Hurricane Katrina

[The Czech Republic 0]

I like that guy, because he makes my whole Katrina Thread Debacle look like less of a big deal. I mean, whoa.

[SuperJerk 0]

Gore airlifts Katrina victims out of New Orleans

Former vice president chartered 2 private aircraft

 

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- Al Gore helped airlift some 270 Katrina evacuees on two private charters from New Orleans, acting at the urging of a doctor who saved the life of the former vice president's son.

 

Gore criticized the Bush administration's slow response to Katrina in a speech Friday in San Francisco, but refused to be interviewed about the mercy missions he financed and flew on Sept. 3 and 4.

 

However, Dr. Anderson Spickard, who is Gore's personal physician and accompanied him on the flights, said: "Gore told me he wanted to do this because like all of us he wanted to seize the opportunity to do what one guy can do, given the assets that he has."

 

An account of the flights was posted this week on a Democratic Party Web page. It was written by Greg Simon, president of the Washington-based activist group FasterCures. Simon, who helped put together the mission, also declined an interview.

 

On Sept. 1, three days after Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, Simon learned that Dr. David Kline, a neurosurgeon who operated on Gore's son, Albert, after a life-threatening auto accident in 1989, was trying to get in touch with Gore. Kline was stranded with patients at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.

 

"The situation was dire and becoming worse by the minute -- food and water running out, no power, 4 feet of water surrounding the hospital and ... corpses outside," Simon wrote.

 

Gore responded immediately, telephoning Kline and agreeing to underwrite the $50,000 each for the two flights, although Larry Flax, founder of California Pizza Kitchens, later pledged to pay for one of them.

 

"None of the airlines involved required a contract or any written guarantee of payment before sending their planes and volunteer crews," Simon wrote of the American Airlines flights. "One official said if Gore promised to pay, that was good enough for them."

 

He also recruited two doctors, Spickard and Gore's cousin, retired Col. Dar LaFon, a specialist in internal medicine who once ran the military hospital in Baghdad.

 

Most critically, Gore worked to cut through government red tape, personally calling Gov. Phil Bredesen to get Tennessee's support and U.S. Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta to secure landing rights in New Orleans.

 

About 140 people, many of them sick, landed in Knoxville on Sept. 3. The second flight, with 130 evacuees, landed the next day in Chattanooga.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/09/kat...e.ap/index.html

 

I wish we'd known about this 5 years ago.

[SuperJerk 0]

Powell slams hurricane response

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Colin Powell, the former secretary of state seen as a potential leader for Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, has joined the chorus of Americans criticising the disaster response at all levels of government.

 

"There have been a lot of failures at a lot of levels -- local, state and federal," Powell said in an ABC interview for the "20/20" program to be broadcast on Friday evening.

 

Political figures from both major parties have assailed the slow response to the hurricane's assault last week on the Gulf Coast, which devastated New Orleans and killed hundreds, possibly thousands, in the region.

 

"There was more than enough warning over time about the dangers to New Orleans. Not enough was done. I don't think advantage was taken of the time that was available to us, and I just don't know why," Powell said in excerpts on ABC's Web site.

 

He said he did not think that race was a factor in the slow response, but that many of those unable to leave New Orleans in time were trapped by poverty which disproportionately affects blacks.

 

Powell was the highest-ranking black official during President George W. Bush's first term and chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1991 Gulf War. He is among various names mentioned in Washington as a potential "hurricane czar" to take over the long-term recovery effort.

 

Two Republican senators on Thursday proposed that such a job be created. White House officials have not ruled out the option, saying it is among several being discussed.

 

Some black leaders, including Democrats in Congress, have charged that racism contributed to the misery of New Orleans' predominantly black storm victims.

 

"I don't think it's racism, I think it's economic," Powell said. "But poverty disproportionately affects African-Americans in this country. And it happened because they were poor."

 

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/09/katrina.p...reut/index.html

[The Czech Republic 0]

Gore airlifts Katrina victims out of New Orleans

 

I've always felt Al Gore wasn't a total cocksucker like some Democratic politicians, I just didn't want him to be the president. Admirable stuff.

[Perfxion 0]

Al Gore has as much chance being president these days as JFK.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Actually, it's not Rant, believe it or not.

 

It's Yami Bakura with a name change.

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This revelation + your title = amusing, yet I not reveal why lest I look like a dork or a small child.

[SuperJerk 0]

Al Gore has as much chance being president these days as JFK.

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Fortunately, 1-20-2009 isn't "these days".

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

Actually, it's not Rant, believe it or not.

 

It's Yami Bakura with a name change.

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This revelation + your title = amusing, yet I not reveal why lest I look like a dork or a small child.

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Heh, I know what you mean. What's kinda hilarious is that there's two more SNs here that's related, as well.

 

It's funny what you come across while looking at a list of SNs once in a while.

[snuffbox 0]

Al Gore has as much chance being president these days as JFK.

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Funny, that was the exact same thing that people said about Richard Nixon in the mid-60s...not the JFK thing, but no chance.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Why did Al Gore and Bob Dole start being likable and endearing AFTER it mattered? Dole The Wiseass could've given Clinton a better challenge.

 

Also, who's the biggest son of a bitch in recent GOP history, Nixon, or Rove? I love Nixon, but Rove is giving Tricky Dick a chase. And lest anyone think I'm some sort of liberal, I mean "son of a bitch" in the nicest possible way.

[Sideburnious 0]

Hippie!

[2GOLD 0]

Why did Al Gore and Bob Dole start being likable and endearing AFTER it mattered? Dole The Wiseass could've given Clinton a better challenge.

 

Also, who's the biggest son of a bitch in recent GOP history, Nixon, or Rove? I love Nixon, but Rove is giving Tricky Dick a chase. And lest anyone think I'm some sort of liberal, I mean "son of a bitch" in the nicest possible way.

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Gore and Dole lost for the same reason. They listened to their stupid party.

Dole was told the country wanted "a plain, hard working honest man" which works when you aren't in the Government and being viewed as a rich cranky monster.

 

And Gore was told the country wanted a "sober, understanding man" and I also think he really didn't want to be the President at all. Just seemed like he didn't give a good damn.

 

Rove cause he played them Dems like a fiddle. He played their game and rewrote the rule book so they ended up playing his game. Tricked the fuck out of em.

[Vampiro69 0]

No matter what everyone says, I would vote for Nixon if he came back to run as president again like on Futurama.

[Perfxion 0]

How can one man win president if he can't carry his own HOME state. I can't be bothered to remember to ran in 84 and 88 again Ron and George, but they atleast won their own home state. Not winning your own home state is the complete deathwish of any one trying to win president.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Mondale won Minnesota (and DC and that was it) in '84, Dukakis won Mass and a smattering of others in '88

 

Gore probably became disconnected from Tennessee on account of eight years in Washington. As I recall, he was somewhat more conservative as a senator.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Maybe Kanye was right?

 

Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms. They say they are on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to use lethal force.

 

Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences. Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause for serious concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises alarming questions about why the government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here. Some of the men now patrolling the streets of New Orleans returned from Iraq as recently as 2 weeks ago.

 

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/091005A.shtml

 

I read a report that one of these mercenary firms was hired by Fairmont, a luxury hotel, to evacuate its guests. They were stopped at a military checkpoint and not allowed to pass. That is, until the mercenaries threatened the military at gunpoint.

[Richard 0]

Somehow, this doesn't surprise me

[Art Sandusky 0]

"Lies! Scurrilous lies! Those were... LOOTERS posing as rescuers! LOOTERS BAD! So now we'll talk about race being a factor and continuously say 'looters' instead of, say, 'black people.' What's this about those whores who wanted to show their cans?"

[Fökai 0]

Did anyone post the newsbit about Michael Brown being removed as head of FEMA?

[SuperJerk 0]

I don't think he's actualy been removed as head of FEMA.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/09/kat...gton/index.html

 

 

How can one man win president if he can't carry his own HOME state. I can't be bothered to remember to ran in 84 and 88 again Ron and George, but they atleast won their own home state. Not winning your own home state is the complete deathwish of any one trying to win president.

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I'd rather be the guy who lost by 5 electoral votes than the guy who lost by 512.

[AboveAverage484 0]

On a more positive note, the death toll doesn't seem to be as high as initially estimated and the pumps seem to be pumping the water faster than expected.

[Vampiro69 0]

Well that is good an all. For the most part that means that there will be less mold in the homes and the dead bodies will not be as bloated after sitting there longer then expected.

[The Czech Republic 0]

That's exactly what I thought, vampiro69.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Wasn't Yami FBP or FPB whatever it was? I thought that guy was black.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I've been here longer than most of this board and I don't remember an FBP.

 

HOLY SHIT 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY I SHOULD QUIT NOW

[Gert T 0]

Mondale to Hart: "Where's the Beef?"

[Boon 0]

Every year that some sports team wins a championship, mostly white crowds take to the street to celebrate, and a small percentage destroy property and a smaller percentage loot. Every year. At least 3-4 times. This doesn't mean that white people are savages and opportunistic, it means that some people are fucking assholes. Plain and simple. The media has been portraying it in a different light.

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Northeastern University represent.

[Boon 0]

How can one man win president if he can't carry his own HOME state. I can't be bothered to remember to ran in 84 and 88 again Ron and George, but they atleast won their own home state. Not winning your own home state is the complete deathwish of any one trying to win president.

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*cough*Al Gore*cough*

[Perfxion 0]

Its a little early to say he won president in 08 when its 05 and all. In three years, we will see.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

How can one man win president if he can't carry his own HOME state. I can't be bothered to remember to ran in 84 and 88 again Ron and George, but they atleast won their own home state. Not winning your own home state is the complete deathwish of any one trying to win president.

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*cough*Al Gore*cough*

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Umm...that was kinda what he was obviously referring to, El Boonster.