Friday, March 24, 2006
Colorado Clorox
I understand that Clorox samples were given to children in Colorado.
Children at Coal Creek Canyon K-8 in Golden were given samples and encouraged to bring them home to their parents.
I understand that your direct marketing department sent samples to the teachers with a letter telling them to give the samples to the parents.
What were you trying to do by entering the school system in order to market your product?
Do you think it is right that a Clorox spokeswoman put the blame on the teachers for the fact that children were given clorox cleaning wipes heavily impregnated with chlorine?
Why are you sending these items to school teachers?
Are you aware of the crisis in our nations schools as we all, as Americans, try to clean up the educational mess that has led to the loss of American jobs and the possible crippling of our economy?
Is Clorox such a dirty company that they have to peddle their goods to a captive audience?
What would happen if Clorox sent samples to hospitals and left a box next to each wounded and diseased person so that they could give the samples to family members?
How about prisons? Will Clorox be sending samples to prisoners so that the prisoners could then pass the samples on to visitors or perhaps their victims?
The schools in the Jefferson County School District are in trouble as it is. Ideas abound about selling advertising space and special deals with candy and soft drink manufacturers - the education of our children is being put secondary to the profit motive.
Clorox had no right to do what it did. I think it would be appropriate for the Jefferson County School District to switch to another cleaning solution.
The Jefferson County School District board and PTA need to be put on notice as well. What exactly happened in this case?
Will Clorox now leave our children alone or will the company continue to harass schoolteachers and our children?
I believe Dr. Cindy Stevenson, the Superintendent of the Jefferson County School System in Colorado needs to step down.
Clorox needs to take a step back away from our children.
The United States of America is spending billions of dollars a year to educate our children - not turn them into delivery boys for the Clorox company.
Some of the younger children wiped their faces with the material that they were given.
There is no apology that can make up for this.
This was no mistake that can be passed over and forgotten.
Where does Colorado stand in relation to its children and schools? Can anyone send anything they want to a school and have it handed out? If a company like Clorox does not respect school property then it is no surprise that drugs and mayhem dog our children’s school days and police must stand guard in the hallways.
For shame, Colorado, for shame.
Children at Coal Creek Canyon K-8 in Golden were given samples and encouraged to bring them home to their parents.
I understand that your direct marketing department sent samples to the teachers with a letter telling them to give the samples to the parents.
What were you trying to do by entering the school system in order to market your product?
Do you think it is right that a Clorox spokeswoman put the blame on the teachers for the fact that children were given clorox cleaning wipes heavily impregnated with chlorine?
Why are you sending these items to school teachers?
Are you aware of the crisis in our nations schools as we all, as Americans, try to clean up the educational mess that has led to the loss of American jobs and the possible crippling of our economy?
Is Clorox such a dirty company that they have to peddle their goods to a captive audience?
What would happen if Clorox sent samples to hospitals and left a box next to each wounded and diseased person so that they could give the samples to family members?
How about prisons? Will Clorox be sending samples to prisoners so that the prisoners could then pass the samples on to visitors or perhaps their victims?
The schools in the Jefferson County School District are in trouble as it is. Ideas abound about selling advertising space and special deals with candy and soft drink manufacturers - the education of our children is being put secondary to the profit motive.
Clorox had no right to do what it did. I think it would be appropriate for the Jefferson County School District to switch to another cleaning solution.
The Jefferson County School District board and PTA need to be put on notice as well. What exactly happened in this case?
Will Clorox now leave our children alone or will the company continue to harass schoolteachers and our children?
I believe Dr. Cindy Stevenson, the Superintendent of the Jefferson County School System in Colorado needs to step down.
Clorox needs to take a step back away from our children.
The United States of America is spending billions of dollars a year to educate our children - not turn them into delivery boys for the Clorox company.
Some of the younger children wiped their faces with the material that they were given.
There is no apology that can make up for this.
This was no mistake that can be passed over and forgotten.
Where does Colorado stand in relation to its children and schools? Can anyone send anything they want to a school and have it handed out? If a company like Clorox does not respect school property then it is no surprise that drugs and mayhem dog our children’s school days and police must stand guard in the hallways.
For shame, Colorado, for shame.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
America is Rich
America is rich we are told.
When you look at it though and put New York or Houston next to Montreal, Paris, Berlin or Rome it becomes obvious that the words slum and city have two different meanings for a reason.
Why argue they are richer because a few freaks in New York or Houston earn enough to move out and get away to somewhere else?
Our nation continues to bow to the privileged rich and let them continue to flood our nation with cheap Communist Chinese goods and to destroy our jobs and economic fortune while they go prancing around the world boasting about things that are just not true.
How are the streets in your neighborhood? Are you willing to let your water and sewer pipes deteriorate? Are you willing to turn over your town and your future to drug dealers and corrupt law enforcement agencies? Are you content that your public schools are being run for profit by a bunch of organized bureaucrats or religious fanatics?
What are you paying taxes for?
Have you seen what sort of laws are being sponsored by your Representative or your Senator? They are ridiculous and many of them are meaningless.
Did you realize that this week they are attacking towns on the Syrian-Iraq border and last week they were attacking towns on the Iraq-Afghanistan border? Each week they trade sides.
This is your nation – it’s your responsibility.
Are you going to take part or just stand back and watch?
When you look at it though and put New York or Houston next to Montreal, Paris, Berlin or Rome it becomes obvious that the words slum and city have two different meanings for a reason.
Why argue they are richer because a few freaks in New York or Houston earn enough to move out and get away to somewhere else?
Our nation continues to bow to the privileged rich and let them continue to flood our nation with cheap Communist Chinese goods and to destroy our jobs and economic fortune while they go prancing around the world boasting about things that are just not true.
How are the streets in your neighborhood? Are you willing to let your water and sewer pipes deteriorate? Are you willing to turn over your town and your future to drug dealers and corrupt law enforcement agencies? Are you content that your public schools are being run for profit by a bunch of organized bureaucrats or religious fanatics?
What are you paying taxes for?
Have you seen what sort of laws are being sponsored by your Representative or your Senator? They are ridiculous and many of them are meaningless.
Did you realize that this week they are attacking towns on the Syrian-Iraq border and last week they were attacking towns on the Iraq-Afghanistan border? Each week they trade sides.
This is your nation – it’s your responsibility.
Are you going to take part or just stand back and watch?
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Lack of Experience Kills
I had to read it twice.
A government employee who works in public affairs at Fort Campbell, Kentucky was talking about how she felt about Americans honoring her husband.
Sherry Orlando is a spokeswoman at Fort Campbell, Ky., and she doesn't want her husband, who was killed in Iraq in 2003, to be used "for someone's political agenda."
I guess once is enough.
Between her pay in United States Army Public Affairs, the bounty she got for his death in Iraq and the paychecks she will receive for the rest of her natural life Sherry Orlando has used her husband politically enough for 3 lifetimes.
She had this to say, "Being in the military ... was who he was. It wasn't just a job. He supported what he did and I support that as well."
Her husband had been a Lieutenant Colonel in the Military Police but ended up in a combat situation. He had started his lifelong career in the US Army as an enlisted man and moved his way up to command.
His recklessness in Iraq is attested to by his fellow soldiers who thought it was valor. The policeman rushed into every incident he could. Instead of remaining in command and control as an officer should he rushed ahead. It is said that oftentimes his reckless actions led to the deaths of innocent Iraqis and unprepared soldiers under his command.
Did his lack of expertise led to the death of honorable soldiers fighting a dishonorable war?
A government employee who works in public affairs at Fort Campbell, Kentucky was talking about how she felt about Americans honoring her husband.
Sherry Orlando is a spokeswoman at Fort Campbell, Ky., and she doesn't want her husband, who was killed in Iraq in 2003, to be used "for someone's political agenda."
I guess once is enough.
Between her pay in United States Army Public Affairs, the bounty she got for his death in Iraq and the paychecks she will receive for the rest of her natural life Sherry Orlando has used her husband politically enough for 3 lifetimes.
She had this to say, "Being in the military ... was who he was. It wasn't just a job. He supported what he did and I support that as well."
Her husband had been a Lieutenant Colonel in the Military Police but ended up in a combat situation. He had started his lifelong career in the US Army as an enlisted man and moved his way up to command.
His recklessness in Iraq is attested to by his fellow soldiers who thought it was valor. The policeman rushed into every incident he could. Instead of remaining in command and control as an officer should he rushed ahead. It is said that oftentimes his reckless actions led to the deaths of innocent Iraqis and unprepared soldiers under his command.
Did his lack of expertise led to the death of honorable soldiers fighting a dishonorable war?
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Monday, March 06, 2006
A Modern Republican
For all of those conservative businessmen sitting out there with the confused democrats that just can’t seem to put a finger on why the Republican party has wandered away from its roots and taken up evenings and Sundays with radical preachers and visionaries intent on conquering the world all they need to do is take a look at history.
The Republican Part is merely returning to its roots. It was originally founded by socialists who mooned over Karl Marx.
In 1854 Alvan Bovay formed a new party. They called themselves Republicans as Bovay believed it suggested equality.
The party platform pledged equality for all workers.
The slogan ``Free soil, free speech, free men.'' came from them. They actually tried to force big banks to stop foreclosure actions against small farmers. The Republicans are trying that today and you can participate by going to Farm-Aid.
We can see the perversion of the ‘modern’ Republican party in their insistence on putting up stone idols engraved with the 10 commandments in every state capitol in the nation as well as in their insistence on amendments that praise the family and invite ever more control over the family by invasive government forces.
The ‘modern’ Republican party has been taken over by a euphoric band of do-gooders intent on spreading their brand of enthusiastic religion and government into every aspect of our lives. Their utopian ideals span control of the financial markets to control of reproduction and tax reform that amounts to socialism.
Why continue?
The Republican Part is merely returning to its roots. It was originally founded by socialists who mooned over Karl Marx.
In 1854 Alvan Bovay formed a new party. They called themselves Republicans as Bovay believed it suggested equality.
The party platform pledged equality for all workers.
The slogan ``Free soil, free speech, free men.'' came from them. They actually tried to force big banks to stop foreclosure actions against small farmers. The Republicans are trying that today and you can participate by going to Farm-Aid.
We can see the perversion of the ‘modern’ Republican party in their insistence on putting up stone idols engraved with the 10 commandments in every state capitol in the nation as well as in their insistence on amendments that praise the family and invite ever more control over the family by invasive government forces.
The ‘modern’ Republican party has been taken over by a euphoric band of do-gooders intent on spreading their brand of enthusiastic religion and government into every aspect of our lives. Their utopian ideals span control of the financial markets to control of reproduction and tax reform that amounts to socialism.
Why continue?
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Remember Miss Miller?
Judith Miller retired with good pay from the New York Times.
She has been made famous recently by being jailed for not revealing who told her that Valerie Plame was a CIA agent.
That’s not all she did for the newspaper.
She won a Pulitzer prize in 2001 for reporting on global terrorism.
Apparently a lot of the material she produced was based on incorrect information.
It seems like she fooled her editor.
