Pickles, can you spare some crumbs?

[merh]

For Katrina Survivors?

December 2, 2005
Reporters taste tradition at White House

WASHINGTON -- Nibbling on frosted gingerbread snowflakes, the hungry horde circled a long, laden buffet table in the State Dining Room on Wednesday, mapping out strategic third, or perhaps fourth, follow-ups.
For the sake of honest journalistic inquiry, reporters were sampling the White House fare that President Bush and first lady Laura Bush will serve some 9,500 guests at 26 Christmas parties in the coming 21 days.

Would accurate reporting require an additional lap around the dessert table, with just a spoonful each of raspberries in whipped cream, hot cherry cake, apple cobbler, chocolate soufflé and pumpkin custard?
"This is always a very, very happy time here at the White House," said Laura Bush.

The food sampling, which follows the first lady's annual tour of a White House bedecked for the holidays, is a Washington tradition.
The White House decorations theme this year is "All Things Bright and Beautiful," explained Bush.

"We wanted to use real and fresh flowers and garlands and fruits, and that's what we've done."

(snip)

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051202/LIVING/512020371/1007/LIVING

Tents available

Harrison County officials announced Thursday that heated, family-sized private tents are available for Hurricane Katrina victims still in need of temporary shelter. These tents are large enough for an entire family to live together indoors, sheltered from the cold weather. Food is available on-site, as well as a laundry facility and security.

The tents are located at 4480 Espy Avenue and will be available until the end of January. If interested, call [phone] from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Please leave a message if there is no answer, and someone will call back.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1976185

[Bob3]

1. there are just days you want to grab a pike and storm the Bastille

Yah know. How long can this go on without some huge backlash? You could start to worry after a while.

[Double T]

2. ..........and some razzleberry dressing????

gee.....thank you mrs. ebenezer bush

[BJW]

3. thx for posting--excellent contrast

:kick:

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. They ought to be embarrassed to put on feeds like that

Who's paying for all that anyway?

[MadHound]

7. Well we do of course!

And these neo-con RW assholes bitch about poor folks on welfare, even though that welfare takes up only 0.8% of the Federal budget. I'm betting that this little shindig set us back a pretty penny, and you and I and especially those poor victims of Katrina get squat. Invite only, can't have those huddled masses ruining the party:eyes:

[leftchick]

5. can you just imagine if a Democratic President did this??

it would be on TV 24/7 with potential for impeachment. :puke:

[LibDemAlways]

6. Pickles is a disgrace.

It's a safe bet that every one of those 9500 guests is a "have or have more" who has profited mightily under the reign of the Bush Crime Family. All that's missing from Pickle's quote is ,"As for the little people who are financing all this ostentatious partying, well, let them eat cake."

[leftchick]

8. Could you spare a cookie for Lydia pickles??

Lower Ninth Ward resident Lydia LaGaurde sits near her damaged home and a barge (R) which damaged a levee during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans December 4, 2005. House Financial Services Committee members criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Thursday for forcing Hurricane Katrina evacuees from hotels too soon and leaving them with few housing options. (Lee Celano/Reuters)

[merh]

9. There is no way to put into words the feelings that woman

is experiencing :cry:

Been there ....

[leftchick]

10. I know...

:hug: :loveya: :hug:

[merh]

13. It is a nightmare we all share, but have to go through alone.

It will be with us always.

I know that the love and support of DUers has helped me in ways that I can never understand, let alone explain. The DU community has helped me know that I am not alone - think of those that don't have this blessing, that fight with their insurance companies, FEMA/Bechtel, SBA, the local authorities and have grown weary and are left with little hope because the doors are closed in their faces or they are told their claim is still being considered.

:cry:

[ninkasi]

60. That's a heartbreaking picture

Merh, I know what you've gone through. The woman in the picture looks so tired, and so discouraged. She must wonder why her country has abandoned her. I wonder the same thing. Even if, up until this point, Bush had been an adequate president, for his abandonment of the people hurt by Katrina alone, I would hate him.

