We Interrupt This Pageant Report....

...to bring you an update on the situation in New Orleans. The UK Observer reported on September 4, 2005 the men who were shot by New Orleans police were contractors for the Army Corps of Engineers.

Police Kill Five Contractors on La. Bridge
Sunday September 4, 2005 11:16 PM

AP Photo VTAP102

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Police shot eight people carrying guns on a New Orleans bridge Sunday, killing five or six, a deputy chief said. A spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers said the victims were contractors on their way to repair a canal.

The contractors were walking across a bridge on their way to launch barges into Lake Pontchartrain to fix the 17th Street Canal, said John Hall, a spokesman for the Corps.

Earlier Sunday, New Orleans Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said police shot at eight people, killing five or six.

The shootings took place on the Danziger Bridge, which spans a canal connecting Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River.

No other details were immediately available.

However, Fox News and other American media outlets reported the story this way:

New Orleans Cops Shoot Eight Gunmen
Sunday, September 04, 2005

NEW ORLEANS — Police shot and killed at least five people Sunday after gunmen opened fire on a group of contractors traveling across a bridge on their way to make repairs, authorities said.

Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said police shot at eight people carrying guns, killing five or six.

Fourteen contractors were traveling across the Danziger Bridge under police escort when they came under fire, said John Hall, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers.

They were on their way to launch barges into Lake Pontchartrain to help plug the breech in the 17th Street Canal, Hall said.

None of the contractors was injured, Mike Rogers, a disaster relief coordinator with the Army Corps of Engineers, told reporters in Baton Rouge.
The bridge spans a canal connecting Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River.

No other details were immediately available.

Perhaps Tim Russert or Ted Koppel should get to the bottom of this incident by investigating whose story is accurate. Is it the report given by, then Deputy Superintendent Warren Riley, now acting Superintendent appointed by mayor Ray Nagin in the wake of the recent resignation by P. Edwin Compass III? Is the true story found in the statement provided by Mike Rogers, a Disaster Relief Coordinator for the Army Corps of Engineers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana who according to US media reports told reporters none of the contractors was injured? Is the right story coming from John Hall, the Army Corps of engineers spokesman quoted in the Associated Press story published by the British news paper's online presence Guardian Unlimited?

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New Take on Beauty Pageants

We recently found out the Miss America Pageant will no longer be held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. I grew up in the Philadelphia-Southern New Jersey area. This came as shocking news to me. The Miss America Pageant, (began in 1921), is the oldest scholarship pageant in the nation. It is the grandmother of all other beauty competitions. It seems the Miss America officials concluded that the 'Jersey shore is not a big moneymaking venue for their competition. They haven't yet announced where the contest will be held. They only know it will be broadcast on Country Music Televsion, CMT, in January 2006. Seems ABC or NBC, which ever network had the last contract, wasn't interested in renewing.

In light of this earth shattering news we, the staff here at YouThinkWhat, have brainstormed, and we have come up with some ideas, copyrighted names for beauty contests that are more in keeping with the hip and happenin' life-style of today's modern Americans. They are:

Miss WORLD-ly | Miss Diva-PrimaDonna | Miss Drama Queen

Of all the things we will miss about the Miss America Pageant tradition in New Jersey, even more than the shouting of "Show Us Your Shoes!" during the traditional parade, is the "Missed" America Pageant, a fundraising parody of the competition put on by actors and drag queens from the Atlantic City, New Jersey area.

Next Post: More About Beauty Pageants

God Blessed America--original lyric by Woody Guthrie

This land is your land, this land is my land
From [the] California to the [Staten] New York Island,
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
[God blessed America for me.]

As I went walking that ribbon of highway
And saw above me that endless skyway,
And saw below me the golden valley, I said:
[God blessed America for me.]

I roamed and rambled and followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
And all around me , a voice was sounding:
[God blessed America for me.]

Was a high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said: Private Property,
But on the back side it didn't say nothing --
[God blessed America for me.]

When the sun come shining, then I was strolling
In wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling;
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting:
[God blessed America for me.]

One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple
By the Relief Office I saw my people --
As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if
[God blessed America for me.]