Media that had come to rely on the newspaper repeated and amplified what this one apparently irresponsible reporter wrote.
The result stares us in the face. Over 2,000 Americans dead in Iraq along with tens of thousands wounded and mutilated. Osama Bin Laden is still missing and oil companies tied to his family continue to prosper.
Miller wasn’t the first to fool the New York Times.
In 1874 the New York Herald ran a hoax article they hoped would spur improvements in the Central Park Zoo. The Herald reported several animals escaped and rampaged through Manhattan injuring more than two hundred and killing forty-nine.
The story goes that New York Times editor George Williams complained to the police because they tipped off the Herald but didn’t tell him.
As for politicians whining about the power of the press I think this story is a good example of how weak it can be. It was over 120 years before any improvements were made to the Central Park Zoo.
How long will American forces have to stay in Iraq?
She has been made famous recently by being jailed for not revealing who told her that Valerie Plame was a CIA agent.
That’s not all she did for the newspaper.
She won a Pulitzer prize in 2001 for reporting on global terrorism.
Apparently a lot of the material she produced was based on incorrect information.
It seems like she fooled her editor.
Media that had come to rely on the newspaper repeated and amplified what this one apparently irresponsible reporter wrote.
The result stares us in the face. Over 2,000 Americans dead in Iraq along with tens of thousands wounded and mutilated. Osama Bin Laden is still missing and oil companies tied to his family continue to prosper.
Miller wasn’t the first to fool the New York Times.
In 1874 the New York Herald ran a hoax article they hoped would spur improvements in the Central Park Zoo. The Herald reported several animals escaped and rampaged through Manhattan injuring more than two hundred and killing forty-nine.
The story goes that New York Times editor George Williams complained to the police because they tipped off the Herald but didn’t tell him.
As for politicians whining about the power of the press I think this story is a good example of how weak it can be. It was over 120 years before any improvements were made to the Central Park Zoo.
How long will American forces have to stay in Iraq?
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Safe Newborn
The Washington State ‘Safe Newborn’ law has no statistics to go along with it.
If you want you can drop off your baby within three days of birth at any hospital and leave.
Kids in school that at one time could push their ignorant and aggressive boyfriends away with statements about using birth control and not wanting to end up with an abortion can now go ahead, expose themselves to sexually transmitted diseases, get pregnant, have the baby and hand it over to some public hospital.
What happens to that baby?
Is it adopted by religious groups or does it become the ‘ward of the state’?
It is a bizarre and sickening development that hospitals, which don’t even provide reasonably priced services for Americans, should now become foundling hospitals.
It is typical of our broken down government that they would pass a law like this without addressing the root causes of the problems.
In the end women that destroy their newborns will continue to do so because that is a situation that is far beyond the remedy provided by this ‘feel good’ law.
Children will go to bed hungry in Washington State and their parents will do without health care because doctors and hospitals are so greedy that they have priced themselves out of the market.
Insurance companies will continue to feed off the poor and the government will bow to them.
Add abandoning children without fear of retribution to the deep pool of sins that this society swims in.
If you want you can drop off your baby within three days of birth at any hospital and leave.
Kids in school that at one time could push their ignorant and aggressive boyfriends away with statements about using birth control and not wanting to end up with an abortion can now go ahead, expose themselves to sexually transmitted diseases, get pregnant, have the baby and hand it over to some public hospital.
What happens to that baby?
Is it adopted by religious groups or does it become the ‘ward of the state’?
It is a bizarre and sickening development that hospitals, which don’t even provide reasonably priced services for Americans, should now become foundling hospitals.
It is typical of our broken down government that they would pass a law like this without addressing the root causes of the problems.
In the end women that destroy their newborns will continue to do so because that is a situation that is far beyond the remedy provided by this ‘feel good’ law.
Children will go to bed hungry in Washington State and their parents will do without health care because doctors and hospitals are so greedy that they have priced themselves out of the market.
Insurance companies will continue to feed off the poor and the government will bow to them.
Add abandoning children without fear of retribution to the deep pool of sins that this society swims in.
Winkenwerder
Doctor Winkenwerder Junior is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs.
He’s the one that essentially took responsibility for the death of Army Spc. Rachel Lacy who died after being injected with vaccinations by the United States Army.
By March, 2004, over 18,000 medical evacuations had taken place from Iraq.
Junior Winkenwerder hasn’t made any response about the charges dating from then that soldiers with serious medical conditions get poor and erratic health care upon return sometimes waiting for months for doctors, surgeries or treatments.
The suicide rates among military personnel appear to continue to climb as well. Junior Winkenwerder hasn’t said anything about that either though he promised to provide a world class health care system to the Department of Defense.
Maybe he was talking about a Third World Class sytem.
Junior Winkenwerder apparently provides no detailed information about non-combat deaths in Iraq but some of them are caused by Leishmaniasis which is carried by sand fleas. Two forms are cutaneous leishmaniasis, which causes skin sores, and visceral leishmaniasis, which affects some of the internal organs of the body like the spleen, liver or bone marrow.
At one point Junior Winkenwerder, in testimony regarding his activities, noted that he and his staff had not been communicating clearly about 7 billion dollars in contracts.
He apparently believes in risk based contracting – which to you might seem like an open ended contract made especially to please his friends, but Junior Winkenwerder assures that this is not so.
Do you believe him?
He’s the one that essentially took responsibility for the death of Army Spc. Rachel Lacy who died after being injected with vaccinations by the United States Army.
By March, 2004, over 18,000 medical evacuations had taken place from Iraq.
Junior Winkenwerder hasn’t made any response about the charges dating from then that soldiers with serious medical conditions get poor and erratic health care upon return sometimes waiting for months for doctors, surgeries or treatments.
The suicide rates among military personnel appear to continue to climb as well. Junior Winkenwerder hasn’t said anything about that either though he promised to provide a world class health care system to the Department of Defense.
Maybe he was talking about a Third World Class sytem.
Junior Winkenwerder apparently provides no detailed information about non-combat deaths in Iraq but some of them are caused by Leishmaniasis which is carried by sand fleas. Two forms are cutaneous leishmaniasis, which causes skin sores, and visceral leishmaniasis, which affects some of the internal organs of the body like the spleen, liver or bone marrow.
At one point Junior Winkenwerder, in testimony regarding his activities, noted that he and his staff had not been communicating clearly about 7 billion dollars in contracts.
He apparently believes in risk based contracting – which to you might seem like an open ended contract made especially to please his friends, but Junior Winkenwerder assures that this is not so.
Do you believe him?
Monday, February 27, 2006
African Fish
Recently African ministers and international donors developed US$1.1bn strategy to boost catches, build fish farms and develop the seafood sector in Africa.
A dangerous trend has seen the continent's per capita fish supply fall more than 12% in the past decade.
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, the chairperson of the African Union, was quoted as saying, "If Africa's per capita consumption of fish is just to be kept at its present level, though grossly low and unacceptable, then fish production must be increased by over 250% by 2015."
Over the past 10 years Africa's per capita supply of fish has dropped from 8.8kg in 1990 to about 7.8kg in 2001.
Fish forms as least half of the animal protein in the diets of many Africans, a level second only to Asia.
The situation is aggravated by an increase in fish exports to Europe and the Middle East. These wealthy economies, after having devastated their own fishing industries (Europe) or never having had one (the Middle East) are pricing out fish from the communities that catch them.
As for the Asian connection Communist China just hosted Kenyan President Daniel Moi who came away, it is said, with a secret package of economic goodies the Communist Chinese showered on him.
Amongst these were certainly funds to rebuilt the colonial rail lines to move oil products out of southern Sudan as well as fishing rights in Kenyan waters. The short term benefits to Moi’s government may lead to starvation and ruin for the Kenyan fishing industry.
A dangerous trend has seen the continent's per capita fish supply fall more than 12% in the past decade.
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, the chairperson of the African Union, was quoted as saying, "If Africa's per capita consumption of fish is just to be kept at its present level, though grossly low and unacceptable, then fish production must be increased by over 250% by 2015."
Over the past 10 years Africa's per capita supply of fish has dropped from 8.8kg in 1990 to about 7.8kg in 2001.
Fish forms as least half of the animal protein in the diets of many Africans, a level second only to Asia.
The situation is aggravated by an increase in fish exports to Europe and the Middle East. These wealthy economies, after having devastated their own fishing industries (Europe) or never having had one (the Middle East) are pricing out fish from the communities that catch them.
As for the Asian connection Communist China just hosted Kenyan President Daniel Moi who came away, it is said, with a secret package of economic goodies the Communist Chinese showered on him.
Amongst these were certainly funds to rebuilt the colonial rail lines to move oil products out of southern Sudan as well as fishing rights in Kenyan waters. The short term benefits to Moi’s government may lead to starvation and ruin for the Kenyan fishing industry.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Bush Sells Port of Miami to Dubai
President Bush has okayed the purchase of a large part of the business carried out in the Port of Miami by Dubai Ports World which is a company owned by the nation of the United Arab Emirates.
That is, while our men and women are fighting, dying and wasting their time in Iraq fighting to stop the spread of the backward slide of civilization in the Middle East President Bush is selling one of the busiest ports in the United States to the United Arab Emirates.
Is it not enough that they have a stranglehold on our economy?
Do they now need to take over ports of entry into the United States?
The United Arab Emirates is the world's ninth largest oil producer and the fifth largest exporter.
There are about 850,000 Emiratis and 2.6 million foreign expatriates and workers in their country.
After 9/11 they were forced to investigate their banking systems which had been financing terrorist groups like Al-Qaida.
Reportedly half of the $250,000 spent on the attacks was sent to al-Qaeda terrorists in the United States from Dubai banks. Additionally al-Qaida money in Dubai banks also has been linked to the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
How long can we as a nation survive while our elected officials make blunder after blunder?
We are being left open to personal attack.
How many more setbacks do we have to have before anyone will admit that George Bush is a mistake America can no longer overlook?
That is, while our men and women are fighting, dying and wasting their time in Iraq fighting to stop the spread of the backward slide of civilization in the Middle East President Bush is selling one of the busiest ports in the United States to the United Arab Emirates.
Is it not enough that they have a stranglehold on our economy?
Do they now need to take over ports of entry into the United States?
The United Arab Emirates is the world's ninth largest oil producer and the fifth largest exporter.
There are about 850,000 Emiratis and 2.6 million foreign expatriates and workers in their country.
After 9/11 they were forced to investigate their banking systems which had been financing terrorist groups like Al-Qaida.
Reportedly half of the $250,000 spent on the attacks was sent to al-Qaeda terrorists in the United States from Dubai banks. Additionally al-Qaida money in Dubai banks also has been linked to the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
How long can we as a nation survive while our elected officials make blunder after blunder?
We are being left open to personal attack.
How many more setbacks do we have to have before anyone will admit that George Bush is a mistake America can no longer overlook?
Pakistanis in Kenya
Pakistanis were arrested in Kenya after scoping out some housing that the United States military had built.
Pakistanis were arrested in England following London bombings.
Pakistanis have been helping and financing fighters to enter Afghanistan.
Pakistanis have the nuclear bomb already – they aren’t working on it. It works. They’ve got it.
Pakistan’s leader took over in an armed struggle. He is hated by a great many Pakistanis – especially the religious extremists.
After the bombing he made a speech in which he admitted essentially that Pakistan has a growing population of lunatics ready to blow themselves up anywhere and anytime.
In order to address the problem the general told the British to look in their own borders because some were born in Great Britain and one in Jamaica.
The British in response shot a tourist from Brazil in the subway and stated that they would probably have to continue to shoot to kill.
Prime Minister Blair told the British to continue living their lives (now there’s a politician for you) and the London mayor blamed the bombings on interference in the Middle East.
Pakistanis continue to enter the US by the thousands under the H1-B visa program. Many first emigrated to Canada and slipped over the border with Canadian passports and with false papers identifying them as being from India.
President Bush met with the Indian Prime Minister who refused to sign the nuclear proliferation treaty. Bush apparently promised to sell India nuclear technology and fuel anyway.
Reasonable behavior?
Pakistanis were arrested in England following London bombings.
Pakistanis have been helping and financing fighters to enter Afghanistan.
Pakistanis have the nuclear bomb already – they aren’t working on it. It works. They’ve got it.
Pakistan’s leader took over in an armed struggle. He is hated by a great many Pakistanis – especially the religious extremists.
After the bombing he made a speech in which he admitted essentially that Pakistan has a growing population of lunatics ready to blow themselves up anywhere and anytime.
In order to address the problem the general told the British to look in their own borders because some were born in Great Britain and one in Jamaica.
The British in response shot a tourist from Brazil in the subway and stated that they would probably have to continue to shoot to kill.
Prime Minister Blair told the British to continue living their lives (now there’s a politician for you) and the London mayor blamed the bombings on interference in the Middle East.
Pakistanis continue to enter the US by the thousands under the H1-B visa program. Many first emigrated to Canada and slipped over the border with Canadian passports and with false papers identifying them as being from India.
President Bush met with the Indian Prime Minister who refused to sign the nuclear proliferation treaty. Bush apparently promised to sell India nuclear technology and fuel anyway.
Reasonable behavior?
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Deputies Murder Boy
Recently I saw a tape of some evil doings by the Bay County Sheriff’s Department.
What I saw and what you will see when you see the tape is a bunch of ill trained, short sighted men who work in the department run by Frank McKeithen.
I believe that Frank McKeithen needs to find another line of work.
I watched with horror a 6 minute tape of five Bay County Sheriff’s Department deputies forcibly hold down a young boy in a juvenile ‘boot-camp’ run by the State of Florida.
www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/02/17/bootcamp.death/index.html
For most of the mob work that the deputies put on the 14 year old boy five deputies harassed and physically restrained him even as his body slumped to the ground and he was unable to respond.
At one point 8 deputies were crowded around him grabbing at his body and apparently pushing and shoving him from point to point.
In the tape some older woman, apparently in her fifties looked on as the deputies manhandled the boy, shoving him to the ground, seemingly applying choke holds, twisting his arms and jamming his legs into the earth.
At the end I counted 10 deputies crowded around the collapsed body of the 14 year old boy as paramedics strapped him into a pallet and slowly dragged him away, finally helped by some of the now concerned deputies that had taken part in the abuse.
This was a 14 year old American boy apparently murdered by several deputies in the Bay County Sheriff’s Department in Florida.
In this case Martin Lee Anderson, a 14 year old American was slaughtered by local law enforcement agents.
For how much longer will this brutality be tolerated?
Bay County Sheriff Department’s web site is :
www.bayso.org/
This is what the Sheriff has to say :
“We strive to provide unparalled service and dedication to duty to ensure a sense of well-being and safety for the citizens of Bay County. “
Martin Lee Anderson is dead.
They have a link to ‘Secure Florida’:
www.secureflorida.org/
One of the top items on that site is :
“What Better Way to Say I Love You on Valentines Day, then with Windows Updates “
Published Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Frank McKeithen is the Sheriff of Bay County, Florida.
Martin Lee Anderson is no longer one of the citizens he is supposed to serve.
What I saw and what you will see when you see the tape is a bunch of ill trained, short sighted men who work in the department run by Frank McKeithen.
I believe that Frank McKeithen needs to find another line of work.
I watched with horror a 6 minute tape of five Bay County Sheriff’s Department deputies forcibly hold down a young boy in a juvenile ‘boot-camp’ run by the State of Florida.
www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/02/17/bootcamp.death/index.html
For most of the mob work that the deputies put on the 14 year old boy five deputies harassed and physically restrained him even as his body slumped to the ground and he was unable to respond.
At one point 8 deputies were crowded around him grabbing at his body and apparently pushing and shoving him from point to point.
In the tape some older woman, apparently in her fifties looked on as the deputies manhandled the boy, shoving him to the ground, seemingly applying choke holds, twisting his arms and jamming his legs into the earth.
At the end I counted 10 deputies crowded around the collapsed body of the 14 year old boy as paramedics strapped him into a pallet and slowly dragged him away, finally helped by some of the now concerned deputies that had taken part in the abuse.
This was a 14 year old American boy apparently murdered by several deputies in the Bay County Sheriff’s Department in Florida.
In this case Martin Lee Anderson, a 14 year old American was slaughtered by local law enforcement agents.
For how much longer will this brutality be tolerated?
Bay County Sheriff Department’s web site is :
www.bayso.org/
This is what the Sheriff has to say :
“We strive to provide unparalled service and dedication to duty to ensure a sense of well-being and safety for the citizens of Bay County. “
Martin Lee Anderson is dead.
They have a link to ‘Secure Florida’:
www.secureflorida.org/
One of the top items on that site is :
“What Better Way to Say I Love You on Valentines Day, then with Windows Updates “
Published Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Frank McKeithen is the Sheriff of Bay County, Florida.
Martin Lee Anderson is no longer one of the citizens he is supposed to serve.
Deputies Murder Boy
Recently I saw a tape of some evil doings by the Bay County Sheriff’s Department.
What I saw and what you will see when you see the tape is a bunch of ill trained, short sighted men who work in the department run by Frank McKeithen.
I believe that Frank McKeithen needs to find another line of work.
I watched with horror a 6 minute tape of five Bay County Sheriff’s Department deputies forcibly hold down a young boy in a juvenile ‘boot-camp’ run by the State of Florida.
For most of the mob work that the deputies put on the 14 year old boy five deputies harassed and physically restrained him even as his body slumped to the ground and he was unable to respond.
At one point 8 deputies were crowded around him grabbing at his body and apparently pushing and shoving him from point to point.
In the tape some older woman, apparently in her fifties looked on as the deputies manhandled the boy, shoving him to the ground, seemingly applying choke holds, twisting his arms and jamming his legs into the earth.
At the end I counted 10 deputies crowded around the collapsed body of the 14 year old boy as paramedics strapped him into a pallet and slowly dragged him away, finally helped by some of the now concerned deputies that had taken part in the abuse.
This was a 14 year old American boy apparently murdered by several deputies in the Bay County Sheriff’s Department in Florida.
In this case Martin Lee Anderson, a 14 year old American was slaughtered by local law enforcement agents.
For how much longer will this brutality be tolerated?
This is what the Sheriff has to say :
“We strive to provide unparalled service and dedication to duty to ensure a sense of well-being and safety for the citizens of Bay County. “
Martin Lee Anderson is dead.
One of the top items on that site is :
“What Better Way to Say I Love You on Valentines Day, then with Windows Updates “
Published Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Frank McKeithen is the Sheriff of Bay County, Florida.
Martin Lee Anderson is no longer one of the citizens he is supposed to serve.
What I saw and what you will see when you see the tape is a bunch of ill trained, short sighted men who work in the department run by Frank McKeithen.
I believe that Frank McKeithen needs to find another line of work.
I watched with horror a 6 minute tape of five Bay County Sheriff’s Department deputies forcibly hold down a young boy in a juvenile ‘boot-camp’ run by the State of Florida.
For most of the mob work that the deputies put on the 14 year old boy five deputies harassed and physically restrained him even as his body slumped to the ground and he was unable to respond.
At one point 8 deputies were crowded around him grabbing at his body and apparently pushing and shoving him from point to point.
In the tape some older woman, apparently in her fifties looked on as the deputies manhandled the boy, shoving him to the ground, seemingly applying choke holds, twisting his arms and jamming his legs into the earth.
At the end I counted 10 deputies crowded around the collapsed body of the 14 year old boy as paramedics strapped him into a pallet and slowly dragged him away, finally helped by some of the now concerned deputies that had taken part in the abuse.
This was a 14 year old American boy apparently murdered by several deputies in the Bay County Sheriff’s Department in Florida.
In this case Martin Lee Anderson, a 14 year old American was slaughtered by local law enforcement agents.
For how much longer will this brutality be tolerated?
This is what the Sheriff has to say :
“We strive to provide unparalled service and dedication to duty to ensure a sense of well-being and safety for the citizens of Bay County. “
Martin Lee Anderson is dead.
One of the top items on that site is :
“What Better Way to Say I Love You on Valentines Day, then with Windows Updates “
Published Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Frank McKeithen is the Sheriff of Bay County, Florida.
Martin Lee Anderson is no longer one of the citizens he is supposed to serve.
Deputies Murder Boy
Recently I saw a tape of some evil doings by the Bay County Sheriff’s Department.
What I saw and what you will see when you see the tape is a bunch of ill trained, short sighted men who work in the department run by Frank McKeithen.
I believe that Frank McKeithen needs to find another line of work.
I watched with horror a 6 minute tape of five Bay County Sheriff’s Department deputies forcibly hold down a young boy in a juvenile ‘boot-camp’ run by the State of Florida.
www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/02/17/bootcamp.death/index.html
For most of the mob work that the deputies put on the 14 year old boy five deputies harassed and physically restrained him even as his body slumped to the ground and he was unable to respond.
At one point 8 deputies were crowded around him grabbing at his body and apparently pushing and shoving him from point to point.
In the tape some older woman, apparently in her fifties looked on as the deputies manhandled the boy, shoving him to the ground, seemingly applying choke holds, twisting his arms and jamming his legs into the earth.
At the end I counted 10 deputies crowded around the collapsed body of the 14 year old boy as paramedics strapped him into a pallet and slowly dragged him away, finally helped by some of the now concerned deputies that had taken part in the abuse.
This was a 14 year old American boy apparently murdered by several deputies in the Bay County Sheriff’s Department in Florida.
In this case Martin Lee Anderson, a 14 year old American was slaughtered by local law enforcement agents.
For how much longer will this brutality be tolerated?
Bay County Sheriff Department’s web site is :
www.bayso.org/
This is what the Sheriff has to say :
“We strive to provide unparalled service and dedication to duty to ensure a sense of well-being and safety for the citizens of Bay County. “
Martin Lee Anderson is dead.
They have a link to ‘Secure Florida’:
www.secureflorida.org/
One of the top items on that site is :
“What Better Way to Say I Love You on Valentines Day, then with Windows Updates “
Published Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Frank McKeithen is the Sheriff of Bay County, Florida.
