxication charge, officials said
Wade said he had no further details about the charges.
Gov. Bush and his wife Columba appeared Friday evening at a museum reception in Miami.
My son's doing fine. It's a private matter. We will support him. Were sad for him. But I'm not going to discuss it on the public square with 30 cameras, the governor told reporters.
It's not the first time Florida's first family has experienced legal problems with one of their children.
Noelle Bush, the governor's daughter, was arrested in January 2002 and accused of trying to pass a fraudulent prescription at a pharmacy to obtain the anti-anxiety drug Xanax. She completed a drug rehabilitation program in August 2003 and a judge dismissed the drug charges against her.


Today a friend of mine sent this to me in an email:
Did you Know?

I thought that you and others may like to see this. One detail that is not mentioned, in DC:

There can never be a building of greater height than the Washington Monument!With all the uproar about removing the ten commandments, etc... This is worth a moment or two of your time. I was not aware of all this historical information.On the aluminum cap, atop the Washington Monument in Washington DC, are displayed two words: Laus Deo. No one can see these words. In fact, most visitors to the monument are totally unaware they are even there and for that matter, probably couldn't care less.Once you know Laus Deo's history, you will want to share this with everyone you know. But, these words have been there for many years; they are 555 feet, 5.125 inches high, perched atop the monument, facing skyward to the Father of our nation, overlooking the 69 square miles which comprise the District of Columbia, capital of the United States of America.Laus Deo! Two seemingly insignificant, un-noticed words. Out of sight and, one might think, out of mind, but very meaningfully placed at the highest point over what is the most powerful city in the most successful nation in the world.So, what do those two words, in Latin, composed of just four syllables and only seven letters, possibly mean? Very simply, they say "Praise be to God!"Though construction of this giant obelisk began in 1848, when James Polk was President of the United States, it was not until 1888 that the monument as inaugurated and opened to the public. It took twenty five years to finally cap the memorial with a tribute to the Father of our nation, Laus Deo . "Praise be to God!"From atop this magnificent granite and marble structure, visitors may take in the beautiful panoramic view of the city with it's division into four major segments. From that vantage point, one can also easily see the original plan of the designer, Pierre Charles L'Enfant...a perfect cross imposed upon the landscape, with the White House to the north. The Jefferson Memorial is to the south, the Capitol to the east and the Lincoln Memorial to the west.A cross you ask? Why a cross? What about separation of church and state?
Yes, a cross; separation of church and state was not, is not, in the constitution. So, read on. How interesting and, no doubt, intended to carry a profound meaning for those who bother to notice.Within the monument itself are 898 steps and 50 landings. As one climbs the steps and pauses at the landings the memorial stones share a message. On the 12th Landing is a prayer offered by the City of Baltimore; on the 20th is a memorial presented by some Chinese Christians; on the 24th a presentation made by Sunday School children from New York and Philadelphia quoting Proverbs 10:7, Luke 18:16 and Proverbs 22:6.When the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was laid on J uly 4th, 1848 deposited within it were many items including the Holy Bible presented by the Bible Society. Such was the discipline, the moral direction, and the spiritual mood given by the founder and first President of our unique democracy ."One Nation, Under God."I am awed by Washington's prayer for America. Have you never read it? Well, now is your unique opportunity, so read on!"Almighty God; We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United states at large." And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen."Laus Deo!When one stops to observe the inscriptions found in public places all over our nation's capitol, he or she will easily find the signature of God, as it is unmistakably inscribed everywhere you look. You may forget the width and height of "Laus Deo", it's location, or the architects but no one who reads this will be able to forget it's meaning, or these words: "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." (Psalm 127: 1)

It is hoped you will send this to every child you know; to every sister, brother, father, mother or friend. They will not find offense, because you have given them a lesson in history that they probably never learned in school. With that, be not ashamed, or afraid, but have pity on those who will never see it.*
Laus Deo!

After reading this I had to send a reply:
You know every time I read something like this it truly upsets me, that these men who claimed to be of such moral fiber and character could even consider another human to be that less than a animal. But more over that even unto this day there are those who still do and yet they site these very words to evoke their morality.
There is nothing like the atrocities man will inflict upon another in the name of God.

Look at the people, good now look at the troops, do you see what I see? is this how we take care of our own?

















September 10, 2005

Police in Suburbs Blocked Evacuees, Witnesses Report
By GARDINER HARRIS

Police agencies to the south of New Orleans were so fearful of the crowds trying to leave the city after Hurricane Katrina that they sealed a crucial bridge over the Mississippi River and turned back hundreds of desperate evacuees, two paramedics who were in the crowd said.
The paramedics and two other witnesses said officers sometimes shot guns over the heads of fleeing people, who, instead of complying immediately with orders to leave the bridge, pleaded to be let through, the paramedics and two other witnesses said. The witnesses said they had been told by the New Orleans police to cross that same bridge because buses were waiting for them there.
Instead, a suburban police officer angrily ordered about 200 people to abandon an encampment between the highways near the bridge. The officer then confiscated their food and water, the four witnesses said. The incidents took place in the first days after the storm last week, they said.
"The police kept saying, 'We don't want another Superdome,' and 'This isn't New Orleans,' " said Larry Bradshaw, a San Francisco paramedic who was among those fleeing.
Arthur Lawson, chief of the Gretna, La., Police Department, confirmed that his officers, along with those from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and the Crescent City Connection Police, sealed the bridge.
"There was no place for them to come on our side," Mr. Lawson said.
He said that he had been asked by reporters about officers threatening victims with guns or shooting over their heads, but he said that he had not yet asked his officers about that.
"As soon as things calm down, we will do an inquiry and find out what happened," he said.
The lawlessness that erupted in New Orleans soon after the hurricane terrified officials throughout Louisiana, and even a week later, law enforcement officers rarely entered the city without heavy weaponry.
While police officers saved countless lives and provided security to medical providers, many victims have complained bitterly about the behavior of some of the police officers in New Orleans in the days following Hurricane Katrina.
Officials in Lafayette, La., reported seeing scores of cruisers from the New Orleans police department in their city in the week after the hurricane. Some evacuees who fled to the Superdome and the convention center say that many police officers refused to patrol those structures after dark.
"It's unbelievable what the police officers did; they just left us," said Harold Veasey, a 66-year-old New Orleans resident who spent two horrific days at the convention center. And in the week after the hurricane, there were persistent rumors in and around New Orleans that police officers in suburban areas refused to help the storm victims.
Mr. Bradshaw and his partner, Lorrie Beth Slonsky, wrote an account about their experiences that has been widely circulated by e-mail and was first printed in The Socialist Worker.
Cathey Golden, a 51-year-old from Boston, and her 13-year-old son, Ramon Golden, yesterday confirmed the account.
The four met at the Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter. Mr. Bradshaw and Ms. Slonsky had attended a convention for emergency medicine specialists. Ms. Golden and her two children, including 23-year-old Rashida Golden, were there to visit family.
The hotel allowed its guests and nearly 250 residents from the nearby neighborhood to stay until Thursday, Sept 1. With its food exhausted, the hotel's manager finally instructed people to leave. Hotel staff handed out maps to show the way to the city's convention center, to which thousands of other evacuees had fled.
A group of nearly 200 guests gathered to make their way to the center together, the four said. But on the way, they heard that the convention center had become a dangerous, unsanitary pit from which no one was being evacuated. So they stopped in front of a New Orleans police command post near the Harrah's casino on Canal Street.
A New Orleans police commander whom none of the four could identify told the crowd that they could not stay there and later told them that buses were being brought to the Crescent City Connection, a nearby bridge to Jefferson Parish, to carry them to safety.
The crowd cheered and began to move. Suspicious, Mr. Bradshaw said that he asked the commander if he was sure that buses would be there for them. "We'd had so much misinformation by that point," Mr. Bradshaw said.
"He looked all of us in the eye and said, 'I swear to you, there are buses waiting across the bridge,' " Mr. Bradshaw said.
But on the bridge there were four police cruisers parked across some lanes. Between six and eight officers stood with shotguns in their hands, the witnesses said. As the crowd approached, the officers shot over the heads of the crowd, most of whom retreated immediately, Mr. Bradshaw, Ms. Slonsky and Ms. Golden and her son said.
Mr. Bradshaw said the officers were allowing cars to cross the bridge, some of them loaded with passengers. Only pedestrians were being stopped, he said. Chief Lawson said he believed that only emergency vehicles were allowed through.
Mr. Bradshaw said he approached the officers and begged to be allowed through, saying a commander in New Orleans had told them buses were waiting for them on the other side.
"He said that there are no buses and that there is no foot traffic allowed across the bridge," Mr. Bradshaw said.
The remaining evacuees first sought refuge under a nearby highway overpass and then trudged back to New Orleans.



