My name is Adam, if you know me, I just may be first in your cellphone. Because of this I am victim to a uniquely modern problem, the Pocket Dial. I received a call last night from someone I ran into months ago, Hans Holsen. I hadn't seen Hans in a while, we exchanged numbers and promptly failed to call each other after the social exercise. I am number one in Hans' phonebook, because I am alphabetically superior, last night evidentally Hans was watching a band, pretty good one too as the ten minute inadvertant voicemail would suggest.
Because of my alphabetic superiority in my friends cellphones I get to hang out with them for a while every once in a while without the social pressure of having to interact.
I have spent time with Justin & Julie on a car trip
I have spent twenty minute with my old friend Jimmy from Florida, during which he went to a party, left to buy cigarrettes, came back, and peed, all in one pocket dial.
I spent ten minutes in Kate's backpack once.
I've hung out twice with Kyle Kasey and I haven't seen him in months.
And I've spent a lot of time in a lot of very random swishing pockets
All because of modern technology and my alphabetical superiority. But I've found I'm less superior on flip phones.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Schadenfreude Episode 44: Tom Delay
On the day of Tom Delay's indictment, the first house leader indicted in a century, I noticed that Daily Kos started his blog with "Happy Schadenfreude!", so I did a Google search, there are 45,900 references for "Schadenfreude Delay", 2 references are for Episode 44: Delay, the other 45,892 are for the beleagured House Majority Leader.
And thaaaaaaaaaaaaat's the goooooooooogle biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
And thaaaaaaaaaaaaat's the goooooooooogle biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Transparent Gall
Anybody hear about this, how bad is this? And what was up the with them sneaking a gay prostitute into the press corps to ask questions about Joe Wilson's wife. Okay, that way a non-sequitor, but isn't that seriously weird, for the administration that hates gays to pay a gay guy from a gay website to pose as a press officer, shouldn't they be called out on that. What a weird administration. Sorry, we were talking about 9/11.
Bush Takes Cover From Katrina Under 9/11
by Matthew Rothschild
I suppose it was bound to happen. Whenever Bush is in trouble, he conjures up 9/11.
And so, after his disastrous performance on Katrina, he has now managed to take shelter under the overstretched awning of 9/11.
At a speech before the Republican Jewish Coalition, which ought to have been a very small crowd, Bush made the link: “I've been thinking a lot about how America has responded [to Katrina], and it's clear to me that Americans value human life, and value every person as important. And that stands in stark contrast, by the way, to the terrorists we have to deal with. You see, we look at the destruction caused by Katrina, and our hearts break. They're the kind of people who look at Katrina and wish they had caused it. We're in a war against these people. It's a war on terror. These are evil men who target the suffering. They killed 3,000 people on September the 11th, 2001. And they’ve continued to kill.”
Not exactly a smooth segue, but Bush used it anyway. And he extended it to Iraq, saying for the umpteenth time that “Iraq is the central battlefront in the war on terror.” Again, Bush said, “We value every life,” unlike the suicide car bombers. But I’ve never heard Bush speak about the 25,000 to 100,000 Iraqi civilians that his war has cost. He sure doesn’t appear to place much value on them.
For Bush, it’s all one: Us versus Them. Good versus Evil. And since he believes he’s doing the work of God Almighty, Iraqi casualties don’t count.
“Freedom is a gift from Almighty god to each man and woman in this world,” Bush told the Republican Jewish Coalition. And delivering that gift is “the calling of our time.” If he runs over tens of thousands of Iraqis while delivering that gift, no matter.
(To ingratiate himself further with the crowd, Bush also went out of his way to embrace the Israeli prime minister. “I got a partner in peace in Ariel Sharon,” Bush said. “Ariel Sharon has shown great leadership” in withdrawing from Gaza.)
By coupling Katrina with Al Qaeda, Bush tried to find his footing, return to the moral high ground, and relive his glory days with the bullhorn.
If the White House special effects guys had gotten their act together, they would have shown bin Laden and Zarqawi, cheeks puffed up, blowing the winds of Katrina—and now Rita--through the Gulf of Mexico and right into New Orleans.
The underlying theme was not hard to decipher: Nature is against us, the terrorists are against us, so you better rally behind the President, who can protect you against evil acts of every variety.
Problem is, he can’t.
He failed miserably in his handling of Katrina.
He’s failing miserably in his handling of the war against Al Qaeda.
And he’s failing miserably in Iraq.
If I were Bush, I wouldn’t link Katrina with the war on terror and with Iraq.
It makes him look triply bad.
Bush Takes Cover From Katrina Under 9/11
by Matthew Rothschild
I suppose it was bound to happen. Whenever Bush is in trouble, he conjures up 9/11.
And so, after his disastrous performance on Katrina, he has now managed to take shelter under the overstretched awning of 9/11.
At a speech before the Republican Jewish Coalition, which ought to have been a very small crowd, Bush made the link: “I've been thinking a lot about how America has responded [to Katrina], and it's clear to me that Americans value human life, and value every person as important. And that stands in stark contrast, by the way, to the terrorists we have to deal with. You see, we look at the destruction caused by Katrina, and our hearts break. They're the kind of people who look at Katrina and wish they had caused it. We're in a war against these people. It's a war on terror. These are evil men who target the suffering. They killed 3,000 people on September the 11th, 2001. And they’ve continued to kill.”
Not exactly a smooth segue, but Bush used it anyway. And he extended it to Iraq, saying for the umpteenth time that “Iraq is the central battlefront in the war on terror.” Again, Bush said, “We value every life,” unlike the suicide car bombers. But I’ve never heard Bush speak about the 25,000 to 100,000 Iraqi civilians that his war has cost. He sure doesn’t appear to place much value on them.
For Bush, it’s all one: Us versus Them. Good versus Evil. And since he believes he’s doing the work of God Almighty, Iraqi casualties don’t count.
“Freedom is a gift from Almighty god to each man and woman in this world,” Bush told the Republican Jewish Coalition. And delivering that gift is “the calling of our time.” If he runs over tens of thousands of Iraqis while delivering that gift, no matter.
(To ingratiate himself further with the crowd, Bush also went out of his way to embrace the Israeli prime minister. “I got a partner in peace in Ariel Sharon,” Bush said. “Ariel Sharon has shown great leadership” in withdrawing from Gaza.)
By coupling Katrina with Al Qaeda, Bush tried to find his footing, return to the moral high ground, and relive his glory days with the bullhorn.
If the White House special effects guys had gotten their act together, they would have shown bin Laden and Zarqawi, cheeks puffed up, blowing the winds of Katrina—and now Rita--through the Gulf of Mexico and right into New Orleans.
The underlying theme was not hard to decipher: Nature is against us, the terrorists are against us, so you better rally behind the President, who can protect you against evil acts of every variety.
Problem is, he can’t.
He failed miserably in his handling of Katrina.
He’s failing miserably in his handling of the war against Al Qaeda.
And he’s failing miserably in Iraq.
If I were Bush, I wouldn’t link Katrina with the war on terror and with Iraq.
It makes him look triply bad.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Evidently the Bengals won
So I'm all set to call Dad up in Dayton (Bengals territory until they get their own team: The Dayton Frozen Over Hells) to watch a little of the Chicago/Cincinnati game only to realize, I don't get tv. No antenna and apparently no need for one in the last six months. I know I'm much-avowed non-tv watcher and that can simply seem like a flaunted hip opinion, but I could not watch the first tv I've wanted to watch in six months because I don't couldn't get tv and hadn't had the need before. So I popped in a DVD of a tv show.