Martin Lee Anderson is no longer one of the citizens he is supposed to serve.
What I saw and what you will see when you see the tape is a bunch of ill trained, short sighted men who work in the department run by Frank McKeithen.
I believe that Frank McKeithen needs to find another line of work.
I watched with horror a 6 minute tape of five Bay County Sheriff’s Department deputies forcibly hold down a young boy in a juvenile ‘boot-camp’ run by the State of Florida.
www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/02/17/bootcamp.death/index.html
For most of the mob work that the deputies put on the 14 year old boy five deputies harassed and physically restrained him even as his body slumped to the ground and he was unable to respond.
At one point 8 deputies were crowded around him grabbing at his body and apparently pushing and shoving him from point to point.
In the tape some older woman, apparently in her fifties looked on as the deputies manhandled the boy, shoving him to the ground, seemingly applying choke holds, twisting his arms and jamming his legs into the earth.
At the end I counted 10 deputies crowded around the collapsed body of the 14 year old boy as paramedics strapped him into a pallet and slowly dragged him away, finally helped by some of the now concerned deputies that had taken part in the abuse.
This was a 14 year old American boy apparently murdered by several deputies in the Bay County Sheriff’s Department in Florida.
In this case Martin Lee Anderson, a 14 year old American was slaughtered by local law enforcement agents.
For how much longer will this brutality be tolerated?
Bay County Sheriff Department’s web site is :
www.bayso.org/
This is what the Sheriff has to say :
“We strive to provide unparalled service and dedication to duty to ensure a sense of well-being and safety for the citizens of Bay County. “
Martin Lee Anderson is dead.
They have a link to ‘Secure Florida’:
www.secureflorida.org/
One of the top items on that site is :
“What Better Way to Say I Love You on Valentines Day, then with Windows Updates “
Published Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Frank McKeithen is the Sheriff of Bay County, Florida.
Martin Lee Anderson is no longer one of the citizens he is supposed to serve.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Viagra
Michigan, like many other states, is wrestling with the problem of birth control.
Like it or not, less children are being born into American families and the increase in population throughout the United States is not caused by domestic harmony and prosperity but by immigration.
The population of the United States is growing because of the influx of people moving to live here.
The problem that has surfaced in Michigan, and other states, is about insurance.
Should insurance companies pay for birth control by including it in their care offerings?
Many people say they should not have to pay.
Some say that the insurance companies should not be forced to pay for birth control.
A friend of mine said to me today, however, something that made me pause to think.
She said many insurance companies offer benefits to pay for Viagra.
What does this do?
It puts an artificial sex drive into men who are then driven to rape and abuse.
In that case, why not provide health benefits that pay for birth control.
Everyone knows that drugs are priced artificially high and insurance companies, at least health insurance companies, act no better than legalized loan sharks.
Why penalize women and give men an advantage that will lead to more abuse and unwanted pregnancies?
That is why I believe that if insurance companies pay for dried up old men to have erections then they should provide benefits to young women who do not want to be impregnated by these monsters.
Like it or not, less children are being born into American families and the increase in population throughout the United States is not caused by domestic harmony and prosperity but by immigration.
The population of the United States is growing because of the influx of people moving to live here.
The problem that has surfaced in Michigan, and other states, is about insurance.
Should insurance companies pay for birth control by including it in their care offerings?
Many people say they should not have to pay.
Some say that the insurance companies should not be forced to pay for birth control.
A friend of mine said to me today, however, something that made me pause to think.
She said many insurance companies offer benefits to pay for Viagra.
What does this do?
It puts an artificial sex drive into men who are then driven to rape and abuse.
In that case, why not provide health benefits that pay for birth control.
Everyone knows that drugs are priced artificially high and insurance companies, at least health insurance companies, act no better than legalized loan sharks.
Why penalize women and give men an advantage that will lead to more abuse and unwanted pregnancies?
That is why I believe that if insurance companies pay for dried up old men to have erections then they should provide benefits to young women who do not want to be impregnated by these monsters.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
The Ham is Near
A man by the name of Ham has crossed the Pacific Ocean and arrived in the United States from Australia.
Like many other international businessmen he is going global.
He has come to America to spread the gospel against the theory of evolution.
He teaches children to disbelieve teachers, librarians, museum personnel, scientists and adults in general.
He has given rousing speeches to children in Christian schools around the nation where he leads children through behaviors designed to attack evolution in the classroom and to disbelieve what they are being taught.
His company markets textbooks and DVD’s and has a budget totaling over 15 million dollars and 160 employees.
He was a schoolteacher in Australia but after 5 years he quit and became an evangelist making over $120,000 a year.
How does he do it?
Maybe encouraging ministers to go into show business rather than minister.
Take a look at two signs I saw today.
At one church the sign said, ‘God Speaks : 10:30AM and 12:30PM’.
How’s that for a preacher with a swelled head?
What about “Call On The Name of Jesus : 12 Noon”?
That violates the third commandment if you are calling on the name of Jesus to deny a scientific theory.
I believe men like Ham would teach people to disregard the 10 commandments if they could make a quick buck.
Where is he?
He’s getting ready to build a $25 million Creation Museum near the Cincinnati international airport.
He’s close.
The Ham is near.
Like many other international businessmen he is going global.
He has come to America to spread the gospel against the theory of evolution.
He teaches children to disbelieve teachers, librarians, museum personnel, scientists and adults in general.
He has given rousing speeches to children in Christian schools around the nation where he leads children through behaviors designed to attack evolution in the classroom and to disbelieve what they are being taught.
His company markets textbooks and DVD’s and has a budget totaling over 15 million dollars and 160 employees.
He was a schoolteacher in Australia but after 5 years he quit and became an evangelist making over $120,000 a year.
How does he do it?
Maybe encouraging ministers to go into show business rather than minister.
Take a look at two signs I saw today.
At one church the sign said, ‘God Speaks : 10:30AM and 12:30PM’.
How’s that for a preacher with a swelled head?
What about “Call On The Name of Jesus : 12 Noon”?
That violates the third commandment if you are calling on the name of Jesus to deny a scientific theory.
I believe men like Ham would teach people to disregard the 10 commandments if they could make a quick buck.
Where is he?
He’s getting ready to build a $25 million Creation Museum near the Cincinnati international airport.
He’s close.
The Ham is near.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
To Kill An American
Written by an Australian Dentist...
To Kill an American
You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is . So they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!)
"An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan. "
An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as Native Americans.
An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.
An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.
An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.
An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.
When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!
As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. Americans welcome the best of everything..the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services. But they also welcome the least.
The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.
Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.
So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
To Kill an American
You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is . So they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!)
"An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan. "
An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as Native Americans.
An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.
An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.
An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.
An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.
When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!
As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. Americans welcome the best of everything..the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services. But they also welcome the least.
The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.
Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.
So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Zalmai Azmi
I have a friend who has been in the Information Technology industry for over 20 years.
She was shocked when she learned that a new FBI computer program designed to help agents share information to ward off terrorist attacks may have to be scrapped
The news is that the agency has concluded it needs to be scrapped but further investigation makes it clear that is a decision being made and forced on the users by the new Chief Intelligence Officer of the FBI Zalmai Azmi.
The actions of Zalmai Azmi are causing a further delay in a four-year, half-billion-dollar overhaul of the FBI and its antiquated computer system.
Again the news is that the bureau is so convinced that the software, known as Virtual Case File, will not work as planned that it has taken steps to begin soliciting proposals from outside contractors for new software, but the fact is that this decision and the confusion and idiocy springing from it are owned entirely and exclusively by Zalmai Azmi .
When will public officials in the United States government become aware that terrorism need not be an explosion to be effective?
Effective terrorism or an effective attack on our nation can be quietly carried out by a traitor in a sensitive position who is either incompetent, greedy or aggressive against the United States – as appears to be the case of Zalmai Azmi.
Many of the Senators overseeing this process are allowing themselves to be bamboozled by a smooth talking bureaucrat who is pushing to have hundreds of millions of dollars thrown away while initiating new contracts with a contract of his personal choice for further hundreds of millions of dollars.
Just because Zalmai Azmi claims loyalty to the United States and has possibly served in the United States Marine Corps does not mean that he has the best interests of this nation at heart.
I do not believe we have the best person for the job of Chief Intelligence Officer for the FBI. The fact that he served for the US Attorneys Offices only further leads me to conclude that something needs to be done about Zalmai Azmi and giving him more money and power are not wise.
She was shocked when she learned that a new FBI computer program designed to help agents share information to ward off terrorist attacks may have to be scrapped
The news is that the agency has concluded it needs to be scrapped but further investigation makes it clear that is a decision being made and forced on the users by the new Chief Intelligence Officer of the FBI Zalmai Azmi.
The actions of Zalmai Azmi are causing a further delay in a four-year, half-billion-dollar overhaul of the FBI and its antiquated computer system.
Again the news is that the bureau is so convinced that the software, known as Virtual Case File, will not work as planned that it has taken steps to begin soliciting proposals from outside contractors for new software, but the fact is that this decision and the confusion and idiocy springing from it are owned entirely and exclusively by Zalmai Azmi .
When will public officials in the United States government become aware that terrorism need not be an explosion to be effective?
Effective terrorism or an effective attack on our nation can be quietly carried out by a traitor in a sensitive position who is either incompetent, greedy or aggressive against the United States – as appears to be the case of Zalmai Azmi.
Many of the Senators overseeing this process are allowing themselves to be bamboozled by a smooth talking bureaucrat who is pushing to have hundreds of millions of dollars thrown away while initiating new contracts with a contract of his personal choice for further hundreds of millions of dollars.
Just because Zalmai Azmi claims loyalty to the United States and has possibly served in the United States Marine Corps does not mean that he has the best interests of this nation at heart.
I do not believe we have the best person for the job of Chief Intelligence Officer for the FBI. The fact that he served for the US Attorneys Offices only further leads me to conclude that something needs to be done about Zalmai Azmi and giving him more money and power are not wise.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Abramoff Phenomenon
Senator McCain of Arizona showed his disconnect from the American people and his obsession with Washington politics during a recent hearing session.
It involved a lobbyist by the name of Abramoff who has apparently stolen millions of dollars from Native American tribes during the last few years.
Abramoff and his main accomplice were both employees of Representative Tom DeLay and DeLay has been associated with other problems.
McCain, in service to his party and his political friends and flunkies had this to say about the thievery, “"Today's hearing is about more than contempt, even more than greed. It is simply and sadly a tale of betrayal." (By Abramoff of his friends.)
See how easily Senator McCain steps from truth into an alternate reality?
McCain was once a pilot in Vietnam and flew at high altitudes during his career. Some pilots experience severe dissociative sensations of detachment or remoteness from aircraft, from Earth, or from reality in something called the break-off phenomenon.
After return to earth these feelings and sensations can continue and sometimes be magnified. So, even without confirmation, after reviewing many of McCain’s statements and positions, it is, in my opinion, apparent that he has experienced the ‘Abramoff Phenomenon’.
The issue is no longer about ripping off Native Americans, it’s about Tom DeLay getting his feelings hurt.
