Odds and Ends

Knight Ridder Exposes Horsey Background of FEMA Chief

By E&P Staff

Published: September 04, 2005 10:00 AM ET

NEW YORK So who is Michael Brown, now catching all kinds of criticism for his handling of the catastrophe in New Orleans? It seems his primary career experience before nabbing a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) post was running a Arabian horse association. An article by Matt Stearns and Seth Borenstein for Knght Ridder Newspapers observes, "there was little in Michael D. Brown's background to prepare him for the fury of Hurricane Katrina."

The reporters quote Kate Hale, former Miami-Dade
emergency management chief: "He's done a hell of a job, because I'm not aware of any Arabian horses being killed in this storm. The world that this man operated in and
the focus of this work does not in any way translate to this. He does not have the experience."

During the 1990s, Brown served as judges and stewards commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association. His job was to ensure that horse-show judges followed the rules and to investigate allegations against those suspected of cheating. "I wouldn't have regarded his position in the horse industry as a platform to where he is now," said Tom Connelly, a former association president. The reporter refer to Brown's stormy years with the horses as a "rocky tenure." Some have claimed that he was fired from his post.

But Brown knew Joe Allbaugh, President Bush's 2000
campaign manager. Allbaugh took over FEMA in 2001, and hired Brown as general counsel.
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Cheney to Clean Up

The Navy announced yesterday that Vice President Cheney's former company, Halliburton, which has handled much of the repair work as well as support services for the U.S. military in Iraq, was hired to restore power and rebuild three naval facilities in Mississippi that were wrecked by Katrina.
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Guard Plays Cards

New Orleans deputy police commander W.S. Riley said that for the first three days after Monday's storm, which is believed to have killed several thousand people, the police and fire departments and some volunteers had been alone in trying to rescue people.

"We expected a lot more support from the federal government. We expected the government to respond within 24 hours. The first three days we had no assistance," he told AFP in an interview.

Riley went on: "We have been fired on with automatic weapons. We still have some thugs around. My biggest disappointment is with the federal government and the National Guard.

"The guard arrived 48 hours after the hurricane with 40 trucks. They drove their trucks in and went to sleep.

"For 72 hours this police department and the fire department and handful of citizens were alone rescuing people. We have people who died while the National Guard sat and played cards. I understand why we are not winning the war in Iraq if this is what we have."

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Gone Fishing

George Bush was vacationing in Texas, after a few side trips to Utah, Idaho and California. Dick Cheney was in Wyoming, and White House Chief of Staff Andy Card was in Maine.

They got together on the telephone and "video-conferenced," but nobody thought it important enough to take a firsthand look at the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina until days after the disaster.

Meanwhile, the survivors of the most expensive, if not most devastating, natural disaster ever to hit the United States, were stranded.

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Editorial: Not Acceptable

The Times-Picayune Editorial Board

A day after a normally easy-going Mayor Ray Nagin blasted federal officials' seeming indifference to the plight of New Orleanians who are stranded and dying, President Bush stood on the lawn of the White House and conceded the point: The federal government did not move quickly enough or forcefully enough to help those people hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina. "The results are not acceptable," the president said before boarding a helicopter to go survey the storm's damage.

It's good to hear the president admit his administration's shortcomings, and it's even better to hear his promise to help all of us who are in need. But the sad truth remains that the federal government's slow start has already proved fatal to some of the most vulnerable people in the New Orleans area. Water has killed hundreds, if not thousands, of people. A lack of water to drink is exacting its toll on others.

"I don't want to see anybody do anymore goddamn press conferences," the mayor said during a WWL radio interview Thursday. "Put a moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until the resources are in this city."

The mayor had obviously become fed up with federal bureaucrats' use of future tense verbs. "Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming here," he said. "They're not here. It's too doggone late. Now get off your asses and do something, and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country."

We applaud the mayor for giving voice to an entire city's frustration. How could the most powerful and technologically advanced nation in the history of the world have responded so feebly to this crisis?

