As bodies recovered, reporters are told 'no photos, no stories'

[swimmernsecretsea]

www.sfgate.com

Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
New Orleans -- A long caravan of white vans led by an Army humvee rolled Monday through New Orleans' Bywater district, a poor, mostly black neighborhood, northeast of the French Quarter.

Recovery team members wearing white protective suits and black boots stopped at houses with spray painted markings on the doors designating there were dead bodies inside.

Outside one house on Kentucky Street, a member of the Army 82nd Airborne Division summoned a reporter and photographer standing nearby and told them that if they took pictures or wrote a story about the body recovery process, he would take away their press credentials and kick them out of the state.

"No photos. No stories," said the man, wearing camouflage fatigues and a red beret...

Full Story at this link:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/13/MNG3HEMQHG1.DTL

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[undergroundpanther]

2. CNN needs to sue again

Every reporter told to shut up needs to SUE BUsh and FEMA.

[texpatriot2004]

5. CNN may save our Government and MSNBC will assist. n/t

[zbdent]

16. If you're saying "the US government", I doubt it. If you're referring to

the Bush misAdministration, I'd lay money on the table that they would "save" them . . .

[texpatriot2004]

18. Oh, well a person can hope eh? I have been wrong before. n/t

[Trevelyan]

81. Keep encouraging CNN let them know that we are on the side of truth and

that we won't forget. One of the comments to the story on the FEMA prison camps said that FEMA said they would be holding these Survivors for 5 months hoping the American people would forget them>