![Sealab_2021_[The_Policy]_(2002)_4](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vlRLMfxrHzMWFP3McijOqK2oU6M6YwVPbPor7VzL03-bBOXjyCaAj6XqzyrRyJ795jegydGtj5lYTp29qO0PtWzAoGBGMrTejtH6De7v2ylBmlqh1bGg=s0-d)
Sealab 2021, have you seen this? I am now a big fan of the Adult Swim shows, a little late to the game I know, but these shows are so produced outside the box that I love it. Cheap edgy and a new type of humor for a new generation, non-sequitor humor honed originally on Space Ghost Coast To Coast. Post-Modern pop reference humor at the top of it's game.
Life now has purpose
Thank you David Cenko for giving life purpose, oh sure Dave's contributions to Schadenfreude over the years in the form of every bit of poster design you've ever seen have been numerous, but I'd like to thank Dave for replying to last weeks column about my long-in-use DV cam by stating that I need to move up to HD and including a link to a gorgeous camera.
I'm a feisty buyer, everything has to be examined and re-examined and compared and re-compared, but I know what I want when I see it and EVERY think I want in a new camera is all in the new Sony HDR-HC1
Godbless this camera. I want it now!
For my use in Schadenfreude I need a small camera that can be on me at all times, which would rule out one of the state-of-the art 3 chip cameras. And yet I need some real quality for the tv pilots we expect to be shooting soon. And then, there was the HDR-HC1, a single chip camera, but that one chip is a CMOS chip, state-of-the art 1080i HD chip. So I get all the quality of a supercamera with none of the weight and no prohibition in always having it on me. And it's HD, so as Schadenfreude makes our foray into TV pilots we will have an image quality that will be second to none, as will special effects, freeze-frames, blowups, there will be no degredation of image for any of our effects.
I am now a man with a mission. The HDR-HC1. I could kiss the screen just looking at the damn thing. And it's HD! Did I mention it's HD!!!!
I'm a feisty buyer, everything has to be examined and re-examined and compared and re-compared, but I know what I want when I see it and EVERY think I want in a new camera is all in the new Sony HDR-HC1
Godbless this camera. I want it now!
For my use in Schadenfreude I need a small camera that can be on me at all times, which would rule out one of the state-of-the art 3 chip cameras. And yet I need some real quality for the tv pilots we expect to be shooting soon. And then, there was the HDR-HC1, a single chip camera, but that one chip is a CMOS chip, state-of-the art 1080i HD chip. So I get all the quality of a supercamera with none of the weight and no prohibition in always having it on me. And it's HD, so as Schadenfreude makes our foray into TV pilots we will have an image quality that will be second to none, as will special effects, freeze-frames, blowups, there will be no degredation of image for any of our effects.
I am now a man with a mission. The HDR-HC1. I could kiss the screen just looking at the damn thing. And it's HD! Did I mention it's HD!!!!
Short-Haired Chick Friday!
Today's short haired chick is...
The girl in the window of Daisy's on Broadway in Edgewater.
Oh girl in the window of Daisy's on Broadway, why do you tempt me so...
The girl in the window of Daisy's on Broadway in Edgewater.
Oh girl in the window of Daisy's on Broadway, why do you tempt me so...
Thursday, September 22, 2005
You know what else kicked ass?
Wings of Silver, Nerves of Steel
Partly Metal, Partly Real
SILVERHAWKS!!!!
The partly metal partly real line always fucked me up, metal is real you dumb toy-tie-in cartoon theme writer hacks!
Silverhawks ruled, evern more than Thundercats, and definitely more than Tiger Sharks. Don't remember the Tiger Sharks? Oh goody I get to enlighten on useless pop-culture bullshit which is taking up the valuable "reserved for cure to cancer" section of my brain.
Hi I'm Rankin, and I'm Bass and we have a WHOLE bunch of ideas for cartoons...well, one. It's called Thundercats and it's about a bunch of Animal people who get in a series of adventures on a foreign Earth, There's a tiger guy, a lion guy and...well you get the concept. Oh, wait, we've got this other idea and it's completely different. It's called Silverhawks it's about a bunch of bird people who get in a series of adventure in...space, there's the Hawk guy and the Condor guy...well you get the concept. Oh wait, we have this other idea that's completely different, it's called Tigersharks and it's...well you get the idea.
I can't express the depths of happiness it brings me that all three of these very similar concepts exist.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Yawn, boring boring, Bush Admin honcho going to jail
This is not that interesting, but what I found interesting (for any of you who know the intricacies of Ed Bus' Corruption) is that Abramoff bought Zamboni's but has no ice rink! FYI, Ed was accused of using Millenium Park Zamboni's for his own use by having two of them parked in his back yard idling with paid city employees in them.
---------------
The complaint filed against David Safavian yesterday accuses him of lying to ethics officers at the General Services Administration, where he served as chief of staff. Safavian informed the officials that Jack Abramoff, who had invited Safavian on a golfing trip to Scotland, had “no business before GSA.” In fact, Safavian was already actively helping Abramoff acquire control of two GSA-managed properties in the Washington area, one of which was a 40-acre plot that became the campus for a Hebrew school that Abramoff founded called the Eshkol Academy.
Come again? Jack Abramoff, the corrupt, scandal-plagued lobbyist, founded a Hebrew academy? Yes, but it was a distinctly Abramoff-style venture.
In 2004, he thought the school would be a prime place to make money off the lives of tribal elders. Abramoff recommended that one of his clients, the then-broke Tigua tribe, retain him at no cost. At the same time, he suggestioned they allow Eshkol Academy to “buy term life insurance policies on tribal elders and receive the benefits upon their death, with the money then channeled back to Abramoff.” According to the Washington Post, some of the money that went into the school was used to buy “two Zamboni ice-cleaning machines, even though it did not own a hockey rink.”
The school was closed a short time later, but the scandals persisted. In May ‘04, Abramoff’s assets were frozen by a Montgomery County, MD judge “in connection with a lawsuit over unpaid wages filed by employees of a religious academy that Abramoff founded.” Abramoff had shorted thirteen teachers a quarter of their pay when Eshkol shut down.
Also: Seperated at Birth?
---------------
The complaint filed against David Safavian yesterday accuses him of lying to ethics officers at the General Services Administration, where he served as chief of staff. Safavian informed the officials that Jack Abramoff, who had invited Safavian on a golfing trip to Scotland, had “no business before GSA.” In fact, Safavian was already actively helping Abramoff acquire control of two GSA-managed properties in the Washington area, one of which was a 40-acre plot that became the campus for a Hebrew school that Abramoff founded called the Eshkol Academy.
Come again? Jack Abramoff, the corrupt, scandal-plagued lobbyist, founded a Hebrew academy? Yes, but it was a distinctly Abramoff-style venture.
In 2004, he thought the school would be a prime place to make money off the lives of tribal elders. Abramoff recommended that one of his clients, the then-broke Tigua tribe, retain him at no cost. At the same time, he suggestioned they allow Eshkol Academy to “buy term life insurance policies on tribal elders and receive the benefits upon their death, with the money then channeled back to Abramoff.” According to the Washington Post, some of the money that went into the school was used to buy “two Zamboni ice-cleaning machines, even though it did not own a hockey rink.”
The school was closed a short time later, but the scandals persisted. In May ‘04, Abramoff’s assets were frozen by a Montgomery County, MD judge “in connection with a lawsuit over unpaid wages filed by employees of a religious academy that Abramoff founded.” Abramoff had shorted thirteen teachers a quarter of their pay when Eshkol shut down.
