The housing situation

[heidi]

Angua, Selkie and others who may have space available for displaced people - bkdelong has some links and a fabulous concept on his LJ...

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Now, I said yesterday that I wasn't going to be political.

This isn't political. It's about people; it's about lives.

Speaker of the House Hastert doesn't think it makes sense to rebuild New Orleans
Condi Rice is shoe shopping when countries like Canada and Jamaica want to lend support to the search & rescue mission in the Gulf Coast.
But, of course, what search & rescue mission? FEMA has suspended some of its operations in New Orleans but nobody seems to know which operations are actually continuing.
Carnival Cruise Lines has been looking into using some of its ships to house the displaced, but why wasn't a plan for such things put into place as an option of last resort months, if not years, ago? They have ships that travel in and out of Mobile; they could be so useful for thousands of people as temporary housing right now.
Why weren't naval vessels sent out of Virginia on Sunday, instead of yesterday? They could've been in the gulf by now; why aren't they?
Bush diverted money that had been designated to help shore up the levees to Iraq. Bush enabled the sending of *high water vehicles* to Iraq from the Gulf Coast - which area d'ya think *normally* needs them more?

And here's the worst. George Bush went on GMA this morning, and he said, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

Did he lie, or is he that stupid?

I think it is entirely possible that nobody *told* him that the levees might be breached. The man doesn't read the papers or watch the news under normal circumstances, so he relies a lot on what he's told. And it's possible that nobody showed him this article from Kansas ("The fear was that flooding could overrun the levees and turn New Orleans into a toxic lake filled with chemicals and petroleum from refineries, as well as waste from ruined septic systems.") or this one from New Mexico ("Had Katrina not shifted, hurricane waters could have spilled over levees and swamped the saucer-shaped city in a toxic soup of refinery chemicals, sewage and human bodies.")

If that's the case, then he should fire the idiots who didn't fully inform him.

What's the likelihood of that?

I'm going to wrap this one up with

[L]eadership is everything we are not getting from this White House. Instead of challenging us to push ourselves to accomplish great things, we get platitudes. We can do better than that. I hope you had a chance to read today's editorial in the New York Times, called "Waiting for a Leader." If you haven't read it yet, please take a few minutes to do it. The Times is asking an important question. It's one I've been asking for a long time as well: Where is the leadership in America today?

. . . [J]ust this past week, there was at least 36 hours notice that a major hurricane was going to hit the Gulf Coast, including likely a devastating blow to New Orleans, which certainly came to pass. The President continued with his regular schedule on Monday and Tuesday in California, Arizona, and Texas to hold some staged Medicare events and enjoy more vacation time, while finally returning to the White House yesterday. The joint task force including National Guard set up by the Pentagon failed to be on the scene in New Orleans in a timely manner to stop the looting and assist in the evacuation. Where is the leadership?

Then just this morning, the President claimed that no one could have anticipated the levee breaches we've seen in New Orleans after Katrina hit. That's not leadership, that's an excuse. In fact, people have predicted this kind of disaster for many years, including President Bush's own FEMA in 2001, when they ranked hurricane flood damage to New Orleans among the three likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing America. Instead, funding was significantly cut back, leaving key engineering projects on hold. Instead, this Administration focused on the war in Iraq, tax cuts, and private sector economic growth without asking the American people to make needed sacrifices for the good of the country. Again I ask you, where is the leadership?

Comments

[belleweather.livejournal.com]

This whole thing is starting to remind me that tipping point in a game of Sim City or Civilization when you know that it's only a matter of time before you lose.

Off to write a nasty letter to the speaker of the house.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

I once read a quote that mankind is only two meals and a hot shower away from the caves; I think that's pretty accurate, especially when the leaders show no leadership.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, Move On would do something worthwile. Did you see what Ken at the Republican Party is focused on today? It's here

Now, I am definitely NOT saying that all members of said party are solely focused on that - I know quite well that they're not. But Ken? Yeah, death taxes, not actual death. I need another "meh, misery" icon.

[chinawolf.livejournal.com]

I dunno. I know West Wing isn't reality. But I just always assumed that even if he is incompetent, his party will make sure the office of the president has competent people working in key positions. In answer to your question, I think I'm leaning towards the "he just is that stupid" option. I don't think he'd lie, he probably is contrentrating so hard on calming people down that idiocy slipped from his tongue.

I'm not sure I can believe the shoe buying story, though. It just seems too horrible to be true.

[selinakyle47.livejournal.com]

Maybe it would be better if Bush were stupid; at least there'd be a rational explanation for the lack of empathy displayed by him and his administration. Would it really have been difficult for him to get back to DC on Sunday? Even if he had to just sit at his desk and shuffle papers in an attempt to look busy and in control.

