Riehl World View

Journalists Disgraced At The Superdome

Read the whole thing - h/t to Richard and Dean Esmay, as well as two readers - one was Jeanne.

Such shoddy professionalism might be expected from one team or another at some of the more boring Super Bowls. But you would think that when certain journalists get their shot at the big time, they might have brought along a better game.

We don't normally cover this type of thing, but seeing it first hand air live on Hannity & Colmes  Sept 2nd, we felt compelled to post this disturbing emotional plea on behalf of these two brave reporters.

Geraldo Rivera and Shepard "Shep" Smith are in the front lines of the New Orleans Super-dome refugee camps, trying to beg the US Government to release the tens of thousands of refugees from hurricane Katrina. Mr Smiths piece mentioned he's seen people with their throats slashed, babies stuffed in coolers, and worse human atrocities.

Or maybe they were just playing the ratings game, after all.

After five days managing near-riots, medical horrors and unspeakable living conditions inside the Superdome, Louisiana National Guard Col. Thomas Beron prepared to hand over the dead to representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Following days of internationally reported killings, rapes and gang violence inside the Dome, the doctor from FEMA - Beron doesn't remember his name - came prepared for a grisly scene: He brought a refrigerated 18-wheeler and three doctors to process bodies.

"I've got a report of 200 bodies in the Dome," Beron recalls the doctor saying.

The real total was six, Beron said. Of those, four died of natural causes, one overdosed and another jumped to his death in an apparent suicide, said Beron

So, I'm Wondering

Where are all the news cameras now? They certainly seemed to almost enjoy showing us the devastation in downtown New Orleans.

CREOLE, La. (AP) - Hurricane Rita's path of devastation along the Texas-Louisiana coast became shockingly clear Monday, as rescuers pulled stranded bayou residents out on skiffs and Army helicopters searched for thousands of cattle feared drowned.

Crews struggled to clean up the tangle of smashed homes and downed trees. The hurricane slammed low-lying fishing villages, shrimping ports and ranches with water up to 9 feet deep. Seawater pushed as far as 20 miles inland, drowning acres of rice, sugarcane fields and pasture.

In coastal Terrebonne Parish, the count of severely damaged or destroyed homes stood at nearly 9,900. An estimated 80 percent of the buildings in the town of Cameron, population 1,900, were leveled. Farther inland, half of Creole, population 1,500, was left in splinters.

"I would use the word destroyed," Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore said of Cameron. "Cameron and Creole have been destroyed except for the courthouse, which was built on stilts on higher ground. Most of the houses and public buildings no longer exist or are even in the same location that they were."

Hurricane Recovery

There's a real danger that political infighting and popular demand could easily lead to another disaster in New Orleans, especially as most experts are predicting a decade or two of increased hurricane activity due, not to global warming, but cycles of atmospheric and water temperature conditions as old as man himself.

The largest previous flood recovery and rebuilding effort took place, in of all places, North Dakota and Minnesota. ABC News apparently profiled it Sunday night and they have some sound advice for New Orleans.

The Humane Society Needs Your Help

As of now, three weeks after Katrina hit, there are still hundreds of stranded and abandoned pets that are starving to death in their homes. A dedicated group of volunteers is doing their best to feed and water these animals and 2,000 others until better shelter arrangements can be made.

Ideally, they are asking for volunteers, not money. If you can possibly be of assistance, see contact information below.

PLEASE COME NOW!!!!!!!!! we are DESPERATE for reliable people to assist in feeding and watering animals trapped in homes. We have thousands of animals still trapped WITHOUT FOOD OR WATER AFTER 3 WEEKS! We do not have enough rescuers to save them. Volunteers are stressed and overworked and heading home. We need as many people as are able to come down immediately with tents and sleeping bags. If you have a van, SUV, ryder truck, ETC. you're expecially needed since you can ferry in supplies. Report to barn 5 when you arrive or go to the 6am meeting to be deployed with a rescue team. Just come, no need to respond to this email. THANK YOU!!!!!! PLEASE CROSS POST

There is an urgent need for volunteers to come for three day shifts in Louisiana to help starving dog and cat victims of hurricane Katrina. HSUS and other organizations need people to staff what is now the nations largest animal shelter. Which is in truth, nothing more than a makeshift facility with over 2,000 animals.