Show we will be steadfast by writing Anderson Cooper, Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera every day.
~~~
FEMA is refusing to reveal to aid groups the locations of thousands of citizens forced out of their homes by "Hurricane Charley", citing "privacy restrictions".

original news source:
FEMA Rule Blocking Aid to Seniors - www.heraldtribune.com

Some elderly citizens forced out of their homes by Hurricane Charley are missing out on vital help, including meals, transportation and in-home care, because federal officials won't tell government aid groups where they are.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has temporarily relocated thousands of Charlotte County residents -- many of them senior citizens -- whose homes were destroyed or seriously damaged by the Aug. 13 storm. But, citing federal privacy protection rules, the agency has refused to say who has been relocated, or where they've been sent.

Travis and other officials said their complaints to FEMA officials have gone nowhere. But in response to an inquiry about the problem Tuesday, FEMA deputy federal coordinating officer Brad Gair vowed to find a way to ensure hurricane victims' privacy while getting them access to services.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

Where have these people gone??

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread167902/pg9

[jean]

33. which one, the Republican Govt or ours? I know what you mean ...

just venting

[Veronicrat]

54. The press has no depth

I know a reporter who was also not allowed to report on the abuses at the abu ghabi prison.
do you think there could ever be a watergate again?
the press needs to be urged to fight this- the bush administration needs them
i guess none of them know how to play poker.

of other concern is our voting rights- I understnd there are many restrictions now to voting. bush aadmin officials are bragging that we will never have any otehr than a repugnican goverment again. it is all sewn up
im alarmed- what do we do?

[u4ic]

73. Welcome to DU, Veronicrat!

:toast:

[FighttheFuture]

76. No... the reporters simply need to do their jobs, if they are ...

kicked out, then the next one steps in and does it. All the while, this story has to be played out.

Sue if you wish, and they should, but that is what the WH wants. You see, this is all happeing NOW. If they "play nice" and sue, there will be nothing to cover by the time it is done.

Who will really know how many bodies there are? Bu$hitCo is doing everything they can to minimize the count, including hiring that corrupt firm which will hide bodies for them, as Rawstory has reported http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-09-14T174247Z_01_N14659343_RTRIDST_0_KATRINA-KENYON-RECOVERY.XML

and Jeff Wells, http://rigorousintuition.blogspot.com/2005/09/drowning-by-numbers.html

[Trevelyan]

83. KICK Keep this persecution and threatening the press with

OUR MILITARY, illegal mercentaries purchase with OUR TAX DOLLARS at $350 a day each and the ARMED Mexican troops illegally allowed to bear arms in our country.

Brave people fought Hitler, we can fight their descendants!!!

This is what we have to look forward to if we continue to allow BFEE to break the law:

The New York Civil Liberties Union today joined with the American Civil Liberties Union and two of its affiliates in calling for the release of Jose Padilla from military detention where he's been held as an "enemy combatant" for 3 years.

This case raises fundamental questions concerning the meaning of "war" in an age of terrorism and the scope of the President's power to combat very real threats to the United States and the security of its people. Padilla has been held for three years on the theory that he is an enemy soldier captured on the battlefield. However, Padilla was not captured while engaging in hostilities against US military forces. If the government believes that Padilla was plotting to engage in terrorist acts, the criminal courts remain open and functioning and perfectly capable of adjudicating his guilt.

[Scurrilous]

3. Caution: Freedom Spreader At Work. n/t

[sui generis]

10. oh yeah, and the government "requested"

is not the same as the government made it "illegal". That means civilian gets to exercise discretion. Someone tell the dude in the red beret.

P.S. Army doesn't get to pull press credentials.

[Trevelyan]

84. If we expect the Press to fight for Freedom we are not just spectators

We need to get involved at least to the extent of continually writing to CNN and MSNBC to continue their fight that we stand with them.

And to our Congresspersons. I know it gets boring but think of our young people being in the strange battle conditions in Iraq without adequate armor, plan or leadership. And the Evacuees who are being sent to Concentration Camps.

http://www.globalnewsmatrix.com/ http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/evan/25229/
http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/005403.php#
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/fema.html

[sui generis]

85. Mr. Sui and I have enough letters from congressmen and senators

and councilmen and state legislators and staffers and newsdesks from the last 10 years to literally fill a book. A big book. My most recent: a tremendous disappointment that Eddie Bernice Johnson is supporting the Wright Amendment, and that Pete Sessions, unsure of my political loyalty, tap danced all around and up and down with some soft shoe, classic ballet and interpretive modern dance thrown in for three consecutive letters and never committed his position to me.

You are right. You have to engage them, and more than just letter writing you have to go to their rallies, luncheons & fund raising events, their public appearances, their chambers, whatever. Get them used to seeing your face and hearing your ideas in polite discussion; then when you meet in person on a topic they really listen, even if they don't agree for personal or other polital/constituent reasons.

Kay Bailey hates us, I think genuinely hates us, respectfully, yet she keeps writing.

People don't understand how MUCH you have to participate to make your voice heard, and how many voices it takes to make a difference. We are constituents too, whether or not you voted for the person, and they MUST respond.

[CottonBear]

4. CNN showed Army troops telling the CNN reporter to not take photos

or film (they showed a long shot) and then they blocked the view with big armored troop carriers. The reporter told them that the CNN lawyer was on the (cell) phone and would be happy to explain the court order. The soldiers played dumb or actually did not know.
