Making Baby Jesus Cry

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Cite please?

The only thing I've read is that they are trying to prevent the press ghouls from publishing macabre photos of the dead.

"The U.S. agency leading Hurricane Katrina rescue efforts said Tuesday that it does not want the news media to photograph the dead as they are recovered."
-- Reuters

"We are in Jefferson Parish, just outside of New Orleans. At the National Guard checkpoint, they are under orders to turn away all media. All of the reporters are turning they’re TV trucks around."
-- Bob Brigham

"'[FEMA has] people here who are search-and-rescue certified, paramedics, haz-mat certified,' said a Texas firefighter. 'We're sitting in here having a sexual-harassment class while there are still [victims] in Louisiana who haven't been contacted yet.' The firefighter, who has encouraged his superiors back home not to send any more volunteers for now, declined to give his name because FEMA has warned them not to talk to reporters."
-- Salt Lake City Tribune

courtesy of Kevin Drum, who has links

Honestly, I hope these are isolated aberrations. But stop and remember that the three most senior people at FEMA are veterans of the Bush-Cheney campaigns.

eta:

"While we were attempting to take pictures of the National Guard (a unit from Oklahoma) taking up positions outside a Brooks Brothers on the edge of the Quarter, the sergeant ordered us to the other side of the boulevard. The short version is: there won't be any pictures of this particular group of guard soldiers on our newscast tonight. Rules (or I suspect in this case an order on a whim) like those do not HELP the palpable feeling that this area is somehow separate from the United States.

At that same fire scene, a police officer from out of town raised the muzzle of her weapon and aimed it at members of the media... obvious members of the media... armed only with notepads. Her actions (apparently because she thought reporters were encroaching on the scene) were over the top and she was told. There are automatic weapons and shotguns everywhere you look. It's a stance that perhaps would have been appropriate during the open lawlessness that has long since ended on most of these streets. Someone else points out on television as I post this: the fact that the National Guard now bars entry (by journalists) to the very places where people last week were barred from LEAVING (The Convention Center and Superdome) is a kind of perverse and perfectly backward postscript to this awful chapter in American history."

-- Brian Williams

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Cite please?

The only thing I've read is that they are trying to prevent the press ghouls from publishing macabre photos of the dead.

Even Ty once censored pictures of dead people on this board. turn about is certainly fair play.

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
"The U.S. agency leading Hurricane Katrina rescue efforts said Tuesday that it does not want the news media to photograph the dead as they are recovered."
-- Reuters

If this isn't the pot calling the kettle black. I think you owe the board an apology. again.

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
"The U.S. agency leading Hurricane Katrina rescue efforts said Tuesday that it does not want the news media to photograph the dead as they are recovered."
-- Reuters

I don't see this as a problem. Would you prefer the media profit from the "rubbernecks" who want to see little James' drowned grandmother (of course, before James and his family does)

"We are in Jefferson Parish, just outside of New Orleans. At the National Guard checkpoint, they are under orders to turn away all media. All of the reporters are turning they’re TV trucks around."
-- Bob Brigham

If the media being present is hampering rescue efforts - then keep them the fuck out.

'[FEMA has] people here who are search-and-rescue certified, paramedics, haz-mat certified,' said a Texas firefighter. 'We're sitting in here having a sexual-harassment class while there are still [victims] in Louisiana who haven't been contacted yet.' The firefighter, who has encouraged his superiors back home not to send any more volunteers for now, declined to give his name because FEMA has warned them not to talk to reporters."
-- Salt Lake City Tribune

No shit. This is fucking ridiculous. Then again, who is responsible for these stupid PC bullshit "harrassment" requirements in the first place? It sure wasn't the Federalist Society.
[/QUOTE]

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
I don't see this as a problem. Would you prefer the media profit from the "rubbernecks" who want to see little James' drowned grandmother (of course, before James and his family does)

Yes. I am opposed to the government deciding what the press should and should not be able to run. I object to the media profiting from certain reality TV programs, but I certainly don't think FEMA out to be deciding what is in good taste there either.

If the media being present is hampering rescue efforts - then keep them the fuck out.

If they want to exclude everyone, maybe that's plausible. But (a) this quote and the next suggest that media are being treated differently, and (b) this is America.

For that matter, although it's probably a good idea for the mayor to tell everyone to get out of NO, what gives him the right to tell people to get out of their houses? Property rights, anyone? I'm asking because I'm curious.

No shit. This is fucking ridiculous. Then again, who is responsible for these stupid PC bullshit "harrassment" requirements in the first place? It sure wasn't the Federalist Society.

It is ridiculous that FEMA would waste the firefighters' time by sending them to sexual harassment training, it is ridiculous that they would tell firefighters not to talk to the media -- this being America and all -- and it is ridiculous that they would send the firefighters to NO -- which was begging for help at the time -- only to serve as the backdrop for Bush's appearance there.

etfs

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop


For that matter, although it's probably a good idea for the mayor to tell everyone to get out of NO, what gives him the right to tell people to get out of their houses? Property rights, anyone? I'm asking because I'm curious.

Public safety?

More seriously though, property rights are a fiction after 200 plus years of liberal corruption of our constitutional and babyjesus given rights. In many places one can barely wipe one's arse in one's own home without the government regulating and permitting the installation of the toilet paper holder. The only real protection of property rights is the second amendment, which I see is being exercised by the good people of New Orleans with some frequency. Bravo Brave Patriots!!

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
Public safety?

