RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Hurricane Katrina

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Rob Kamphausen said:
my point is not who you're targetting -- my point is that you are targetting.

why not pour this passion into, god forbid, helping out rather than "it happened because..."

make it partisan next week. blame me and my dubya-lovin ways on monday. do whatcha can to

in the meantime.

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There is no "next week" when it comes to getting answers and fixing accountability for failure under this president. Next week never comes.

Look at 9/11. There were tough questions about the breakdown of communications at Ground Zero, the lateness in scrambling fighter jets once the hijacked planes were heading toward NY and DC, Bush's strange behavior on that day, etc., and in the aftermath those questions were considered inappropriate, "divisive." We needed to grieve first, heal; and then the tough questions could be raised.

But they weren't. As months passed, the focus was on overthrowing the Taliban and avenging 9/11, and tough questions were taken off the table as the drumbeat was about the Nation Moving Forward. The media fell into zombie lockstep behind the invigorated Bush agenda. It took the 9/11 widows and esp the "Jersey Girls" to push and shame the Congress, the media, and the administration into launching a proper investigation, otherwise it would have all slid into the memory hole apart from the iconic images of the smoking towers before their collapse.

No, this is the time for politics, none better, because I can tell you that a lot of people in this country are shocked and sobered by New Orleans, but they're also worried and pissed off. They're making the connection between the money, manpower, and resources expended in Iraq and how raggedy-ass the rescue effort has been in the Gulf. If you don't say it now when people's nerves are raw and they're paying full attention, it'll be too late once the waters receded and the media-emoting "healing process" begins.


Click Here to Hear New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's remarkable radio interview.

New Orleans Mayor Fumes Over Slow Reponse



Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff announced yesterday that "September is National Preparedness Month." WHAT?!

And yes, he was standing in front of a big background printed with "September is National Preparedness Month."

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Americans Are Doing Their Part, Time for Bush's Oil Cronies to Do Their Part, Says DNC

9/1/2005 12:34:00 PM

To: National Desk

Contact: Josh Earnest of the Democratic National Committee, 202-863-8148

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by the Democratic National Committee:

This morning, President Bush told Diane Sawyer on ABC's Good Morning America that to ease skyrocketing gas prices Americans "oughtta conserve more and I would hope Americans conserve if given the choice."(ABC, Good Morning America, 9/1/05)

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement reminding President Bush that in case he hadn't noticed, ordinary Americans have been doing their part. They have been making sacrifices, they have been suffering. Meanwhile President Bush has failed to rein in skyrocketing gas prices. Now, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, as Americans pull together to do their part, and gas prices again explode, Chairman Dean suggested that perhaps it's time for President Bush to finally use whatever influence he may have to call on his friends and campaign contributors in the oil and gas industry to bear their fair share of the burden:

"Under the Bush Presidency over the past five years we've seen skyrocketing gas prices and oil companies reaping record profits, while ordinary Americans struggle to pay their bills -- yet the President has seemingly looked the other way. Americans are always willing to shoulder their fair share of the burden, and they have been. Now it's time for the President to step up and put the needs of the American people ahead of profits for his pals in Big Oil. So while he's asking ordinary Americans to do more, he ought to show some real leadership, and call on his friends in Big Oil to join in the sacrifice and stop gouging American families at the gas pump."

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unrestrained id said:

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The Bush administration's policy of turning over wetlands to developers almost certainly also contributed to the heightened level of the storm surge. In 1990, a federal task force began restoring lost wetlands surrounding New Orleans. Every two miles of wetland between the Crescent City and the Gulf reduces a surge by half a foot. Bush had promised "no net loss" of wetlands, a policy launched by his father's administration and bolstered by President Clinton. But he reversed his approach in 2003, unleashing the developers. The Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency then announced they could no longer protect wetlands unless they were somehow related to interstate commerce.

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Jesus.

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Yep, it's all Bush's fault.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9118570/

But most of the erosion is blamed on the levees, which faithfully steer all the water from the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico. That prevents occasional flooding, keeping area residents above water most of the time. But one unforeseen consequence of the levees has been to cut off wetlands from their life force.

The regular floods served nature's purpose by feeding the delta, bringing fresh water and sediment that served to sustain life and replenish the wetlands. Without the regular flooding, the wetlands naturally “compact.”

“Simply put, when the land does not have any nutrients and fresh water it dies,” Marmillion said.

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To determine exactly where and how high to build these levees, the engineers have enlisted the aid of a 3-D computer-simulation program called ADCIRC (Advanced Circulation Model). ADCIRC incorporates dozens of data points—including seabed and coastal topography, wind speed, tidal variation, ocean depth and water temperature—and charts a precise map of where the storm surge would inundate New Orleans. The category-5 levee idea, though, is still in the early planning stages; It may be decades before the new barriers are completed. Until then, locals had better keep praying to Helios.