:( This report was on CNN lst night.

[Tigress DEM]

44. CNN Rocks!

[Barrett808]

6. Any action that antagonizes the press is to the good, I say

Let's hope the Bush mafia get the US press really, really riled up.

[merwin]

8. That's the one thing that will really piss off the press...

When they're told 'no access'.

[NNN0LHI]

34. I wish it were so. My guess is "no access" to our media means...

...its party time! Off to the club to get shit faced and chase women. Yes I am afraid it has come to that.

Don

[stevietheman]

66. It does appear to be one *big* Achilles heel of this administration

They can't seem to help but piss on the media when they need the media on their side the most. It's quite delicious to behold.

It's almost as if they're daring the media to push back.

[sui generis]

7. Well, somebody is out of line

a "member" of the Army 82nd Airborne Division had better back that up with orders.

Army doesn't get to remove press credentials or kick anyone out of the state. P.S. also not allowed to horsewhip or court martial civilians. Somebody send red beret a memo and let him know.

[librechik]

9. yes somebody needs to tell them they lost the lawsuit & reporters

CAN go in

Can you put down the gun first?

[sui generis]

12. emotions are high

and Army guys follow orders, or what they think are orders.

It's not unreasonable for someone in body recovery to have frustration and unfocused anger until someone shows up looking for what Army dude thinks is a sensational or disrespectful shot. Kind of like DU eating its own every time there is a media frenzy about feeding tubes or fried chicken recipes.

Problem is, Army dude doesn't get to make that call. He's way out of line.

[0007]

17. Maybe that why the blackwater guys were sent in, is to over

ride the order?

[ClintonTyree]

71. Right.........

I was under the assumption that our Armed Forces have no jurisdiction over civilians within our borders. I think this guy is pushing his own agenda. If there ARE orders that state this, I'd like to know who signed them and for what reason.
Creeping fascism continues it's march toward power in America, thinly veiled as "Homeland Security".

[Double T]

11. Censorship of the Press.....

and covering up the ugly, hard truth. Same old bushco dictator crap.

[NYC]

40. And breaking the law to do it.

They ignore the law when it doesn't suit them. No wonder they didn't contest it.

[Trevelyan]

43. Support CNN and Anderson Cooper, Email Support and read latest Cooper

article on line. He is not letting up and we need to show the American people want the truth about how many people bush murdered and what Blackwell is doing to the poor people in New Orleans and the reporters and how they are protecting the rich in the Garden district which suspiciously was not affected by the levee "break".

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/13/acd.01.html

Bush to Address Nation From Louisiana Thursday Aired September 13,

~COOPER: Well, we've heard so many politicians and bureaucrats saying the last two weeks that there was no way to predict what went on. A little bit later on tonight, you're going to hear from a professor from LSU who says, you know what, there was a way to predict it, In fact, he did predict it. They ran models on what a category five hurricane would do to New Orleans. They did this last year. They briefed FEMA. They briefed local government. They briefed state government.

They even briefed an official from the White House. He speaks out a little bit later on tonight on 360.

It's undeniable that the poor here have been edition proportionately punished by the calamity of the last two weeks. And then there were those who weren't poor before, but now find themselves very poor indeed. GUTIERREZ: Dr. Wei and his staff immediately offered to help. But he said FEMA officials said no, because of liability concerns.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They told us that, you know, you could help us by
mopping the floor.

GUTIERREZ: And so they did as people died around them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At that moment, both of us were just sitting there and I started crying. And it was that bad. Because we felt like we could help, and were not allowed to do anything.

~~FOTI: It was a total wreck. Water was everyplace. Equipment was scattered all over the place. The place was filled with bodies. You know, let me go back. Go ahead, sorry. COOPER: Go ahead.

FOTI: It's negligent homicide, not involuntary homicide.

~~Coming up next on 360, the man who predicted the levee troubles if a massive hurricane hit speaks out. Plus, we take him in the air to see the scene from above.We're also going to talk to the sheriff of Jefferson Parish about the bridge controversy. Did police officials try to keep people from escaping New Orleans?

Well the only thing that's more painful than standing on the ground here looking out at the devastation of New Orleans is looking down on it from above. That is when you're forced to face the scale of what happened here. Today I took a helicopter tour with a man who predicted the devastation that would rock New Orleans in the event of a major hurricane. And he wants to know why more wasn't done to pevent it.

COOPER: Professor van Heerden is director of LSU's Hurricane Center. He's feeling not just frustration, but anger as well.

HEERDEN: I couldn't believe what I was seeing. You know, both as a professional and as an American. As a professional, I just couldn't believe that we weren't in there with all our resources as quickly as we could have got in there. But as an American, I was absolutely disgusted.

[ZigSteenine]

70. Ummmmm

Trevelyan,

Not sure if you knew this but part of the Garden district was flooded. The higher elevations were not flooded due to the law of gravity. As you go further south towards the river, the elevation of the ground gets higher.

[Trevelyan]

82. Someone posted a song of Randy Newman's about the deliberate

breaking of the levees in the 1920s to save the rich areas in the poor districts leading to the biggest migration of the black and the poor from Louisiana to Northern states.

If bushco blew up the first levee at night, very probably most of the people drowned but the second levee of 6 or 7 blasts was heard, againt probably to save the rich areas. I don't think that the Garden districts that were untouched and the rich still staying there and they were the first to hire Blackwater security guards for their own private use were unaware that the prime real estate would be in the upper elevation area of NO. (AmericaBlog has info on rich part of the Garden district)

