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FEMA needs a major overhaul...Doctor says FEMA ordered him to stop treating hurricane victims.
Posted By: Democrat on 2005-09-18
In Reply to:
Doctor says FEMA ordered him to stop treating hurricane victims
By LAURIE SMITH ANDERSON landerson@theadvocate.com
Advocate staff writer
In the midst of administering chest compressions to a dying woman several days after Hurricane Katrina struck, Dr. Mark N. Perlmutter was ordered to stop by a federal official because he wasn't registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
I begged him to let me continue, said Perlmutter, who left his home and practice as an orthopedic surgeon in Pennsylvania to come to Louisiana and volunteer to care for hurricane victims. People were dying, and I was the only doctor on the tarmac (at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport) where scores of nonresponsive patients lay on stretchers. Two patients died in front of me.
I showed him (the U.S. Coast Guard official in charge) my medical credentials. I had tried to get through to FEMA for 12 hours the day before and finally gave up. I asked him to let me stay until I was replaced by another doctor, but he refused. He said he was afraid of being sued. I informed him about the Good Samaritan laws and asked him if he was willing to let people die so the government wouldn't be sued, but he would not back down. I had to leave.
FEMA issued a formal response to Perlmutter's story, acknowledging that the agency does not use voluntary physicians.
We have a cadre of physicians of our own, FEMA spokesman Kim Pease said Thursday. They are the National Disaster Medical Team. ... The voluntary doctor was not a credentialed FEMA physician and, thus, was subject to law enforcement rules in a disaster area.
A Coast Guard spokesman said he was looking into the incident but was not able to confirm it.
Perlmutter, Dr. Clark Gerhart and medical student Alison Torrens flew into Baton Rouge on a private jet loaned by a Pennsylvania businessman several days after Katrina hit. They brought medicine and supplies with them. They stayed the first night in Baton Rouge and persuaded an Army Blackhawk helicopter pilot to fly them into New Orleans the next day.
I was going to make it happen, the orthopedic surgeon said. I was at Ground Zero too, and I had to lie to get in there.
At the triage area in the New Orleans airport, Perlmutter was successful in getting FEMA to accept the insulin and morphine he had brought. The pharmacist told us they were completely out of insulin and our donation would save numerous lives. Still, I felt we were the most-valuable resource, and we were sent away.
Gerhart said the scene they confronted at the airport was one of hundreds of people lying on the ground, many soaked in their own urine and feces, some coding (dying) before our eyes. FEMA workers initially seemed glad for help and asked Gerhart to work inside the terminal and Perlmutter to work out on the tarmac. They were told only a single obstetrician had been on call at the site for the past 24 hours.
Then, the Coast Guard official informed the group that he could not credential them or guarantee tort coverage and that they should return to Baton Rouge. That shocked me, that those would be his concerns in a time of emergency, Gerhart said.
Transported back to Baton Rouge, Perlmutter's frustrated group went to state health officials who finally got them certified -- a simple process that took only a few seconds.
I found numerous other doctors in Baton Rouge waiting to be assigned and others who were sent away, and there was no shortage of need, he said.
Perlmutter spent some time at the Department of Health and Hospital's operational center at Jimmy Swaggart Ministries before moving to the makeshift Kmart Hospital doctors established at an abandoned store to care for patients. After organizing an orthopedics room and setting up ventilators there, Perlmutter went back to the Swaggart Center and then to the LSU Pete Maravich Assembly Center's field hospital to care for patients being flown in from the New Orleans area.
We saw elderly patients who had been off their medicine for days, diabetics without insulin going into shock, uncontrolled hypertension, patients with psychosis and other mental disorders, lots of diarrhea, dehydration and things you would expect. I slept on a patient cot there every night until I came home.
Gerhart said he felt the experience overall was successful and rewarding, although frustrating at times. You don't expect catastrophes to be well organized. A lot of people, both private citizens and government officials, were working very hard.
Perlmutter did not return home empty-handed. He brought a family of four evacuees back with him and is still working with Baton Rouge volunteer Hollis Barry to facilitate the relocation of additional hurricane victims to Pennsylvania.
He also returned with a sense of outrage. I have been trying to call Sen. Arlen Specter (of Pennsylvania) to let him know of our experience.
I have been going to Ecuador and Mexico (on medical missions) for 14 years. I was at ground zero. I've seen hundreds of people die. This was different because we knew the hurricane was coming. FEMA showed up late and then rejected help for the sake of organization. They put form before function, and people died.
Both FEMA and the Coast Guard operate under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has been widely criticized for its disjointed, slow response to the devastation caused by Katrina. Federal officials are urging medical personnel who want to volunteer to help with disaster relief to contact the Medical Reserve Corps or the American Red Cross for registration, training and organization.
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Maybe FEMA? Oye!
Sorry but there is so much more that FEMA does
that you aren't even reporting. You make it sound like FEMA did nothing or they really slacked off. What about the national guard and disaster medical teams that are staged in close states before the storms. What about all the supplies that are staged. What about the local EOC that are always in place. What about the incredible warning systems we have. We have AF pilots who fly into the storm even!!! What about the funding that is already in place and the loans FEMA gives to people and biz to rebuild their life. The people criticizing FEMA have no experience with disasters, it's so obvious from the way they criticize the timing of the disaster declaration and when the politicans showed up in the area.