As time goes on and McCain once again approaches the possibility of running for President of the United States it becomes clear that the Republican Party has become clubby to the extreme.
It involved a lobbyist by the name of Abramoff who has apparently stolen millions of dollars from Native American tribes during the last few years.
Abramoff and his main accomplice were both employees of Representative Tom DeLay and DeLay has been associated with other problems.
McCain, in service to his party and his political friends and flunkies had this to say about the thievery, “"Today's hearing is about more than contempt, even more than greed. It is simply and sadly a tale of betrayal." (By Abramoff of his friends.)
See how easily Senator McCain steps from truth into an alternate reality?
McCain was once a pilot in Vietnam and flew at high altitudes during his career. Some pilots experience severe dissociative sensations of detachment or remoteness from aircraft, from Earth, or from reality in something called the break-off phenomenon.
After return to earth these feelings and sensations can continue and sometimes be magnified. So, even without confirmation, after reviewing many of McCain’s statements and positions, it is, in my opinion, apparent that he has experienced the ‘Abramoff Phenomenon’.
The issue is no longer about ripping off Native Americans, it’s about Tom DeLay getting his feelings hurt.
As time goes on and McCain once again approaches the possibility of running for President of the United States it becomes clear that the Republican Party has become clubby to the extreme.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Senator Brownback
Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas is a colorful fellow.
He is a Catholic.
Sort of.
He converted from an evangelistic church to Catholicism.
Sort of.
He’s a Republican.
Sort of.
He supports the President.
Sort of.
He’s concentrating on being Senator from Kansas.
Sort of.
Right now he’s concentrating on running for President of the United States.
It seems that because he attends Catholic Mass and still runs around to catch the enthusiastic presentations at his old evangelistic church he thinks he is the one that all Americans could agree to vote on.
The economy is Kansas in based on agriculture and as such these days that means it is based on government hand outs.
The USDA has a rural construction department that actually hands out money to build apartment buildings, new homes, waste water treatment plants (not for farms – for cities and towns), fire houses, police stations and even city halls.
Senator Brownback has been a critic of many government programs and even, it seems of the American government, but when it comes down to taking money from the rest of the nation Old Greenback Brownback is one of the first in line.
Even as American soldiers are dying in Iraq and working in the field with inferior equipment Old Greenback Brownback has been raking in the Federal grant dollars for Kansas.
Even as he talks about fiscal responsibility he seems to have been supporting Kansas in recycling Medicaid funds. Funds to help soldiers’ families get medical care.
He is a Catholic.
Sort of.
He converted from an evangelistic church to Catholicism.
Sort of.
He’s a Republican.
Sort of.
He supports the President.
Sort of.
He’s concentrating on being Senator from Kansas.
Sort of.
Right now he’s concentrating on running for President of the United States.
It seems that because he attends Catholic Mass and still runs around to catch the enthusiastic presentations at his old evangelistic church he thinks he is the one that all Americans could agree to vote on.
The economy is Kansas in based on agriculture and as such these days that means it is based on government hand outs.
The USDA has a rural construction department that actually hands out money to build apartment buildings, new homes, waste water treatment plants (not for farms – for cities and towns), fire houses, police stations and even city halls.
Senator Brownback has been a critic of many government programs and even, it seems of the American government, but when it comes down to taking money from the rest of the nation Old Greenback Brownback is one of the first in line.
Even as American soldiers are dying in Iraq and working in the field with inferior equipment Old Greenback Brownback has been raking in the Federal grant dollars for Kansas.
Even as he talks about fiscal responsibility he seems to have been supporting Kansas in recycling Medicaid funds. Funds to help soldiers’ families get medical care.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Visiting New Orleans
Notes on Visiting the New Orleans Disaster Area 2005
1. Going to the Zoo
I traveled down to the Audobon Zoo on a Sunday. It was November 27th, 2005.
The zoo was to be opened for the weekend for free.
It had been opened earlier in the month but not many people had attended.
There was a big write-up in all the newspapers and it was covered on television and on the radio.
Tens of thousands of people attended the zoo that day.
It was hard to tell where everyone came from but it seemed to me that most of them were from surrounding towns rather than from the city. There aren’t many people left in New Orleans at this time, you see.
The first thing I noticed as I approached the zoo entrance were the military vehicles. There was a green camouflaged armored car and a desert-tan armored car. The soldiers were lounging in the seats. One was standing facing the approaching crowd. He was sporting wrap around sun glasses and had an M-16 slung carelessly across his belly.
I didn’t see them myself but my wife told me later that closer in to the gate the zoo had hired professional huggers. It seems that during the first day the zoo was open people attended the zoo and wept openly before entering the zoo.
In order to comfort these people the huggers would approach them and provide them the physical comfort of a human hug.
Hugs were the last thing on my mind as I skirted the heavily armed vehicles and avoided looking at the soldiers leafing through magazines and casually eyeing the crowd that pressed into the gates.
I noticed that the entire crowd was moving through just one gate even though zoo personnel stood before and motioned to two other gates. I walked over to one of the empty gates and was given a map.
I turned to watch as the people flooded into the zoo through the one gate. Moving carefully and in single file they ignored the repeated pleas and gestures of the zoo personnel directing them to one of the alternative gates which were within just of few feet of the bottleneck they had unconsciously decided to mob.
I looked down at the map and the first thing I noticed were the areas marked off as closed or under repair. I decided to just wing it instead of making a planned foray and dived into the stream of humanity fighting its way through the magic gate.
I found myself in front of the flamingos. They were particularly animated and made guttural sounds as they fished through the water and pushed against each other trying to find enough space to stand.
The crowd swelled around the flamingo enclosure as they themselves attempted to figure out what to do next. They searched bags, wiped noses, tied shoes, looked for restrooms, read maps, children asked for drinks, pushed against other children and did all the things children do in crowded places.
It occurred to me that the space between the flamingos and the people shrank and that they were milling about together in a confused swirl of birds and humans. I wouldn’t have been surprised at that point if a flamingo had walked up to me and asked me directions to the elephant fountain.
For myself, I walked off and headed towards the elephant fountain.
It had been cleaned up. It didn’t look damaged at all. It was clean and beautiful as always. The water was crystalline and the coins people had thrown in sparkled at the bottom. It was a pleasant scene.
I looked around to see which animals I would visit first.
I noticed one building off to my left had been destroyed. The doors and windows were closed up with plywood and wrapped with blue plastic.
To my right another building likewise had been shut down but it was not in such a terrible state of disrepair as the first one.
Directly in front of me I saw the carousel turning in the sunlight.
I looked to my right and decided on visiting the elephants and lions and tigers.
The zoo keepers, however, had one elephant out doing tricks for the crowd. The people applauded after each trick and moved closer to see more. As for me, I couldn’t see anything. There were too many people. All I could see was the top of the elephant’s head and its wide shoulders.
I moved on to the carousel and watched as families bought tickets and climbed on their favorite animals. They rode round and round and were quickly escorted off. The ritual having been fulfilled. The rides seemed shorter than I remembered but there were a lot of people.
The sun was shining and the carousel was in gorgeous working order. The music piped out as it spun round and round and the children were laughing and singing to each other. It was a gay and wonderful sight.
I walked off in search of more animals.
I approached an area that had once housed several hundred water fowl, turtles and played host to a number of wild local birds and squirrels. It was a small lake that had been adorned with water plants, exotic flowers and strong trees. There was a wooden walkway used to cross the water and a large gazebo at the center to rest at and throw food to the ducks.
Most of the lake was stripped bare. Many trees lay on their sides and some broken stumps were still in sight. Most of the birds were gone. There was a skeleton crew of mallards and wood ducks cruising the eager crowd and unable to eat all the food being thrust upon them.
One turtle made his presence known and spent most of the time suspended just below the murky surface. The water was covered with a light sheen of what appeared to some sort of oil and gave off the putrid smell of decay and swamp gas that one associates with stagnant water.
A young child looked up at me with dismay as his mother rolled him past in a stroller. The wood on the walkway had been warped – not much – but enough to make a trip on a stroller over it into a kind of small torture. He let out a mournful wail as he passed that sounded something like this, ‘St-o-o-op-p-p-p-p!’
His mother seemed intent on avoiding further contact with the malingering odor and moved on without slowing.
I moved on and noticed several cages empty of their inhabitants. I stopped along with about 50 other patrons at the jaguar cage and watched the lone male cat pace back and forth.
The zookeepers had announced through the media that the animals missed visitors but the jaguar seemed intent on getting out of that cage as soon as possible. He had been at his pacing for some time and had worn down a path at the bottom of the cage. Out of a reasonably large cage he confined himself to about 20 percent of it.
I didn’t see the female or cubs that had been born there the year before.
Moving on I wandered into the area dedicated to Louisiana wildlife.
The raccoons were sleeping in the trees.
There is a creature called the Nutria that was introduced to Louisiana some time ago. It was brought in from south America to be raised on farms as a fur bearing animal. During a past hurricane some of them had been blown out into the swamps and survived. Since that time their numbers have increased exponentially and they are now considered a pest though they provide a welcome addition to the diet of the local alligators.
They look like giant rats and have bright orange teeth.
Some people think they are cute and some people think they really look like rats.
The day I visited the zoo they were all clustered together and some of them were showing their bright orange teeth. Sometimes I think they look cute but that day they looked like a pile of giant rats.
The alligators lay out in the sun. They were covered with a fine layer of sand and dust mixed with duck weed. In the open on their little zoo beach they were practically invisible to the untrained eye even though some of them are over 10 feet long.
The restaurant area was open but the souvenir stand was not.
There was also a building that housed baby animals in the past but that, likewise, was closed.
A gray and a red fox lay sleeping in the sun.
I then walked to the aviary and found many of the birds missing or listless. In the larger aviary which is housed in a building most of the birds sat watching the passerby without moving much.
A 5 foot long iguana lay in his cage. His green head clashed with his orange body and he turned to look at me with interest as I was the only one to stop and actually look at him. I suppose he looked back in politeness.
At the anteaters enclosure I noticed he too had begun a pacing habit like that of the jaguar. He had already run a rut in his glass cage and looked before him with a glassy gaze. Each time he passed the door leading into his cage he stopped and looked at it with longing before continuing on his long, small journey.
I crossed the green whose mixture of mud and grass squished beneath my feet and noted long lines at the hot dog and Roman Candy (taffy) stands.
The emu cage had been slightly damaged in that the wooden slats that had been used to hide the chain link fence had been blown away. The emu watched closely as I walked by and I got some very good photos of the birds.
As I was walking out I stopped to look at the golden tamarinds and the other monkeys that had been housed with them. I turned to leave and saw two soldiers standing there. Their M-16’s were hanging behind them at about waist level. They seemed unconcerned in the hot air as children and young mothers passed by them. The heavily armed soldiers quietly ate their ice cream and waited for the monkeys to try something funny.
I decided to leave and made my way out of the zoo into the parking lot.
As I was approaching my car I noticed that repairs had already begun on the pool and private clubhouse that is attached to the zoo. You see, the Audobon Zoo is also a club.
Across the street from the zoo there is a large golf course. That had already been meticulously repaired and was already pressed into use. I saw players out on the course hitting the ball around and driving around in their golf carts.
