My Phone Call with my FEMA Friend. Some info I did not know. :(

[Ioo]

http://www.bushsamerica.com/index.php/2005/09/01/my_phone_call_with_my_fema_friend

Posted on my Blog http://www.bushsamerica.com

I have a long term friend whose partner works at FEMA, and has for years, 15 plus years I am sure. I gave her a call to see if her partner was “deployed” down to NO, so we got into a conversation.

Here are the points I got, and I post with her permission.

• The Department of Homeland Security has moved 300+ Boarder patrol off the US / Mexico boarder and is moving them into NO proper to stop the looting.




• The lawlessness of the disaster area, New Orleans proper, is so bad that the American Red Cross has setup their Emergency Food and Shelters in Texas.




• Cell Companies, Cingular and alike, were flown down there ASAP so that they could get the cell phone towers and other communications that go with it up and running, they have abandoned the attempt because they are getting shot at, and retreated to the equipment builds and local HQ’s to get out of harms way, if the cell service was back on like, communication would be much easier.

She also said something that was very disturbing, She has worked at many of the disasters that we have faced, Oklahoma City, floods and other weather issues, 9/11 and so on. She said this, “Every disaster that I have ever been apart of the people are at their wits end, but they band together and help each other out, it is not happening in New Orleans right now.”

She also told me that FEMA is in chaos. I am not sure what is going on, but for the love of god it is pure hell in their, pure hell.

[BlueEyedSon]

1. God bless that 2nd amendment!

[name not needed]

2. Amen!

An armed society is a polite society.

[ComerPerro]

27. Thank you

[ProudDad]

29. It if weren't so deadly

you people would be funny

What the F*ck do you think the people who are shooting at helicopters are using, pea shooters?

You gun-fundies are so wierd.

[Arugula Latte]

36. I think they were being sarcastic. n/t

[bribri16]

41. Many of these people have banded together to help eacy other

but only a few of these stories get told. People in those other disasters knew they weren't abandoned and they were not under flood waters for five fucking days.

[Toots]

39. Guns don't kill people

:shrug:

[Rainscents]

3. Another disaster of our great leaders work!

It goes to show you, everything Bush touch, it's a disaster!

[peacetalksforall]

4. Things are so bad in NO that the Red Cross is in Texas? Why don't I

get it? The press and NG is there and govt officials?

[lumberjack_jeff]

31. It's just like Rumsfeld told Clark about bombing Afghanistan vs Iraq

There aren't any good places to park in NO. There's lots of good places to park in Texas.

[beam me up scottie]

5. I think it is because these people are trapped

and they think that they have been abandoned.
At least in the other situations, victims knew help was on the way.
Now it's Lord of the Flies in NO because Homeland Security couldn't do their job.

[Ioo]

6. We learned in Lord of the Flies...

That took months for them to go into that state, in NO it took hours, so I am not sure it is the same.

[beam me up scottie]

9. It's the same reasoning.

All of those stupid "survivor" reality shows must have really brainwashed the sheep.

This is how people act when they're desperate.
Most try to survive at any cost and others abuse their newfound sense of power by dominating the weak.

[chomskysright]

19. that's RIGHT: Return to your knowledge re: crowds & power

...bear in mind that Blacks in N.O. are very second class. Terrible racial problems: huge differences between haves and have nots: Whites = haves; Blacks= have nots. This is the background information for this experiment which is playing out before out eyes re: 'Malignant Neglect': 1st let the levees go re: underfunding; put the chess players in place; wait for Act of God; allow events to unfold re: Malevolent Neglect e.g., FEMA dysfunctional.

NONE of this was unintentional. This is not paranoia: this is a step up to mapping out a social phenomenon.

I place Karl Rove in the middle of it. Its Machiavelli's The Prince playing out today.

[TheDebbieDee]

7. These people WERE abandoned. They know this....

and they are pissed about it!

And I don't blame them. I don't condone shooting at or harrassing rescue teams in any way, but I don't blame the people for being angry about being left to die in New Orleans.

[Pallas180]

8. Itt's not the "people" shooting - it's young lawless turks-teenages & such

with guns.

Denying the rest of the thousands of citizens at the convention center being saved.

100 fucking brats with guns holding off the US Army and cops??????

say what????

no - does that make sense to anyone ?

LIHOP

[Mnemosyne]

28. I agree Pallas, something just doesn't add up. Why would

people shoot AT their rescuers? It just makes no sense at all to me.

[hvn_nbr_2]

32. Machiavelli, Rove, the death squad gang,...

Hmmm, people shooting at the rescuers would make a good excuse to stop or hold back on efforts. Have they captured, killed, or identified any of these shooters? Too many years of the country being run and scammed by scumbag thugs has made me suspect Machiavellian Rovian dirty tricks everywhere. You're right, it doesn't make any sense, it doesn't add up. Something is rotten here.

