Few Tidbits About Katrina

Where Is The Freedom of Speech? To make a freedom of speech is not a privilege, it is a right of every citizen. But I noticed something interesting. More and more corporations that owned the televisions, films, books and newspapers has the rules that tells the citizens what to say and not to. One argued that these corporations are owned by private businesses that does not subject to the Bill of Rights -- if that is the case, then they cannot use the Bill of Rights to defend themselves when someone sued them. You get what I mean?

When Kanye West mentioned this on NBC Show recently:

I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, "They're looting." You see a white family, it says, "They're looking for food." And, you know, it's been five days [waiting for federal help] because most of the people are black. And even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I've tried to turn away from the TV because it's too hard to watch. I've even been shopping before even giving a donation, so now I'm calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give, and just to imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there. So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help -- with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible. I mean, the Red Cross is doing everything they can. We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way -- and they've given them permission to go down and shoot us! George Bush doesn't care about black people!

The GW Bush Administration and pro-GW Bush cronies cried a huge river about it -- but many people in this country agreed with Kanye West. It is evident that being poor and/or black, help will come to you ... in two months. And no, Kanye West is not a racist as much as Michael Demmons would like it to be.

See The Pattern? When someone stood up and rejected GW Bush's proposals, know what GW Bush do? He rejected them -- he does not include the people on the list to work together. In fact, it was reported that Governor Blanco of Louisiana was not informed that GW Bush was in the area for a press conference. As you can see, GW Bush and his cronies wantonly rejected or alienated people who disagreed or rejected his proposals, ideas and/or demands. Hello! This is America! The land of opportunity -- the freedom that GW Bush loved to clamor around but reserve the right to alienate others when they used that freedom of choice to reject his demands!

About Shelley Koczoi ...: I knew Shelley Koczoi. But when someone mentioned that she lived in New Orleans, I was bit baffled. In fact, I knew she is from California. Anyone willing to find out if she's okay by any means? Here is the picture of Shelley Koczoi.

As For Mayor Ray Nagins ...: Mayor Ray Nagins' patience was tested to the worst. Some people like FagPatriot tried to compare him with Mayor Rudy Gulianni -- please do not do that. Rudy only had to deal with few blocks of disaster area while Ray has to contend with the whole city. It is comparing an apple with an orange, 'nuff said. But again, some people are so stupid for making an effort to compare these two.

However, Ray Nagins is so cute. I'd do him in a heartbeat.

Oh, By The Way...: This Katrina Disaster was predicted by Joel K. Bourne, Jr last year in National Geographic and guess what? It is very accurate of what had transpired in New Orleans. Too bad, people do not read The National Geographic these days, especially Conservatives and Republicans pigs.

17 Deaf People Dead? I got this email which I cannot authenticate if it is real or fake -- it mentioned the names of deceased ones. I forwarded this to my friend in Louisiana to see if she knew any of them -- I think it is fake. But you never know.

Cheers,

R-

NBA Live

Today, I went to swim at Gus' sister's swimming pool -- Val had a stepson who was playing a video game as I walked in the house. He motioned me to look at his game, NBA LIVE '99 was on.

It brought many memories of me playing with Todd Newman in his dorm room and at his apartments where we waged a vicious battle against each other. Naturally, our tempers sometimes took over as we ended up arguing about this, that and there. Todd's wife, Dyan once rolled her eyes and said, "You guys have to be brothers or something!" She had a point -- when I argued with a person, I tend to disparage the person and never talk to him/her for weeks but with Todd, I could not. I can argue and if he said, "Let's play again," -- I would go at it. Just like that.

So when I saw Val's stepson playing that -- I asked if I could play one. He smiled and reset the game. It took me a little while to remember the moves as the kid led 41-38 in the second quarter before I took over on a 18-0 run to the 56-41 halftime. Then shortly, I managed to pass the ball to different players without dribbling for 12 straight points to start the second half.

The kid turned to me and yelled at me which I did not understand -- Val came in and said that the kid wanted to know if I had some practices before with the video game in the past. I told Val that the last time I played this particular game was more than 4 years ago with Todd in the District. Needless to say, the final score has me winning big, 146-98 -- no, I did not steal nor apply any defensive pressures on his players at all -- just that I knew the moves to hit the shots, which is why I managed to nail 74% of field goals. I'm that good, Todd. Beware.

