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#586
09-09-2005, 10:39 AM
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Well...
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**Christy** 
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#587
09-09-2005, 11:38 AM
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http://www.time.com/time/nation/arti...103003,00.html
How Reliable Is Brown's Resume? A TIME investigation reveals discrepancies in the FEMA chief's official biographies By DAREN FONDA AND RITA HEALY When President Bush nominated Michael Brown to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 2003, Brown's boss at the time, Joe Allbaugh, declared, "the President couldn't have chosen a better man to help...prepare and protect the nation." But how well was he prepared for the job? Since Hurricane Katrina, the FEMA director has come under heavy criticism for his performance and scrutiny of his background. Now, an investigation by TIME has found discrepancies in his online legal profile and official bio, including a description of Brown released by the White House at the time of his nomination in 2001 to the job as deputy chief of FEMA. (Brown became Director of FEMA, succeeding Allbaugh, in 2003.) Before joining FEMA, his only previous stint in emergency management, according to his bio posted on FEMA's website, was "serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services oversight." The White House press release from 2001 stated that Brown worked for the city of Edmond, Okla., from 1975 to 1978 "overseeing the emergency services division." In fact, according to Claudia Deakins, head of public relations for the city of Edmond, Brown was an "assistant to the city manager" from 1977 to 1980, not a manager himself, and had no authority over other employees. "The assistant is more like an intern," she told TIME. "Department heads did not report to him." Brown did do a good job at his humble position, however, according to his boss. "Yes. Mike Brown worked for me. He was my administrative assistant. He was a student at Central State University," recalls former city manager Bill Dashner. "Mike used to handle a lot of details. Every now and again I'd ask him to write me a speech. He was very loyal. He was always on time. He always had on a suit and a starched white shirt." In response, Nicol Andrews, deputy strategic director in FEMA's office of public affairs, insists that while Brown began as an intern, he became an "assistant city manager" with a distinguished record of service. "According to Mike Brown," she says, "a large portion [of the points raised by TIME] is very inaccurate." Brown's lack of experience in emergency management isn't the only apparent bit of padding on his resume, which raises questions about how rigorously the White House vetted him before putting him in charge of FEMA. Under the "honors and awards" section of his profile at FindLaw.com — which is information on the legal website provided by lawyers or their offices—he lists "Outstanding Political Science Professor, Central State University". However, Brown "wasn't a professor here, he was only a student here," says Charles Johnson, News Bureau Director in the University Relations office at the University of Central Oklahoma (formerly named Central State University). "He may have been an adjunct instructor," says Johnson, but that title is very different from that of "professor." Carl Reherman, a former political science professor at the University through the '70s and '80s, says that Brown "was not on the faculty." As for the honor of "Outstanding Political Science Professor," Johnson says, "I spoke with the department chair yesterday and he's not aware of it." Johnson could not confirm that Brown made the Dean's list or was an "Outstanding Political Science Senior," as is stated on his online profile. Speaking for Brown, Andrews says that Brown has never claimed to be a political science professor, in spite of what his profile in FindLaw indicates. "He was named the outstanding political science senior at Central State, and was an adjunct professor at Oklahoma City School of Law." Under the heading of "Professional Associations and Memberships" on FindLaw, Brown states that from 1983 to the present he has been director of the Oklahoma Christian Home, a nursing home in Edmond. But an administrator with the Home told TIME that Brown is "not a person that anyone here is familiar with." She says there was a board of directors until a couple of years ago, but she couldn't find anyone who recalled him being on it. According to FEMA's Andrews, Brown said "he's never claimed to be the director of the home. He was on the board of directors, or governors of the nursing home." However, a veteran employee at the center since 1981 says Brown "was never director here, was never on the board of directors, was never executive director. He was never here in any capacity. I never heard his name mentioned here." The FindLaw profile for Brown was amended on Thursday to remove a reference to his tenure at the International Arabian Horse Association, which has become a contested point. Brown's FindLaw profile lists a wide range of areas of legal practice, from estate planning to family law to sports. However, one former colleague does not remember Brown's work as sterling. Stephen Jones, a prominent Oklahoma lawyer who was lead defense attorney on the Timothy McVeigh case, was Brown's boss for two-and-a-half years in the early '80s. "He did mainly transactional work, not litigation," says Jones. "There was a feeling that he was not serious and somewhat shallow." Jones says when his law firm split, Brown was one of two staffers who was let go.
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09-09-2005, 11:41 AM
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This message has been deleted by strandinthewind.
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#588
09-09-2005, 12:34 PM
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BREAKING NEWS:
FEMA Chief Relieved of Katrina Duties http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../katrina_brown
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#589
09-09-2005, 12:36 PM
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#590
09-09-2005, 12:37 PM
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I'm sure it'll be all over the news once Bush stops his 9/11 PR scam.
