Ground Zero: Rescued

My good friend, Rocco at the Autonomist, had a column the other day at FrontPage that is a great read. Rocco interviews the Ground Zero Memorial committee member that blew the whistle on the anti-american hijacking of the site.

It is informative and moving while providing a few stories of individuals during the clean up/recovery time that you may have not learned of before.

SouthPark Funny

Okay, I'll admit that I don't watch much TV anymore, hardly any to speak of. Life has gotten just too dog-gone busy. So when I saw this at The Corner I laughed out loud. Here is a some anonymous reader's recap of a SouthPark episode:

Stan accidentally flooded a town by crashing a boat into a beaver dam. The press estimated the death toll "in the tens of millions, which is significant in this town of 8,000." Furthermore, though some initially blamed the flooding on W, they settled on blaming global warming, which caused everyone to run around in circles screaming, "we didn't listen!!!" Excellent.

That'll take me through the rest of the day with a smile!

Better yet, go here for an even better recap of the episode. HA! It gets even funnier.

Able Danger Blowing Up

The stuff that good movies are made of folks. A CIA/Pentagon coverup. Directors denying they were at meetings, stories of refusing to look at info. Then the cover-up by government officials is to destroy an honorable man.

Michelle Malkin has the whole story with lots of links.

GO READ IT ALL. While it will make you sick to hear about the negligent behavior at very high levels, it will make you proud as well to hear of a congressman standing up and making such a profound stand that is rarely ever done anymore.

Damn, who knew C-Span could be this exciting?

Bye Bye Big Charity

If you haven't heard, Big Charity in New Orleans will never reopen again. Not in it's old building anyway. Actually, word on the street is that there are no plans for it to ever reopen. The truth is is that the building was old and nasty anyway. And I do mean real nasty folks. Before Katrina hit the state was about to break new ground to build a brand new building for Big Charity. All those plans are gone now. Their patient population has moved on.

It is hard to imagine. The hospital was the largest trauma center in the state just a few weeks ago.

MSM Hyperventilation

Just like a premenstrual, preteen girl, the MSM is throwing a hissy fit over what was described as a 'staged' question/answer session with some soldiers in Iraq. Michelle Malkin has a quote from a soldier that was there. Go read his words and thoughts.

The American Media: No Shame, No Ethics, No Truth.

Staging the News

Good Golly! The video at the link is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. And I do mean laugh out loud funny.

Seems as though an NBC reporter for the Today Show staged a little scene in a 'flooded' street. Then, well, a bit of bad timing takes place that reveals the absurdity.

As you watch this, remember that the media is hyperventilating and sticking extra pins in their Bush Voodoo dolls over his not-so-staged question/answer session with some soldiers.

Oh yeah, that's it....the sweet, sweet smell of irony. And the extra hot fudge on top comes complimentary of the Today Show no less.

Link via Ace of Spades.

Southern Grace

Ha! What a great way to greet your greatly incompetent mayor:
Gayle Williams, a New Orleans business owner, complains to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin about the lack of help she has received since Hurricane Katrina struck. Nagin visited with evacuees Wednesday at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum shelter in Shreveport. Williams disagreed with Nagin about conditions in New Orleans. (Robert Ruiz/The Times)


I love it.

New Orleans Mayor Nagin recently visited local shelters to speak with evacuees. They are none too pleased and did not cut Nagin any slack:

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin received a less-than-warm reception from evacuees being sheltered in Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport.

Nagin, who has been criticized for failing to move out many of his city's impoverished black residents before Hurricane Katrina struck Aug. 29, made Shreveport the first stop on his tour of American Red Cross shelters throughout Louisiana, including Monroe and Alexandria.

"I want to hear from them, find out what their needs are and get information to help them get back to New Orleans," he said.

What Nagin heard was a large dose of skepticism from evacuees concerning his ability to revive their city and bring them back.

New Orleans evacuee Avery Johnson left the building Wednesday to avoid hearing the mayor speak. "I just refuse to listen to any more lies. You hear them from FEMA, you hear them from Red Cross and I just didn't want to hear it from him."

Nagin's visit gave him the opportunity to hear firsthand some of the anger and frustration felt by displaced New Orleans residents. He met with them behind closed doors about 30 minutes before allowing the media entrance into the building.

With Nagin standing before the roughly 145 evacuees, one man asked where he would live after 18 months when his FEMA trailer expires. "We are working on that, too," Nagin replied with a slight grin.

When a La politician answers you with a 'slight grin', run people - RUN FAST.

I especially liked the end of the story:

Julius "Catfish" Holley lost his home in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, which was flooded by Katrina and again by Hurricane Rita three weeks later. He was rescued from his roof after Katrina, when his house was covered in 14 feet of water.

Holley described Nagin's visit as "political propaganda."

"Yes, the city has electricity, but not in the houses," he said. "They have water, but it has to be inspected before it's turned on. There are no grocery stores, no gas stations and no transportation in the 9th Ward.

"So why in the hell should we go back? It's nothing to go back for."

Ouch.

There is lots of local talk about how the entire political landscape of the state has changed. If you're not familiar with Louisiana, there is something you have to understand: The southern portion of the state (the democratic base) is the polar opposite with the northern portion (Bible Belt) of the state. It's almost like two different countries. I think you need papers to travel north and south of Baton Rouge. As we all know the entire southern portion of the state has practically been displaced. Landrieu, Blanco and Nagin has tons to worry about where their political futures are concerned. The next bout of elections are going to be very interesting.