REPORTING FROM NEW ORLEANS -
Rosa Clemente dispatches from the South

After a twenty one hour drive, we, Brad a videographer and King, arrived in New Orleans, as we crossed the border of Mississippi we spoke to folks displaced, white middle class folks who have not seen a FEMA or RED CROSS vehicle since the hurricane hit, many Mexican and Honduran immigrants just wandering, one thing the Latino brothers and sister stressed was the fear they are facing from white vigilantes trying to "move them out the city? and ICE-the federal immigration police who are down here in force, speaking to the white middle class man whom lost everything he told us , "America died to me on Tuesday Aug 30th, I voted for Bush and that rapper was right"(:-) go KANYE!

As we approached New Orleans after two military checkpoints with M16's pointed at us we found our way to Canel Street,
As we went down Canel street the damage was surreal, there was a boat in the street, toxic sludge in the streets, what we immediately noticed, was the number of police, military, contractors, and Blackwater mercenaries protecting property,
We came up on the Convention Center, and after all the clean up, it still looked like a living hell, the smell of dead bodies was overwhelming, what was more crazy and shows the inhumanity, the VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as defined by the International Convention on Human Rights and the CRIMINAL MISCONDUCT of these devils, and that includes, Condi and Alberto, is that there were plenty of hotels, The Marriot, The Wyndham, The Holiday Inn, that were completely habitable, if this fucking supreme court can take my house on some eminent domain shit, why didn’t they declare eminent domain and take corporate property for the public good,

As Brad stated "This, the Convention center is our modern day slave vessel and our people are in the midst of the Middle Passage" meanwhile five feet from this hell were the castles; The Marriot, The Wyndham, Holiday Inn, If one thing I would like people to know now is that their were four to five hotels within a one block area that were completely intact, these hotels could have housed thousands of people, as we were outside the Convention Center looking in, a man about the age of 40, white man, said "I cant believe they shot these young men as they were trying to get people into the hotel,? as we spoke with him, he said that three young black men, were trying to take over the hotels and make it a makeshift medical center, and evacuate the elderly and babies into safer conditions, as they approached the hotel the were fired upon and murdered, this had not been confirmed by anyone, but we know that this is possible,
Outside all the hotels you could see makeshift camps where people had lived, the conditions were atrocious, as we continued to document and talk to people, we were approached by two military people that said we had to leave now, that we were not official, when we began to question this, and say there are all kinds of people walking around, the entire city of N.O. they informed us we could follow orders or be arrested, as we left we saw a few black man and women still wandering around the city, dazed and physically exhausted, we talked to them and asked them ?Are you leaving and they said no, this is our only home? As we traveled into Algiers, the destruction kept going, as much as folks want to talk about looting, we ran into many white folks who said, "Of coursed we looted, we had to survive,? we saw four different WINN DIXIES and WALMARTS in white communities that were completely destroyed.
We then met up with brother Malik Rahim and Errol Maitland from WBAI, and met up with over 30 organizers that are organizing here, they are committed to staying fro three weeks, so folks need to come and try to spend a couple of days, every skill is needed
Malik Rahim and his wife Sharon are the peoples command center, in Algiers, it is amazing to see the people helping the people, self-determination has manifested here, they have opened up their own media clinic, there are 50 bikes that are being given to anyone who wants them, anyone can come and sleep here, eat, take a shower, etc., Algiers did not have to deal with the flooding but many houses were destroyed, and in a community that numbered in the thousands there are only five kids and about 100 adults left here, but they are refusing to leave, the military is trying to cajole people to leave, by telling them soon electricity will be shut down, there is no gas, so even for the survivors they are being forced out
Algiers is the hub for Black people, and we need to support them, the young cats part of the alternative media world, have set up a community media command center, today the five young people in the neighborhood came and got bikes, crayons, paper, and bubbles, yes bubbles because everyone who is a child should skip rope, blow bubbles and be allowed to be a child
As New Orleans is under marshal law, last night around 6:30pm the military informed us that anyone on the streets would get a warning shot, and after that be shot on the spot, throughout the night, we saw groups of white men riding around in pickup trucks, vigilantes, along with the NOPD and the GODDAMN NYPD, yes, yes yall the NYPD is in the house, this is the battle ground, this is the BATTLE FOR ALGIERS, we are on our way to Baton Rouge, Houston, TX and Jackson, MI, more to come


Well the Central Business District and the historic French Quarter were neighborhoods in New Orleans that saw relatively little damage. This weekend the city will start re-opening those areas and a few others for businesses and residents to return. However, many are concerned about what will happen to the city's poor, black residents whose neighborhoods were mostly destroyed.
Democracy Now correspondent Jeremy Scahill has been in Louisiana this past week. He has been looking into how the city has changed to a militarized zone and what that means for the residents who left.

Jeremy Scahill, Democracy Now! producer and correspondent.

