Tag Archives: hurricane

Bush Attempts Damage Control

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I’d like to remind everyone who believes that Bush is finally taking responsibility for responding poorly to Katrina that both he, and the republicans running congress have repeatedly thwarted attempts to form a bipartisian committe to investigate the National government’s failures surrounding the disaster. They favor instead, a republican-led committie that will undoubtedly stage another massive coverup for this corrupt government.

This is not taking responsibility; it is damage control. It’s like asking Enron to investigate its own accounting practices and deliver an unbiased report. It is simply foolish to believe that the republican-led congress will hold the president accountable, and it is important to acknowledge that his half-hearted acceptance of responsibility is a smokescreen to divert our attention away.

Don’t let him get away with it! Criminal negligence and negligent homicide are impeachable offenses.

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Animals in the Wake of Katrina

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Today I received an e-mail informing me that a colleague has volunteered with the Best Friends Animal Society, and will be leaving this weekend for Mississippi to join the massive animal rescue effort in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Best Friends is helping animals hurt in the devastated areas by sending teams of volunteers to search out stranded or lost animals, rescuing them, nursing them back to health, and ensuring that they are cared for and comfortable in their emergency animal sanctuaries.

They are also coordinating efforts with humane societies and local rescue groups, collecting funds through The Best Friends Hurricane Relief Fund, and acting as a clearinghouse for news stories from local animal groups and individuals.

Since I have a soft spot for animals, I was thrilled to hear that people were volunteering to rescue them and I pulled up the Best Friends website to learn more about the rescue effort in the Gulf Coast.

I found that they have a blog set up called “Best Friends on the Frontlines“, where they give day-by-day accounts of their activities. It was there that I found this story entitled “Dog in Boat“. Here is the story text from the Best Friends website:

From Cathy Scott at St. Francis:
Three days ago when Best Friends rescue workers were on the Interstate heading back to the Best Friends/St. Francis Animal Sanctuary, they noticed a small boat on the side of the expressway.

But that isn’t what caught their eye. It was the red spray-painted writing on the side of the vessel, which read, “DOG IN BOAT.”

They pulled over in their van. Sure enough, hiding inside the boat near the outboard motor was a dog, a young white pit bull. Besides the writing on the boat, the person had left the dog a bag of dry food. Unfortunately, diesel fuel from the motor had spilled into the hull and saturated not only the food, but the dog.

”She was sunburned with blisters and covered in diesel,” said Best Friends staff member Kit Boggio. “I talked quietly to her and just picked her up in my arms.”

The rescue team took her to the St. Francis sanctuary, along with 40 other animals. In four days, her condition has dramatically improved.

”After 72 hours, she’s had a bath, a lot of her sun blisters are healing. She had her first chewy tonight. She looks and feels great.”

Tomorrow, the dog, who is now named Diesel, is being moved from the triage area she’s been staying at to a kennel area “where she’ll have her own ‘apartment,’ “ Boggio said. “We’re going to tuck her in.”

Maybe it’s the look of exhausted gratitude in Diesel’s eyes, or the look of total defeat, but this story really got to me. Diesel is OK. She has been rescued and is in good hands, but I started thinking about all the other animals in the Gulf Coast that may not be rescued, and it’s really quite sad. I wish there was some way I could join the volunteer effort to save these pets. I know they need support in many ways and I’m sure they can use all the donations they receive.

Diesel
Diesel

Dieseld
Diesel

Diesel
Dog In Boat



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Technorati Indicates Public Demand for Bush Impeachment

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I’m really interested to notice that for the last few days the search term “Impeach Bush” has been among the top searches on technorati.com.

Somehow I doubt it’s a coincidence that “katrina” and “hurricane” are also among the top searches. It looks like the world is finally holding this administration accountable for its failures. Some sites are even posting alphabetical listings of the President’s screw ups. One thing is for sure, however, the President’s approval ratings are falling.

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All Fingers Pointing in The “Right” Direction

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The fingers are pointing all over Washington, and the Bush administration somehow expects us to believe that the local governments in Louisiana and Mississippi should have had everything under control so his vacation would not have had to be tragically truncated.

The city of New Orleans was completely under water and this President has the nerve to be critical of local law enforcement and state government officials for not having the resources to handle, on their own, the single worst natural disaster this country has ever faced.

Sure, Mr. President… Perhaps you should not have appointed an incompetent GOP activist named Mike Brown to run FEMA. A person who had absolutely no experience to qualify him to run any government agency, let alone the one charged with saving lives in the face of massive disasters. Maybe you just thought you could give cushy jobs to the good ol’ boys network and coast on through with nothing to prove their disturbing lack of competence.

Perhaps if Condoleeza Rice had not found it more important to go shoe shopping in New York than to go back to Washington where she could get involved with the rescue effort, you might not find so many fingers pointing your way.

Some say the Left is “spinning” this against the Republicans, but I say we’re just calling it as we see it.

