Louisiana: With guns and generators, a few homeowners stand guard over neighbourhoods
Source: Canada.com
"When night falls, Charlie Hackett climbs the steps to his boarded-up window, takes down the plywood, grabs his 12-gauge shotgun and waits. He is waiting for looters and troublemakers, for anyone thinking his neighbourhood has been abandoned like so many others across the city. Two doors down, John Carolan is doing the same on his screened-in porch, pistol by his side. They are not about to give up their homes to the lawlessness that has engulfed New Orleans in the wake of hurricane Katrina. "We kind of together decided we would defend what we have here and we would stay up and defend the neighbourhood," says Hackett, a U.S. Army veteran with a snow-white beard and a business installing custom kitchens." [Editor's note: Included here as an example of the type of activism, and organizing, that is useful in a disaster-MLS](09/05/05)
http://www.canada.com/news/world/story.html?id=e9a14d01-c3c8-43a7-98cc-b1567e9c790d
-----
Mississippi: Neighbors team up to provide security
Source: Washington Post
"Jeffrey Powell yanked the cushions off his living room sofa and arranged them on the bed of his truck. Then he got his shotgun, made himself comfortable, and spent the night in his driveway, protecting his hurricane-ravaged home and enjoying whatever breeze he could catch on a steamy night. Powell is part of the Popps Ferry Landing neighborhood watch, a group of citizens trying to restore order and peace in their middle-class community a week after Hurricane Katrina brought her chaos. "We're not going to have any looters out here," said Dan Shearin, 56, Powell's next-door neighbor. "We have some burly men who are sleeping outside with guns. If the looters come, we'll take care of them." .... As stories of violent and desperate looters have made their way across Mississippi, people in communities where law enforcement has been overwhelmed are reaching for their guns to police their streets. In Popps Ferry Landing, many neighbors had lived near each other for years but had never spoken. The realization that their safety and homes were vulnerable and police presence was scarce brought them together quickly." [Editor's note: Another example of organizing to survive-MLS] (09/05/05)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/04/AR2005090401277.html?sub=AR
-----
Katrina transforms Baton Rouge
Source: Yahoo! News
" This sleepy state capital long lived in the shadow of bawdy New Orleans. While New Orleans got tourists flocking there from around the world looking for good times, music and food, Baton Rouge got the politicians and the bureaucrats. But Hurricane Katrina transformed Baton Rouge into Louisiana's largest city nearly overnight — bursting at the seams with 100,000 rescue workers and refugees. Hotel rooms are booked, the gasoline supply is running dry, houses are selling overnight — sometimes sight unseen — and even little delicatessens are getting more orders than they can keep up with. The transformation could be permanent, and longtime residents are wondering what the future holds. .... In practical terms, the population boom means that at some point soon new roads will have to be built, the sewage system will have to be updated and the airport will have to expand, said Walter Monsour, the top administrator for Mayor-President Kip Holden. He pointed out that Houston was a little sibling to Galveston, Texas, until the island city was destroyed by a hurricane in 1900.Holden has asked Congress for help, saying the local government simply won't be able to absorb the spiraling costs." [Editor's note: Activists, be prepared to address this type of 'we need more gov't money' thinking-MLS](09/05/05)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050905/ap_on_re_us/katrina_booming_baton_rouge
-----
Ohio: Gun rights advocate found guilty
Source: Toledo Blade
"A Wood County man who carried a loaded handgun in Ottawa Park to challenge Toledo’s ban on concealed weapons in city parks was convicted yesterday of a misdemeanor gun charge. Toledo Municipal Court Judge Gene Zmuda found Bruce Beatty had violated a city ordinance that prohibits people from possessing concealed weapons in parks. He was fined $50 and ordered to pay court costs, which was stayed pending an appeal.