We also need people to go into the city and feed and rescue thousands of starving animals. Volunteers need only report to:

La Mar Dixon Center Command Center

9039 S. Saint Landry Road

Gonzales, LA Anytime - Day or Night

Be prepared for a chaotic situation. Bring a tent, sleeping bag or be prepared to sleep in your car. There is also an air conditioned area with cots. People that are physically fit and can enter New Orleans must bring sturdy shoes, long pants, sun visor or hat, crow bar and a utility knife. If you can just commit to a three day shift you will save more animals than we can express. Please come now! Just do it.

This request is coming from: David Meyer Executive Director 1-800-save-a-pet.com Acting Feed & Rescue Commander HSUS at La Mar Dixon

Lamar Dixon Coordinator

Neither Rain Nor ... Um

anything else can stay these couriers from their appointed pole dances. Looks like New Orleans has its priorities back in order.

Emergency workers helping New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina are being kept in good spirits - by strippers and erotic dancers.

Saucy shows are once again being staged in the city's famous French Quarter. Bourbon Street's Deja Vu Showgirls club, which reopened this week, is the first strip joint to resume business after Katrina.

And instead of drunken tourists, the crowds are mainly made up of police, firefighters and military personnel. Dancer Dawn Beasley, 27, said: It's nice to get back to work, and all these men need some entertainment.

Katrina Death Toll 1,000 and Counting

With all the blame being passed around as regards the handling of Hurricane Katrina, I'm amazed at how much lower the loss of life has been than early estimates indicated. Many were predicting a disaster with a much greater loss of life.

Obviously, it's hard to be thankful for that - but it is something.

Searchers smashed through doors in New Orleans on Wednesday, bringing their hunt for the dead to homes that had been locked and to blocks hardest hit by Katrina's flooding. Behind those doors, officials said they expected a sharply escalating body count even as the overall death toll passed 1,000.

"There still could be quite a few, especially in the deepest flooded areas," said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jeffrey Pettitt, who is overseeing the retrieval of bodies. "Some of the houses, they haven't been in yet." Officials said searchers are beginning to find more children.

Hurricane Katrina: A Very Personal Account

Pundita has a link up to a very well done personal account of events on the ground during the aftermath of Katrina.

Tracy was a Master Sergeant with me in the US Air Force and we were stationed together for several years. Friendships formed in the military are far stronger than anything a civilian can experience. They usually last until the grave. I won't go into the psychology of it, it is just so. You usually bond to one particular individual, and Tracy was it. He was my Best Buddy, and that is spelt with two capital B's.

Language Warning

Severe language alert ahead. Please DO NOT click this link if vulgar language offends you. If it does not, it's effin' hilarious. ; )

And laced with more than a little bit of truth.

Hurricane Katrina Profiteering

I understand O'Reilly has jumped on the the oil companies are profiteering bandwagon. Actually, I think that's a simplistic view failing to take into account the costs to the industry to dig itself out and also to get gasoline flowing again at a decent pace. That isn't an easy challenge to begin with between the environmentalists and relevant government tax structure at the pump.

Now, this is profiteering - or call it speculation if you want. But I believe it should include some type of exemption for former residents who wish to re-establish themselves in New Orleans.

So now, residents returning to the affected region to find their homes uninhabitable will not be able to rent or buy at pre-Katrina prices. And there is the added adventure of facing foreclosure:

Hurricane Katrina - 911 Audio

For approximately 12 hours the Biloxi police department was unable to respond to pleas for help from those in Katrina's path. (Transcript here) This file is an edited mp3 audio only version of the recordings of some of the 911 calls which came in during that time. Complete news video from WLQX-TV at link above.

911 calls