America is shamed in the eyes of the world for they way the government has neglected a beautiful city. All Bush knows how to do is destroy, and steal for his cronies.

[merh]

70. Its not just the abandonment of the city of NO

It is the abandonment of 100 miles of cities and people. New Orleans was damaged and foresaken, but the coast of MS was basically obliterated, entire cities wiped out.

The support that was promised has not come.

[fooj]

11. OMG!

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[dzika]

12. Excellent contrast.

Hey Merh!

[merh]

14. where have you been dzika?

:hug: It is so good to see you. :loveya:

I hope you and your pup are doing well and staying warm. :grouphug:

[fooj]

15. Yo, dude!!!

Nice to run into you!!!:hi: I see your wonderful video work everywhere!

Peace.

[bleever]

43. Hey dzika.

:hi:

Hope you're well and prospering.

[FreedomAngel82]

51. Hey Dzika!!

[ClayZ]

16. We need a "Shit and Shinola" Committee

The gulf coast needs more SHINOLA and the whitehouse should be pointed out for their

[SpiralHawk]

17. "All Things Bright and Beautiful" WTF?

Get a grip, Laura.

[PA Democrat]

18. Yes "all things bright and beautiful"

except the corrupt and blackened hearts of those in the Bush White House.

Thanks merh. I wish your exercise in compare and contrast could be blasted across the MSM. We taxpayers are footing the bill for Laura's "happy time" while people are desperate for basic necessities.

[knitter4democracy]

35. But we always do.

It's tradition for our nation's house to be decorated. Usually, in war time, it's less opulent and less expensive (although I'd bet that the flowers and all were donated, as the ornaments usually are), but it still needs to look good for visiting dignitaries and all.

I do wonder how they're going to put all those flowers and all in the Smithsonian, as federal law states that the Christmas decorations have to be archived in the Smithsonian after the holidays are over.

[Anita Garcia]

19. No FEMA tents in Louisiana

There will be no tents in Louisiana. Gov. Blanco said we didn't want no stinkin' tents. Either she had no idea how nice these FEMA tents are compared to living outside or she was afraid of the political backlash from putting potential voters in tents.
That, and relinquishing power to Parish Councils to decide where to place trailers were her two biggest mistakes. I wish she would step up to the plate and show us the leadership I know she must have inside of her.

[merh]

20. Dear God, no tents.

What the hell are people living in? I mean, it takes weeks and months to get trailers.

:argh:

[NJCher]

24. their cars

There was a story on television about a New Orleans woman who looked to be about 60 and she has been sleeping in her car every night for the past six weeks.

They showed trailers outside of peoples' wrecked houses--no keys to get in.

This is just disgraceful. How I loathe these people.




Cher

[merh]

25. OMG --

:cry: I am so lucky, I got a trailer and the keys to it before they realized that they had to establish all sorts of red tape to hamper our access to the trailers.

I am one of the fortunate ones. :cry:

[kineneb]

63. who needs stinking keys,

hand me that pry bar. Time to start disobeying the laws that punish the poor and victims. Screw those bureaucratic bastards. Build Hoover(bush)villes on the statehouse lawn. Maybe the message will get out.

:grr:

[NMDemDist2]

21. Welcome to DU Anita Garcia

:hi:

I'm really sorry about LA. I'll be there for Christmas visiting my stepmom in Shreveport

she didn't even get a breeze from Katrina......

hang in there. :hug:

[DoBotherMe]

38. It was a FEMA official not Blanco

Americans don't sleep in tents."
--Unnamed FEMA official, responding to the head of the Hurricane Center of Louisiana State University who was trying to urge FEMA to set up tent cities in other states to handle the hundreds of thousands of Katrina survivors. The story was told by Tim Russert on `Imus in the Morning' (9/6/05)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/7/84411/03598

[blonndee]

45. Thank you for correcting that misinformation.

People really ought to know what they're talking about before they start accusing others.

