Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 09.02.05

[David Shove (shove001]

             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R    09.02.05

1. MN Katrina relief 9.02 9am
2. Stadium debate    9.02 12noon
3. Home now/Casey    9.02 7:30pm

4. KFAI/Indian       9.04 4pm

5. Chris Floyd       - New Orleans and the death of the common good
6. Dr Greg Henderson - A doctor in the flood
7. Lee Sustar        - The poor left behind to drown
8. Dave Lindorff     - The real disaster: Bush and the Democrats
9. Mike Whitney      - How Rumsfeld smashed the National Guard
10. ed               - bush out now (wallpaper chorus)

--------1 of 10--------

From: mary rivard <treebirdrivard [at] yahoo.com>
From: Lynne Derby <derbylizard [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: MN Katrina relief 9.02 9am

Minnesota Katrina Relief Efforts Underway ASAP

Collaboration of Healers and Artists calling for Immediate Action

For TONIGHT and TOMORROW need Donations to fill a 15-20 Truck with Water
leaving tomorrow evening heading for Louisiana coordinated by a team of
4-6 women coming back Monday late night.

Cash for Gas is Imperative!!!  We estimate needing $2,000 alone for gas
and if we can't find a donated truck, we need another $1,000 to rent a
truck.

Drop off site @ Stonehenge on 2520 Hennepin Ave.
Fri 9/2 - 9am-5pm (Leaving Friday Evening)
Sat/Sun 11am-5pm, Monday 9/5 - 9am-9pm, Tues-Thurs 11-7pm

Or

the driveway off the alley between 18th and 17th Ave @ 3205 17th Ave S.
(Anytime)

The group of us have a strong need to assess where our collaborative
efforts can best be of service next week for a second trip to help in the
relief efforts of Katrina's wake. Celebration Hall has been offered by
HOTB to use for a Fundraiser to provide supplies for a second convoy
leaving the end of next week.  Our team is going to seek out those
disaster/relief efforts not attended to by government services for the
disenfranchised segments of remaining survivors who may not be getting
their needs met by FEMA or the A. Red Cross

Please Contact
Litahni @#763-427-0212 while the drivers are on the trip email@
litahni [at] litahni.com

Resources Collected:

4 W Ford Truck
3 Drivers
$600.00 Cash
Cases of Sm Bottles of Water
10% of all Sept Sales from Stonehenge

Things Needed:

PRAYER and SONGS
Large or Small Individual Containers of Sealed Bottled
Water
$3-4,000 CASH for Gas/Food for a team of 4-6 for 4
days of Driving
1-2 Drivers to leave Friday 9/2 evening return Monday
late 9/5
Large Truck 15-20 foot
Enclosed Trailer pull behind Ford
Large 5 Gal Water Containers to Fill and Refill
Research Web for Comprehensive List:
Non Perishable No need to cook Foods
Pet Food
Disposable Diapers
Mosquito Netting
Mosquito Spray
Propane Cook Stoves and Propane
Pots for Water with Lids
Ground Coffee
Tea
Over the Counter Digestive Relief Supplies
Essential Oils/Herbs for healing aids; Tee Tree,
Lavender, Ginger
Tents
Light Bedding
Tarps
Light Weight Clothes
Press Release Email List

Volunteers: Organizer Communications;  Provide a Comm. Center, Press
Releases, Media Contact, Organize Fundraiser @HOTB Celebration Room Tues
9/6 or Wed 9/7 Artists/Entertainers to perform at Fundraiser Organize
Solicitations from Local Vendors of needed items ie;  WATER

Call to Smaller Businesses and Retail Companies not hit up by the Red
Cross or FEMA

3 Shifts to Receive Donations @ Stonehenge Monday 9/5 from 9am-9pm


--------2 of 10--------

From: Ron Holch <rrholch [at] attg.net>
From: john knight [mailto:jtknight20 [at] hotmail.com]
Subject: Stadium debate 9.02 12noon

jtk cell: 612-382-5345

Everyone needed!  This Friday: a MPR stadium debate show!!
 *  Call-In or be at State Fair!  Friday Noon!! (Carousel Park near
    Grandstand)
 *  Call 651-227-6000 MPR 91.1 FM "Midday" - stadium debate!!
 *  $1.1 billion stadium tax increase - Referendum required
 *  NO special session - public is tired of it!!
 *  Should focus on essential gov services - not stadiums.
 *  With gas prices, hurricanes - bad time to raise taxes on consumers!
 *  Also Friday - 11 am - Governor Pawlenty also on MPR Midday
 *  Call-In 651-227-6000 or be at State Fair!  (Carousel Park)
 *  Be more vague with call-in screener
 *  Regular folks don't want a stadium special session
 *  $1.1 billion tax increase which would tax consumers at bad eco time
 *  NO to another special session!