But no. If Bush's approval rating doesn't plummet to the teens after this fiasco, then we Americans definitely deserve the government that is currently in power.

[luminousmarble.livejournal.com]

I think it's the other way around--he fires people who don't tell him what he wants to hear.

X-[

[ancarett]

Craigslist has a booming section in its housing listing of rooms and spaces available around the country offered specifically for refugees from Katrina.

[msbhaven.livejournal.com]

One of the good things that came out of 9/11 were these ERPs (Emergency Response Plans) that people were supposed to setup. I work for a utility company and we have one set up. We're still working on to make it better. Why didn't the state of Louisiana have something in place for a disaster? If they did why didn't they put it into practice?

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

That's how it goes in Bizarroworld.

[darkthirty.livejournal.com]

Oh, Heidi, over half of the USA and most of the world have been right about Bush for so long that, during this crisis, he and his administration are just ugly and stupid and useless. It's just a waiting game for leadership anymore... Maybe it won't ever come from the white house anymore....

Re: This might make me unpopular

[selinakyle47.livejournal.com]

The port of New Orleans is extremely important to the economic infrastructure of the US. The Mississippi river carries all our exports from the Midwest down to New Orleans for distribution world-wide. Oil from the Gulf of Mexico (which produces a signficant chunk of our oil needs) and foreign imports enter through that port. There is no way that the US government will abandon such a lucrative spot. And where you have a port, you need workers, who need housing, who need services and so on.

As for why people stayed behind: they were poor and they had no other means to get out. No money for gas, no cars. The only people who could leave were the ones who could afford to.

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

Clark actually outranks me in the League of Wes. I've always liked the guy.

As for Bush, I no longer feel surprised by anything he says or does, or by the failure of the bulk of the American people to comprehend the grotesque reality of his administration.

I seriously think he could explain away nuking the city of San Francisco; the alternative for his supporters would mean abandoning their pet political variation on David Koresh.

Either you believe what he says or you don't. They do. I don't.

It's no surprise he appeals to the religious right. In the end, they make the most monumental decisions of their lives based on faith... and faith is, by definition, a belief unjustified by any evidence.

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

If Bush's approval rating doesn't plummet to the teens after this fiasco, then we Americans definitely deserve the government that is currently in power

Assuming the vote tally in November was accurate, I think this is already true.

I've essentially given up on the idea that sovereign nations should rule the world.

I'm ready to move on to the Star Trek concept of a global government, which is to current nations as the federal government is to states.

Would Bush have invaded Iraq if the entire world population got to cast ballots a year and a half later? Oh, I doubt it.

[snapefantasy.livejournal.com]

With our government...that's generally when it IS true.

Re: This might make me unpopular

[snapefantasy.livejournal.com]

Honestly, and this is going to make me unpopular too...I agree with you.
I want to know, why government officials, instead of attending a what? $200 a plate dinner, they didn't use that money to pay for busses to move people who were too poor to leave on their own. If nothing else they could have been bussed to TX and allowed to stay at government run campgrounds until the storm had passed.

[gunderpants.livejournal.com]

Wes Clark for president.

Seriously.

[hedwig-snowy.livejournal.com]

"Did he lie, or is he that stupid?"

Stupid. He is the 'King of Low EWxpectations'. When he screws up and people die, we forgive him because we know that he's an idiot. When he does average or better, we applaud him because we never expected it.

Head of Homeland Security was asked today, "Are you confident that you have people in place to secure New Orleans?" His resonse, "I am confident that we have people in place, or on the way, to secure the city."

Might want to read this

Wonder if anyone will count the LA National Guard troops that are trained specifically in Urban Security and see how many are now in Iraq instead of at home saving their neighbors live's?

[misscake]

I sooooo wanted Clark to win the Democratic nomination. He definitely strikes me as an effective leader.

And, like someone else already said, rather than firing those who DON'T tell him what he needs to hear, Bush fires those who tell him what he doesn't want to hear.

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

Geezus, two years ago I was in New Orleans and the *tour guides* were telling us that the levees would fail if something like this happened.

If tour guides can now this, why cna't the President.
But I suppose our current governmetn can't be asked ot bother with thier own nation whent they're too busy trying to take over install peace in other countries.

*feh*
Parts of Dallas right now are begining to look like a refugee camp. My workplace is compiling specific lists for specific families in this area so they cna get exatly what they need.

Have you heard about the insurance companies?
Most insurances won't cover flood in NEw Orleans, but they cover hurricanes.

The insurance companies are claiming they don't ened to pay anyone anythign because the damage was caused be floods not hurricanes.

It's like a two way thing right now. My community and local peopek are pulling together adn doing so much it's amazing, but the governemtn and the companies, the peopel who shoudl be doing something are ducking out left and right and it makes me sick.

