Katrina CENSORSHIP -- Please Read

[snot]

I am very concerned about the degree of censorship and secrecy the Feds are trying to impose, both in N.O. and on the evacuees.

See http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/07/katrina_rape_murder_.html (edited by me):

Wednesday, September 7, 2005
Katrina: "Rape, murder, beatings" in Astrodome, say evacuees 

Here's a rough partial transcript of an IM chat with Jacob Appelbaum <http://jacob.wordpress.com/> throughout the day today. He's inside the Houston Astrodome, and has been talking to Katrina evacuees and tech aid volunteers who are there to set up computer banks and a low power FM station (see bottom of post -- FEMA's blocking that, despite FCC having granted the LPFM organizers a temporary license exemption). Times shown are LA local.

10:23: Joel just got removed. Almost arrested. Fox News is down on the floor. I'm in dome, hiding in seats. They're allowing some media on the floor, not others.
10:31 Just met members of the Polish press, they are being stopped from entering floor. Says this is like the former USSR.
10:57 Raw transcript of comments by NOLA evacuee Clara Barthelemy: "The 17th street levee was bombed by the Army Corps of Engineers to save the more valuable real estate in the city… to keep the French Quarter protected, the ninth ward was sacrificed… people are afraid to speak out… everyone who was near there heard the bombings… they bombed seven times. That's why they didn't fix the levees… 20 feet of water. Gators. People dying in water. They let the parishes go, not the city center. Tourist trap was saved over human life. A six year old girl was raped in here.. 9 year old boy killed. A man in the shower beaten. No hot food. No help for elderly."
Another evacuee: "Over 20 rapes per night happening inside this place. They bring in national guard for media purposes. Bush wants us to stay here to raise his ratings. Some workers are stealing the good stuff, like shoes."

11:22 Evacuee Dianne Stafford: "They blew the levee to save the city…" Saying a barge broke the levee. She is from St. Bernard Parish. "More expensive places were saved at the expense of the neighborhoods that aren't as valuable… Rebuilding Bourbon Street matters more to the government… that's what mattered to Governor Blanco…"

11:59 CNN have no problem getting in. Nobody's stopping them from accessing the floor, but other credentialed press who already have press badges are being stopped.

12:24 Man I'm speaking to, Danny Smith, says he cannot get housing because he has a felony. Aid workers found him a house but he is a felon, so they turned him away. FEMA has agreed to pay for his apartment, but he cannot get one. "Everyone has a felony here," he says. He thinks that people are going to riot

13:03 Harris County will not allow any radio station inside without a FEMA form even if operator has FCC permission. Austin Airwaves says trying to get form now, been waiting 2.5 days. No radio station inside the dome until that form is filled out.

[DS1]

1. A barge was rammed into the levee

Is it not possible, in light of the massive OIL RIG that floated down the river that a barge could do the same? And which is it, bombing or barges?

[txindy]

2. Maybe the surging waters rammed the barges into the levees

:shrug: It could sound like a bomb, I suppose. Or that oil rig hitting the bridge must've made a sound like a bomb going off. If the water threw it against the bridge multiple times, that may have been what they were hearing. They don't know for certain. They know what it sounded like, though. I doubt they know about the oil rig. I wouldn't have believed that was possible until I saw that incredible photo.

[MojoXN]

7. No way...

A barge hitting a structure and an explosion sound NOTHING alike. I know this because three years ago, a coal barge hit one of the bridge pylons of the Market Street bridge that connects Steubenville, Ohio and West Virginia. It sounded like a huge car crash, metal on metal, metal on concrete. During the same general time, WVDOH was doing demolition, dynamiting about three miles of hillside to widen state route 2. I lived about 3/4 of a mile from the bridge, and about 3/4 - 3 1/2 miles from the demolition, depending on where they were blasting.

The dynamite would make explode, you'd feel it first, like a small earthquake, hear the explosion, and then feel the blast wave as it displaced air. When that barge hit the bridge, you didn't FEEL anything, but the sound was just awful. Like I said, metal grating against metal and concrete. Luckily, the barge pilot just skimmed the side of one of the supports, but since the accident, the state has decided to close the bridge. They say that the structural integrity has been compromised too much.