~~~~~~

Newman's lyrics: AINT NO STANDARD OIL MEN GONNA RUN THIS STATE....
Kingfish from Good Ole Boys: Randy Newman

(I think you can substitute 'Bush Men' for 'French Men' here)

KICK THEIR ASS BLANCO: KEEP THE SPIRIT OF THE KINGFISH WRAPPED TIGHT AROUND YOU.

There's a hundred-thousand BushMen in New Orelans
In New Orleans there are Bush Men everywhere
But your house could fall down
Your baby could drown
Wouldn't none of those Bush Men care.

Everybody gather round
Loosen up your suspenders
Hunker down on the ground
I'm a cracker
And you are too
But don't I take good care of you

(HERE WE'D NEED TO SUBSTITUE WHAT BLANCO/ MAYOR NOLA,

LANDREAU ARE DOING)

Whou built the highway to Baton Rouge?
Who put up the hospital and built you schools?
Who looks after shit-kickers like you?
The Kingfish do.

Who gave a party at the Roosevelt Hotel?
And invited the whole north half of the state down there for free.
The people in the city
Had their eyes bugging out
Cause everyone of you
Looked just like me

Kingfish, Kingfish
Everybody sing
Kingfish, Kingfish
EVERY MAN A KING

Who took on the Standard Oil men
And whipped their ass
Just like he promised he'd do?
Ain't no Stnadard Oil men gonna run this state
Gonna be run by little folks like me and you

Kingfish, Kingfish
Friend of the working man
Kingfish, Kingfish
The Kingfish gonna save this land.


Someone posted Mr. Bojangles on another site and that one also seems appropriate.

[Say_What]

13. " done with dignity" ==CENSORSHIP of BUSH's F*CKUP

done with dignity my a$$$!!

[CoffeeCat]

14. The government has no authority to "take away press credentials"

What the hell was that comment supposed to mean, that the govt "will take away their press credentials"?

You can't strip someone's professional credentials, especially when they're just doing their job--reporting the facts. That would be similar to the government telling a physician that they're going to strip them of their medical credentials, because they're treating the sick.

The government has no such authority.

Furthermore--I remember learning in journalism school--that if you are on public property--you can take a picture of someone or something. You can't stand in someone's yard and snap pictures, but if you're on public property--you can take pictures of them. There is solid case law that supports this.

These reporters are on public streets and sidewalks, snapping these photographs. They're engaging in legal and protected acts.

I say that the military officials who are threatening them--are totally bluffing. They're threatening, but they have no authority to make those decisions.

The government does not control the media!

Also--this is not some top-secret military action. This is a national disaster. There is no basis on which to prevent someone from taking photographs and writing stories.

I only have a BS degree in journalism, so I'm certainly not an authority. However, I'm sure a little research would glean very strong case law, which gives reporters the right to take photos and write about these stories.

This really is sickening.

[MissMarple]

15. Bullying and threats...they have no authority to do any of that.

How many reporters know that?

[leQ]

19. no wonder the press is finally becoming professional again (eom)

[genieroze]

20. L@@K!!!!! Read further, check this crap out!!!

"Dean Nugent, of the Louisiana State Coroner's Department, who accompanied the soldier, added that it wasn't safe to be in Bywater. "They'll kill you out here," he said, referring to the few residents who have continued to defy mandatory evacuation orders and remain in their homes."

"The cockroaches come out at night," he said of the residents. "This is one of the worst places in the country. You should not be here. Especially you," he told a female reporter.

