FEMA Directing Donations to Pat Robertson

From SPLOID:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the lead federal agency in the rescue & recovery operation at work in New Orleans and the Mississippi gulf coast.

FEMA has released to the media and on its Web site a list of suggested charities to help the storm’s hundreds of thousands of victims. The Red Cross is first on the list.

The Rev. Pat Robertson’s “Operation Blessing” is next on the list. Robertson founded “Operation Blessing” in 1978.

Robertson’s shell organizations have already collected more than $25 million from the federal government under various “faith based” federal-handout programs. And with millions of distraught citizens looking to FEMA for help in finding reputable organizations to help Katrina survivors, Robertson stands to profit magnificently from the horror that has fallen on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

UPDATE:

FEMA removed “Operation Blessing” from their Web site. They are now referring people to the National Organizations Active in Disaster list.

Katrina As Divine Retribution — ‘Christian Zionist’ Version

The prophets of Katrina-as-divine-retribution are proliferating by the minute. The “we hate Arabs” wing of the blogosphere was quick to publicize this one, a find by the ever-prolific MEMRI — devoted to proving that all things Muslim are the root of all evil — and it was picked up by all the usual suspects. But here’s one they forgot to include: a screed by one Stan Goodenough entitled “Katrina — The Fist of God?” A sample:

“On August 14, citizens in the United States, like people around the world, heard about the issuing of an order for the forced evacuation of Jews from parts of Israel’s biblical land.
For six days they watched as thousands of weeping people were pulled and carried from their homes, forced to leave their gardens, parks, communities, schools, towns and synagogues, everything they had spent decades building; banned from ever returning again. Those scenes were soon followed by pictures of bulldozers and other earth-moving machinery pulverizing the just-vacated homes into heaps of dust.

“While this was taking place, a small tropical depression was forming near the Bahamas in the Atlantic Ocean. Slowly, as the air began to revolve, the nonthreatening weather system began moving in the direction of Florida.

“Yesterday, we in Israel watched as American officials, including President George W. Bush, ordered the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans and its surrounds. That small depression had turned into a frightening fiend. Now we are seeing on our television screens up to a million people being forced to leave their homes. People are weeping on camera, mourning that they are going to lose ‘everything we own; everything we have worked for.’ As today unfolds we are bracing to see wind and water pounding homes, whole communities, into the ground.

“Is this some sort of bizarre coincidence? Not for those who believe in the God of the Bible and the immutability of His Word.

“What America is about to experience is the lifting of God’s hand of protection; the implementation of His judgment on the nation most responsible for endangering the land and people of Israel.

“The Bible talks about Him shaking His fist over bodies of water, and striking them.
While the “disengagement” plan was purportedly the brainchild of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the United States of America has for more than a decade been the chief sponsor and propeller of a diplomatic process that has dangerously weakened Israel in the face of an overwhelming, growing threat to annihilate her.

“In the context of the last 12 years of peace-process history, and not withstanding the desire of many on Israel’s left to go ahead with this process, the Sharon disengagement plan was something that was forced on Israel, primarily by the United States.”

Gee, how could MEMRI, which has offices in Israel — where Goodenough lives with his wife and 5 kids — have missed this one?

Oh, I forgot — they only rank on morons of the Muslim persuasion. Pro-Israel Christians get a free pass.

By the way, there is no record on the internet of the individual referred to in the MEMRI report, Muhammad Yousef Al-Mlaifi. Goodenough, however, has quite an extensive internet trail.

It’s interesting to see how propagandists of the MEMRI/Charles Johnson sort try to generalize about Muslims when citing Senor Al-Mlaifi, but would recoil at the suggestion that Goodenough’s nutball remarks are in any way representative of dispensationalist Christians in America who blindly support Israel. Yet supporters of the latter out-number adherents of the former in the U.S. by how much — a factor of 100, 1,000, or more?

Oh, One More Thing, America…

As you’re watching all this footage of people in Louisiana and Mississippi sleeping in overcrowded gymnasiums, their homes destroyed, loved ones missing, jobs lost… just remember that YOUR money is going to pay Gaza “settlers” $200,000 to $300,000 per family to relocate from their cushy housing projects along the Mediterranean. Think any of your fellow citizens will get a deal anywhere near that sweet?

Yes, This Is Personal

Steven Plaut, an Israeli business professor and David Horowitz hanger-on whose intelligence has been unfavorably compared to that of a retarded lemur, writes:

    [W]e thought we’d bring you the list of countries from around the world (and overseas Red Cross offices) that in the past received natural disaster aid from the US who have volunteered aid and assistance to New Orleans and Gulfport. Here is the list:
    Israel

Only Israel? He provides no links to support this assertion, but assuming that it’s true, SO F*CKING WHAT? I’m supposed to despise tsunami-struck Indonesia (annual per-capita GDP: $3,500, 149th in the world) for not helping out, when my own government sends billions each year to Israel (annual per-capita GDP: $20,800) – money that could have been spent, say, protecting my home in Louisiana? The goddamn IDF should be out on my street picking up debris, and dumbass academics in Haifa should show a little gratitude to U.S. taxpayers and shut up.