*all you can write is
what you see.
Original copy of this song
WOODY G.
N.Y., N.Y.,
N.Y., Feb 23, 1940
43rd Street & 6th Avenue
Hanover House

This Land Is Your Land

Lyrics by Woody Guthrie

This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

More Proposals for Gulf Coast Recovery

Many of my more conservative friends are concerned that federal money spent on those in need of assistance will actually go to some "bum who's just sitting around waiting for an assistance check". I won't say that this couldn't happen, but it will be much less likely to happen if the Bush administration takes steps to increase the wages paid to the people who will be doing the work in the region.

I find it strange that so many people are more concerned that an indiviudal might get a hundred or a thousand dollars that they do not perhaps deserve "after losing their home and livelihood", but these same people are not in the least concerned that certain corporations and large companies who lost not a thing are likely to wander off with undeserved billions which they skim from the reconstruction projects.

Another aspect of the president's plan is to give $5,000 to survivors who need it for additional job training and education assistance. This could be a very good portion of his plan if it isn't undermined by low wages. There will be little benefit, if any at all, to evacuees if the job training they receive is rendered useless. For example once trained they learn that no jobs that allow him or her to escape poverty are available because that has all been compromised away just to entice businesses into the area. What a waste of time and money that would be.

Mr. Bush we need solutions that create a situation in which people can see a future for themselves beyond just the daily survival. I was deeply troubled to see thousands of black people trapped at the Superdome and the Convention Center. I found it troubling because we are people who have triumphed over some of the worse oppression in the world to create the greatest freedom movement the world has ever known. In New Orleans, many had lived for years and years under low-wage conditions that, in the end, rendered us helpless. Our government through its policies, has encouraged the departure of jobs from our communities, and left us begging.

This can not continue. We need to insure that those proposals include adequate job training and livable wages. These are the only real solutions to the poverty that we saw displayed on television during the Katrina crisis. We need to insure that the Bush adminsitration rebuilding of the area is directed toward ending the low-wage reality. A reality that so many people grappled with -- a reality that was, in essence, an accessory in the tragedy. We need to be skeptical about proposals to bolster supply-side ideology. We need to be dubious of plans that use tax dollars to enrich corporations more than the people they are supposed to help.

Mr. Bush we need you to make the connection between low wages and poverty. We need you to re-instate the Davis Bacon Act now because poverty is a national emergency.

Gulf Coast Road to Prosperity

In the last post I commended the president on finally making the connection between race and poverty. I also give him his due respect for proposing a plan to ensure the area recovers in all aspects. I have no issue with using the free-enterprise system to improve life conditions. I do have a problem with Mr. Bush's battle plan.

I wonder why it includes a segment ensuring low wages. Surely one of the problems in the region is the fact the people weren't earning wages high enough to afford personal transportation. Mr. President you need to make that connection: low wages lead to poverty. Poverty leads to the inability to flee from danger. The connection between poverty and low wages is essential in order for the citizens to make a full recovery in the Gulf Coast region.

This is why I wonder why the president so quickly suspended the Davis-Bacon Act, a federal regulation in effect since 1931, enacted-during the depression-in order to set a fair minimum pay scale for workers on federal contracts by requiring contractors to pay the prevailing or average pay in the region, instead of skimming all the profits for themselves. Does the president expect the people of the region, who've lost everything in most cases, to begin to rebuild their lives for a rate of less than $9 an hour? How can they afford a home? How can they afford an sutomobile? How low are you willing to go?

Are you, Mr. President, taking advantage of a disaster in order to plump up the finances of the corporation of record Halliburton? Are the Halliburton executives, and the Halliburton Corporation, taking a reduction in pay out of respect for the recovery of these poor communities in three of the poorest states in the nation?

Here is my recommendation. In consideration of all the previously received benefits received by the Halliburton Corporation from the largesse of government in previous contracts, and out of a sincere desire to do good, the Halliburton Corporation will agree to work without profit. Not good enough? How about this?

Out of consideration of all the previous profits and contracts Halliburton executives agree to work on the reconstruction for the princely sum of less than $9 per hour. Sounds pretty good to me. Many people and organizations have donated their time, energy and money for free. Why not Halliburton?

Let's Hear It for the Man!

It's taken nearly a week to digest George W. Bush's address to the nation concerning recovery for the Gulf Coast region following Hurricane Katrina. In his speech last week the president finally made the connection between poverty and race.

