gRAPHICaNATOMY

This is embarrassing really. We’re supposed to be better than this. Watching the news I keep getting flashbacks of the LA Riots, over 10 years ago when the other Bush was in charge. Both Bush administrations had put such emphasis on foreign policy that it created issues at home. The division between rich and poor and that slight bit of race division grew wider and wider.

What went wrong with the relief effort? Why, so many days after Katrina struck, is there still such chaos, despite the fact that there was ample warning of what might befall the Gulf Coast? How can we not be outraged when we think of the billions of dollars we've spent on homeland preparedness after Sept. 11, 2001, yet watched as babies died for lack of water and food and electricity three days after the hurricane hit? But why were there no plans to evacuate the one out of every three residents of New Orleans too poor or disabled or incompetent or unwilling to leave just before the storm struck?

Consider Bush’s words as New Orleans swamped and its poorest and least stable population sweltered, starved and then broke into the equivalent of a prison uprising: "We view this storm as a temporary disruption that is being addressed by the government and by the private sector." On Thursday he denounced looting and insurance fraud. Think about it: Ordinary people were so locked in anarchy and helplessness they stole food as the more venal among them stole guns and shot at aid helicopters. The president denounced insurance fraud. ~ Dennis Roddy http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05247/564856.stm



Combat operations are underway on the streets “to take this city back” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
“This place is going to look like Little Somalia,” Brig. Gen. Gary Jones, commander of the Louisiana National Guard’s Joint Task Force told Army Times Friday as hundreds of armed troops under his charge prepared to launch a massive citywide security mission from a staging area outside the Louisiana Superdome. “We’re going to go out and take this city back. This will be a combat operation to get this city under control.” ~ http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1077495.php
Doesn’t that sound a wee bit racist?


Thank you Department of Homeland security:
In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort. The new Department will also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness. Educating America's families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster and tips for citizens on how to respond in a crisis will be given special attention at DHS. ~ http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home2.jsp




now its easy enough to complain, but you have to do something about it as well:
http://www.redcross.org/