Katrina, New Orleans, Biloxi, etc. (Page 2 of 8)

Thanks for the movie post Marcus.  I was wondering if this was a natural disaster or manmade.  Something stinks really bad, and the worst part is- hurricane season isn't over yet. 

All the people in the superdome...That's gotta be scary, especially hearing about how the roof might fall.  Makes one speculate if they're being held there to be "taken?"...

Maybe mother earth hasn't had the last word, and this is just a preview, dunno.

FEMA has been absorbed into Homeland Security:
In the days to come, as the nation and the people along the Gulf Coast work to cope with the disastrous aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we will be reminded anew how important it is to have a federal agency capable of dealing with natural catastrophes of this sort. This is an immense human tragedy, one that will work hardship on millions of people. It is beyond the capabilities of state and local government to deal with. It requires a national response.

Which makes it all the more difficult to understand why, at this moment, the country's premier agency for dealing with such events -- FEMA -- is being, in effect, systematically downgraded and all but dismantled by the Department of Homeland Security.

...<edit>...

The advent of the Bush administration in January 2001 signaled the beginning of the end for FEMA. The newly appointed leadership of the agency showed little interest in its work or in the missions pursued by the departed Witt. Then came the Sept. 11 attacks and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Soon FEMA was being absorbed into the "homeland security borg."

This year it was announced that FEMA is to ``officially'' lose the disaster-preparedness function that it has had since its creation. The move is a death blow to an agency that was already on life support. In fact, FEMA employees have been directed not to become involved in disaster-preparedness functions, since a new directorate (yet to be established) will have that mission.

FEMA will be survived by state and local emergency-management offices, which are confused about how they fit into the national picture. That's because the focus of the national effort remains terrorism, even if the Department of Homeland Security still talks about "all-hazards preparedness." Those of us in the business of dealing with emergencies find ourselves with no national leadership and no mentors. We are being forced to fend for ourselves, making do with the "homeland security" mission. Our "all hazard"' approaches have been decimated by the administration's preoccupation with terrorism.

ERIC HOLDEMAN is director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management. He wrote this article for the Washington Post.

Read More ...
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercuryn … 521521.htm
(Yuck, registration required.)

Okay, have some spare break time now to crank something out here....!

At first I might be inclined to just think there's a "scientific" explanation for all of this, involving global warming and its effects on our climate and weather systems....except for the fact that Stuart Wilde did see Kali "arriving" on this plane 2 days before the tsunami happened.   That really made me go "Huh..."  So I can see how global warming still explains much of it, but maybe some of it really is tied to Mother Nature and metaphysical things, and there's a cleansing of areas of the planet where stuff needs to be "taken care of."  Stuart pointed out something I wasn't aware of nor even thought of which was that the areas of India that got popped the greatest by the tsunami were areas that are known for being heavily involved in human slave trafficking.   Did not know that. 

Magical and special........indeed!  That's the impression I always had of the city and why I wanted to visit so badly.  And why it was such a collasal let down to not be able to go.  The reality of that place versus what I thought it would be were so conflicting.   The 10 freeway swings right there through and around the heart of the city, so you're right up close to it all, and it just felt so dark and wrong and off to me as I drove through.   Not at all like I imagined.   I thought it would just be a more gothic version of San Francisco or something, which is a city I've always enjoyed visiting, and wanted to move to.   

A quick story that was relayed to me about the "dirty" nature of New Orleans - Two former supervisors of mine had to go some company management meeting that was being held in New Orleans.   When they came back, they were just aghast.   One would only shake her head, she didn't even want to talk about it.  The other just kept stammering about how nasty and disgusting it was.  "VEGAS has class, okay?!   Say what you will about Vegas, but at least it has CLASS!  New Orleans....??  NO CLASS!! That place has NO CLASS!!!"  She went on to describe the total debauchery that ran rampant on Bourbon Street. "There was this guy EATING OUT A GIRL RIGHT THERE ON THE STREET!!!  She was holding her dress up and he was just....kneeling in front of her, doing that, in front of everybody!!"  There was more assorted acts of general mayhem and debauchery that she described, but for obvious reasons that's the only one I can still remember.     

It's funny, but New York has always been called our modern Babylon, and who knows, maybe it is.  But it always seemed to me that New Orleans fits the bill a bit more accurately.

Sowelu....this is astounding.  This really made my eyes pop out when I read this yesterday.  I don't even know what to say to this, because it's obvious what was going on here, and I cringe at the thought of what people, if any, may have caved in and listened to this cop "person."  So many people have intuition and common sense, but when it comes to "listening to the authorities" most are so heavily programmed in that regard that they will cave in in the end, however reluctantly it may be, and do what they're told.   Personally, I don't think that cop was human, and I know that sounds crazy, but it's the first thing that went through my mind.   Many may not believe in this, but I feel that it was probably a reptilian or some negative entity masquerading as a human trying to corral as many people as possible right to what would be "ground zero", for maximum death potential and maximum feeding frenzy opportunity.   I'm glad your friend didn't listen.   

Well like I said previously, I'm glad you posted!  I didn't even think you still came around here anymore!     Montalk had the same thoughts though about the fact that they were corralling everybody into the Superdome.  I mean, it does partly make sense I suppose, the city has to offer some form of shelter, and that's the biggest thing they've got going on there in New Orleans.  But the pitfall risks are if something catastrophic happens to the Super Dome, ie, the roof completely caves in, then it can kill all 10,000 people in one shot.   It's the risk they had to take.