[ashesofautumn.livejournal.com]

Man. I wish we had the West Wing administration as our leadership now. There isn't any Leo or Toby or Josh in the real White House, it seems.

[kokopoko.livejournal.com]

Amen. Bush is a fucking moron.

[gorgeousnerd]

I've been wondering why Bush didn't go back to Washington the instant he heard that a hurricane was going to hit the US at all, Florida included. There are people who are always going to need help in these instances.

One of the things that disappoints me most about Bush is all the vacations he takes. He has no business being in Crawford for a month at a time when he is only serving eight years in office. Yes, being President is stressful, and occasional weekends at Camp David are fine, but taking several weeks off when we're in a situation of war in the first place is inexcusable. He was hired by this country to work, and work hard. This isn't a low-stress position. If I were a boss, I would have fired him years ago (and I suppose that's what I tried to do when I voted against him last November).

I hope people will learn from this experience, but they probably won't, and that's going to have tragic consequences again one day.

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

I am just...furious that there are people dying of exposure and dehydration in AMERICA when we can airdrop supplies to the most remote parts of the world.

And when we can moblize thousands of troops and send them thousands of miles away, fully supplied but can't get a hold on a domestic situation 72 hours+ later.

Zero leadership. The prez had to cut short his vacation to deal with this, poor guy. He should have just relaxed and finished it out, he'd be doing as much good as he is now.

[littlebluefrog.livejournal.com]

It's completely surreal to be down here, total madness. My home town is currently taking in 2000 evacuees. We started this morning with relief efforts between Red Cross, the Cleveland community and Delta State. I know the government is being a a-hole, but there are things individuals can do to help. Obviously, these people need food, clothing, toiletries & school supplies. They come to us with nothing. Anything you guys could do would be greatly, greatly appreciated!!!

[nmalfoy.livejournal.com]

Someone was crowing that New Orleans brought this destruction upon itself because of the number of abortions performed in Louisiana. Made me throw up in my mouth a little.

[nmalfoy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't think the soldiers in Iraq get a vacation, do they?

Re: This might make me unpopular

[stephandra.livejournal.com]

A lot of people there, who can afford it, DO have insurance. New Orleans, as was said above, is in an essential spot. Not only is the port the biggest in the country, it is at the mouth of the MIssissippi and necessary for interstate commerce.

SUre the building code needs updating and the levees need more work. Sure it is a risk to live in the city. But we have to rebuild there. NOT rebuildiung there will cause others to pay far more in transportation costs for goods, not to mention gas prices skyrcketing further than they have.

[gunderpants.livejournal.com]

OMG, mine too. A year ago, he'd heap as much praise as he could on Bush.

Ask him now, and he wouldn't piss on the dude from a great height.

[webbapettigrew.livejournal.com]

http://www.shareyourhome.org/

If you have space in your home, go to this site and fill out the form. I've done it, and have been contacted. I'm hoping to be able to help some people out soon. :-)

Veering off on a slight tangent...

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

I remember when wizardsforbush started up; they were so smug and self-righteous and, eventually, gleeful.

Now, apparently, they're avoiding praising themselves for their brilliant choice's leadership in this crisis. They're not saying anything at all, really. Where's all the self-righteousness now?

Addressing a comment upstream:

If every major cruise line offered only their smallest ship for refugee housing, we'd be talking about thousands and thousands of people put up with no particular loss of revenue to the companies. They build them bigger and bigger -- I watch them in and out of the port all the time -- and they're the size of floating Las Vegas hotels. If they cleared out some of the function rooms for shelter-style sleeping, they'd nearly double the space available. Might not be luxurious, but it'd be dry....

Feeding people would become the bigger expense, quite rapidly.

Re: Veering off on a slight tangent...

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

They don't even need to offer the ships for *housing* - transport would be enough. B ring them to Miami - it's a day and a half by cruise ship - and put them at the Miami Arena for a month - give them tents, put only 2000 people there - families with kids, old people, single people - whoever - and help them back to NO when they can get back. Nobody's using the stupid place anyway. And what would it cost to buy a cruise ship for a week? Two million dollars, maybe?

Re: This might make me unpopular

[selinakyle47.livejournal.com]

I would like to think that the government will rebuild a stronger New Orleans, but it's hard to belive that, considering the kind of government we have right now.

The current (past?) residents of NOLA are poor, very poor. They could not afford flood insurance before, and I highly doubt that they would be able to afford it in the future, assuming they return to the city. Whch, I'm starting to think, will not happen.

[phoenixsong]

Can you, or have you, post(ed) somewhere a quick summary of the difference between non-profit and not-for-profit organizations?