AMY GOODMAN: He joins us on the phone from Baton Rouge. Welcome, Jeremy.
JEREMY SCAHILL: Good to be with you, Amy.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about what you have been seeing, who you’ve been talking to this week?
JEREMY SCAHILL: Well, I mean, in the days that have passed, the week or so since you were here this past weekend, we have seen a real increase in the militarization of the city. It's turned into a much greater state of lockdown. You have more military checkpoints set up. You have less of a civilian presence in large parts of the city and much more of a military presence. I mean in fact, I still have only seen one FEMA vehicle, the entire time I have been here. That wasn't even staffed. It was just a FEMA vehicle parked on a median near the Hyatt hotel where the main headquarters is of the so-called Operational Emergency Command of the military and various branches of the government coordinating their so-called disaster response. But there are soldiers all over the city. What's incredible is that you see them doing almost nothing. They're either just standing around or sitting around. There's very little work being done by the military. You do see units like the 82nd airborne patrolling the streets. It looks like the aftermath of a massacre or war zone where you have soldiers patrolling around. You also see a tremendous increase in the number of private security contractors who have arrived on the scene.
It's interesting, we talked earlier this week about the Blackwater mercenaries and I talked about my hour-long conversation with them when they had first arrived here, and I reported that they were saying they were on contract with the Department of Homeland Security. This, of course, was denied by the federal government. Well, now they have been forced to admit, the federal government, that Blackwater is on federal contract with FEMA to protect -- so-called protect, its rebuilding or reconstruction efforts in Louisiana. This is just one of the firms that is getting now federal money. I think that these firms view the current situation in Louisiana as the biggest pot of federal money to put their hands into since the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. I also, two days ago, had the chance to meet one of the wealthiest of citizens of New Orleans, F. Patrick Quinn III. He is the single greatest owner of private rooms in New Orleans. He owns the largest hotel chain in the state of Louisiana, to cater to hotels. He is currently -- he told me that his hotels are being looked at by FEMA to house the workers for the long haul of the so-called reconstruction. I was talking to him, as his head of security and after he pulled off in his S.U.V., about 30 Mexican workers came out of his hotel, and one of his security guards said that they had been brought in from Texas, and in fact another news report, about Patrick Quinn, said that he had brought in workers from Texas as well. So, we have the reality of these shelters full of people wanting work and then you see Mexican workers being brought in from Texas, and when they're done, doing this dirty work, they will be put on the back of trucks, piled into trucks and they go to wherever it is that they were staying.
This man, Patrick Quinn is bidding for these contracts where FEMA potentially could come in and rent out hundreds and hundreds of rooms in his hotel and other businesses are struggling to simply stay alive or scramble to get federal money to rebuild, he is standing to gain a tremendous amount of money from these lucrative federal contracts. It must be noted that he is a major contributor to the Republican party. In fact, his wife was just elected in the special election to the state Senate. Her name is Julie Quinn. And Amy, he has brought in security from a company called B.A.T.S. in Alabama: Bodyguard And Tactical Services. And I was talking to his head of security, I told him I was from New York, he said, I’ve been to New York during the daily news strike, referring to the strike the at the New York Daily News. Democracy Now! co-host, Juan Gonzalez, is a Daily News columnist was one of the leaders of the strike. I told him that Juan Gonzalez was a colleague of mine and he told me that he spiked Juan Gonzalez's car. He said he had put sugar in the gas tank of Juan Gonzalez's car. The man's name is Michael Montgomery, and he is the head of security for B.A.T.S. Security in Alabama, bragging about spiking the car of Juan Gonzalez and other strike leaders in the New York Daily News strike. He is heading up security for the Decatur Hotel chain, owned by Patrick Quinn, a major businessman in New Orleans, his wife a Republican state senator. This is just one example of cronyism that we see on the ground where the wealthy Republican contributors are being considered now for these tremendous federal contracts.
AMY GOODMAN: We're talking to Jeremy Scahill, he is the Democracy Now! Correspondent on the ground now in New Orleans, Baton Rouge. You also spent time at the jail, which is the converted Greyhound Train Station, is that right? Run by the head of the Angola prison, the largest prison in this country.
JEREMY SCAHILL: Right. One of the things that happened, and it was something we're going to be looking at very closely on democracy now!, continue to in the coming weeks, that is what happened to the prisoners who were inside the Orleans parish prison as well as other facilities as prisoners now start to get released. They're going to be telling their stories, and one of the makeshift places that they took people was the -- they converted the Greyhound and Amtrak terminals into prisons where they brought people, and so they're using the concrete areas where the buses would pull in to house prisoners and they shipped them off to various parts of the country. In that downtown area, it's really sort of desolate and abandoned, and now they call it “Camp Greyhound” where they're running a prison. This is the major question that still looms in the air here, and that is-- what is going to happen to all of these people who were arrested the night before the hurricane struck, for instance, on minor violations who should have been processed in a matter of hours and then released, and they have been shipped all over the country, all over the state. Now you have lawyers scrambling to try to track down where people are, and make sure that they can get out.
One of the great concerns right now in New Orleans is businessmen talking openly of wanting to see New Orleans change, to change it completely in a demographic sense, geographically, politically, racially. You have this overt rhetoric. Well, as residents of New Orleans come back in and they try to go back to the apartments they were rent stabilized, the houses they were renting, they face a city that has repressive laws that do not protect tenants. You have an overt agenda to change the racial makeup of the city, the economic makeup of the city, and you have these very wealthy people hiring private mercenary types to guard their property and their interests. Then you also have the National Guard and the Army inside of the city now, and so the potential for conflict with residents coming back in is very great. A lot of people are very concerned now with this Marshal Law still in effect with the military curfew in effect, that that is going to remain as people come back and live here. It's one thing to have Martial law when you have a depopulated city. It's another thing to have it when you have people who want to go about the business of rebuilding their lives, particularly when they are being told by very wealthy, powerful people backed up by men with guns that they are not welcome in the city that they have lived in their whole life. We have a potential, I think, for serious, overt conflict, hot conflict here in New Orleans as people start coming back in.
AMY GOODMAN: And Jeremy, we all went over to Southern University, a black college in Baton Rouge where some of the evacuees had gathered to talk about how they can be a part of the planning for the reconstruction. Very difficult, because the most disempowered people have been sent off to areas all over the country, from Utah to Cape Cod, often not knowing when they were getting on a bus or perhaps a plane, where they were actually going to land. While they were sent off there, do they have the money even to return, let alone be a part of how this city will be rebuilt?
JEREMY SCAHILL: Right. I was just watching CNN and they were interviewing a guy they're called the pied piper of hurricane Katrina, a guy from Ohio, who has come to the Houston Astrodome to recruit 100 people who are -- who had left New Orleans to try to bring them to settle in Ohio. I mean, what they're really trying to do is to settle the poor and the African-American populations of New Orleans elsewhere. And to make New Orleans a nice, white city, for white, rich businessmen. There's no other way to put it. That's exactly what we're seeing right now. They want to take areas for instance like the ninth ward and turn them into big -- you know, Wal-Mart type neighborhoods. In fact, we heard mayor Nagin talk yesterday about how one of the first things they want to do is set up a gigantic Wal-Mart so people returning can have a place to shop in New Orleans. This hurricane is the greatest thing to happen to Wal-Mart since the superstore. And this is a very serious racist series of actions that we're seeing here right now. This is has everything to do with class and everything to do with race, and it's very, very frightening. And yes, we attended a conference where grassroots activists are talking about a plan for rebuilding New Orleans, but it's on right now, and they're not a part of it. The people that are a part of it are old-time Louisiana white Republican families working in conjunction with their friend, mayor Ray Nagin, and there's no other way to put it. They love Ray Nagin. He's pro-business. He's their guy.
Look at the comments of James Rice, a local businessman, who is one of the leaders of the private Audubon Place, the gated community. The only privately owned in the city of New Orleans. He told The Wall Street Journal, “Those who want to see this city rebuilt want to see it done in a completely different way, demographically, geographically and politically. I'm not just speaking for myself here. The way we have been living is not going to happen again or we’re out.” James Rice has brought in Israeli para-militaries to guard his facility. It's Israeli company that brags about having former members of the Shin Beit, the GSS, the Israeli Defense Forces. He has brought them in. I was talking to them in front of his property. Some of them participated in the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and these are guys now who are patrolling outside on St. Charles avenue in front of Audubon Place and will potentially come into conflict with residents of New Orleans. What on earth are Israeli paramilitaries doing on the streets of New Orleans? These are the questions that people need to ask right now, defending a man like James Rice who was called for the poor to not be allowed back into New Orleans.
AMY GOODMAN: And Jeremy, as people are -- some people slowly making their way back, reports of the spraying of the city with pesticide that's never been used on urban populations and they're mixing it with blue dye so that the pilots can see where they have sprayed, I think its called something like NALID, have you seen planes dispersing this pesticide?
JEREMY SCAHILL: I remember the other night you called me and you alerted me to this, and just today I had seen what I thought were some sort of spy drones because really, what we have seen here is sort of -- some people are calling it “New Oraq” instead of New Orleans, because of all of the various forces, the Halliburtons, the KBR's, the Blackwaters that are here now, the connections to Iraq are so incredible. The same looters who have raided the federal funds in Iraq, U.S. funds in Iraq, are looting federal funds here in New Orleans. Yes, I saw the drones flying overhead. I'm concerned, very concerned of the toxic waste that they're now dumping on the city in addition to the horribly unsafe waters that flow through the city and continue to flow through the city.
AMY GOODMAN: Jeremy Scahill, thank you for being with us. Jeremy, speaking to us from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This is democracy now!