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#592
09-09-2005, 12:42 PM
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 And about this whole TIME investigation: why the hell didn't they do that 4 years ago, when he was brought into the organization? And are they going to investigate all the other Bush cronie's resumes, or do thousands of people have to die first? 
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#593
09-09-2005, 01:10 PM
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Diss, I found that video of Charmaine Neville's account that you were talking about here. http://www.wafb.com/Global/SearchRes...lle&x=13&y=eom. What she went through is so heinous and should never be forgotten. She managed to save people but she felt bad because she couldn't save enough. In the video she is recounting what she went through to a priest.
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~Suzy
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#594
09-09-2005, 01:12 PM
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#595
09-09-2005, 01:14 PM
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__________________
~Suzy
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#596
09-09-2005, 01:35 PM
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A friend of mine - and I can assure you what he says is the way it is!
___________________________________________________________ Friday, September 09, 2005 DR. BROBSON LUTZ: Beware of myths, but health risks are real Beware of misguided public health information After every major hurricane, alarms of infectious diseases abound. Survivors are bombarded with warnings about impending epidemics of cholera, typhoid fever, tetanus, and dysentery. Elected officials routinely warn citizens to watch out for poisonous snakes. Hurricanes spawn medical misinformation in direct relationship to the ferocity of the winds and water. Each new storm generates its own unique rumors. With Katrina it has been sharks in the flood waters, mosquitoes spreading contagious diseases after feeding off floating corpses and skin blistering toxins in the flood waters. In 1969 Hurricane Camille devastated the Mississippi Gulf Coast. My classmates at Tulane Medical School wanted to help. Under the tutelage of a professor of epidemiology we traveled to the Mississippi coast and immunized dozens of survivors against typhoid fever. We wanted to help. Actually, we left rescue workers with sore arms that probably impeded their subsequent relief efforts. As we move forward, the endemic health problems will not be strange and rare diseases. We will have endemic cuts, lacerations and puncture wounds. Skin and soft tissue infections will be the major infectious disease problem. These will be not be caused by the exotic pathogens but by the common ones -- Staphylococcal and streptococcal infections. Staphylococcal resistance is already well established in Louisiana, and we will see more methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections that are resistant to previously useful antibiotics such as Keflex. The most serious wound infections we will encounter will be from Vibrio vulnificus, a organism well-established in our salt water marshes. This infectious bully usually just targets persons with diabetes, liver diseases and other immune impairments. The other major infectious disease threat is mosquito-borne viruses. Fortunately, the storm blew away most of our established mosquito population. But survivors will soon repopulate the area and old eggs now submerged in water will hatch and pupate quickly. The increase in the insect population will bring back many bird species probably including those carrying West Nile and St. Louis encephalitis. Aerial spraying for insects needs to start ASAP with the right chemicals, not the ones that are the cheapest for private contractors to spray. Some chemical supply companies provide “kickbacks” to contractors who use their less effective products just like some of the big drug companies give rebates to hospitals for using their particular brand of drug. Hopefully, the Army will take over all aerial spraying missions. Flies are also a problem after any disaster in warm areas of the world. After Hurricane Betsy, rescue workers easily spotted the attics containing dead bodies by looking for swarms of black flies on roofs. House to house searches are not necessary to find dead bodies. Follow the fly swarms. After Katrina, one of our elected officials announced that mosquitoes will transmit disease by biting corpses in our streets. Mosquitoes do not feed off dead bodies. Infectious diseases are not spread this way. Dead bodies on the streets and in the water are an etiologic agent for severe psychological trauma, not contagious diseases. Earlier this week, I heard that a state health official warned television viewers about cholera and other enteric diseases. Cholera is a pathogen that is rare in our environment. It requires human consumption of food or water contaminated with a causative pathogen which is not even established in our wetlands. Cholera and typhoid are not infections that survivors will face in the upcoming weeks and months. Former city health director Dr. Rodney Jung told me years ago that snake rumors flourish after each hurricane. Snake sightings do increase with flooding, but no physician I know has ever treated a person for a snake bite related to a hurricane. Fortunately, the alligators displaced by storms are mostly too small to cause injury and the larger ones are not likely to harm humans unless cornered. The small sharks that washed over from Lake Pontchtrain were totally benign. Tetanus was a problem after the recent Asian tsunami where many persons never had the benefit of childhood immunizations in the first place. Tetanus will not be a problem here. Even though a tetanus booster is recommended every 10 years, the primary series of immunizations for children provides essentially lifetime protection. Adults who got their childhood immunizations are well protected. Most diarrhea immediately after a storm is stress related and not due to infectious causes. Present supplies of bottled water and uncontaminated food will prevent typhoid fever, salmonella and most other enteric diseases. The newest mythical threat on the block is mold. I heard a former director of the Centers for Disease Control say on national television that the mold that will be growing in all our flooded houses is “very dangerous”. He has been behind a desk and out of the trenches for too long. Mold growth indicates excessive moisture, but environmental molds are more legal fodder than disease producers. As we recover, each day will be a challenge. Stress related problems will soar. The first-aid for preventing storm stress is secure water, food and good shelter. Overall trauma such as chainsaw injuries will be the major cause of morbidity post-storm. Gasoline powered generators and gas grills inside are dangerous and carbon monoxide has already claimed several people who survived the storm. It is time to put medical myths to bed. Our usual cast of bacterial villains will cause trauma-related wound infections. For most healthy adults these infections will range from trivial to mild. For persons with diabetes and other underlying chronic diseases, Vibrio wound infections can be fatal. Forget about cholera, tetanus, typhoid fever and catching contagious diseases from the dead. Our real medical villains will be storm stress and trauma. Brobson Lutz, MD Health spokesman Orleans Parish Medical Society www.nola.com
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 save the cheerleader - save the world
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#597
09-09-2005, 01:37 PM
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the bit where she talks about the young men shooting at helicopters because it's the only way they know to get attention, I hadn't realised that yet. But of course you go crazy when you'd be there and then. yeah, she's a hero, a real one.