The president's admission of his administration's mistakes will mean nothing unless the promised help is deployed immediately. Each life is precious, and there isn't a second chance to save a single one of them. No more talk of what's going to happen. We only want to hear what is being done. The lives of our people depend on it.
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Cuba Offers 1,100 Doctors to Help Katrina Victims

Havana, Sept 2 (AIN) Cuban President Fidel Castro offered to send 1,100 experienced doctors in the coming hours to aid the Gulf State victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The Cuban leader announced that the first 100 doctors are ready to depart as early as Saturday morning for Houston's International Airport, the closest major facility to the disaster area.

>From there, he said, the medical personnel could be transported by air, water or land to the neighborhoods of New Orleans where they are most needed.

Speaking on Cuban television's nightly The Round Table program, President Castro said the medical personnel would each be equipped with basic medical equipment and 24 kilos of essential medicines necessary to save lives.

He said the doctors could work individually or in teams of two or more, according to the circumstances, and would stay for as long as they are needed.

Another 500 doctors would be ready to leave for Houston by Saturday afternoon and 500 more could depart Havana as early as Sunday morning, said Fidel Castro.

In summing up the island's offer to assist the hurricane victims, the Cuban president stressed that the total of 1,100 doctors would also take with them years of international experience and the basic knowledge of the English language to assist patients in New Orleans and other areas of Louisiana.

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Daley 'shocked' at federal snub of offers to help

Tribune staff reports
Published September 2, 2005, 10:24 PM CDT



Frustration about the federal response to Hurricane Katrina has reached Chicago City Hall, as Mayor Richard Daley today noted a tepid response by federal officials to the city's offers of disaster aid.

The city is willing to send hundreds of personnel, including firefighters and police, and dozens of vehicles to assist on the storm-battered Gulf Coast, but so far the Federal Emergency Management Agency has requested only a single tank truck, Daley said.

"I was shocked," he said.

"We are ready to provide considerably more help than they have requested," the mayor said, barely able to contain his anger during a City Hall news conference. "We are just waiting for the call."

The mayor's remarks came at the announcement of a city-sponsored "Chicago Helps Fund," which will accept donations from citizens for the hurricane relief effort.

"The people we see suffering on television are our brothers and sisters," Daley said. "It's incumbent on all of us, as American citizens and fellow human beings, to do our part to help them through this terrible tragedy."

Donations to the Chicago Helps Fund can be made by cash or check at any J.P. Morgan Bank One branch or by sending a check to Chicago Helps, 38891 Eagle Way, Chicago IL 60678-1338. A toll-free telephone number will be announced later for those wishing to donate by credit card.

Asked if he believes Washington has bungled the job, Daley replied, "I think the president this morning said it publicly—which is smart—they don't think they responded as quickly as possible. ... Now, after that, let's do it. … I don't want to sit here and all of a sudden we are all going to be political—we are going to criticize this one or that. Just get it done."

Additionally, this weekend, Chicago firefighters will "pass the boot" at major intersections, and donations will be requested during the Chicago Jazz Festival in Grant Park, Daley said.

Also, the Chicago Football Classic on Saturday will donate a portion of its proceeds to the relief effort. And the Department on Aging is sending a "Meals on Wheels" truck to the Gulf Coast region with food, blankets and other necessities for seniors.

But the city is prepared to do far more, Daley said.

Even before the storm hit the Gulf Coast on Monday, he said, the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications had contacted emergency response agencies in Illinois and Washington.

In the event of a disaster, the city offered to send 44 Chicago Fire Department rescue and medical personnel and their gear, more than 100 Chicago police officers, 140 Streets and Sanitation, 146 Public Health and 8 Human Services workers, and a fleet of vehicles including 29 trucks, two boats and a mobile clinic.

"So far FEMA has requested only one piece of equipment {ndash} a tank truck to support the Illinois Emergency Response Team, which is already down there," Daley said. "The tank truck is on its way. We are awaiting further instructions from FEMA."

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