[merh]

46. Thank you for the correction.

:hi:

[Anita Garcia]

54. I was told by the President of the LA NAACP

on December 3rd that it was Blanco who told FEMA that she did not want FEMA tents in Louisiana. I do not know about tent cities outside of Louisiana for Louisiana citizens who were forced to evacuate.
President Johnson said that Gov. Blanco was offered tents and trailers early after Hurricane. President Johnson said that Gov. Blanco did not want FEMA to provide tents, only trailers.
The failure of Gov. Blanco to accept FEMA tents is not an accusation. It is a fact. How many citizens in Louisiana have tents provided by FEMA? Zero. If you do see a FEMA tent in Louisiana, it is being used by FEMA employees and FEMA contractors, not FEMA applicants.

[Stephanie]

22. Sorry, there are no crumbs to spare. We spent the money on fresh flowers -

for the White House trees. Fresh flowers are so lovely, don't you agree? Suggest you eat cake.

love,
Queen Laura

[merh]

26. But we have special smells too

But we have special smells too and could use the sweet smell
of the flowers to help us deal with the devastation and destruction and death. :cry:


Anne White walks through a neighbor's property on Hardy Street in Gulfport where rotting chicken parts remain after being washed there during Hurricane Katrina. (Sun Herald/James Edward Bates)

Posted on Thu, Dec. 08, 2005
Rotting meat still there
Homeowners must request assistance
By TRACY DASH
[e-mail]

14 weeks and counting. That's how long some Gulfport residents have been waiting to have rotten poultry parts, courtesy of Katrina, removed from their yards.

GULFPORT - Despite promises to have thousands of pounds of rotting chicken and pork removed Wednesday from West Gulfport homes, piles of the decomposed meat were still strewn across lawns there late that day.

Residents have been waiting for 14 weeks to rid their neighborhood of thousands of pounds of raw chicken and pork bellies that were dumped on their property when Hurricane Katrina slammed into South Mississippi. Some have threatened lawsuits.

(snip)

The latest promise came Tuesday. Jeff Newton with R.W. Beck, a firm the city hired to oversee debris removal, said during the City Council meeting it would have all the chicken and pork bellies cleared by the end of Wednesday. However, another representative with the firm told the Sun Herald on Wednesday that the job would be completed only at structures that have been identified.

(snip)

Crews removed the waste from the street and rights of way. But homeowners must request assistance to have the chicken and pork removed.

They are still finding the dead in New Orleans! :cry:

bettyellen
Original message
Bodies of 2 (Actually 3) more Katrina victims found

In both cases, residents were assured the homes had been searched, in the Times Picayune version, the cops are blaming the Feds. This couple's home was marked as if it was searched on Sept 14th and "0" bodies were found. They could have still been alive, but the autopsy coming so late isn't going to tell us that now. How convienent for the Feds.


"Returning to the home on Monday for the first time since August, the caretaker found the bodies of the 97-year-old man and 89-year-old woman.....
snip....

Officer Garry Flot, New Orleans police spokesman, said their identities and causes of death will be determined by the coroner's office, which will perform autopsies and try to contact the family.....snip.....


On Sunday, the body of an 83-year-old man was found by relatives inside his Port Street home in the Ninth Ward. The man had not been seen since Aug. 28, a day before Katrina struck, according to police.

The house had been flooded, officer Juan Barnes had said, and it appeared the man might have drowned. Family found his decomposing body in the front of the house."


more....

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3506176.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=360x81

[ClayZ]

27. ,

:cry:

[fooj]

48. God help us all.

:cry: :cry: :cry:

(((((((((((((((((((((merh))))))))))))))))))))))

[merh]

57. (((( fooj ))))

:hug:

[smirkymonkey]

40. Keep poppin' em Pickles.

No amount of medication will free you from the evil you and your family have wrought. Pig.

[Javaman]

23. Pigs

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. Heated tents and space age blankets

Let pickles and dubya sleep in a heated tent.

[merh]

29. Or even the FEMA/Bechtel/SBA representatives

They have hotel rooms - all of the hotels that are able to accomodate people here are booked by FEMA/Bechtel/SBA/Red Cross.

They get the beds, the showers and indoor facilities, the restaurants, the heat, at a cost to you and ironically, me, one of the ones they are supposed to be here to help.