--------3 of 10--------

From: braun044 <braun044 [at] tc.umn.edu>
Subject: Home now/Casey 9.02 7:30pm

Dear Peacemakers,

I am contacting you to let you know that the Bring Them Home Now Tour,
sponsored by Gold Star Families for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War,
Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans For Peace is coming to
Minnesota!

A delegation of family members and an Iraq War veteran are driving up from
Crawford, Texas, where they have been camped in Bush's backyard. Lend your
voice to the growing chorus of Americans saying "Bring them home now!"

Friday September 2
7:30pm, Welcome and socializing
Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Hospitality Hall (Use NW entrance),
4537 3rd Ave South,Minneapolis

Saturday September 3
12noon-2pm
Public rally, Minnesota State Capitol

Speakers:
Gold Star Families for Peace members:
 Karen Meredith of Mountain View, CA, whose son, 1st Lt Kenneth Ballard,
fourth generation Army, was killed in action in Najaf, Iraq on May 30,
2004.
 Al Zappala of Philadelphia, PA, whose son Sgt. Sherwood Baker, the first
Pennsylvania National Guardsman to die in combat since World War II, was
killed in Baghdad on April 26, 2004.

Military Families Speak Out members:
 Stacy Bannerman of Kent, WA, whose husband was forced by a "stop loss"
order to serve an additional eight months in Iraq past his 20-year
commitment.
 Sheri Glover of Houston, TX, whose 19 year old daughter has completed
Active Duty Service in the US Army, and is currently in the Individual
Ready Reserve and eligible for call back. Her son-in-law is currently
serving in Iraq. Sherry is active in Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary
and holds the position of junior vice commander of unit 9 in Houston.
 Tammara Rosenleaf of Belton, TX, whose husband serves in the Army,
stationed at Ft. Hood, and will be deploying to Iraq this fall.

Iraq Veterans Against the War member:
 Cody Camacho of Chicago, IL, served as Army specialist for four years. He
was deployed to Iraq from March 2003 to March, 2004, and was honorably
discharged in October, 2004.

For more information on the tour, check out the Bring Them Home Now
website at: www.bringthemhomenowtour.org

We encourage you to attend one or both of these events.

We are also in need of peacekeepers for the Saturday event.  If you
are able to help with this, please meet with other peacekeepers at the
foot of the Capitol steps at 11:15 am.  Look for Marie and John Braun.

Peace in the struggle,
Marie Braun for Twin Cities Peace Campaign-Focus on Iraq 612-522-1861


--------4 of 10--------

From: Chris Spotted Eagle <chris [at] spottedeagle.org>
Subject: KFAI/Indian 9.04 4pm

KFAI's Indian Uprising for Sept. 4th

THE NEWEST INDIANS by Jack Hitt for The NY Times Magazine, August 21,
2005.  More and more people are claiming to have discovered their
indigenous ancestries.  But what, exactly, makes someone a Native
American?

The practice of measuring Indian blood dates to the period just after the
Civil War when the American government decided to shift its genocide
policy against the Indians from elimination at gunpoint to the gentler
idea of breeding them out of existence. It wasn't a new plan. Regarding
Indians, Thomas Jefferson wrote that ''the ultimate point of rest and
happiness for them is to let our settlements and theirs meet and blend
together, to intermix, and become one people.'' When this idea was pursued
bureaucratically under President Ulysses S. Grant, Americans were
introduced to such phrases as ''half breed'' and ''full blood'' as
scientific terms.

In a diabolical stroke, the government granted more rewards and privileges
the less Indian you were.  For instance, when reservation lands were being
broken up into individual land grants, full-blooded Indians were ruled
''incompetent'' because they didn't have enough civilized blood in them
and their lands were administered for them by proxy agents. On the other
hand, the land was given outright to Indians who were half white or
three-quarters white. Here was the long-term catch: as Indians married
among whites and gained more privileges, their blood fraction would get
smaller, so that in time Indians would reproduce themselves out of
existence.  See for full text,
 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/magazine/21NATIVE.html (6 pp.).

Continuation 3 - THE HEART OF WHITENESS: CONFRONTING RACE, RACISM AND
WHITE PRIVILEGE by Robert Jensen, Paperback, 124 pp. $9.07, City Lights
Books, publication date Sept. 30, 2005, www.citylights.com.  An honest
look at U.S. racism and the liberal platitudes that attempt to conceal it.

Racism is typically distinguished from mere prejudice in terms of power.
 Prejudice­­negative or hostile attitudes toward members of a group based
on some shared trait, perceived or real­­becomes racism when one group has
the power to systematically deprive the members of another group of rights
and privileges that should come with citizenship and/or being a human
being.  The International Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination defines "racial discrimination" as "any distinction,
exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or
national or ethnic origin which has the purpose of effect of nullifying or
impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing of
human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social,
cultural or any other field of public life."
 (http:www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/d_icerd.htm)

* * * *
Indian Uprising is a one-half hour Public & Cultural Affairs radio program
for, by, and about Indigenous people & all their relations, broadcast each
Sunday at 4:00 p.m. over KFAI 90.3 FM Minneapolis and 106.7 FM St. Paul.
Current programs are archived online after broadcast at www.kfai.org, for
two weeks.  Click Program Archives and scroll to Indian Uprising.