Nugent, who is white, acknowledged he wasn't personally familiar with the poor, black neighborhood, saying he only knew of it by reputation."

I wonder if he is any relation to Reich wing wacko Ted Nugent.

[Spangle]

21. There really are areas

where certian people can't go. Before you get your dander up.. Remember.. it would be an area that historicaly has been ignored by police enforcement. And area were racist person could GO and do harm.. without worry that the people who live there can file a complaint and expect police to do something about it.

Such persons have LEARNED that when they see certain persons.. it's not a good thing.

In some small areas across the country, this hasn't changed. These people have no reason to trust outsiders.

This just might be what the guy was talking about.

What the guy doesn't realize is that the "ole rules" might not be applying these days. In areas that would normaly be "safe" to go in, no longer is safe.. those people.. no matter the color of the skin, already realize they are in dangor. They are afraid of the poeple who have come to "save them." Their saviors are carring Guns, wearing full military gear... Another words, it's the same all over.

[TheFarseer]

22. Some Republicans are saying

Democrats are licking their chops for high body counts. Typical republican garbage - demos want bad things to happen to blame on the president. :eyes: I wish no one would have died and I hope those missing turn up alive, but I want an ACCURATE count. To cover up the truth is disgraceful to those who died in this tragedy. I don't need people to lie to me to feel better about myself or the government. I don't understand people that want to be lied to. oh and why do some of them want to see the planes hitting the towers everyday but think what is happening in NO is "too graphic for TV"???? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm??

And why do republicans think it would be better to "focus on the positive" in NO? If people see rainbows and talking koala bears sitting on the porches of untouched plantation homes with white picket fences in NO, they aren't going to donate!

[info being]

26. Maybe they should learn not to give us so much material to work with

You know, avoid fucking up all the time.

[janetle]

59. YES!! This is why I am very worried.

You watch! The body count will miraculously be less than 9-11. "They" will exclude anyone who died from for example, not receiving insulin or lack of dialysis or even dehydration.

The official count will only include those who drowned or were killed by debris on the Monday Katrina hit. Anyone who died in the days following will not be included--you just wait.

[stevietheman]

68. I think comparisons to 9/11 body count only has value to a nervous...

White House. Why should we care if the numbers go above the 9/11 count?

The numbers are already *high*. That's sickening enough. And besides, this administration has already handed us miles of rope to hang them with.

[stevietheman]

67. If it's the same Republicans who *celebrate* 9/11, then they have...

no leg to stand on. The American people deserve to know the truth, whatever it is.

[spuddonna]

23. Good to see the Army doesn't follow the commands of our judiciary...

And what the hell is this?

excerpt from story: "After the recovery team took away the St. Anthony Street body,two workers urinated on the side of a neighbor's house." What, they couldn't go in and use the toliets? They don't have those little 'Port-O-Johnnys' that truckers use on long hauls?

Perhaps I'm seeing this as a symbolic act... maybe I'm wrong. But I think this speaks volumes to how some of the recovery and security feel about the victims of this disaster...

[NNN0LHI]

24. What does General Honore have to say about this? "ZERO ACCESS!"

Ain't that General Honore a great guy? He still is in charge down there I assume? He must be too busy with his photo ops with Bush to be concerned with this.

Don

[saigon68]

25. OR THIS

[frankly_fedup2]

27. Pure, unadulterated censorship bullshit. They can't do that "legally."

You're right about CNN and NBC. Need to call the lawyers out.

So the Hazmat Gear cannot be given to reporters and they cannot be trained as to using the suits and other equipment?

Sure they can, but this is just another way for the spoiled administration to get their way. They couldn't get their way the other day and now they are vindictively pulling some of their bully ploys out. I wonder how many times a week Rove got beat up at school when he was a kid? He was obviously a geek that did not improve with age. He is a bully though and the worst kind . . .one with a little power.

Wonder if this is why Bush is taking "Full Responsibility" for any and all failures that occurred. By that admittance of guilt, can the families that lost loved ones sue FEMA? Somebody messed up and didn't get to Bush before he opened his mouth. He's dug himself one now. The right hate talkers like Limpballs is talking about "carefully worded" his statement was.