The update on the Super Dome according to today's internet news is:

- There's of course no electricity and no A/C;  It's hot and damp, and there's moisture on the walls and floors and flooding is advancing inside as the broken levees allow water to keep pouring into the city;
- The toilets are all broken, none of the restrooms are usable;
-  Several people have died, namely old people who relied on meds or oxygen;
-  Originally they intended to keep everybody there until NEXT MONDAY, but, that's been changed, and now everybody is going to be bussed to the Houston Astrodome, which can house up to 45,000 people.

That should be interesting.

What got me though were tales of what's going on in the hospitals.  They mentioned nurses hand pumping people's ventilators to keep them alive, because there's no electricity to run the machines. They've sent in helicopters to evacuate all the hospitals which are now flooded out due to the broken levees, with the first priority being the sick babies and intensive care patients.

Good point, actually.   I thought about what my reaction would be should I be watching a t.v. with coverage focusing on looters running every which way carrying goods and food, and indeed, I realized it would "calm me down" inside, and trivialize the issue.  Why is this though?  I think because it takes the focus off of the more serious stuff.  Plus, people rely on the news to show them where the most important stuff is happening, and if that's where the media chooses to put its focus, why then...that must be the biggest thing happening.  People running off with jewelry and Twinkies.  No big deal.  Nothing to look at here folks, move it along!  It's just a Rolex and some Hostess Ho Hos and Mountain Dew and a plasma TV being carted off by grinning people!   Move it along!

Welcome to the forum!     Thanks for posting.

Ayahuasca and Marcus -- Thanks for the updates on what the reaction -- or rather, NON reaction -- is in the U.K.   That's just nuts.   I don't think people outside of the U.S. fully realize what's happening here. And thanks for posting that movie plot Marcus.  Quite an eye opener.  I'm REALLY going to be getting a bike now after reading that.   On a sidenote, the movie plot focuses on oil-fueled winter heating and how its failure would result in many deaths.  The first thing I thought of was electrically operated space heaters.  It can't compare to firing up an oil furnace and getting your entire house toasty warm, but it will prevent death, let's just put it that way.  Something to keep in mind.  And also, the movie focuses on long lines for gasoline, then completely running out and all the mayhem that would ensue.   To that I thought.....bicycles!   It can't compare to a nice 4 door sedan that can drive you anywhere, but it will get you from point A to point B with a little physical effort, (and let's face it, Fat America could use the exercise) and it will mean the difference between getting food or not getting food, or being trapped where you are versus getting out.   Just some ideas....

Yup.  That's the same thing I said last night.  I was even printing out articles as they first went up online if they mentioned death counts and tolls, and bodies floating in the water......and not because it entertains me, but because I know that "they" like to play stuff down and change the tallies after the fact.  When a major event is first being reported, almost always information leaks out which later on gets swept under the rug or even denied because they haven't yet gotten a lockdown on the media.  This happened BIG TIME with 9/11.  There were reports of explosions within the building when it all just happened.   Once the media was able to gain better control on the reports coming out, we didn't hear any of that anymore.  My goal was to keep my eyes out on information before they get a better grip on the situation and start controlling and spinning things.

You might consider that the american gov't has the ability to theoretically "control" the weather /storm movement by use of HAARP and 2 other similar facilities (1 publicized, 1 secret & camoflauged)....
Who knows if they've got the power or how and WHY they would do such a thing.  But all in all, there just seems to be an evil air about the whole situation.

Oh yeah, and forgot to mention!   I'm just like, "HANH??" whenever I see these reports that keep lamenting the damage that Katrina has done to..................................the Biloxi gambling industry.

HANH?!?!

Seriously, people's homes have been washed away, so many parts of the city were / are under water and people have died, but there's been this focus on the fact that the casinos were all destroyed.  I found a really good article that perfectly illustrated this last night, but NR was down and so I wasn't able to post it, and now I don't have the link.  But if I find it again I'll come back here and add it.   I mean, I could understand if they were showing how the casino barges were destroyed by the hurricane in order to illustrate the amount of damage that was sustained, but it wasn't about that.  The focus was about how the gambling industry will be affected.

I can't believe the logic in that.  THERE IS NO MORE TOWN OF BILOXI ANYMORE.  PEOPLE DON'T HAVE HOMES ANYMORE.  THEY ****CAN'T**** GAMBLE!!!!  THEY HAVE NOTHING **TO** GAMBLE WITH NOW!!!

I don't mean to sound all emotional, I just used caps to illustrate MY logic versus theirs!    And it's not like there is completely no more Biloxi.  There is.  It's just been wrecked, that's all.   So I'm not getting how they could be worried about how the gambling casinos were blown apart.  EVERYTHING was blown apart.   

Also I was noticing regular people kind of being in denial about things in New Orleans.  For instance, they were saying tensions are high in the Super Dome (understandable) and that people were demanding to be let out and to be able to "GO HOME."   The cops / National Guards were trying to tell them that the Dome was surrounded by 3 feet of water and NOBODY is allowed into the city right now because of the situation.  Other people being interviewed were making comments about how they couldn't wait to "get home and take a shower and crawl into bed."

I don't think it's registering yet with many people what's happened.  The magnitude of the situation hasn't fully sunk in.   There is no home to go home to.  Their bed...and their homes.....are under 10 - 20 feet of water.  And even though they're in the Super Dome and should be aware of what the situation is, denial is a strong thing.

And on a final note, I bet everybody has been breathlessly awaiting what Bush has to say about the matter.  When flying overhead, he remarked,

"It's devastating. It's got to be doubly devastating on the ground."

Ah yes.  Another winner from the shrub.

(Is doubly even a word?)

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/31/ … index.html