Also: Seperated at Birth?
Monday, September 19, 2005
Adam's Camera! Dead?!?!?!?
In August of 2000 I bought a Sony Handycam DCR-PC100. My first DV cam. It replaced my Triassic-era camera, The Video 8 in all of it's 1993 Glory.
My life became a film when I got the lightweight and technologically viable PC-100. I took it everywhere, Scotland, New York, Los Angles, Alabama and shot everything. I shot probably 300-400 tapes with the PC-100. And in 2001 I bought a computer with Final Cut Pro 2 and Began to make movies using the PC-100 as my video deck.
I don't know if you know anything about the longevity of video cameras, but there's one cardinal rule. If you want to get the most life out of your video camera, DO NOT USE IT AS A FUCKING DECK!!! Why? Drumtime. I don't know the specifics, but any playhead (drum) on any video camera (or vcr for that matter) only has a certain number of spins to it's life, the more it spins the closer it gets to death. The reason you don't use your camera as a deck is because you use drumtime that could be used for recording by playing back, and inevitably when editing you double your playback time by viewing and then again when importing. Aside from spinning some 36,000 hours of drumtime just recording (it also spins when you're not recording if you have the camera on, so...maybe 72,000 hours?) I have used it as a deck on EVERY SINGLE FILM I'VE EVER MADE, Phudi Mart, Ed Bus, All 35 of the webshorts, not to mention countless attempts at making the fucking Schadenfreude documentary, and tens of other aborted projects. 5 years of shooting, playback, and editing. And last week it finally died...BUT it's a $200 electronic problem. IT LIVES IT STILL LIVES! I love it! The PC100 will never die.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Short-Haired Chick Friday! - NERD ALERT!
Yes, that's a Star Trek Uniform on my Short Haired Chick. Star Trek has always been like Barney Miller, I like it, I'll watch it if it's on because it's a pretty enjoyable show, but I'm no Star Trek nerd, I'm a Star Wars nerd. Regardless, I really loved Denise Crosby as a burgeoning teen, and Star Trek TNG was on in syndication when I went to bed every night. Yes, I jacked it to Star Trek, well Denise Crosby.
Then one day I found out that Denise Crosby was going to be Naked on The Red Shoe Diaries. But I didn't have cable and eBay wasn't invented yet, so I had no way of seeing her naked until it came out on video. That was one video that didn't make it to the shelf on new release Wednesday.
And then I found out that she had posed in Playboy, but, no eBay yet, how do you find a 1987 edition of Playboy. Simple, you get a temp job there in 1998 and discover the stash of old Playboys.
So Denise has been nice to me over the years. And her hair is pretty short.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Nothing to say Thrusday!
I blogged a shitload during the writing retreat, 11 videos in 4 days! Supercool, if you haven't checked the diary for all the action that went down during Writing Retreat 4: The Voyage Home, please validate my computers completely overworked processors by going there and checking it out. It was a fun little experiment. In the meantime I've been catching up at my job and Schadenfreude so I don't have time to bash on Bush or announce the next Superhero movie, which I'm sure you're all sick of anyway. Instead I'll give you a little
FUN WITH CAMERAPHONES!!!!!!
Yes. She fell asleep that way.
FUN WITH CAMERAPHONES!!!!!!
Yes. She fell asleep that way.
Friday, September 9, 2005
Writing Retreat 4: The Quest For Peace
At 2pm today, the future of the radio show-less Schadenfreude will begin to form it's future. On the table, tv, short films, feature film, a new stage run, a pilot, the works. Check the website over the weekend as we'll be posting video daily.
The excitement over the future of Schadenfreude could only be marred by one little thing. Once, again, I will miss the film festival I vowed never to miss again.
Yes, tonight at 8pm Quentin Tarantino hits the Alamo Draft house and I won't be there.
To be honest I can't really pin it on Schadenfreude, my personal finances are a factor as well because there's still Tuesday through Saturday, but if I missed 80's slasher night I feel like I've missed a big chunk for my personal interest dollar.
The excitement over the future of Schadenfreude could only be marred by one little thing. Once, again, I will miss the film festival I vowed never to miss again.
Yes, tonight at 8pm Quentin Tarantino hits the Alamo Draft house and I won't be there.
To be honest I can't really pin it on Schadenfreude, my personal finances are a factor as well because there's still Tuesday through Saturday, but if I missed 80's slasher night I feel like I've missed a big chunk for my personal interest dollar.
Short-Haired Chick Friday!
Did you know that Kate Beckinsale was once a short-haired chick? I didn't either.
Did you not find her all that attractive until you saw her in short hair? I didn't either. Actually I'm sure many of you did, but I really didn't get it, but this chick, this chick's really cute.
Thursday, September 8, 2005
Go fuck yourself Mr. Cheney!
Has anyone seen this? Best piece of video ever. It's a streaming file so bear with it, you made need to replay it to hear the sentiment of Mississipians towards Cheney. Or you just may want to replay it over and over and over. Dick, you should've visited a red state...oh wait, you did. Yipes!
I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake...
I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake, now it's time to erase that mistake.
Wednesday, September 7, 2005
Got it!
I think this is it, you all can confirm or deny as you engage in conversations with Republicans in your places of work who love their government, right or wrong, and love their mothers, drunk or sober.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House majority leader late Tuesday tried to deflect criticism of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina by saying "the emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up," then announced a short time later that House hearings examining that response had been canceled.
Did you catch it? That's the new talking point: "the emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up," Listen for it 100 times in your office today because they are mindless and they have no ideas of their own and they unquestioningly nod yes.
Remember that guys in college with no creativity, that sort-of personality-less blank space, who's greatest creative idea was drinking and who joined a fraternity so he could pay to have a group of friends. He's a Republican now, a vehement one, it gives him something to talk about, something to get mad about, something to be passionate about and, luckily, requires no inward questioning or thinking of any kind. For the first time in life, he has an opinion, and it feels good to him to have an opinion, sure someone had to give it to him, but he'll die before he'll let you take it away, because inherent in the opinion he's been given is the enemy, which he's vitally needed from his High School football team with their many opponents to college football with it's many opponents.
"the emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up," - that's what he thinks, without all that bothersome, actual thinking.
I know, it's only one type of "Republican." I know, the relaxation of having an opinion and not actually needing to the think as well as the basic mammalian need for an enemy are universal across many demographics. They are all UnAmerican.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House majority leader late Tuesday tried to deflect criticism of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina by saying "the emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up," then announced a short time later that House hearings examining that response had been canceled.
Did you catch it? That's the new talking point: "the emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up," Listen for it 100 times in your office today because they are mindless and they have no ideas of their own and they unquestioningly nod yes.
Remember that guys in college with no creativity, that sort-of personality-less blank space, who's greatest creative idea was drinking and who joined a fraternity so he could pay to have a group of friends. He's a Republican now, a vehement one, it gives him something to talk about, something to get mad about, something to be passionate about and, luckily, requires no inward questioning or thinking of any kind. For the first time in life, he has an opinion, and it feels good to him to have an opinion, sure someone had to give it to him, but he'll die before he'll let you take it away, because inherent in the opinion he's been given is the enemy, which he's vitally needed from his High School football team with their many opponents to college football with it's many opponents.
"the emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up," - that's what he thinks, without all that bothersome, actual thinking.