I reflected on this as I got into my van. The American Zoo Association donated millions of dollars from member zoos to restore the Audobon Zoo. I wonder how much went to work in the zoo and how much was used to restore the golf course.
Creative bookkeeping will probably take care of any problems donors would have in the future.
During my drive down St. Charles Avenue I noticed that many houses along a block might not have much damage, if any, at all. Then, scattered amongst them, there would be one house that was thoroughly destroyed. The roof caved in, the windows smashed, the porch collapsed. Right next door, however, not a scratch.
All along the streets to and from the zoo trash and debris were piled high on the sidewalks and in the yards and on the streets. Trash collection was to be free for some time. Homeowners needed only to dump the material on the street for pickup.
They did so and a stream of debris was already making its way to the drains.
I noticed that houses that appeared to have been built in the late 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s had been particularly battered. The older homes – some of them in excess of 100 years old – had slight if any damage. On most of them not even the stained glass windows had been damaged though I did see one with missing panes.
They sure don’t make houses like they used to.
My trip to the zoo was interesting. I found large parts of the city to be empty. I found the golf course to have been a priority at the zoo. I found most of the zoo in disrepair.
2. Downtown
I headed downtown.
I went to visit Jackson Square and Saint Louis Cathedral.
According to people that have known New Orleans their whole life downtown was nearly deserted. They referred to it as a ghost town. To me it seemed like a Sunday morning in any big town but it was Monday morning and New Orleans is a big city.
The people I came across for the most part did not have smiles on their faces. They walked with a blank expression or with an angry grimace.
The downtown area had been largely spared by the storm. Saint Louis Cathedral stood above the square and its spires continued to look down on the statue of Andrew Jackson displayed at the center of Jackson Square.
The park itself was locked. There was no one in it. One homeless man spent his time wandering around the locked fence eating a hot dog and avoiding eye contact.
Four or five tourists strolled up and down in front of the shops clustered alongside the square. The shops themselves were in beautiful order. Their wares were displayed in tasteful window settings. Activity, though, was at a minimum.
Daily mass, normally attended by a large number of people, was sparsely populated.
The streets leading to and from Jackson Square were likewise empty. Few people walked or moved in the windows of the buildings around the area. Some construction workers tripped over themselves as they attempted to carry materials into the historical museum but other than that there was very little activity.
Near the bars and voodoo shops just around the corner, where posters of skulls and drug use are displayed, police gathered for a conference. Several states had sent state police to help patrol the streets in New Orleans following the storm. Many of them have reported observing abuse by the New Orleans Police Department on citizens. They were having a meeting that day to discuss what they had seen and also, perhaps, to figure out what it was they were doing in town as there was seemingly nothing and no one to police.
In what may be a relief to some many of the more unsavory denizens of New Orleans have at least temporarily been driven out.
For a while New Orleans, though populated primarily by ghosts now, is once again an American city and open for possibility. The clinging and wicked underbelly formed of sexual perverts, drug dealers, cheating bartenders and dangerous characters has been cleansed. For how long it will last is anyone’s guess.
The president of the Port of New Orleans has already essentially declared that the Port doesn’t need the city and is independent of it. Many of the docks and piers were spared in the storms. He is claiming that the city never contributed much to the port and he seems to believe that it can survive without the city.
We will have to see how that works out, however. 2005 has seen near record low water levels on the Mississippi. Much of the barge traffic has been slowed or stopped due to low water. The rails have been disrupted as management of the railcars has been bungled and ageing tracks cause further slowdowns.
The city itself remains quiet. Like an empty vessel. Will it be refilled with the refuse that was driven from it or will it be reborn again? New Orleans has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Hopefully this time the new city will regain her place in the world of business and trade.
When you look at the old city and the center of town you can see the grandeur and the power of the place. When you look at a place like ‘The Voodoo Queen’s Shoppe’ or some of the rotting bars in the red light district you have to wonder if the owners of the buildings are serious about business or are just working themselves into an early grave.
3. The Garden district
In the Garden District like the area around the zoo one house on a street might be destroyed and the rest might have nothing wrong with them. Most of the houses in the Garden District, however, had nothing wrong with them at all.
Ann Rice owns at least one home in the area and perhaps more.
Some are owned by rock stars, movies stars or professional athletes. The rich and the powerful make their home in the Garden District and it shows.
Huge live oaks arc over the street.
Piles of debris from the storm are mixed with piles of debris from remodeling jobs and landscaping work going on in houses being restored to some former level of glory or updated to today’s tastes.
Ann Rice reportedly bought the Saint Elizabeth school and is gutting it in order to turn it into condominiums.
Not everyone in New Orleans is suffering.
As State Police officers from around the nation tour the downtown area and local police and vigilantes stand guard over piles of trash and destruction on the outskirts the New Orleans Police Department is out in force in the Garden District.
4. The 9th Ward
The first thing I noticed about the 9th Ward was that it didn’t look too much different from some areas I had been in around New York. Specifically in the Bronx, some parts of Brooklyn and patches of Queens.
The only difference appeared to be that the houses were more brightly painted.
Flood damage was clear throughout the 9th Ward but unlike the Garden District and some other parts of town many of the residents have not been allowed back in to do any work.
Whereas other parts of town can take advantage of free trash removal no one is moving anything in the 9th Ward.
Another problem in that particular area is that most of the houses are rented anyway and they have absentee landlords. Many of the buildings are what is known as ‘shotgun shacks’. That is they are a string of rooms and the front door is lined up with the back door. If all doors are open you can see clear through the house.
One such house was being renovated by members of a historical group. Other houses are being left to sit in the sun waiting for someone to come and clear them out.
The thing about those houses is that many of them are very old. Some are just as old as the houses in the Garden District. They have been flooded before and withstood other calamities. Most of them can be repaired and restored in a fairly short amount of time.
The sheet rock needs to be removed along with the insulation.
The sheet rock will need to be reinstalled along with the insulation.
After testing the electrical and plumbing most of the houses could be fit for living in a couple of weeks and allow for decorating after that.
The problems are money and ownership.
Many of the people that lived there have no cash and cannot buy the materials they need to rebuild. They also do not own the property and what sense would there be to rebuild a home for an absentee landlord?
In the 9th Ward FEMA has brought in trailers and hooked them up to electricity and water and sewer. They have also built chain link fences around them and put barbed wire on top.
The Mayor has told the people there are no trailers.
He has also been trying to put trailers in public parks but the City Council has been giving him a hassle because they don’t want to tear down any playgrounds.
There aren’t any children there right now but that hasn’t impacted their argument.
Arabi
Next to the 9th Ward is a place called Arabi.
That town is worse.
Many of the homes are totaled.
They have been moved off their foundations along with the other damage found in the 9th Ward.
There appears to be a great amount of chemicals spilled in and around the place. It is right next to the 9th Ward and the houses appeared to have been inhabited by people that were reasonably well off but the damage is a completely different sort.
The walls of the houses are crushed or buckled. Many of the windows are broken. Many roofs have been torn up and peeled back.
Again it seemed that the older houses in the 9th Ward did much better than the apparently newer and more cheaply built homes in Arabi.
The destruction was widespread.
On the border between Arabi and the 9th Ward sat armed police. They appeared to be vigilantes. We were not challenged as we entered the town but the threat was there.
It seemed the threat was worn out, however. They must slowly be realizing that they are guarding trash from a nonexistent invader.
Between the 9th Ward and Arabi sits the Walmart which was widely publicized as having been looted following the hurricane.
It should be noted that this particular Walmart is far away from downtown New Orleans. It is also in a relatively isolated area.
When the levees broke and the 9th Ward became cut off the Walmart was the only place in the area that contained supplies like water, food, fuel and clothing.
Most of the other businesses in the area were poor. They had either been undercut by Walmart and were going under or they had been failing for years.
Looting is wrong, there is no denying it, but everyone should realize that during that time that particular Walmart was the only supply depot in the area.
Several small businesses burned in the area. The stores and shops I saw in Arabi were largely destroyed by flood and wind.
The vigilantes appeared to be protecting nothing from no one. Most of the houses were destroyed.
Gentilly
The next town over is called Gentilly.
These people were a little better off.
This town was damaged but not as badly as Arabi or the 9th Ward.
The houses were being repaired in this section. FEMA has provided trailers and they were sitting in driveways or on front lawns. Many of the trailers in this area were tilting and looked to have been driven up in the yard and left that way.
Nearby was the Lakefront district. FEMA trailers in that area were leveled off, hooked up to water and sewer and air conditioning. The Lakefront district had many wealthy residents.
Trash and debris was strewn across the streets and sidewalks of Gentilly. This was not the case in the Lakefront district where the streets and few sidewalks had been cleaned off already. In the Lakefront district some trash had been put on the curb including major appliances.
There were many contractors in Gentilly as well as in the Lakefront district. Some landscaping and a great deal of remodeling was being done.
7. Little Vietnam near the NASA center
This area was very bad.
There seemed to have been no warning and no time to escape given to the residents. I was told that this neighborhood (East New Orleans) was under the impression everything was alright.
Many more cars and personal belongings were strewn in the street in this area. Many cars had not been removed from the driveways or off the street. I was informed that many people in that neighborhood had to be evacuated by helicopter.
Metairie / Slidell / Lake Front
The far side of Lake Pontchartrain suffered more damage from the natural disaster rather than the man made disaster.
There were broken forests. The live oaks and cypress trees that were damaged in the hurricane were being plucked out by contractors and logging pirates.
The rest of the material was being left to rot on the ground.
Along the lake front entire houses were missing from pads. I witnessed one woman sweeping debris off the pad of her former house. The house was completely gone.
Several restaurants were destroyed.
Conclusions and Remarks
In general I found that it was a man made disaster in New Orleans and a natural disaster on the other side of the lake.
There was a great amount of tears and sadness throughout the area.
Many parts of the area appeared to be smashed up.
In general Golf courses opened before people were allowed to see homes.
Upon viewing the levee walls it became apparent there were several flaws with the system.
I am surprised it was allowed to get that far.
The top of the levee wall was decorative. On top of piles of sand, sand bags, debris and earth grass was growing. On top of this pile there were vertical cement walls. They were butted up against each other and did not lock together.
The sound barriers along highways are built better than the top of the levees.
The water did not need to rise 14 or 18 feet to breech the levee. They are normally carrying a large amount of water, especially the Industrial Canal.
The water level only needed to rise 3 to 4 feet to threaten and destroy the toy like top of the levee. As soon as the water touched it they would begin to deteriorate. With little more action than the water flowing by it was obvious the cement wall would tip over in places or in great sections as it did.
The levees are old and of an old design. They were designed to flow water into Lake Pontchartrain. When it rains instead of waiting for water to drain off the water is pumped up above the city to a great height and allowed to slowly flow down into the lake.
During floods the slow drawdown is not an efficient and is a dangerous means to deal with all the extra water.
At one point in the past the levees were purposefully dynamited in order to flood an area of the city to protect another area.
As for additional work and problems in the area :
The local electric utility, Entergy, declared bankruptcy but is still allowed to run nuclear power plants without oversight.
