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"A plan to move 4,000 Hurricane Katrina refugees from temporary shelter in the Astrodome to a pair of cruise ships anchored in Galveston was dry-docked yesterday when none of the refugees would agree to trade their cots on the floor of the aging stadium for beds aboard the luxury ocean liners.
"I'm too busy trying to find the rest of my family members to even think about another move," said Tracy Youngblood, 28, as she stood in line outside the Reliant Center here to apply for emergency housing. "If after we get settled they want to give us a two-week cruise to Jamaica, I might be interested."
Red-faced officials now admit they misread the mood and "psychology" of the evacuees when they hatched the cruise ship plan, saying their intent was the safety and well-being of the evacuees."
"The Ecstasy and Sensation (with a total of 4,000 beds) are docked in Galveston, an hour's drive south of Houston, while the Holiday is docked in Mobile, Ala., ready to house another 1,800 people. The ships are under contract to the U.S. federal government for the next six months."
That this plan wasn't well thought out is an understatement. So the Carnival line just received $192 million of our tax dollars. For nothing. Who wants to bet that the CEO of Carnival is a huge Bush donor. Head of FEMA, Brownie, is a nitwit.