<http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050913/NEWS/50913014>

Oh please. Limpballs is getting calls from people that talk about how the media and the governor or senator were making statements about how Bush let people die due to their color or economic value to him. Then stating that the "Bush Family" are paramount (huh?) in their work for the poor and charity (huh?).

Anyone heard of anything like that????

[Trevelyan]

45. In Bookworld the Washington Post wrote that the BFEE were one of the very

few wealthy families who had done ZERO charity work, no foundations, no private funding. They had to save all the money they stole for a shadow army, Blackwell.

This was a review of a book on the Bush Family BEFORE Kitty Kelly's saying Nazi financier Prescott Bush wasn't so bad because he pretended to be for integration when he was in the Congress.

[daleo]

28. No photos of bodies

Maybe they thought they were guarding the military flights full of coffins from Iraq.

[buzzsaw_23]

29. kick-nominated

[chalky]

30. Coinci-freakin'-dentally...

Mayor Ray Nagin said earlier this month that New Orleans could have 10,000 dead. But a street-by-street sweep of the city last week yielded far fewer bodies than feared, and authorities said the toll could be well below the dire projections. They offered no specific estimates.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050913/ap_on_re_us/katrina_counting_the_dead

[DisgustedTX]

31. 9/11 9/11 9/11 9/11 9/11 9/11

Can't have a Bush cluster**** outnumber terra!

I want to see this headline:

"Bush failure leads to greatest loss of life on US soil"

[txindy]

32. Sounds like the military thinks this is Iraq

How many members of the press have been killed in Iraq to date? I've lost count.

[Trevelyan]

47. The International Assn. of Journalist Complained about 17 deaths of

journalists being due to deliberate murder on the part of the US military. This report was about 6 weeks ago and I am sure the number of reporters murdered is greater than this but 17 BEYOND A DOUBT, PROVABLE.

[NNN0LHI]

35. Doesn't CNN have news helicopters to tape this from the air if they...

...really wanted to cover this story? I think they do.

Don

[Dulcinea]

63. The networks don't have helicopters.

But their local affiliates DO!

I don't see why the copters & the media on the ground couldn't film the dead from a respectful distance. Of course, no tight shots so the families of the dead didn't see the body of a missing loved one on TV before they learned what happened to them, but there is definitely a way to show this.

[buzzsaw_23]

36. A little Background on Who is Doing the Body Count

Funeralgate Hits Texas

by Robert Bryce

What began as a citizen's complaint against SCI in January 1998 has since grown into a scandal revolving around campaign contributions, and the influence they may buy. All of the politicos who intervened on SCI's behalf received major contributions from SCI's political action committee, or PAC. Did that money convince them to help SCI -- the world's largest death care company -- and to punish the agency that investigated SCI? Whether that was the reason or not, the state officials took positions that may hurt consumers. SCI's prices are routinely among the highest in the funeral business. One consumer advocate, Lamar Hankins, the president of the Funeral & Memorial Societies of America, says the company routinely engages in "price gouging." But campaign cash, not consumers, is at the heart of this scandal. And the scandal promises to grow as the lawsuit -- filed by former TFSC director Eliza May -- works through the discovery process. The suit alleges that May was fired because she "repeatedly and in good faith reported violations of the law and conduct that she reasonably believed to constitute violations of the law."

<snip>

Five days after issuing the document stating that Waltrip talked to the governor about the letter, Waltrip's lawyers changed their story. In a second, "supplemental" response to interrogatories, filed on June 16, the lawyers said that Waltrip did not talk to Bush about his problems with the TFSC. The supplemental document says that while Waltrip was in Bush's office waiting to talk with Joe Allbaugh, Bush's chief of staff, the governor "passed by on the way to a press conference or other appointment," and although Bush "exchanged pleasantries" with Waltrip, their discussion was "not substantive; they did not discuss the content" of Waltrip's letter complaining about the TFSC. The document adds that Waltrip "has never discussed" with Bush his complaints about the TFSC. Perhaps Waltrip or his lawyers realized that implicating the governor in the dispute would damage Bush's presidential campaign.