Oh, did I mention that the kid was only 11 years old?

To be a kid again ... !

Cheers,

R-

Labor Day Tidbits

Remember Brokeback Mountain? Two weeks ago, I mentioned about this film will release sometimes in September. And thanks to DowntownLad's tidbit, the film received a rave reviews at Venice Film Festival -- in fact, it was reported that many critics were shellshocked when the film ended. You can see the advertisement of Brokeback Mountain -- I'd love to see this with captions but knowing the non-profit organizations that promoted the films with subtitles rarely went after the films that has been rated as "R", let alone a gay film. So we'll have to wait for months in order to enjoy this film. Such is a life like that, eh? That is why I hated the non-profit organizations, they get to choose the films for us.

Another Gay Film: Today I watched the British film made in early 1980s called My Beautiful Laundrette -- I was impressed with it. I was expecting some kind of suicide, a blow to their relationship and all that between the gay Pakistan and tough Briton but in the end, they still stick with each other. Nice. Too bad, the next film that turned me off is Green Plaid Shirts. Know why? It is not captioned. Of course, I stopped watching it and pulled it off. Of course, my review for that film is automatic F.

A Film Review Coming Up: I got a gift from a dear friend of mine that was produced by Jade of JadeFilm.com -- it is about the life story of Bruce Hlibok. The story that the Hliboks do not want you to know. In fact, it was reported that someone phoned Jade and left her a threat not to proceed with the film about Bruce and his volatile relationship with the Hliboks. As many of you knew, Bruce's younger brother is none other than Greg Hlibok, one of Deaf President Now Movement's leaders. So expect a review of the film in few days.

Wow, Mike Brown Is So Qualified! Wow, Mike Brown is so qualified to run the FEMA! Absolutely stunning to read but that is how it works when you campaigned for GW Bush, you get the positions within the departments regardless of your inexperience or mismanagement. Of course, the Homeland Security and GW Bush Administration defended Mike Brown as usual.

Disaster Breeds Loons: These folks needed the lifetime therapists.

Chief Justice William H. Rehniquist Croaked: AS many of you already knew, the Chief Justice William H. Renhiquist lost his life to Thyroid Cancer and that means what? Our worst fears are to come true -- the hapless fool fella that runs the White House will appoint two neocons on the bench. Perhaps, someone will imitate Pat Robertson's recent antics on some folks ...

Vacation, vacation and vacation! Where was GW Bush for the last 4 weeks? On a vacation in Crawford, Texas. What about Dick Cheney? On a vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. What about the Secretary of State, Condeleeza Rice? On a vacation as well. It was rumored that Dick is too sick to function which is why he was "sent" home. But that is just the rumor.

Can You Guess This? I'm trying to lighten up the mood so here it goes. This picture was snapped by talented woman in Judith Hummer -- this woman can hear very well but cannot use her voice because of a freak accident that damaged her vocal chords. Judith went to Gallaudet and chose me to be her guinea pig with photography -- she said that I am one of few Gallaudet smooth ASL users. Whatever works for her. So she asked me to babble about anything else. I was signing to the wall and it was pretty difficult because I never felt so stupid talking to the wall. If she could put a mirror, I might say few words -- mainly because I can get a reaction from myself -- but the wall? Nothing at all. But the picture ended up looking very good. So can you guess what I was trying to say?

Winner gets to write an entry on my blog!

Cheers,

R-

Labor Day Weekend Thoughts

My weekend is going very well as can be. Last Friday, I went to the CrabFest which was hosted by Gus' mother which has been going on for nearly 20 years, Gus said. I'm telling you, Gus' mother could have feed the victims of Katrina effectively than the FEMA can do. Oyster clams, chicken fingers, hot dogs, green beans with vinegar oil, chicken pasta, devilled eggs, mixed vegetables, countless of desserts as well as keg of beer, wine coolers and other assortments of drinks. The CrabFest is for friends and relatives of the family.