FEMA Sends Katrina Survivors to American Gulag

""Taking these ‘useless eaters’ and seditious BOVOBs (Burned Out Victims of Bushonomics) and scattering them across the country in little, out-of-the-way facilities," writes Martin referring to the FEMA policy of taking New Orleans hurricane survivors and transferring them around the country to heavily guarded detainment facilities."The mass movement of Black people like this has never been seen," Martin continues. "There’s never been mass resettlement before, but that’s what’s effectively happening.""We’re taking BOVOBs, getting them out of the media limelight, and quietly transferring them to continuing federal control, so that they’re all going to facilities, controlled by FEMA or some other federal agency. They are de facto detainees since they are not allowed to leave the facility for at least five months."For the rest of this column, subscribe to AlMartin Raw.com for exclusive economic and political analysis Al Martin Raw.com (Political, Economic and Financial Intelligence)AlMartinRaw.com: Political, Economic and Financial Intelligence (http://www.almartinraw.com * AL MARTIN is an independent economic-political analyst with 25 years of experience as a trader on NYMEX, CME, CBOT and CFTC. As a former contributor to the Presidential Council of Economic Advisors, Al Martin is considered to be a source of independent analysis for financially sophisticated and market savvy investors.After working as a broker on Wall Street, Al Martin was involved in the so-called "Iran Contra" Affair as a fundraiser for the Bush Cabal from the covert side of government aka the US Shadow Government.His memoir, "The Conspirators: Secrets of an Iran Contra Insider," (http://www.almartinraw.com) provides an unprecedented look at the frauds of the Bush Cabal during the Iran Contra era. His weekly column, "Behind the Scenes in the Beltway," is published on Al Martin Raw.comAl Martin's new website "Insider Intelligence" Insider Intelligence provides a long term macro-view of world markets and how they are affected by backroom realpolitik, as well as weekly market trading recommendations.




Katrina Survivors Held in FEMA Detention Camp Utah
by GLOBAL NEWS MATRIX

The guards will however instruct one dissident radical pseudo-media personality to turn the car around and get gone post haste. Only officially cleared personnel can access the New Orleans insurgency.Detention Camp Utah is located about 20 miles from downtown civilization. There is no transportation, public or otherwise, for the New Orleans insurgency. Supposedly, it has been reported by one local media concern that there will be twice-daily bus service available to "cleared" insurgents.The armed military guards at the aforementioned closely guarded military gates would answer no questions regarding whether the New Orleans insurgency would be able to clear the gates to access the quickie mart, located down a rather steep hill about three miles from the Detention Camp Utah. Nor would the guards answer questions regarding whether they would allow the New Orleans insurgency to re-enter Detention Camp Utah if somehow they were able to gain an exit.Detention Camp Utah is a windblown and barren military installation atop the foothills of what is known as the Oquirrh (pronounced ochre) Mountains. It is isolated and surely quiet.What a pleasant spot for those that were relocated by the U.S. military and the New Orleans insurgency weren't even told where it was they were being shipped to. Not a one of the refugees/insurgents were told they were being sent to Utah. What a freaking shock that must have been.That is all I was able to ascertain when I paid Detention Camp Utah a short visit on Labor Day. Due to the escalating hostility of the military guards at the armed military gates into Detention Camp Utah, I cut my visit short and also cut my questioning of the armed military guards short. The nice chap with the shiny Colt 45 and the three stripes on his sleeve was growing moderately curt and gave me one last instruction to get away while I still could.That's the way it is, Labor Day 2005.Some refugees unhappy with destinationby Kirsten Stewart, Salt Lake TribuneSept. 5, 2005Jervis Bergeron lost his home to Hurricane Katrina. He lost his dignity looting for food and water. He lost track of his family in the chaos that ensued as rescuers evacuated New Orleans.Now he has lost his bearings."I knew where Utah was, but nobody told me that's where we were going. Nothing personal. It's nice. But I don't know anybody here," said Bergeron, among the first batch of 152 evacuees to arrive at the Camp Williams Utah Army National Guard training site.Like others who arrived in smaller military planes, Bergeron wasn't told where he was headed when he boarded the JetBlue airliner Saturday at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. In fact, great pains were taken to keep their destination secret.National Guard officials asked a reporter and photographer aboard two separate military planes not to identify their news organizations or tell the refugees where the planes were going. They explained some refugees on earlier flights complained or refused evacuation when told where they were going.Federal emergency officials said pilots had their passengers' safety in mind. Few evacuees are holding a grudge.But some argue, as a matter of respect and simple courtesy, they should have been told where they were landing."I asked four or five people, but they said they didn't know," said Bergeron, 54. "It wasn't until the airplane doors were shut and the engines started that they told us, Utah."Michael Widomski, spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said keeping destinations a secret wasn't an official policy decision, but more likely a last-minute response to trying circumstances.He doesn't know if the practice was unique to Utah-bound flights."This is not a relocation effort. It would be great to provide air service to wherever they want. But that's not logistically possible," said Widomski. He said 13 states currently are sheltering refugees. So far, Utah, Arizona and Colorado are the farthest West."It isn't good or bad policy," said Widomski. "The priority is getting people into a safe, clean environment as fast as we can."Not everyone was dismayed to find themselves thousands of miles from home in foreign surroundings."I was just happy to get out of there," said Antoinette LaFrance. The flight was the 61-year-old's first time on a plane and first visit to Utah."People applauded when they heard it was Utah," said Adolph Dennis, who came on a Sunday morning flight. "We heard it was getting awful crowded in Houston. Everyone has been so hospitable here."At least one volunteer at Camp Williams says the scattershot rescue will make reconnecting families tougher. Violating victims' civil rights also adds insult to injury and reinforces their feelings of helplessness, said Christine Hurst, a certified crisis counselor.Hurst recounted the experience of a young evacuee who on Saturday told a family member in Texas that she was en route to Houston only to wind up in Utah."Now the Red Cross has to send her to Houston. That's where her family is. There's no family here. It's been quite a culture shock for her."All Hurst can do, she says, is "validate their feelings and tell them they have the right to be angry."



Katrina: survivor first-hand account from Charmaine Neville Famed musician and New Orleans native Charmaine Neville's account of being stranded, attempting to rescue others, and "being treated like animals" by the federal authorities who were tasked with protecting and saving citizens. Ms. Neville broke into a school bus, packed it with survivors -- some of whom were disabled persons confined to wheelchairs -- and drove them out of the city.
There were alligators eating people, babies floating in the water, hundreds of bodies of dead people..
"We understood why the police couldn't help us but we didn't understant why the National Guard wouldn't stop and pick us up from the roof...
"Some men came and they were raping our women...
If they hadn't left us out there like animals this wouldn't have happened... there are still thousands of people trapped down there downtown.. old people, young people, babies, pregnant women, nobody's helping them...Link to video from WAFB TV. (Thanks, sponselli)