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#598
09-09-2005, 02:29 PM
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WHY W IS RESP. FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 9, 2005 Political Issues Snarled Plans for Military Help After Storm By ERIC LIPTON, ERIC SCHMITT and THOM SHANKER WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 - As New Orleans descended into chaos last week and Louisiana's governor asked for 40,000 soldiers, President Bush's senior advisers debated whether the president should speed the arrival of active-duty troops by seizing control of the hurricane relief mission from the governor. For reasons of practicality and politics, officials at the Justice Department and the Pentagon, and then at the White House, decided not to urge Mr. Bush to take command of the effort. Instead, the Washington officials decided to rely on the growing number of National Guard personnel flowing into Louisiana, who were under Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's control. The debate began after officials realized that Hurricane Katrina had exposed a critical flaw in the national disaster response plans created after the Sept. 11 attacks. According to the administration's senior domestic security officials, the plan failed to recognize that local police, fire and medical personnel might be incapacitated. As criticism of the response to Hurricane Katrina has mounted, one of the most pointed questions has been why more troops were not available more quickly to restore order and offer aid. Interviews with officials in Washington and Louisiana show that as the situation grew worse, they were wrangling with questions of federal/state authority, weighing the realities of military logistics and perhaps talking past each other in the crisis. To seize control of the mission, Mr. Bush would have had to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows the president in times of unrest to command active-duty forces into the states to perform law enforcement duties. But decision makers in Washington felt certain that Ms. Blanco would have resisted surrendering control, as Bush administration officials believe would have been required to deploy active-duty combat forces before law and order had been re-established. While combat troops can conduct relief missions without the legal authority of the Insurrection Act, Pentagon and military officials say that no active-duty forces could have been sent into the chaos of New Orleans on Wednesday or Thursday without confronting law-and-order challenges. But just as important to the administration were worries about the message that would have been sent by a president ousting a Southern governor of another party from command of her National Guard, according to administration, Pentagon and Justice Department officials. "Can you imagine how it would have been perceived if a president of the United States of one party had pre-emptively taken from the female governor of another party the command and control of her forces, unless the security situation made it completely clear that she was unable to effectively execute her command authority and that lawlessness was the inevitable result?" asked one senior administration official, who spoke anonymously because the talks were confidential. Officials in Louisiana agree that the governor would not have given up control over National Guard troops in her state as would have been required to send large numbers of active-duty soldiers into the area. But they also say they were desperate and would have welcomed assistance by active-duty soldiers. "I need everything you have got," Ms. Blanco said she told Mr. Bush last Monday, after the storm hit. In an interview, she acknowledged that she did not specify what sorts of soldiers. "Nobody told me that I had to request that," Ms. Blanco said. "I thought that I had requested everything they had. We were living in a war zone by then." [and FEMA was refusing entry to people bringing supplies - sounds like they thought they were in charge to me] By Wednesday, she had asked for 40,000 soldiers. In the discussions in Washington, also at issue was whether active-duty troops could respond faster and in larger numbers than the Guard. By last Wednesday, Pentagon officials said even the 82nd Airborne, which has a brigade on standby to move out within 18 hours, could not arrive any faster than 7,000 National Guard troops, which are specially trained and equipped for civilian law enforcement duties. In the end, the flow of thousands of National Guard soldiers, especially military police, was accelerated from other states. "I was there. I saw what needed to be done," Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said in an interview. "They were the fastest, best-capable, most appropriate force to get there in the time allowed. And that's what it's all about." But one senior Army officer expressed puzzlement that active-duty troops were not summoned sooner, saying 82nd Airborne troops were ready to move out from Fort Bragg, N.C., on Sunday, the day before the hurricane hit. The call never came, administration officials said, in part because military officials believed Guard troops would get to the stricken region faster and because administration civilians worried that there could be political fallout if federal troops were forced to shoot looters. Louisiana officials were furious that there was not more of a show of force, in terms of relief supplies and troops, from the federal government in the middle of last week. As the water was rising in New Orleans, the governor repeatedly questioned whether Washington had started its promised surge of federal resources. "We needed equipment," Ms. Blanco said in an interview. "Helicopters. We got isolated." Aides to Ms. Blanco said she was prepared to accept the deployment of active-duty military officials in her state. But she and other state officials balked at giving up control of the Guard as Justice Department officials said would have been required by the Insurrection Act if those combat troops were to be sent in before order was restored. In a separate discussion last weekend, the governor also rejected a more modest proposal for a hybrid command structure in which both the Guard and active-duty troops would be under the command of an active-duty, three-star general - but only after he had been sworn into the Louisiana National Guard. Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, director of operations for the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the Pentagon in August streamlined a rigid, decades-old system of deployment orders to allow the military's Northern Command to dispatch liaisons to work with local officials before an approaching hurricane. The Pentagon is reviewing events from the time Hurricane Katrina reached full strength and bore down on New Orleans and five days later when Mr. Bush ordered 7,200 active-duty soldiers and marines to the scene. [boy that sure sounds like "everything" you've got to me ]After the hurricane passed New Orleans and the levees broke, flooding the city, it became increasingly evident that disaster-response efforts were badly bogged down. Justice Department lawyers, who were receiving harrowing reports from the area, considered whether active-duty military units could be brought into relief operations even if state authorities gave their consent - or even if they refused. The issue of federalizing the response was one of several legal issues considered in a flurry of meetings at the Justice Department, the White House and other agencies, administration officials said. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales urged Justice Department lawyers to interpret the federal law creatively to help local authorities, [a good thing here] those officials said. For example, federal prosecutors prepared to expand their enforcement of some criminal statutes like anti-carjacking laws that can be prosecuted by either state or federal authorities. On the issue of whether the military could be deployed without the invitation of state officials, the Office of Legal Counsel, the unit within the Justice Department that provides legal advice to federal agencies, concluded that the federal government had authority to move in even over the objection of local officials. This act was last invoked in 1992 for the Los Angeles riots, but at the request of Gov. Pete Wilson of California, and has not been invoked over a governor's objections since the civil rights era - and before that, to the time of the Civil War, administration officials said. Bush administration, Pentagon and senior military officials warned that such an extreme measure would have serious legal and political implications. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said deployment of National Guard soldiers to Iraq, including a brigade from Louisiana, did not affect the relief mission, but Ms. Blanco disagreed. "Over the last year, we have had about 5,000 out, at one time," she said. "They are on active duty, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. That certainly is a factor." By Friday, National Guard reinforcements had arrived, and a truck convoy of 1,000 Guard soldiers brought relief supplies - and order - to the convention center area. Officials from the Department of Homeland Security say the experience with Hurricane Katrina has demonstrated flaws in the nation's plans to handle disaster. "This event has exposed, perhaps ultimately to our benefit, a deficiency in terms of replacing first responders who tragically may be the first casualties," Paul McHale, the assistant secretary of defense for domestic security, said. Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security, has suggested that active-duty troops be trained and equipped to intervene if front-line emergency personnel are stricken. But the Pentagon's leadership remains unconvinced that this plan is sound, suggesting instead that the national emergency response plans be revised to draw reinforcements initially from civilian police, firefighters, medical personnel and hazardous-waste experts in other states not affected by a disaster. The federal government rewrote its national emergency response plan after the Sept. 11 attacks, but it relied on local officials to manage any crisis in its opening days. But Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed local "first responders," including civilian police and the National Guard. At a news conference on Saturday, Mr. Chertoff said, "The unusual set of challenges of conducting a massive evacuation in the context of a still dangerous flood requires us to basically break the traditional model and create a new model, one for what you might call kind of an ultra-catastrophe."" Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker reported from Washington for this article, and Eric Lipton from Baton Rouge, La. David Johnston contributed reporting. www.nytimes.com
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save the cheerleader - save the world
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#599
09-09-2005, 07:49 PM
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The government told the press they couldn't photograph the bodies in N. O. anymore. CNN then filed suit, they are not going to refrain from photographing them. I've seen some heinous images but I think it is somewhat necessary so that people can understand what went on down there. I hope no children have seen them though. I am amazed that CNN has found their cajones for this.
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~Suzy
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#600
09-09-2005, 07:51 PM
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Stephanie Miller said one of her listeners told her that her 8 year old daughter said, "Mom, it's like the Titanic. All the reach people got out but the poor people did not." From the mouths of babes.
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