--------5 of 10--------

The Perfect Storm
New Orleans and the Death of the Common Good
By CHRIS FLOYD
CounterPunch
September 1, 2005

"The river rose all day,
The river rose all night.
Some people got lost in the flood,
Some people got away all right.
The river have busted through clear down to Plaquemine:
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline.

"Louisiana, Louisiana,
They're trying to wash us away,
They're trying to wash us away."

 -- Randy Newman, Louisiana 1927

The destruction of New Orleans represents a confluence of many of the most
pernicious trends in American politics and culture: poverty, racism,
militarism, elitist greed, environmental abuse, public corruption and the
decay of democracy at every level.

Much of this is embodied in the odd phrasing that even the most
circumspect mainstream media sources have been using to describe the
hardest-hit victims of the storm and its devastating aftermath: "those who
chose to stay behind." Instantly, the situation has been framed with
language to flatter the prejudices of the comfortable and deny the reality
of the most vulnerable.

It is obvious that the vast majority of those who failed to evacuate are
poor: they had nowhere else to go, no way to get there, no means to
sustain themselves and their families on strange ground. While there were
certainly people who stayed behind by choice, most stayed behind because
they had no choice. They were trapped by their poverty - and many have
paid the price with their lives.

Yet across the media spectrum, the faint hint of disapproval drips from
the affluent observers, the clear implication that the victims were just
too lazy and shiftless to get out of harm's way. There is simply no
understanding - not even an attempt at understanding the destitution, the
isolation, the immobility of the poor and the sick and the broken among
us.

This is from the "respectable" media; the great right-wing echo chamber
was even less restrained, of course, leaping straight into giddy
convulsions of racism at the first reports of looting in the devastated
city. In the pinched-gonad squeals of Rush Limbaugh and his fellow
hatemongers, the hard-right media immediately conjured up images of
wild-eyed darkies rampaging through the streets in an orgy of violence and
thievery.

Not that the mainstreamers ignored the racist angle. There was the already
infamous juxtaposition of captions for wire service photos, where
depictions of essentially the same scene - desperate people wading through
flood waters, clutching plastic bags full of groceries - were given
markedly different spins. In one picture, a white couple are described as
struggling along after finding bread and soda at a grocery store. But
beneath an almost identical photo of a young black man with a bag of
groceries, we are told that a "looter" wades through the streets after
robbing a grocery store. In the photo I saw, this evil miscreant also had
a - gasp! - pack of diapers under his arm.

Almost all of the early "looting" was like this: desperate people - of all
colors - stranded by the floodwaters broke into abandoned stores and
carried off food, clean water, medicine, clothes. Perhaps they should have
left a check on the counter, but then again - what exactly was going to
happen to all those perishables and consumer goods, sitting around in
fetid, diseased water for weeks on end? (The mayor now says it could be up
to 16 weeks before people can return to their homes and businesses.)
Obviously, most if not all of it would have been thrown away or written
off in any case. Later, of course, there was more organized looting by
criminal gangs, the type of lawless element - of every hue, in every
society - whose chief victims are, of course, the poor and vulnerable.
These criminal operations were quickly conflated with the earlier
pilferage to paint a single seamless picture of the American media's
favorite horror story: Black Folk Gone Wild.

But here again another question was left unasked: Where were the resources
- the money, manpower, materiel, transport - that could have removed all
those forced to stay behind, and given them someplace safe and sustaining
to take shelter? Where, indeed, were the resources that could have
bolstered the city's defenses and shored up its levees? Where were the
National Guard troops that could have secured the streets and directed
survivors to food and aid? Where were the public resources - the physical
manifestation of the citizenry's commitment to the common good - that
could have greatly mitigated the brutal effects of this natural disaster?

 "President Coolidge came down here in a railroad train,
 With a little fat man with a notebook in his hand.
 The president say, "Little fat man, isn't it a shame
 What the river has done to this poor cracker's land?"

Well, we all know what happened to those vital resources. They had been
cut back, stripped down, gutted, pilfered - looted - to pay for a war of
aggression, to pay for a tax cut for the wealthiest, safest, most
protected Americans, to gorge the coffers of a small number of private and
corporate fortunes, while letting the public sector - the common good -
wither and die on the vine. These were all specific actions of the Bush
Administration - including the devastating budget cuts on projects
specifically designed to bolster New Orleans' defenses against a
catastrophic hurricane. Bush even cut money for strengthening the very
levees that broke and delivered the deathblow to the city. All this, in
the face of specific warnings of what would happen if these measures were
neglected: the city would go down "under 20 feet of water," one expert
predicted just a few weeks ago.

