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The Congress has questions about Katrina. The Congress wants their questions answered -- now! To satisfy the insatiable curiosity of people like Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, congressional hearings are now being scheduled. Various administration officials engaged in Katrina rescue and recovery efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi therefore have to stop what they are doing in order to answer these very important questions from very important members of Congress. Requiring rescue/recovery officials to stop rescuing and recovering to respond to questions is akin to demanding that a fireman stop pouring water on a fire so that he can answer an...

Among all the perils facing survivors in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina — drowning, starvation, toxic waters, poisonous snakes — sexual harassment had to be far down the list. But days after the disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had 1,400 firefighters from around the country who had volunteered to help in New Orleans sitting in a conference room in Atlanta undergoing eight hours of training that included a sexual-harassment class. All this before they were allowed even to go to the Gulf Coast area to give out fliers and FEMA’s phone number. Hurricane Katrina has laid bare the peculiar...

This is an email I sent to our local rag on their biased Katrina headline story. The story was written by "Combined Wire Services". These guys really tick me off...

WASHINGTON -- The legalities of disaster recovery can seem murkier than floodwater, but for some Air Force families, making claims for belongings destroyed by Hurricane Katrina will be easier, thanks to Air Force paralegals. Two teams of Airmen from various Air Education and Training Command bases arrived at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., recently to help survivors navigate the legal claims system to recover or get reimbursement for their personal property on base. "The purpose of the teams is to go into the affected areas, evaluate the extent of the damages, document that information and assist the military member filing...

Although the official death toll throughout Louisiana is under 100, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin said the figure is likely to reach more than 10,000 people. When American Red Cross volunteers Keller Taylor of Richboro and Ed Sherman of Levittown, both retirees, arrived on the scene early last week their efforts were initially thwarted. Reports of the government halting Red Cross delivery of much-needed supplies, like water and medicine, because they were not allowed access to those most in need, have not yet been addressed by the White House. Some sources say the prohibition was a safety precaution. The...

MEXICO CITY -- Radio talk shows and newspapers here buzzed with excitement over news that Mexico, long on the receiving end of U.S. disaster relief, was sending a hurricane aid convoy to help its larger, richer and more powerful northern neighbor. Carrying water treatment plants, mobile kitchens and supplies to feed victims of Hurricane Katrina, the army convoy bound for Houston will be the first Mexican military unit to operate on U.S. soil since 1846. The convoy has "a very high symbolic content," said Javier Oliva, a political scientist at Mexico's National Autonomous University. "This is a very sensitive subject,...

Just heard on FOX that Blanco refused to allow supplies to be brought to the stadium, "Because they wanted all those people to leave, and they didn't want to create a magnet to bring others there, by bringing in food and water!"""

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has announced further Irish aid to the US states affected by Hurricane Katrina last week. The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has announced further Irish aid to the US states affected by Hurricane Katrina last week. Yesterday, the Government said it would be allocating €1m to the Irish Red Cross and other organisations to help the relief effort in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. Mr Ahern said today that the Government was also offering first-aid kits, blankets, tents, food and two water-treatment plants as part of the EU response to the disaster. He said Ireland was also prepared to...

¸ Local FEMA manager said he is sad processing for aid takes so long. By ROBBYN BROOKS Daily News Staff Writer Mississippi evacuee Luan Morgan tried to keep the tone of her voice pleasant for the sake of her 5-year-old daughter Sunday, but her anger was easy to see. “I need help now,” Morgan said. “We don’t have any way to get home. There’s no gas. There’s no nothing.” Morgan evacuated from her Lumberton, Miss., home the Saturday before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. She brought her daughter, Nichole, three days worth of clothing and not much else. “I...

Congress just passed a bill so laden with pork that it amazes even the most calloused politicians. Now, after the disaster of hurricane Katrina, is that bill reasonable? If Katrina had hit before the passage of the highway bill, would it have passed? It is necessary for congress to take a second look at the highway bill with all its funding for bike paths, sidewalk improvements and intermodal improvements. These are luxury items; contrast that with the needs that are present every time we turn on the TV. How can Congress take this money when a far greater need exists?...

