U.S. agency blocks photos of New Orleans dead

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N06101601.htm

U.S. agency blocks photos of New Orleans dead
07 Sep 2005 00:56:29 GMT

Source: Reuters

NEW ORLEANS, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. government agency leading the rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina said on Tuesday it does not want the news media to take photographs of the dead as they are recovered from the flooded New Orleans area.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, heavily criticized for its slow response to the devastation caused by the hurricane, rejected requests from journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims.

An agency spokeswoman said space was needed on the rescue boats and that "the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect."

...

The Bush administration also has prevented the news media from photographing flag-draped caskets of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, which has sparked criticism that the government is trying to block images that put the war in a bad light.

[VegasWolf]

1. Shades of IraqNam! nt

[bpilgrim]

19. Katrina: Audio, Video & Image Archive - please leave your comments there

for the record :bounce:

• Katrina
• Katrina:Audio
• Katrina:Video
• http://news.globalfreepress.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=103">Katrina:Images

see also...

also, check out the MOST VIEWED Katrina images here...

Most viewed Katrina media

the TOP RATED (vote by scrolling to bottom of the page & click on the STARS)

Top rated Katrina media

and the LATEST ADDITIONS (upload your favorites too)

Latest Additions Katrina media

fyi...

yes, you can VOTE for your favorites, too! ;-) or(and) CREATE your own PERSONAL list of FAVORITES and(or) upload your own images directly from your computer or from anywhere on the INTERNETs - Thank GORE! =)

unfortunately, you have to REGISTER first - gotta stem the tide of rw spam as much as possible ;-> - by clicking here...
http://media.GlobalFreePress.com/gallery/register.php

it's easy, we only ask for a valid email (spammers & bots be gone) - that we give to NO ONE, ever - then we send you a confirmation email (be careful, your spam filter doesn't mistake GFP mail as spam or your ISP) with a link to ACTIVATE your account....

after activation & once you log in, you can upload all the pictures you want, and even send them as ecards to all your friends or paste them into your favorite discussion boards at just the right moment ;-)

ecards: just click the ecard button at the top right of the image window...

don't forget to vote for your favorites (and leave comments :hi: )

psst... pass the word ;->

peace

[mom cat]

23. Great site...a must see...I just registered, Thanks!

[bpilgrim]

27. thank you mom cat

you are too kind :hi:

peace

[mom cat]

28. Not at all..Thanks so much for sharing it. I think that some downloads

would be just the right thing for our march on Washington. We the people can get the pictures of NOLA and Iraq out before the public.
Sites like yours are a real way of doing just that..Thanks!

[Tight_rope]

161. LMBAO...Thanks...love the great laughs!

[WhiteCastle1968]

158. Sad day in america for this former FREEPER

Freepers are waving their photos of Cheny's visit mighty high today, along with TONS of photos the feds DID let people take inside the disaster zone. Unfortunately, the only photos allowed show The Admins hovering over the destitute masses like the Grand Dragons of old as the crosses were lit . . .

But not a single photo of the loss of human life . . . they will be America's "Forgotten Victims"...

THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY HAS CLAIMED JURISDICTION OVER THE TRUTH.

Perhaps it is time for the people of this great nation to follow the example of our founding fathers. Is it time to call a new Continental Congress into order? It is my understanding that the first and second ones existed even though the Colonies were still under direct control of Parliament AND that it was felt it could exist WITH/In addition to Parliament... any thoughts? Truly give the power back to the people?

[Tight_rope]

162. Welcome to DU!

Glad you saw the light!

[Judi Lynn]

2. If this is NOT government censorship, what the hell is?

Do we pay them to keep us in the dark? Really? Do we pay them to lie to us?

Why isn't there a running death count here, as there has been in all other disasters?

[mom cat]

24. It is like the deaths of Iraqis...They don't matter...Babs said they was

jus po floks...they don matta no way.

[saigon68]

62. What she meant was they are negroes

welfare queens, looters, gang members---the dregs of society.

[mom cat]

85. You got it !

[saigon68]

154. It's Rove's backlash race card

He loves to get toothless rustics fired up about the idea that lazy blacks will be getting "handouts" while joe rustic works for $7.50 an hour and has to pay for the welfare queen's beer and wine.

[Tsiyu]

155. Most of the "toothless rustics" I know HATE Bush

In fact, it's the wealthy who voted for the Shrub and who hate the poor. Poor people voted for Kerry.

Please refine your stereotype.

Thanks.