Katrina: Baghdad on the Bayou Some NOLA evacuees believe the levees were blown up to destroy poor black neighborhoods. Boing Boing readers may recall previous posts here recounting "man-in-the-'dome" comments to that effect, and the rumors appear widespread among some evacuee populations. They also appear in Ben Ehrenreich's LA Weekly story, "Baghdad on the Bayou", excerpt follows. (photo above: evacuees in Astrodome, not persons referenced in this story, by Jacob Appelbaum.)
In the Houston Astrodome last Saturday, I met a man named Robert. He invited me to take a seat beside him on a cot pushed against the wall - his home for the previous three days and the foreseeable future. Robert had lived in New Orleans for all of his 55 years, and was in the St. Bernard projects when Katrina washed it all away. "After the storm," he told me almost as soon as I sat down, "they blew the levees up so they could flood New Orleans." I asked him who "they" were.
"The money people," he answered. "The big money." "Why?" I asked.
Robert shook his head at my naiveté. "They had to get the poor people out so they could get the space." He gestured to the thousands of people in the dome around us, almost all of them African-American, crammed onto cots a few inches apart. "Now they got their space.
"We survived the storm," Robert went on. "We survived the wind and the rain. After the storm passed, the water started rising, and all you heard was 'Boom!' " The explosions, he said, were the levees blowing. "Ask any of these people. The hurricane wasn't that bad, but the opportunity came up."
It was a real estate grab, Robert explained - gentrification with a genocidal edge. And if he was more than slightly paranoid - he didn't want to tell me his last name, and grew visibly nervous when a white stadium employee began sweeping the floor within earshot a few feet away - his theory made a certain kind of sense, far more than any of the official excuses for government inaction. I would later hear similar speculations again and again in New Orleans, and saw them written on the walls. Just across the canal from the flooded 9th Ward, on a corner heavy with the scent of death, these words were scrawled across an abandoned garage: "Fuck Bush They Fucking Left Us Here Them Bitches Flooded Us . . . Them Bitches Killed Our People."
(...)The first time he came across any soldiers, Washington told me, they trained their rifles on him. I heard the same complaint from others, and it was easy to imagine. Squads from the 82nd Airborne patrolled the deserted New Orleans streets as if playing at urban warfare, M-16s at the ready. Of course, they weren't playing. Armored cars bristling with weaponry swerved around the corners. Rifle barrels protruded from the windows of passing SUVs. At the staging ground at the base of Canal Street - the most secure spot in the city if not the entire nation - hundreds of officials milled about lugging shotguns and automatic rifles as if expecting the Mahdi Army. Among thousands of soldiers and police from every imaginable government agency, I twice saw groups of heavily armed men in khaki fatigues wearing T-shirts that read "Blackwater." A city was submerged, hundreds of thousands homeless, and the feds called in the mercenaries.Link (via Ned Sublette)

It's just not right.


Doctors: Hurricane Katrina Forced Us to Kill Patients

NewsMax.com
Monday, Sept. 12, 2005

Doctors working in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans killed critically ill patients rather than leave them behind to die in agony as they evacuated hospitals, according to a shocking report in the respected British newspaper the Daily Mail.One emergency official who spoke on the record, William "Forest" McQueen, told the Mail: "Those who had no chance of making it were given a lot of morphine and lain down in a dark place to die."
McQueen, a utility manager for the town of Abita Springs near New Orleans, told relatives that patients had been "put down," saying medical personnel "injected them, but nurses stayed with them until they died."
The Mail did not name the other members of the medical staff interviewed by the newspaper in order to protect their identities. Euthanasia is illegal in Louisiana.
One doctor said: "I didn't know if I was doing the right thing. But I did not have time. I had to make snap decisions, under the most appalling circumstances, and I did what I thought was right.
"I injected morphine into those patients who were dying and in agony. If the first dose was not enough, I gave a double dose. And at night I prayed to God to have mercy on my soul.
"This was not murder. This was compassion. I had cancer patients who were in agony."
The doctor said medical staffers divided patients into three categories: those who were medically fit enough to survive, those who needed urgent care, and the dying, the Mail reported.
"It came down to giving people the basic human right to die with dignity," said the doctor.
"There were patients with ‘Do Not Resuscitate' signs. Under normal circumstances, some could have lasted several days. But when the power went out, we had nothing.
"Some of the very sick became distressed. We tried to make them as comfortable as possible.
"You have to understand, these people were going to die anyway." According to the Mail, the confessions of the medical staff "are an indictment of the appalling failure of American authorities to help those in desperate need after Hurricane Katrina flooded the city."



Cynthia McKinney censored in congressional record- Is someone afraid of the word IMPEACHMENT?
Monday 12th September 2005


