Post #225,366
9/18/05 8:41:48 PM
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Katrina recovery boggle (one of the many)
[link|http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9379239/site/newsweek|MSNBC] In the most macabre mishap, the chief body collector nearly pulled out of New Orleans over a dispute with FEMA. Kenyon Worldwide Disaster Services dispatched a small team and a mobile morgue to New Orleans as Katrina hit. With the death toll rising, Kenyon offered more staff and morgues if FEMA could broker a deal with Louisiana. But FEMA and the company argued for two weeks until Kenyon finally gave the Feds an ultimatum: Work out a deal or find a new mortician. The Louisiana Health Department stepped in and hired Kenyon, which increased its staff in New Orleans 15-fold. The article is about contracting disputes and the problems FEMA is having organizing work. But the following is just loopy. An issue raised by the Feds that Kenyon found distasteful: an instruction that chaplains bless recovered bodies. A company source said the Feds are insisting on this, and the first chaplains are supposed to go out this week. Asked if that was mixing church and state, a FEMA spokeswoman responded: "A prayer is not necessarily religious. Everybody prays." WTF? FEMA is paying chaplains to bless the recovered bodies, and the limited supply of chaplains is holding up the process? There are so many things wrong with that I don't know where to being. And what is with the "Everybody prays" comment? It's hard to imagine a government spokesperson being stupid enough to make such a comment. Is she trying to offend people? Jay
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Post #225,400
9/18/05 11:18:36 PM
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Not to mention
The body recovery folks have gotten into trouble before for the way they treat corpses.
As in dumping them in an incinerator, hiring unlicensed (and poorly trained) embalmers.
This outfit is run by SCI, a Texas (surprise!) company closely associated with the Bushes.
In fact, they starred in [link|http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/08/20/timeline/| a nasty scandal ] dubbed "Funeralgate" while Bush was governor. Somehow, though, at the height of the
investigation, the investigators (from the Texas Funeral Service Commission) were fired and the agency itself was gutted.
Normally I don't like to get involved in these political discussions but these people are disgusting beyond belief.
Tom Sinclair
"I'm vice-president of Throwing Out People Mr Dibbler Doesn't like the
Face of."
-- (Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures)
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Post #225,404
9/18/05 11:59:28 PM
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Don't be a stranger (from political discussions :-)
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Post #225,406
9/19/05 12:10:35 AM
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Well, it's hard work, you know
I feel constrained to avoid wild, baseless accusations and fiery rhetoric.
This by itself limits my participation since I have to work on digging up references to my remarks (Oooh, ten seconds on Google...my fingers! Carpal tunnel! Carpal tunnel!)
On the other hand, since iTunes got podcasting support, I've been listening to a lot of Air America -- Majority Report, The Rachel Maddow Show, Stephanie Miller and, of course, my favorite enraged liberal, Mike Malloy.
Tom Sinclair
Rincewind had been told that death was just like going into another room.
The difference is, when you shout, "Where's my clean socks?", no-one
answers.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Eric)
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Post #225,464
9/19/05 1:11:02 PM
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References...?
This by itself limits my participation since I have to work on digging up references to my remarks (Oooh, ten seconds on Google...my fingers! Carpal tunnel! Carpal tunnel!) On the other hand, since iTunes got podcasting support, I've been listening to a lot of Air America -- Majority Report, The Rachel Maddow Show, Stephanie Miller and, of course, my favorite enraged liberal, Mike Malloy. Hmmmm, can't you just cite that you heard it on such and such show then, or does it have to be a link that people can go and read to be a good reference? Good luck on the Carpal Tunnel, I relate, I have Ulnar Nerve disorder, but it's getting better and better. :) Brenda
"Excel is to math what a Microwave Oven is to cooking!"
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Post #225,479
9/19/05 2:58:17 PM
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Prefer online references
Hope the Ulnar Nerve disorder gets better!
Tom Sinclair
Nature abhors dimensional abnormalities, and seals them neatly away so that
they don't upset people. Nature, in fact, abhors a lot of things, including
vacuums, ships called the "Marie Celeste", and the chuck keys for electric
drills.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Pyramids)
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Post #225,469
9/19/05 1:43:31 PM
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Aren't you afraid the un-blessed bodies will become zombies?
[image|/forums/images/warning.png|0|This is sarcasm...]
Alex
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. -- Bertrand Russell
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Post #225,497
9/19/05 4:25:33 PM
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A bit more concerned about
the Over-'blessed' putatively 'alive' bodies with Big Mouths :(
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Post #225,498
9/19/05 4:27:33 PM
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And get elected as neocons
"Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect" --Mark Twain
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein
"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." --George W. Bush
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Post #225,478
9/19/05 2:53:30 PM
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Consider the Source, Luke!
It's hard to imagine a government spokesperson being stupid enough to make such a comment. Not really.... :-( jb4
shrub●bish (Am., from shrub + rubbish, after the derisive name for America's 43 president; 2003) n. 1. a form of nonsensical political doubletalk wherein the speaker attempts to defend the indefensible by lying, obfuscation, or otherwise misstating the facts; GIBBERISH. 2. any of a collection of utterances from America's putative 43rd president. cf. BULLSHIT
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