[saigon68]

156. Since your state voted for the Moran

and mine didn't.

I'll keep my prejudices about "toothless rustics" here in good old blue country.

[Tsiyu]

159. Many states went red - legally or otherwise

The most toothless, rustic county ( Grundy) in Tennessee went blue. And they went blue with Gore, too.

It's the white-toothed, boob-jobbed, SUV driving yuppies in TN who love **, not the poor Appalachian person.

So, you keep your prejudices if they keep you from seeing the truth. It's America's greatest hobby.

P.S. Guess I'll keep my prejudices about affluent snobs, too.

[ThoughtCriminal]

3. Up Next - Embedded Reporters

In the Future - All reporting will be "Embedded"

[leftchick]

4. I just checked. They are all gone from Yahoo

Luckily Oprah had no problem showing many dead today on TV. It is now out there in the public that this is a horrific catastrophe.

[skooooo]

14. Did she really show..

..the corpses? I could only watch the first 15 minutes or so.

[tedzbear]

17. Yes.

Oprah is angry!

[Hekate]

61. Go get 'em, Oprah

Good for her

Hekate

#Why won't the Chickenhawk cross the road?#
#Why won't the Chickenhawk be standin' on the levee?#

[leftchick]

30. yes indeed

lots. Though they were all covered in dignity.

:(

[saigon68]

63. YAHOO IS A TOOL OF ROVE

Just like Faux. They won't show a lot of things. When an ugly photo appears on Yahoo France it is "NEVER SHOWN IN THE US."

[nwliberalkiwi]

68. Backer of Arnold the Asshole in Kalifornia

Yahoo is a backer of Arnold!!!!!!

[saigon68]

92. Welcome to DU

:-) :-)

[wellstone_democrat]

5. where was privacy and dignity for the living?

This is nothing but cover up---they cared nothing for the dignigy of anyone living last week or even this week.

Liars.

Mr. W_D

[leftchick]

6. RIP Alcene... I found a Yahoo photo

you do know this is not america anymore right folks? This is a SIN...

:cry:



The body of a Hurricane Katrina victim lies under a sheet on the front porch of her home Tuesday, Sept. 6 2005 in New Orleans, La. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

[YDogg]

9. "In the loving arms of Jesus"

Jesus wept.

[Up2Late]

7. SO what happens if some photographers choose not to cave?

Do they become "Enemy Combatants" too? Shipped off to GTMO?

Total Bull Shit!

[not fooled]

60. Naw...BFEE has a better solution...

...just shoot 'em (just remember how many journalists have been killed by US forces in IraqNam):mad:

[sattahipdeep]

8. They are so evil and devious

As fires burned from broken natural-gas mains.

Incomprehensible Reality.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. I'm not surprised

What I was surprised about was seeing them in the first place.

I said in a thread here on DU that America seeing the death and devastation was having a great influence on how they viewed the disaster. Unlike in Iraq where we're not allowed to be exposed to the dead and dying.

Soon NOLA dead will be reduced to a quick news blurb if bush** has his way.

How is it dignified to let bush** hide the reality of what his actions have caused?

[Erika]

11. Bush takes after Babs. Why would our beautiful minds

be wasted on such scenes.

I hope the survivor families scream to have photos supplied.

[habitual]

12. it is just the desperate way to shut down the media

when it is showing all this bad news. They couldn't do it the way they wanted, by forcing Gov Blanco to cede control of NG so they could seal the area, this is the next best thing. shut them out any way possible, stop the flow of bad news.

[bettyellen]

13. their mission is to make us "feel protected" not to protect us.....

[bribri16]

15. Just like the dead Iraqi soldiers caskets. Control it the name of the gam

[fed-up]

16. Is there anything FEMA hasn't BLOCKED???

Rescuers, food, water, oil, boats, communications, cars, trucks, buses, helicopters, planes???

and now they want to shove the photographic evidence down the MEMORY HOLE????

This is America???

This is FREEDOM of the PRESS???

WTF, there really must be at least 40K bodies!

I am soooo leaning towards premeditated murder at the hands of this f*cked-up administration.

If people will die without water in 3-5 days, less time in 100 degree heat, then FEMA knew in advance that by halting rescue efforts people would DIE. I'm too upset to look up the definition of pre-meditated and will leave that to someone else.

So what to do if murder is committed, hide the evidence of course, so that it can't be tried in a world court.

I think I just hit max overload of Katrina f*ck-ups and cover-ups.
Off to take a walk.

