(via
Michelle Malkin)The Los Angela's Times has a story about how environmentalist with their lawyers blocked a major project that may have protected New Orleans... The idiotic idea of animal life before human life strikes yet again!
A Barrier That Could Have Been In the wake of Hurricane Betsy 40 years ago, Congress approved a massive hurricane barrier to protect New Orleans from storm surges that could inundate the city.
But the project, signed into law by President Johnson, was derailed in 1977 by an environmental lawsuit. Now the question is: Could that barrier have protected New Orleans from the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina?
'If we had built the barriers, New Orleans would not be flooded,' said Joseph Towers, the retired chief counsel for the Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans district.
Tower's view is endorsed by a former key senator, along with academic experts, who say a hurricane barrier is the only way to control the powerful storm surges that enter Lake Pontchartrain and threaten the city. Other experts are less sure, saying the barrier would have been no match for Katrina.
The project was stopped in its tracks when an environmental lawsuit won a federal injunction on the grounds that the Army's environmental impact statement was flawed. By the mid-1980s, the Corps of Engineers abandoned the project.
The project faced formidable opposition not only from environmentalists but from regional government officials outside of New Orleans who argued that the barriers would choke commerce and harm marine life in ecologically sensitive Lake Pontchartrain.
The barrier would have protected New Orleans from storm surges barreling into the lake through two narrow passages � the Rigolets and the Chef Menteur Pass"
Check out what
Stephen Bainbridge has to say too!
Other than the Katrina blame game there is a
major attack on Iraq 'rebel town' underway. Continue to remember these troops!
Iraq says a major operation is under way to try to retake the northern town of Talafar from insurgents.
US and Iraqi troops swept through the town, smashing walls with armoured vehicles and engaging in gun battles.
The Americans believe the town is being used as a staging post by foreign fighters crossing into Iraq from Syria.
Iraq's defence minister said 144 rebels had been killed in Talafar in the past two days. He said his forces were ready to strike rebels in four other towns.
Because they will loose! Below is one article that starts the snowball rolling to wards Louisiana -
Money Flowed to Questionable ProjectsIn Katrina's wake, Louisiana politicians and other critics have complained about paltry funding for the Army Corps in general and Louisiana projects in particular. But over the five years of President Bush's administration, Louisiana has received far more money for Corps civil works projects than any other state, about $1.9 billion; California was a distant second with less than $1.4 billion, even though its population is more than seven times as large.
Much of that Louisiana money was spent to try to keep low-lying New Orleans dry. But hundreds of millions of dollars have gone to unrelated water projects demanded by the state's congressional delegation and approved by the Corps, often after economic analyses that turned out to be inaccurate. Despite a series of independent investigations criticizing Army Corps construction projects as wasteful pork-barrel spending, Louisiana's representatives have kept bringing home the bacon.
For example, after a $194 million deepening project for the Port of Iberia flunked a Corps cost-benefit analysis, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) tucked language into an emergency Iraq spending bill ordering the agency to redo its calculations. The Corps also spends tens of millions of dollars a year dredging little-used waterways such as the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, the Atchafalaya River and the Red River -- now known as the J. Bennett Johnston Waterway, in honor of the project's congressional godfather -- for barge traffic that is less than forecast.
[...]
But overall, the Bush administration's funding requests for the key New Orleans flood-control projects for the past five years were slightly higher than the Clinton administration's for its past five years. Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, the chief of the Corps, has said that in any event, more money would not have prevented the drowning of the city, since its levees were designed to protect against a Category 3 storm, and the levees that failed were already completed projects. Strock has also said that the marsh-restoration project would not have done much to diminish Katrina's storm surge, which passed east of the coastal wetlands.
and then there is this:
Louisiana Officials Could Lose the Katrina Blame GameBy 1998, Louisiana's state government had a $2 billion construction budget, but less than one tenth of one percent of that -- $1.98 million -- was dedicated to levee improvements in the New Orleans area. State appropriators were able to find $22 million that year to renovate a new home for the Louisiana Supreme Court and $35 million for one phase of an expansion to the New Orleans convention center.
The following year, the state legislature did appropriate $49.5 million for levee improvements, but the proposed spending had to be allocated by the State Bond Commission before the projects could receive financing. The commission placed the levee improvements in the "Priority 5" category, among the projects least likely to receive full or immediate funding.
The Orleans Levee Board was also forced to defer $3.7 million in capital improvement projects in its 2001 budget after residents of the area rejected a proposed tax increase to fund its expanding operations. Long term deferments to nearly 60 projects, based on the revenue shortfall, totaled $47 million worth of work, including projects to shore up the floodwalls.
No new state money had been allocated to the area's hurricane protection projects as of October of 2002, leaving the available 65 percent federal matching funds for such construction untouched.