Rep McKinney Special Order Censored??? By Rep Cynthia McKinney 9-11-5
I mentioned the word impeachment on the House Floor Thursday late afternoon, but I don’t see it in the official Congressional Record transcript. I was chided by the Speaker that it was out of order to question the President’s motives. I didn’t question motives, I questioned actions: from lack of actions on Katrina to cutting the budget of safety net programs, to rewarding the rich to the detriment of all the rest of us. This transcript directly from the Congressional Record is mangled and omits that word!!!! I can’t believe this.
Please read the attachment (I don’t normally do attachments) and see if I missed it. If I hear back from you that it is, indeed, missing, then I will say the word repeatedly on the House Floor upon my return to force them to put my words as I say them in the Congressional Record.
In this talk, I discuss Katrina, the State of Black America, the State of Hispanic America, poverty in America, and the Katrina timelines being developed that will keep us from falling victim to the White House spin. In addition to explosive information given to me from investigative journalists and whistleblowers, there is one particularly pernicious development taking place: bioweapons labs under water with who knows what having been released into the environment. People desperate for jobs must be informed what the heck has been unleashed in the devastated areas as a result of Katrina. Anyone involved in cleanup must have this information before entering New Orleans. I shudder to ponder all the ramifications of Katrina. Although I didn’t finish my remarks, and I’m told they also shut the microphone off as I was concluding my remarks--something I don’t remember ever having been done to a Member before--I think you get the message here that high crimes and more than misdemeanors have been visited upon the American people.
THE TREMENDOUS CHALLENGES THAT FACE OUR COUNTRY -- (House of Representatives - September 08, 2005)
[Page: H7801] GPO’s PDF — -
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Miss McMorris). Under the Speaker’s announced policy of January 4, 2005, the gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. McKinney) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Ms. McKINNEY. Madam Speaker, I have got a lot of papers and a lot of posters. One hour will in no way accommodate all that needs to be said tonight about the tremendous challenges that face our country today, including how we conduct ourselves in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
While my remarks tonight in no way should be construed as encompassing all of my thoughts on the very important issues that I discuss tonight, just mark this down as a start.
First, let me say that I am especially proud of the way the people of my district and of this country have wrapped their arms around the victims of Hurricane Katrina. At this time, we have a healthy contingent of expert Georgians in the traumatized gulf States, and we have received thousands of Katrina’s victims into our cities, churches, and homes.
I have come to this floor on many occasions. People around the world have commented on how shocked they are to see such poverty in America. While cities and localities pass anti-panhandling measures that criminalize begging tourists and visitors in downtown areas asking for help, Hurricane Katrina washed away America’s veneer of populist opportunity, a country that has overcome its racist, slave-holding past, a country ready for world dominion because it has learned how to uplift the human spirit at home.
Katrina, in images as stark and undeniable as could be, has laid bare the Republican lie that its policies promote growth and prosperity for all Americans and leave no child behind, while Katrina put into our living rooms and the world’s living rooms the cruel hoax that has been played on America and those who love America by the ruthless sybaritic power player elites who are as responsible for the conditions endured by too many Americans as they are for the embarrassing and breathtaking incompetencies we all witnessed just before Labor Day.
Almost 30,000 New Orleans households live on less than $10,000 per year. More babies and young kids are going hungry in our country. Eleven percent of our families experienced hunger in 2003. One million more Americans are living in poverty today than there were 1 year ago. Income distribution has become obscenely skewed toward the rich during the Bush years. In Manhattan, the poor make two cents for each dollar that the rich make. This places Manhattan on par with Namibia for income disparity.
Interestingly, in the financial capital of the world, New York City, the Bronx is the poorest urban county in the country, and New York State is being depleted of its middle class.
America is being depleted of its middle class. Over 50 percent of America’s income goes to the top 20 percent of households. With even more tax cuts for the wealthy on the horizon, coupled with real budget cuts for the programs that are forced to take care of more and more Americans, the situation can only be expected to get worse, sadly.
Incomes for 95 percent of American households are flat or falling. Only the top 5 percent are experiencing the growth that we hear the Republicans talk about.
Now, I have got tons of documentation to offer for all of the statistics that we cite, but let me take a moment and reiterate where we are for all the people who are listening tonight.
[Time: 18:15]
Let me recall for just a moment the America they might not know but that more of us are coming all too well to know.
I will start with this poster, which depicts a black man hanging from a tree. The caption says "The body of Robert McNair is seen here as residents and schoolchildren in the Georgetown community saw it between about 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. last Thursday.’’ This was on the front page of the Jackson, Mississippi, Advocate the week of October 23 to 29 when I was in Mississippi for a speaking engagement. This was what I saw.
Sadly, it is what the children in the neighborhood saw, a black man hanging from a tree. A lynching. That is 2003. I am not talking about 1903. This is 2003. Sadly, in 2005, we have two lynchings being investigated in the State of Georgia, my home State, and both of them are supposed to have been suicides. In this story it was reported that this poor Mr. Robert McNair committed suicide, hanging from a tree.
When I come to the floor and do these monthly talks, some way or other we get around to the state of black America because it is important for us to understand that there are many Americans, and some of those Americans we do not see and we do not know. But we need to know how all Americans live so that we can make sure that no American is left behind.
On some indices, even today, it is true that the racial disparities are worse today than they were at the time of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. People would say it is not true, but, alas, it is true. And, of course, the statistics document that sad truth. United for a Fair Economy gives us these statistics in its State of the Dream report on imprisonment. To close the racial gap, it will take 190 years just so that black people are imprisoned for the same crime at the same rate as white people are imprisoned.
What about poverty? We saw a lot of that. Overall poverty, the racial disparity, 150 years to close the gap. Why does that have to be? At the slow rate that the black-white poverty gap has been narrowing since 1968, it would take 150 years to close the gap.
What about child poverty? Two hundred ten years to close the gap. Almost one-third of black children live in poverty. The child poverty gap would take 210 years to disappear, not reaching parity until 2212.
I would like to thank the National Council for La Raza that provided us with these statistics, the proportion of children without health insurance in the United States, home ownership rates. Look and you can see the proportion of children without health insurance in the United States. Look at the Hispanic figures. Look at that. Twenty-five percent of young Latino children do not have health insurance in this country.
What about home ownership rates, because we hear a lot of talk about the growth economy, and the Republicans and the President talk about promoting home ownership, home ownership, the first tier toward building wealth, okay? Well, if you are lucky enough to be able to own a home, sadly black and Hispanic home ownership rates are low. How low? To close the home ownership gap, the disparity between white home ownership and black home ownership, the first tier toward [Page: H7802] GPO’s PDF wealth building, it will take 1,664 years to close the home ownership gap.
This is something that so many Americans take for granted. Yet so many Americans still have a dream for home ownership.
Now, what about income? It will take 581 years for us to close the per capita income gap. Since 1968, we have only been able to close the gap 2 cents. Black people make 55 cents for every dollar. That was in 1968. In 2001, it was 57 cents. Two cents, so 581 years to close the gap.
When some people start talking about how we want to build, rebuild, and provide for folks, that is what this Congress is supposed to do. We should build lives, we should build communities, build neighborhoods, and protect our people.
When it comes to the economic conditions that are prevailing for so many Americans, it is almost a joke. Here is a cartoon from the Washington Post. This is the sybaritic power player who is pulling the strings behind the scene, calling the shots, dictating politics and policy; and he is saying, "It is not trickle down economics. We got the plumbing fixed.’’ Here is the poor little fella down here, little panhandler trying to wait to get some of the stuff that is trickling down, and it is not trickling down any more.
Poverty is up. Median income down. That is the result of the policies of the Bush administration since 2001.
What about all these tax cuts? New Orleans has got a lot of attention now because of what has happened, and we hear and we will hear some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle suggesting that we need to do more tax cuts. Well, the faces of the people that came into our living rooms from Hurricane Katrina got this much from George Bush’s tax cuts. But if you happened to make over $200,000 a year, you got this much from George Bush’s tax cuts.
It is so clear that the administration wants to serve some of the people all of the time and fool the rest of us all of the time. The tax cuts, we should not hear another word uttered about the need for more of the kind of tax cuts that the Bush administration has given us thus far. This insensitive policymaking that ends up hurting real people leads to a kind of callousness within our society that we do not recognize sometimes, that we do not notice sometimes.
It is easy to pass an anti-panhandling ordinance in the city of Atlanta because we do not feel the pain of the people who do not eat at night. So it is also easy to demonize people. It is easy to demonize people that you do not know.
This made it around the Internet until Agence France-Presse pulled their photo off. But how is it that we can have a media in this country displaying one young man wading through that putrid water and the American press, the Associated Press, says that he is "looting.’’ Then you have two people who are obviously not black and they are "finding.’’ This young man, according to the Associated Press, walks through chest-deep floodwater after "looting’’ a grocery store. Two residents wade through chest-deep water after "finding’’ bread and soda.