[Erika]

18. genocide anyone?

He thought it was time.

[BrightKnight]

40. Turning NOLA red with ethnic cleansing -- n/t

[halsaxby]

20. Next, they will cook the body count statistics

[Judi Lynn]

42. It's safe to expect it, unfortunately. It's something they do well: lying.

Welcome to D.U. :hi: :hi: :hi:

[BrightKnight]

43. Nobody has comprehensive evacuee numbers or lists.

There is no centralized database.

The Salvation Army had a backlog of about 15k missing persons inquiries on Sunday.

[SoCalDem]

146. and with families scattered to the wind, there will be no UNITY

no churches where people could count the empty seats, and report on them..

This is going to be too easy for them.. Nameless, meaningless people just snuffed out, with little if any notariety..

The story will be spun that they are "better off" in their new homes, and that "most" people were rescued..very few died..and THEY were old or crazy..

Just like the dog or cat that "ran away", the public would rather believe the myth, than hear the sad truth..

We behave like children and uncle karl is treating us like children..slow children at that..

[Media_Lies_Daily]

21. They want to hide the dead in New Orleans just like they're hiding....

...the dead coming out of the Middle East.

Out of sight....out of mind.

[goforit]

22. Bush is keeping them in his library of perversion? (all to him self)

This A** likes to erase history at every turn eh?

[BiggJawn]

29. No, Rumsferatu grabbed them all.

He's gonna whip his limpy RAW by the time he gets through beating-off to them....

[truth2power]

34. Jawn, I've been saying here for a long time

that Rummy's a sadist (in the clinical sense) and he's likely doing just what you described.

Sick, sick, evil fucks!! All of 'em.

[wovenpaint]

25. So NOW they "want to show the upmost dignity and respect"???

I've never felt so completely sickened by the "leadership" in my country (and there's plenty of bad shit going on). One word left for this-EVIL!
That photo of ** turning from the window of AF1 while viewing his damage haunts me-I realize now that I was looking at a photo of an evil gargoyle.

[Lifelong Protester]

48. I was looking for your words..

as I didn't want to duplicate this idea, but isn't it a bit late to pull the 'utmost dignity' card by the feds when they let these people rot in the streets for DAYS? Who the hell are they trying to kid??

[Robbie Michaels]

26. FOIA Request?

I'm not familiar with it, since this method was used to get the Pentagon to release pictures. Can this be done in this case?

[ucmike]

31. sounds like "nothing to see here. move along, folks...."

if its not on tv, it didn't happen.

[daleo]

32. They say they are trying to suppress Abu Ghraib pictures for fear of riots

That explanation makes just as much sense in the case of New Orleans.

[Sacajawea]

33. Body floating face down. Front page, New York Times. 9/2, I think.

The photo occupied about 3/4 of the page above the fold.

I just went to their web site but the only front page image I could see was today's. I couldn't figure out how to get the one from 9/2 (I'm pretty sure it was Friday's paper).

Maybe someone else knows how to do this.

[wovenpaint]

41. Here it is-so very heartbreaking...

[Sacajawea]

47. wovenpaint......thanks for doing that.

I appreciate it.

~ Ronni

[Tight_rope]

164. "Damn the NYT...How did they get that one out"

I'm sure that's what Bush said when he saw this this morning.

[neuvocat]

35. Stop with the PR offensive and save someone dammit!

[BrightKnight]

36. The Federal authorities don't make laws in LA. - n/t

[tuckessee]

82. Ever hear of "martial law"???? n/t

[BrightKnight]

86. "Martial law" does not exist in Louisiana law.

There is no such thing as martial law in Louisiana Law. There is the Emergency and Disaster Act that allows local government officials to do things like seizing properly. It does NOT cede authority to the federal government.

Would you really want Bush directly governing NOLA?

The Louisiana Attorney General's office late Tuesday issued a number of clarifications concerning the "martial law" assertions made earlier in the day by local officials and law enforcement agents in the wake of devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. According to the AG's office, no such term exists in Louisiana state law. The declaration of a state of emergency issued by Gov. Kathleen Blanco on Friday and set to continue for at least a month does, however, give officials power to suspend civil liberties in the process of restoring order, and the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act of 1993 gives the governor and heads of parishes power to commandeer property. The New Orleans Times-Picayune has more.

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2005/08/update-louisiana-martial-law.php

[NYC]

37. There are no dead.

How do I know? Well, you didn't see any pictures, did you? Okay, maybe a few, but just a handful.

