The Purple Pinup Guru Platform

When purple things are pulsating on your mind, I'm the one whose clock you want to clean. Aiding is Sparky, the Astral Plane Zen Pup Dog from his mountain stronghold on the Northernmost Island of the Happy Ninja Island chain, this blog will also act as a journal to my wacky antics at an entertainment company and the progress of my self published comic book, The Deposit Man which only appears when I damn well feel like it. Real Soon Now.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

SPARKY: IT'S GOOD NANCY 3, NEWS THAT SHE BROUGHT ABOUT, SAD HURRICANE KATRINA STUFF, AND THE WIKINEWS CRAWL —



All,
Last Wednesday I asked you to join me in calling for the replacement of Michael Brown as FEMA Director. Yesterday, Mike Brown resigned. Thank you for standing up with me and demanding that our government give the victims of Katrina and its aftermath the leadership they deserve.

It was the public outcry from people like us that helped President Bush finally recognize what I have been saying from the beginning - the federal response to this disaster must be managed by a capable, qualified leader. Together, we brought qualified leadership to the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

At times like this it is critical that we stand together for what is right.

Michael Brown has now resigned after being sent back to Washington D.C. and Admiral Thad Allen, an emergency response professional, has been put in charge of the federal management of this crisis on the ground. Admiral Allen has a difficult job ahead, but at least he brings to it years of experience - something that has been tragically lacking thus far.

With qualified, experienced, and effective leadership on the ground, we can work together to provide the victims of Hurricane Katrina with the income, food, clothing, and housing resources they desperately need to begin the long process of rebuilding their lives.

To be clear, that does not mean that the rest of the Administration has been held accountable. A thorough investigation is still absolutely necessary.

And while both parties claim to recognize this, thus far Republicans have only paid lip service to getting to the bottom of this and fixing what is wrong. While holding a press conference about their proposed "bipartisan" commission, the Republican leaders in Congress neglected to mention that:

  • Democrats had not even been consulted about the proposal, and had to learn about it through the press conference.
  • Their proposal would place more Republicans on the committee than Democrats.
  • Democrats would not be allowed to have vital subpoena power.
Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic Leader, has joined me in rejecting this sham committee. Americans deserve an objective assessment of what went wrong during the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina.

Now that Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist have decided to form a partisan committee, the only way to get Americans the truth about what went wrong and how to improve the federal government's response to future disasters is by creating an independent commission.

It should be modeled after the independent, bipartisan 9/11 Commission, which did a huge service to our country with its excellent report detailing the urgent task before us to make our nation safer.

The most crucial task we face will be easing the burden on those devastated by this catastrophe. You will hear much more from us soon as Democrats put forth our ideas to help them rebuild their lives and help our country get back on its feet. We've accomplished the first step together, now let's prepare to do everything we can to make sure the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast now have a much better chance to rebuild their lives.

Thank you for lending your voice.

Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Leader

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USA TodayBeleaguered FEMA director Brown resigns
Houston Chronicle, United States - 1 hour ago
... Michael Brown's resignation came after he was recalled to Washington from New Orleans on Friday amid allegations that his agency had responded slowly and ...
Embattled Brown resigns as Fema chief Financial Times
Bush names successor to Brown Scotsman
FEMA chief Brown resigns Newsday
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Katrina survivor searchers prepare for the worst

September 11, 2005

Workers are scouring New Orleans for any remaining survivors of Hurricane Katrina, and are vigorously searching for dead bodies. 25,000 body bags have been prepared in advance, for the event that the death toll from Katrina is that high. Temporary warehouses are being set up around the city to deal with corpse storage.

In the last twenty-four to thirty-six hours, however, officials have revised downward, at least three times, the estimated death toll; 35,000, 10,000, and now less than 10,000. After the first sweep of the city devoted to recovery of bodies, officials retrieved approximately 800 bodies.

Floodwaters are receding, but leaving a great deal of mud and contaminated water in their wake, filled with high levels of bacteria and viruses.

