Posted on 09/08/2005 6:57:21 PM PDT by drtom
A Louisiana state senator has praised a Canadian search and rescue team. Senator Walter Boasso said a Vancouver-based team reached St. Bernard parish five days before the U.S. army got there.
"Fabulous, fabulous guys," Boasso said. "They started rolling with us and got in boats to save people ... We've got Canadian flags flying everywhere."
RELATED STORY: 20,000 Canadian cots sent for hurricane relief
The suburb of 68,000 people was initially ignored by U.S. authorities who were scrambling to get aid to New Orleans. Boasso said floodwater in his parish is still 2.4 metres deep in some places.
He said residents of the outlying parishes had to mount their own rescue and relief efforts when Hurricane Katrina struck last week.
The U.S. government response to the disaster has been widely criticized. Some politicians and editorial writers have called for the resignation of top Bush administration officials.
Boasso saved his praise for the Canadians and their quick work. "They were so glad to be here," he said. "They're still here. They are actually going door-to-door looking in the attics" for people to rescue.
Hope we won't have to return the favor to Vancouver anytime soon, re the Big One.
At the suggestion of writer Michelle Malkin last Friday, I have cobbled together a blogsite called Texas Clearinghouse for Katrina Aid to serve as a clearinghouse for refugee efforts in Texas.
Texas is getting more refugees than any other state -- that's fine, we'll take them all -- but we need help providing them with food, clothing, medicine, and shelter. We need help taking care of their pets, too.
If you are a refugee, you can information that will help you find relief. If you want to donate or volunteer, you can find someone who needs you. Believe me, there are a lot of organizations who need your help.
Right now the site mostly covers Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas but I'm adding more every night. My wife was down at Reunion Arena in Dallas Tuesday handing out care packages and spiritually ministering to the refugees as a representative of her employer. She says that the situation is tragic and that there's a lot of work to be done. There are so many children who don't know where their parents are or even if their parents are still alive.
There are a lot of churches and other organizations in Texas that need help in dealing with the problem and I would appreciate it if you would get the word out.
Many thanks,
Michael McCullough
Stingray blogsite
How about some discounted oil?
Just a shot in the dark here ..... Senator Boasso is a Republican, right???
This is a much less biased version of a story that was posted earlier. Glad to see at least one person in the Canadian media isn't printing the talking points sight unseen.
"WHITE HOUSE MULLED SEIZING RELIEF MISSION // Invoke the Insurrection Act? Bush's senior advisers debated last week whether the president should seize control of the chaotic hurricane relief mission from the governor so that active-duty combat troops could be sent to enforce order... Developing..."
The REAL point to my post was that had it been a nutcase from the other side of the isle, we would have seen;
"Leading, ranking, top dog, on the Blah blah blah committee, of the most important of all importance of the DEMOCRAT agendas, the DEMOCRAT Senator from LA taking charge of his DEMOCRAT district and DEMOCRAT state the most honorable, Pukity Puke."
IF ya know what I mean. ;*)
And I as an American thank our neighbors to our north and every other country that has pledged aid in various forms,
and for the current help being displayed by those citizens
of other contries.
So let me get this straight. NO will allow foreigners from another country in before they will allow National Guard, Red Cross and Fema in?
And...Red Cross and Salvation Army cannot get into NOs but actors can?
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canadian oil companies are private and play by world market price.
They are discounting the price of oil for the US right now. I heard it on O'Reilly!!
I wish President Bush had done that but you know the Democraps would have then called him a Bully or criticized it in some other way. Truth is, the Democrats have so little to offer they look for ANYTHING to criticize Bush for. If there isn't anything, they make something up!! I wanted to shoot my television last night when Pelosi was spewing her verbal diarrhea!!
I'm pretty sure I saw an interview in which the Salvation Army had been into NO!!
I saw this story posted last week (in a different version) and John Gibson has just brought it to national attention, again (on Oreilly's show). Sadly, it is going around that the Canadians were there 5 days before the Feds arrived...and my mother continues to remind me of this.
While I'm aware of the legal implications WRT things like Posse Comitatus, is there any other information available that Blanco explicitly refused this type of Federal help? I mean, if a foreign country can invade New Orleans without Blanco's permission, why couldn't a small detachment of federal "workers" from whatever branch?
Is there something more to this story that I'm missing, such as the Canadians collaborating with Parrish leaders independently from the state? They obviously got in despite the bureaucracy, which doesn't look good anyway you cut it. More ammo would be appreciated. Thanks
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