As all of us saw on television, there's also some deep, persistent poverty in this region, as well. That poverty has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America. We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action. So let us restore all that we have cherished from yesterday, and let us rise above the legacy of inequality. When the streets are rebuilt, there should be many new businesses, including minority-owned businesses, along those streets. When the houses are rebuilt, more families should own, not rent, those houses. When the regional economy revives, local people should be prepared for the jobs being created.

This is a step in the right direction. No where I have I seen this important statement hailed for what it is.

Now that the hurricane has snatched the covers off poverty in America for the whole world to view I've been hearing a lot of talk about using the free-enterprise approach as a means to helping people escape poverty.

President Bush presented a proposal to create a Gulf Coast Opportunity Zone. In this zone, encompassing Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, as a way to create jobs and bolster the tax base, businesses investing in the area are to receive incentives such as huge tax breaks and loans. This is a strategy that may have worked in the past in the inner city as empowerment zones and enterprise zones. A few small businesses may have been set up in depressed areas. These same small businesses may have hired one or two people from the urban neighborhood. They haven’t done much to bring a hefty inpouring of jobs with higher, better pay to those areas. I'm not so sure such a plan would help a region which covers three of the poorest states.

We need a plan to neutralize the abysmal poverty spotlighted for us all by the devastating storm.

We need proposals that do more than use our tax dollars to enrich corporations more than the people they are supposed to help.

Next Post:

A Proposal to Help People Onto a Path to Prosperity.

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This She-ro Got Served!

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The Quality of Our Intent

Kimberly Jones, also known as rapper L'il Kim began a 366 day sentence for lying to a grand jury. Her new digs are in the new federal detention center high rise facility in downtown Philadelphia..

Many of her fans celebrate her as the "Queen of Rap" for not disclosing information, (they call that upholding the street code), about her manager, Damion Butler, as he was caught on surveillance video outside of the Hot 97 radio station, WQHT, as he fired shots at a rival rap group, Capone-N-Noreaga. The result one man was injured.

U.S. District Judge Gerard Lynch told her at her sentencing Wednesday:

"Going to jail because you lied to protect violent men with guns is not heroic. It's stupid and it's wrong."

Kim lied before a grand jury stating she had not seen anyone fire a gun. She further stated she did not see Butler or another associate, Suif Jackson. During her trial, she gave testimony that the two men were freeloading. She said they frequently spent the night at her home and basically took advantage of her.

Famous entertainers, even Grammy award winning female rappers are not immune to this now fairly common occurrence...the sacrificial female. The female prison population has increased from 68,468 in 1995 to 101,179 in 2003, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. "Caught in the Net," an American Civil Liberties Union sponsored paper attributes this increase to women who are convicted on factors related to their men using or selling drugs.

Just shows to go ya even successful entertainers can become vicitms by giving men money, a place to stay, jobs, and then allowing them to be disrespectful and maybe violent.

Loose Ends

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Victor Bernace, the New York City Council candidate with a strong sense of himself and his culture,(see blog post September 8, 2005), lost the election last week. He only garnered 24 percent of the vote. Robert Jackson , the incumbent will go on to another term in office representing the district, which includes Inwood, Harlem and Washington Heights. We’re sorry to hear you lost the election, but we encourage you to run again. We believe you’ve got what it takes Victor.Think of it this way. Abe Lincoln ran several times before he had a victory and look at what he was able to achieve!

Over the weekend Jazz at Lincoln Center presented an unprecedented musical fundraising effort featuring the creme de la creme of jazz musicians, actors, and other artists with Laurence Fishburn as the host. The program was broadcast on public radio and television as well as satellite radio outlets.

Here's a statement from Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center about the devastation in his hometown of New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina:

New Orleans is the most unique of American cities because it is the only city in the world that created its own full culture - architecture, music and festive ceremonies. It's of singular importance to the United States of America because it was the original melting pot with a mixture of Spanish, French, British, West African and American people living in the same city. The collision of these cultures created jazz and jazz is important because it's the only art form that objectifies the fundamental principals of American democracy. That's why it swept the country and the world representing the best of the United States. New Orleanians are blues people. We are resilient, so we are sure that our city will come back. This tragedy, however, provides an opportunity for the American people to demonstrate to ourselves and to the world that we are one nation determined to overcome our legacies of injustices based on race and class. At this time all New Orleanians need the nation to unite in a deafening crescendo of affirmation to silence that desperate cry that is this disaster.