More seriously though, property rights are a fiction after 200 plus years of liberal corruption of our constitutional and babyjesus given rights. In many places one can barely wipe one's arse in one's own home without the government regulating and permitting the installation of the toilet paper holder. The only real protection of property rights is the second amendment, which I see is being exercised by the good people of New Orleans with some frequency. Bravo Brave Patriots!!

So you think the mayor etc. etc. should let people stay in their homes if they want to? I mean, arrest the looters and other criminals by all means, but people who are just sitting in their houses and don't want to leave -- force to evacuate, or no?

[Penske_Account]

B-L-A-N-C-O.

BREAKING NEWS:

Red Cross Says "We Were Kept From Superdome By State"

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A report on Fox News from correspondent Major Garrett Wednesday night reveals a major break into what exactly went wrong at the Louisiana Superdome in the days after Hurricane Katrina struck the city.

An American Red Cross representative tells Fox News that the Louisiana State Homeland Security Department refused the relief organization permission to take food and water to the Superdome because they did not want to "encourage people to go there."

They State office of Homeland Security wanted to get people out and were afraid that providing support would be a "magnet" attracting more displaced citizens of New Orleans.

Ty, apology please?

MORE TO FOLLOW..................

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
So you think the mayor etc. etc. should let people stay in their homes if they want to? I mean, arrest the looters and other criminals by all means, but people who are just sitting in their houses and don't want to leave -- force to evacuate, or no?

I think if he was going to force people to evacuate he should have done it in the 48 hours pre-Katrina with the buses at his disposal per the plan that had been put in writing.

At this point it is fully informed assumption of the risk and he should put his resources to better use.

Of course, how he can get anyone out is a good question since 1/3 of his police force is AWOL and the other 2/3 is on a muni-government paid vacation in Las Vegas. Does he think he has the authority to command the Guard or the troops on the ground? He is certainly equal parts stupid and delusional enough to think so, but he doesnt.

Plus, his pal in negligence, Blanco, has put the kibosh on his order, no?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
B-L-A-N-C-O.

BREAKING NEWS:

Red Cross Says "We Were Kept From Superdome By State"

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A report on Fox News from correspondent Major Garrett Wednesday night reveals a major break into what exactly went wrong at the Louisiana Superdome in the days after Hurricane Katrina struck the city.

An American Red Cross representative tells Fox News that the Louisiana State Homeland Security Department refused the relief organization permission to take food and water to the Superdome because they did not want to "encourage people to go there."

They State office of Homeland Security wanted to get people out and were afraid that providing support would be a "magnet" attracting more displaced citizens of New Orleans.

Ty, apology please?

MORE TO FOLLOW..................

I guess it's Blanco's fault too that when Chertoff and Brown were interviewed on TV this weekend, they didn't know anyone was at the Superdome. She hyp-mo-tized them, or something.

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
I guess it's Blanco's fault too that when Chertoff and Brown were interviewed on TV this weekend, they didn't know anyone was at the Superdome. She hyp-mo-tized them, or something.

Excellent deflection from her negligence or idiocy, which obvloisly was primary to the deaths of some, to the Feds.

Have you no shame? No objectivity whatsoever?

hank, can I get a ruling?

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
It is ridiculous that FEMA would waste the firefighters' time by sending them to sexual harassment training

I have problems with most Fed regulations.

it is ridiculous that they would tell firefighters not to talk to the media -- this being America and all --

It is ridiculous to me - as a NYer with firemen in my family - that so many outside firemen would have to be flown in to replace corrupt the NOPD and NOFD (the acronym, when read differently, is apt) that disappeared on the job.

These heroes are here to work - not to give the Olbermann's a scoop.

and it is ridiculous that they would send the firefighters to NO -- which was begging for help at the time -- only to serve as the backdrop for Bush's appearance there.

I've only seen this nonsense on lefty blogs so I doubt its veracity. Its absurd to me.

If they want to exclude everyone, maybe that's plausible. But (a) this quote and the next suggest that media are being treated differently, and (b) this is America.

This is now a HazMat area of epic proportions. They should be able to bar whomever they please. I'm waiting for the first "bacterial disease" class action suit against everyone.

For that matter, although it's probably a good idea for the mayor to tell everyone to get out of NO, what gives him the right to tell people to get out of their houses? Property rights, anyone? I'm asking because I'm curious.

I'm all for property rights. I also draw the line at untenable, uninhabitable situations like this. Anyone at this point, 8 days later, that hampers rescue options, denies care or delays evacuation deserves what they get.

This is assumption of risk at its finest. After a certain cutoff point - anyone that refuses to leave - let 'em starve, drown or fester.

[SlaveNoMore]

ltl/fb
So you think the mayor etc. etc. should let people stay in their homes if they want to? I mean, arrest the looters and other criminals by all means, but people who are just sitting in their houses and don't want to leave -- force to evacuate, or no?

I'd make them sign a medical waiver and legal disclaimers and say sayonara.

These idiots will be the first to sue for cholera.

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
I'd make them sign a medical waiver and legal disclaimers and say sayonara.

These idiots will be the first to sue for cholera.

Dissent. Penn will sue the Feds for cholera first. And also for failing to regulate the placement of the drain plug in his boat.

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
I guess it's Blanco's fault too that when Chertoff and Brown were interviewed on TV this weekend, they didn't know anyone was at the Superdome. She hyp-mo-tized them, or something.

Ty - you know this is highly inaccuarate.

The media questioned these guys about "conditions" at the Superdome - and, unfortunately, in today's beurocracy, media travels much faster than proper government channels.