I know, it's only one type of "Republican." I know, the relaxation of having an opinion and not actually needing to the think as well as the basic mammalian need for an enemy are universal across many demographics. They are all UnAmerican.
Tuesday, September 6, 2005
Can't someone get in trouble for this? Or at least go to hell?
This is like fake, cartoon, Gotham City corruption.
The AP reports that Kellogg, Brown & Root, a Halliburton subsidiary that came under fire for its reconstruction work in Iraq, “has begun tapping a $500 million Navy contract to do emergency repairs at Gulf Coast naval and Marine facilities that were battered by Hurricane Katrina.”
Under fire for mistreatment of whistleblowers and under investigation in Nigeria, France, and the U.S. for allegedly paying kickbacks and performing a variety of other corporate misdeeds, Halliburton’s past performance raises serious concerns about whether they’re the right company to help pull the Gulf Coast out of what may end up being the greatest natural disaster in U.S. history.
The appropriation of hurricane recovery funds also highlights Halliburton’s special interest connections to the White House. On February 1, 2005, The Allbaugh Company, under the name of M. Diane Allbaugh, registered to lobby for Kellogg, Brown & Root. The lobbying registration form lists Joe M. Allbaugh, former 2000 Bush campaign manager and former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as KBR’s official lobbyist.
The purpose of the lobbying agreement between Allbaugh and Halliburton was ostensibly to “Educate the congressional and executive branch on defense, disaster relief and homeland security issues affecting Kellogg Brown and Root.” Just last week, the Wall Street Journal reported, “Senate Appropriations staffers warn business lobbyists are maneuvering to tack on special-interest amendments” to the hurricane supplemental spending bill.
Was Allbaugh one of those maneuvering behind the scenes to get Halliburton a piece of the $10.5 billion pie that Congress recently passed for hurricane disaster relief?
If so, it wouldn’t be the first time Allbaugh used his links to Bush to profit off a disaster recovery. On Sept. 29, 2003, the New York Times reported that Allbaugh had set up a consulting firm, New Bridge Strategies, to advise companies that want to do business in Iraq, including those seeking pieces of taxpayer-financed reconstruction projects.
The AP reports that Kellogg, Brown & Root, a Halliburton subsidiary that came under fire for its reconstruction work in Iraq, “has begun tapping a $500 million Navy contract to do emergency repairs at Gulf Coast naval and Marine facilities that were battered by Hurricane Katrina.”
Under fire for mistreatment of whistleblowers and under investigation in Nigeria, France, and the U.S. for allegedly paying kickbacks and performing a variety of other corporate misdeeds, Halliburton’s past performance raises serious concerns about whether they’re the right company to help pull the Gulf Coast out of what may end up being the greatest natural disaster in U.S. history.
The appropriation of hurricane recovery funds also highlights Halliburton’s special interest connections to the White House. On February 1, 2005, The Allbaugh Company, under the name of M. Diane Allbaugh, registered to lobby for Kellogg, Brown & Root. The lobbying registration form lists Joe M. Allbaugh, former 2000 Bush campaign manager and former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as KBR’s official lobbyist.
The purpose of the lobbying agreement between Allbaugh and Halliburton was ostensibly to “Educate the congressional and executive branch on defense, disaster relief and homeland security issues affecting Kellogg Brown and Root.” Just last week, the Wall Street Journal reported, “Senate Appropriations staffers warn business lobbyists are maneuvering to tack on special-interest amendments” to the hurricane supplemental spending bill.
Was Allbaugh one of those maneuvering behind the scenes to get Halliburton a piece of the $10.5 billion pie that Congress recently passed for hurricane disaster relief?
If so, it wouldn’t be the first time Allbaugh used his links to Bush to profit off a disaster recovery. On Sept. 29, 2003, the New York Times reported that Allbaugh had set up a consulting firm, New Bridge Strategies, to advise companies that want to do business in Iraq, including those seeking pieces of taxpayer-financed reconstruction projects.
If only they could be held accountable for lying
From Americablog
Jt Chiefs Chairman General Myers is a liar. Just said DOD didn't offer Katrina relief because the Tuesday papers said everything was okay!
by John in DC - 9/06/2005 03:33:00 PM
I kid you not.
Here's the outright lie our top military commander just told a press conference:
The headline, of course, in most of the papers on Tuesday — “New Orleans Dodged a Bullet,” or words to that effect. At that time, when those words were in our minds, we started working issues before we were asked, and on Tuesday, at the direction of the secretary and the deputy secretary, we went to each of the services. I called each of the chiefs of the services. One-by-one I called them and said, we don’t know what we will be asked for yet. The levees and the floodwalls had just broken and we know some of what will be asked because we had some requests for assistance already. There is probably going to be more.
Actually, General, the headlines were atrocious Tuesday morning. And the levee had not just broken, they'd broken 24 hours before, on Monday morning, you complete idiot. Not to mention, the head of the strongest military in the world gets his news from the morning papers? Putting aside the fact that important people get their news from the Internet, not the morning papers that are at least 12 hours old, you GET YOUR NEWS FROM THE MORNING PAPERS? Is that how you handled 9/11 general? Is it how you make decisions in Iraq - you pick up the Miami Herald and decide who to invade today? Fucking idiot.
When the head of our military is a blatant bald-faced liar, or worse a total idiot, where does that leave us?
Come on mainstream media, are you going to again settle for these guys outright LYING to you?
And just to show you how much of a liar General Myers is, check out the ACTUAL Tuesday headlines from the Newseum:
- Engulfed Coast
- Killer Katrina
- A Grievous Blow
- Katrina Chaos
- Deadly Impact
- Everything is Flooded
- Millions Stranded
- Katrina Ravages South
- Devastated
- Devastating Hit
- Devastation
General Myers is a liar. The un-American asshole ought to be fired immediately.
Jt Chiefs Chairman General Myers is a liar. Just said DOD didn't offer Katrina relief because the Tuesday papers said everything was okay!
by John in DC - 9/06/2005 03:33:00 PM
I kid you not.
Here's the outright lie our top military commander just told a press conference:
The headline, of course, in most of the papers on Tuesday — “New Orleans Dodged a Bullet,” or words to that effect. At that time, when those words were in our minds, we started working issues before we were asked, and on Tuesday, at the direction of the secretary and the deputy secretary, we went to each of the services. I called each of the chiefs of the services. One-by-one I called them and said, we don’t know what we will be asked for yet. The levees and the floodwalls had just broken and we know some of what will be asked because we had some requests for assistance already. There is probably going to be more.
Actually, General, the headlines were atrocious Tuesday morning. And the levee had not just broken, they'd broken 24 hours before, on Monday morning, you complete idiot. Not to mention, the head of the strongest military in the world gets his news from the morning papers? Putting aside the fact that important people get their news from the Internet, not the morning papers that are at least 12 hours old, you GET YOUR NEWS FROM THE MORNING PAPERS? Is that how you handled 9/11 general? Is it how you make decisions in Iraq - you pick up the Miami Herald and decide who to invade today? Fucking idiot.
When the head of our military is a blatant bald-faced liar, or worse a total idiot, where does that leave us?
Come on mainstream media, are you going to again settle for these guys outright LYING to you?
And just to show you how much of a liar General Myers is, check out the ACTUAL Tuesday headlines from the Newseum:
- Engulfed Coast
- Killer Katrina
- A Grievous Blow
- Katrina Chaos
- Deadly Impact
- Everything is Flooded
- Millions Stranded
- Katrina Ravages South
- Devastated
- Devastating Hit
- Devastation
General Myers is a liar. The un-American asshole ought to be fired immediately.
