To follow-up on the anniversary of Hurricane “Katrina” and what really happened down there here is some more information that the Mainstream media (MSM) seems to ignore. I hear Spike Lee has a new movie out now about Katrina and even suggests that the levees were “Blown up” with explosives so to flood out the poor areas of New Orleans.
Seems that the MSM and Lee are quick to criticize the reaction time of the Federal government and Fema when in fact it is the initial responsibility of the State government to activate the National Guard. History in fact shows that President Bush asked Louisiana Governor Blanco (Dem) to activate the National Guard but she elected not to. Just like New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin decided not to evacuate people with hundreds of school busses because he wanted “Greyhound Busses” to be sent down…
The Investor Business Daily reports numerous facts about the National Guard’s work during Katrina that the MSM seems to fail to mention: IBD 30 Aug 2006
The National Guard had 2,500 troops in New Orleans during the hurricane and had thousands of liters of water and MRE’s and supplies at the Superdome in advance…
After the storm hit the National Guard embarked on one of the largest rescue\relief operations including: 10,244 sorties flown, 88,181 passengers moved, 18,834 cargo tons hauled, and 17,411 “Saves” by helicopter lifts from roofs and dangerous areas.
The National Guard had more than 200 boats and 150 copters working…
The National Guard makeshift Medical Center at the Superdome handled 5,000+ patients and delivered seven babies…
The National Guard did a great job and it is unfortunate that this is not reported as it should in the Mainstream media outlets…
The Winfield's heard that the Senator would be passing by the farm on his way into Stuarts Draft to tour and meet with the workers at the Hershey plant.
They decided to put a few things to attract the attention of the "Allen Tour Bus" as it passed and also to show their support of his campaign. It worked and the Senator stopped to meet with the Winfields and thank them for their support. Alongwith making stops as the Senator at the Hershey plant to discuss issues and meet with business leaders such as the workers at Hershey, Senator Allen is also taking the opportunity to stop and meet with citizens of the state on a fact finding tour...
Senator Allen took the opportunity to meet and talk with Scott Winfield about farming and agricultural issues in the Valley. He spent some informative and quality time finding out about the status of the farmers in the area and Scott was glad to talk with the Senator about the Turkey production part of his farm operation. Scott was also able to get a photo with Senator Allen in front of a sign after a minor alteration to show "Farmers for Allen" support for the Senators re-election to the Senate...
With the first anniversary of the Katrina hurricane upon us there are many media programs out there right now looking back on the disaster and what has happened since then. As with many major events like this it is interesting to watch how the media covers the event and the “feeding frenzy” that they seem to get caught up in trying to be the “First to report the story”…
It will be interesting to see how many of the “First Reports” will be portrayed now or even mentioned…Remember some of the stories coming out of New Orleans during, after, and to this day about “what happened” in New Orleans from the hurricane?
The book “The Politics of Disaster” written by Marvin Olasky notes many of the media reports that came out of Katrina:
* “Police Chief Compass spoke of little babies getting raped”…
* Mayor Ray Nagin described hundreds of armed gang members killing and raping people inside the dome and requested 10,000 body bags”…
* “Reporters circulated rumors of hundreds of gang members killing people at the Superdome and thirty to forty bodies stored in the Convention Center freezer“. (Actual number: Zero)…
* “The Los Angeles Times reported Snipers and armed mobs terrorizing seething crowds of refugees” (Never Happened)…
* “CNN’s Paula Zahn speaking of bands of rapists going block to block”. (There were no such bands)…
* “NPR Radio told listeners that a thirteen year old was reportedly raped and killed in a Convention Center bathroom”. (Did not happen)…
* “Fox News Geraldo Rivera’s novelistic sense was as good as ever when he spoke of how “The sun set on a scene of terror, chaos, confusion, anarchy, violence, rapes, murders, dead babies, dead people”…
* “Oprah Winfrey told her fans that in the Superdome “gangs banded together and had more ammunition, at times, than the police.”
* “On AIR AMERICA radio, Randi Rhodes repeatedly urged poor listeners in hurricane areas to loot away, avoiding discount centers and hitting the high-end stores”…
“Orleans Parrish DA Eddie Jordan later said that four murders had occurred in the entire city during the week after Katrina hit, making it a typical week in a
city that anticipates more than two hundred homicides per year”…
“New Orleans coroner Frank Minyard said he had only seven gunshot victims during hurricane week: “Seven gunshots isn’t even a good Saturday night in New Orleans.”…
And then there was the fraud and looting that happened. The American people responded by providing millions of dollars in private donations to the victims of the Katrina hurricane. Unfortunately many took advantage of the situation where possible as reported here in a newspaper article by Eric Lipton:
Auditors Find Huge Fraud in FEMA Aid
By ERIC LIPTONFebruary 11, 2006WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 —
Thousands of applicants for federal emergency relief money after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita used duplicate or invalid Social Security numbers or bogus addresses, suggesting that the $2.3 billion program was a victim of extensive fraud, a Congessional auditor will report Monday.
The auditors did not try to estimate the total dollar amount of fraudulent claims. But the report says that FEMA itself had found that 900,000 of the 2.5 million applications for all forms of individual assistance were "potential duplicates."Still, the auditors found signs of fraud nearly everywhere:
¶ Nearly half of the 11,000 individuals who received special debit cards as payment — an approach used in the immediate aftermath of the storm in Texas — got a second $2,000 payment in emergency aid.
¶ Inspections of 200 properties in Texas and Louisiana listed as home addresses turned up 80 that were vacant lots or nonexistent apartments.
¶ More than half of a group of 248 other applicants had used Social Security numbers that were never issued, belonged to dead people or did not match the name provided.In one case, auditors found 17 individuals, some with the same last name and addresses, who used 34 bogus Social Security numbers to collect more than $103,000 in payments.Auditors found isolated instances where the electronic debit cards were used to pay for "adult entertainment," a .45-caliber handgun, jewelry or bail bond services.
