Karl Malone defying FEMA

[dretceterini]

http://www.gnn.tv/headlines/5231/_The_Mailman_and_his_crew_bulldoze_through_bureaucracy_to_help_victims

[Mabus]

1. No assist from Stockton?

Way to go Karl!

[defiant1]

15. Now that's funny....

Hey Karl, :thumbsup:

[Horse with no Name]

2. Awesome story!

>>>>snip
The former NBA all-star and a crew from his logging company in Arkansas spent two weeks in Pascagoula, Miss., hauling away debris left by Hurricane Katrina.

“Everything about this just felt right,” Malone says. “My mom died two years ago, and in our last conversation, she told me that one day I would have to step up on a grand scale and help people. I knew this was it.”

Malone, whose team cleared 114 lots, said he brought 18 vehicles to Pascagoula, including a backhoe, three bulldozers and several RVs for him and his crew.
>>>>snip
“There was a lot of red tape, and I ain’t got time for that,” he says. “I found out that if you’re going to do something good, just go ahead and do it.”

[Demit]

3. Cool. Nice story. n/t

[DemoTex]

4. Good for Karl Malone!

He would make his mother proud!

[TeeYiYi]

5. Pissed off Halliburton . . .

"Malone says landowners were told that debris had to be moved out to the street before it could be hauled away." "How is a landowner who just lost everything going to pay $15,000 or $20,000 to have a lot cleared? I mean, there were two or three houses on top of one another in some places."

This put Malone in the middle of territorial disputes with private contractors.

"We had one guy come up to us and tell us to go to another neighborhood and that these people could afford to pay," Malone says. "I told him, 'Why should they pay? They just lost everything.' "

TYY

[pbartch]

14. Malone is a PRINCE!!!

he should run for office

[me b zola]

27. He should run for office, he did the people right!

My heart warms at the stories of American heros like Malone who stepped up and made a difference.

Thank you, Carl! :loveya:

[natrat]

6. that is so cool...and sad at the same time

fema are criminals top to bottom

[Pirate Smile]

7. 'The Mailman' and his crew bulldoze through bureaucracy to help victims

'The Mailman' and his crew bulldoze through bureaucracy to help victims

Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:28:36 -0700Summary:
Against what FEMA says are the rules, and to the dismay of private contractors, former NBA star Karl Malone has been helping residents clear the debris in the aftermath of Katrina. The star who was known for his down home attitude once said he would rather be driving his semi than playing in the NBA. Now he brought people and equipment from his logging company to help the unfortunate victims.

"There was a lot of red tape, and I ain't got time for that," he says. "I found out that if you’re going to do something good, just go ahead and do it."

"Once I get in my machine, no one is going to get me out," he says. "We just said 'the hell with it.' FEMA didn’t approve, but we did it for the people."


By Tony Bertuca

Republished from USA Today

'The Mailman' is still delivering, no matter what the weather.
The former NBA all-star and a crew from his logging company in Arkansas spent two weeks in Pascagoula, Miss., hauling away debris left by Hurricane Katrina.

"Everything about this just felt right," Malone says. "My mom died two years ago, and in our last conversation, she told me that one day I would have to step up on a grand scale and help people. I knew this was it."

Malone, whose team cleared 114 lots, said he brought 18 vehicles to Pascagoula, including a backhoe, three bulldozers and several RVs for him and his crew.

"We were totally self-contained with our own food and everything," Malone says. "We didn't want to take even one bottle of water away from these people. When we told them we were doing this for free, they looked at us like we were crazy or something."

Malone, 42, an experienced truck driver and logger who was born in Bernice, La., spent 12 hours a day behind the wheel of his heavy machinery.

"We started every day at seven in the morning and didn't quit until we got it done," he says.

When Malone arrived, he says he ran into resistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Army Corps of Engineers officials who said he wasn't authorized to bring his machinery into the area to clear private property.

"There was a lot of red tape, and I ain't got time for that," he says. "I found out that if you're going to do something good, just go ahead and do it."

Bob Anderson, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, says FEMA and the corps by law could only allow approved contractors to clear debris and that only government agencies could work on "public rights of way."

Malone says landowners were told that debris had to be moved out to the street before it could be hauled away. "How is a landowner who just lost everything going to pay $15,000 or $20,000 to have a lot cleared? I mean, there were two or three houses on top of one another in some places."

more at the link

[spuddonna]

8. It's crazy that people even need to be defying FEMA to get stuff done...

I'm so glad my tax $$$ are spent well. :grr:

[dretceterini]

9. Malone is a man of principle

We just moved from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City. When he was a L.A. Laker, people tried to put him in the middle over the BS that was going on with the team; especially between Kobe and Shaq. Karl gave up a contract worth millions and just quit, rather than putting up with the BS.