This is the America of those statistics. This is the America that all Americans need to know and see. This is the America that too many of us have borne the brunt of generation after generation after generation after generation.
And then, they called them "refugees.’’ Some bright light in the media came up with that one to further dehumanize poor black people in New Orleans. I had some New Orleans residents in my congressional office in Georgia who said that they had never, ever thought that they would be called refugees in their own country. Other insensitive language just shows how totally out of touch the leadership of this country is with the American people.
[Time: 18:30]
While the city was still flooding, Speaker Hastert suggested that New Orleans should not be rebuilt.
As the mostly black people were herded into what looked like concentration camps, Barbara Bush suggested that they were really better off now than they were before. Well, maybe she has got something there, because it took losing an entire city for the "compassionate conservatives’’ in Washington, D.C., to finally get some compassion in the laws they pass, in the policies they enact, in what they do around here.
And you can imagine my surprise to hear the very people who chose not to adequately fund education, health care, affordable housing, now saying we have got to have Pell grants, Section 8 vouchers, schooling for children. It is what some of us have been saying all along.
Now, you can just about bet your bottom dollar that the Karl Rove spin machine is working overtime to whitewash the Bush administration preparations for the response to Katrina. Let us remember as we go through this that the State and local responders were victims too. That is why it is critical that the feds act. But they did not act, notwithstanding anything that comes out of the spin machine.
Kathleen Blanco, the governor of Louisiana said, "We wanted soldiers, helicopters, food and water. They wanted to negotiate an organizational chart.’’ This is from the New York Times. "Far from deferring to State or local officials, FEMA asserted its authority and made things worse,’’ according to Mr. Broussard, and I will talk about him a little bit later, who complained on Meet the Press.
Mayor Nagin said, "The root of the breakdown was the failure of the Federal Government to deliver relief supplies and personnel quickly. They kept promising and saying things would happen. I was getting excited and telling people that. They kept making promises and promises.’’
MSNBC informs us that FEMA Director Michael Brown waited 5 hours after the storm’s landfall to get agency assistance, to get agency aid from the Department of Homeland Security.
Now, another thing that we need to know about, there are so many things that our government does in our name with our tax dollars, on our behalf supposedly, that we do not know about. The Bush administration has opened up these biodefense labs all over the country. In about 20, 25 universities around the country we have got biodefense labs studying I do not know what.
I can remember the Tuskegee Study. I remember MK-Ultra as an African American. I remember Paul Robeson. But Tulane University is under water, and Tulane University houses one of these biodefense labs. We need to know what the heck was in that lab, what was going on in that biodefense lab.
Some of the headlines. Notwithstanding what you may hear from the other side of the aisle or coming out of the White House about how everyone has to share the blame, these are some of the headlines.
"FEMA won’t accept Amtrak’s help in evacuations.’’
"FEMA turns away experienced firefighters.’’
"FEMA turns back Wal-Mart supply trucks.’’
"FEMA prevents Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel.’’
"Homeland Security won’t let Red Cross deliver food.’’
"FEMA bars morticians from entering New Orleans.’’
"FEMA blocks 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid.’’
"FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board.’’
"FEMA to Chicago: Send just one truck.’’
"FEMA turns away generators.’’
"FEMA first responders urged not to respond.’’
Those are just a few of the headlines. I have got all of the documentation, of course.
There is also a story about three U.S. Customs Blackhawk helicopter crews that are absolutely livid because they had been directed not to provide full-time support for the hurricane relief effort in the Gulf.
"Navy ship nearby underused.’’ This is from the Chicago Tribune. A craft with food, water, doctors. All it needed was the orders. It never got the orders.
"Federal agency slow to accept business help.’’ This is from the Financial Times, "Federal agency slow to accept business help. From Wal-Mart’s satellite-based communications system to FedEx’s aircraft, U.S. business has in some cases managed to provide a swifter response to the initial impacts of Hurricane Katrina than the Federal and State authorities.’’
This is from the Salt Lake City Tribune: "Frustrated fire crews to hand out [Page: H7803] GPO’s PDF fliers for FEMA. Many of the firefighters assembled from Utah and throughout the United States by FEMA thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers. Instead, they have learned they are going to be community relations officers for FEMA, shuffling throughout the gulf coast region to disseminate fliers and a phone number, 1-800-621-FEMA,’’ which does not work most of the time.
Now, I know that American children can do better in geography, but you would think that at least our emergency management people would get their geography right. CNN.com says, Well, they were supposed to go to Charleston. My colleague from Charleston, we were in a meeting on Tuesday night, and he said they had the shelter all set up with supplies, cots, blankets and everything, and nobody came. Now we find out that this is why they did not come. They were supposed to be in Charleston, South Carolina. Guess where FEMA took them? Charleston, West Virginia. What incompetence. Right city, wrong State. CNN.com.
I cannot even imagine. No one should imagine. It is ridiculous. But they are going to tell you everything is all right.
The New York Times tells us, "Navy pilots who rescued victims are reprimanded.’’ What? "Two Navy helicopter pilots and their crews returned from New Orleans on August 30 expecting to be greeted as lifesavers after ferrying more than 100 victims to safety. Instead, they were reprimanded.’’
Well, we are working on this, since I serve on the Committee on Armed Services. But the sad thing about it is, when we had our briefing on Tuesday evening, the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Homeland Security, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of HUD were all there at the briefing, except that Defense kept going in and out, Homeland Security kept going in and out, could not stay long enough to brief the Members of Congress or to hear from the Members of Congress who are directly impacted by their failure, their incompetence.
Malik Rahin is a former Black Panther Party member. In a very compelling radio interview he said, "You want more morality from the poor than from the rich.’’ But he rejected the idea that New Orleans was a city divided by race. He said, "Whites took their boats and went into black neighborhoods. But it was the feds who forced people to leave their possessions. Once they got rescued, they had to leave their possessions. They could only take one bag.’’
He says, "Over 70 percent of the people who were rescued were rescued by individuals.’’ Then he went on to say something very interesting. He said, "$90 million of HOPE VI construction, but the people who needed it the most in New Orleans got no training, no community service.’’
Louisiana has the highest dropout rate in the country. He said, "Juvenile justice is a disgrace.’’ He said, "The only equal opportunity employer here is drugs.’’
We heard a lot about shooting. He says, "White vigilante groups with shotguns and rifles rode around saying they were going to shoot the looters.’’ They were unchecked. There could have been a riot. He says, "There was about to be a race riot.’’
He said, "Many whites took their own personal boats into the black community. Too many acts of heroism, sharing ice, sharing water.’’
Then he mentions Jefferson Parish had to secede from the United States of America. So I want to mention the Jefferson Parish president.
But before that I am going to mention what Mayor Nagin in a wonderfully compelling interview with WWL said when he had the opportunity to speak directly with President Bush. He said, "I told him we had an incredible crisis here and that his flying over in Air Force One does not do it justice, and that I have been all around this city, and I am very frustrated because we are not able to marshal resources and we are outmanned in just about every respect.’’
But in perhaps the most compelling of all of the interviews that we have seen, and these are all available on the Internet, is Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, on Meet the Press. He said, "Sir, they were told, like me, every single day the cavalry is coming on the Federal level, the cavalry is coming, the cavalry is coming, the cavalry is coming. I have just begun to hear the hooves of the cavalry. The cavalry is still not out here yet, but I have begun to hear the hooves, and we are almost a week out.’’
Then he gives three quick examples, one of the Wal-Mart delivery trucks, three trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel. It was docked in Jefferson Parish. The Coast Guard said, "Come and get the fuel right away. When we got there with our trucks, they got the word. FEMA says, `Don’t give the fuel.’ Yesterday, yesterday FEMA comes in and cuts all our communication lines.’’ Why is FEMA cutting communications?
"The guy who runs the building I am in, Emergency Management,’’ this is Aaron Broussard on Meet the Press, "he is responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard Nursing Home, and every day she called him and said, `Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?’ He said, `Yeah, mama, somebody is coming to get you.’ `Somebody is coming to get you on Tuesday.’ `Somebody is coming to get you on Wednesday.’ `Somebody is coming to get you on Thursday.’ `Somebody is coming to get you on Friday.’ And she drowned Friday night.’’
[Time: 18:45]
And she drowned Friday night. "Nobody is coming to get us. Nobody is coming to get us. The Secretary has promised. Everybody has promised. They have had press conferences. I’m sick of the press conferences. For God’s sake, just shut up and send us somebody.’’ Aaron Broussard.
Want the facts? The FEMA chief waited 5 hours after Katrina made landfall on August 29. Five hours.
It is clear also that the administration would like to avoid a blame game. They want to do everything to not discuss the failures. What is Michael Brown’s reaction to all of this? Michael Brown, FEMA director, says in a CNN interview: "Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well.’’ That is our FEMA director, Michael Brown. How out of touch could this man have been?
Those 9/11 activists know how critical it is to construct a timeline, because the timeline tells us who did what and when they did it. The timeline will tell us the truth. The timeline cuts through the spin. So, of course, I made a point to get in touch with the folks who were collecting the timelines, and there are a lot of timelines available on the Internet. Think Progress has a timeline, and WWL also has a timeline.