As far as being cold, they
tell people to always keep 72 hour kits, because that is the minimum time it takes for any help to arrive. It's not just a number someone found on a fortune cookie. If you know a storm is coming, common sense tells you to prepare for as long as you can. If healthy able bodied people refuse to prepare there isn't anything the government can do to help them. Again it was a hurricane during hurricane season and there was warning.
Compare Katrina to Ivan or Andrew. For some reason New Orleans was given more press & political attention than other places like FL, MS and AL.
Brown resigns from FEMA.
Probably Medal of Freedom from Bush.
Head of FEMA fired from previous job
Take a look at THIS info:
(source http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/2/34622/68348)
Yes, that's right... the man responsible for directing federal relief operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, sharpened his emergency management skills as the Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horses Association... a position from which he was forced to resign in the face of mounting litigation and financial disarray.
And what of that misleading White House press release?
'From 1991 to 2001, Brown was the Commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association, an international subsidiary of the national governing organization of the U.S. Olympic Committee.'
I can't even begin to fact check the dates or IAHA's alleged relationship to the US Olympic Committee, because of course, the IAHA doesn't exist anymore, so there's nothing to Google. But it begs the question... how the hell did his prior job experience prepare Brown to head FEMA?
Well, judging by his agency's performance over the past few days... it didn't.
[Cross-posted at HorsesAss.org]
_______________
Apparently, experience had nothing to do with Bush's bid for the presidency, and so he hands out agency posts like lollipops to his friends regardless of their competence or experience also.
The result is that thousands die unnecessarily on many continents. No one ever gets punished for this. Instead they get the Medal of Honor or civilian equivalent. They get promoted.
Excuse us Mr. Bush, can FEMA have your attention?
Katrina & Recovery
Woes at Embattled FEMA Spur Employee Exits
 by Laura Sullivan
Tim Sloan The FEMA command center in Washington, D.C., Aug. 30, 2005, shortly after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. AFP/Getty Images
Mark Wolfe Bill Carwile, in an October 2005 photo taken before he retired from FEMA. Days after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, the head of hurricane response in Mississippi e-mailed FEMA headquarters: System appears broken. FEMA
All Things Considered, January 13, 2006 · FEMA is having trouble holding on to its best people. Several FEMA staffers have told NPR that people are leaving because the agency is in trouble and no one appears to be addressing the problems. These departures are raising concerns about FEMA's ability to respond to the next disaster.
Leo Bosner, a union chief and manager of the emergency operations desk at FEMA, says morale was bad Katrina, but it's only gotten worse. He notes there have been several retirement parties at the agency in recent weeks.
They're getting out not because they're tired and want to work in the garden but because they're just sickened by the agency's failure -- very public failure -- and just sickened to see nobody doing anything to lift a finger to fix the problems, Bosner says of the departing employees.
According to half a dozen other current or former FEMA managers who did not want their name used for fear of retribution, more than 50 people have left FEMA in the past four months. One official inside FEMA who has seen the agency's attrition data says 56 people have left in the past five weeks alone.
But FEMA says only 20 people have left. FEMA spokesman Nicole Andrews says the information Bosner and other employees shared with NPR is either incomplete or imprecise. She says there's an influx of applications to work for the agency, adding, To suggest that there is any sort of a trend related to Katrina and attrition would be absolutely false.
One recent retiree is Bill Carwile, a 10-year veteran of FEMA and former Army colonel who left in November. Carwile led FEMA's hurricane response in Mississippi.
Katrina struck New Orleans and the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29. Three days into Katrina recovery operations in Hancock County, Miss., Carwile couldn't get any food, water or even body bags. System appears broken, he wrote in an e-mail to FEMA headquarters. Carwile says it was the worst moment of his FEMA career.
The exhaustion frustration he felt in Mississippi wasn't the only thing pushing him to retire. Carwile says he was upset watching FEMA's training programs get cut year after year, leaving his teams unprepared.
Meanwhile, volunteers are *begging* FEMA not to shut down camps in Louisiana. sm
Katrina Volunteers Beg FEMA Not to Shut Down Camps
By Mark Martin
CBN News Reporter
CBN.com – ST. BERNARD PARISH, New Orleans - Carolyn Pitre is grateful to find her Bible among her belongings, piled up in the street in front of her home in St. Bernard Parish.
Carolyn says, “I'm drawn to try and find something of value because we have nothing left... (cries)… Because we have nothing left... Everything was gone. Everything.”
All along Carolyn's street, and in the entire area, it is the same: Destruction everywhere you look. Piles and piles of trash and debris. Gutted homes.
Lt. Colonel David Dysart is the director of recovery for St. Bernard Parish, which is near New Orleans. Dysart stated, “I have no residents living here right now, and I have had absolutely no businesses which have been able to return.”
The Marine reservist also had a part in the rebuilding of Fallujah, Iraq. He says there are several similarities. Both were completely evacuated, and both had their infrastructures completely wiped out.
The Lt. Colonel says it is going to take another six months to finish gutting thousands of homes to remove health and safety hazards. And that's where volunteers come in.
Dysart says it takes 10 to 12 volunteers a day to a day-and-a-half to gut just one house.
