FEMA mortuary move irritates volunteer

[preciousdove]

http://www.t-g.com/story/1117672.html

Saturday, September 10, 2005
By Clint Confehr

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has a hired contractor to provide services that a local mortician says have been available from volunteers through the National Funeral Directors Association.

"Volunteers would have gone at no charge," said Dan Buckner, co-owner and manager of Gowen-Smith Chapel. "Now, they'll have this job done by people who will be paid. That kind of irks me." ...

His partner, Gary Hicks of Paducah, Ky., went on Monday to Biloxi, Miss. -- instead of Gulfport as Buckner had believed previously -- to serve with the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMort) and Buckner has relayed Hicks' report of a top-end, total estimate from officials saying up to 40,000 deaths were feared because of Katrina....

[applegrove]

1. Now how often has that happened in the last two weeks.

[aquart]

2. Ah, privatization.

The official license to steal.

[applegrove]

3. People want to make a profit. That is fine, unless you cannot do the

job 1) better 2) at less cost.

[Trillo]

4. Really? Aren't government tax receipts based upon

money changing hands?

[applegrove]

9. My point is that if there are qualified volunteers - use them.

[NashVegas]

17. Yeah, That Scares Me

I'm donating services and money to Habitat for Humanity, and now I'm becoming afraid the BFEE will push them aside for more of *'s cronie$$$$$.

Good for the economy, don't ya know ...

[SoCalDem]

8. and people who are getting paid are less likely to "talk in class"

their money is probably mnot all paid until AFTER the job is done.. Loose lips..no checks

[sandnsea]

5. Kenyon - SCI - Funeralgate - Joe Albaugh

All right here,

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/?view=plink&id=1359

and here, thanks to backtotheuniverse

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4712365

[leftchick]

10. this is insanity

You would like to think they would not be able to get or continue contracts while being investigated. Where the fuck are the Democrats in Congress? Are they even aware of this??

:grr:

[pushycat]

11. insanity for sure

WHERE ARE THE DEMS ON THIS? I agree. Who the hell is watching out for the tax payers' Treasury? It appears elected reps as a body do nothing these days related to the management of our treasury except carry the admins water. We getting fleeced.

[saigon68]

23. DINOS like Limpman (D) Conn don't give a SHIT

What a hopeless little WHINER PRICK HE IS.

[SoCalDem]

24. But he has the "Joe-mentum"

:puke:

[saigon68]

30. THAT'S FRESH

ANOTHER DINO TO CLOG THE SEPTIC SYSTEM

[sandnsea]

12. Where's Nader? Where's the Greens? Where's the Libertarians?

Where's the media? Where's the activist groups? Where's the taxpayer watchdog groups?

This country consists of more than the minority party in Congress which puts them in the position of not being able to do anything about anything unless the people start paying attention and demand change.

[sandnsea]

13. Pelosi Supports Anti-Fraud Commission on Katrina

"Congress is rightly spending billions of dollars to help the people and businesses of the Gulf Coast who have been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. To ensure taxpayers' money goes to those in need, not to fraudulent contractors, we must establish an independent commission to oversee government contracts for hurricane relief.

"Already we have seen despicable stories of those trying to profit off desperate Gulf Coast residents. To ensure accountability and that taxpayer money is spent efficiently and effectively, this 'anti-fraud commission' would investigate waste and fraud in government contracting, as soon as the contracts are awarded.

"The Bush Administration has eased contracting quotas for small and minority businesses to funnel lucrative no-bid contracts to Halliburton, Bechtel and other large companies, the same firms that received no-bid contracts in Iraq, some of which have been found to shortchange taxpayers. Just as we cannot tolerate this wasteful spending and corruption overseas, we must not allow it here at home.

"Congress must also do everything in our power to prevent price gouging at the gas pump and for home heating oil and natural gas, especially as the winter months approach. We cannot allow profiteering from those who are exploiting this tragedy for monetary gain. The American people expect and deserve nothing less."

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/?view=plink&id=1361

[ReadTomPaine]

27. Thanks for posting this, Sandnsea!

[Shakespeare]

20. Beat me to it--good stuff.

Salon also did a lengthy series on Bush and SCI. More cronyism....not that we're surprised, tho....

[robertarctor]

6. Gotta throw those contracts to Service Corporation International

SCI, the Halliburton of funeral-home chains, bease in Texas, run by Bsuh-family buddy Robert Waltrip.

Google "Funeralgate."

[Robert Oak]

7. just glad to see people speaking out

on the constant profiteering being done by Bush corporation.

They are bleeding the nation dry and handing the money to their friends..on the coffins of Americans they dance.

[salvorhardin]

14. Self-delete. Ooops. n/t

[struggle4progress]

15. One objective of privatization is to control information. eom

[bloom]

16. Meanwhile - bodies in the streets for 2 weeks...

MALIK RAHIM: You could basically smell it from right here. You know, and the police, they pass by. They look at it and they ain't going to do nothing, you know, to pick it up.

AMY GOODMAN:Malik then walked us down the driveway next to the health center and lifted up a sheet of corrugated metal with an X revealing the dead body underneath.

MALIK RAHIM: Now, his body been here for almost two weeks. Two weeks tomorrow. All right. That this man's body been laying here. And there's no reason for it. Look where we at? I mean, it's not flooded. There's no reason for them to be, left that body right here like this. You mean, just totally disrespect. You know? I mean two weeks. Every day, we ask them about coming and picking it up. They refuse to come and pick it up. You can see, it's literally decomposing right here. Right out in the sun. Every day we sit up and we ask them about it. Because I mean, this is -- close as you can get to tropical climate in America. And they won't do anything about it.

AMY GOODMAN:Malik, do you know who this person is?

MALIK RAHIM: No. But regardless of who it is, I wouldn't care if it's Saddam Hussein or Bin Laden. Nobody deserves to be left here, and the kids pass by here and they are seeing it. The elderly, this is what is frightening a lot of people into leaving. We don't know if he's a victim of vigilantes or what. That's all we know is that his body had been allowed to remain out here for over two weeks.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/12/1426218

[Javaman]

18. In morons* bizarro world: volunteers = stupid. waste money = smart.

[bleedingheart]

19. GOP Motto - Let Contractors run the Government more Expensively!

[Doris32r]

21. I just google'd SCI

and Halliburton. According to the Halliburton site S. Malcolm Gillis, on the board of directors, is also Director of Service Corporation International. SCI's site claims to be the largest provider of funeral, CREMATION, and cemetery services in North America. Now am I being paranoid or is that a weird coincidence re: Halliburton and SCI? And if they can cremate, then they can do a nice cover up of how many are actually dead.

Somebody tell me I'm just being paranoid.

[Bravo411]

22. Not Paranoid.... n/t

[Tippy]

25. Heard 2 days back they were going to cremate them...

this has been the plan from day one...

[pushycat]

28. Aw SHIT

Crematoriums with a shady background.

[WhiteTara]

26. why won't they pick up the body in Algiers

neighborhood in NO? There is one body that has lain on the street for over two weeks as police, army, NG, et al, drive by.

[ReadTomPaine]

29. Waiting for someone to send them a check, what else? n/t

[ElsewheresDaughter]

31. they have to hide the body count!

[Nihil]

32. Fire up the ovens?

... or are they still doing it with "dignity", one at a time?
Just wait until no-one's looking ...