Asian Indian workers in US face human rights violation

Not one of the travel trailers from
the NOLA story except by coincidence.
One would think at some point I'd become blasé about such stories, but I certainly hope not.

The trailers probably also contain formaldehyde fumes.

A trailer house meant for just three people is shared by 24 Indian workers in the United States. This kind of accommodation has been allegedly given to over 500 Indian workers by a construction company in New Orleans over the past one year. As much as $35 a day were deducted from the salary of the workers for this style of accommodation with a little food.

I wonder if this is also one of the construction companies hiring illegal immigrants for Katrina reconstruction?

NOLA has been FUBAR in about every respect imaginable.

Note: Headline links to source.

Bush to ask for US$195b to fund Iraq, Afgan wars: report

OK Democrats, you're getting another chance to redeem yourselves in the eyes of Americans and the world.

Tell the American people you care about the troops and that's why your trying to get them home. Don't buy into the "don't support the troops" shit the Republicans will bellow. Support is sending good money after bad. Caring is bringing them home so they won't be killed or maimed.

Don't blow it this time.

The White House will ask Congress next week to approve another massive spending measure for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan totalling nearly 200 billion US dollars, The Los Angeles Times reported on its website late Saturday.

Citing unnamed Pentagon officials, the newspaper said if President George W. Bush's spending request is approved, 2008 will be the most expensive year of the Iraq war.


Mine Resistant Ambush Protected armored vehicle (MRAP)

US war costs have continued to grow because of the additional combat forces sent to Iraq this year and because of efforts to quickly ramp up production of new equipment, such as mine-resistant trucks, the report said.

The new trucks can cost three to six times as much as an armoured Humvee, according to the paper.

Of course, if the troops aren't in Iraq, they won't need these MRAPs will they?

The Bush administration said earlier this year that it probably would need 147.5 billion US dollars for fiscal 2008, but Pentagon officials now say that and 47 billion US dollars more will be required, The Times said.

Mercenaries don't come cheap I guess.

And NOLA, just wait your turn. Jesus H Christ in sandals, can't ya show a little patience? Its only been a couple years now.

Via Channelnewsasia.

Mortgage Company Accused of Defrauding Katrina Victims

Now isn't this just peachy. It seem Countrywide, who's being hit by the housing market crunch, has found an instant source of income. All they have to do is break their promise to NOLA homeowners.

Angry homeowners hit hard by Hurricane Katrina are accusing Countrywide Home Loans of reneging on a promise to help them by temporarily suspending their mortgage payments.

According to a class-action lawsuit filed in Louisiana today, homeowners say the mortgage giant is now demanding any deferred payments be paid up immediately, often with interest and penalties attached. Plaintiffs' attorneys say that as a result, many struggling homeowners have been sent into foreclosure.

In a goodwill gesture after Katrina hit two years ago, Countrywide announced it would suspend mortgage payments for hurricane victims for up to 90 days. Homeowners say they were told by Countrywide agents that any deferred payments would be added to the back end of the loan term, and that no lump sum, interest or penalties would be imposed.

According to the lawsuit, however, homeowners have been notified by Countrywide that they have to either pay the entire deferred amount immediately or restructure their loan in a way that would cost them thousands of additional dollars.

My oh my those people have such warm hearts.

Via The Blotter.

Katrina: Slavery returns to Miss. and Ala.

Sometimes tears are the only proper response.

The invaluable Center for Southern Studies tell the story of a labor "recruiter" who dispatched a police captain to kidnap a group of Mexican pipe-fitters and welders who fled an abusive work site. The cop said the recruiter was their "owner." Read the workers testimony:

Sorry, but so fucking true

This is such a horrible example of how Bush "protects / cares for the American people" that...

If you voted for this cretin, just commit suicide so you can never vote again, K?

Via Big Shot Bob in Texas.

Medical experts never testified in Katrina hospital deaths

Uh, I just don't get this.

A New Orleans grand jury that declined to indict a doctor on charges that she murdered patients in the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina never heard testimony from five medical experts brought in by the state to analyze the deaths.

All five concluded that as many as nine patients were victims of homicide.

In detailed, written statements, the five specialists -- whose expertise includes forensic medicine, medical ethics and palliative care -- determined that patients at Memorial Medical Center had been deliberately killed with overdoses of drugs after Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005.

The grand jury had been asked to consider second-degree murder charges against a doctor and two nurses in four deaths. But in July, the grand jury decided that no one should be indicted.

A grand jury is charged with determining whether there is sufficient evidence to indict a defendant and pursue a trial. The grand jury's proceedings are held in secret, and grand jurors and officers of the court are typically prohibited from divulging what goes on in grand jury sessions.

In a decision that puzzled the five experts hired by the state, New Orleans District Attorney Eddie Jordan never called them to testify before the grand jury. What remains unclear, because of grand jury secrecy laws, is whether the grand jury even saw the experts' written reports. [emphasis mine]

Via CNN.