Asked if he needed volunteers right now, Dysart replied, “Absolutely. It's critical that we keep this up. We have approximately 800 homes to date that we've managed to move these items, out of the approximately 5,000 that applied.”
Volunteers need a place to stay. Right now, they live in base camps set up by fema. The problem is, local relief coordinators say, fema wants to close them soon -- in just a few weeks.
FEMA told Dysart that it wants to close these base camps because, Dysart said, “It is not FEMA's responsibility to provide support to volunteer agencies.”
Operation Blessing Disaster Relief Manager Jody Herrington says that not being able to provide a home means turning away a volunteer.
“Each volunteer that we turn away is another home that's not gutted, another resident that's not helped,” Jody declared. “It's another neighborhood that's not coming back. It's another city that's not restored. The reality is the volunteer help is crucial and critical to the success of recovery out in these parishes.”
Brenda Puckett is a missionary to nearby Plaquemines Parish. “There's so much to do,” Brenda stressed. “There's so much devastation. The need for volunteers is tremendous.”
She, too, says the camps need to stay.
Around 500 people live in one camp alone. A FEMA representative says it one houses contractors, people who are here to clean up and rebuild. I asked him where they would stay if these tents were not here. He said in their vehicles, wherever they could find.
Brenda said, “It just breaks my heart. We need the contractors here, we need the volunteers here in order to build our Parish back.”
Pastor Randy Millet helps run a disaster relief center in St. Bernard Parish. He says the volunteers are vital in making sure that residents get the food and clothing they need to survive.
“Please don't close the base camps,” Randy urged. “Allow us to house our volunteers. They're not looking for a Holiday Inn. They're looking for a cot with a pillow and a meal.”
In addition, Randy says that without warning, fema stopped providing ice and filling up their generators with fuel.
“What we’ve got to do in order to get diesel fuel right now -- we have to go across the street to fill up our buckets,” Randy explained, “and bring them back to fill up our generators... three or four... and that takes four or five trips.
Obstacles, these workers say, that are making it tough to serve others.
“The sheer economic recovery of this parish is dependent upon the volunteer effort,” Dysart commented.
Herrington said, “Our plea would be to please consider extending the closing of the base camps so that would give us time for transition and preparation to come up with some other accommodations.”
Carolyn Pitre does not want to see volunteers turned away. She's grateful for those who helped remove her belongings from her home.
“We need all the help we can get. It's not over... not by a long shot,” Carolyn stated.
CBN News tried to contact a fema representative to ask about the base camp closings and other issues facing volunteers, but no representative was available.
Hon, I'm a political major and history major...
xx
george will a major, major
conservative with vast influence for years and years. Can't minimize this devastating blow no matter how much you try to defect subject to joe biden.
The way you are treating others IS a sin
and it says so in the bible too. Try and explain your cruelty towards others when the time comes for you to meet your maker.
Even if it is court ordered
By federal law, they cannot garnish someone's wages at maximum 65% and yes, child support is a garnishment. The judge can say all he wants and should put him in jail if he doesn't pay. I am totally behind you on this, but I have been there. I received checks for $15 for two weeks for years and that was 65% of his income. (The reason it was that low was because he decided to go back to school and his daddy supported him). The judge in our case also told him that he, by court order, still had to pay the full amount even though by FEDERAL law they could not garnish his wages more than 65%. Judge told him it was his responsibility to pay the difference no matter where it came from. Judge told him to get another job, borrow from his family, do what he had to do to get it paid.
Unfortunately in the state of Ohio (I lived in Michigan), you have to be like $25,000 behind before they would go after him and actually put a person in jail for child support. Enforcing child support laws is something they were very much in lack of when I went through the system.
He did get it paid up about 2 years ago. Took him over 10 years to do so. He has since passed away and I'd return all the money if it could bring him back for my kids.
I struggled for years with my kids on my own. We had a lot of mac and cheese and PBJs. There were many times I went hungry to feed my kids or to make sure I had gas in my tank to get to my job. But I made it. She can too. I know how hard it is and how frustrating the whole situation is. I was just trying to empathize with you and let you know there were others out there. The person you need to blame is the dad for not taking care of his children. It is wrong of him to keep creating more children when he can't take care of the ones that he has, but I am a firm believer that what you do will bite you back twice as hard at some point.
Remember that if he loses his security clearance and gets out of he military, jobs are even harder to come by that pay anything above minimum wage these days. They can hold his federal taxes only if he is holding a job that doesn't pay cash under the table. Holding a drivers license, most of the scum bags don't care. I was in a support group many years ago and ran into a lot of these situations. I've heard about what a lot of these irresponsible parents will do to get out of paying.
Best of luck to you and your daughter.
Totally digging the food safety overhaul - no more downed cows. Good job Obama! sm
I didn't vote for Obama, I was one of those on the fencers. But I must say one thing I am impressed with so far is his complete overhaul of the US food safety system and the new rule of no downed cows being put into our food system.
Some things should just be common sense, and they weren't being implemented. Good job Obama!
The 1st suit is still ongoing. O has been ordered by
nm
I agree...using them as props was treating them as garbage.
The media gave her exactly what she deserved, and I hope they continue to pound away at that despicable excuse for a mother and a politician.