UPDATE: As I should have known, Plaut is mangling the truth:
Vancouver Urban Rescue Team Headed to Louisiana

I’m not sure whether Venezuela has ever received assistance with anything other than coups from the U.S., but they offered to help out, too:
Venezuela Offers Fuel, Food to Hurricane-Hit US

Thanks to Tex for the links.

UPDATE II: “Two Dozen Nations Offer Aid“:

    Offers have been received from Russia, Japan, Canada, France, Honduras, Germany, Venezuela, Jamaica, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, China, South Korea, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, NATO and the Organization of American States.

Thanks to alert readers for the links.

Opportunity Costs: Iraq and Katrina

Radley Balko on Katrina:

    The federal government has again failed at the one thing it’s actually supposed to do: Protect us from outside threats. Perversely, this failure is the direct result of a fool’s errand carried out in response to the massive failure of four years ago.

    Shoring up the levees and water pumps would have cost a mere $250 million, about a day-and-a-half of wartime operations in Iraq.

Sickening.

Balko writes at the end of his post, “Now’s not the time to score petty political points,” but I don’t see how mentioning the massive misallocation of tax dollars that left New Orleans defenseless is a petty political point. Who’s scoring petty political points? I dunno – maybe Fox News anchors screeching that the French are enjoying our misery. Maybe another key Bush constituency proclaiming that New Orleans is suffering because God hates fags. (Surely you’re not surprised by this group’s allies.)

But a frank discussion of the opportunity costs of imperialism? Under the current circumstances, only a nation of imbeciles would avoid it.

Baghdad on the Gulf of Mexico

When are Americans going to begin asking the obvious question: “Is this how the much-vaunted Homeland Security Department handles a real disaster?”

WWLTV.com | News for New Orleans, Louisiana | Local News

(AP) The evacuation of the Superdome was suspended Thursday after shots were fired at a military helicopter, an ambulance official overseeing the operation said. No immediate injuries were reported.

"We have suspended operations until they gain control of the Superdome," said Richard Zeuschlag, head of Acadian Ambulance, which was handling the evacuation of sick and injured people from the Superdome.

He said that military would not fly out of the Superdome either because of the gunfire and that the National Guard told him that it was sending 100 military police officers to gain control.

"That’s not enough," Zeuschlag. "We need a thousand."

*************
This guy is blogging from New Orleans’ Central Business District (the CBD), where he and a few other daring souls are holed up on the tenth floor of a building on Poydras Street:

New Orleans Police Department Status: The situation for the NOPD
is critical. This is firsthand information I have from an NOPD officer
we’re giving shelter to. Their command and control infrastructure is
shot. They have limited to no communication whatsoever. He didn’t even
know the city was under martial law until we told him! His precinct
(5th Precinct) is under water! UNDER WATER — every vehicle under
water. They had to commander moving trucks like Ryder and UHaul to get
around. The coroner’s office is shut down so bodies are being covered
in leaves at best or left where they lie at worst.

They don’t
even know their own rules of engagement. He says the force is impotent
right now. They have no idea what’s going on, no coordination,
virtually no comms, etc. the National Guard is gonna air drop a radio
system for them with 200 radios? They are getting very little direction.

The 3rd District bugged out to Baton Rouge because they flooded out.

His quote: "It’s a zoo."

——

More from the Police Officer. I’m typing as fast as i can while he talks to us:He’s
only hearing bits and pieces. The people in the city are shooting at
the police. They’re upset that they’re not getting help quickly enough.
The fireman keep calling because they’re under fire. He doesn’t
understand why the people are shooting at the rescuers. Here it is 5
days ago the Mayor said get out of town and nobody went and now they’re
pissed.

The National Guard was at the Hilton, but now the
Hilton is evacuated. When they said the CBD was gonna get 6 feet of
water, it seems like everyone evacuated.

He turned the corner
onto Canal Street and it looked like a flea market. People breaking
into every store, going to the neutral gound (median) and trading and
selling everything.

They broke into Winn Dixie Monday Night. Do
they steal food? No. Cigarettes and liquor. Store was a mess. All the
meats were going to waste so the districts went over there to salvage
food for officers. Many cops have been eating MREs.

The
Iberville Housing Projects got pissed off because the police started to
"shop" after they kicked out looters. Then they started shooting at
cops. When the cops left, the looters looted everything. There’s
probably not a grocery left in this city.

Over 30 officers have
quit over the last 3 days. Out of 160 officers in his district maybe 55
or 60 are working. He hasn’t seen several since Sunday. HQ is closed,
evacuated. No phones to contact them.

"HQ, be advised, we’re going 10 7."

"Ok, y’all coming back on???"

"We don’t know."