We need people with their prayers, their pocketbooks, and above all their sense of purpose to show the world just who the modern American is and then we'll put our city back together in even greater fashion. This is gut check time for all of us as Americans.

In a country with the most incredible resources in the world we need the ingenuity of our best engineers to put the cultural heart of our nation back together. To put it together with 2005 technical expertise and with 2005 social consciousness, which means without accommodating the ignorance of racism and the deplorable conditions of poverty, and lack of education that have been allowed to fester in many great American cities since slavery.

We're only as civilized as our level of hospitality. Let's demonstrate to the world that what actually makes America the most powerful nation on earth is not guns, pornography and material wealth but transcendent and abiding soul, something perhaps we have lost a grip on, and this catastrophe gives us a great opportunity to handle up on.

I wonder, who among us can argue with that kind of logical appeal.

Your help is still needed:

• Baton Rouge Area Fund

• Hurricane Housing
  

• Open Your Home
  

To provide food:

• Second Harvest

• Mercy Corps
  

• Acorn Institute
  

NEW! 21st Century Freedoms

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The Quality of Our Intent

In the last post I presented FDR's Four Freedoms. They have been illustrated by the late artist Norman Rockwell. A review of the Four Freedoms:

• The first is Freedom of Speech and Expression

• The second is Freedom of Every Person to Worship God in His Own Way

• The third is Freedom from Want (which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings, which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants.)

• Finally the fourth is Freedom From Fear (which, translated into world terms, means a worldwide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor...near or far.)

When we look at those old style freedoms in the face of the what I like to call the New 21st Century Freedoms, we find the ideals presented by FDR, the president from the cultured background, are considered outdated. Under the current president, we have a new set of freedoms, new but not improved. In fact these new freedoms are a throw back to nearly 100 years ago. Let's take a look. They are:

Freedom for a privileged few.

OPPORTUNITY FOR THOSE WHO DESERVE IT.

Jobs for those who are lucky enough to work regardless of working conditions.

Jobs for those who will accept whatever they are paid.

Special privilege for the deserving. (The deserving being those with money.)

Preservation of security. (Civil liberties must be sacrificed to secure against the terror.)

Enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress for the privileged and the deserving.

Security for those who can afford it. If you are poor or without it is your own doing.

Although the GDP is a modern concept which conceptualizes the productivity of a nation as the product of the whole nation, no such concept of the whole nation permeates the unequal distribution of the nation's wealth.

While it is certainly true that the richest person is also the most dependent, for he or she has more people waiting on them, our current concept of deserving entitles the wealthy as more deserving and justifies their deserving with the premise that their reward is a just reward because they accomplished this all themselves. When nothing could be further from the truth.

My mother had a saying that the harder you work, the less you are paid, and certainly our nation has become one that subscribes to this philosophy. Little does it matter that neither the richest or the poorest in the country could endure without the infrastructure of the whole nation, that was built and paid for by the whole nation.The rich person is considered more entitled to take a disproportionate share of the wealth.

You may be a Bill Gates, in charge of a great corporation but your corportation could not endure one day without the public roads, the public airports, the modern public infrastructure. Yet a Bill Gates wealth is equal to the whole devastation of the whole entire city of New Orleans. Why does one person need so much wealth? Why should one person as dependent on the public infrastructure for his business to operate as anyone else be entitled to such a disproportionate share of the wealth? Fifty, sixty billion, equal to the wealth of 50,000-60,000 millionaires. Why does anyone need so much money? How can it be justifed when others have so much less?

To paraphrase the Dalai Lama, The rich are dependent because they can do nothing for themselves. They do not grow their own food. They do not make their own house. They do not make their own clothes. They do not make the roads or the transportation. They are dependent on everyone to do these things for them, and in most cases they are incapable of it. Yet amongst the poorest of the world there are many who do grow their own food, who do build their own house, who can make their own clothes, who may have cleared or shared in the clearing of the roadway. These people truly are the self reliant. But our culture treats them like dirt and rewards the superfluous.

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Four Freedoms Continued

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In the previous post, our story of the Four Freedoms, we last presented FDR's explanation of the "...basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems .... These are:

Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.

Jobs for those who can work.

Security for those who need it.

The ending of special privilege for the few.