CNN treating Obama颼th day like Election Day
Week from Wednesday, 04/29 CNN preemptying all regular programming to relieve the Election Day electricity that ran through our country.
The network says it will compile a national report card of Obama's performance, using opinion polls and a series of viewer surveys.
The big night is April 29, a week from this Wednesday, pre-empting regular programming.
Wrong! O was ordered by court to submit his vault
nm
And that hurricane is GWB
Kind of funny the economy took a huge nose dive while on Bush's watch but the reichwing want to blame Obama who isn't even in office yet.......it isn't even logical......predictions based on what? The Republicans trashed our constitution, wiped their arses with the bill of rights, put us in another Vietnam based on lies so Halliburton and Blackwater could get rich and then rewarded all their buddies with high profile jobs and record profits and said screw the middle class. WAKE UP! What a joke.
Blame the victims
So...lets just blame the victims, the ones who live in New Orleans..OMG..Put the blame where it belongs, on the federal govt for cutting funds to shore up the levees..and who was in control at that time.....BUSH..he needed the money for the rich peoples tax cuts and the insane war.
Hurricane housing, a way to help!
Just got this email from my brother:
We are forwarding this information about hurricanehousing.org - it was assembled by the progessive people of moveon.org and has been publicized by local mainstream media. While we are unspeakably upset by the lack of timely federal emergency aid, we are gratified by grassroots caring and hope that this disaster will serve as a moral reawakening beyond its terrible pain and loss. Please consider the following....
We're sure you've seen the horrifying images on TV of destruction left by Hurricane Katrina, and the many, many people left with nowhere to go.
You can help. MoveOn.org just launched a website, www.hurricanehousing.org, to connect your empty beds with hurricane victims who desperately need a place to wait out the storm.
You can post your offer of housing (a spare room, extra bed, even a decent couch) on http://www.hurricanehousing.org or search there for housing if you need it.
MoveOn will pass requests from hurricane victims or relief agencies on to volunteer hosts, who can decide whether or not to respond to a particular request. The host remains anonymous until they reply to someone looking for housing.
The ______(this was my brother's name) just posted an offer. We hope you will too, or pass this on to people you know in the Southeast:
http://www.hurricanehousing.org
Housing is most urgently needed within reasonable driving distance (about 300 miles) of the affected areas, especially New Orleans.
Thanks!
Hurricane Betsy
This morning I saw some 40-year-old video, some network news, some home movies, of Lyndon Johnson on September 10, 1965. Hurricane Betsy went through New Orleans on September 9, at 155 mph. 18 hours later Johnson was standing on a box with a flashlight yelling out, this is your president speaking, I am here to help you. He and the mayor and other people were riding around in amphibious vehicles. The Secret Service was really PO'd because they felt the couldn't protect the president like they were supposed to but he went about his business anyway. Granted, the levees did not break and things on the ground were different than Katrina but the point is, 40 years ago, the president of the united states knew there was a hurricane on the way and he responded to that hurricane18 hours after it had passed - IN PERSON!!!
Geez. Now you are using the hurricane...
the evening shift has arrived. Good evening! did you even look at the video of your dem buddy yucking it up? You don't have any moral high ground here.
First because of a hurricane. Now because of Wall St.
an earthquake in California. Or maybe because his favorite show is on TV that night.
I want somebody with some actual ballz in the white house, not an aged wimp.
I actually think that Katrina victims have gotten...
more than enough compassion. Having just moved from the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where the hurricane hit the hardest, by the way, not New Orleans, I have seen people milk this hurricane for all it's worth. It has been 3 years, for goodness sake. Don't whine because they are taking away your FEMA trailer--and some people steal them--get a freakin job already! Also, I would be so upset if my husband had to risk his life as a first responder to help people that should not have been there in the first place. They were told to leave and even given transportation, but many chose not to. I can understand those who are handicapped or very old, but able bodied, non-working, wefare begging young people make me angry and, no, I do not think that they deserve any more compassion. Every one of them can come up with enough money for several packs of cigarettes a week, but can't feed their kids or find a place to live on their own. It is a real problem.
Hurricane Katrina: A sign from God.
God is telling us that Bush is an idiot who destroys everything in (and out of) his path, and it's time for Americans to wake up.
These are fallen soldiers not WTC victims
And the why is pretty clear. By the way, this was addressed to Liberals who definitely understand and appreciate the ***why***
Being from hurricane country, our leaders do not
nm
Hurricane watch is unnerving. Sorry about
For more substantial posts to keep the real issues alive. You will not have to deal with me much longer. I'll be distracting myself from the Cat4/5 storm that looms off the coase by doing some research and puttin' it out there. Enjoy the calm before the next round of storms!
I am remembered the 911 victims today by
having the TV on and observing the moments of silence at the times of the attack. Also the new memorial at the Pentagon was dedicated. It looks beautiful. I hope the families can find some peace when they go there. I also put out 7 small American Flags to represent the 7 years. I also am going to try to see the lights from where the World Trade Towers stood. I live in Northern NJ. I have a hill by my home and you can actually see the city on a clear day. We will never forget.
Do you also blame victims of crime and
inciting the crimes perpetrated against them. Yours is truly an ignorant, ignorant statement.
I will not stop trying to stop the slaughter of the unborn in this country...