If they hide it, people won't know.

[tabasco]

38. Just rename the country the USSA already.

Watch them declare controlled airspace over the disaster area so no aerial pics either.

Just like the commie Soviets.

ALL IS WELL IN THE HOMELAND !!

[gate of the sun]

39. so how long will it take

before people notice the strategy? I mean what will it take to bring this to light??? It's hard to keep trying to hope that this administration will come down. The truth needs to be told.

[WhoWantsToBeOccupied]

44. How do we know they're not killing them?

I can't believe this thought even occurs to me. But that's how low we have sunk. If they could cut the communications of emergency responders, they're capable of anything.

I sure hope my fears are totally unfounded.

[Judi Lynn]

50. It's occured to me, too. Nothing is beneath this horde.

It wouldn't bother them slightly. They are dead at their centers.

[IndianaGreen]

45. No pictures of returning remains of GIs killed in Iraq

so why should we expect the Bush regime to change their PR practices now.

[orleans]

46. sound familiar??????????/

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[saigon68]

65. Same shit ---Different package---- brought to you By ROVE GOEBBELS

We can't upset the sheep from their slumber now can we?

[Writer]

49. Doesn't mean the state can't.

Blanco's still in charge, ya know. ;)

[The_Casual_Observer]

51. Let me guess, at the suggestion of Karl Rove?

[saigon68]

64. Butt Boy ROVE does not want the SHEEP riled up.

they might get angry at thousands of bloated stinking corpses.

[Straight Shooter]

52. Can't show pics of Abu Ghraib either, not to offend prisoners' "dignity"

Same old sh*t, different situation. Show America the dead, you Weasel, so we will all understand your callous indifference to the true dignity of human existence.

Culture of life, my a**.

[beetbox]

53. nominated

[Roy]

54. Maybe the media could use a few supportive emails

To defy this and show them anyway based on first the amendment. After all if they can scream first amendment for J Miller, they can scream it here also.
This isn't an order or a law, it's only urging by request.

Bait'em, dare'em, tell'em to obey is being servile, shame'em into standing up for what's right.

[Dem2theMax]

55. So, this means anyone with a camera should start shooting pics

and get them online. If you have relatives/friends/you yourself live in any of the affected areas, or can somehow get to them, grab your cameras and video recorders and get to work. Bush just dared us to do it.

[Dr Fate]

56. They treat us all like bad children.

n/t

[tom_paine]

57. They are "Free-Market" Soviets

The Busheviks employ SO MANY identical strategies to the Bolsheviks, I can scarcely tell the difference between them.

At least they aren't Gulagging opponents...yet.

Just wait until the Emperor George P. Bush in the mid-2020s...THEN you see some REAL similarities!

[slay]

58. Just like Iraq - Out of sight out of mind

There is NOTHING that Bush and his crew fear more than the truth.

[Judi Lynn]

59. Just heard Puffy McMoonface doing his press meeting

sternly getting after a reporter who DARED to ask him questions about who's responsible for this catastrophy.

It was his measured, studied view that this is no time to be discussing these things, there will be plenty of time AFTER the emergency has been addressed.

As soon as this emergency starts winding down, as the pattern goes, _Bush will create another situation to misdirect everyone's attention. He's been doing that from the first.

It's NEVER time to discuss things. Puffy McMoonface and Ari Fleisher both have gotten wildly stuffy, insulted at the nerve of reporters who wanted to ask direct questions.

Apparently it's their belief everything is none of our business, that we should pay our taxes, shut up, and hope for the best.

[foo_bar]

66. FEMA and what army?

The little information birdies want to be free, just look at ogrish.com (or don't, preferably; it's pretty stomach churning).

[Theres-a]

90. Yes, I saw those

Tremendously disturbing.The sheep mustn't see these.They'll storm the bastille.Imagine thousands of those pictures.:scared:

[in_cog_ni_to]

67. Uh...the Feds aren't in charge of this disaster, are they?

The photographers can take all the pics they want, I would think. THIS is why the idiot wanted to Federalize the NG...to control the Media. FEMA can't control free speech. This is still a free country, I think. :(

[Julius Civitatus]

69. Operation "Recount the Dead Negroes" in full force

I've been afraid (and many people around me have shared this concern) that FEMA will not produce clear and reliable body-counts for thsi catastrophe. As part of the PR operation in full force, I truly believe they are interested in keeping the numbers down. And I wouldn't trust that corrupt idiot Michael Brown with a sincere operation of this magnitude.
:grr:

I wonder if at this point the major and/or the governor have any say on this, or if FEMA fully in charge of the deceased.