But Bush said there was no money for this kind of folderol anymore. The
federal budget had been busted by his tax cuts and his war. And this was a
deliberate policy: as Bush's mentor Grover Norquist famously put it, the
whole Bushist ethos was to starve the federal government of funds,
shrinking it down so "we can drown it in the bathtub." As it turned out,
the bathtub wasn't quite big enough - so they drowned it in the streets
of New Orleans instead.

But as culpable, criminal and loathsome as the Bush Administration is, it
is only the apotheosis of an overarching trend in American society that
has been gathering force for decades: the destruction of the idea of a
common good, a public sector whose benefits and responsibilities are
shared by all, and directed by the consent of the governed. For more than
30 years, the corporate Right has waged a relentless and highly focused
campaign against the common good, seeking to atomize individuals into
isolated "consumer units" whose political energies - kept deliberately
underinformed by the ubiquitous corporate media - can be diverted into
emotionalized "hot button" issues (gay marriage, school prayer,
intelligent design, flag burning, welfare queens, drugs, porn, abortion,
teen sex, commie subversion, terrorist threats, etc., etc.) that never
threaten Big Money's bottom line.

Again deliberately, with smear, spin and sham, they have sought - and
succeeded - in poisoning the well of the democratic process, turning it
into a tabloid melee where only "character counts" while the rapacious
policies of Big Money's bought-and-sold candidates are completely ignored.
As Big Money solidified its ascendancy over government, pouring billions -
over and under the table - into campaign coffers, politicians could ignore
larger and larger swathes of the people. If you can't hook yourself up to
a well-funded, coffer-filling interest group, if you can't hire a big-time
Beltway player to lobby your cause and get you "a seat at the table," then
your voice goes unheard, your concerns are shunted aside. (Apart from a
few cynical gestures around election-time, of course.) The poor, the sick,
the weak, the vulnerable have become invisible - in the media, in the
corporate boardroom, "at the table" of the power players in national,
state and local governments. The increasingly marginalized and unstable
middle class is also fading from the consciousness of the rulers, whose
servicing of the elite goes more brazen and frantic all the time.

When unbridled commercial development of delicately balanced environments
like the Mississippi Delta is bruited "at the table," whose voice is
heard? Not the poor, who, as we have seen this week, will overwhelmingly
bear the brunt of the overstressed environment. And not the middle class,
who might opt for the security of safer, saner development policies to
protect their hard-won homes and businesses. No, the only voice that
matters is that of the developers themselves, and the elite investors who
stand behind them.

 "Louisiana, Louisiana,
 They're trying to wash us away"

The destruction of New Orleans was a work of nature - but a nature that
has been worked upon by human hands and human policies. As global climate
change continues its deadly symbiosis with unbridled commercial
development for elite profit, we will see more such destruction, far more,
on an even more devastating scale. As the harsh, aggressive militarism and
brutal corporate ethos that Bush has injected into the mainstream of
American society continues to spread its poison, we will see fewer and
fewer resources available to nurture the common good. As the political
process becomes more and more corrupt, ever more a creation of elite
puppetmasters and their craven bagmen, we will see the poor and the weak
and even the middle class driven further and further into the low ground
of society, where every passing storm - economic, political, natural -
will threaten their homes, their livelihoods, their very existence.

 "Louisiana, Louisiana,
 They're trying to wash us away
 They're trying to wash us away
 They're trying to wash us away
 They're trying to wash us away"

Chris Floyd is a columnist for The Moscow Times and regular contributor to
CounterPunch. A new, upgraded version of his blog, "Empire Burlesque," can
be found at www.chris-floyd.com.


--------6 of 10--------

Situation Critical
A Doctor in the Flood
By Dr. GREG HENDERSON, MD
CounterPunch
September 1, 2005

New Orleans.

I am writing this note on Tuesday at 2 p.m.. I wanted to update all of you
as to the situation here. I don't know how much information you are
getting but I am certain it is more than we are getting. Be advised that
almost everything I am telling you is from direct observation or rumor
from reasonable sources. They are allowing limited internet access, so I
hope to send this dispatch today.

Personally, my family and I are fine. My family is safe in Jackson, Miss.,
and I am now a temporary resident of the Ritz Carleton Hotel in New
Orleans. I figured if it was my time to go, I wanted to go in a place with
a good wine list. In addition, this hotel is in a very old building on
Canal Street that could and did sustain little damage. Many of the other
hotels sustained significant loss of windows, and we expect that many of
the guests may be evacuated here.

Things were obviously bad yesterday, but they are much worse today.
Overnight the water arrived. Now Canal Street (true to its origins) is
indeed a canal. The first floor of all downtown buildings is underwater. I
have heard that Charity Hospital and Tulane are limited in their ability
to care for patients because of water. Ochsner is the only hospital that
remains fully functional. However, I spoke with them today and they too
are on generator and losing food and water fast.