The trial was held after Judge Zmuda ruled the city ordinance doesn’t conflict with a state law that allows adults with permits to carry concealed weapons. He said the city has the authority under its home-rule power to prohibit guns in parks. .... Mr. Beatty said after the trial that he would continue to fight the ordinance through an appeal to the Ohio 6th District Court of Appeal." (09/03/05)
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050903/NEWS02/50903046/-1/NEWS
-----
Lady Katrina, bearer of hard truths
Source: Strike the Root
Author: Szechuan Death
" And all of those fools, you and I both, have been mulcted many times over to pay for this fiasco and others just like it. Well? Where's my f***ing refund? I can turn on a satellite receiver and see corpses floating in the flooded-out areas of Bangladesh during monsoon season. I was under the impression that the reason I have my wealth repeatedly confiscated at gunpoint is so that I need not ever see or suffer such tragedy here in America. Isn't that right? .... The problem is, in summary, the wealth-destroying and lie-generating machinery of the State, which chews up productive labor, capital and lives, and spits back shabby half-assed ersatz replicas of effective solutions, all the while mumbling vaguely pleasant-sounding blandishments about "the greater good." These are the problem, not the current Maximum Leader. Keep that in mind. Keep it in everybody else's mind, too. .... Lady Katrina--hateful, murderous bitch though she was--has given us many truths in her passage. Those truths are ugly. They were also expensive. Make damn sure, then, that every time you speak on this subject, those truths are driven home, not wasted. Do not permit the facts surrounding this disaster to be spun into a State triumph or "disappeared" into the Memory Hole, as has happened with so many other State failures of our time. To do so is to squander what little good might be salvaged from this farce, this tragedy, this goddamned waste." (09/05/05)
http://www.strike-the-root.com/52/death/death2.html
-----
How government can help: By getting out of the way
Source: Competitive Enterprise Institute
Author: Iain Murray
"When the initial rescue efforts wind down in the ravaged Gulf Coast area, the much longer process of cleanup and recovery will begin. In this effort, while government will be involved, millions of people will be picking up -- literally -- the pieces of their lives. To be able to do this quickly they will need energy to power their trucks, cars, generators, and pumps -- and effective tools to ward off disease in the affected areas. To that end, federal and state governments need to think about how they can help these men and women get the energy and resources they need at the most affordable prices possible." (09/02/05)
http://www.cei.org/gencon/019,04809.cfm
-----
Check out charities before you open your wallet
Source: Arizona Republic
Author: Rick deBruhl
"We've seen the pictures, and it's obvious we have an obligation to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. We also have an obligation to make sure that our donations actually get to some organization that will really help. Scammers prey on disasters. They know that Americans will open their hearts and wallets to help in an instant ... [and] that people who spend weeks researching the best price for a TV may not spend a minute looking into the charity they just handed a check. ... Take a moment to check out the charity on Web sites like www.give.org or www.charitynavigator.org. You can find out facts ranging from how much of their money goes to programs that actually help people (it should be at least 75 percent) to how much their chief executive officer makes." [editor's note: And given the controversy around even the Red Cross spending after 0911, one has to be even more careful now! - SAT] (09/05/05)
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0905action05.html
Source: Canada.com
"When night falls, Charlie Hackett climbs the steps to his boarded-up window, takes down the plywood, grabs his 12-gauge shotgun and waits. He is waiting for looters and troublemakers, for anyone thinking his neighbourhood has been abandoned like so many others across the city. Two doors down, John Carolan is doing the same on his screened-in porch, pistol by his side. They are not about to give up their homes to the lawlessness that has engulfed New Orleans in the wake of hurricane Katrina. "We kind of together decided we would defend what we have here and we would stay up and defend the neighbourhood," says Hackett, a U.S. Army veteran with a snow-white beard and a business installing custom kitchens." [Editor's note: Included here as an example of the type of activism, and organizing, that is useful in a disaster-MLS](09/05/05)
http://www.canada.com/news/world/story.html?id=e9a14d01-c3c8-43a7-98cc-b1567e9c790d
-----
Mississippi: Neighbors team up to provide security
Source: Washington Post
"Jeffrey Powell yanked the cushions off his living room sofa and arranged them on the bed of his truck. Then he got his shotgun, made himself comfortable, and spent the night in his driveway, protecting his hurricane-ravaged home and enjoying whatever breeze he could catch on a steamy night. Powell is part of the Popps Ferry Landing neighborhood watch, a group of citizens trying to restore order and peace in their middle-class community a week after Hurricane Katrina brought her chaos. "We're not going to have any looters out here," said Dan Shearin, 56, Powell's next-door neighbor. "We have some burly men who are sleeping outside with guns. If the looters come, we'll take care of them." .... As stories of violent and desperate looters have made their way across Mississippi, people in communities where law enforcement has been overwhelmed are reaching for their guns to police their streets. In Popps Ferry Landing, many neighbors had lived near each other for years but had never spoken. The realization that their safety and homes were vulnerable and police presence was scarce brought them together quickly." [Editor's note: Another example of organizing to survive-MLS] (09/05/05)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/04/AR2005090401277.html?sub=AR
