Just As I Thought!
(This ties to my feelings on the matter posted here! )
FEMA Official Says Boss Ignored Warnings
By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer 54 minutes ago
WASHINGTON – Federal Emergency Management Agency officials did not respond to repeated warnings about deteriorating conditions in New Orleans and the dire need for help as Hurricane Katrina struck, the first FEMA official to arrive conceded Thursday.
Marty Bahamonde, a FEMA regional director, told a Senate panel investigating the government’s response to the disaster that he gave regular updates to people in contact with then-FEMA Director Michael Brown as early as Aug. 28, one day before Katrina made landfall.
In most cases, he was met with silence. In an Aug. 29 phone call to Brown informing him that the first levee had broke, Bahamonde said he received a polite thank you from Brown, who said he would check with the White House.
"I think there was a systematic failure at all levels of government to understand the magnitude of the situation," Bahamonde said.
The testimony before the Senate
Homeland Security Committee contradicted Brown, who has said he wasn’t fully aware of the dire conditions until days later and that local officials were most responsible for the sluggish response.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who chairs the panel, decried the testimony and e-mail released by Bahamonde on Thursday as illustrating "a complete disconnect between senior officials and the reality of the situation."
"His urgent reports did not appear to prompt an urgent response," Collins said.
In e-mails to various FEMA officials, including one to Brown, Bahamonde described a chaotic situation at the Superdome, where many of the evacuees were sheltered. Bahamonde e-mailed FEMA officials and noted also that local officials were asking for toilet paper, a sign that supplies were lacking at the shelter.
"Issues developing at the Superdome. The medical staff at the dome says they will run out of oxygen in about two hours and are looking for alternative oxygen," Bahamonde wrote in an e-mail to regional director David Passey in a call at 4:46 p.m. CDT on Aug. 28.
Less than an hour later, Bahamonde wrote: "Everyone is soaked. This is going to get ugly real fast."
Bahamonde said he was stunned that FEMA officials responded by continuing to send truckloads of evacuees to the Superdome for two more days even though they knew supplies were in short supply.
"I thought it amazing," he said. "I believed at the time and still do today, that I was confirming the worst-case scenario that everyone had always talked about regarding New Orleans."
Later, on Aug. 31, Bahamonde frantically e-mailed Brown to tell him that thousands are evacuees were gathering in the streets with no food or water and that "estimates are many will die within hours."
"Sir, I know that you know the situation is past critical," Bahamonde wrote.
Less than three hours later, however, Brown’s press secretary wrote colleagues to complain that the FEMA director needed more time to eat dinner at a Baton Rouge restaurant that evening. "He needs much more that (sic) 20 or 30 minutes," wrote Brown aide Sharon Worthy.
"We now have traffic to encounter to go to and from a location of his choise (sic), followed by wait service from the restaurant staff, eating, etc. Thank you."
Meanwhile, at a separate hearing, lawmakers considering Louisiana’s request for $32 billion for Gulf Coast rebuilding were told that Mississippi would need tens of billions of dollars of its own to restore its coastline.
Gulf Coast lawmakers and state officials have been pushing for vast infusions of federal aid since Katrina hit Aug. 29, killing more than 1,200 people and forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate.
"It will be in the billions, with a ‘b,’ level, it may be in the tens of billions; it won’t be in the hundreds of billions," William W. Walker, head of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, told a House transportation panel.
But Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., chairman of that panel, earlier had said flatly that Congress cannot afford Louisiana’s request. "This is just not going to happen," he said.
Fuckers!
8016
Yeah, fuckers.
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wow…just..wow. And yes, fckers.
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youre right, the fuckers! ryn: No I just made them private, because well… I was asking to be a snoop and the second one had personal information in it, thats all.
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Still waiting on that article from New Orleans on their response to the matter… but I am not betting my life on it. *voice dripping with sarcasm*
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un-f*cking-believable…someone needs to be castrated. nah, do the lot of them!
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Brown’s response(s) are just mind-numbingly callous and incomprehensible.
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“FUCKERS” is an understatement. It’s all bullshit I tell ya…BULLSHIT! P.S. By the way….I was hoping for an entry with a little more…..more….um….”steamy action” ~giggle~
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Ryn: You’re probably right.
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Ryn: NOT ON PURPOSE, MR. KNOW-IT-ALL!
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((((Hugs*))))
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RYN: @40??? What the fuck man, I’m ONLY 32~!~ Sheesh!!!!!
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RYN: I think I’ll stick with life*begins. Unless I get in a “technical” mood and change it to my*life*begins 🙂
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ryn: no worries. Got 4 days alone in a strange city across the nation last week. I LOVED my time alone. LOVED it. It teaches us things, you know? Teaches us things about ourselves. How can I be “so happy” with my life here when I’m so much happier alone? And there were no men involved in this trip. I didn’t even FLIRT this trip. And that’s what scares me. When it was other men I….
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…craved, and THEY were the temptation I had to resist, I knew better. That it was “just sex.” But this new shift is NOT about sex at all. And that’s what has me scared. It was about that shadow under the door. Which is mine. Which is me.
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Ryn: Thank you.
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RYN: ouch…bet that hurt 🙂 Your fairly safe today I think. W is still without power from the hurricane. But SW can still get ‘cha….she’s around I think. So, you like the new pic?
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Great main page photo, my brother…smile.
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Ryn: Yeah, yeah, yeah…I’ve heard this before. : P
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and they learned nothing and continue to repeat their mistakes.
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ryn~I know, I know. I can’t believe you missed an entry from Sheet Music….or did you just not leave a note. So unlike you!
