Home > Keywords > Society > Catastrophes

Catastrophes

  • Fixing roofs on Gulf Coast proves costly for taxpayers
    1 October 2005 par (Open-Publishing)

    By Aaron C. Davis, Jay Root and Seth Borenstein
    NEW ORLEANS - Across the hurricane ravaged Gulf Coast, thousands upon thousands of blue tarps are being nailed to wind-damaged roofs, a visible sign of government assistance.
    The blue sheeting - a godsend to residents whose homes are threatened by rain - is rapidly becoming the largest roofing project in the nation’s history.
    It isn’t coming cheap.
    Knight Ridder has found that a lack of oversight, generous contracting deals and poor (…)

  • Cronies at the Helm
    1 October 2005 par (Open-Publishing)

    It took the mighty blows of Hurricane Katrina to expose the failure of the United States government in protecting and saving its citizens from a natural disaster. As horrific as a terrorist attack, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina ‘shocked and awed’ the world for days, depicting the misery and desperation of thousands of stranded victims on rooftops crying for help, the dead floating in the fetid floodwaters, and two hundred thousands more trapped in the Superdome in sunken New Orleans. (…)

  • $2,480 for less than two hours of work to cover each damaged roof in New Orleans
    30 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
    12 comments

    NEW ORLEANS - Across the hurricane ravaged Gulf Coast, thousands upon thousands of blue tarps are being nailed to wind-damaged roofs, a visible sign of government assistance.
    Construction crews working with TJC Defense, out of Alabama, install a blue tarp on a home in Kenner, Louisiana. Ian McVea, Fort Worth Star-Telegram The blue sheeting - a godsend to residents whose homes are threatened by rain - is rapidly becoming the largest roofing project in the nation’s history.
    It isn’t coming (…)

  • Israel Aid Escapes Cut in GOP Committee Proposal
    30 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
    1 comment

    Israel Aid Escapes Cut in GOP Committee Proposal
    Post-Gaza aid not on agenda, but annual aid to Israel weathers storm
    Annual U.S. aid to Israel appears unlikely to fall despite the costs associated with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but an extra aid package to smooth Israel’s Gaza Strip withdrawal is off the table for now. Yossi Bachar, director general of Israel’s Finance Ministry said Israel pulled its additional request for as much as $2.2 billion in post-Gaza aid because it would seem (…)

  • The Death of a Constitutional Republic
    29 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
    2 comments

    September 28th, 2005
    "President Bush yesterday sought to federalize hurricane-relief efforts, removing governors from the decision-making process," reports the Moonie Times, otherwise known as the Washington Times. "It wouldn’t be necessary to get a request from the governor or take other action,” declared White House press secretary Scott McClellan. "Mr. McClellan was referring to a new, direct line of authority that would allow the president to place the Pentagon in charge of responding (…)

  • Blackwater and the Red Cross- What is going on in New Orleans?
    29 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
    1 comment

    WHAT THE $#@^#! BLACKWATER AND THE RED CROSS Yesterday I drove to the Algiers Red Cross distribution point which is located in the southern section of the Algiers neighborhood near the middle-class white section of town. As soon as I walked in, I noticed a frowning young man in a khaki shirt and black hat with a sidearm and corporate logo prominently displayed.
    Blackwater Security is now providing security to the Red Cross! That’s right, you heard correctly. Armed mecenaries are providing (…)

  • A Place To "Dump" Cronyism - Federal Bureau of Invitation (I needed this laugh)
    29 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)

    Patronage problems? Just call the FBI
    By MARK LANE FOOTNOTE
    Last update: September 21, 2005
    There’s not a great deal of confidence in the Federal Emergency Management Agency now that Florida gets ready to clean up after another hurricane. FEMA continues to be attacked for cronyism.
    This is unfair criticism. Cronyism is putting your friends into jobs for which they are patently unqualified. President George Bush did not hang out with his FEMA appointees — and certainly does not do so (…)

  • Katrina Takes a Toll on Truth, News Accuracy
    29 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
    1 comment

    Rumors supplanted accurate information and media magnified the problem. Rapes, violence and estimates of the dead were wrong.
    By Susannah Rosenblatt and James Rainey
    BATON ROUGE, La. - Maj. Ed Bush recalled how he stood in the bed of a pickup truck in the days after Hurricane Katrina, struggling to help the crowd outside the Louisiana Superdome separate fact from fiction. Armed only with a megaphone and scant information, he might have been shouting into, well, a hurricane.
    The (…)

  • America Needs a New Direction: Good jobs. Stronger Communities. A just economy
    29 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
    3 comments

    AFL-CIO Executive Committee Statement
    The devastation caused by hurricane Katrina has led millions of Americans to open our hearts to the helpless victims of the Gulf Coast communities. Donations by the millions have poured in. Volunteers by the thousands have rushed to disaster sites to help with rescue work and reconstruction. And the unions and union members of our country have been among those who have given generously.
    AFL-CIO unions have already pledged more than $10 million (…)

  • Martial Law: Police State America - We’re So Close Now Thanks to Hurricane Katrina
    28 September 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
    4 comments

    For years we have warned that the police state is coming, how Martial Law will become the norm, how ancient laws, rights and freedoms are being overturned and replaced with repressive mechanisms of control.
    For years we have presented the evidence, the Army War College documents, the domestic military takeover drills, the draconian legislation, officials left right and centre calling for more centralized military control domestically.
    For years people refuted the evidence, or passed it (…)