You could see lots of people using the wooden hammer to bang on the crabs then munch and gurgle the beers repeatedly throughout the night. You could feel the bangs on the tables around the swimming pool. When you needed a break, you just take a dip in the pool. It was a great way to relax ourselves. Had a chat with a hearing woman who is conservative, I asked her about the mess in New Orleans. Her face showed it all, she said that she is so angry at how slow the response was from the FEMA after 4 days. She signed vehemently to say that she blamed the GW Bush Administration for choosing the incompetent Michael Brown to run the FEMA. She is a conservative but she does have a point. You see, Michael Brown claimed that people were fed with food and water everyday on the national television. That was a simple lie, especially after 3 days.

Hosting a press conference after press conference after press conference is getting nowhere. It was reported that the National Guardsmen played cards while people in the Superdome was assaulted, raped and dying. Why? Because the National Guardsmen said that they were not responsible for that, they will do the job when the FEMA tells them to do it. Where is common sense in all of this?

However, back to the CrabFest, I walked over to Gus' mother and told her that by herself, she can virtually feed the victims of Katrina in an effective manner than the FEMA can. She shrugged me off and said with a smile, "Shut up, Ricky!"

It is not about Republicans, Conservatives, Liberals or Democrats. It is about the bipartisan inaction that led to this disaster in Louisiana. IN fact, the first day when Katrina came, it was natural disaster. But the days after that, it was man-made disaster. We allowed it to happen. In fact, the Army Corps of Engineer mentioned that the levees are the likeliest disasters to happen for this country many times in the past. The scientists warned that the levees needed to be upgraded and strengthened countless of times in the last 40 years. What did we do? We simply bickered amongst each other for years. Since the Army Corps of Engineers are funded by the federal government, the budget was slashed by GW Bush when the ACE asked for the budget to upgrade the levees.

The result is that you get $100 billion damage in New Orleans.

Some people said that the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana (both Democrats) are responsible to an extent. Yes, that is true. The mayor said that there were no money to allocate the buses for evacuees to leave the city -- which is why they had to ask the officials at Superdome to let them use it as a short-term shelter. They did the best they can do -- after all, New Orleans is the town that has high unemployment rate, which means lots of poor people that could not afford to sleep in Ramada Inn in Nacogdoches, Texas if given an opportunity!

It is travesty that the FEMA used the press conferences to refute the bullshit tales of how it is hard to get in the city while there are many press, Harry Connick, Jr and few trucks of Wal-Mart with food, water and medicine that rolled in the town ... with no problem.

In fact, GW Bush sent the memorandum to Governor of Louisiana asking her to turn the city to the federal's control where the administration said that the governor will control the national guards and police officers. Of course, the Governor of Louisiana rejected it because there is fishy about it. Know why? To assign the blame on the state and local government when something fucked up along the route.

Whatever had happened prior to Katrina's arrival, the city of New Orleans could have done better than that. Whatever happened to the budget for the ACE, the federal government, thanks to GW Bush Administration, could have done it better! Right now, New Orleans is just a cesspool. I am not certain if many evacuees, after being traumatized with the shitty treatments on FEMA's part for five days, wanted to go back.

Doing some fundraising is noble thing. But to rebuild the city is meaningless -- are we that too proud to accept that some cities shall dissipate in our age? Actually, I had a gut feeling that New Orleans would fall to Katrina by the levees' breach but I never anticipated the incompetence on FEMA's part that continued not for a day but for four days. It is time to stop b.s. and get things done. If the third world country like Thailand can speed up with the devastating effects of Indian Ocean Tsunami, why can't we?

A certain fellow said that in Baton Rouge, he saw the sign that says, "...When we return to the States." This guy was referring that the United States abandoned New Orleans on its own. It will take decades for the city to return to the States.

I cannot blame Mayor Ray Nagin for bombarding the people like GW Bush, Michael Brown and all that shit -- what do you expect from a guy who lost control of the city after the breach of levees that were supposed to be taken care of by the Army Corps of Engineers in the first place? It is not about political tactics, it is to get their asses off the seats and do something that they were paid to do.

Don't try to use political bullshit to defend GW Bush'a Administration for its complaceny to the America's greatest challenge in its history. The fact remains the same: They failed the people of New Orleans and Gulf Coast communities.

Also, to stupid religious extremists including Muslims & Xians, telling us that God destroyed New Orleans is hilarious -- especially with the fact that French Quarters were largely pardoned from the total destruction of floods and Katrina! It is getting old when people realized that they cannot understand the mother nature, it is so convenient to say that it was God who did it. Or Satan. Or Santa Claus. Or even me. Get a life.

