Month: September 2005

“Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

I read about an interview that Ray Nagin did with Times-Picayune reporter Gordon Russell over at BuzzMachine. Rather than blog it myself, I thought I’d just leave it to Jeff Jarvis. But, there is this about the buses:

Federal officials have also faulted Nagin’s administration for not marshaling its own buses and those of the School Board to start ferrying the tens of thousands of evacuees stranded at the Superdome and the Convention Center out of town.

Nagin said perhaps some of the criticism is fair. But he said there were various logistical hurdles that made it hard to use that equipment, and the buses would have hardly created a dent in the size of the crowds anyway.

“It’s up for analysis,” he said. “But we didn’t have enough buses. I don’t control the school buses, and the RTA (Regional Transit Authority) buses as far as I know were positioned high and dry. But 80 percent of the city was not high and dry. Where would we have staged them? And who was going to drive them even if we commandeered them? If I’d have marshaled 50 RTA buses, and a few school buses, it still wouldn’t have been nearly enough. We didn’t get food, water and ice in this place, and that’s way above the local level.

“Our plan was always to use the buses to evacuate to the Dome as a shelter of last resort, and from there, rely on state and federal resources.”

Those resources took way too long to arrive, Nagin said – in fact, much of the help didn’t arrive until after the mass evacuations from the Dome and the Convention Center had occurred.

Not enough buses? Gimme a break.

Oh, and Roy, it’s not about what happened after. It’s what didn’t happened BEFORE the hurricane! 

Why didn’t he organize bus transportation out of New Orleans on Sunday, the day before Katrina hit? BEFORE THE FLOOD? He could have ordered the buses to be lined up at the Superdome. When he made the mandatory evacuation announcement he could have also said that buses were ready to take people who did not have their own transportation out of the city.

But, he didn’t. And we know what happened.

Related: Delusional, Dysfunctional, Divisive, and Defiant

Well, this day just got away from me. We’ve got a couple of sick kids, so nursing them takes extra attention. Oh, and there was the grocery shopping (we all went to the store; that’s Mom, Dad, and four kids!). Obviously, I survived.

But, enough of that. Here’s some stuff I found tonight.

— Michele Catalano spent a pretty nice amount of money today on supplies for Hurricane Katrina survivors. Unfortunately, it wasn’t easy.

— If you’re a fellow blogger and you need to ban a reader from commenting (it happens), you’ll want to learn from Ace. Apparently, it’s difficult to kick AOL users.

— Tomorrow is September 11th, and I’ll have my own post about that later, but for now, Mister Snitch has put together a website dedicated to that day.

— Meanwhile, over 500 9-11 family members rallied in New York City today to protest the Freedom Center.

— Ann Althouse is podcasting. Yes, it’s her first one, so I can’t be too critical. But coming from a guy who used to work in radio, Ann needs to speak up a little bit. Don’t be so timid!

— Betsy Newmark has a lot of good stuff today.

— Blogs for Bush is discussing the latest (unflattering) poll on the president.

— Jeff Jarvis is pushing Recovery 2.0.

— The criticism of Gov. Kathleen Blanco continues. This time, Andrew Sullivan links to a proclamation that Blanco sat on too long.

— Wolcott: From Blame Game to Numbers Game

— Last weekend I heard about a crazy Celine Dion on Larry King. Bryan Preston found the video. Yikes, talk about over the top!

— LGF: CNN Sues to Show Bodies.

— Have you read about the controversy over the Flight 93 Memorial? It’s unbelievable.

— Jeff Goldstein fisks Huffington Post blogger Stephen Elliot.

— Jay @ Wizbang compares 9/11 and Katrina.

And finally…

— Happy Blogoversary to ProfessorBainbridge.

Blogging shall be light on this Saturday. Thou shalt return later unto this evening. It is then whenst blogging shall commence.

Later.

In place of the daily news about refugees, Katrina victims, body bags, and deadly water, Gateway Pundit has a roundup on the positive side of things.

Just now from CNN: Ophelia regains hurricane strength and could make landfall in South Carolina on Monday or Tuesday, says National Hurricane Center.

“Typically, those with talent, charisma, and luck work behind the scenes to bring a man’s vision to light.”

Trauma over CEO Barbie.
(Relax, it’s the Onion – ed.)

I like Tom, but he shouldn’t have said this.

This morning, U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s visit to Reliant Park offered him a glimpse of what it’s like to be living in a shelter.

While on the tour with top administration officials from Washington, including U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao and U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, DeLay stopped to chat with three young boys resting on cots.

The congressman likened their stay to being at camp and asked, “Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?”

They nodded yes, but looked perplexed.

It’s comments like these that really highlight the differences between those who live within the Beltway and those who do not. Let’s face it, DeLay is out of touch on this. It’s fine that he showed up for the tour, but he should have kept his mouth shut. Now, the story is about him and not about the relief effort, or the condition of the evacuees.

Pity.

FEMA director Michael Brown is being sent back to Washington; Homeland Security Director Chertoff will announce a new leader for on-the-ground Katrina relief efforts, senior administration official tells CNN.

MORE: Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen will replace Brown as the on-site head of hurricane relief operations in the Gulf Coast.

STILL MORE: 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.

But a source close to Brown, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the FEMA director had been considering leaving after the hurricane season ended in November and that Friday’s action virtually assures his departure.

EVEN MORE: Brown doesn’t know why he was pulled. ABCNews says he’ll be out as FEMA head, very soon

Others: Malkin | Brown Replacement Familiar With Challenges |

Yep, I experienced many a sleepless night playing this game way back when it first came out. Talk about cool…but, that was then and this is now.

The Spokane company that made the bestselling computer games “Myst” and “Riven” has laid off about two dozen workers because of declining sales of the puzzle-solving games. Cyan Worlds founder Rand Miller told workers of that decision during a staff meeting Friday. As of Tuesday, the only three workers left were Miller, his brother, Ryan, and Cyan Worlds President Tony Fryman.

They tried to bring all of this over to web in 2003 when they released a game called “Uru”, but it was subscription based and its publisher, Ubisoft Entertainment, shut her down because there wasn’t enough people bucking up.

So, that’s it then.