The preservation of civil liberties for all.

The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living."

According to the FDR these are "...the simple, the basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world. The inner and abiding straight (strength) of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations."


FDR also enumerated the Four Freedoms. They are:

First Freedom of Speech and Expression

The second is Freedom of Every Person to Worship God in His Own Way

The third is Freedom from Want (which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings, which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants.)

Finally the fourth is Freedom From Fear (which, translated into world terms, means a worldwide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor...near or far.)

Next Post: A Look At New! 21st Century Freedoms

The Story of the Four Freedoms.

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Once upon a time in this land we, the people, of the United States had a president, FDR, who was very, very smart. Shortly before the beginning of his third term in office, on January 6, 1941, he delivered a speech to the 77th U.S. Congress and the nation. This president was performing his constitutional duty to "give to the Congress information of the state of the union,". We were at peace, but the muffled drumbeat of war could be heard in the distance. He presented many strategic ideas to prepare our country for the possibility of war at that time. He spoke also of the four freedoms. Maintaining our freedom being the reason, the only basis, for going to war.

He recognized the people of the U S of A "take pride pride in the fact that we are soft-hearted; but we cannot afford to be soft-headed." He said, "We must always be wary of those who with sounding brass and tinkling cymbal preach...". He advised the nation to be ever wary "of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to feather their own nests."

This wise president reminded the citizens and the leaders that "every member of the executive branch of the government and every member of the Congress face great responsibility-- great accountability."

An erudite president was FDR who said, "We know that enduring peace cannot be bought at the cost of other people's freedom." He further stated, "...our national policy in internal affairs has been based upon a decent respect for the rights and the dignity of all of our fellow men within our gates, so our national policy in foreign affairs has been based on a decent respect for the rights and the dignity of all nations, large and small. And the justice of morality must and will win in the end."

"The nation takes great satisfaction and much strength from the things, which have been done to make its people conscious of their individual stake in the preservation of democratic life in America. Those things have toughened the fiber of our people, have renewed their faith and strengthened their devotion to the institutions we make ready to protect. Certainly this is no time for any of us to stop thinking about the social and economic problems, which are the root cause of the social revolution, which is today a supreme factor in the world. For there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy.

The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are :

Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.

Jobs for those who can work.

Security for those who need it.

The ending of special privilege for the few.

The preservation of civil liberties for all.

The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.

These are the simple, the basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world. The inner and abiding straight of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations."

Next Post: The Story of the Four Freedoms Continues Plus New 21st Century Freedoms Explored.

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More Celebrity Response to the Gulf Coast Tragedy

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...Nicole Ritchie, John Mayer, Trent Reznor, Pino Palladino, Beck, Steve Jordan, Kelly clarkson, the Maddens(Benji, Joel and Mickey), Ryan Dusick, Jesse Carmichael, Alyssa Milano, James Valentine, Rose McGowan, David Banner...

Shawn Carter (Jay-Z), Mariah Carey, Missy Elliott, R. Kelly, Wyclef Jean, Lenny Kravitz, Lauren Hill, Mary J. Blidge, Yolanda Adams, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, James Brown, Snoop Dogg, the O’Jays, and Ciara, are among the artists who according to Michael Jackson’s MJJ Forum web site have agreed to join Jackson in his musical response to the catastrophe.
The working title of the song is,"From the Bottom of My Heart", which will be released on 2 Seas Records, owned by Prince Abdullah Hamad Alkhalifa of Bahrain.

Jackson is continuing to reach out to artists who would like to work with him in this project. The website announcement also says the King of Pop "humbly hopes" this fundraising effort will "make a tremendous difference to all individuals who have been affected by this tragedy."
All proceeds will be donated to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

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• Special Note: Some Bush apologists suggest the story reported here in the post "Food For Thought", (September 5, 2005), is untrue or at best has no basis in fact whatsoever. You may wish to read the original post at the blog GetYourActOn.

• For background information see The Great Flood of 1927 and this contemporary report posted in the blog AboveTop Secret. Photos are included in the post.

• Other suggested reading: Pete Daniel's "Deep'N As It Come: The 1927 Mississippi Flood" and "Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America" by John M. Barry.

You decide

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The purpose of this forum.

Celebrity Response to Gulf Coast Disaster

It's being called the worst natural disaster in the history of our nation. During this weekend there have been so far televised four star-studded fundraising events. The shows featured the most popular entertainers of this day, along with stars from the previous generation. They gathered to give their money and their time to benefit the survivors of the storm that took the lives of untold thousands, disheveled the lives of thousands more and damaged the coastal communities of three states.

This is only the beginning. This fundraising effort will have to continue in many different forms for years to come.

Here is a partial list of the celebrities who have pitched in by bringing attention to this national tragedy, they've given their time, money, supplies, and more money, and more time.

Kanye West, Celine Dion, Aaron Neville, the Marsalis brothers (Branford and Winton), Harry Connick, Jr., Chris Tucker, Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint, Mike Myers, Anne Rice, Pierce Brosnan, Jamie Foxx,Morgan Freeman, Colin Farrell, Sean Combs (P. Diddy), Shawn Carter(Jay-Z/Jigga),Oprah Winfrey, Rev. T.D. Jakes and the Mega-church ministers, Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, Steve McNair QB Tennessee Titans, Randy Newman, Trisha Yearwood, Robert Johnson former BET CEO, Mariah Carey, Jack Nicholson, Vanessa L. Williams, Cameron Diaz, Terrell Owens of the Philadelphia Eagles,Alicia Keys, Ray Romano, Deion Sanders, Ed Reed, Alan Ricard and the Baltimore Ravens,Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Debra Messing, Shirley Caesar, Hezekiah Walker,Erykah Badu, Rod Stewart, Jennifer Aniston, Chris Rock, Julia Roberts, Tommy Hilfiger, the Manning Brothers (Peyton and Eli), Russell and Kimora Lee-Simmons, Steve Harvey, Dana Owens (Queen Latifah), Leon Russell, The Persuasions, L'il Jon, The Game, U-2 and Bono, Mary J. Blige, Bernie Mac, Anthony Edwards, Kid Rock, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, George Liopez, Buckwheat Zydeco, Samuel L. Jackson, Paul McCartney, Patty LaBelle, Tom Wates, Jon Stewart, John Fogarty, Neil Young, Prince, Lynard Skynard, Jennifer Lopez(J-Lo), Ellen DeGeneris, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Paul Simon,Benicio del Toro, Mandy Moore, Jack Black....

The list will continue to grow...

Special Note Some Bush apologists suggest the story reported here in the post "Food For Thought", (September 5, 2005), that "homes in the Bywater section of New Orleans, the 9th Ward,flooded because they (some government entity) used too much explosive to dynamite part of the levee after the first section broke -they did this to prevent Uptown (the rich part of town) from being inundated with water from the Lake." is untrue. You may wish to read the original post at the blog getyouracton.com . As of this date the report is still unsubstantiated. The story is based on what are described as eyewitness accounts. They may or may not be believed. Given the circumstances who are you going to believe? Will you believe the witnesses who heard the sound of explosives? The witnesses who heard instructions on the local radio station to evacuate their homes because flooding was imminent? Or the government? You decide.

Tonight's the Night!

At 9pm EDT at the Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, the New England Patriots, winners of SuperBowl XXXIX will host the Oakland Raiders in the opening of the National Football League's 2005/2006 professional football season. The NFL calls it their Football Kick-off: The Road to XL...that's not "XL" as in extra large like what hip-hoppers wear. That's "XL" as in Roman numeral forty.

Before the game the NFL will present a musical entertainment pre-game program, "NFL Opening Kickoff" which will pay tribute to the Super Bowl champs, highlight the venue of the very first SuperBowl, as well as showcase the location for the big game to be held in Detroit in February 2006. Featured athletes and musical entertainers include Marcus Allen, former Super Bowl XVIII MVP, plus 24 NFL Hall of Fame greats, all will be participating in the NFL's kick-off party. Carlos Santana, Rhihanna, Good Charlotte, Maroon 5 Trisha Yearwood, the Rolling Stones and Kanye West will also be a part of the NFL's party, with Freddie Prinz,Jr. as host.

I'm ready for the party and some football!

Speaking of party...on the same night candidate Victor Bernace, who's running for Council in the Seventh District in New York City, representing Inwood, Harlem and Washington Heights, is holding a party to raise money for his campaign. You remember Victor we told you about him a few weeks ago.(See August 14, 2005 and August 17, 205 posts, "A Different Kind of Candidate") He received a great deal of publicity because as Melissa Haberman, of the New York Daily News, the reporter who broke the story put it, Bernace is "a politician with respectable credentials, rather than running away from the subject matter actually embraced sexuality/sensuality as a fundraising technique causing a national stir."

His party, called "Havana Nights", will feature male and female exotic dancers. He's the guy who was raised by a single mother on welfare, lived in a foster home, attended New York City public schools [PS 98, JHS 52, John F. Kennedy H.S.], graduated from NYU and Harvard Law School, and returned to his community. Today he teaches the children in NYC, and defends NYC cab drivers, NYC tenants, NYC immigrants, and NYC senior citizens. He says he's someone who can effectively fight for everyone in that diverse community. We think he'll provide something different for the New York City political scene. Honest, professional leadership. Isn't that what we want from our leaders?

Remember the Gulf Coast evacuees, please use these helpful links:

To assist with housing needs contact:

Hurricane Housing

http://www.hurricanehousing.org

Open Your Home

http://www.openyourhome.com

To provide food:

Second Harvest

http://www.secondharvest.org/default2.asp

Mercy Corps

http://www.mercycorps.org/

Acorn Institute

http://www.acorn.org/

Next post: Celebrities react to Bush administration handling of Gulf Coast Disaster.

Food for Thought Continued

Conclusions

• Hmmmm. I guess we’re just so technologically advanced as to not want to use a river for transporting people and materials. If it was good enough to be used during a weather emergency 100 years ago it’s not good enough to be utilized in the 21st century.

• Hmmmm. In some places people use gunfire to attract attention. Like in the "Ramar of the Jungle" films or some other fiction. In some places in the United States people do use guns to communicate more than their displeasure with their neighbor. In an emergency situation they may fire their weapon to indicate their location. Maybe that’s what the rescuers misinterpreted.

• Louisiana's governor is Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. Female, white and Democrat. The help her state, and the city of New Orleans in particular, received is the topic of discussion around the world.
  The assistance received in Mississippi was decidedly different. According to Governor Haley Barbour, white, male and Republican, who stated in a televised interview on Sunday "Over here, we had the Coast Guard in Monday night. They took 1,700 people off the roofs of houses with guys hanging off of helicopters to get them. They sent us a million meals last night because we'd eaten everything through. Everything hasn't been perfect here, by any stretch of the imagination.... But the federal government has been good partners to us. They've tried hard."

• Perhaps this colossal lapse in leadership is the result of incompetence, partisan politics, poor planning, bureaucratic territorialism, racism, sexism, and just plain old complacence...or a combination of them all.

There are 12 different states dealing with more than 200,000 survivors. There are corpses in the streets of New Orleans. There is life threatening disease in the receding flood waters filled with the corpses of dead animals and humans along with raw sewage and toxic chemicals. The clean up will take months. Some experts predict it could take years.

If you want to help the evacuees, please use these helpful links:

To assist with housing needs contact:

Hurricane Housing

http://www.hurricanehousing.org

Open Your Home

http://www.openyourhome.com

To provide food:

Second Harvest

http://www.secondharvest.org/default2.asp

Mercy Corps

http://www.mercycorps.org/

Acorn Institute

http://www.acorn.org/

Food for Thought

Things about the Gulf Coast Disaster that make you go, "Hmmmm?"

• Why were military troops needed to "restore order" among hundreds of thousands of people who appear in photographs to be families, mostly women, children, some infirm and elderly men--the most orderly of survivors?

• Did anyone consider rules of human behavior including respect--dissolve quickly in desperate circumstances?

• Why didn't the authorities use the Mississippi River to evacuate the poor people from New Orleans?

• Why did't the authorities use the Mississippi River to bring food, water, medical supplies and personnel to New Orleans?

• Why are white Americans so afraid of black Americans? Why is this fear allowed to hamper saving human lives?

• Why were some people shooting at those who were coming to provide help?

• Did anyone ever consider the gunshots were fired to draw attention to their location?

• Did partisan politics play a role along with race and economic status in the mishandling of the rescue efforts?

• It is being reported that homes in the Bywater section of New Orleans, the 9th Ward,flooded because they (some government entity) used too much explosive to dynamite part of the levee after the first section broke - they did this to prevent Uptown (the rich part of town) from being inundated with water from the Lake. Who is responsible for flooding so many homes-Katrina, or our government?

• Why did George Bush appoint a man, Michael Brown, the Director of Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose background experience is devoid of coordinating any type of emergency except those associated with a horse show?

• Why were necessary supplies detained or rejected by the authorities in the early days of this tragedy?

Next post: My conclusions after I said, "Hmmmmm."

To assist with housing needs contact:

Hurricane Housing http://www.hurricanehousing.org

Open Your Home http://www.openyourhome.com

To provide food:

Second Harvest http://www.secondharvest.org/default2.asp

Mercy Corps http://www.mercycorps.org/

Acorn Institute http://www.acorn.org/

GWB Plan New Orleans/Gulf Coast Stategery

The developments in the Gulf Coast area have been so overwhelming it’s taken sometime to digest it all and come up with some thoughts on the matter. In reaching these conclusions I have considered the past behaviors of this administration as well as the historic nature of the way our government deals with disaster. Here are my thoughts...

• Operation Take It Easy…GWB’s Can’t Do Government.
  

• I know I am very glad this was not an attack on the nation by a foreign enemy. The Bush administration has demonstrated once again its inability to protect people at home. The government wages war without being able to provide security for its citizens…all of its citizens. Nearly 70 percent of the population of New Orleans has not been well served by our government. The same government that promotes “Homeland Security” has proven itself to be capable of providing insecurity.

• Many people say this reminds them of the days following 9/11 in that we didn’t ask the questions, “How could such a thing happen? How could our air space be breeched in such a manner? Where is the Strategic Air Command? What about NORAD? Forget about preventive intelligence from the CIA and the NSC.”
  

• The honeymoon has been over for sometime between GWB and the people. Even his supporters are upset with the way matters are being handled. The conservative news outlets and their pundits are beginning to ask the questions we should have asked four years ago. The questions residents of New York City were asking, but the little man Rudy G. in search of a balcony hushed their inquiries. The same questions the people of Florida asked after the series of storms last hurricane season, but their inquiries got shushed with hush money. (Clever how following the storms FEMA personnel filled out the forms indicating “ice damage” in South Florida communities then after the 2004 presidential election complained that there had been fraud perpetrated by the people of those communities. I guess too many of them voted for John Kerry after all, causing the election grinches to work overtime on switching out the numbers so GWB looked good in the win column.)

• The rest of the nation is surprised by the stunning lack of sense of urgency by federal agencies such as FEMA. Generally what these officials do is announce immediately after disaster strikes that they will hold a meeting sometime in the future…say in five days, to discuss what should be done by the following Thursday. Meanwhile John and Jane Q. Public along with all their dependents, including grandparents and or grandchildren wait in total discomfort, without the necessities of life for these bureaucratic bozos to make a decision and spring into action.

• At a Congressional hearing last year James Lee Witt, who received bipartisan acclaim for his leadership of FEMA during the Clinton administration: "I am extremely concerned that the ability of our nation to prepare for and respond to disasters has been sharply eroded. I hear from emergency managers, local and state leaders, and first responders nearly every day that the FEMA they knew and worked well with has now disappeared."

• President Bush claimed no one knew the levees would be breeched. I guess he just wasn’t listening when the Army Corps of Engineers requested funding year after year to make maintenance repairs to strengthen the dikes in and around the city built in a basin.

• Some experts say it’s a matter of incompetence. Other experts suggest this disaster has been complicated by the lack of compassion for and sensitivity to the people who are mostly poor and mostly black.

• Kanye West deserves much support for having the courage to say what needed to be stated about our incumbent leader.

• Just as during the days of the Civil Rights movement in America, the United States is shamed before the world by its treatment of its citizens who just happen to be black.

Regardless of the reason for this debacle one thing is clear to me, we need someone in our government, the administration, the legislators or both, to be accountable for the terrible, shameful, disgraceful handling of this event.

Links to organizations established to help the poor and the hungry in America, as well as the survivors of Hurricane Katrina:

To assist with housing needs contact:

Hurricane Housing http://www.hurricanehousing.org

Open Your Home http://www.openyourhome.com

To provide food:

Second Harvest http://www.secondharvest.org/default2.asp

Mercy Corps http://www.mercycorps.org/

Acorn Institute http://www.acorn.org/