Life is full of ironies.

[knitter4democracy]

31. That's horrible!

Is it so hard for them to rough it for a bit? Whenever I travelled, I stayed with families and the people we were helping. Their ways were our ways, and it was the best way to know how to help them.

I'd better start making more afghan squares for the knit-along I'm in for the Katrina victims. They'll need more blankets this year.

[merh]

34. The red cross volunteers do stay in camps and in tents and trailers

but the big whigs, the corporate heavies, the FEMA reps and the SBA reps are in hotels and have been since the storm.

I went 15 days without electricity in 90 plus degree weather, sleeping on the floor at my sisters house, standing in lines for ice and water and gas.

The FEMA/SBA folks were in a hotel with A/C and buffet meals and electricity and real beds and baths.

Maybe that is why they have no idea what it means to be in need of a trailer so they don't care when the trailers are delivered. :shrug:

[knitter4democracy]

36. I have little patience with that kind of attitude.

How dare they contribute to the problem by using up precious resources when they're supposedly there to help? Disgusting.

[merh]

37. The whole FEMA/Bechtel/SBA - Homeland Security travisty is

disgusting.

[Anita Garcia]

61. tree cutters kicked out of hotel rooms

A group of tree cutters from a coastal town in Texas told me they were kicked out of their hotel rooms so that "government employees" (their term) could stay in their hotel rooms.
This is their story:
They were hired as tree cutters for the company Pike Electric to cut trees post-Katrina. They were cutting trees behind our house two days before Rita.
I asked them to stay for dinner. They said that they could not because a bus would be picking them up at 6:00 PM to return them to their tent city by the Home Depot or Wal-Mart to wash up and then take them to dinner. After dinner they would be getting back on the bus and returning to the tent city where they are forced to remain until 6:00 AM when a bus would pick them up and take them to a different part of town to cut trees.

One of the guys told me that he was upset about being forced to remain in the tent because the tent was cold, no blankets were provided and he brought warm weather clothes. Another one told me that for three days they had been staying in a hotel room and that the rooms were very nice. One morning they all received notes on their doors telling them that they had to pack up their belongings because they were being moved out for "government employees". The third gentleman told me he was upset because they were promised an increase in their normal wage. He was concerned about his family back home and Rita. He said he could have stayed home, received the same wage and been with his family. The first Gentleman told me that North Carolina workers for this company were getting $15.00 and hour, the Louisiana workers were getting $7.50 an hour and they were getting $8.00 an hour.

Little Pike Electric facts - contributed to DeLay's defense fund.

[knitter4democracy]

30. Whoa.

Not only that, but they didn't have any of the usual groups involved in making the ornaments for the tree (as our guild did in 1998). Btw, the color scheme is hideous. I know that seems callous, but there's tradition at the White House, and they're flouting that, too.

I wonder how much the flower associations offered the RNC to get their spot on the tree. :eyes:

I had better get back to working on the knitted doll for the Katrina victims up here still for Christmas. It won't get done if I don't get my fingers moving to finish and stuff it.

[merh]

32. A friend of mine had a wonderful idea

All over the country, the radio stations should play Bob Geldof recording "do they know it's Christmas" and dedicate it to the hurricane survivors

[knitter4democracy]

33. Do it as a fundraiser, too!

It would be a great way to remind people of how hard it is this year for too many of our brothers and sisters and get the money they need for rebuilding.

[IndyOp]

39. Merh! Post this idea BIG here at DU and ask Creative Types to make

a montage of Katrina images and the Geldof song!! I ***believe*** that the link to this 'music video' would spread far and wide and that it **would** raise money. Make sure that if someone makes it they put links to groups that are really helping people rebuild -- local organizations in LA, MISS, ALA...

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[merh]

42. I like your idea and if you want to run with it, please do.

This forum has been set up for those interested in helping Katrina Survivors, you may want to check it out.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=360

[54anickel]

44. Thank you for the link. eom

[merh]

47. you are welcome. n/t

[leftchick]

41. kick

:kick:

[Ellipsis]

49. Kick

[FreedomAngel82]

50. This year has been so depressing

It's going to be really hard to even try to enjoy Christmas day. :(

[Ellipsis]

52. There are always reasons for joy

But I know what you mean.