[AntiCoup2K4]

37. Perhaps the "shooters" are government plants?

I hate to invoke the old classic Freeper paranoia rumor about gun confiscation, but make no mistake, the Bush Criminal Empire is using New Orleans as a giant mad scientist experiment right now. This is becoming their "test case" as to what will happen if they, er I mean Al Qaeda, of course, launch a terraist attack in any large city. And the new word among the neocons will be immediate gun confiscation upon the declaration of emergency, and likely martial law.

[beam me up scottie]

10. They have not been abandoned by the people who are

trying to save them.

And there are MANY who are willing to risk their lives to do just that.

Please don't negate their efforts.

They have always been abandoned by the politicians, this is nothing new.

[formernaderite]

26. well....not quite true...

the one thing the missing in action governor did do..was use all the states school buses to pick up people before the storm hit. The buses did pick thousands of people up from NO and take them to shelters...alot of people decided to ride out the storm as initially it didn't sound too bad....category 1 as it hit Florida. There was a mandatory evacuation....but towards the end they made the decision to redirect people to the superdome. Look, I think some of these people didn't really pay attention to the news. It happens...but things would not be as terrible if at least another ten percent had left. It's shocking to me how many stayed.

[shockingelk]

11. Eerily familiar

Thanks for the info.

I remember another city that an insufficient number of troops were sent to to prevent looting and lawlessness. Fomented some militias too.

[1932]

12. Why, in all the hours of coverage on TV haven't they caught any violence?

[Eloriel]

17. Yes. Why, in fact, have some of the cable reporters gone out of

their way to point out exactly how docile and well-behaved the people are and have been?

I would ask the poster to try to probe for exactly how this information has come down -- whether her contact's partner really saw it him or herself, heard it from an actual witness, or what. Because I strongly suspect that this is another instance of "blame the victim" and a set-up at that -- make them look like animals, make them responsible for their own lack of being saved.

Not that I don't think there isn't some violence -- I'm just sure, based on what I've seen on cable today -- that it's not quite as being presented and probably not nearly as bad (widespread), too.

[1932]

20. I'd also ask the OP'er how this game of telephone got started since theres

very little communication out of N.O.

[Eloriel]

21. Wow -- look at this -- support for my assertion

Looters are distributing food to hungry at Superdome
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4568012
Link: http://www.kget.com/news/national/story.aspx?content_id=D4B8AFA3-3564-4FF8-B91D-74F18D488C69


but I'm real worried about this:

I heard a chilling message on NOLA Police radio tonight
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4568184
Link: http://205.252.89.181:8000/live


I have a baaaaad feeling about all this. I have an especially bad feeling because everyone is REPEATING this info about how lawless NO is right now, and so everyone who's in a place to do something about is loaded to bear. I have a baaaaaad feeling about this.

[roseBudd]

42. It is a pretext for shoot to kill n/t

[Digit]

13. Sounds like they are just repeating what they have heard...

Even Harry Konig (musician) was down there and he didn't have any trouble.
Of course you have alot of desperate people down there and they have been left to their own devices.
I would suggest some bullhorns with people announcing they are trying to bring food and water, and any gunfire keeps rescuers away. Just in case....

[Sugarbleus]

14. What a load of ASS covering BS....!!!

Look, in ALL disater areas/events some things don't go perfectly..I get that. It takes a minute to organize and get their shit together for the operation.

That said: Why then did fema, feds, state, local and every other power NOT evacuate the poor, sick, car less, gasoline less people OUT OF THERE UP FRONT FOR FREE???? They've got buses now alrighty

Is FEMA and all the rest suffering from long term memory loss or what? We have seen "looting" and madness set in in EVERY catastrophe around the world. They didn't KNOW that might happen??? They didn't have contingency plans for getting people help or out of there so the situation wouldn't devolve into "a war zone/death camp"????

Another thing regarding "being afraid". How MANY people do you all think are the actual criminals out of all those THOUSANDS of desparate people? Gangs DO NOT represent the entire population of refugees left behind! Gangs happen in bigger cities...they didn't take that into consideration and adjust for that eventuality??

Just before guns starting going off there was a period where people stranded on their roofs could have been lowered some WATER, ICE, and food until they could come back for them!!!
What?...we don't have enough airplanes and copters in this country for this purpose? We don't have enough Police from other districts to go in with their equipment to help? Have FEMA, the Prez, Homeland Security EVEN thought about those things?

Face it, this is the BIGGEST fuck up in American rescue operations EVER. Your friend is either naive or distorting the facts and/or covering her bosses behind because of whatever agenices above FEMA are really up to. That's not to say we don't appreciate FEMA's help from the past; we do. But something is ever so fishy here. :thumbsdown:

[bobbieinok]

15. NATIONAL GUARD protects against looting in disasters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ProudDad]

30. With the f*cked up corporate media we have now

just one shot turns into a full-scale war.

I wouldn't even give this crap a grain of salt...

It's racist junk.

There IS a good reason why the good people of N.O. didn't get any funding for shoring up their deteriorating levees before the hurricane and are not getting any substantial help now -- they are predominately black and they vote Democrat.

This IS the republican, corporate-dem plan -- to starve the common weal in favor of the individual robber-baron...

For more:

http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd09012005.html

[Voltaire99]

38. Good piece, as is much of Counterpunch's writing on Katrina

Always good to see a Counterpuncher around these boards.

[leesa]

16. That's what happens when you reward political donors with jobs they

aren't qualified for. The position of the head of FEMA should not be a reward for $$$ to the GOP.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

18. others suggested, and I agree, it is an excuse, not a fact

sure, are people pissed at the lack of help? yep
But are there armed gangs killing people and ripping off Walmarts on every street corner?
except those in uniform, I think not.

[applegrove]

22. Just off Aaron Brown. Pentagon does not understand why there

is sympathy for the victim's plight but no sympathy for them in this crisis?

:rofl:

Says it must be political instead of based on our real feelings of their slow reaction

:rofl:

Why hasn't the President & the Pentagon put out threats & warnings of dire consequences to the criminal activity going on in NO? Why are they just giving us logistics but no national speech on how immediate and exacting they will be in hunting down the criminals and prosecuting for rape? I think the Pentagon knows a thing or two about making really tough "myth of might" statements. Where is it?

[WI Independent]

25. The Pentagon has no authority in NO...

In fact the regular army is specifically prohibited from policing in the US. Actually Bush has no real authority either, the Governor is in charge of the National Guard.

Bush should shoulder the blame for calling up the National Guard and sending them to Iraq. He should be blamed for not taking a leadership role and addressing the nation Monday in prime-time and every evening since. He should be blamed for waiting until Wednesday to task his "team" with doing everything they could to support the humanitarian effort. He should be blamed for not ending his "vaction" immediately. Hell, there's probably half-a-dozen other screw ups I can't think of right now he should be blamed for... But providing security in this situation is not his job, nor should it be.

Our founding fathers weren't stupid... Would you really WANT Bush and the Pentagon in charge of policing YOUR town?

[readmylips]

46. During the Tsunami....little bush took 4/5 days to join...

world leaders to pledge US money, and later the US pledge was not sent. Clinton and poppy devil were called up to raise money to send to Tsunami victims on behalf of the US government.

[Skwmom]

23. What "goods" are there to protect. Do they plan on selling contaminated

crap to the public?

[Skwmom]

24. Funny, the photo journalist says the people of New Orleans have acted MUCH

BETTER than the people in Miami during Andrew and they had a lot more help than the people in New Orleans.

[tnlefty]

34. I saw that report, also, and I was amazed.

I guess I was more amazed that it was even aired.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

33. All I have seen on the news reports, is people with nothing

comforting OTHER people with nothing. There was that story of the elderly woman who refused rescue and told the rescuers to take care of the house full of children next door.

The people at the Convention Center were just sitting peacefully. I'm amazed at how non-violent they were. Black folks were helping some of the elderly white folks among them.

There were reports of young men getting drunk and violent, but by and large, but we're not talking South Central Los Angeles here. The vast majority of the people are NOT shooting at the rescuers.

This is the lamest set of excuses I have seen for a long time.

I wonder how much of it is the "Ooh, scary black people with guns" syndrome.

I would point out that none of the affluent white reporters roaming the city have reported feelng that they are in danger.

[baron j]

35. Flipping through the channels...caught Brian Williams on Dateline

saying that they moved their operations for fear of the chaos. But such an attitude is to be expected from NBC News. He said something like .

[Vinca]

40. Where the hell are the 40,000 troops????

With all due respect to your friend, FEMA is sounding like the biggest bunch of fuck ups on the planet. I blame the reorganization under Homeland Security and the idiot in charge. It wasn't like this when Hurricane Andrew hit Florida . . . was it?

[ClayZ]

43. THEY LIE!!!! n/t

[RageFist]

44. FEMA?? give me a break...

they didn't even know about the superdome situation until yesterday!! what a joke!

:grr:

[Nikki Stone 1]

45. kicked and nominated

Thanks for sharing this info.

[onecent]

47. mihop - shooting to stall the moving of the people that need help!!!!!

tHIS JUST doesn't make ANY SENSE.

[Miss Chybil]

48. Bullshit. nt

[MissMarple]

49. Exactly my thought, Miss Chybil. I think she has some misinformation.

People ARE helping each other, but there are also desperate and dangerous people who have spiraled out of control.

[IndyOp]

50. I appreciate hearing this report from an insider and

I believe that your friend cares...

However, your friend is getting her news from FEMA directors who aren't allowing people in there --

I cannot believe that this would have happened had they been dropping water, meds, and food from the moment that the hurricane subsided until now.

The situation is now a Gordian knot - the longer that they refuse to 'go in there' to provide relief because it is dangerous, the more dangerous it will become.

I cannot believe that they cannot fly C-130's overhead and drop water, food, and meds.

:grr: :nuke: :grr: :nuke: :grr: :nuke: