Free Republic

President Barack Obama has declared Washington, D.C. a major disaster zone, but it’s not because of the red ink flooding from his pen. It’s not due to the president’s collapsing approval ratings. And it has nothing to do with the mud-slides and verbal infernos that he has loosed on his political rivals. Obama declared D.C. a disaster zone Tuesday because of the August 23 earthquake that damaged some pinnacles and a gargoyle on an Episcopal cathedral, frightened some zoo animals, dropped some bricks into an alleyway alongside Ecuador’s embassy, and cracked the stones near the top of the Washington Monument....

THEODORE, Alabama (AFP) – US President Barack Obama labeled the Gulf oil spill an environmental 9/11 and made a fourth disaster zone trip Monday while aides strong-armed BP to set up a multi-billion dollar victim fund. The London-based energy giant's shares meanwhile slumped 10 percent, amid deep investor anxiety about the costs it will bear for America's worst ecological catastrophe and investor fears for the firm's lucrative dividend. Obama sought to engineer a pivot point following sharp criticism of his handling of the two-month Gulf of Mexico disaster, ahead of a critical week which may do much to frame the...

Red Cross volunteer from SV already taking vehicle to Gulf Coast; others preparing to leave BY DANA COLE HERALD/REVIEW SIERRA VISTA - As Hurricane Katrina smashed through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Monday, local Red Cross volunteers were already preparing to head toward the Gulf Coast. "So far I've sent one of our emergency response volunteers, but we have others who are just waiting to go," said Judee Ramsey, service center manager of the local Red Cross chapter. "As of Sunday, he was going to a staging area in Arkansas with our emergency response vehicle. That was the last I...