MrOtis
Sep 13th, 2005, 12:12 AM
Again this week we analyze the impact of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. It comes down to this: The response of government authorities was beyond inept. New Orleans was a microcosm of how the Total Surveillance State will be sold to the American people.
Conditions were allowed to deteriorate into chaos until people demanded federal intervention. In rode Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, the ragin' Cajun, to pull order out of chaos.
Order out of chaos--that has a familiar ring to it.
As the floodwaters slowly recede, the wealthy business class in New Orleans have already begun holding meetings to decide how to rebuild. Newsweek quotes Jimmy Reiss, chairman of the New Orleans Business Council, as saying that he wants "to use this catastrophe as a once-in-an-eon opportunity to change the dynamic".
Translated from doublespeak, "change the dynamic" means "rebuild New Orleans without all those poor people".
We also raised a couple of issues not given much attention this week: First, has anybody secured the Level 3 Biocontainment laboratories in New Orleans? Tulane University has received millions from the Department of Defense to research vaccines for anthrax, plague, and Ebola. What happened to the samples when the lab freezers lost power?
Second, a federal appeals court judge has ruled that the government can continue to hold Jose Padilla, who was accused of planning to detonate a "dirty" radioactive bomb for Al Qaeda. Padilla is being held in solitary confinement in a military brig even though no charges have been filed against him.
In other words, the court ruled that the president can legally jail anyone indefinitely without charges simply by accusing him or her of being a suspected enemy combatant.
Oh, the judge who issued the ruling was Michael Luttig, whose name just happens to be on the short list of candidates to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court.
Show links:
FEMA refuses aid from--well, everywhere (http://derekpgilbert.com/?p=1912)
Firefighters to Hand Out Fliers for FEMA (http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197)
EMS Conventioneers Tell of Harrowing Escape from New Orleans (http://www.emsnetwork.org/artman/publish/article_18427.shtml)
Video clip: Geraldo Rivera and Shepard Smith report on survivors trying to escape New Orleans (http://homepage.mac.com/mkoldys/iblog/C168863457/E20050902214254/index.html)
Video clip: Charmaine Neville's five days in hell (http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2679391)
Video clip: Frisky the Dog Saves Owner's Life During Flood (http://wjz.com/seenon/local_story_252152425.html)
"Expect Up to 40,000 Bodies" (http://www.t-g.com/story/1116806.html)
New Orleans Evacuation Plan: "You're on Your Own" (http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2005/09/new_orleanss_hu.html)
"Welcome to Krakow" - Report from a FEMA Camp in Oklahoma (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/fema.html)
Police Confiscating Guns in New Orleans (Except from Mercenaries) (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/national/nationalspecial/08cnd-storm.html?oref=login)
Michael Barnett's blog from downtown New Orleans (http://mgno.com/)
U.S. Backs Down on Body Photo Ban (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-09-10-media-recovery_x.htm)
Executive Orders that Allow FEMA to Suspend the Constitution (http://www.sonic.net/sentinel/gvcon6.html)
Bioterrorism Grants to Tulane University (http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov/newsrelated/tulanebioterrorismgrants.htm)
President Can Jail Americans Without Trial (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168902,00.html)
"Katrina and the Politics of Disaster" by Paul Collins (http://piracyarchive.com/Commentary/Katrina_Politics_Disaster.htm)
About that "biblical" word Derek used? As Casey Stengel used to say, "You could look it up": 2 Kings 18:27 and Isaiah 36:12 (King James Version).
Listen now to P.I.D. Radio #26. (http://peeringintodarkness.com/radio/pidradio026.mp3)
Conditions were allowed to deteriorate into chaos until people demanded federal intervention. In rode Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, the ragin' Cajun, to pull order out of chaos.
Order out of chaos--that has a familiar ring to it.
As the floodwaters slowly recede, the wealthy business class in New Orleans have already begun holding meetings to decide how to rebuild. Newsweek quotes Jimmy Reiss, chairman of the New Orleans Business Council, as saying that he wants "to use this catastrophe as a once-in-an-eon opportunity to change the dynamic".
Translated from doublespeak, "change the dynamic" means "rebuild New Orleans without all those poor people".
We also raised a couple of issues not given much attention this week: First, has anybody secured the Level 3 Biocontainment laboratories in New Orleans? Tulane University has received millions from the Department of Defense to research vaccines for anthrax, plague, and Ebola. What happened to the samples when the lab freezers lost power?
Second, a federal appeals court judge has ruled that the government can continue to hold Jose Padilla, who was accused of planning to detonate a "dirty" radioactive bomb for Al Qaeda. Padilla is being held in solitary confinement in a military brig even though no charges have been filed against him.
In other words, the court ruled that the president can legally jail anyone indefinitely without charges simply by accusing him or her of being a suspected enemy combatant.
Oh, the judge who issued the ruling was Michael Luttig, whose name just happens to be on the short list of candidates to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court.
Show links:
FEMA refuses aid from--well, everywhere (http://derekpgilbert.com/?p=1912)
Firefighters to Hand Out Fliers for FEMA (http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197)
EMS Conventioneers Tell of Harrowing Escape from New Orleans (http://www.emsnetwork.org/artman/publish/article_18427.shtml)
Video clip: Geraldo Rivera and Shepard Smith report on survivors trying to escape New Orleans (http://homepage.mac.com/mkoldys/iblog/C168863457/E20050902214254/index.html)
Video clip: Charmaine Neville's five days in hell (http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2679391)
Video clip: Frisky the Dog Saves Owner's Life During Flood (http://wjz.com/seenon/local_story_252152425.html)
"Expect Up to 40,000 Bodies" (http://www.t-g.com/story/1116806.html)
New Orleans Evacuation Plan: "You're on Your Own" (http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2005/09/new_orleanss_hu.html)
"Welcome to Krakow" - Report from a FEMA Camp in Oklahoma (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/fema.html)
Police Confiscating Guns in New Orleans (Except from Mercenaries) (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/national/nationalspecial/08cnd-storm.html?oref=login)
Michael Barnett's blog from downtown New Orleans (http://mgno.com/)
U.S. Backs Down on Body Photo Ban (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-09-10-media-recovery_x.htm)
Executive Orders that Allow FEMA to Suspend the Constitution (http://www.sonic.net/sentinel/gvcon6.html)
Bioterrorism Grants to Tulane University (http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov/newsrelated/tulanebioterrorismgrants.htm)
President Can Jail Americans Without Trial (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168902,00.html)
"Katrina and the Politics of Disaster" by Paul Collins (http://piracyarchive.com/Commentary/Katrina_Politics_Disaster.htm)
About that "biblical" word Derek used? As Casey Stengel used to say, "You could look it up": 2 Kings 18:27 and Isaiah 36:12 (King James Version).
Listen now to P.I.D. Radio #26. (http://peeringintodarkness.com/radio/pidradio026.mp3)