I never said you were a stupid wretch. What I said was, if you can watch that video below and not feel something, your heart must be seared over. If you can watch that video and advocate what you advocate, yes, I'm sorry, I find that cold. I am entitled to my opinion and all your ranting and name calling and belitting is not going to change that. Someone needs to speak for the child. You certainly aren't allowing it any rights, including the right to live. You are okay with that, I'm not.
That's how I feel. How dare the victims be judged.sm
while we sit cumfy in front of our PCs and eat popcorn. That kind of stuff makes me SICK!
What Bush Needs to Understand After Hurricane Rita
I just saw a video of Bush, the former GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, who said the following with regard to Hurricane Rita:
What I am going to do is observe the relationship between the state and local government, and I want to watch that relationship. It's an important relationship, and I need to understand how it works better.
Wonder what he was watching before/when he was governor of that very same state! Better yet, I seriously wonder what he's been watching for the past 5 years!
As a citizen/poster from hurricane country
nm
So will you still feel that way the next time a hurricane wipes
that might not be such a BAD thing....
Just hope the victims are the gun-totin' kinds that
nm
911 and Katrina victims don't deserve compassion?
Wow....Oh that's right...he's on Fixed Noise. That means he must be the perfect pub. Get a grip. The man's a radical right winger just like the rest of the crew over there.
911 and Katrina victims don't deserve compassion?
Wow....Oh that's right...he's on Fixed Noise. That means he must be the perfect pub. Get a grip. The man's a radical right winger just like the rest of the crew over there, which is the why, by the way, he got kicked off CNN. Hopefully Lou Dobbs will be next.
Millions could get to DC for the inauguration, but couldn't get out of NO before the hurricane...
nm
You will all be back., drama queens, seeing yourself as victims...nm
nm
Considering he is a doctor,,,,,,
he probably has a different slant on things. You're one of those glass half empty people, aren't ya?
Doctor
Yes, you are indeed truly blessed. That man is a true Physician!!.
Cindy isn't interested in helping the victims down there. She's just mad they are stealing
her thunder. Hopefully, she will be relegated to the pathetic pawn that she is and real news of real importance will come back to the world. Every time she speaks, she puts our troops in danger. The troops even said so, but she is too far gone to listen to the troops. They are all brainwashed.
All Katrina victims need is a tape of the Bible (since many of them can't read anyway) so they ca
From http://www.landoverbaptist.org/news0905/relief.html
(My personal favorite part of this whole thing is the *trademark* sign next to *True Christians*)
Help Us Send Bibles to the Victims of Hurricane Katrina!
Faith-Based Response
 Freehold, Iowa - Landover Baptist Church members have been glued to their television sets for the last few weeks, watching survivors of God's powerful hurricane (named Katrina by secular meteorologists) try to make sense of their ravaged lives. When you live in an area of the world God despises, and He gets ready to blow it off the map, you'd best duck low or high tail it out of town, says Pastor Deacon Fred. The Bible teaches us that when it comes to wiping out sinners, God has a history of having some pretty bad aim. This time I understand He knocked down a few church steeples and even took some good Christian folks back home with Him to Jesus.
What saddens members of the Landover Baptist community the most however, is that the unsaved world is hell-bent on doling out artificial optimism to the victims of God's latest attack. They are providing food, money, gasoline, and shelter, says Pastor Deacon Fred. These are temporary gifts that give these poor lost people a false hope! The only real hope comes from the Word of God! The Holy Bible! These folks need to get fed and sheltered on the Word of God. We daresn't open our doors to the homeless, because we know it never gets at the real source of their problem, and we always end up with dirty floors.
How are the lost of Katrina going to understand why God did this to them if they don't have a Bible to read? says Pastor Deacon Fred. How are they ever going to be able to prevent it from happening to them again, if they are not able to study the Word of God? Through the Bible, history teaches us that God has serious issues with large cities that condone prostitution, abortion, homosexuality, mixing of the races, sexual promiscuity, drunkenness, idol worship, practicing false religions (voodoo), and loud pulsing music. Some of them folks in New Orleans, were luckier than Lot's wife though - they stayed behind even though they received the message to get out, and God spared their lives.
It is understandable that the survivors of God's hurricane are confused, starving, homeless, and distraught - but as True Christians™ we know without a doubt in our hearts, that giving them food and shelter is not going to solve the biggest and only real problem in their lives. In fact, it will turn them into beggars and make their misery even worse. The issue that caused their condition is not an earthly condition at all. We know that it is an eternal condition, and there is only one sweet balm to soothe a lost soul who has no respect for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And that is getting a Holy Bible KJV 1611 into their hands. From what I've seen of these survivors, I doubt many of them know how to read, so we will be sending Bibles on tape for them as well, says Pastor Deacon Fred. They can play the Bible tapes on the boom boxes it looks like they made it a priority to salvage or loot.
Landover Baptist's effort to assist in providing Bibles to victims of Hurricane Katrina is known as a, faith-based response. It is our heartfelt hope that some worthwhile people might be saved from a destruction much more powerful than God's hurricanes - for they are but a precursor to what is really going to happen on that great and glorious day when He finally gets so ticked-off He just blows up the whole world.