Something called a ‘Fuel Charge’ is being added to all electricity bills.
Old ladies are paying Entergy’s bills while Entergy is reaping profits.
There is a large bridge which crosses Lake Pontchartrain. Only about 30 men have been working on the bridge which was broken down during the storm.
At NASA their sign is broken.
There is debris in NASA’s yard including aluminum shutters leaning against the guard house. Guards were witnessed waving in open backed pickup trucks loaded with Mexican workers while half a mile away down the road the National Guard was loading dump trucks with mulch and fertilizer to spread around trees in public parks and golf courses.
The National Guard base on Lake Pontchartrain was destroyed.
Cars were buried in mud and sand.
Cars are suspended in trees.
Tables hang in trees.
The city is not as low as they say.
The levees have been built very high.
Corruption did not come to mind when I saw them. Stupidity did.
The Army Corps of Engineers designed and supervised the construction of garbage.
They have contributed to the destruction of many of the cypress forests that line the shores and lakes and rivers by cutting canals through swamps that have allowed salt water to flow into areas that normally contained only fresh water. This has destroyed some fisheries and impacted others negatively.
Besides that what is the Army Corps of Engineers doing on the Great Lakes? The level of the upper lakes has fallen nearly 2 feet because of the ill planned dredging in Lake St Clair.
This year, again, barge traffic has been disrupted, not only because of the hurricane but because of mismanagement of the water levels in the Mississippi River. Barges have been stranded up and down the length of the river during this year’s drought and because of mishandling the dams along the river.
The Army Corps of Engineers, their processes and work are a great problem facing this nation.
What are they doing in your area?
In the general area of New Orleans many people are living in tents.
There are military police at the zoo and stationed throughout the region.
There are armored vehicles in the streets.
Protecting what?
Against whom ?
1. Going to the Zoo
I traveled down to the Audobon Zoo on a Sunday. It was November 27th, 2005.
The zoo was to be opened for the weekend for free.
It had been opened earlier in the month but not many people had attended.
There was a big write-up in all the newspapers and it was covered on television and on the radio.
Tens of thousands of people attended the zoo that day.
It was hard to tell where everyone came from but it seemed to me that most of them were from surrounding towns rather than from the city. There aren’t many people left in New Orleans at this time, you see.
The first thing I noticed as I approached the zoo entrance were the military vehicles. There was a green camouflaged armored car and a desert-tan armored car. The soldiers were lounging in the seats. One was standing facing the approaching crowd. He was sporting wrap around sun glasses and had an M-16 slung carelessly across his belly.
I didn’t see them myself but my wife told me later that closer in to the gate the zoo had hired professional huggers. It seems that during the first day the zoo was open people attended the zoo and wept openly before entering the zoo.
In order to comfort these people the huggers would approach them and provide them the physical comfort of a human hug.
Hugs were the last thing on my mind as I skirted the heavily armed vehicles and avoided looking at the soldiers leafing through magazines and casually eyeing the crowd that pressed into the gates.
I noticed that the entire crowd was moving through just one gate even though zoo personnel stood before and motioned to two other gates. I walked over to one of the empty gates and was given a map.
I turned to watch as the people flooded into the zoo through the one gate. Moving carefully and in single file they ignored the repeated pleas and gestures of the zoo personnel directing them to one of the alternative gates which were within just of few feet of the bottleneck they had unconsciously decided to mob.
I looked down at the map and the first thing I noticed were the areas marked off as closed or under repair. I decided to just wing it instead of making a planned foray and dived into the stream of humanity fighting its way through the magic gate.
I found myself in front of the flamingos. They were particularly animated and made guttural sounds as they fished through the water and pushed against each other trying to find enough space to stand.
The crowd swelled around the flamingo enclosure as they themselves attempted to figure out what to do next. They searched bags, wiped noses, tied shoes, looked for restrooms, read maps, children asked for drinks, pushed against other children and did all the things children do in crowded places.
It occurred to me that the space between the flamingos and the people shrank and that they were milling about together in a confused swirl of birds and humans. I wouldn’t have been surprised at that point if a flamingo had walked up to me and asked me directions to the elephant fountain.
For myself, I walked off and headed towards the elephant fountain.
It had been cleaned up. It didn’t look damaged at all. It was clean and beautiful as always. The water was crystalline and the coins people had thrown in sparkled at the bottom. It was a pleasant scene.
I looked around to see which animals I would visit first.
I noticed one building off to my left had been destroyed. The doors and windows were closed up with plywood and wrapped with blue plastic.
To my right another building likewise had been shut down but it was not in such a terrible state of disrepair as the first one.
Directly in front of me I saw the carousel turning in the sunlight.
I looked to my right and decided on visiting the elephants and lions and tigers.
The zoo keepers, however, had one elephant out doing tricks for the crowd. The people applauded after each trick and moved closer to see more. As for me, I couldn’t see anything. There were too many people. All I could see was the top of the elephant’s head and its wide shoulders.
I moved on to the carousel and watched as families bought tickets and climbed on their favorite animals. They rode round and round and were quickly escorted off. The ritual having been fulfilled. The rides seemed shorter than I remembered but there were a lot of people.
The sun was shining and the carousel was in gorgeous working order. The music piped out as it spun round and round and the children were laughing and singing to each other. It was a gay and wonderful sight.
I walked off in search of more animals.
I approached an area that had once housed several hundred water fowl, turtles and played host to a number of wild local birds and squirrels. It was a small lake that had been adorned with water plants, exotic flowers and strong trees. There was a wooden walkway used to cross the water and a large gazebo at the center to rest at and throw food to the ducks.
Most of the lake was stripped bare. Many trees lay on their sides and some broken stumps were still in sight. Most of the birds were gone. There was a skeleton crew of mallards and wood ducks cruising the eager crowd and unable to eat all the food being thrust upon them.
One turtle made his presence known and spent most of the time suspended just below the murky surface. The water was covered with a light sheen of what appeared to some sort of oil and gave off the putrid smell of decay and swamp gas that one associates with stagnant water.
A young child looked up at me with dismay as his mother rolled him past in a stroller. The wood on the walkway had been warped – not much – but enough to make a trip on a stroller over it into a kind of small torture. He let out a mournful wail as he passed that sounded something like this, ‘St-o-o-op-p-p-p-p!’
His mother seemed intent on avoiding further contact with the malingering odor and moved on without slowing.
I moved on and noticed several cages empty of their inhabitants. I stopped along with about 50 other patrons at the jaguar cage and watched the lone male cat pace back and forth.
The zookeepers had announced through the media that the animals missed visitors but the jaguar seemed intent on getting out of that cage as soon as possible. He had been at his pacing for some time and had worn down a path at the bottom of the cage. Out of a reasonably large cage he confined himself to about 20 percent of it.
I didn’t see the female or cubs that had been born there the year before.
Moving on I wandered into the area dedicated to Louisiana wildlife.
The raccoons were sleeping in the trees.
There is a creature called the Nutria that was introduced to Louisiana some time ago. It was brought in from south America to be raised on farms as a fur bearing animal. During a past hurricane some of them had been blown out into the swamps and survived. Since that time their numbers have increased exponentially and they are now considered a pest though they provide a welcome addition to the diet of the local alligators.
They look like giant rats and have bright orange teeth.
Some people think they are cute and some people think they really look like rats.
The day I visited the zoo they were all clustered together and some of them were showing their bright orange teeth. Sometimes I think they look cute but that day they looked like a pile of giant rats.
The alligators lay out in the sun. They were covered with a fine layer of sand and dust mixed with duck weed. In the open on their little zoo beach they were practically invisible to the untrained eye even though some of them are over 10 feet long.
The restaurant area was open but the souvenir stand was not.
There was also a building that housed baby animals in the past but that, likewise, was closed.
A gray and a red fox lay sleeping in the sun.
I then walked to the aviary and found many of the birds missing or listless. In the larger aviary which is housed in a building most of the birds sat watching the passerby without moving much.
A 5 foot long iguana lay in his cage. His green head clashed with his orange body and he turned to look at me with interest as I was the only one to stop and actually look at him. I suppose he looked back in politeness.
At the anteaters enclosure I noticed he too had begun a pacing habit like that of the jaguar. He had already run a rut in his glass cage and looked before him with a glassy gaze. Each time he passed the door leading into his cage he stopped and looked at it with longing before continuing on his long, small journey.
I crossed the green whose mixture of mud and grass squished beneath my feet and noted long lines at the hot dog and Roman Candy (taffy) stands.
The emu cage had been slightly damaged in that the wooden slats that had been used to hide the chain link fence had been blown away. The emu watched closely as I walked by and I got some very good photos of the birds.
As I was walking out I stopped to look at the golden tamarinds and the other monkeys that had been housed with them. I turned to leave and saw two soldiers standing there. Their M-16’s were hanging behind them at about waist level. They seemed unconcerned in the hot air as children and young mothers passed by them. The heavily armed soldiers quietly ate their ice cream and waited for the monkeys to try something funny.
I decided to leave and made my way out of the zoo into the parking lot.
As I was approaching my car I noticed that repairs had already begun on the pool and private clubhouse that is attached to the zoo. You see, the Audobon Zoo is also a club.
Across the street from the zoo there is a large golf course. That had already been meticulously repaired and was already pressed into use. I saw players out on the course hitting the ball around and driving around in their golf carts.
I reflected on this as I got into my van. The American Zoo Association donated millions of dollars from member zoos to restore the Audobon Zoo. I wonder how much went to work in the zoo and how much was used to restore the golf course.
Creative bookkeeping will probably take care of any problems donors would have in the future.
During my drive down St. Charles Avenue I noticed that many houses along a block might not have much damage, if any, at all. Then, scattered amongst them, there would be one house that was thoroughly destroyed. The roof caved in, the windows smashed, the porch collapsed. Right next door, however, not a scratch.
All along the streets to and from the zoo trash and debris were piled high on the sidewalks and in the yards and on the streets. Trash collection was to be free for some time. Homeowners needed only to dump the material on the street for pickup.
They did so and a stream of debris was already making its way to the drains.
I noticed that houses that appeared to have been built in the late 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s had been particularly battered. The older homes – some of them in excess of 100 years old – had slight if any damage. On most of them not even the stained glass windows had been damaged though I did see one with missing panes.
They sure don’t make houses like they used to.
My trip to the zoo was interesting. I found large parts of the city to be empty. I found the golf course to have been a priority at the zoo. I found most of the zoo in disrepair.
2. Downtown
I headed downtown.
I went to visit Jackson Square and Saint Louis Cathedral.
According to people that have known New Orleans their whole life downtown was nearly deserted. They referred to it as a ghost town. To me it seemed like a Sunday morning in any big town but it was Monday morning and New Orleans is a big city.
The people I came across for the most part did not have smiles on their faces. They walked with a blank expression or with an angry grimace.
The downtown area had been largely spared by the storm. Saint Louis Cathedral stood above the square and its spires continued to look down on the statue of Andrew Jackson displayed at the center of Jackson Square.