Wow.
And to think we'd never have noticed without God pointing it out.
FEMA's braintrust
by kos
Tue Sep 6th, 2005 at 12:26:30 PDT
So we now Mike Brown, disgraced horse lawyer, was given his job at the head of the US' chief disaster response agency because he was a former roommate of Bush's 2000 campaign manager -- strong credentials in an administration where party trumps the Stars and Stripes.
Well, the rest of FEMA's braintrust is little better:
The Chief of Staff is a guy named Patrick Rhode. He planned events for President Bush's campaign. Rhode has no emergency management experience whatsoever. From Rhode's official bio (PDF):
His first position with the Bush Administration was as special assistant to the President and deputy director of National Advance Operations, a position he assumed in January 2001. Previously, Mr. Rhode served as deputy director of National Advance Operations for the George W. Bush Presidential Campaign, in Austin, Texas.
The Deputy Chief of Staff is Scott Morris. He was a press flak for Bush's presidential campaign. Previously, he worked for the company that produced Bush's campaign commercials. He also has no emergency management experience. From Morris's official bio (PDF):
Mr. Morris was also the marketing director for the world's leading provider of e-business applications software in California, and worked for Maverick Media in Austin, Texas as a media strategist for the George W. Bush for President primary campaign and the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign.
With credentials like those, is it any wonder this was the gang that couldn't shoot straight? And who appointed these jokers to their respective positions?
Ahem, the guy who now wants to "lead" the investigation into his own incompetence, ol' Dubya himself.
FEMA's braintrust
by kos
Tue Sep 6th, 2005 at 12:26:30 PDT
So we now Mike Brown, disgraced horse lawyer, was given his job at the head of the US' chief disaster response agency because he was a former roommate of Bush's 2000 campaign manager -- strong credentials in an administration where party trumps the Stars and Stripes.
Well, the rest of FEMA's braintrust is little better:
The Chief of Staff is a guy named Patrick Rhode. He planned events for President Bush's campaign. Rhode has no emergency management experience whatsoever. From Rhode's official bio (PDF):
His first position with the Bush Administration was as special assistant to the President and deputy director of National Advance Operations, a position he assumed in January 2001. Previously, Mr. Rhode served as deputy director of National Advance Operations for the George W. Bush Presidential Campaign, in Austin, Texas.
The Deputy Chief of Staff is Scott Morris. He was a press flak for Bush's presidential campaign. Previously, he worked for the company that produced Bush's campaign commercials. He also has no emergency management experience. From Morris's official bio (PDF):
Mr. Morris was also the marketing director for the world's leading provider of e-business applications software in California, and worked for Maverick Media in Austin, Texas as a media strategist for the George W. Bush for President primary campaign and the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign.
With credentials like those, is it any wonder this was the gang that couldn't shoot straight? And who appointed these jokers to their respective positions?
Ahem, the guy who now wants to "lead" the investigation into his own incompetence, ol' Dubya himself.
Very nicely put.
From Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, very nicely put.
SECAUCUS — Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said it all, starting his news briefing Saturday afternoon: "Louisiana is a city that is largely underwater..."
Well there's your problem right there.
If ever a slip-of-the-tongue defined a government's response to a crisis, this was it.
The seeming definition of our time and our leaders had been their insistence on slashing federal budgets for projects that might’ve saved New Orleans. The seeming characterization of our government that it was on vacation when the city was lost, and could barely tear itself away from commemorating V.J. Day and watching Monty Python's Flying Circus, to at least pretend to get back to work. The seeming identification of these hapless bureaucrats: their pathetic use of the future tense in terms of relief they could’ve brought last Monday and Tuesday — like the President, whose statements have looked like they’re being transmitted to us by some kind of four-day tape-delay.
But no. The incompetence and the ludicrous prioritization will forever be symbolized by one gaffe by of the head of what is ironically called “The Department of Homeland Security”: “Louisiana is a city…”
Politician after politician — Republican and Democrat alike — has paraded before us, unwilling or unable to shut off the "I-Me" switch in their heads, condescendingly telling us about how moved they were or how devastated they were — congenitally incapable of telling the difference between the destruction of a city and the opening of a supermarket.
And as that sorry recital of self-absorption dragged on, I have resisted editorial comment. The focus needed to be on the efforts to save the stranded — even the internet's meager powers were correctly devoted to telling the stories of the twin disasters, natural... and government-made.
But now, at least, it is has stopped getting exponentially worse in Mississippi and Alabama and New Orleans and Louisiana (the state, not the city). And, having given our leaders what we know now is the week or so they need to get their act together, that period of editorial silence I mentioned, should come to an end.
No one is suggesting that mayors or governors in the afflicted areas, nor the federal government, should be able to stop hurricanes. Lord knows, no one is suggesting that we should ever prioritize levee improvement for a below-sea-level city, ahead of $454 million worth of trophy bridges for the politicians of Alaska.
But, nationally, these are leaders who won re-election last year largely by portraying their opponents as incapable of keeping the country safe. These are leaders who regularly pressure the news media in this country to report the reopening of a school or a power station in Iraq, and defies its citizens not to stand up and cheer. Yet they couldn't even keep one school or power station from being devastated by infrastructure collapse in New Orleans — even though the government had heard all the "chatter" from the scientists and city planners and hurricane centers and some group whose purposes the government couldn't quite discern... a group called The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
And most chillingly of all, this is the Law and Order and Terror government. It promised protection — or at least amelioration — against all threats: conventional, radiological, or biological.
It has just proved that it cannot save its citizens from a biological weapon called standing water.
Mr. Bush has now twice insisted that, "we are not satisfied," with the response to the manifold tragedies along the Gulf Coast. I wonder which "we" he thinks he's speaking for on this point. Perhaps it's the administration, although we still don't know where some of them are. Anybody seen the Vice President lately? The man whose message this time last year was, 'I'll Protect You, The Other Guy Will Let You Die'?
I don't know which 'we' Mr. Bush meant.
For many of this country's citizens, the mantra has been — as we were taught in Social Studies it should always be — whether or not I voted for this President — he is still my President. I suspect anybody who had to give him that benefit of the doubt stopped doing so last week. I suspect a lot of his supporters, looking ahead to '08, are wondering how they can distance themselves from the two words which will define his government — our government — "New Orleans."
For him, it is a shame — in all senses of the word. A few changes of pronouns in there, and he might not have looked so much like a 21st Century Marie Antoinette. All that was needed was just a quick "I'm not satisfied with my government's response." Instead of hiding behind phrases like "no one could have foreseen," had he only remembered Winston Churchill's quote from the 1930's. "The responsibility," of government, Churchill told the British Parliament "for the public safety is absolute and requires no mandate. It is in fact, the prime object for which governments come into existence."
In forgetting that, the current administration did not merely damage itself — it damaged our confidence in our ability to rely on whoever is in the White House.
As we emphasized to you here all last week, the realities of the region are such that New Orleans is going to be largely uninhabitable for a lot longer than anybody is yet willing to recognize. Lord knows when the last body will be found, or the last artifact of the levee break, dug up. Could be next March. Could be 2100. By then, in the muck and toxic mire of New Orleans, they may even find our government's credibility.
Somewhere, in the City of Louisiana.
SECAUCUS — Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said it all, starting his news briefing Saturday afternoon: "Louisiana is a city that is largely underwater..."
Well there's your problem right there.
If ever a slip-of-the-tongue defined a government's response to a crisis, this was it.