[michael_1166]

70. Looks to me like

your government wants to make you believe you live in Pleasantville or Disneyland or something like that. They don't want to shatter the illusion. In Disneyland, dead people don't exist, don't you know that?

[Julius Civitatus]

71. It worked with the Iraq war, so they are trying same trick again

The told the American people they could fight a major war of invasion and NOT have to sacrifice or change their lifestyle at all. They keep telling the American people to keep living in their isolated bubble.

No wonder they are trying the same shit again. 'Move along, nothing to see here. Dead people all over New Orleans? Just rumors...'

[ForrestGump]

88. Dead people DO exist in Disneyland. The Haunted Mansion, in New

Orleans Square, ironically enough. Of course, now they can Disneyfy a goodly chunk of the real New Orleans...

[McCamy Taylor]

72. We all saw this one coming.

[imperialismispasse]

73. I have to say I am surprised and glad to see Reuters making the connection

between the supressing of dead NOLA pics and the supressing of Iraq coffin pics. This isnt a connection the MSM would usually make. I think its a sign that the tide is turning.

[slackmaster]

74. I sure wouldn't want my deceased friends and relatives publicized widely

I recognize the public's right to know what's going on, but can't we allow for a little dignity for the dead?

[Debau2005]

75. THANK YOU!

Let us not be the ones that add insult to injury to the victims of this Hurricane and their families.

[imperialismispasse]

76. I disagree.

If my friends and relatives died as a direct result of the federal governments incompetence I would want their corpses pictures plastered across the front page of every newspaper in the country. No way would I let the memory of what happened to them get whitewashed.

But I suppose everyone is different and I think we should honor what the families want.

[noonwitch]

77. The BBC has been showing footage of dead bodies all week

Oprah showed bodies and the inside of the Superdome on her show yesterday. Her coverage was pretty intense.

The BBC does not sanitize the news the way american broadcasters do. I don't know if that's good or bad-people with small children probably appreciate that they edit out the dead bodies floating by the camera. I don't really want to see it, and there does need to be some respect for the families of the dead.

[Megahurtz]

78. Now it's THE BIG COVER UP!

Ya can't fool us!:mad:

[Nothing Without Hope]

79. The feds want to fudge the death count, keep it way below the truth

Every death makes them look worse. Hey, they've got lots of experience in suppressing numbers when it suits them - like in the Iraq war and elections - and erasing unwanted votes or other inconvenient input from poor black people is a specialty.

[Orion The Hunter]

80. Well FEMA may block photos...

But the myriad of personal accounts making their way out of New Orleans FEMA cannot stop, nor can the final tally of the dead be stopped. And we can lay all of those horrors at the feet of Mike Brown and FEMA.

[0007]

81. Can't have the world knowing the truth, eh?

And that truth is that the rich white americans hate the dirty poor blacks. Can't have the world seeing the bodies floating in the contaminated waters that would remind the world of our president being the most incompetence being that ever headed this country, and reflects that his tax cuts for the wealthy confirms his hatred for the poor and the black. Can't have the world know that junior can't do anything right.

No no no no, lets see Saddam Hussiem sons Uday and Qusay again after they were killed. Over and over again.

Is this administration easy to see through?

[Kali]

83. Emmett Till

For those that think bodies shouldn't be shown.

(I do have some sympathy for families who might not want their loved ones shown, but this is bigger than them)

[genieroze]

84. that "the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the

utmost respect."? exploding in the heat, that's dignified.

[kath]

87. Unfreep this poll -

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050907100009990016

heavy freepage in the past couple of hours - previously, 65% disagreed with the policy, and 55% thought it was being done out of a desire to limit news coverage that reflects badly on the government.

[BrightKnight]

91. done -- It needs its own thread.