So help us by sending a spiritual relief offering of no less than $100 (we do not accept checks, so please send cash, or money order) to:
BIBLES FOR HURRICANE VICTIMS
Landover Baptist Ministries
777 Soulwinner's Lane
Freehold, Iowa
If you are paying by credit card, please address your payment to:
Wexler Offshore Holdings - Care of Landover Baptist Ministries
What Will Be Done With My Faith Based Response Donation?
Each $100 gift will absorb the cost of printing and recording *Bibles, and packaging.
Care packages to New Orleans flood victims will include the following:
- 1 King James 1611 Bible or Bible on Tape
- 1 Chick Tract (Assorted)
- 1 Self Addressed Stamped Envelope
- A small insert containing instructions on where to send a financial love offering of thanks to the Landover Baptist Church once the recipient of the care package gets back on their feet and receives their first paycheck.
*Disclaimer: If Landover Baptist receives reports that hurricane victims are using the pages of our Bibles are for hygienic purposes, such as toilet paper, we reserve the right to end this faith-based response effort immediately.
Bedtime story from Hurricane country entitled
"Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves – protect us from harm…" ". We are more compassionate than a government that…sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes." Barack Obama, nomination acceptance speech, 08/28/2008.
This is written in response to the post below that express the "bootstrap mentality" approach to Katrina and Bush/federal government response. Bush never seems to be held accountable for any of his actions or lack thereof. What I do know is that we deserve better from our so-called leaders. I want someone in charge of the country who knows that what I am about to describe is unacceptable. I am writing this because, at the very least, we should not allow our memories to fade away too quickly about the most shameful episode of leadership/federal agency failure and breakdown I have ever witnessed in my lifetime.
As for the poster who said that "if you don't live here, you don't know what you are talking about": Thing is that I do live in hurricane country on the Gulf Coast where to this day, 3 years later, we still welcome, house, employ, include, encourage and support Hurricane Katrina survivors/refugees. Hurricane Gustav is poised to make a visit here on the opening night of the RNC and will be slamming ashore and doing its thing during the opening speech by you-know-who. My memory of the last time we went through this is very clear. Where it seemed fuzzy, research filled in the blanks. I'm going to jump right in here.
When Hurricane Katrina made landfall, President Bush was on one of his marathon vacations. The August 2005 vacation, in fact, was the longest vacation of any US President (5 weeks). By the time Katrina showed up, he already had been at the ranch for 3 weeks, so he was pretty well rested up. On August 26th, Katrina strengthened to a Category 3 Hurricane and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco declared state of emergency. Blanco asked President Bush to declare federal state of emergency for Louisiana. Next day, Bush interrupted his bike ride with Astronaut Lance Armstrong and declared a state of emergency in selected regions of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi on Saturday, the 27th. The declaration did not include any of Louisiana's coastal parishes, an oversight that would later be addressed in Congressional hearings. Same day, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin orders a voluntary evacuation of all residents from the city of New Orleans.
Go here to see a map of parishes not included in the declaration. http://www.bobharris.com/content/view/637/1/. This map is an eye-opener. Mr. Harris calls it upsidedownland. Hello. Inland parishes included, coastal parishes excluded. Bushes parents live in the hurricane-prone city of Houston. He probably should have know better.
August 28th, within 9 short hours, Katrina doubled in size and strengthened from a category 3 to a 5. Nagin's evacuation became mandatory. During video conferences involving the president on August 28th and 29th, the NHC director informed Bush that Katrina might push its storm surge over the city's levees and flood walls, using such language "potential for nightmare scenarios," and that this has been known for at least the three decades he has worked at the NHC. Previous warnings, such as the one made by the Houston Chronicle in 2001, told of a disaster that "would strand 250,000 people or more, and probably kill one of 10 left behind as the city drowned under 20 feet of water" following a severe hurricane making landfall on NO. Other publications, such as Popular Mechanics, Scientific American, and The Times-Picayune had given similar doomsday scenarios in which a sinking city would drown and its residents would be left homeless.
On August 28th, the National Weather Sevice out of Baton Rogue and NO issued the following bulletin. This text is included in its entirety because the warning Bush decided to ignore just don't get any more clear than this. Before reading this, keep in mind that in response, Bush alerted FEMA Director Michael Brown, aka "Brownie," and stayed put, on vacation, since he had "done his part." No shouts in tended. This is the way cut and paste works. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Weather_Service_bulletin_for_New_Orleans_region ...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED... HURRICANE KATRINA...A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969. MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE. HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT. AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK. POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS. THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED.
On August 29th, John McCain's 69th birthday, Katrina hits New Orleans as a category 4, levies break, Bush continues his itinerary. He jets on off to Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix to join McCain and wish him happy birthday (kinda makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside). Picture available on the website cited below. Afterward, Bush spoke about Medicare to 400 guests at the Pueblo El Mirage RV Resort and Country Club in nearby El Mirage. Not to worry. Brownie's doin' a heck of a job. August 29th: FEMA press release: 'First Responders Urged Not To Respond To Hurricane Impact Areas Unless Dispatched By State, Local Authorities.'