-----
Katrina transforms Baton Rouge
Source: Yahoo! News
" This sleepy state capital long lived in the shadow of bawdy New Orleans. While New Orleans got tourists flocking there from around the world looking for good times, music and food, Baton Rouge got the politicians and the bureaucrats. But Hurricane Katrina transformed Baton Rouge into Louisiana's largest city nearly overnight — bursting at the seams with 100,000 rescue workers and refugees. Hotel rooms are booked, the gasoline supply is running dry, houses are selling overnight — sometimes sight unseen — and even little delicatessens are getting more orders than they can keep up with. The transformation could be permanent, and longtime residents are wondering what the future holds. .... In practical terms, the population boom means that at some point soon new roads will have to be built, the sewage system will have to be updated and the airport will have to expand, said Walter Monsour, the top administrator for Mayor-President Kip Holden. He pointed out that Houston was a little sibling to Galveston, Texas, until the island city was destroyed by a hurricane in 1900.Holden has asked Congress for help, saying the local government simply won't be able to absorb the spiraling costs." [Editor's note: Activists, be prepared to address this type of 'we need more gov't money' thinking-MLS](09/05/05)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050905/ap_on_re_us/katrina_booming_baton_rouge
-----
Ohio: Gun rights advocate found guilty
Source: Toledo Blade
"A Wood County man who carried a loaded handgun in Ottawa Park to challenge Toledo’s ban on concealed weapons in city parks was convicted yesterday of a misdemeanor gun charge. Toledo Municipal Court Judge Gene Zmuda found Bruce Beatty had violated a city ordinance that prohibits people from possessing concealed weapons in parks. He was fined $50 and ordered to pay court costs, which was stayed pending an appeal.
The trial was held after Judge Zmuda ruled the city ordinance doesn’t conflict with a state law that allows adults with permits to carry concealed weapons. He said the city has the authority under its home-rule power to prohibit guns in parks. .... Mr. Beatty said after the trial that he would continue to fight the ordinance through an appeal to the Ohio 6th District Court of Appeal." (09/03/05)
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050903/NEWS02/50903046/-1/NEWS
-----
Lady Katrina, bearer of hard truths
Source: Strike the Root
Author: Szechuan Death
" And all of those fools, you and I both, have been mulcted many times over to pay for this fiasco and others just like it. Well? Where's my f***ing refund? I can turn on a satellite receiver and see corpses floating in the flooded-out areas of Bangladesh during monsoon season. I was under the impression that the reason I have my wealth repeatedly confiscated at gunpoint is so that I need not ever see or suffer such tragedy here in America. Isn't that right? .... The problem is, in summary, the wealth-destroying and lie-generating machinery of the State, which chews up productive labor, capital and lives, and spits back shabby half-assed ersatz replicas of effective solutions, all the while mumbling vaguely pleasant-sounding blandishments about "the greater good." These are the problem, not the current Maximum Leader. Keep that in mind. Keep it in everybody else's mind, too. .... Lady Katrina--hateful, murderous bitch though she was--has given us many truths in her passage. Those truths are ugly. They were also expensive. Make damn sure, then, that every time you speak on this subject, those truths are driven home, not wasted. Do not permit the facts surrounding this disaster to be spun into a State triumph or "disappeared" into the Memory Hole, as has happened with so many other State failures of our time. To do so is to squander what little good might be salvaged from this farce, this tragedy, this goddamned waste." (09/05/05)
http://www.strike-the-root.com/52/death/death2.html
-----
How government can help: By getting out of the way
Source: Competitive Enterprise Institute
Author: Iain Murray
"When the initial rescue efforts wind down in the ravaged Gulf Coast area, the much longer process of cleanup and recovery will begin. In this effort, while government will be involved, millions of people will be picking up -- literally -- the pieces of their lives. To be able to do this quickly they will need energy to power their trucks, cars, generators, and pumps -- and effective tools to ward off disease in the affected areas. To that end, federal and state governments need to think about how they can help these men and women get the energy and resources they need at the most affordable prices possible." (09/02/05)
http://www.cei.org/gencon/019,04809.cfm
-----
Check out charities before you open your wallet
Source: Arizona Republic
Author: Rick deBruhl
"We've seen the pictures, and it's obvious we have an obligation to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. We also have an obligation to make sure that our donations actually get to some organization that will really help. Scammers prey on disasters. They know that Americans will open their hearts and wallets to help in an instant ... [and] that people who spend weeks researching the best price for a TV may not spend a minute looking into the charity they just handed a check. ... Take a moment to check out the charity on Web sites like www.give.org or www.charitynavigator.org. You can find out facts ranging from how much of their money goes to programs that actually help people (it should be at least 75 percent) to how much their chief executive officer makes." [editor's note: And given the controversy around even the Red Cross spending after 0911, one has to be even more careful now! - SAT] (09/05/05)
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0905action05.html
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