[kath]

95. go ahead and start one, please. (I've never done it before, and am very

busy with the kids today)

The freepage on that poll continues, BTW

[BrightKnight]

96. Here is the thread for this poll.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4683718&mesg_id=4683718

[kath]

150. Thanks, BrightKnight

[Lochloosa]

152. done...56% disagree

What do you think of FEMA's stance against taking photos of bodies recovered from the hurricane zone?
I disagree with it 56%
I agree with it 44%
Why do you think FEMA has taken that position?
A desire to limit news coverage that reflects badly on the government 44%
A mix of sensitivity and a desire to limit unfavorable coverage 33%
Sensitivity to the dead and their loved ones 23%
Total Votes: 171,301
Note on Poll Results

[Maple]

89. Unnoticed in Life

Unnoticed in Death

[WhiteCastle1968]

93. FED UP WITH FREEREPUBLIC

Hello,
I am a former longtime member (6 years)of the conservative online forum FreeRepublic. Well,I am finished with it! I have been banned on 3 occassions for speaking my mind - because it was not what the RHINO controlled site wanted you to hear - that the BUSH administration and the party in general make mistakes. It IS true: Freerepublic appears to be a party controlled site where any conservatives that do not tow the party in ALL matters will not be tolerated. And if you do speak out against them you are soundly trounced and discredited as a 'DU lurker' or troll. This is fascism pure and simple.

In all cases I used civilized language and arguments. As a lifelong conservative I have become very disturbed with the recent road my party has taken. During the past few years I have begun to see shades of authoritarianism lurking in the shadows . . . and slowly taking prominence in the party leadership. Many of the party faithful are also becoming concerned.

The voice of liberty and individual freedom is dying in the Republican party. Will I find it in the Democratic forums? If not, where shall I go?? Please do not suggest the Libertarians, they can barely hold themselves together, lol!

NO GOVERNMENT AGENCY HAS JURISDICTION OVER THE TRUTH. I am posting this message on this article because the Feds were negligent in this recovery effort. Why did it take the national guard so long to get there?? Maybe because they are all in Iraq and the numbers we're being told as far as troop levels are lies.

Question: Was Rumsfield involved in all the false casualty reports in Vietnam?? If so, is he doing it again?

[0rganism]

147. What would the freepers say if it was Clinton blocking photographers?

Imagine a disaster of this scope hits during the Clinton administration. Federal agencies then block photographers -- indeed, most or all media -- from working in the affected area.

You were there for a while. Can you speculate?

[WhiteCastle1968]

157. Freep Opinion on Blocking Photos

Oh, they'd be all over the Clinton Administration . . . no doubt about that. They're still getting their jollies over there thinking about Berger sticking those documents down his pants, LOL.

There is definitely a double standard. I was listening to Rush Limbaugh the other day it just made me sick the way he would not admit that the Bushies were lacking in the speed of their response. Rush may be an intelligent man in some aspects but he is skidding off the edge lately in the overly aggressive tone of his rhetoric. I'm tired of him.

[KansDem]

94. "dignity" and "respect?"

No doubt these words sent the Bushistas scrambling for their dictionaries...

[LiviaOlivia]

97. FEMA Wants No Photos of Dead

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-photos7sep07,1,5455941.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
KATRINA'S AFTERMATH
FEMA Wants No Photos of Dead
From Reuters

September 7, 2005

NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. agency leading Hurricane Katrina rescue efforts said Tuesday that it does not want the news media to photograph the dead as they are recovered.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, heavily criticized for its slow response to the devastation caused by the hurricane, rejected journalists' requests to accompany rescue boats searching for storm victims.

An agency spokeswoman said space was needed on the rescue boats.

"We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media," the spokeswoman said in an e-mail.

[libodem]

98. of course

send the coffins home under the cover of darkness mind-set...

[rodeodance]

105. lets hope that reporters do their jobs and the print/media does their job.

[fshrink]

118. Americans can only be "heroes".

Simple, sad victims of stupidity, arrogance and "compassion" are not allowed to reach the public eye. This is called propaganda and this country has now become one of the main contenders for the world leader in this domain.

[RamboLiberal]

99. I've been waiting for the fuckers to declare this

Note to press - Ignore! Let's see the toll. You can do without showing the face.

America needs this slap in the face, especially the denying Bushbots!

[CottonBear]

100. I've saved quite a few on my hard drive for evidence.

I've obtained them from Aljazeera, BBC, ElMundo and US sources. I suggest everyone else should do the same.

I notice that a thread that I started about this topic yesterday is now gone. I don't know if the photos were deleted due to fear of FEMA and the Feds coming down hard on DU or if I can't find it due to levels 2 and 3.

[NNN0LHI]

104. Problem is the Fox news viewers won't be seeing your hard drive n/t

[rodeodance]

108. has Fox shown the dead already?

[NNN0LHI]

126. Don't know don't watch Fox news n/t

[CottonBear]

144. No. Shep Smith talked about the "100s of bodies" though. n/t

[CottonBear]

145. I'll distribute them elsewhere on the web and I'll print them out

anb leave them on the windshields of anyone with a W sticker on their vehicle.

