Thursday :: Sep 8, 2005

Quickening Sickening


by pessimist

The contagion is loose:


Disease claims first Katrina victims

Health authorities said five people evacuated from hurricane-battered areas of the Gulf Coast after Katrina struck had died after coming into contact with contaminated water.

The five had been killed by vibrio vulnificus, "a bacteria that can enter somebody through a cut, a scratch or a wound," Skinner told AFP, adding the elderly or those with a fragile immune system were most at risk.

The bacteria is related to cholera and was likely to kill again, Skinner said. Doctors have been warning the Gulf Coast could become fertile terrain for cholera, malaria, typhoid, West Nile virus or other ailments.

Doctors have been warning the Gulf Coast could become fertile terrain for cholera, malaria, typhoid,
West Nile virus or other ailments.

That's not the only thing that makes me sick!

The Bu$h Di$loyalty $quad strikes again!


Swift FEMA Action

You know, it's become so fashionable to beat up on the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the lack of accountability therein. In reality, the agency has acted swiftly on some occasions to quell bad actors in its ranks.

Why, just look at how promptly it addressed the conduct of Nicole Rank, a Corpus Christi-based FEMA administrator who was dispatched to the Charleston, West Virginia site of a flood last year. It so happened the president turned up in town at the same time, for a Fourth of July speech, and Rank turned up at the event with her husband Jeff. Both were wearing a T-shirt that read "Love America, Hate Bush" and "Regime Change Starts at Home"; the Charleston police told them to "cover [the shirts] up, take them off, or leave completely." When the Ranks refused they were forcibly removed from the premises and briefly imprisoned, so that the president could proceed with his speech declaring the Fourth an occasion to celebrate "the freedom for people to speak their minds, the freedom for people to worship as they so choose. Free thought and free expression, that's what we believe"

And within two days, FEMA informed Ms. Rank that because of the incident, she was being released from the Charleston assignment. That's some rapid action to protect the security of the homeland. A heck of job, you might even say. --

I'm calling in sick!


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