Five hours after the hurricane hit, FEMA chief Michael Brown asks Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff for approval to send 1,000 Homeland Security workers within 48 hours to the Gulf Coast to provide assistance. Bush fires up the jet and heads out to Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. for talk on prescription drugs for seniors. Back in NO, the 17th Street Canal levee breaks. The Red Cross, while providing relief and support across the Gulf Coast, did not enter New Orleans to provide relief at the Superdome, or any other victim shelter in the city.
August 30th. The Coast Guard reports that it has rescued some 1,200 people from rooftops around the area. Of course, it's all over the TV. The number of evacuees in the Superdome swells to 20,000, as people rescued or left homeless throughout the city are brought to the stadium. Gov. Blanco says the Superdome will have to be evacuated. Bush appears in Coronado, Calif. for a V-J Day commemoration. Go to the website cited below for photo corresponding to the following caption: President Bush plays a guitar presented to him by Country Singer Mark Wills, right, backstage following his visit…" The photo is very telling. For those of you who don't go ballistic when they read democratic commentary, you will find some fascinating information next to the photo.
August 31st. Evacuation of the Superdome begins. Bush cuts vacation short by 2 days and returns to Washington after a brief fly-by over New Orleans where he observed the scene from above.
September 1st: Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff claims "we have a tremendous array of forces that are currently deployed in New Orleans," as cable TV networks show live images of looting, Superdome residents awaiting evacuation and people stranded without food and water throughout the city. Bush tells "Good Morning America" that "I don’t think anyone anticipated a breach of the levees." That day, Newsweek reported, "The reality, say several aides who did not wish to be quoted because it might displease the president, did not really sink in until Thursday night. Some White House staffers were watching the evening news and thought the president needed to see the horrific reports coming out of New Orleans. Counselor Bartlett made up a DVD of the newscasts so Bush could see them in their entirety as he flew down to the Gulf Coast the next morning on Air Force One. "
September 2nd: President Bush takes aerial tour of New Orleans. Relief copters grounded in New Orleans during Bush visit.
September 3rd: Construction equipment removed from broken levee after Bush visit. Louisiana Senator Landrieu Implores President to "relieve unmitigated suffering" and end FEMA's "abject failures"
September 4th: More than 4,600 active duty military personnel join almost 27,000 National Guard troops in Louisiana for disaster relief. Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard lambastes FEMA's response on NBC's "Meet the Press"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
In a September 26, 2005 hearing, former FEMA chief Michael Brown testified before a U.S. House subcommittee about FEMA's response. He was questioned about why Bush's declaration of state of emergency of August 27 had not included the coastal parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, and Plaquemines (in fact, the declaration did not include any of Louisiana's coastal parishes, whereas the coastal counties were included in the declarations for Mississippi and Alabama). Brown testified that this was because Louisiana Governor Blanco had not included those parishes in her initial request for aid (can you say pass-the-buck/fib?), a decision that he found "shocking." After the hearing, though, Blanco released a copy of her letter, which requested assistance for "all the southeastern parishes including the New Orleans Metropolitan area and the mid state Interstate I-49 corridor and northern parishes along the I-20 corridor.
A couple of cliches thrown in for good measure: A picture's worth 1000 words. Actions speak louder than words.
Go here for a Katrina Timeline. August 25 to September 5. The links embedded in this timeline make for a good read as well.
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/wiki/Katrina_Timeline/
Go here for a corresponding timeline of Bush's vacation and a few photos. http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/010936.php
I'm just glad she's not a doctor, and I don't
no/msg
so you think the doctor is going to let me walk out and not pay?
Even if I cannot go in the room with my daughter, they are still going to expect me to pay for the visit!
The Doctor Will See You—In Three Months
The health-care reform debate is in full roar with the arrival of Michael Moore's documentary Sicko, which compares the U.S. system unfavorably with single-payer systems around the world. Critics of the film are quick to trot out a common defense of the American way: For all its problems, they say, U.S. patients at least don't have to endure the endless waits for medical care endemic to government-run systems. The lobbying group America's Health Insurance Plans spells it out in a rebuttal to Sicko: "The American people do not support a government takeover of the entire health-care system because they know that means long waits for rationed care."
In reality, both data and anecdotes show that the American people are already waiting as long or longer than patients living with universal health-care systems. Take Susan M., a 54-year-old human resources executive in New York City. She faithfully makes an appointment for a mammogram every April, knowing the wait will be at least six weeks. She went in for her routine screening at the end of May, then had another because the first wasn't clear. That second X-ray showed an abnormality, and the doctor wanted to perform a needle biopsy, an outpatient procedure. His first available date: mid-August. "I completely freaked out," Susan says. "I couldn't imagine spending the summer with this hanging over my head." After many calls to five different facilities, she found a clinic that agreed to read her existing mammograms on June 25 and promised to schedule a follow-up MRI and biopsy if needed within 10 days. A full month had passed since the first suspicious X-rays. Ultimately, she was told the abnormality was nothing to worry about, but she should have another mammogram in six months. Taking no chances, she made an appointment on the spot. "The system is clearly broken," she laments.
It's not just broken for breast exams. If you find a suspicious-looking mole and want to see a dermatologist, you can expect an average wait of 38 days in the U.S., and up to 73 days if you live in Boston, according to researchers at the University of California at San Francisco who studied the matter. Got a knee injury? A 2004 survey by medical recruitment firm Merritt, Hawkins & Associates found the average time needed to see an orthopedic surgeon ranges from 8 days in Atlanta to 43 days in Los Angeles. Nationwide, the average is 17 days. "Waiting is definitely a problem in the U.S., especially for basic care," says Karen Davis, president of the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund, which studies health-care policy.