Bush to commemorate Katrina anniversary

File this under "returning to the scene of the crime".

First there were the references to Vietnam in a speech. Now the idiot in chief is going to NOLA. Karl Rove would never have allowed either to happen. Perhaps he really was "the brain". Obviously those advising Bush now have none.

President Bush will return to the Gulf Coast next week, where hard times and resentment linger two years after Hurricane Katrina's massive strike.

Bush will fly into New Orleans on Tuesday after giving a speech about the Iraq war to the American Legion convention in Reno, Nev. On Wednesday, the anniversary of the storm, he is expected to examine recovery efforts in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The guy has no clue. He's done little to help NOLA. Its been a complete debacle, but he's going there anyway. What a maroon.

BTW, that image is from the FEMA.gov sight.

Via Yahoo News.

Read it and weep

Why doesn't Bushco just kill all the NOLA survivors and quit fucking them? Is it a fetish?

While Willie Ann Williams waited for federal aid to rebuild her home in the hurricane flooded 9th Ward, it was demolished — apparently by mistake.

There was nothing left but bare dirt.

A city official told her family that the wood-frame house should not have been torn down, but no one has told them why it happened or what happens next.

Imagine this happening to you. Please, imagine.

(read more)

Corps placed faulty pumps in New Orleans

I really apologize to my readers. I've ignored this story and should not have.

The Army Corps of Engineers, rushing to meet President Bush's promise to protect New Orleans by the start of the 2006 hurricane season, installed defective flood-control pumps last year despite warnings from its own expert that the equipment would fail during a storm, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The 2006 hurricane season turned out to be mild, and the new pumps were never pressed into action. But the Corps and the politically connected manufacturer of the equipment are still struggling to get the 34 heavy-duty pumps working properly.

The pumps are now being pulled out and overhauled because of excessive vibration, Corps officials said. Other problems have included overheated engines, broken hoses and blown gaskets, according to the documents obtained by the AP.

Such a huge surprise. Its a "politically connected manufacturer" who is fucking NOLA. What does Bush have to do before he's thrown out on his ass? Just asking.

And yes, I do blame Bush because he's a fucking bully who would pressure people at the Army Corps of Engineers to do whatever it takes to "appear" to protect people.

(read more)

Bush ''saddened'' by verdict in CIA leak case

Forget about the hundreds of thousand dead in Iraq and Afghanistan. Forget about the thousands still homeless 18 months after Katrina hit NOLA. Bush is "saddened" because one fucking slime ball lobbyists has been convicted of lying to the FBI and perjured himself. Ya gotta love his sense of priorities.

U.S. President George W. Bush was "saddened" by the jury's verdict on Tuesday that Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was guilty in the leak case regarding the identity of Valerie Plame, a former covert agent of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the White House said.

"He said that he respected the jury's verdict, that he was saddened for Scooter Libby and his family," White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino said at a news briefing.

Its really difficult to tell who the bigger slime ball is. Oops, it isn't difficult at all. No one is a larger slime ball than Dim Son.

(read more)

White House Opens Doors to Iraq Refugees

File under: Its about fucking time. Bush is creating the refugee problem without doing anything to help them. Of course Bush blames the UN.

The Bush administration plans to allow about 7,000 Iraqi refugees to settle in the United States over the next year, a huge expansion at a time of mounting international pressure to help millions who have fled their homes in the nearly four-year-old war.

Of course, 7,000 and even 20,000 are inadequate. Because the number is much larger according to this and this.

Truth is there are many thousand Iraqi refugees and the US won't let them come in.

It boggles the mind how Bush can fuck things up and completely ignore the plight of the people he has screwed. NOLA? Just asking.

(read more)

Something has gone terribly wrong

The United States of America is supposed to be the land of milk and honey where the streets are paved with gold. Uh, more likely the streets are paved with despair. Shall we take the tour?

Every night more than 1 million children in America face the dark with no place to call home. They are hungry, anxious and often exposed to violence. They shuttle between shelters and fall behind in school.


A new UNICEF report puts Britain and the United States at the bottom of the table of the best wealthy countries for children.

The number of unemployed persons (7.0 million) and the unemployment rate (4.6 percent) were about unchanged in January [2007].

Mayor Ray Nagin told a Senate committee Monday that the rebuilding of New Orleans is getting shortchanged in light of the billions poured into the war in Iraq, and he suggested racism is part of the explanation...

The United States ranked 28th in the world in infant mortality in 1998...

Five out of every 100 young adults enrolled in high school in October 1999 left school before October 2000 without successfully completing a high school program.

Other programs such as energy programs will get $4.1 billion (huge surprise), while 141 programs that primarily help the poor, children, the elderly, veterans and the handicapped will see their money drastically cut or eliminated.

The Democratic congressman who will investigate the Bush administration's running of the government says there are so many areas of possible wrongdoing, his biggest problem will be deciding which ones to pursue.

To be fair, some of these numbers are improving, but they should never have gotten so bad in the first place.