The city now has no clean water, no sewerage system, no electricity, and
no real communications. Bodies are still being recovered floating in the
floods. We are worried about a cholera epidemic. Even the police are
without effective communications. We have a group of armed police here
with us at the hotel that is admirably trying to exert some local law
enforcement. This is tough because looting is now rampant. Most of it is
not malicious looting. These are poor and desperate people with no housing
and no medical care and no food or water trying to take care of themselves
and their families. Unfortunately, the people are armed and dangerous. We
hear gunshots frequently. Most of Canal street is occupied by armed
looters who have a low threshold for discharging their weapons. We hear
gunshots frequently. The looters are using makeshift boats made of pieces
of styrofoam. We are still waiting for a significant national guard
presence.

The health care situation here has dramatically worsened overnight. Many
people in the hotel are elderly and small children. Many other guests have
unusual diseases. ... There are (Infectious Disease) physicians in at this
hotel attending an HIV confection. We have commandeered the world famous
French Quarter Bar to turn into an makeshift clinic. There is a team of
about seven doctors and PAs and pharmacists. We anticipate that this will
be the major medical facility in the central business district and French
Quarter.

Our biggest adventure today was raiding the Walgreens on Canal under
police escort. The pharmacy was dark and full of water. We basically
scooped the entire drug sets into garbage bags and removed them. All under
police escort. The looters had to be held back at gunpoint. After a dose
of prophylactic Cipro I hope to be fine.

In all we are faring well. We have set up a hospital in the French Quarter
bar in the hotel, and will start admitting patients today. Many will be
from the hotel, but many will not. We are anticipating dealing with
multiple medical problems, medications and and acute injuries. Infection
and perhaps even cholera are anticipated major problems. Food and water
shortages are imminent.

The biggest question to all of us is where is the National Guard. We hear
jet fighters and helicopters, but no real armed presence, and hence the
rampant looting. There is no Red Cross and no Salvation Army.

In a sort of clich way, this is an edifying experience. One is rapidly
focused away from the transient and material to the bare necessities of
life. It has been challenging to me to learn how to be a primary care
phyisican. We are under martial law so return to our homes is impossible.
I don't know how long it will be and this is my greatest fear. Despite it
all, this is a soul-edifying experience. The greatest pain is to think
about the loss. And how long the rebuilding will take. And the horror of
so many dead people .

Dr. Greg Henderson is a pathologist who recently moved to New Orleans from
Wilmington, NC.


--------7 of 10--------

The Poor and Hurricane Katrina
Left Behind to Drown
By LEE SUSTAR
CounterPunch
September 1, 2005

Decades of official neglect, racism and the impact of global warming
magnified the destructive impact of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and
other parts of the South.

The mainstream media focused most on the big-money property losses - for
example, the heavily damaged casinos on the Mississippi coast that took a
direct hit from Katrina, and the tourist hotels in the French Quarter in
New Orleans. But beyond the media spotlight are countless others who don't
have sufficient insurance - or any insurance at all - to rebuild their
lives.

As in all "natural" disasters, a far-from-natural logic asserted itself:
Those who had the least to begin with stood to lose the most.

Thus, in the Gulf Coast cities of Mississippi that took a direct hit when
the hurricane came ashore, the big hotels were left standing, though
heavily damaged. Other structures - even whole neighborhoods and
communities - were erased from the map. "This is our tsunami," said one
person, drawing a comparison with last December's disaster around the rim
of the Indian Ocean.

A last-minute shift in the path of the storm sent Katrina east of New
Orleans, prompting city officials to think that they had avoided a
catastrophe. But the day after the hurricane hit, conditions began to
deteriorate rapidly. Parts of the levee system that protects the
below-sea-level city from flooding gave way - apparently to the north,
along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain - leaving up to 80 percent of New
Orleans underwater.

With electricity and communications out, little was known about New
Orleans' poorest neighborhoods, other than that they - predictably - bore
the brunt of the disaster. Rumors spread that corpses could be seen
floating in the floodwaters. No one had electrical power - nor much chance
of getting it for days, and probably weeks.

The worst may be yet to come. The waters that inundated New Orleans were
polluted by garbage and debris. And when the floods finally recede, they
will leave behind a breeding ground for disease.

The impact of Katrina was visible even before the storm hit land, most
obviously in the images of evacuees lined up to take shelter inside New
Orleans' Superdome - mostly poor and African American people forced to go
for refuge to a football stadium for lack of a car or want of money.

"By afternoon [the day before the hurricane struck], the Superdome
descended into sweaty chaos," the Miami Herald reported. "About 30,000
refugees eventually arrived under the vigilance of the Louisiana National
Guard. The frustrated line to get into the stadium stretched the length of
several football fields. People sucked at empty water bottles, lugged
their belongings in plastic grocery bags, fanned themselves in the humid
air, brought their beer and cigarettes and braced for what could be a
two-day stay as torrents of rain started soaking them about 4 p.m."