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Captain Sammitch said:
So many words, but he's not really saying anything.

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Prometheus said:
I've just spent the last four days surviving on puddle water through a coffee filter, and anything my stomach could safely digest. 108 degree days, and sweat-covered, mosquito-ridden nights of the darkest night you've never seen. My apartment was ripped to shreds. It took me three days to get to family in South Carolina.

I hate George Bush. I think he's the anti-christ. But, right now, I could give a fuck. We need to get the UN and foreign aid for this. It's devastation. And sitting on a message board debating who's at fault is simply pointless.

Let's get some relief down there first. Then we can mercilessly beat whoever's fault it is....

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MisterJLA said:
Howard Dean has picked up whomod's torch:

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Americans Are Doing Their Part, Time for Bush's Oil Cronies to Do Their Part, Says DNC

9/1/2005 12:34:00 PM

To: National Desk

Contact: Josh Earnest of the Democratic National Committee, 202-863-8148

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by the Democratic National Committee:

This morning, President Bush told Diane Sawyer on ABC's Good Morning America that to ease skyrocketing gas prices Americans "oughtta conserve more and I would hope Americans conserve if given the choice."(ABC, Good Morning America, 9/1/05)

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement reminding President Bush that in case he hadn't noticed, ordinary Americans have been doing their part. They have been making sacrifices, they have been suffering. Meanwhile President Bush has failed to rein in skyrocketing gas prices. Now, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, as Americans pull together to do their part, and gas prices again explode, Chairman Dean suggested that perhaps it's time for President Bush to finally use whatever influence he may have to call on his friends and campaign contributors in the oil and gas industry to bear their fair share of the burden:

"Under the Bush Presidency over the past five years we've seen skyrocketing gas prices and oil companies reaping record profits, while ordinary Americans struggle to pay their bills -- yet the President has seemingly looked the other way. Americans are always willing to shoulder their fair share of the burden, and they have been. Now it's time for the President to step up and put the needs of the American people ahead of profits for his pals in Big Oil. So while he's asking ordinary Americans to do more, he ought to show some real leadership, and call on his friends in Big Oil to join in the sacrifice and stop gouging American families at the gas pump."

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the G-man said:
For some reason, I feel like this story is bothering me even more than 9/11.

I'm not sure why.

Maybe it's because it is more recent in time.

Maybe it's because, with 9/11 there was always that feeling that you could catch and kill the bastards behind it while this is an act of God.

I don't know. But I am really bothered by this.

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Jim Jackson said:

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Pig Iron said:
Can you believe that because of looters they have to pull off 5,000 policeman from helping? Jesus, people are so classless...looting in the middle of death and destruction. Granted, much of teh stuff lost will be covered by business's insurance, but that is just so sad. i can only think that the idiots wading in the shitty water to get a tv set will end up with some bacterial disease and get their just dessert.

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Keith Olbermann made a great point last night: The irony of those looting things like TVs and stereos etc. is that they don't even realize that they will have to abandon those items anyway during the total evacuation of New Orleans.

There is no way anyone in charge of a disembarcation vehicle is going to let someone on the vehicle carrying a goddamned TV.

Now, one shot showed a woman, who spoke to the camera during her looting, saying the hurricane destroyed all her children's shoes and she was looting shoes just to replace those that she lost (or so she says...but I do believe many looters are simply trying to find sustenance and I cannot fault them for that).

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PJP said:
I voted for Bush and am a Republican booster. Like I said before I feel it's criminal to lay blame on anyone and politicize this. With that said.......I don't see anything wrong with leaning on these oil companies and more importantly OPEC to start lowering their prices asap......no excuses. It costs scumbag OPEC 4 dollars to produce a barrel of oil and they charge 70 dollars for it......scumbag arabs. When this is all over it's time to relocate the 5 elk that live in Anwar and start drilling for some fucking oil of our own.......or here is a novel idea, maybe start looking for alternative fuel sources so we can tell the scum arabs to fuck off once and for all.

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LLance said:

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PJP said:
I voted for Bush and am a Republican booster. Like I said before I feel it's criminal to lay blame on anyone and politicize this. With that said.......I don't see anything wrong with leaning on these oil companies and more importantly OPEC to start lowering their prices asap......no excuses. It costs scumbag OPEC 4 dollars to produce a barrel of oil and they charge 70 dollars for it......scumbag arabs. When this is all over it's time to relocate the 5 elk that live in Anwar and start drilling for some fucking oil of our own.......or here is a novel idea, maybe start looking for alternative fuel sources so we can tell the scum arabs to fuck off once and for all.