SCI CEO Robert Waltrip
is the world's highest paid undertaker.
photograph by F. Carter Smith

And why did Allbaugh get involved? Did he, as Bush's chief of staff, simply make his own decision to intervene on behalf of SCI? Could Allbaugh have been persuaded by a $35,000 political contribution? Allbaugh, who left the governor's office on July 1 to work full time as campaign manager for Bush's presidential campaign, hasn't been deposed yet, but he will be soon. And he will be a key witness when May's case goes to trial, as will Bush's legal counsel, Margaret Wilson.


Gov. Bush's role in the SCI scandal
is being called into question.
photograph by Jana Birchum

More at:http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol18/issue45/pol...

[bettyellen]

37. they are trying to prevent any empathy at all....

empathy would kill them.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

38. Time for CNN to go back to court....and it's time that trooper's....

...commander had a word with the trooper about why he's in uniform.

[Festivito]

39. Perhaps under Marshall law, anyone stopping journalism sb shot on the spot

That might teach some people about how much we depend upon a free press. Certainly, their government employment should be immediately terminated.

How about a new law.

[NYC]

41. Recommended.

[Carolab]

42. This guy is disgusting. COCKROACHES???

Dean Nugent, of the Louisiana State Coroner's Department, who accompanied the soldier, added that it wasn't safe to be in Bywater. "They'll kill you out here," he said, referring to the few residents who have continued to defy mandatory evacuation orders and remain in their homes."

"The cockroaches come out at night," he said of the residents. "This is one of the worst places in the country. You should not be here. Especially you," he told a female reporter.

Nugent, who is white, acknowledged he wasn't personally familiar with the poor, black neighborhood, saying he only knew of it by reputation.

[pitohui]

51. not safe to be in BYWATER, it's been gentrifying for yrs?

i don't understand the quote at all to be honest, "one of the worst places in the country" wtf then why is it being gentrified if it's so bad

cockroaches come out at night in all neighborhoods w. trees, rich or poor, so freaking what, you can call em palmetto bugs when you're in the garden district but they're still roaches

i don't need to see any dam dead bodies but let it be respectful, don't feed me a line of horse hockey

"one of the worst places in the country," that's just bullshit, the person saying that should get a clue train

[RaleighNCDUer]

57. When he said cockroaches, he wasn't talking entomology.

Obviously he was trying to scare her with the prospect of coming across dangerous dark-skinned people. Why else would he say "especially you"?

Racist fuck.

[ladylibertee]

46. They wont be able to hide it. Has anyone seen Newsweek's

September 19th issue yet? Page 37 will have you fucked up fro a few minuets.

[TexasLawyer]

48. This pic is posted on the Newsweek website

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9287434/page/5/

[ladylibertee]

49. EEEEWWWWWWW !!!! Yes, that one. it has me all Fucked up.

[oc2002]

50. I think CNN or whatever news org. will need to provide its own boats and

..get right up in the process of clearing bodies to cover the story. If the military starts shooting at them..well then you have a REAL problem here.

bottom line is if they want to cover the story they need thier own transportation. eventualy the military will see what a bunch of assholes the orders are.

[littleraf]

52. Bush's Attempt To Cover The Truth

Don't let the media into the area and no one will ever be able to say definitively how many people Bush's negligence killed. Bush deliberately sent an "anonymous" informant to lie to the WashPost and tell them Blanco never issued a disaster declaration, but of course the the WP had to admit it was BS. There's no lengths they won't go to to cover their crimes.

[RaleighNCDUer]

58. Absolutely.

And you can bet when the come up with the final death toll, it will include only those people who had survivors who reported them missing. If there are a hundred, or a thousand, who had no one to speak for them, they never existed.