Offers of aid and assistance from countries around the world in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina continued to pour in Tuesday to the U.S. State Department. So far, 94 countries and international organizations have offered aid, according to a State Department spokesman. Here is its partial list of nations from which the United States has received support:

Countries rich and poor send money, food, doctors to help hurricane victims LONDON - Impoverished Bangladesh, where millions live on a monsoon- and flood-prone delta, pledged $1 million and offered rescuers. Thailand, recalling U.S. aid after last year's tsunami, offered to send 60 doctors and nurses as well as rice as a "gesture from the heart." They are among more than 90 countries, rich and poor, proposing assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina, with Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates contributing "very large cash" donations, the State Department said Tuesday. The Bush administration eagerly accepted a German offer of...

PASCAGOULA, MISS. - Chevron Corp. is hurriedly erecting an evacuee village, the first step toward bringing its huge refinery here back on stream. Exxon Mobil Corp. is running newspaper ads trying to locate employees, while Shell Oil Co. is offering workers emergency cash and interest-free loans. Energy companies scrambling to restart operations along the Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast are struggling to locate their workers and help them stitch together their lives before reporting back to work. "We need our employees to have their minds on what they're doing," said Roland Kell, manager of Chevron's Pascagoula plant. Certainly, energy industry employees have...

Eager to show the US that Israel cares, Jerusalem is offering the US a field hospital, forensic experts and even organized prayer in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, diplomatic officials said Sunday. According to the officials, Jerusalem is still waiting for a response from Washington whether it has need for an IDF field hospital to be set up in areas hit by the Hurricane, or whether the US can use Israeli forensic specialists expert in identifying bodies. Israel experts, according to officials in Jerusalem, gained valuable experience identifying flood victims during January's tsunami when a team of experts was sent...

KABUL, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Impoverished Afghanistan will give $100,000 for relief efforts in the United States in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. embassy said. U.S. ambassador Ronald Neumann thanked the Afghan people at a ceremony on Sunday at which the aid was pledged by the government on behalf of the people. "Their compassion and generosity bears testimony to the strength of the ties between our two peoples," Neumann said. Hurricane Katrina struck the southern U.S. coast on Aug. 29, wrecking the city of New Orleans and possibly killing thousands. U.S. forces toppled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan...

Iran will help US victims of Hurricane Katrina if there is a need to do so and regards such help as a humanitarian measure, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said here Sunday. Asefi made the remark as he was talking to domestic and foreign reporters at his weekly press briefing. "The Islamic Republic of Iran will dispatch relief aid to the United States through Red Crescent if there is a need for such relief assistance. "Apparently, relief aid has not been provided to the victims properly. The victims complained about the way relief aid is provided to them. "We will...

Though the U.N.'s own top official for disaster relief has called Katrina one of "the largest, most destructive natural disasters ever," shamefully only a handful of nations – at last count just 25 nations of the 191 countries in the United Nations – have come forward to offer assistance. One nation not on the list is oil-rich Kuwait, which owes its very existence to America's liberation effort following Iraq's invasion.

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday thanked the international community, including India, for assisting the Chinese people's war against Japanese aggression and pledged that Beijing will never seek hegemony. "Having suffered bitterly from the scourge of war in modern times, the Chinese people are keenly aware of the value of peace," Hu said at a function to mark the 60th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese aggression and the anti-fascist war. "The victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese aggression was inseparable from the sympathy and support of all the peace and...

Associated Press "Story" Compares Bush Tardiness With Crazy Baghdad Bob An editorial disguised as a news story bashing President Bush for his supposedly belated response to the New Orleans fiasco reveals the biased venom that the AP has always had for Conservatives/Christians/Republicans/Independent Americans. Today, on the front page above the fold, the local Akron Beacon Journal, which celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of Vietnam's Communization, printed an AP story which mercilessly bashes Bush, comparing him with the infamously goofy Baghdad Bob. Saddam's Information Minister, Baghdad Bob, bragged of "slaughtering the American infidels" - even as United States forces surrounded him...

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a $5 million contribution to the US Red Cross for relief and rehabilitation of the victims of the devastating Hurricane Katrina. Officials said the prime minister had wanted to speak to George W. Bush over the telephone Friday but failed because the US president was traveling. The prime minister is at present visiting Kerala and Tamil Nadu.