Point is, I honestly doubt that anyone could have mistaken a barge accident for a deliberate explosive. We're talking two different animals here. If you grow up on a river, as I did, you get to know these things. If the powers that be DID sacrifice the poor sections of town to save the rich sections... Lets just say that I'd be right there with the people who directly suffered as a result of this, fighting alongside them if need be. This isn't right. The more that I learn, the more that I wish that I was a politically apathetic lummox.

MojoXN

[mattclearing]

10. People who don't know any better might mistake it for a bomb, though. n/t

[txindy]

14. Ignorance can be bliss sometimes, can't it?

Now I've learned a great deal about barges and rivers. Thank you. :hi: I had no idea of any of what you just posted. So, the people must've heard something unrelated to the barges, then. Unless it really was explosives, I can't imagine what else it could be.

[global1]

3. Doesn't Square With Oprah.....

I don't believe that Oprah said anything about rapes, beatings, or the 9 y/o boy being killed. Seems to me she's been fairly complimentary about the Astrodome.

[kath]

9. I think you may be confusing the Astrodome (Houston) with the Superdome

(New Orleans)

[global1]

15. No - Check Out the Intro Post - It Says Astrodome - Sept 7th... n/t

[dave502d]

4. On CNN today,they show a barge outside the levee.n/t

[cthrumatrix]

5. truth will come out eventually.... that's all we want

[pretzel4gore]

6. nevermind jfk's murder...

at present, it's the NOLA levee break that should get attention!

[seemslikeadream]

8. Mr. Brownie and FEMA have the power to do alot

Executive Order Number 12148 created the Federal Emergency Management Agency to interface with the Department of Defense for civil defense planning and funding. An "emergency czar" was appointed. FEMA has only spent about 6 percent of its budget on national emergencies. The bulk of their funding has been used for the construction of secret underground facilities to assure continuity of government in case of a major emergency, foreign or domestic.

http://www.fema.gov/library/eo12148.shtm

Executive Order Number 12656 appointed the National Security Council as the principal body that should consider emergency powers. This allows the government to increase domestic intelligence and surveillance of U.S. citizens and would restrict the freedom of movement within the United States and grant the government the right to isolate large groups of civilians. The National Guard could be federalized to seal all borders and take control of U.S. air space and all ports of entry.
http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/12656.htm

Executive Order 10990 allows the government to take over all modes of transportation and control of highways and seaports.
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/jfkeo/eo/10990.htm

Executive Order 10995 allows Seizure of all communications media in the United States.
http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/10995.htm

Executive Order 10997 allows Seizure of all electric power fuels and minerals, public and private.
http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/10997.htm


Executive Order 10998 allows the government to take over all food resources and farms.
http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/10998.htm

Executive Order 10999 allows Seizure of all means of transportation, including personal cars, trucks or vehicles of any kind and total control of highways, seaports and waterways.
http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/10999.htm

Executive Order 11000 allows Seizure of all American people for work forces under federal supervision including the splitting of families if the government finds it necessary.
http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/11000.htm

Executive Order 11001 allows seizure of all health, education and welfare facilities, public and private.
http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/11001.htm

Executive Order 11002 empowered the postmaster general to register all men, women and children in the U.S.
http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/11002.htm

Executive Order 11003 allows seizure of all airports and aircraft.
http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/11003.htm

Executive Order 11004 allows seizure of all housing and finance authorities to establish Forced Relocation Designated areas to be abandoned as "unsafe."
http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/11004.htm

Executive Order 11005 allows seizure of all railroads, inland waterways and storage facilities, public and private.
http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/11005.htm

Executive Order 11051 specifies the responsibility of the Office of Emergency Planning and gives authorization to put all Executive Orders into effect in times of increased international tensions and economic or financial crisis.
http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/11051.htm

Executive Order 11921 allows the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency to develop plans to establish control over the mechanisms of production and distribution, of energy sources, wages, salaries, credit and the flow of money in U.S. financial institution in any undefined national emergency. It also provides that when a state of emergency is declared by the President, Congress cannot review the action for six months.
http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo/eo-11921.htm

Executive Order 12919 Signed June 3, 1994, by President Clinton. Encompasses all the above executive orders.
http://www.disastercenter.com/laworder/12919.htm

[cthrumatrix]

11. all but save people

[Oilwellian]

12. Speaking of barges...

Why didn't they sink a few to shore up the levee break?

[seemslikeadream]

13. Here's a picture of that barge

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4688677&mesg_id=4688677