Don't let the title of the CNN article fool you. The news, little reported news, is that the media has failed in convincing Americans to blame President Bush -- unless you believe 13% is a massive number. Further, 63% do not believe anyone should loose their job -- I am in the minority since I believe Brown should be gone if only for his lack of relating the "true facts" at the beginning by trying to blow smoke up our .....
CNN.com - Poll: Most Americans believe New Orleans will never recoverNow stay with the article the below paragraph is at the bottom.
Respondents also disagreed widely on who is to blame for the problems in the city following the hurricane -- 13 percent said Bush, 18 percent said federal agencies, 25 percent blamed state or local officials and 38 percent said no one is to blame. And 63 percent said they do not believe anyone at federal agencies responsible for handling emergencies should be fired as a result.
Now can we get back to human compassion and respond to the tragedy and not the "blame game"?
You might remember the "chilli finger case" from
here,
here,
here, and
here -- we finally have an end to it with the
Couple pleading guilty. I know that many were so worried about this case -- me I find it interesting that we are set in our society to allow junk like this, you may recall this was the third or fourth attempt for these people -- the others were successful.
SAN JOSE, California (AP) -- A Nevada couple pleaded guilty Friday to all charges related to planting a human fingertip in a bowl of Wendy's chili in a scheme to extort money from the fast food restaurant chain.
Anna Ayala, 39, and Jaime Placencia, 43, pleaded guilty to conspiring to file a false claim and attempted grand theft. The Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy's International Inc. claimed the scheme cost it $2.5 million in lost sales because of bad publicity.
Ayala faces up to nearly 10 years in state prison when sentenced November 2. Her husband faces up to 13 years behind bars.
As per the norm the MSM missed another "good" story out of Iraq as
Iraqi soldiers donate to Katrina victims -- would be nice if the picked up one or two of these every now and then!
TAJI, Iraq, Sept. 9, 2005 - Iraqi soldiers serving at Taji military base collected 1,000,000 Iraqi dinars for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Iraqi Col. Abbas Fadhil, Iraqi base commander, presented the money to U.S. Col. Paul D. Linkenhoker, Taji Coalition base commander, at a Sept. 5 staff meeting.
“We are all brothers,” said Abbas. “When one suffers tragedy, we all suffer their pain.”
Embattled Brown Relieved of Katrina DutyFrom and earlier post...
Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown, the principal target of harsh criticism of the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina, was relieved of his onsite command Friday.
He will be replaced by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, who was overseeing New Orleans relief, recovery and rescue efforts, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced.
Earlier, Brown confirmed the switch. Asked if he was being made a scapegoat for a federal relief effort that has drawn widespread and sharp criticism, Brown told The Associated Press after a long pause: 'By the press, yes. By the president, no.'
'Michael Brown has done everything he possibly could to coordinate the federal response to this unprecedented challenge,' Chertoff told reporters in Baton Rouge, La. Chertoff sidestepped a question on whether the move was the first step toward Brown's leaving FEMA.
Court: 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect Can Be Held
And in other news.....
A federal appeals court Friday sided with the Bush administration and reversed a judge's order that the government either charge or free 'dirty bomb' suspect Jose Padilla.
The three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the president has the authority to detain a U.S. citizen closely associated with al Qaida.
'The exceedingly important question before us is whether the President of the United States possesses the authority to detain militarily a citizen of this country who is closely associated with al Qaeda, an entity with which the United States is at war,' Judge Michael Luttig wrote. 'We conclude that the President does possess such authority.'
The Season Begins.
I found this interesting,
Schwarzenegger to veto bill allowing gay marriage, where will this leave him in one of the largest "blue states". I do like the intent of his message -- government can not be allowed to override the will of the people; however, he mentions the courts -- I hope he doesn't think politicians shouldn't but a select few judges can...
Schwarzenegger to veto bill allowing gay marriage
SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Wednesday that he will veto a bill that would allow gay marriages in California.
Schwarzenegger said the legislation, given final approval Tuesday by lawmakers, would conflict with the intent of voters when they approved a ballot initiative five years ago. Proposition 22 prevents California from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states or countries.
"We cannot have a system where the people vote and the Legislature derails that vote," the governor's press secretary, Margita Thompson, said in a statement. "Out of respect for the will of the people, the governor will veto (the bill)."
More remember Atta ID'd as terrorist pre-9/11Like I said
Saturday -- don't want to see this go away. I am interested to see if this proves accurate, if yes, I want to know how the 9/11 commission missed it -- what was Sandy Berger doing stuffing those documents everywhere?
WASHINGTON - Pentagon officials said Thursday they have found three more people who recall an intelligence chart that identified Sept. 11 mastermind Mohamed Atta as a terrorist one year before the attacks on New York and Washington. But they have been unable to find the chart or other evidence that it existed.
Previous post
here,
here, and
here.