Once inside the Superdome, the evacuees were ordered to stay in their
seats after curfew. There were insufficient numbers of toilets, and when
electrical power failed, the generators could support lights, but not air
conditioning. The storm ripped several holes in the roof, and those below
had to scramble away from the rain that poured in.

When the levee system failed and New Orleans started flooding after the
hurricane passed, the Superdome became an island surrounded by hip-deep
water, polluted by oil and debris. Conditions inside the stadium continued
to "deteriorate," as press reports put it - at least two people had died
inside the Superdome within the first 36 hours.

* * *
While New Orleans is inherently vulnerable to hurricanes - much of the
city lies below sea level - governments at all levels refused to take
necessary precautions to minimize risk or ensure a safe and orderly
evacuation procedure.

The levee system, crucial to the survival of a city surrounded on three
sides by water, hasn't been upgraded to withstand a Category 4 or 5 storm.
Thanks to George Bush and his "war on terror." During the 1990s, following
floods that killed six people, the federal government established the
Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project (known as SELA). The Army
Corps of Engineers was put in charge of implementing the project and spent
nearly $500 million shoring up levees and building pumping stations.

"But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained," wrote
Philadelphia Daily News writer Will Bunch. "Yet after 2003, the flow of
federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to
hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as
homeland security - coming at the same time as federal tax cuts - was the
reason for the strainIn early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq
soared, President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the
Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to [a] Feb. 16 ,
2004 article in New Orleans CityBusiness."

According to Bunch's research, though 2004 was one of the worst hurricane
seasons in history, the federal government this year imposed "the steepest
reduction in hurricane- and flood-control funding for New Orleans in
history."

Why the neglect? Though it is best known as a tourist destination, New
Orleans is one of the poorest cities in the U.S., with a population that
is 67 percent African American. In the parish, or county, of Orleans, 34
percent of households live below the federal poverty line - an issue that
was the focus of a new community coalition at a meeting just a few days
before Katrina hit.

The scale of the threat has been well known for years. Oceanographer Joe
Suhayda created a detailed model of the impact of a Category 5 hurricane
hitting New Orleans, showing that much of the city could be plunged under
20 feet of water, causing tens of thousands of casualties. And in 2004,
Hurricane Ivan barely missed the city, again highlighting the urgent need
for a viable evacuation plan.

"Affluent white people fled the Big Easy in their SUVs, while the old and
car-less - mainly Black - were left behind in their below-sea-level
shotgun shacks and aging tenements to face the watery wrath," activist
Mike Davis wrote of the evacuation plans for Ivan. "New Orleans had spent
decades preparing for inevitable submersion by the storm surge of a
class-five hurricane. Civil defense officials conceded they had 10,000
body bags on hand to deal with the worst-case scenario. But no one seemed
to have bothered to devise a plan to evacuate the city's poorest or most
infirm residents."

Global warming is almost certainly to blame for the increasing strength
and frequency of hurricanes, Davis told Socialist Worker last year. A
number of climatic factors are at work. For example, something known as
the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), which involves variations in air
pressure and sea temperatures, is a contributing factor to the
above-normal number of hurricanes. But global warming caused by air
pollution has probably made matters worse.

"Sea temperatures in the tropical Atlantic are higher than normal, thus
supplying more energy to hurricanes," Davis said. "This can't be directly
attributed to global warming, but an intensification of the NAO is exactly
what you might expect. Every North Hemisphere summer now seems to
guarantee climate disaster of one kind or another."

But climate disaster can be profitable - if you happen to be a stockholder
or executive for a major U.S. oil company. The oil giants were set to use
the excuse of Katrina to hike gas prices still further beyond the record
pump prices set last month.

The scale of the devastation resulting from the hurricane won't be known
forweeks. But we know already who will suffer the brunt of this tragedy -
the poor in New Orleans and all along the Gulf Coast.

Lee Sustar is a regular contributor to CounterPunch and the Socialist
Worker. He can be reached at: lsustar [at] ameritech.net


--------8 of 10--------

Storm Warnings
The Real Disaster: Bush and the Democrats
By DAVE LINDORFF
CounterPunch
September 1, 2005

The destruction of New Orleans - a catastrophe far worse than anything
Osama Bin Laden could hope to wreak, considering the number of deaths, the
closing down of a major U.S. port city for months, the destruction of an
urban environment that will take years to repair, and the devastating
disruption of one-fourth of the nation's oil production, which is likely
to initiate a national recession - gives final proof of the stupidity and
criminality of the Bush Administration's invasion of Iraq and of the
bankruptcy of the Democratic so-called oppositon.