All survivors are urged to leave the city. Dr. Julie Gerberding, head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said "If you haven't left the city yet, you must do so," and stated that anyone who comes in contact with the nearly toxic water must immediately wash themselves with clean water. If necessary, force will be used to remove all remaining citizens from New Orleans.

While Dr. Gerberding's statement about mandatory evacuation seems clear, other officials have not been as emphatic. When asked about mandatory evacuations, New Orleans Police Superintendent Eddie Compass, while reaffirming the official word, qualified his statement stating that every reasonable means would be used to logically convince a person that it is in his best interest to evacuate. The superintendent would not comment on whether force would be used if reason failed. Furthermore, utility workers are in the process of re-establishing power to the Central Business District of the city prompting residents in those areas to reconsider the evacuation option.

Residents of Jefferson Parish, and the upper portions of Saint Bernard Parish will be allowed to permanently return to their homes starting on Monday. Conditions in those areas - re-establishment of power, clearing of roads, and abatement of water - have improved to the point of making permanent return possible. Parish President Arron Broussard and Councilor Jennifer Sneed stated that residents should be allowed to return as soon as possible so repairs and rebuilding may begin.

In other news companies are working with [w:FEMA|Federal Emergency Management Agency] to provide money and support to the victims of Katrina, in order to ease them into a new life. In addition, a contract in the amount of approximately thirty-three million dollars has been let to repair the I-10 span crossing the eastern portion of Lake Pontchartrain. Many of the bridge sections, especially on the eastern-facing span, were knocked off their pilings as hurricane Katrina passed near the city. The contractor expects one span to be repaired and opened for traffic within forty-five days.

Sources

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Michael Brown, Director of FEMA resigns
September 12, 2005

Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced his resignation as Director. Brown had come under criticism for FEMA's slow reaction and handling of the devastation in New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina. Last week Michael Chertoff, head of the Department of Homeland Security, relieved Brown as leader of the relief efforts in New Orleans and appointed Coast Guard Admiral Thad W. Allen in his place.

Brown told the Associated Press that the focus had to be FEMA and the efforts of people in the disaster areas. Brown also said that his resignation was in the best interests of the agency and President Bush, who himself, has recieved criticism over the handling of the disaster.

Hurricane Katrina

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many Democratic politicians called for Brown to be fired immediately, including California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, New York Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, Colorado Senator Ken Salazar, Michigan Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick and Senator Debbie Stabenow, Louisiana State Rep. Peter Sullivan, Nevada Senator Harry Reid, and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin.

Republican politicians such as Senator Trent Lott have also criticized Brown's leadership of FEMA. Brown's performance has been defended, however, by Republicans such as former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Florida Governor Jeb Bush and former Presidential speechwriter Pat Buchanan. President Bush publicly praised Brown's handling of the disaster, saying "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." [01]

On August 29, 2005, five hours after the hurricane hit land, Brown made his first request for Homeland Security rescue workers, to be deployed to the disaster area only after two days of training. [21] He also told fire and rescue departments outside affected areas to refrain from providing trucks or emergency workers without a direct appeal from state or local governments in order to avoid coordination problems and the accusation of overstepping federal authority.

On September 1, 2005, Brown told Paula Zahn of CNN that he was unaware that New Orleans officials had housed thousands of evacuees, who quickly ran out of food and water, in the Convention Center--even though major news outlets had been reporting on the evacuees' plight for at least a day. He also criticized those that were stuck in New Orleans as those "who chose not to evacuate, who chose not to leave the city" (disobeying a mandatory evacuation order.)

On September 2, 2005, Mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley stated that he pledged firefighters, police officers, health department workers, and other resources on behalf of the city, but was only asked to send one tank truck.[02]

Sources
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WikiNews Main Page News Crawl

September 13

September 12

September 11

September 10

September 9

September 8

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I see the Guru made a stab at promoting his bad old self at the Engine - we hope whatever is done is worksafe .... Sparky likes Warren Ellis' and Ben Templesmith's FELL #1 so much - he even did fanart ...
Fellfanart001stsigil

Save us all - Sparky

posted by Coat @ 2:16 PM  

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