[leveymg]

123. A lot of yesterday's posts are just gone. Maybe Admin can post why

that has happened, even to entire Greatest strings. Seems to have happened between the time I went to bed and got up this morning. Fortunately, I made a copy of the ones I liked.

Are there some lines we've been transgressing here that we don't know about?

[JugDack]

131. I'm glad someone else noticed, too!

Wonder why?

[CottonBear]

143. DU may be afraid of and/or pressured by the Feds.

For instance, we can't threaten to harm or kill people online.
Apparently, we can't post pictures of the dead online. Only Skinner can tell us why and he may not want to elaborate at this point. We shouldn't post more pictures here for the time being.

[CottonBear]

142. Apparently so. Save every article and photo you can find.

We'll combine them late on a separate website or publish them for distribution to the public.

[NYC]

136. Send your photos to bpilgrim. He'll post them at Global Free Press.

upload your own images directly from your computer or from anywhere...

unfortunately, you have to REGISTER first - gotta stem the tide of rw spam as much as possible ;-> - by clicking here...
http://media.GlobalFreePress.com/gallery/register.php

Or send bpilgrim a DU mail.

[KyndCulture]

101. well that horse is outta the barn isn't it?

[NNN0LHI]

102. Wonder why they didn't feel the same way after 911?

It was breaking news on every channel every time a body was removed from the WTC. Of course that was helping Bush's poll numbers. There is no political gain for Bush from Katrina's bodies.

Don

[merci_me]

107. Because 9-11 was a different enemy, at least as far as we know. n/t

[Old and In the Way]

110. Funny how that works.

That's ok...I don't need to see the dead to know who deserves the lion's share of the blame for this manmade tragedy.

[merci_me]

103. Who the fuck cares what fema wants????

The dead didn't want to be dead either. Did fema care what they wanted?

[bluestateguy]

106. They are already coming out

http://www.ogrish.com/

[graywarrior]

109. Whoa. That's some site.

[rodeodance]

112. yes, but if they are stopped now--there is be a sense of it was as bad

as thought.

[all.of.me]

114. ah, ya beat me to it.

[Shakespeare]

111. Next, FEMA requests that genie be put back into bottle. n/t

[SlowDownFast]

140. It could not possibly be described better than this.

[K8-EEE]

113. But...But...I Thought The LOCAL Government Was In Charge

FEMA has turned into the propaganda & cover-up arm of BushCo Inc.

[louis-t]

115. I'm sure they're requesting this to "spare the children"

or "families of victims". So predictable. So phony.

[rodeodance]

116. same as "protect the Administration"

[bunny planet]

117. They better tell Oprah, she showed pictures of dozens of dead bodies

yesterday in NOLA and is set to do it again in Mississippi today. That's 22 million viewers who have already seen some of the bodies (very respectfully shown btw, no faces). They cannot shut down all the information that is bound to come out, too many people are furious and ashamed of what happened and they want answers.

[rodeodance]

120. recommend

[madmax]

141. Shit I missed Oprah today...

Wash she in NO or in Houston?

[caligirl]

153. Mississippi. Lisa Marie Presley

was in Memphis helping, Matthew McCaughnaqhey(sorry for the spelling ) was in Mississippi. Oprah's best Friend Gail was in Houston. I think. Oh and Oprah was in Houston briefly, she sat with a group of little girls who were getting their toenails painted by two young dental hygienists who went to help out. They brought bright colored nail polish and painted nails for these kids. Oprah praised them lavishly for their efforts.

[Erika]

119. There was no hurricane - We aren't dying in Iraq, etc

Don't worry...Be happy

Signed

W and Babs

[rodeodance]

121. the news should reflect a balance!

[rodeodance]

122. kick

[triguy46]

124. If we close our eyes, it didn't happen!! n/t

[wellstone_democrat]

125. where was "dignity" and "respect" for the living?

where is it now? Blatant self-serving political move.

Show it all, show what happens when we fail to do what we should!
Count everyone. Make everyone look at the consequences of failure.

[HoosierClarkie]

127. They only want

people on TV that will thank them for their efforts too. I was just thinking that things couldn't get that much worse.:-(

[EndElectoral]

128. Perhaps no one really died...

[yurbud]

129. my letter to LA Times: Ignore FEMA request

Re: "FEMA Wants No Photos of Dead," from Sept. 7, I urge all press photographers to ignore FEMA's request. Their job is preparing for and cleaning up after disasters--not taking away our civil rights and covering for the criminal behavior of the Bush administration. This is exactly what they have done in Iraq. They have tried to block and intimidate reporters from showing the damage this war has done to Iraqis, and went so far as to ban photos of coffins arriving at Dover Air Base, even when the families did not object.