First there is the diversion of economic resources that saw New Orleans
shortchanged on programs designed to harden the city for the inevitable
arrival of super-strong, global-warming-fed hurricanes. The demands of the
$200-billion+ war in Iraq caused already-budged funds for levy
strengthening and raising to be withdrawn an diverted.

Then too, there is the gutting of the National Guard, which is mostly over
in Iraq, leaving Louisiana and Mississippi, the two hardest-hit states,
scrambling for first-response personal - a problem that is compounded by
the common practice of having police, fire and emergency rescue personnel
supplement their salaries by joining the Guard.

How stupid is it that we are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on
programs that are supposedly designed to deter or interdict terrorists - a
nearly hopeless endeavor given the ease with which terrorists can just
figure out new ways around each new program.

The most a terrorist attack can hope to do is bring down a few buildings
and kill a few hundred people, while natural disasters can do tens of
billions in damage, wreck a national economy, displace hundreds of
thousands, and kill thousands. And unlike with terrorism, there are things
that can actually be done to guard against or mitigate natural disasters.

Not, however, if all the government's resources are being diverted to war.

It is high time that the American public recognize that even if they don't
have a relative at risk in Iraq, even if they don't personally feel the
impact of that war in any obvious way, the whole nation is being put at
risk by Bush's Iraq folly.

The best way to protect America and its people would be for the U.S. to
become aggressively involved in combating the global warming that ensures
that hurricanes like Katrina will become not the exception but the norm.
The best way to defend American interests is to end the hollowing out of
the economy that inevitably accompanies a war costing a fifth of a
trillian dollars, and to invest in infrastructure improvement, education
and the general welfare.

The National Guard, which was meant to serve as a state-run militia, and
to be available for national emergencies like this one, should be called
home immediately from Iraq and put back on duty here, where it belongs.
Those who are supposed to be cops, firefighters and EMT personnel should
be sent back to their real jobs. Cuts in the military should not be made
in Guard units, as is happening in the current round of base closings, but
in the regular uniformed services, whose only real function seems to be to
give the president a chance to mess around in other countries' affairs.

The Democrats should be all over this one, but don't hold your breath.
That sorry bunch of moral cowards - Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Joe
Lieberman among them, voted for the Iraq War and they have uttered
scarcely a peep at the gutting of the domestic Guard units, instead
calling for more troops to be sent over to Iraq.

The only answer is for the public to demand that the National Guard be
recalled for domestic duties, where they belong, and for the war to be
ended, immediately.

Bad as it is, New Orleans is just a warning of disasters sure to come.
Heck, the hurricane season isn't even half over.

For my money, Osama couldn't have wished for a better ally in his campaign
against the U.S. than President George "Bring 'Em On" Bush.

Dave Lindorff is the author of Killing Time: an Investigation into the
Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. His new book of CounterPunch columns
titled "This Can't be Happening!" is published by Common Courage Press.
Information about both books and other work by Lindorff can be found at
www.thiscantbehappening.net.

He can be reached at: dlindorff [at] yahoo.com


--------9 of 10--------

How Rumsfeld Smashed the National Guard
Hurrican Donald
By MIKE WHITNEY
CounterPunch
September 1, 2005

"Free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad
things. For suddenly the biggest problem in the world to be looting is
really notable."
 -Sec-Def Donald Rumsfeld 4-11-03; comments on the looting of Baghdad

The changes that are taking place in the military under the deceptive name
of "transformation" have nothing to do with national defense. Rather, the
military is being converted into a taxpayer-subsidized security apparatus
for multinational corporations. Its primary task is to seize dwindling
resources through force of arms and crush indigenous movements that resist
US aggression.

On the home front, the changes brought on by transformation are equally
dramatic. Traditional defenses provided by the National Guard have been
substantially weakened to allow the Pentagon to insert itself into
domestic affairs and establish an ongoing military presence within the
United States. Donald Rumsfeld has already stated that the military will
play a greater role in dealing with the aftereffects of any future
terrorist attack. There's no doubt that he will honor that commitment.

The media has echoed the government line that transformation is simply
intended to revamp the military for the wars of the next century. They
have highlighted the effects of base closures on local economies and
unemployment. They have also emphasized the Pentagon's intention to create
smaller, more agile military units that can be quickly deployed anywhere
around the world in less than 48 hours. But, the media have avoided
analyzing the overall objectives of these changes or their effect on
homeland security.

Rumsfeld has savaged the National Guard; 40% of who are now serving in
Iraq. That means, that the American people are 40% "less safe" in the
event of terrorist attack or a natural disaster, like Hurricane Katrina,
regardless of how one looks at it. Instead of strengthening the damaged
Guard, Rumsfeld is executing a plan that will wreak further havoc on
domestic preparedness and expose the American public to even greater risk.