[janetle]

60. Anyone who died in the days after will not be included!!

This is what I think. The official toll will only include those who died on the day Katrina hit. Anyone who died in the days following of starvation or heart failure or lack of medication will be excluded.

[emald]

53. I wonder what happened

to our democratic country? Now the army is challenging the press. Sounds like what I remembered of the USSR that so long ago controlled it's citizens actions to the Nth degree. Can anybody believe that * is doing any good for this country?
That red beret-ed soldier needs to review his constitution; his being armed while in duty in the US is close to breaking law, but his actions are indeed way out of law. Since when in the US can a soldier of any stripe demand the press stop doing it's job?
IMPEACH THE CHIMP NOW.

[cyberpj]

55. This part:

"We're not going to bar, impede or prevent" the media from telling the story, he said. "We're just not going to give the media a ride."

Note:
Unless it suits us, of course, like when we take them along on fake rah-rah missions in Iraq.......

[LSK]

56. from what Ive seen, this is a unorganized mess

There are cops and military from all over the country and nobody seems to be in charge. So perhaps these particular troops didnt get the message.

[Im_Your_Huckleberry]

61. no stories. no photos. no accountability.

[Imagevision]

62. as an American, I too am absolutely disgusted from the response!

[RedCloud]

64. And no running body counts.

If the total dead surpass 9/11 totals then Bush can expect days of ass kicking ahead.

[stevietheman]

65. This is a matter of "who's really going to enforce the court order?"

when you have _some_ in the military who will act like total pricks no matter what civilian law demands. They think they're above the law in a disaster zone. It would be too bad if he have to send in law enforcement just to tangle with these pricks who block camera access.

[Sandpiper]

69. Since when does the Army have authority to kick a US Citizen out...

Of a US State?


Is it fascism yet?

[Megahurtz]

72. Fuck Them!

May the truth be revealed.

[dchill]

74. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but...

this has all the earmarks of a planned effort to "control" the body count in the aftermath of Corrina. First they will "categorize" people who died after the storm as not included in the number of killed by the storm (like the Iraq troops who die after being wounded are not counted as KIA.)

Then Kenyon International, the notorious privately contracted firm assigned to gather the bodies will "lose" some - they have experience with that. Some, of course, "will never be found."

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/FEMA_outsources_Katrina_body_count_to_firm_implicated_in_bodydumping_scan_0913.html

Lastly, if all else fails to "manage" the death count, Chertoff & friends will just lie, and the media will obediently move on.

Yes, I know, I'm allowing my paranoid delusions to control my mind...

[Megahurtz]

75. O - M - G!!!

:puke:

[annabanana]

78. Some "conspiracy theories" DO turn out to be true, you know..

no tin foil hat required here...

[dchill]

80. Oh, I know, I know...

It's like the underlying theme of my "reality" lately. The zeitgeist, if you will.

[FighttheFuture]

77. Part of the plan, by the time suits are done, it'll be too late.

Reportes have to ignore them, and let themselves be kicked out, then the next one steps in and does it. All the while, this story has to be told in the MSM.

They should sue, but that is what the WH wants. You see, this is all happeing NOW. If they "play nice" and sue, there will be nothing to cover by the time it is done.

Who will really know how many bodies there are? Bu$hitCo is doing everything they can to minimize the count, including hiring that corrupt firm which will hide bodies for them, as Rawstory has reported http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-09-14T174247Z_01_N14659343_RTRIDST_0_KATRINA-KENYON-RECOVERY.XML

and Jeff Wells, http://rigorousintuition.blogspot.com/2005/09/drowning-by-numbers.html

[Voltaire99]

79. Yay! Support our troooooooops!

They're over in Iraq fighting so that we can...

Er.... Um, well....

Not learn anything? Have our press intimidated by goons?

Behold the perils of worshiping a military: they're really dangerous things a decent society tries to keep out of sight under lock and key. When they are allowed to intrude into civil society, and their intrusions glamorized and fetishized, then the door is opened for abuses. Either we shall reverse this trend or we can expect their boots on other doors soon, too.