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Showing posts from September 2, 2005

Just take 'em out

Via DavidCorn.com we learn of possible collusion between Bush's FEMA and the religious right: The website sploid.com noticed that FEMA (which has been decimated by the Bush administration) has been directing concerned Americans to make Hurricane Katrina relief donations to Pat Robertson's Operation Blessing. At one point, Robertson's outfit was listed second on a list of suggested recipients, right under the Red Cross. I doubt Hugo Chavez will be clicking on that link. And maybe if the Mafia sets up a relief organization, FEMA will endorse it as well.

Trading public safety
for tax cuts

For those of her readers perplexed by the slow response of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to the disaster on the Gulf Coast, your blogstress suggests a look at a prescient piece of journalism done nearly a year ago by Jon Elliston in the Orlando Weekly. In his article, Disaster in the Making , Elliston reported: [L]ong before this hurricane season, some emergency managers inside and outside of government started sounding an alarm that still rings loudly. Bush administration policy changes and budget cuts, they say, are sapping FEMA's long-term ability to cushion the blow of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tornados, wildfires and other natural disasters. Among emergency specialists, "mitigation" – measures taken in advance to minimize damage caused by natural disasters – is a crucial part of the strategy to save lives and cut recovery costs. But since 2001, key federal disaster mitigation programs, developed over many years, have been slashed and tossed a