For example, "Rumsfeld called for 30 Air Guard units scattered around many
states to lose their aircraft and flying missions." (Liz Sidot; Ass Press
8-27-05) How can the states be expected to conduct routine patrols or
reconnaissance missions if their planes have been taken by Washington?
And, why would Rumsfeld want to take them when more terrorist attacks are
expected in the future?

In Pennsylvania Rumsfeld tried to "dissolve the Pennsylvania Air National
Guard division without the Governor's authority". (Ass Press)

Why?

The move was a conspicuous attempt to undermine Pennsylvania's defenses
and put more power under the direct control of the Defense Dept.

Rumsfeld also tried to "transfer" all 15 "Pacific Northwest and Oregon
National Guard fighter jets that patrolled Seattle's skies after 9-11";
leaving the region with no protection from aerial assault. (Northwest's
F-15's Should Stay Put" Seattle PI staff, 8-27-05) Consider the risk to a
"target-rich" area like the Pacific Northwest, with its exposed
industries, harbors and nuclear power plants, if it was stripped of its
first line of defense?

Rumsfeld's behavior has been identical everywhere across the country. He
is determined to undermine the National Guard and limit the states'
ability to protect themselves against attack. His intention is to smash
America's internal defenses, which are currently under control of the
states' governors, and introduce the military into homeland security. It
is a clear attempt to centralize authority and further militarize the
country.

By weakening America's defenses, Rumsfeld has paved the way for deploying
troops and aircraft within the country and setting the precedent for a
permanent military presence within the nation. It is one giant step
towards direct military rule.

There is no other conceivable reason for weakening national defense during
a period when there is an increased likelihood of a terrorist incident.

Rumsfeld's conduct is hardly surprising. He has a long history of support
for military regimes. Just months ago he was coaching South American
leaders to resume their use of the military in domestic policing
activities to undercut the Leftist political movements that are at the
forefront of change throughout the region. It's clear that he has
something similar in mind for the American people.

Are we talking about the possibility of martial law?

We only need to look at developments in England to know what Americans
could be facing following another terrorist attack. Tony Blair has managed
to manipulate the London bombings into a mandate for regressive
"anti-terror" legislation that suspends habeas corpus, due process, and
the presumption of innocence.

Blair is now claiming the right to deport Muslims without judicial review,
suspend free speech, and use deadly force against terrorist suspects. At
the same time, he has concealed his motives behind a public relations
smokescreen that make his actions look like they are a reasonable response
to a national security threat. In fact, Blair's actions are part of a
broader strategy to eviscerate civil liberties for the Islamic community.
The Prime Minister's "The rules of the game have changed" speech; was a
carefully scripted declaration of martial law for Muslims.

The American people can expect similar edicts from Washington following
the next terrorist attack at home.

                  Transformation and Foreign Policy

When the military is adapted to the narrow interests of elites it becomes
little more than a resource-acquisition tool; a bloody-weapon to be used
by private industry. We can see the effects of this in both Iraq and
Afghanistan, where the military is providing security for the corporations
that are extracting the regional resources. It's nothing more than massive
"protections-racket" designed to legitimize theft.

The goal of transformation is to make the military conform to the
corporate model; converting it into a top-down, highly-technological
mechanism programmed for maximum efficiency and lethality. The Pentagon is
no longer expecting to fight large territorial conflicts, but instead is
developing a fighting force to "preemptively" attack those nationalist or
revolutionary forces that may disrupt global commerce.

When Bush says, "We will confront emerging threats before they fully
materialize," he is articulating the theory of aggression on which
transformation is based. The new military is designed to initiate
hostilities wherever America can expand its grip on vital natural
resources. This is the only way that Washington can maintain its dominant
position in the world economy.

                        The Cost of Global War

One official from the World Bank estimated that the US will spend in
excess of $900 Billion per year to maintain the global military presence
that the Bush administration has in mind; nearly double the current
Pentagon budget.

This is probably accurate. The New World Order requires a gluttonous,
iron-fisted military to maintain its supremacy and to preserve the
existing economic paradigm.

So far, the dream of a transformed military has proved to be a dismal
failure. The insufficient number of soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq has
spawned violent resistance-movements in both countries that show no sign
of abating. Rumsfeld's dream of small groupings of elite warriors striking
with lightening speed and subduing entire populations has turned out to be
a catastrophic fantasy. America now has 8 battalions bogged-down in a
desert maelstrom where high-tech wizardry is less help than a few more
"boots on the ground". At home, the National Guard is in a shambles. The
men who would normally be assisting the victims of America's greatest
natural disaster are now hunkered-down in encampments outside Baghdad and
Falluja unable to help in the task for which they were trained. As the
costs and casualties of the Iraq debacle continue to mount, Rumsfeld's
crazed vision of transformation will be exposed as one of the principle
theories that led the country down this ruinous path.

Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He can be reached at:
fergiewhitney [at] msn.com


--------10 of 10--------

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 to be continued....

 (small sections may be quoted in reviews)

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