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Knight Ridder:
Brown is merely a symbol of the problems at FEMA, experts say — WASHINGTON - Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown, who on Friday was sent back to Washington, is the poster boy for what's gone wrong with an agency once lauded for its lightning reflexes.
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Time:
How Reliable Is Brown's Resume? — A TIME investigation reveals discrepancies in the FEMA chief's official biographies — 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 …
Los Angeles Times:
A Barrier That Could Have Been — Congress OKd a project to protect New Orleans 40 years ago, but an environmentalist suit halted it. Some say it could have worked. — In the wake of Hurricane Betsy 40 years ago, Congress approved a massive hurricane barrier to protect New Orleans from storm surges that could inundate the city.
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BrothersJudd Blog
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Associated Press:
Gore airlifts victims from New Orleans — Former vice president chartered two private aircraft — KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — Al Gore helped airlift some 270 Katrina evacuees on two private charters from New Orleans, acting at the urging of a doctor who saved the life of the former vice president's son.
Associated Press:
Iraq hurt Katrina response, general says — Pentagon says it can handle both the disaster and Iraq war — BAY ST. LOUIS, Mississippi (AP) — The deployment of thousands of National Guard troops from Mississippi and Louisiana in Iraq when Hurricane Katrina struck hindered …
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The Washington Monthly
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Associated Press:
Gay advocates plan to post names of anti-gay marriage petition signers — BOSTON —Two gay activists are promising to post on the Internet the names and addresses of anyone who signs a petition that could lead to a statewide ban on gay marriage. — The move by Thomas Lang and Alexander Westerhoff …
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La Shawn / La Shawn Barber's Corner:Two 'Tolerant' Homosexuals Try to Intimidate
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Wizbang
James Wolcott:
FROM BLAME GAME TO NUMBERS GAME — The mayor of New Orleans predicted the death toll from Hurricane Katrina could reach 10,000. Officials at the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team—DMORT, an apt acronym—guesstimated the death toll at 40,000. Splitting the difference somewhat …
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The American Street
Erin McClam / breitbart.com:
Death Toll May Be Far Less Than Expected — Alarming predictions of as many as 10,000 dead in New Orleans may have been greatly exaggerated, with authorities saying Friday that the first street-by-street sweep of the swamped city revealed far fewer corpses than feared.
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Tony Carnes / Opinion Journal:
The Russians Are Coming — The newest Jewish immigrants vote Republican. — Pity Larry Lowenthal. His job as executive director of the Boston branch of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) includes finding and training leaders from among the 700,000 Russian Jews who have immigrated to the U.S. in the last 30 years.
Washington Post:
Gonzales Is Defended As Suitable for Court — Allies Call Attorney General a True Conservative — Supporters of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales have launched a campaign to rebut criticism that he is not reliably conservative enough to serve on the Supreme Court …
jerrypournelle.com:
Trust Us — One thing is clear: federalizing everything into "FEMA" was a horrible idea. When there was an Office of Civil Defense and LOCAL Civil Defense organizations coordinated through the Federal OCD, there were training exercises, many of the officials were volunteers who lived in the area …
Will Lester / Associated Press:
In Poll, Most Say Abandon Flooded Areas — WASHINGTON (AP) — More than half the people in this country say the flooded areas of New Orleans lying below sea level should be abandoned and rebuilt on higher ground. — An AP-Ipsos poll found that 54 percent of Americans want the vast sections …
CNN:
Coast Guard admiral to lead relief effort — Beleaguered FEMA chief Michael Brown sent home — BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (CNN) — Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown was replaced Friday as the man in charge of the Hurricane Katrina federal relief effort.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Stakeholder, Outside The Beltway and The Blogging of the President
James Gerstenzang / Los Angeles Times:
Embattled FEMA Chief Removed From Hurricane Relief Efforts — WASHINGTON — Michael Brown, the embattled head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was removed today from a direct role in running the relief and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Michael Chertoff …
CNN:
Judge supports CNN request to cover Katrina's toll — HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) — At the request of CNN, a federal judge in Texas Friday night blocked emergency officials in New Orleans from preventing the media from covering the recovery of bodies from Hurricane Katrina.
National Review:
Talking Their Way Out of the Scandal — AUTHOR'S NOTE: On September 7, Paul Volcker's United Nations-authorized Independent Inquiry Committee delivered its main report on the corrupt Oil-for-Food program through which the U.N. from 1996-2003 supervised oil sales and relief purchases for Saddam Hussein's U.N.-sanctioned Iraq.
Discussion:
Roger L. Simon
Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit.com:
CRONYISM AT FEMA: … I have to say I agree with Rod Dreher, who writes: … Yes. It's not that these guys have campaign ties — it's that they don't seem to have anything else. What's sad is that if Bush were packing the NEH or NEA with people like that, there'd probably have been an outcry.
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One Hand Clapping
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Rod Dreher / The Corner on National Review Online:THE COST OF CRONYISM
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Daily Pundit, ProfessorBainbridge.com, Eschaton, Cold Fury, Unfogged, EdCone.com and Talking Points Memo