We now know of one city that knows how to use buses in a crisis. Houston's
300 drivers, and employees use buses to rescue victims, unlike
New Orleans, Houston knows how to use their assist -- still want to know why the
New Orleans buses were not use.
About 300 Houston Independent School District bus drivers and other employees spent Sunday on almost 150 district school buses rescuing hurricane victims from the waterlogged streets of New Orleans.
After 20 years
Jerry Rice retires. I have watched him all these years and he was one of the , if not the, most unstoppable receiver in my lifetime... Farewell and thanks for the memories.
DENVER (Sept. 5, 2005) -- Unwilling to be a bit player with the Broncos, Jerry Rice retired, closing a 20-year career for the most productive receiver in NFL history.
Rice, 42, made his decision over the weekend at home in San Francisco, then returned to Broncos headquarters and met with coach Mike Shanahan. He played 20 NFL seasons.
'This is a happy day,' he said. 'I think the tears that you see basically is that I have really enjoyed this ride.
'I'm done. I'm looking forward to the next phase of my life.'
Here is a little good news for the gulf coast... Let's hope they get all the
levees closed ASAP.
Army Corps says closing gaps in New Orleans leveeVICKSBURG, Mississippi (Reuters) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on Monday it had completely closed one major gap in the levees breached by Hurricane Katrina and was close to repairing a second major breach.
'Progress has been sufficient to allow the contractors to be in position to completely close the breach at Th Street, and the breach at the London Street Canal has been completely closed,' the Corps said in a statement.
Today President
Bush nominates Roberts as chief justice. I cannot say that this is a total surprise --
Roberts, John G., Jr. is known and his back ground is already being scrutinized besides the "chief Justice" position needs to be filled rapidly.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Moving quickly to fill the vacancy left by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's death, President Bush on Monday nominated Judge John Roberts to the nation's top judicial post.
'It is fitting that a great chief justice be followed in office by a person who shared his deep reverence for the Constitution, his profound respect for the Supreme Court and his complete devotion to the cause of justice,' Bush said from the White House, with the judge by his side.
With another chance to make a splash
Fonda will join Galloway's anti-Bush tour. Jane you might want to consider you may not live long enough to apologize for this "childish decision" -- but what the heck, most didn't buy the apology for your Vietnam actions. Here is an idea, since some many are visiting Gitmo maybe they can let you in so you can relieve your "glory" years.
LONDON -- Jane Fonda will join George Galloway, the most radical member of the British parliament, on a tour of the United States to accuse the Bush administration of spending money on Iraq that should be spent to help the poor of New Orleans.
The argument, likely to offend many Americans, follows British newspaper and television coverage of Hurricane Katrina that focused on the bungled handling of the aftermath of the storm.
I have already said something about the
ABC poll that has 44% blaming President Bush, and I didn't believe that was bad with all the media pushing an anti-Bush agenda... Just to prove my point here is a news report, remember not an op-ed, no there is no bias, RIGHT!
New Orleans collects dead as officials dodge blame NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - New Orleans began the gruesome task of collecting its thousands of dead on Sunday as the Bush administration tried to save face after its botched rescue plans left the city at the mercy of Hurricane Katrina.
(hat tip:
Little Green Footballs)
I know that hurricane is dominate in the news and getting relief to those in need is important but we cannot forget other world events - like Iraq where are brave men and women are serving. This story states
Iraq to put Hussein on trial in 6 weeks, and I think this is sugnificate... If and when
Saddam Hussein is found guilty it may be considered the last chapter of "old Iraq, per-say, and help usher in the "new Iraq".
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 4 - The trial of Saddam Hussein will begin in six weeks, the Iraqi government said today, and he and seven aides face a special tribunal on charges of massacring almost 150 residents from the town of Dujail, the scene of a failed assassination attempt against Mr. Hussein 23 years ago.
Laith Kubba, a spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, said the trial would begin Oct. 19 - four days after a national vote on a proposed new constitution. Mr. Hussein, who faces the death penalty if convicted, could possibly be hanged within months. Four days ago Iraq carried out its first court-ordered executions since the fall of Mr. Hussein's government, hanging three people convicted in May in the southern city of Kut of rapes and killings.
ABC News: Poll: Bush Not Taking Brunt of Katrina CriticismI agree with
Glenn Reynolds - Instapundit.com, considering the onslaught of Bush attacks and the media's ongoing attempt to blame President Bush -- the numbers are OK.
Sept. 4, 2005 - Americans are broadly critical of government preparedness in the Hurricane Katrina disaster - but far fewer take George W. Bush personally to task for the problems, and public anger about the response is less widespread than some critics would suggest.
| Yes | No |
Federal government adequately prepared? | 31% | 67% |
State/local government adequately prepared? | 24% | 75% |
Blame Bush? | 44% | 55% |
Earlier, I mentioned a
missed opportunity involving New Orleans buses --
Junk YardBlog has more information on these buses. Seems there were 255 unused buses, WHY?