The seeming definition of our time and our leaders had been their insistence on slashing federal budgets for projects that might’ve saved New Orleans. The seeming characterization of our government that it was on vacation when the city was lost, and could barely tear itself away from commemorating V.J. Day and watching Monty Python's Flying Circus, to at least pretend to get back to work. The seeming identification of these hapless bureaucrats: their pathetic use of the future tense in terms of relief they could’ve brought last Monday and Tuesday — like the President, whose statements have looked like they’re being transmitted to us by some kind of four-day tape-delay.
But no. The incompetence and the ludicrous prioritization will forever be symbolized by one gaffe by of the head of what is ironically called “The Department of Homeland Security”: “Louisiana is a city…”
Politician after politician — Republican and Democrat alike — has paraded before us, unwilling or unable to shut off the "I-Me" switch in their heads, condescendingly telling us about how moved they were or how devastated they were — congenitally incapable of telling the difference between the destruction of a city and the opening of a supermarket.
And as that sorry recital of self-absorption dragged on, I have resisted editorial comment. The focus needed to be on the efforts to save the stranded — even the internet's meager powers were correctly devoted to telling the stories of the twin disasters, natural... and government-made.
But now, at least, it is has stopped getting exponentially worse in Mississippi and Alabama and New Orleans and Louisiana (the state, not the city). And, having given our leaders what we know now is the week or so they need to get their act together, that period of editorial silence I mentioned, should come to an end.
No one is suggesting that mayors or governors in the afflicted areas, nor the federal government, should be able to stop hurricanes. Lord knows, no one is suggesting that we should ever prioritize levee improvement for a below-sea-level city, ahead of $454 million worth of trophy bridges for the politicians of Alaska.
But, nationally, these are leaders who won re-election last year largely by portraying their opponents as incapable of keeping the country safe. These are leaders who regularly pressure the news media in this country to report the reopening of a school or a power station in Iraq, and defies its citizens not to stand up and cheer. Yet they couldn't even keep one school or power station from being devastated by infrastructure collapse in New Orleans — even though the government had heard all the "chatter" from the scientists and city planners and hurricane centers and some group whose purposes the government couldn't quite discern... a group called The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
And most chillingly of all, this is the Law and Order and Terror government. It promised protection — or at least amelioration — against all threats: conventional, radiological, or biological.
It has just proved that it cannot save its citizens from a biological weapon called standing water.
Mr. Bush has now twice insisted that, "we are not satisfied," with the response to the manifold tragedies along the Gulf Coast. I wonder which "we" he thinks he's speaking for on this point. Perhaps it's the administration, although we still don't know where some of them are. Anybody seen the Vice President lately? The man whose message this time last year was, 'I'll Protect You, The Other Guy Will Let You Die'?
I don't know which 'we' Mr. Bush meant.
For many of this country's citizens, the mantra has been — as we were taught in Social Studies it should always be — whether or not I voted for this President — he is still my President. I suspect anybody who had to give him that benefit of the doubt stopped doing so last week. I suspect a lot of his supporters, looking ahead to '08, are wondering how they can distance themselves from the two words which will define his government — our government — "New Orleans."
For him, it is a shame — in all senses of the word. A few changes of pronouns in there, and he might not have looked so much like a 21st Century Marie Antoinette. All that was needed was just a quick "I'm not satisfied with my government's response." Instead of hiding behind phrases like "no one could have foreseen," had he only remembered Winston Churchill's quote from the 1930's. "The responsibility," of government, Churchill told the British Parliament "for the public safety is absolute and requires no mandate. It is in fact, the prime object for which governments come into existence."
In forgetting that, the current administration did not merely damage itself — it damaged our confidence in our ability to rely on whoever is in the White House.
As we emphasized to you here all last week, the realities of the region are such that New Orleans is going to be largely uninhabitable for a lot longer than anybody is yet willing to recognize. Lord knows when the last body will be found, or the last artifact of the levee break, dug up. Could be next March. Could be 2100. By then, in the muck and toxic mire of New Orleans, they may even find our government's credibility.
Somewhere, in the City of Louisiana.
Monday, September 5, 2005
Nobody could have anticipated...
Here's an amazing paper trail.
And more warnings.
But this is not time for finger-pointing...unless we can find a way to blame it on Clinton, then oh will the fingers point.
They kind of sicken you don't they. Politics has a price. They always seem to think they're using plastic chess pieces with the war or the political campaigns that leave the opponent burnt & smeared. it's a zero-sum game for them, but it's real people that are affected, not plastic chess pieces. They still see no human face on all this. Perhaps, depite the idea being bashed as threatening and unamerican over the last twenty years, compassion will become hip again.
Before we start pointing any fingers of racism, first note FEMA's attempt to reach the urban demographic through the universal communications tool of rap.
And more warnings.
But this is not time for finger-pointing...unless we can find a way to blame it on Clinton, then oh will the fingers point.
They kind of sicken you don't they. Politics has a price. They always seem to think they're using plastic chess pieces with the war or the political campaigns that leave the opponent burnt & smeared. it's a zero-sum game for them, but it's real people that are affected, not plastic chess pieces. They still see no human face on all this. Perhaps, depite the idea being bashed as threatening and unamerican over the last twenty years, compassion will become hip again.
Before we start pointing any fingers of racism, first note FEMA's attempt to reach the urban demographic through the universal communications tool of rap.
Sunday, September 4, 2005
Finger a Politician Monday
"This is not a time for finger-pointing or playing politics."
-Scott McClellan
Yeah, that's what I'd say too, I mean what else could you say when everyone notices the Emperor has no clothes all at once.
My dream press-conference:
McClellan: This is not a time for finger-pointing or playing politics.
Reporter: Why?
McClellan: Because it makes us look bad.
They weren't prepared to spin something this massive and this embarrassing, I wish them luck, all I know is when they do come up with their co-ordinated talking-points and release them we'll all know because all of our Republican friends will talk the same for one day, and probably be more verbal about it. Any day now...they'll all have a point to make and it will all be the same point.
Karl Rove > RNC > the press-release > conservative talk shows > fox news > america > the water cooler.
From Think Progress:
On this morning’s Meet the Press, Tim Russert asked Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff whether “heads will roll” after the bungled response to Katrina. Chertoff’s response:
The question I would put to people is what do you want to have us spend our time on now? Do we want to make sure we are feeding, sheltering, housing and educating those who are distressed, or do we want to begin the process of finger-pointing? I know that as far as I’m concerned I have got to be focused on, and everybody else in this government and the President has made this very clear, we have got to focus on moving forward to deal with some very real emergencies which are going to be happening in the next days and weeks.
In other words, attempts by Americans to hold their government officials accountable will somehow prevent us from “feeding, sheltering, housing and educating those who are distressed.”
You’re either with the administration or against the hurricane victims. Unreal.
-Scott McClellan
Yeah, that's what I'd say too, I mean what else could you say when everyone notices the Emperor has no clothes all at once.
My dream press-conference:
McClellan: This is not a time for finger-pointing or playing politics.
Reporter: Why?
McClellan: Because it makes us look bad.
They weren't prepared to spin something this massive and this embarrassing, I wish them luck, all I know is when they do come up with their co-ordinated talking-points and release them we'll all know because all of our Republican friends will talk the same for one day, and probably be more verbal about it. Any day now...they'll all have a point to make and it will all be the same point.
Karl Rove > RNC > the press-release > conservative talk shows > fox news > america > the water cooler.