[leftchick]

53. I know

I feel the same. :(

[merh]

56. I understand what you are saying, but I won't let Katrina or the

evil weed family and their minions have my Christmas. I have much to be grateful for and there are some truly wonderful people here at DU that have been so kind to me and have helped realize how fortunate I blessed I am.

Do you know that a DUer sent me a tree and decorations? How lucky am I, how can I not celebrate and be of good cheer?

There is a thread in the Hurricane Survivor forum that discusses places to donate.

Heck, the local tv station is accepting coats of all sizes (they do every year) to be distributed to those in need and there is a lot of that here. Find a few of your not used coats and the coats of friends and ship them down to them. You will feel better about the season if you can do something to help folks, coats are important. If it had not been for uppityperson, I wouldn't have a coat - all of my clothes when with the wind (but for a few that were mud soaked) and uppity shipped a bunch of clothes here that had been collected. Fortunately for me, there was a coat just my size.

Be of good cheer, we have to work to improve things (the survivors and the entire nation) and we can't do that if we are all in a holiday funk.

[lonestarnot]

55. Pickles I hope you choke it down! and the flowers give you allergies!

Gain some more on that fat ass with the plastic smiley face. You need it.

[Turn CO Blue]

58. What a different First Lady Tipper or THK would have made...

(sigh).

[EFerrari]

59. God help me.

:kick:

[Solly Mack]

62. "All Things Bright and Beautiful" or "The Great American Facade"

Facade: Land of the free
Reality: Patriot Act, police state, and the erosion of civil liberties

Facade: Rich nation
Reality: Katrina,poverty,lack of money for education,no health care,gutting services for the poor and elderly.

Facade: Land of opportunity
Reality: Racism. Sexism. Classcism.

Facade: "....Justice for all" "Equal protection under the law"
Reality: Racism. Classcism. Sexism. Discrimination aganst the GLBT community. No due process.Disappearing people. Kidnapping people. Money buys "justice"

Facade: "leader in human rights"
Reality: Torture.Ghost detainees.Secret Prisons.GTMO.Abu Ghraib. Illegal wars. Other war crimes.

and the list goes on and on....

America's myth verses America's reality.

Shatter the myths and save America.

[merh]

65. ...

The forgotten -
Third world conditions on our shores and soldiers dying in illegal and immoral wars.
Can this be the reality for the citizens of this country, is this the heritage of the land of liberty?
Where is the outrage, can you not see, how easily this can happen to you?
I never thought it would happen to me.
Foresaken, forgotten and dispensible - the nobel future of we, the people of the United States of America.

[Solly Mack]

66. and the band played on

I love that, btw. What you posted.

[merh]

67. thank you

And thank you for your outrage & concern! :hug:

(I wrote that in desperation, so many here don't see how terribly things are. They don't personalize it and they don't realize how quickly it can happen to them.)

[dooner]

64. excellent post, thank you

(WHY do you people hate CHRISTMAS so much? )

[kliljedahl]

68. Where is that Irony smiley when you need it?

This is fucking criminal. This will still be going on years from now I'm afraid.



Keith’s Barbeque Central

[merh]

69. I wish we had one

x(

[kliljedahl]

73. Best I could come up with

y



Keith’s Barbeque Central

[merh]

74. Thank you - I think that will work.

:hi:

[Fla Dem]

71. Who the heck is paying for those 26 parties?? And who are the

9,500 guests? If this is coming out of tax payers pockets I want a copy of the guest list. If it's being paid by the RNC, then I want to know how many of the invited guests make a contribution to the RNC. After all wasn't Clinton severely criticized for taking contributions from people who stayed overnight in the Lincoln Bedroom? Why would this be any different. The White House should not be used for soliciting contributions.

[merh]

72. Why hasn't the media asked these questions?

Where is the democratic party - why haven't they questioned this?

Where is the outrage?

:cry: