So much for free speech...

.. we can't possibly let people know what is really going on.

Rueters reports FEMA and other federal authorities are blocking reporters and photographers.

NEW ORLEANS, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. government agency leading the rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina said on Tuesday it does not want the news media to take photographs of the dead as they are recovered from the flooded New Orleans area.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, heavily criticized for its slow response to the devastation caused by the hurricane, rejected requests from journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims.

Another Blogger reported via email:

We are in Jefferson Parish, just outside of New Orleans. At the National Guard checkpoint, they are under orders to turn away all media. All of the reporters are turning they're TV trucks around. Things are so bad, Bush is now censoring all reporting from NOLA. The First Amendment sank with the city.

At least the internet allows for avenues of free speach that the government has a more difficult time controlling. Be warned though, this web site does contain graphic pictures. Don't go there if you have a weak stomach. Current estimates seem to indicate 10,000 dead in New Orleans.

Turn, Turn, Turn...

Everything has a spin, doesn't it? The world would be an amazingly better place if people would learn some perspective, and see the forest rather than only the trees smack in front of their faces.

New Orleans, American's punishment for the Gaza strip, and oh, yeah, Gays again.

Um. Perhaps he needs to check that part in the bible again where it says G-D tossed them out of Isreal for crimes against him. Alright, that's the protestant perspective. And considering WWII, I can't really blame them. I try not to assume G-D is on my side and fullfilling prophecy as I watch. Call me a cynic, but somehow I still don't think G-D is wiping out New Orleans because of a few peace concessions in the middle east. That's an entirely different debate, but is it really so horrible to give up one region of land, to not get bombed and exploded elsewhere?

Yes, Mrs. Bush. Its clearly all right to rip them from family and stick them cot-by-cot in a sports arena to live. After all, they are only poor. Its what their used to, isn't it?

That entire article just leaves me speachless. I can only pray its incorrect or misinterpreted.

Thinkprogress has an interesting timeline of events and stories surrounding Katrina. It only servers to highlight the failures.

Thankfully, there are some people, beyond the Mayor of New Orleans, who are willing to publically stand up and tell the world about the lies and failures.

• The Helena, MT, Independant Record on 'Cronyism'.
• Geraldo Rivera in Tears, and hard to quiet; and Shep Smith chopping Hannity off at his GOP spinning knees. Video available.
• One harrowing commentary from a President of a NOLA parish, available in video on the web, proclaims:

"But the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will go down as one of the worst abandonments of Americans on American soil ever in U.S. history. … Whoever is at the top of this totem pole, that totem pole needs to be chainsawed off and we’ve got to start with some new leadership. It’s not just Katrina that caused all these deaths in New Orleans here. Bureaucracy has committed murder here in the greater New Orleans area and bureaucracy has to stand trial before Congress now."

• Even the New York Times admits the Administration is spin doctoring for their very lives!

And, while we're on the truth; one Alan Dershowitz dares to critize William Rhenquist as an anti-semetic, racist, neo-natzi.

Supreme Court Nominee

It is my humble belief that to keep our Nation moving forward, rather than backwards and to the far right, that individuals must loudly denounce the nomation of Judge Roberts as Supreme Court Justice. Every organization with the goals of protecting civil rights, women's rights, worker's rights, and other fundamental Constitutional protections are doing so; and attempting to counter the large amount of corporate and right wing support he is gaining among conservatives.

Many of these sites have petitions, and easy forms to aid in signing petitions, writing to your local representatives in order to act against this nomination. Its your voice. Its your Country. Its your vote. Speak out, speak loud.

• MoveOn.org Protect our Rights
• National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and The Human Rights Campaign speak out against Judge Roberts.
• The National Organization for Women
• The Human Rights Campaign has a great deal of information, and tools to contact senators on this issue.
• HRC Blog on Roberts

Darn, I'm opinionated today. I'll go be quiet now. Find a nice corner and say a prayer for the continued existance of Roe vs. Wade.

It will never be the same...

Michael Moore is an ass. His movie was stupid, and likely filled with quite a bit of untrue propaganda. However, I found this spin on current events poignent and amusing.

As if that weren't enough, listen to the Mayor of New Orleans being pissed off and cussing on Air America Radio!

From a year ago, no wonder FEMA is more screwed up than ever before. Oh... and they specifically mention the fact that calls to fund potential hazard mitigation efforts for flooding in Louisiana were ignored.

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

I've decided to try out a new blog space, or perhaps more than one. A cleaner, simpler more editable space; free from the confines of such things as friends lists.

We'll see what happens, won't we? It may be that I will have nothing to say, or nothing of meaning that anyone beyond myself will wish to read. It may be that occasionally someone will comment.

Let us off then into that Undiscovered Country, the Bard would be proud.