From Think Progress:
On this morning’s Meet the Press, Tim Russert asked Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff whether “heads will roll” after the bungled response to Katrina. Chertoff’s response:
The question I would put to people is what do you want to have us spend our time on now? Do we want to make sure we are feeding, sheltering, housing and educating those who are distressed, or do we want to begin the process of finger-pointing? I know that as far as I’m concerned I have got to be focused on, and everybody else in this government and the President has made this very clear, we have got to focus on moving forward to deal with some very real emergencies which are going to be happening in the next days and weeks.
In other words, attempts by Americans to hold their government officials accountable will somehow prevent us from “feeding, sheltering, housing and educating those who are distressed.”
You’re either with the administration or against the hurricane victims. Unreal.
Friday, September 2, 2005
When politics kills
1/26/05
U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla) has urged President Bush to fire Michael Brown as undersecretary of the Homeland Security Department in charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Wexler cited reports in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that FEMA under Brown's management inappropriately gave away $30 million in disaster relief funds to people in the Miami, Florida, area even though they were not affected by Hurricane Frances, which made landfall more than 100 miles away.
In his letter to Bush, Wexler wrote: "According to several news accounts by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 'FEMA has written checks to cover new wardrobes, cars, lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners, furniture and thousands of televisions, microwave ovens, stoves, air conditioners and other appliances.' In addition, the Sun-Sentinel cites that FEMA paid $4,500 for one resident’s funeral, even though the county medical examiner recorded no storm-related deaths. Another Sun-Sentinel article stated that two residents received aid for 'dental treatments due to dental injuries received during the disaster.' In six other cases, FEMA reimbursed residents for damage caused by 'ice/snow.'"
In a Jan. 24 news release, Wexler added: "On Monday, January 11, FEMA held a news conference acknowledging that they made $12 million in overpayments to 3,500 individuals — blaming these overpayments on a 'computer glitch.' FEMA, however, continues to deny additional systematic problems and cites the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to prove that there were legitimate hurricane conditions in Miami-Dade. Yet, according to the Sun-Sentinel, NOAA has refuted the weather maps FEMA claims to
have obtained from them. As the head of FEMA, Under Secretary Brown oversees federal disaster response and recovery operations, and it is negligent of him to refuse to accept responsibility for its agency mistakes."
“Rather than taking responsibility for FEMA’s mishaps and moving expeditiously to correct the
problems, Under Secretary Brown has further undermined his agency’s reputation by stymied
investigations and inquiries into fraud allegations," Wexler added. "FEMA’s massive misallocation of recovery aid is a gross waste of taxpayer monies, which must be immediately addressed by the Bush Administration,” Wexler said.
But other than that little glitch Michael Brownwas qualified for the job, right?
U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla) has urged President Bush to fire Michael Brown as undersecretary of the Homeland Security Department in charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Wexler cited reports in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that FEMA under Brown's management inappropriately gave away $30 million in disaster relief funds to people in the Miami, Florida, area even though they were not affected by Hurricane Frances, which made landfall more than 100 miles away.
In his letter to Bush, Wexler wrote: "According to several news accounts by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 'FEMA has written checks to cover new wardrobes, cars, lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners, furniture and thousands of televisions, microwave ovens, stoves, air conditioners and other appliances.' In addition, the Sun-Sentinel cites that FEMA paid $4,500 for one resident’s funeral, even though the county medical examiner recorded no storm-related deaths. Another Sun-Sentinel article stated that two residents received aid for 'dental treatments due to dental injuries received during the disaster.' In six other cases, FEMA reimbursed residents for damage caused by 'ice/snow.'"
In a Jan. 24 news release, Wexler added: "On Monday, January 11, FEMA held a news conference acknowledging that they made $12 million in overpayments to 3,500 individuals — blaming these overpayments on a 'computer glitch.' FEMA, however, continues to deny additional systematic problems and cites the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to prove that there were legitimate hurricane conditions in Miami-Dade. Yet, according to the Sun-Sentinel, NOAA has refuted the weather maps FEMA claims to
have obtained from them. As the head of FEMA, Under Secretary Brown oversees federal disaster response and recovery operations, and it is negligent of him to refuse to accept responsibility for its agency mistakes."
“Rather than taking responsibility for FEMA’s mishaps and moving expeditiously to correct the
problems, Under Secretary Brown has further undermined his agency’s reputation by stymied
investigations and inquiries into fraud allegations," Wexler added. "FEMA’s massive misallocation of recovery aid is a gross waste of taxpayer monies, which must be immediately addressed by the Bush Administration,” Wexler said.
But other than that little glitch Michael Brownwas qualified for the job, right?
Short-Haired Fuzzyco Friday
Look how short Dan Izzo's Hair is.
Anyone in the Wrigleyville area, tonight at 9pm I will be one of the cameramen for The Neutrino Project at the Improv Kitchen. If you're unfamiliar it's an improvised movie that unfolds for the audience while it's being shot just outside The Improv Kitchen. Four teams record four short films and have their tape sent back to the restaurant and are played in turn while the other segments are being shot. It's a damn cool idea with many chances for chaos! If you do come and don't know which film is my team keep in mind I love including unwitting passesby into the movie. CHAOS!
Anyone in the Wrigleyville area, tonight at 9pm I will be one of the cameramen for The Neutrino Project at the Improv Kitchen. If you're unfamiliar it's an improvised movie that unfolds for the audience while it's being shot just outside The Improv Kitchen. Four teams record four short films and have their tape sent back to the restaurant and are played in turn while the other segments are being shot. It's a damn cool idea with many chances for chaos! If you do come and don't know which film is my team keep in mind I love including unwitting passesby into the movie. CHAOS!
In the wake of the distaster...
I think it's time we all come together and enjoy a short-haired chick.
Bryce Dallas Howard, strange name, short hair, hot chick
Bryce Dallas Howard, strange name, short hair, hot chick
Thursday, September 1, 2005
Awesome!
Wanna see Anderson Cooper tear the asshole out of one of those shitty Centrist Democrats? It takes a while to load, but the answer is yes, and it's Jackson if you're nasty.
We have no use for Democrats who won't speak up about the misdeeds of the White House, right? I mean anyone who won't tell the Emperor his dick is flapping in the wind is just as out of touch as the GOP, right? At least the GOP has this weird cult thing so they all think and talk alike, so we know why they act the way they do, but the Democrats don't have talking points or this odd agenda. So since Centrist Democrats are liars just like the Bush Crime Family, why don't we petition our Republican Senators to impeach the Democrativc Senators that suck? I mean wouldn't a Republican jump on that as, like, a bully generally would? What does it take to impeach a Senator? They would think they were doing something very Republican by getting rid of a Democratic Senator, but then we'd hire a new one in this angry climate who would speak up? Eh, it would never work, the Repugs know they've got a bunch of pussies in there, they would never let them go.
We have no use for Democrats who won't speak up about the misdeeds of the White House, right? I mean anyone who won't tell the Emperor his dick is flapping in the wind is just as out of touch as the GOP, right? At least the GOP has this weird cult thing so they all think and talk alike, so we know why they act the way they do, but the Democrats don't have talking points or this odd agenda. So since Centrist Democrats are liars just like the Bush Crime Family, why don't we petition our Republican Senators to impeach the Democrativc Senators that suck? I mean wouldn't a Republican jump on that as, like, a bully generally would? What does it take to impeach a Senator? They would think they were doing something very Republican by getting rid of a Democratic Senator, but then we'd hire a new one in this angry climate who would speak up? Eh, it would never work, the Repugs know they've got a bunch of pussies in there, they would never let them go.