When they come up with these policies, they are probably thinking back to the uncensored images from Vietnam that sparked the anti-war movement, or Emmett Till's mother allowing her son's disfigured face to be photographed so all of America could see the horror and ugliness of lynching, photos that arguable began to turn the tide against Jim Crow.

The public needs information to participate knowledgeably in our own government. When the Bush administration keeps it from us with secrecy, censorship, threats, and intimidation, they castrate at home the very democracy they claim to be trying to plant in Iraq.

Show us the bodies, so we can decide a proportionate punishment for those who didn't do their job and callously allowed so many Americans to die, and don't let the criminals decide what evidence gets into the court of public opinion.

[Historic NY]

130. MSNBC & NBC news were showing some of them last night

17 patients who died in Memorial Hospital and were found in the chapel.

The media will continue to show the world.....they pretty much have said f--k off FEMA.

[kath]

132. Unfreep this poll.

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050907100009990016

%ages of those disapproving and those thinking it comes from "A desire to limit news coverage that reflects badly on the government" have decreased dramatically in the past few hours.

[Secular Agent Man]

133. I guess they're not dead Kurds.

What a crock.

[woodsprite]

134. Well, if FEMA doesn't want photos, then they shouldn't take them...

leave that to the Media.

[OzarkDem]

135. Germans living next to extermination camps

never saw the prisoners or the dead, either.

They were left to explain to later generations why they never held their leaders accountable, why they never did anything to stop the atrocity.

Bush and the cons have made their situation, they need to be held accountable.

[Tight_rope]

165. Yes....Perfect comparison...After all Bush (BUSCH) is Germany

[arwalden]

137. How Stupid Do They Think We Are???

[Tight_rope]

166. To answer that question...FREEPERS = STUPID!

[VegasWolf]

138. Hitler wants no pictures of camps. nt

[Sequoia]

139. Take them anyway, and while we're at it show the drapped coffins

from Iran. The world has to know.

[benfranklin1776]

148. The last refuge of the desperate scoundrel and petty despot.

Cover up the evidence of your colossal incompetence and massive failures by any means necessary. So this is Bush's idea of "freedom." Such an repressive exercise in censorship is what one might expect from a strongman in some tinhorn banana republic or the old Soviet Union but under Bush, thanks to these type of travesties, it is clear that our democracy is rapidly degenerating into a similar failed state. The media can and should defy this edict and fiat from the would be King George and challenge it in court if necessary as it goes without saying any attempt at prior restraint is as unconstitutional as it gets. But then courts and the constitution have no real meaning to this group of lawless thugs. Nevertheless if the media roll over then there is effectively no limit to what they will attempt to suppress in the future.

[bloom]

149. Like Emmett Till - sometimes people need to see the results

of a tragedy.


August 31: Three days later, Emmett Till's decomposed corpse is pulled from Mississippi's Tallahatchie River. Moses Wright identifies the body from a ring with the initials L.T.


September 1: Mississippi Governor Hugh White orders local officials to "fully prosecute" Milam and Bryant in the Till case.


September 2: In Chicago, Mamie Till arrives at the Illinois Central Terminal to receive Emmett's casket. She is surrounded by family and photographers who snap her photo collapsing in grief at the sight of the casket. The body is taken to the A. A. Rayner & Sons Funeral Home.


The Jackson Daily News decries the "brutal, senseless crime" but complains that the NAACP is working "to arouse hatred and fear" by calling Till's murder a lynching.


September 3: Emmett Till's body is taken to Chicago's Roberts Temple Church of God for viewing and funeral services. Emmett's mother decides to have an open casket funeral. Thousands of Chicagoans wait in line to see Emmett's brutally beaten body.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/timeline/timeline2.html

[HoosierClarkie]

151. Mission accomplished.

Everyone is safe now and better off than they were before the hurricane. Right? :sarcasm:

[Tight_rope]

160. Not surprised...Can't let proof of the truth get out...

That would confirm that they are useless, lying, stealing murderers!

[LiveWire]

163. too bad, they can all be found at

www.ogrish.com

I know its screwed up, but people need to see what life is really like down there.

[demo dutch]

167. Is the MSM filing suit under Freedom of Info Act?