All this time spent "queuing," as other nations call it, stems from too much demand and too little supply. Only one-third of U.S. doctors are general practitioners, compared with half in most European countries. On top of that, only 40% of U.S. doctors have arrangements for after-hours care, vs. 75% in the rest of the industrialized world. Consequently, some 26% of U.S. adults in one survey went to an emergency room in the past two years because they couldn't get in to see their regular doctor, a significantly higher rate than in other countries.
There is no systemized collection of data on wait times in the U.S. That makes it difficult to draw comparisons with countries that have national health systems, where wait times are not only tracked but made public. However, a 2005 survey by the Commonwealth Fund of sick adults in six nations found that only 47% of U.S. patients could get a same- or next-day appointment for a medical problem, worse than every other country except Canada.
The Commonwealth survey did find that U.S. patients had the second-shortest wait times if they wished to see a specialist or have nonemergency surgery, such as a hip replacement or cataract operation (Germany, which has national health care, came in first on both measures). But Gerard F. Anderson, a health policy expert at Johns Hopkins University, says doctors in countries where there are lengthy queues for elective surgeries put at-risk patients on the list long before their need is critical. "Their wait might be uncomfortable, but it makes very little clinical difference," he says.
The Commonwealth study did find one area where the U.S. was first by a wide margin: 51% of sick Americans surveyed did not visit a doctor, get a needed test, or fill a prescription within the past two years because of cost. No other country came close.
Few solutions have been proposed for lengthy waits in the U.S., in part, say policy experts, because the problem is rarely acknowledged. But the market is beginning to address the issue with the rise of walk-in medical clinics. Hundreds have sprung up in CVS, Wal-Mart (WMT ), Pathmark, (PTMK ) and other stores—so many that the American Medical Assn. just adopted a resolution urging state and federal agencies to investigate such clinics as a conflict of interest if housed in stores with pharmacies. These retail clinics promise rapid care for minor medical problems, usually getting patients in and out in 30 minutes. The slogan for CVS's Minute Clinics says it all: "You're sick. We're quick."
we have had 4 major
catastrophes in the last 8 years due to republican/conservative ideology of little to no government. 911, katrina, iraq war, wall street collapse, etc. We have serious issues to deal with now. Symbols can wait for the return of the good times under democratic LEADERSHIP.
I agree. I am helping the victims with all the financial support I can spare BUT
if we don't ask the question what happened to the levees, what can we do to make sure this doesn't happen again, where did the funding go? then we will find ourselves in the same position again. We can not afford to be policing other countries when the funding is bankrupt for our own needs. That's just the truth.
Keep this up and your doctor appointments will increase - sm
There are so many ways to cut food costs and eat healthy.
Cook, repeat cook oatmeal for breakfast. Eggs anyway
One pound of ground turkey, chopped onion sauteed, mix with 1-2 cans of diced tomatoes, 1-2 cans of beans (pinto, black, etc.) seasonings like cumin, chili, etc. serve over brown rice that you cook - or over a small pasta, or in a tortlla.
Soup - homemade - diced tomatoes, onion, celery, carrots, any type of beans, frozen cut okra, etc. add water and seasonings - add Butterball smoked turkey sausage cut into half slices
I make a pot of soup every week and eat until gone, then a new one.
I also cook my beans from dry - very inexpensive and very nutritious
Hope you think this is helpful for that is what I want to be. Your present eating program is soooo unhealthy. I would be glad to share any of my other low-cost recpies with you.
Best wishes.
Kissinerger Spin Doctor?
Palin, Kissinger Split on Talks with Ahmadinejad
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Share September 25, 2008 7:55 PM
ABC News' Teddy Davis, Arnab Datta, and Rigel Anderson Report: During an interview with CBS News' Katie Couric which aired Thursday evening, Sarah Palin called Barack Obama "beyond naïve" for wanting to talk "without preconditions" to rogue leaders.
"I think, with Ahmadinejad, personally, he is not one to negotiate with," said Palin, referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "You can't just sit down with him with no preconditions being met."
"Barack Obama is so off base in his proclamation that he would meet with some of these leaders around our world who would seek to destroy America and that, and without preconditions being met," she continued. "That's beyond naïve. And it's beyond bad judgment."
Asked if she considers former Republican Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to be "naïve" for supporting talks without preconditions, Palin said, "I've never heard Henry Kissinger say, 'Yeah, I'll meet with these leaders without preconditions being met.'"
Palin was overlooking that Kissinger (with whom she met earlier this week) has backed negotiating directly with Iran over its nuclear program and other bilateral issues -- a point which Couric reconfirmed at the closer of her interview.
"Incidentally," said Couric, "we confirmed Henry Kissinger's position following our interview, he told us he supports talks if not with Ahmadinejad, than with high-level Iranian officials without preconditions."
When contacted by ABC News about the split in position with Kissinger, the McCain-Palin campaign had no immediate comment.
I'm just glad she's not a DOCTOR... I hate
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