[The Wielding Truth]

10. Some say forget the rules, this is war. He said forget the rules I will

help restore your domestic lives. Hurray for good works!

[DefenseLawyer]

Karl is a Republican

and has said some pretty outrageous things over the years. I applaud him for helping out, but let's not start building statues for him just yet.

[Cha]

13. I know of some republicans who

are finally seeing the light. bush and his gang of cutthroats are really republicans as much as reptilians.

[dretceterini]

19. There are actually some republicans who have a brain...

not many, mind you...

[IronLionZion]

24. There are actually some Republicans who voted for Kerry

Lee Iacocca for one, and many that I know personally. Bush may be a Republican and a religious whack job, but he's definitely not conservative. Many great Republican leaders are rolling over in their graves for what he is doing to this country.

[Mabus]

20. So is the guy who lives a block over

who recently removed the re-elect B/C bumpersticker from his truck and his car.

[Oversea Visitor]

32. But he got a heart in the right place

RIGHT right.... Cant you see a good hearted gesture through your blue red glasses.

[DefenseLawyer]

11. dupe

[Cha]

12. I remember seeing him

play basketball on tv when I lived on Kauai..playing for the Utah Jazz in the finals.

This is such a great story..Thank you, Karl Malone.

[KamaAina]

16. And FEMA is whistled for a foul.

That's their sixth; they're out of the game.

Malone goes for the three-point play... SWISH!!

edit: point, duh

[fishwax]

17. ‘Why should they pay? They just lost everything.’

From the article:

This put Malone in the middle of territorial disputes with private contractors.

“We had one guy come up to us and tell us to go to another neighborhood and that these people could afford to pay,” Malone says. “I told him, ‘Why should they pay? They just lost everything.’ ”

:bounce:
i think that's pretty cool. Way to go Karl Malone.

[Javaman]

18. This is a good example of what humanity is all about...

and what the repukes want to destroy.

Hell, we I have a neighbor that gets a tree taken down during a storm, I go over and help him cut it up. What Karl Malone did and is doing is just the same on a grander scale.

Thanks Karl!

[lildreamer316]

21. Bless him!!

It will surely come back to him threefold.

[flyarm]

22. AND WHAT IS IT THAT REPUBLICANS SAY ABOUT STARS???

THIS MAN IS A CHAMP AS A HUMAN...what better to be a champion of..than just a simple human being helping other human beings in a time of need??!!

my hats off to you karl...we know what the rethugs are...screw the little guy..but it is big guys like you that give me faith!!

fly

[flyarm]

23. AND WHAT IS IT THAT REPUBLICANS SAY ABOUT STARS???

THIS MAN IS A CHAMP AS A HUMAN...what better to be a champion of..than just a simple human being helping other human beings in a time of need??!!

my hats off to you karl...we know what the rethugs are...screw the little guy..but it is big guys like you that give me faith!!

fly

[IronLionZion]

25. The mailman delivers

[nonconformist]

26. This is a wonderful story!

FEMA is a total clusterfuck. Yay Karl!

[TahitiNut]

28. Notice how FEMA 'facilitated' this and 'made it possible'? Neither did I.

Rather than clear away red tape and find a way to meet the objective of safeguards, they puckered up their sphincters and turned red. I'd bet they didn't even offer to fill out their own paperwork. They're out to make a private buck for their crony corporations out of any human misery they can find.

[kestrel91316]

29. I always did like Karl Malone, for some reason that I can't put my

finger on. I think maybe I just sensed something in his demeanor, some basic stability, maturity, integrity that was different from most the NBA stars. So I am happy to see my instincts were right.

(well, and there is also the matter of his being a very attractive man, lol)

[oregonindy]

30. I dont have much use for corporate ball or the players

but this is pretty cool. Nice to see the humanity of the players. go karl!

[NNadir]

31. I'm not a basketball fan, but this is one hell of a man.

[ohtransplant]

33. FEMA worried about the rights of the individual?

"Steve Glenn, a FEMA official in Mississippi, said rules regarding clearing debris on private property exist to protect individuals’ rights: 'We can’t just go onto private property on a whim.'”


I don't think so - not unless they're a shareholder in Halliburton.

Bastards! They (FEMA) should be clearing these peoples' lots for nothing - especially if they don't have insurance!

[Gman]

34. I still don't like Karl Malone

Never have. Never will.