National Geographic: tree-hugging liberals
Listen to these typical liberals and their tree-hugging environmental gloom-and-doom scenarios designed to build sympathy for the touchy-feely Democrats so they can tax-and-spend to funnel more money into social programs which take us closer to communism.
It was a broiling August afternoon in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Big Easy, the City That Care Forgot. Those who ventured outside moved as if they were swimming in tupelo honey. Those inside paid silent homage to the man who invented air-conditioning as they watched TV "storm teams" warn of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing surprising there: Hurricanes in August are as much a part of life in this town as hangovers on Ash Wednesday.
But the next day the storm gathered steam and drew a bead on the city. As the whirling maelstrom approached the coast, more than a million people evacuated to higher ground. Some 200,000 remained, however--the car-less, the homeless, the aged and infirm, and those die-hard New Orleanians who look for any excuse to throw a party.
The storm hit Breton Sound with the fury of a nuclear warhead, pushing a deadly storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain. The water crept to the top of the massive berm that holds back the lake and then spilled over. Nearly 80 percent of New Orleans lies below sea level--more than eight feet below in places--so the water poured in. A liquid brown wall washed over the brick ranch homes of Gentilly, over the clapboard houses of the Ninth Ward, over the white-columned porches of the Garden District, until it raced through the bars and strip joints on Bourbon Street like the pale rider of the Apocalypse. As it reached 25 feet (eight meters) over parts of the city, people climbed onto roofs to escape it.
Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.
When did this calamity happen? It hasn't--yet. But the doomsday scenario is not far-fetched. The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation, up there with a large earthquake in California or a terrorist attack on New York City.
- National Geographic, October, 2004
"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."
- President Bush, September 1, 2005
It was a broiling August afternoon in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Big Easy, the City That Care Forgot. Those who ventured outside moved as if they were swimming in tupelo honey. Those inside paid silent homage to the man who invented air-conditioning as they watched TV "storm teams" warn of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing surprising there: Hurricanes in August are as much a part of life in this town as hangovers on Ash Wednesday.
But the next day the storm gathered steam and drew a bead on the city. As the whirling maelstrom approached the coast, more than a million people evacuated to higher ground. Some 200,000 remained, however--the car-less, the homeless, the aged and infirm, and those die-hard New Orleanians who look for any excuse to throw a party.
The storm hit Breton Sound with the fury of a nuclear warhead, pushing a deadly storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain. The water crept to the top of the massive berm that holds back the lake and then spilled over. Nearly 80 percent of New Orleans lies below sea level--more than eight feet below in places--so the water poured in. A liquid brown wall washed over the brick ranch homes of Gentilly, over the clapboard houses of the Ninth Ward, over the white-columned porches of the Garden District, until it raced through the bars and strip joints on Bourbon Street like the pale rider of the Apocalypse. As it reached 25 feet (eight meters) over parts of the city, people climbed onto roofs to escape it.
Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.
When did this calamity happen? It hasn't--yet. But the doomsday scenario is not far-fetched. The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation, up there with a large earthquake in California or a terrorist attack on New York City.
- National Geographic, October, 2004
"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."
- President Bush, September 1, 2005
Look at the bright side..
At least the Administration acted pre-emptively to assure that no flags could be burnt in New Orleans.
Oof
According to www.dailykos.com this letter JUST went out to the RNC email list. At long last have you no sense of decency. I like how repealing the "death tax" is for Farmers, not for Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney and Paris Hilton.
Dear XXX,
For the last four years, President Bush and Republicans in Congress have championed a pro-growth agenda that has brought tax relief to millions of Americans. Historic legislation in 2001 and 2003 put America on the track to economic growth, and today our economic outlook is bright. There is more work to do, however, to ensure that tax-paying Americans can keep more of their own hard-earned income.
When they return from their August recess, Senators will consider a key issue: elimination of the death tax. The death tax is an unfair double taxation of income, which hurts America's small businesses and farms and threatens job growth. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats are working hard to oppose our efforts to eliminate this unfair tax.
Will you help bring tax relief to more hard-working Americans? Call Senator George V. Voinovich at 202-224-3353 today and ask them to eliminate the death tax.
Our party's opportunity agenda means allowing families to keep more of the money they earn. The historic tax relief in the President's first term was only the beginning. Americans deserve a tax code that is simple and fair. The Senate needs to do its part by making tax relief permanent and burying the death tax forever.
Call Senator George V. Voinovich at 202-224-3353 today and ask them to vote to eliminate the death tax!
Make your voice heard on this important issue. Call Senator George V. Voinovich. Express your support for tax relief and economic opportunity.
Elimination of the death tax would be a victory for fairness and job creation. Working together, we can help eliminate the burden of the death tax once and for all.
Thank you,
Ken Mehlman
Chairman RNC
Dear XXX,
For the last four years, President Bush and Republicans in Congress have championed a pro-growth agenda that has brought tax relief to millions of Americans. Historic legislation in 2001 and 2003 put America on the track to economic growth, and today our economic outlook is bright. There is more work to do, however, to ensure that tax-paying Americans can keep more of their own hard-earned income.
When they return from their August recess, Senators will consider a key issue: elimination of the death tax. The death tax is an unfair double taxation of income, which hurts America's small businesses and farms and threatens job growth. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats are working hard to oppose our efforts to eliminate this unfair tax.
Will you help bring tax relief to more hard-working Americans? Call Senator George V. Voinovich at 202-224-3353 today and ask them to eliminate the death tax.
Our party's opportunity agenda means allowing families to keep more of the money they earn. The historic tax relief in the President's first term was only the beginning. Americans deserve a tax code that is simple and fair. The Senate needs to do its part by making tax relief permanent and burying the death tax forever.
Call Senator George V. Voinovich at 202-224-3353 today and ask them to vote to eliminate the death tax!
Make your voice heard on this important issue. Call Senator George V. Voinovich. Express your support for tax relief and economic opportunity.
Elimination of the death tax would be a victory for fairness and job creation. Working together, we can help eliminate the burden of the death tax once and for all.
Thank you,
Ken Mehlman
Chairman RNC
Of note...
FEMA budgets
2004:
Army Corps request: $11 million
Bush request: $3 million
Approved by Congress: $5.5 million
2005:
Army Corps request: $22.5 million
Bush request: $3.9 million
Approved by Congress: $5.7 million
2006:
Bush request: $2.9 million
2004:
Army Corps request: $11 million
Bush request: $3 million
Approved by Congress: $5.5 million
2005:
Army Corps request: $22.5 million
Bush request: $3.9 million
Approved by Congress: $5.7 million
2006:
Bush request: $2.9 million
From www.gawker.com
Just moments ago at the Ferragamo on 5th Avenue, Condoleeza Rice was seen spending several thousands of dollars on some nice, new shoes (we’ve confirmed this, so her new heels will surely get coverage from the WaPo’s Robin Givhan). A fellow shopper, unable to fathom the absurdity of Rice’s timing, went up to the Secretary and reportedly shouted, “How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!” Never one to have her fashion choices questioned, Rice had security PHYSICALLY REMOVE the woman.
Angry Lady, whoever you are, we love you. You are a true American.
Angry Lady, whoever you are, we love you. You are a true American.
Allright who shit on the train?
If you have to shit, please do what everyone else does and get off the brown line and shit on the red line, next to the puddle of puke and lottery tickets.
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