A poll taken on September 4, 2005 shows that only 12% of people give the federal response an excellent rating. 16% label it as good, while 25% call it fair and 45% call it poor.

Even among Republicans, there are serious doubts about the federal response to the hurricane. Only 47% of those in President Bush’s party say the federal response has been good or excellent, while Fifty-one percent say it has been fair or poor.

Rasmussen reports that only 45% of American adults now approve of the way Bush is performing in his role as President. A whopping 53% disapprove.

Gallup polling organization placed Bush’s approval at 40 percent, which is an all-time low. American Research Group has his approval as low as 36%.

in the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, 57% of those surveyed disapproved of the president’s handling of the war in Iraq. 53% said the war was not worth it.

It is becoming more and more clear each day that, in almost every poll, a smaller and smaller minority of Americans are able to support President Bush and the Republican-led Congress. If you ask me, Bush is finally having to answer to his lack of moral fiber and astonishing incompetence.

Thanks to BlogCritics for the statistics.

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What About the Environment?

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Call me a bleeding-heart treehugger, but am I the only one who’s worried about the millions of gallons of sludge and toxic wast being pumped into Louisiana waterways? We now have a situation where New Orleans has been turned into a toxic cesspool of raw sewage, oil, chemicals, and bacteria. Every can of paint thinner someone had sitting in their garage has been oozing out into the floodwater, and packages of spoiled meat sit rotting in the hot Louisiana sun.

If your skin so much as touches the water, you are assured of getting an infection, so I’m wondering why nobody is asking questions about the long-term environmental impact of simply pumping all this sludge and biohazard waste back into lakes and rivers? Granted, I understand that it needs to be cleaned up, and I don’t pretend to know how one might go about detoxifying all that waste, but I do feel that it is important to evaluate the impact before simply dumping all that toxic mess out into the environment.

If anyone knows of any measures being taken to protect the environment during the cleanup effort, please post a comment. I would love to hear about it.

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Bloggers Run Condoleeza Rice out of NYC

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All over the net, people are talking about how the Bush Administration’s failure to respond to Hurricane Katrina might prove to be the downfall of his administration. Based on his failures in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, and the Gulf Coast, it is certainly clear Bush and his Neo-Conservative followers have become damaged goods, and some are even calling for him to “resign in shame“.

While reading Zach’s story “Is Katrina Bush’s Waterloo?” I found a link to a New York Times story that reports how bloggers, demanding answers about the Bush administration’s failure to act, chased Condoleeza Rice out of the city where she had been shopping for shoes and enjoying plays rather than responding to the death and devastation in New Orleans.

It would be one thing if President Bush and his inner circle – Dick Cheney was vacationing in Wyoming; Condi Rice was shoe shopping at Ferragamo’s on Fifth Avenue and attended “Spamalot” before bloggers chased her back to Washington; and Andy Card was off in Maine – lacked empathy but could get the job done. But it is a chilling lack of empathy combined with a stunning lack of efficiency that could make this administration implode.

Everywhere we look, this government has failed us. During his time in office, Bush has staged a war built on lies against an imagined enemy, perpetuated a fear of terrorism in order to exert social control, and eroded our civil rights, while padding the pockets of his executive campaign contributers. There can be no doubt that this administration is corrupt and incompetent, and I, for one, do feel he should resign.

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Helping the Victims of Hurricane Katrina

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With everything going to Hell in Washington, the White House has totally failed to provide any substantive help for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Organizations we are supposed to trust; Organizations like the Federal Emergency Management Agency are actually encouraging donations to bloodthirsty Neo-Conservative radicals such as Pat Robinson, and we find ourselves in a situation where we want to aid in the relief effort, but we don’t know how to make sure our donations find their way to those who truly need help, and not into the pockets of the corrupt Washington establishment.

In some cases, National Guard units are activated, but simply waiting to be deployed, because there is no Federal funding to get them there.

The best way to help, and the way I will be helping for my part, is by giving to the American Red Cross, and by giving them the things on their list that are most needed. As I write this, they are looking for the following items:

  • Bottled water (liter or larger)
  • Nonperishable food
  • Clothing (new or like-new condition)
  • Infant supplies (formula, diapers, etc.)
  • Snacks/protein bars
  • First aid kits
  • Transistor radios
  • Batteries (AA, C, D, 9V)
  • Flashlights
  • Hygiene products (bar soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc.)
  • Dog/cat food

If you live in Vermont, as I do, you can bring these items to the following locations:

  • BENNINGTON: Town Clerk’s Office
  • DERBY: State police barracks
  • HARTFORD: Fire and police departments
  • MONTPELIER: Statehouse
  • ST. ALBANS: Collins Perley Recreation Facility
  • ST. JOHNSBURY: Municipal Office Building and Fire Station
  • ROCKINGHAM: State police barracks
  • RUTLAND: State police barracks
  • VERGENNES: Vergennes High School
  • WILLISTON: State police barracks

Or, if you would like to make a donation of money to the Red Cross, you can click here to do so.

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