All the while this was going on, the news media reported that the Iraq war costs now exceed Vietnam’s. But I think it is pretty clear that the Iraq war is costing us more than money. Let us just look at where some of those assets were. Mississippi has 40 percent of its National Guard forces in Iraq. Louisiana has 35 percent of its National Guard forces in Iraq. Florida has 26 percent. Alabama has 23 percent of its National Guard forces in Iraq.
On June 8, 2004, in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Walter Maestri, who is emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, said, "It appears that the money has been moved in the President’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq. And I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we’re doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us.’’ Security, we are going to discuss that in a minute.
On April 24, 2004, the Times-Picayune said: "Less money is available to the Army Corps of Engineers to build levees and water projects in the Mississippi River Valley this year and next year.’’ Nobody can say they did not know, were not warned, whatever it is that the spin machine might come up with.
National Geographic Magazine, October 2004, came up with an article that reported on a simulation, I will not call it a game, but a simulation of what would happen should a hurricane hit New Orleans: "As the whirling maelstrom approached the coast, more than a million people evacuated to higher ground. Some 200,000 remained, however. The carless, the homeless, the aged, the infirm, and those die-hard [Page: H7804] GPO’s PDF New Orleanians who look for any excuse to throw a party.’’ It goes on to describe just exactly what happened during Hurricane Katrina, but that was in October 2004.
The Louisiana National Guard also knew that they were paying a price that was perhaps too high. On August 1 the Louisiana National Guard complained that they were taking critical equipment to Iraq that should have remained in Louisiana. But when the Bush administration does not like what one says, they just fire them. So there was a former Member of Congress that I had the pleasure to serve with, Mike Parker from Mississippi, who was with the Army Corps of Engineers. He complained that they were cutting the Army Corps of Engineers budget too much, and so he was forced out.
Now it turns out that Michael Brown was forced out too. He was forced out from the job he had before he became the FEMA assistant director and then director. Let me see if I can read this correctly. Michael Brown’s previous employment was with the International Arabian Horse Association, and he was fired from that job too. They said that he was asked to resign. And so, of course, eminently qualified to serve in the Bush administration; he gets one of the most important jobs in the country with the lives of the American people in his hands.
We know that this is what they do, hurting people whom they disagree with, because there is the case of another Army Corps of Engineers employee by the name of Bunnatine Greenhouse, who complained about the no-bid sweetheart deal private contracts going to Halliburton. Well, she was forced out of her job too because, even though Vice President Dick Cheney still gets his deferred compensation checks from Halliburton Corporation, I guess the Bush administration is not finished with Halliburton, because they have been hired to do the storm cleanup. Is there no other corporation in America? Why is it that it always has to be Halliburton?
Well, the Times-Picayune calls for the firing of Michael Brown; and I have signed my name to many letters that are floating around here calling for his firing, his resignation, Chertoff’s as well; and in a minute somebody on this House floor is going to mention impeachment.
But as if making sure that Halliburton got what they needed to get, I checked the FEMA Web site, and on the FEMA Web site it says: "Help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.’’ First on the list is American Red Cross. We remember that during 9/11, there were many complaints from the victims of 9/11, and I remember seeing one report of the symphony orchestra getting some of the 9/11 contributions. But there is Operation Blessing. Operation Blessing was founded by Pat Robertson. That is the same Pat Robertson who called for the assassination of a duly elected president, Hugo Chavez, of Venezuela. How can FEMA recommend that someone who calls for the murder of somebody else get hard-earned money from the American people? It is on the FEMA Web site, and it is outrageous.
But there is more. Sadly, there is more. I agree with the Tom Hartman article: "You Can’t Govern if You Don’t Believe in Government.’’ What we have witnessed here in utter stark relief is the culmination of all of that Republican ideology against government, against the people, against helping people who are in need. Ronald Reagan was elected President by saying: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, `I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’’’ Newt Gingrich in 1995 told us what he thought about government. He was speaking about Medicare. He said: "Now, we don’t want to get rid of it in round one because we don’t think that’s politically smart and we do not think that’s the right way to go through a transition. But we believe it is going to wither on the vine because we think people are going to voluntarily leave it.’’ Wither on the vine.
Grover Norquist in 2001 said this, and I think this encapsulates it all: "I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.’’
That is how these people feel about government. So I am not surprised that the Army Corps of Engineers budget is cut to the extent it is cut. I am not surprised.
Here, Bush’s agenda is to cut government services to the bone and make people rely on the private sector for the things they need. So he sliced $71 million from the budget of the New Orleans Corps of Engineers, a 44 percent reduction. In addition, the President cut $30 million in flood control. And then Bush took to the airwaves on "Good Morning America’’ on September 1 and said, "I don’t think anyone anticipated that breach of the levees.’’
[Time: 19:00]
"I don’t think anyone anticipated that breach of the levees.’’
Now, in stark contrast to the way the Department of Homeland Security mobilized to secure the people of the gulf States, within 48 hours of the notification of the death of Chief Justice Rehnquist, Bush nominated Roberts to serve as Chief Justice. They are real fast at doing some things.
Now, at some point, we have to talk about values and priorities and how it has become that our values and our priorities are so twisted and mangled now. We are focusing on other things, and some of those things are important. I am not going to say that everything is not so important that has become a priority. We had a resolution today that six people voted against to give Bush another blank check in the war on terrorism. I was one of the six.
No more blank checks, Mr. President, not for war, not for war.
I went to the Committee on Homeland Security’s Web site, and I just thought I would look and see which subcommittee has jurisdiction for natural disasters. Well, I could not believe it. I did not see any mention at all of natural disasters. So I went to one of our interns, whose eyes are a whole lot younger than mine, and I said, Would you please scour the entire website, because I have put in a search and it did not come up in a search; scour the entire website, and I want you to highlight the number of times you see the mention of the two words, "natural disaster.’’
It is not mentioned. It is not mentioned. On the entire Committee on Homeland Security Web site "natural disaster’’ is not mentioned.
Now, a young man had a script before him, and he was supposed to read the script, but he took the opportunity to deviate from the script and speak his mind. His name is Kanye West. He has been on the cover of all these national magazines talking about how he is the most brilliant new hip-hop, rap artist, Kanye West. And now, he is being vilified because he dared to take a detour from what some people wanted him to say and say what he wanted to say, which is, quite frankly, the origins of hip-hop anyway, young people who have something to say and have found the means to say it.
Kanye West said, "I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family; it says they are `looting.’ You see a white family; it says they are `looking for food.’ And, you know, it has been 5 days, because most of the people are black, and even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite, because I have tried to turn away from the TV because it is too hard to watch. I have even been shopping before even giving a donation.
"So now I am calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give,’’ notice he said he is calling his business manager; I want you to pay attention to that. "And, just imagine if I was down there and those are my people down there. So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well off, as slow as possible.’’
Now, NBC censored that. NBC has decided that they can determine what we hear from the smartest young man in hip-hop.
He also said, "George Bush doesn’t care about black people.’’ NBC censored it. They deleted his remarks. And MSNBC President Rick Kaplan, who produced the telethon at Rockefeller Plaza in New York, had the cameras cut to actor Chris Tucker who was on a different part of the stage and who appeared to be looking off at something else in the camera. So it was the MSNBC president, who was also the producer, who said, Well, you know, maybe the American people do not need to hear the smartest young man in hip-hop’s ideas about George Bush. [Page: H7805] GPO’s PDF
Thank goodness, I can come to the floor of the House and speak my piece. And as long as C-SPAN cameras are running, well, it will not be cut off, but I understand there is even an effort to try and limit C-SPAN’s access to American households.
But I have to tell my colleagues something. As I saw the African Americans, mostly African American families ripped apart, I could only think about slavery, families ripped apart, herded into what looked like concentration camps. So I was reminded of a Miami Herald article written on July 5, the day after Freedom Day, 1987.
The title of the article was "Reagan Aides and the Secret Government,’’ and here is a quote from that article: "A copy of the memo was obtained by the Herald. The scenario outlined in the Brinkerhoff memo resembles somewhat a paper Giufreda had written in 1970 at the Army War College in Carlyle, Pennsylvania, in which he advocated martial law in case of a national uprising by black militants.’’ In which he advocated martial law in case of a national uprising by black militants. The paper also advocated the roundup and transfer of two "assembly centers or relocation camps of at least 21 million American Negroes.’’
Now, I did not write that; the U.S. Government wrote that. They were going to round up 21 million Negroes because they were afraid of freeing black people. A story of neglect? I am not surprised about any story of neglect of the people that comes from this body with this set of priorities, that passes these kinds of budgets on the backs of the American people, these kinds of tax cuts on the backs of the American people.
I want to commend my sister Congresswoman, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), who has said that it is time for us to get serious about poverty in this country. It is time for us to get serious. I am a proud cosponsor of legislation with the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).
I will just conclude by saying that on the United States State Department Web site is "How to identify misinformation.’’ Does the story fit the pattern of a conspiracy theory?
http://www.rense.com/general67/specorder.htm
Video of speech