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You voted for Bush? Then it's you I have to thank for outragegous gas prices? Thank You! Thank you! Thank you! Be sure to keep voting for war-mongering, oil baron/Republicans in the next election! I'm sure you won't be happy until I can't afford to drive myself to my place of employment anymore and more of our soldiers are being shot dead in the streets of Bagdad!!

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Rob Kamphausen said:
politics? are you fucking kidding me?

fuck you.

not the time.

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LLance said:

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Rob Kamphausen said:
politics? are you fucking kidding me?

fuck you.

not the time.

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I'd rather argue the politics after everybody is out of harm's way but I think Bush is guilty, at the very least, of slow reaction time if nothing else! If rich white people were stranded in New Orleans recue efforts would have been quadrupled from day one! Hell...if rich white people were stranded in New Orleans Bush would have been one of them!

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LLance said:
You voted for Bush? Then it's you I have to thank for outragegous gas prices? Thank You! Thank you! Thank you! Be sure to keep voting for war-mongering, oil baron/Republicans in the next election! I'm sure you won't be happy until I can't afford to drive myself to my place of employment anymore and more of our soldiers are being shot dead in the streets of Bagdad!!

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the G-man said:
I'm obviously a law and order, private property, kind of guy, but in a disaster of this magnitude I can see the potential wisdom of allowing the cops and/or national guard to basically go in every store in the city and start handing out whatever food and clothing in there to the public.

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the G-man said:
That's better.

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PJP said:

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LLance said:
I'd rather argue the politics after everybody is out of harm's way but I think Bush is guilty, at the very least, of slow reaction time if nothing else! If rich white people were stranded in New Orleans recue efforts would have been quadrupled from day one! Hell...if rich white people were stranded in New Orleans Bush would have been one of them!

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but not Kerry and Edwards.........their hundreds of millions of dollars don't count......I wonder how much they will give to the victims.

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unrestrained id said:

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Captain Sammitch said:
I just don't have any words to describe the devastation that's taking place over there.

I side with Gob here. Fuck politics. Time and a place. This is neither.

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Captain Sammitch said:
Now, now, G-Man, you don't want to infringe upon their rights, do you?

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Gee, at least someone can come to this thread and laugh.

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Rob Kamphausen said:

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Prometheus said:
I've just spent the last four days surviving on puddle water through a coffee filter, and anything my stomach could safely digest. 108 degree days, and sweat-covered, mosquito-ridden nights of the darkest night you've never seen. My apartment was ripped to shreds. It took me three days to get to family in South Carolina.

I hate George Bush. I think he's the anti-christ. But, right now, I could give a fuck. We need to get the UN and foreign aid for this. It's devastation. And sitting on a message board debating who's at fault is simply pointless.

Let's get some relief down there first. Then we can mercilessly beat whoever's fault it is....

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glad to hear you're ok, pro.

this, to me, is the heart of it all. not only do i totally agree with your thoughts and feel you're just slightly more qualified to speak on the manner than us... this now connects us, our own lil wacky community. yeah, we're all fucked up and weird and hate each other and abuse any synonym of "gay" but...

this is no longer just blank, distant faces -- its actual people you interact with ...or get interviewed by! pro, and god knows how many others who post or posted here.

this is the priority.

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sneaky bunny said:
:o

Oh snap!

He was standing next to Mike Myers. You could tell Mike started to get a little uneasy about the whole thing. And then Kanye just bluntly stated: "George Bush doesn't care about black people." They cut him off and went to Chris Tucker.

He made good points though, such as saying that if you're black, you are a looter; if you're white, you found it.

I gotta give him credit. It will probably make NBC look bad and he'll get hell for it, but I doubt he cares, and he shouldn't. The media coverage would have to be offensive to a black person -- calling the now homeless "refugees," the point he made about them being called looters when they aren't in all cases, etc.

http://rapidshare.de/files/4662131/...t_NBC_.mpg.html

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Pariah said:
Say what you want about Kayne West being serious or coming across as actually being considered sane for using such a non-sequitor, but that was simply hilarious. It's been five minutes and I'm still laughing.

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Gee, at least someone can come to this thread and laugh.

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unrestrained id said:

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Captain Sammitch said:
I just don't have any words to describe the devastation that's taking place over there.

I side with Gob here. Fuck politics. Time and a place. This is neither.

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Captain Sammitch said:
Now, now, G-Man, you don't want to infringe upon their rights, do you?

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