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not an SM entry, a SHEET MUSIC entry – “Sheet music’s humble beginnings” a few entries back.
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Hey Nuz… do you have FO entries too?
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ryn: Just wondering if you do Favourites Only
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ryn~LOL!
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I’m logging onto messenger now.
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bah, everyone needs someone to blame. pff.
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^^Breelash is my hero.
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RYN: You funny, bad man!
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Ryn: Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What is this for?
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Did you watch Inside Katrina on the Discovery Channel. It’s clear after watching it just how much everyone screwed up.
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I’m not a Bush fan, but I’m not a Bush basher and I prefer to keep myself in check. Everyone screwed up. Okay, so Bush appointed an incompetent person and he should certainly be held accountable for his decision. That still doesn’t negate the (reasonable) conclusion that the mayor and the governor also screwed up. You sound like you just hate Bush … period.
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I don’t disagree. The CEO is ultimately responsible for a company, right down to the line worker. I wasn’t implying that Bush shouldn’t be held accountable for poor decision-making. I was just under the impression that you thought the federal government was the only problem. It’s so much more complicated than that.
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You have far too many woman worshippers, I have to keep you balanced.
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^ rexie is my hero.
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RYN: Me too, Nunz. Me too.
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Ryn: Yes, call the guys please. : )
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Thanks, Nunz. I’m just going to become a lesbian. –Red
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RYN: I don’t know, Nunz. I have a female best friend with whom I could have a wonderful, loving, honest and communicative relationship because we BOTH know (now) what needs to be done to make it right, and we BOTH try 100%.
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I was being nosy (and following you and Red)…if the world was full of guys like you (who are able to communicate their feelings), it’d be a great place. Since it isn’t, I agree with her.
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RYNs: Thank you. I see your point. One issue is that he has some health concerns that will not be resolved until close to Christmas. I feel it terribly unfair to him to bring all of this crashing down on him (an ultimatum) prior to that. But I guess, by then, I’ll have pulled out, won’t I have? Hmm… food for thought. Either I lay this on him while he’s dealing with a cancer scare… or…
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… wait until it’s too late for us to save the marriage. Holy crap. Your advice re when to give him such manglish talk, in your opinion, would be….?
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I was being nosy (and following you and Red)…if the world was full of guys like you (who are able to communicate their feelings), it’d be a great place. Since it isn’t, I agree with her.
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*Bites you*
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You’ve been tagged.
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ryn: …and when do i get to see pics of you???
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A wise man indeed! LOL. Just have to vent that stuff out. No worries. –R
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ryn: actually I am as lewd, crued and lascivious as you are. pls send pics to audioslavefan@gmail.com. i hope to see them when i get back from vacation.
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RYN: I already knew you were “much to cool” 🙂
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RYN: Well just so you know…I no longer have to drive that stretch of road. Cheryl is keeping KA overnight for me. SO THERE! ~sticks out tongue~
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Ryn: Thank you. : )
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Awwwww man….you changed the pic on your cover page ~cries~ I sooo loved that pic! I know you didn’t ask for my opinion….but I thought I’d offer it anyway. Nunz: Thanks K K: NO PROBLEM ~runs away laughing~
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*poke*poke* you dont write nearly often enough! what do you think you have alife or something ;OP lol
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Um…. did I really need the new visual on your diary contents page? ROFL. Thank you for concern, Nunz. I know you care, in whatever strange and anonymous way we come to care about each other in FOD. Thank you. Re your logic, spoken like one UNbroken to one broken. ROFL. Love ya! R
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It does make me want it more. I’m not sure that I could ever be raped in the legal sense. You keep coming back, so it’s obvious you like the abuse as well.
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Who’s first for what? To be fucked or to do the fucking? I should be the first one to get fucked, after all, you mentioned fucking me against a wall. You can’t back out of that now.
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Err, that was supposed to be against my will. That was a freudian slip. Maybe you can fuck me against my will up against a wall? I’m officially horny.
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can’t come out of what? I’m confused. I don’t want to have the power?
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I still remember your story about the fly going into the carnivorous plant. Honestly the nectar was too intoxifying to see the danger, that’s how scary it is now to look back. Yesterday, I thought of you and imagined that I stood at the edge of a precipice, and while the siren song called from the abyss to take the step forward, your voice pulled me back. Also I heeded some remote warning..
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…voice inside me. I felt deep inside that things were wrong, a gut feeling that was definitely there, though muffled by my voluntary delusion. It’s hard to know now why I feel angry–at whom? Him? for deceiving me and preying on me? At myself? For my self-destructive tendencies, seeking out and finding these carnivorous men on whom I can count to hurt me? Pretty f***d up. Thank you Nunzi.
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RYN: Why on earth would I open myself to loving someone who doesn’t love me back?! What is in that but heartbreak? That makes no sense.
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You know… I don’t think you are 105. I’ve given this some serious thought…. naaaa. Not 105.
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RYN: Oh, Nunz. Of course I understand. I’m a smart girl, if not always a rational one… But I’d be shocked if you really didn’t understand in the slightest bit how paralyzing the fear can be… Thank you for your words. I know I may not always agree, but I always appreciate. 🙂
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Ryn: LOL, ha ha, very funny.
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RYN: LOL, it’s funny but it’s what I was known for in high school.
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and my stomach hurts from laughing so much reading yours.
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Ryn: Oh my God. THAT must have been AWFUL! You poor baby…come here and let me hold you.
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RYN: Really? And what “facts” helped you come to that conclusion?
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RYN: I like ya even MORE 🙂
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Hey! I see that you like Cirque do Soleil! Please come check out my diary! I work for a show that’s currently being created in Las Vegas!
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