From our dear friend Kaye Grogan: Sooner or later people need to realize if they keep building homes in high risk areas, they are not putting too much value on their lives or the lives of their families. Yes, hurricanes and tornadoes hit urban and rural areas as well, but not on the same level and magnitude as coastal areas. … Read More
Not-So-Lovely Rita
Looks like this is going to be an interesting blog for the next few days: Editor’s note [Houston Chronicle]: Welcome to our experiment in citizen journalism. The bloggers who are posting here live in various parts of the city, and they will be posting their experiences as Hurricane Rita approaches and moves through the area. Bloggers here are posting on … Read More
How Government Does Biz
I really liked what Robert Reich (Secretary of Labor under President Clinton) said yesterday on NPR’s Marketplace. You should really give it a listen here. But since you won’t, let me restate his commentary in my own words. Why are prices so cheap at Walmart? As most people know, it is because Walmart is so honkin’ huge, that it can … Read More
God Sending Us Another Vague Message
Okay. So according to some wingnuts, God sent Katrina to destroy that city of sin, New Orleans. Because God hates women showing their tits. Or gays. Or jazz. Or the Napoleonic Code. Or streetcars named "Desire". Or something like that. So the question du jour is, what is God trying to say with regard to Rita, the Category 4 hurricane … Read More
John Edwards On “The Working Society”
Sure, it’s political rhetoric, but it’s really good political rhetoric. John Edwards hits all the right notes: So many young people are struggling against the odds to do right, and they need America’s support. Words are not enough. That’s why it is time for a new social compact. When President Bush talks about an "ownership society," he means the more … Read More
Dems Develop Backbone?
House-Senate Katrina probe dies as Dems refuse to participate in GOP-controlled probe.
Find The Money
With Bush proposing upwards of $200 billion to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, many fiscal conservatives are understandably edgy. Likening Bush’s proposal to Roosevelt’s New Deal programs (which is, to them, a bad thing), they wonder where the money is going to come from. Of course, some conservatives are being blatently stupid about the effort. This moron notes … Read More
Not What You Would Call A Great Communicator
Bush ratings before Thursday’s speech on New Orleans/Katrina: 39% Bush ratings after Thursday’s speech on New Orleans/Katrina: 35% Rassmussen Reports
Lights Return To New Orleans – Um, Not So Much
From Brian Williams’ blog at MSNBC": I am duty-bound to report the talk of the New Orleans warehouse district last night: there was rejoicing (well, there would have been without the curfew, but the few people I saw on the streets were excited) when the power came back on for blocks on end. Kevin Tibbles was positively jubilant on the … Read More
Is THAT Charity?
So I was listening to Bush’s speech about Katrina. It started off boring — a laundry list of things that happened as a result of Katrina (we know what happened, George; we were paying attention), and a laundry list of things that are happening now in terms of recovery. Yawn. Then he started going into rebuilding efforts. I thought parts … Read More
Ghouls To Oversee Katrina Bodies
Hey. You remember this story from a few years back? Two Florida Jewish cemeteries owned by the world’s largest funeral company allegedly dug up bodies, crushed burial vaults and dumped human remains in wooded areas to make room for additional graves. Lawyers said that as many as 1,000 bodies could have been displaced at Menorah Gardens cemeteries in Palm Beach … Read More
Increasing The Deficit To Improve Bush’s Image
Boy, Josh Marshall really hits it on the head with this one: This worries me. Note the added emphasis. The clip comes from a piece in tomorrow’s Post about yet another huge funding bill the president will roll out tomorrow for Katrina aid, which the Post says will cost more next year than the entire cost of the Iraq war … Read More
Louisiana Nursing Home Operators Charged With Negligent Homicide
The two owners (a husband and wife) are being charged with 34 counts of negligent homicide, because 34 residents of the nursing home drowned. Here’s the story: The charges stem from the deaths of elderly patients at St. Rita’s nursing home in Chalmette, located just southeast of New Orleans. The patients drowned in the flooding after hurricane Katrina struck on … Read More
Katrina: Right Wing Myths Debunked
Think Progress has a link-o-riffic debunking of some right-wing Katina memes. Here’s an example — there are many more: CLAIM — STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS WERE MOSTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR FAILURES: “White House Shifts Blame to State and Local Officials” [Washington Post, 9/4/05] FACT – BUSH PUT FEMA IN CHARGE OF EFFORT BEFORE KATRINA STRUCK: “Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, … Read More
Bush Takes Responsiblity, Sort Of
CNN reports: President Bush on Tuesday said he takes responsibility for the federal government’s failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina. "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government and to the extent the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Bush said during a joint news conference with Iraqi President Jalal … Read More