First Screw Up, Then Get Paid to Tell How You Screwed Up

Hard to believe but according to the article Brown serving as consultant to FEMA on CNN's web site Brownie has himself a nice little gig. Now I completely understand the utility of having Brown tell the powers that be all he knows about the response to Katrina. I believe that would be called testifying under oath!

Clearly the next step is the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

How many more Michael Browns?

A new Time Magazine article investigates the placement of political cronies at all levels of the government. It's nothing new and all administrations, since the days of George Washington have pursued this approach. The Bush administration however has taken the practice to new levels and made it an art form. Indeed the article points out that they aren't apologetic for the practice they just "want government to work".

In the Time article:

Internal e-mail messages obtained by TIME show that scientists' drug-safety decisions at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are being second-guessed by a 33-year-old doctor turned stock picker. At the Office of Management and Budget, an ex-lobbyist with minimal purchasing experience oversaw $300 billion in spending, until his arrest last week. At the Department of Homeland Security, an agency the Administration initially resisted, a well-connected White House aide with minimal experience is poised to take over what many consider the single most crucial post in ensuring that terrorists do not enter the country again. And who is acting as watchdog at every federal agency? A corps of inspectors general who may be increasingly chosen more for their political credentials than their investigative ones.

Interestingly a just published study from Princeton University reported in Federal Computer Week, reports that career employees make better managers then political appointees.

Well, it is only Princeton.

OK Kids, Let's Play Mitigation

Browsing through the fascinating FEMA site for kids I tripped upon the Photo's and Video link (from the Search button). It actually doesn't link to a Photo's and Video page but to a Library page.

On the library page is a list called "photo library" and the first link is titled "Mitigation Photos". Keep in mind this is a site for CHILDREN, how many kids do you know that understand the word "mitigation"??? OK so I clicked on the link hoping that it would at least explain the word but nope...they just go on to display some photos of mitigation.

Sigh

Intelligent Design for Homeland Security

I don't understand what everyone is complaining about. The Department of Homeland Security now contains FEMA. FEMA during the Clinton years was finally reconstituted as an effective organization. A government agency, efficient! accomplishing its mission! ...we can't have this.

Enter stage right...the DHS(Department of Homeland Security). What's all the fuss over the new organization of DHS. It's obviously very complex. Mere mortals can't possibly understand it. FEMA now reports to the director of the DHS, its budget has been emasculated and all the responsible people in charge are political hacks. The only reasonable conclusion is that it must be a product of "Intelligent Design".

The Republican Nightmare

It appears that the Republican's greatest fear is coming true, they are being forced to deal with "poor people". As usual this brilliant observation comes thanks to Jon Stewart of the Daily Show where we now turn for "real" news. Bush's heartfelt speech in New Orleans last week was genuine, well delivered and about as emphathetic as the guy gets. He exclaimed that he will spend whatever it takes to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

Bush is going to "confront poverty" but fails to explain how. It is of course too soon to explain in detail all the options, the "empowerment zones" and funding for retraining all sounds potentially reasonable, but in the same breath he exclaims that he won't raise taxes. The deficit is in the process of exploding but the consequences won't matter until way after Bush is out of office.

Oh well my kids need more bills.

Bush's Pals in New Orleans

Got a disaster? Want to rebuild a city? Whether it's bombs or hurricanes...you can count on Halliburton to get those contracts.

"On Friday [ ed. Sept. 9], Kellogg Brown & Root received $29.8 million in Pentagon contracts to begin rebuilding Navy bases in Louisiana and Mississippi. Norcross said the work was covered under a contract that the company negotiated before Allbaugh was hired."

Note to former FEMA Director Brown: you're old buddy Joe Allbaugh (former Bush campaign manager) has a load a new companies to advise...come on down!

News services continue to report that New Orleans has a fetid smell. Hmmmmmm

Don't Blame Brownie

OK great, Michael Brown head of FEMA, gets reassigned and is pulled back to Washington DC so he can oversee future disasters. Ya gotta love this administration. Only a week ago Bush exclaimed, "Brownie, your doing a heck of a job."

I don't blame this former lawyer at the Arabian Horse Association for the problems responding to Katrina. He was a political supporter and was given the job as political payback. Clearly Dubya and crew viewed FEMA as just another bloated bureaucracy. It's justo one of those myriad four letter agencies that could just as well be farmed out to contractors. So why not appoint a good ole' buddy to head the agency.

Shouldn't be a problem right?

Intelligent Spaghetti Monster Visits Kansas

According to Bobby Henderson, of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), the Kansas School Board is finally giving some respect and serious consideration to the FSM. Clearly rational minds are starting to take hold.

It is important to note that, according to my own extensive research, prior to the formation of the FSM the primordial dough was formed, quite surprisingly, by a large pasta explosion - the so called big-pasta-banger. The indisputable evidence for this portion of the FSM is founded by the large quantities of flour that can be seen in virtually every corner of my house.

http://www.venganza.org/store.htm
Pass the sauce and Praise the FSM!

Dicky in Wonderland

"I think the performance, in general, at least in terms of the information I've received from locals, is definitely very impressive." said Dick Cheney on his tour of Gulfport. Meanwhile evacuees in Houston waited for hours for the mythical FEMA $2000 debit cards which NEVER appears. Instead the lucky ones were given Red Cross debit cards worth much less. In addition hundreds of trailers that could provide temporary housing were still sitting in Georgia in a big parking lot, waiting for one or another FEMA officials to get their heads out of their butts. Speaking of FEMA they are also, as of yet, incapable of telling a German company that wants to provide critical communications equipment, that they can just fly it on over.

And finally a medical team in Kentucky, "...about 600 other Kentucky doctors, nurses and other medical professionals have notified the Kentucky Department for Public Health that they will volunteer in the relief effort, said state epidemiologist Dr. Kraig Humbaugh. However, FEMA has not notified the state whether any of those people will be needed."

Gee I'm impressed

Wolf Blitzer, News for People with ADD

Welcome to Wolf Blitzer's "The Situation Room". About a month or so ago Wolf Blitzer on CNN started a "raw news" show that purports to give you the news as it's happening. The set is just amazing array of TV split screens. We see Wolf standing infront of a display wall, actually two of them. On one the wall is split into 8 sets of displays. Often one of those 8 is itself split into four. We see, in one view 1) Wolf interviewing somone on on display, 2) a scene of a helicopter dropping water onto a fire, 3) an overhead view of hurracaine destruction, 4) the burial of a supreme court justice, 5) a second view of hurracaine destruction, 6) a third view of hurracaine destruction, 7) long view of broken bridges, 8) a map with a pulsating point of interest. Are you dizzy yet! Just try wathing this stuff.

On top of all this maniacle visuals, Wolf often interviews somone who controls a Google Earth zooming view of some area and this guy love to zoom in and out and tilt the view. I'm getting motion sick watching this stuff!