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Pastimes : Lake New Orleans -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rande Is who wrote (978)	9/29/2005 12:23:43 AM
From: paret	Respond to of 1118

Even a cop joins in the looting Mike Perlstein and Brian Thevenot Staff writers nola.com Law enforcement efforts to contain the emergency left by Katrina slipped into chaos in parts of New Orleans Tuesday with some police officers and firefighters joining looters in picking stores clean. At the Wal-Mart on Tchoupitoulas Street, an initial effort to hand out provisions to stranded citizens quickly disintegrated into mass looting. Authorities at the scene said bedlam erupted after the giveaway was announced over the radio. While many people carried out food and essential supplies, others cleared out jewelry racks and carted out computers, TVs and appliances on handtrucks. Some officers joined in taking whatever they could, including one New Orleans cop who loaded a shopping cart with a compact computer and a 27-inch flat screen television. Officers claimed there was nothing they could do to contain the anarchy, saying their radio communications have broken down and they had no direction from commanders. “We don’t have enough cops to stop it,” an officer said. “A mass riot would break out if you tried.” Inside the store, the scene alternated between celebration and frightening bedlam. A shirtless man straddled a broken jewelry case, yelling, “Free samples, free samples over here.” Another man rolled a mechanized pallet, stacked six feet high with cases of vodka and whiskey. Perched atop the stack was a bewildered toddler. Throughout the store and parking lot, looters pushed carts and loaded trucks and vans alongside officers. One man said police directed him to Wal-Mart from Robert’s Grocery, where a similar scene was taking place. A crowd in the electronics section said one officer broke the glass DVD case so people wouldn’t cut themselves. “The police got all the best stuff. They’re crookeder than us,” one man said. Most officers, though, simply stood by powerless against the tide of law breakers. One veteran officer said, “It’s like this everywhere in the city. This tiny number of cops can’t do anything about this. It’s wide open.” At least one officer tried futilely to control a looter through shame. “When they say take what you need, that doesn’t mean an f-ing TV,” the officer shouted to a looter. “This is a hurricane, not a free-for-all.” Sandra Smith of Baton Rouge walked through the parking lot with a 12-pack of Bud Light under each arm. “I came down here to get my daughters,” she said, “but I can’t find them.” The scene turned so chaotic at times that entrances were blocked by the press of people and shopping carts and traffic jams sprouted on surrounding streets. Some groups organized themselves into assembly lines to more efficiently cart off goods. Toni Williams, 25, packed her trunk with essential supplies, such as food and water, but said mass looting disgusted and frightened her. “I didn’t feel safe. Some people are going overboard,” she said. Inside the store, one woman was stocking up on make-up. She said she took comfort in watching police load up their own carts. “It must be legal,” she said. “The police are here taking stuff, too.” (Staff writers Doug MacCash and Keith Spera assisted in this story.)

To: Rande Is who wrote (978)	9/29/2005 9:23:26 AM
From: paret	Respond to of 1118

Dems Mum on Nagin-Farrakhan Summit ........................................................ News Max ^ \| Sept. 28, 2005 \| Carl Limbacher Top Democrats who blasted President Bush for bungling the Hurricane Katrina crisis declined to comment on Wednesday on Nation of Islam chief Louis Farrakhan's claim that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin gave him key evidence suggesting his city's levees may have been blown up. NewsMax called the offices of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Mary Landrieu, Sen. Barack Obama and Rep. Charlie Rangel, as well as ex-President Clinton's Harlem office, and followed up with emails detailing Farrakhan's claims about his Nagin sit-down. Not a single Democrat was willing to say whether it was appropriate for Nagin to huddle with the racially polarizing black leader, let alone feed him info that stoked Farrakhan's levee conspiracy theory. On Friday, Farrakhan told a rally for his upcoming Millions More March: "We flew to Dallas, Texas - members of the Millions More Movement - where we met with Mayor Nagin . . . Mayor Nagin told us there was a 25-foot crater under the levee." Farrakhan cautioned: "He didn't say there was a bomb. He just said there was a crater," then added: "I say they blew it [up]." A full five days after Farrakhan cited Nagin as his source for news that not all the levee damage looked natural, Nagin himself has had nothing to say about the levee plot theory - a silence that some see as a tacit endorsement. Two weeks ago Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson said that Farrakhan's theory was gaining currency in Nagin's city. "I was stunned in New Orleans at how many black New Orleanians would tell me with real conviction that somehow the levee breaks had been engineered," Robinson told NBC's "Meet the Press." "These are not wild-eyed people," Robinson insisted. "These are reasonable, sober people who really believe that."

To: Rande Is who wrote (978)	9/29/2005 9:38:30 AM
From: paret	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1118

Gov. Blanco gets no Katrina questions ………………………………………………………………………………....................... Washington Times September 29, 2005 Combined wire dispatches Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, blamed by the former leader of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin for many of the city's post-hurricane problems, was given no questions about her response to Hurricane Katrina when she appeared before a Senate committee to plead for more federal money. She asked not to be questioned about it and the senators agreed. Mrs. Blanco, a Democrat, was invited by the Senate Finance Committee to respond to charges by former FEMA Director Michael D. Brown, who the day before called Louisiana officials "dysfunctional" in handling the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "Today, I came really to talk about job creation," she said. Later, she told reporters, "The facts will speak for themselves. I will tell our story when the time is appropriate." Mr. Brown, who resigned from FEMA under a hail of criticism, testified Tuesday before the House select committee investigating the response to Katrina and blamed Mrs. Blanco and Mr. Nagin for the slow reaction to the flooding and devastation to the city. He was questioned sharply by committee members of both parties. Rep. Christopher Shays, Connecticut Republican, called Mr. Brown "clueless." Republican senators at yesterday's hearing by the Finance Committee -- Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, Trent Lott of Mississippi, Olympia J. Snow of Maine, Jon Kyl of Arizona, Craig Thomas of Wyoming, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Bill Frist of Tennessee, Gordon H. Smith of Oregon, Jim Bunning of Kentucky and Michael D. Crapo of Idaho -- agreed to Mrs. Blanco's request not to discuss her performance after the hurricane. Instead, she devoted her appearance to pleading for help to rebuild businesses and creating jobs in Louisiana. She said Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had wiped out a third of the state's economy. "It's very important to have incentives for our workers to return, and in order to do that, we have to have incentives for business to return," Mrs. Blanco said, asking specifically for business tax write-offs for new investments, low-interest bonds for business borrowing and emergency business loans. "Katrina and Rita brought our people and our economy to its knees," she said. "These storms knocked us down, but they didn't knock us out. And with your help and support, we will come back stronger and more prosperous than before." The governors of two other states hit by Katrina -- Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Gov. Bob Riley of Alabama -- testified before the committee via closed circuit television. The committee is considering legislation that would provide tax incentives, health care aid and other financial assistance to the Gulf states devastated by the two storms. The White House and committee members disagree over details of a health care package backed by Mr. Grassley and Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, the top Democrat on the panel. The legislation would ease eligibility requirements for storm victims for the Medicaid program for the poor, and provide federal assistance to help displaced workers maintain private insurance coverage. The federal government would pay the full cost of Medicaid for disaster victims even though those costs are usually shared by the states. The White House said this week that it opposes the legislation. This appeared to anger the committee. "We can work with everybody, including the administration, or against them, and I'm prepared to go either way," Mr. Lott said. Mr. Grassley said he was prepared to hold up other legislation