The park itself was locked. There was no one in it. One homeless man spent his time wandering around the locked fence eating a hot dog and avoiding eye contact.
Four or five tourists strolled up and down in front of the shops clustered alongside the square. The shops themselves were in beautiful order. Their wares were displayed in tasteful window settings. Activity, though, was at a minimum.
Daily mass, normally attended by a large number of people, was sparsely populated.
The streets leading to and from Jackson Square were likewise empty. Few people walked or moved in the windows of the buildings around the area. Some construction workers tripped over themselves as they attempted to carry materials into the historical museum but other than that there was very little activity.
Near the bars and voodoo shops just around the corner, where posters of skulls and drug use are displayed, police gathered for a conference. Several states had sent state police to help patrol the streets in New Orleans following the storm. Many of them have reported observing abuse by the New Orleans Police Department on citizens. They were having a meeting that day to discuss what they had seen and also, perhaps, to figure out what it was they were doing in town as there was seemingly nothing and no one to police.
In what may be a relief to some many of the more unsavory denizens of New Orleans have at least temporarily been driven out.
For a while New Orleans, though populated primarily by ghosts now, is once again an American city and open for possibility. The clinging and wicked underbelly formed of sexual perverts, drug dealers, cheating bartenders and dangerous characters has been cleansed. For how long it will last is anyone’s guess.
The president of the Port of New Orleans has already essentially declared that the Port doesn’t need the city and is independent of it. Many of the docks and piers were spared in the storms. He is claiming that the city never contributed much to the port and he seems to believe that it can survive without the city.
We will have to see how that works out, however. 2005 has seen near record low water levels on the Mississippi. Much of the barge traffic has been slowed or stopped due to low water. The rails have been disrupted as management of the railcars has been bungled and ageing tracks cause further slowdowns.
The city itself remains quiet. Like an empty vessel. Will it be refilled with the refuse that was driven from it or will it be reborn again? New Orleans has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Hopefully this time the new city will regain her place in the world of business and trade.
When you look at the old city and the center of town you can see the grandeur and the power of the place. When you look at a place like ‘The Voodoo Queen’s Shoppe’ or some of the rotting bars in the red light district you have to wonder if the owners of the buildings are serious about business or are just working themselves into an early grave.
3. The Garden district
In the Garden District like the area around the zoo one house on a street might be destroyed and the rest might have nothing wrong with them. Most of the houses in the Garden District, however, had nothing wrong with them at all.
Ann Rice owns at least one home in the area and perhaps more.
Some are owned by rock stars, movies stars or professional athletes. The rich and the powerful make their home in the Garden District and it shows.
Huge live oaks arc over the street.
Piles of debris from the storm are mixed with piles of debris from remodeling jobs and landscaping work going on in houses being restored to some former level of glory or updated to today’s tastes.
Ann Rice reportedly bought the Saint Elizabeth school and is gutting it in order to turn it into condominiums.
Not everyone in New Orleans is suffering.
As State Police officers from around the nation tour the downtown area and local police and vigilantes stand guard over piles of trash and destruction on the outskirts the New Orleans Police Department is out in force in the Garden District.
4. The 9th Ward
The first thing I noticed about the 9th Ward was that it didn’t look too much different from some areas I had been in around New York. Specifically in the Bronx, some parts of Brooklyn and patches of Queens.
The only difference appeared to be that the houses were more brightly painted.
Flood damage was clear throughout the 9th Ward but unlike the Garden District and some other parts of town many of the residents have not been allowed back in to do any work.
Whereas other parts of town can take advantage of free trash removal no one is moving anything in the 9th Ward.
Another problem in that particular area is that most of the houses are rented anyway and they have absentee landlords. Many of the buildings are what is known as ‘shotgun shacks’. That is they are a string of rooms and the front door is lined up with the back door. If all doors are open you can see clear through the house.
One such house was being renovated by members of a historical group. Other houses are being left to sit in the sun waiting for someone to come and clear them out.
The thing about those houses is that many of them are very old. Some are just as old as the houses in the Garden District. They have been flooded before and withstood other calamities. Most of them can be repaired and restored in a fairly short amount of time.
The sheet rock needs to be removed along with the insulation.
The sheet rock will need to be reinstalled along with the insulation.
After testing the electrical and plumbing most of the houses could be fit for living in a couple of weeks and allow for decorating after that.
The problems are money and ownership.
Many of the people that lived there have no cash and cannot buy the materials they need to rebuild. They also do not own the property and what sense would there be to rebuild a home for an absentee landlord?
In the 9th Ward FEMA has brought in trailers and hooked them up to electricity and water and sewer. They have also built chain link fences around them and put barbed wire on top.
The Mayor has told the people there are no trailers.
He has also been trying to put trailers in public parks but the City Council has been giving him a hassle because they don’t want to tear down any playgrounds.
There aren’t any children there right now but that hasn’t impacted their argument.
Arabi
Next to the 9th Ward is a place called Arabi.
That town is worse.
Many of the homes are totaled.
They have been moved off their foundations along with the other damage found in the 9th Ward.
There appears to be a great amount of chemicals spilled in and around the place. It is right next to the 9th Ward and the houses appeared to have been inhabited by people that were reasonably well off but the damage is a completely different sort.
The walls of the houses are crushed or buckled. Many of the windows are broken. Many roofs have been torn up and peeled back.
Again it seemed that the older houses in the 9th Ward did much better than the apparently newer and more cheaply built homes in Arabi.
The destruction was widespread.
On the border between Arabi and the 9th Ward sat armed police. They appeared to be vigilantes. We were not challenged as we entered the town but the threat was there.
It seemed the threat was worn out, however. They must slowly be realizing that they are guarding trash from a nonexistent invader.
Between the 9th Ward and Arabi sits the Walmart which was widely publicized as having been looted following the hurricane.
It should be noted that this particular Walmart is far away from downtown New Orleans. It is also in a relatively isolated area.
When the levees broke and the 9th Ward became cut off the Walmart was the only place in the area that contained supplies like water, food, fuel and clothing.
Most of the other businesses in the area were poor. They had either been undercut by Walmart and were going under or they had been failing for years.
Looting is wrong, there is no denying it, but everyone should realize that during that time that particular Walmart was the only supply depot in the area.
Several small businesses burned in the area. The stores and shops I saw in Arabi were largely destroyed by flood and wind.
The vigilantes appeared to be protecting nothing from no one. Most of the houses were destroyed.
Gentilly
The next town over is called Gentilly.
These people were a little better off.
This town was damaged but not as badly as Arabi or the 9th Ward.
The houses were being repaired in this section. FEMA has provided trailers and they were sitting in driveways or on front lawns. Many of the trailers in this area were tilting and looked to have been driven up in the yard and left that way.
Nearby was the Lakefront district. FEMA trailers in that area were leveled off, hooked up to water and sewer and air conditioning. The Lakefront district had many wealthy residents.
Trash and debris was strewn across the streets and sidewalks of Gentilly. This was not the case in the Lakefront district where the streets and few sidewalks had been cleaned off already. In the Lakefront district some trash had been put on the curb including major appliances.
There were many contractors in Gentilly as well as in the Lakefront district. Some landscaping and a great deal of remodeling was being done.
7. Little Vietnam near the NASA center
This area was very bad.
There seemed to have been no warning and no time to escape given to the residents. I was told that this neighborhood (East New Orleans) was under the impression everything was alright.
Many more cars and personal belongings were strewn in the street in this area. Many cars had not been removed from the driveways or off the street. I was informed that many people in that neighborhood had to be evacuated by helicopter.
Metairie / Slidell / Lake Front
The far side of Lake Pontchartrain suffered more damage from the natural disaster rather than the man made disaster.
There were broken forests. The live oaks and cypress trees that were damaged in the hurricane were being plucked out by contractors and logging pirates.
The rest of the material was being left to rot on the ground.
Along the lake front entire houses were missing from pads. I witnessed one woman sweeping debris off the pad of her former house. The house was completely gone.
Several restaurants were destroyed.
Conclusions and Remarks
In general I found that it was a man made disaster in New Orleans and a natural disaster on the other side of the lake.
There was a great amount of tears and sadness throughout the area.
Many parts of the area appeared to be smashed up.
In general Golf courses opened before people were allowed to see homes.
Upon viewing the levee walls it became apparent there were several flaws with the system.
I am surprised it was allowed to get that far.
The top of the levee wall was decorative. On top of piles of sand, sand bags, debris and earth grass was growing. On top of this pile there were vertical cement walls. They were butted up against each other and did not lock together.
The sound barriers along highways are built better than the top of the levees.
The water did not need to rise 14 or 18 feet to breech the levee. They are normally carrying a large amount of water, especially the Industrial Canal.
The water level only needed to rise 3 to 4 feet to threaten and destroy the toy like top of the levee. As soon as the water touched it they would begin to deteriorate. With little more action than the water flowing by it was obvious the cement wall would tip over in places or in great sections as it did.
The levees are old and of an old design. They were designed to flow water into Lake Pontchartrain. When it rains instead of waiting for water to drain off the water is pumped up above the city to a great height and allowed to slowly flow down into the lake.
During floods the slow drawdown is not an efficient and is a dangerous means to deal with all the extra water.
At one point in the past the levees were purposefully dynamited in order to flood an area of the city to protect another area.
As for additional work and problems in the area :
The local electric utility, Entergy, declared bankruptcy but is still allowed to run nuclear power plants without oversight.
Something called a ‘Fuel Charge’ is being added to all electricity bills.
Old ladies are paying Entergy’s bills while Entergy is reaping profits.
There is a large bridge which crosses Lake Pontchartrain. Only about 30 men have been working on the bridge which was broken down during the storm.
At NASA their sign is broken.
There is debris in NASA’s yard including aluminum shutters leaning against the guard house. Guards were witnessed waving in open backed pickup trucks loaded with Mexican workers while half a mile away down the road the National Guard was loading dump trucks with mulch and fertilizer to spread around trees in public parks and golf courses.
The National Guard base on Lake Pontchartrain was destroyed.
Cars were buried in mud and sand.
Cars are suspended in trees.
Tables hang in trees.
The city is not as low as they say.
The levees have been built very high.
Corruption did not come to mind when I saw them. Stupidity did.
The Army Corps of Engineers designed and supervised the construction of garbage.
They have contributed to the destruction of many of the cypress forests that line the shores and lakes and rivers by cutting canals through swamps that have allowed salt water to flow into areas that normally contained only fresh water. This has destroyed some fisheries and impacted others negatively.
Besides that what is the Army Corps of Engineers doing on the Great Lakes? The level of the upper lakes has fallen nearly 2 feet because of the ill planned dredging in Lake St Clair.
This year, again, barge traffic has been disrupted, not only because of the hurricane but because of mismanagement of the water levels in the Mississippi River. Barges have been stranded up and down the length of the river during this year’s drought and because of mishandling the dams along the river.
The Army Corps of Engineers, their processes and work are a great problem facing this nation.
What are they doing in your area?
In the general area of New Orleans many people are living in tents.
There are military police at the zoo and stationed throughout the region.
There are armored vehicles in the streets.
Protecting what?
Against whom ?
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