Condi, Meet Imelda

Ken AshfordBush & Co., DisastersLeave a Comment

Bush eats cake and plays the guitar, and Condi buys shoes.  From Steve Soto From the Gawker.com website today: According to Drudge, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has recently enjoyed a little Broadway entertainment. And Page Six reports that she’s also working on her backhand with Monica Seles. So the Gulf Coast has gone all Mad Max, women are being … Read More

“Words Just Fucking Fail Me”

Ken AshfordDisastersLeave a Comment

That’s what Doghouse Riley says, although he manages to eke out a few more: I just watched the most harrowing thing I’d seen yet, edited footage from the New Orleans Convention Center, where people were instructed to go. That is, I thought it was the most harrowing thing, until they talked live with the MSNBC photojournalist who took the pictures, … Read More

What A Guy!

Ken AshfordBush & Co., DisastersLeave a Comment

Bob Martinez, former governor of Florida (today’s NYT): "The great thing about this president is that he doesn’t try to use tragedy to gain immediate attention for himself" Banner on White House Hurricane Relief Page:

About Mike Parker

Ken AshfordBush & Co., DisastersLeave a Comment

One of the things I write about often is how the Bush Adminsitration often fires (or marginalizes) knowledgeable people who contradict made-up policy with annoying things like facts, common sense, and honest-to-god expertise and experience.  I wonder if one of those guys was Mike Parker, a former Republican congressman from Mississippi who briefly served as head of the Army Corps … Read More

Outrage at FEMA And BushCo Grows

Ken AshfordBush & Co., DisastersLeave a Comment

UPDATE:  Don’t miss Kevin Drum’s chronology of FEMA as it relates to flood control projects (or, alternatively, take a peak below the fold here). Atrios: Someone emails Josh Marshall a question a bunch of people have been raising in comments and email. The emergency preparedness for a medium scale biological or chemical attack, or the "dirty bomb" scenario, would be … Read More

Canada Offers Help

Ken AshfordDisastersLeave a Comment

Writes one Kos commentator: The Vancouver [Canada] Urban Search and Rescue team is one of the best trained and qualified rescue teams in the world for land or water. They were at 9/11, and the earthquakes in both Iran and Turkey. Great!  Can they come down here and help? A specialized urban search and rescue team from Vancouver will be … Read More

Delinking Glenn

Ken AshfordRight Wing Punditry/IdiocyLeave a Comment

There are wingnuts, and there are wingnuts.  Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) stirred up a hornet’s nest when he wrote: I think that demonizing the ACLU is a bit silly. I do feel that they’ve become overly partisan in recent years, but they still do good work (I’ve worked with them in the past, on the New Orleans rave case for example, … Read More

Fuel Situation

Ken AshfordDisastersLeave a Comment

Here in North Carolina, gas prices are $3.00.  That’s pretty much the same effect that everyone is feeling.  However, there are reports of gas stations in South Carolina and Georgia running out of gas, and closing shop. Is there a pending fuel shortage?   Airlines seem to think so. UPDATE:  Just came across this statement from N.C. governor Mike Easley: The … Read More

Superdome Shock Horror

Ken AshfordDisastersLeave a Comment

These poor people: A 2-year-old girl slept in a pool of urine. Crack vials littered a restroom. Blood stained the walls next to vending machines smashed by teenagers. The Louisiana Superdome, once a mighty testament to architecture and ingenuity, became the biggest storm shelter in New Orleans the day before Katrina’s arrival Monday. About 16,000 people eventually settled in. By … Read More