R-

Katrina Exposed Our Incompetence

Michael Brown Is Delusional: FEMA Director Michael Brown said that "people are getting the help they need." Last night, one FEMA spokesman said that things will be organized in the next 3 days. 3 days?! Where have they been in the last 5 days when NOLA disintegrated?

An Idiotic Deaf Wannabe-Blogger: One Pro-Bush Deaf Blogger listed the hyperlinks to the websites for the victims to obtain the information on how to get help and all that shit -- is he stupid or what? One cannot pop up the internet connection at some coffeehouse in New Orleans and obtain the forms and walk over to the FEMA's booth and say, "Here it is!"

GW Bush Shaking People's Hands While People Are Dying: What the fuck? I'm watching the LIVE report in Mobile where GW Bush was listening to the lying fools then spent his time shaking people's hands. Saying that little poor Trent Lott's home was emptied by Katrina, and that they will build a fantastic home for Trent. Will he says the same thing for some black who is 79 years old in New Orleans? Fat chance -- Bush will never meet them at all.

FEMA Are Stupid! It was reported in Houston that FEMA tried to get the victims to register and provide the social security so that they can figure out the logistics and do the direct deposit to their banks so that they can have food, medicine and housing assistance. Many victims do not have the banks for the FEMA to do the direct deposit. Remember, the majority of victims are poor.

Remember Jesse Jones? A certain former but populat student at Gallaudet, Jesse Jones hailed from New Orleans. He is OK, his family are OK. But they lost everything else.

See Any Resemblance? When the United States beats Iraq, the first few days, Baghdad plunged into anarchy and chaos because our government did not have the plan to operate the nation as well. Now, Katrina came and went, New Orleans is in flames because nobody is prepared. What have the Bush Administration been up to in terms of strategy?

Vacation For Everyone! It was reported that GW Bush had his summer vacation in Crawford, Texas for 4 weeks. I learned that Dick Cheney was on vacation as well in Jackson, Wyoming. I also learned that Condi Rice has been on vacation for a week until many bloggers relentlessly bashed Condi's activities in New York. There is a rumor that Dick Cheney is ill which is why everyone keeps it under the wraps.

Tate: You're On My Shit List: Tate Tullier wrote that on his Xanga that he considered Katrina to be on his shit list -- very cute. Very cute, what about GW Bush and his administration's lackadaisal efforts to do something? What about YOUR own state that neglected to fix up the levees in the first place? Why did not the city of NOLA tells people to supply their food, medicine and water when Katrina was coming? Only to issue the evacuations or what?

All in all, NOLA is destroyed. GW Bush said that he is determined to bring it back to what it was in the first place -- I nearly farted. It will take decades to do so!

Governor Barbour Is Liar: He mentioned to the press that he was not aware that Katrina was category 5 until few hours before its arrival. What? Where did he has been? At some dirty adult bookstore? The National Hurricane Center issued about it 48 HOURS prior to its arrival! Even the media talked about it for days before it reached the Gulf Coast. What a liar. That's what you get for voting Republicans. I guess it is a blessing in disguise.

UPDATE: Two tidbits from friends of mine -- Lee Trevathan has a beachhouse in Biloxi, Mississippi is virtually gone. He and his ex cannot get to the property because they have to canvass the dead bodies first. Since his property was close to the beachfront, it is likely that it was demolished by the storm surge. Lucky for him, he has the insurance. It was also reported that Garrett Bose who is living in DC and hailed from New Orleans -- his mother's home was destroyed as well.

Cheers,

R-

On A Light Note

One Thing About NOLA: Before I dive in the somber note about things around us -- I want to remind the readers that NOLA does not mean Nola Schriver of Indiana! I already got one IM and 2 emails asking me if I meant Nola Schriver when I said, "Let's face the music, NOLA is fucked."

Actually, NOLA is the abbreviation of New Orleans, Louisiana!

A Prominent University: Yes, you heard it right here. I'm courting a school in Philadelphia to get in for graduate school. For the time being, I will not reveal the identity of school because I am supersitious about it. I do want to get in, so I will not say anything about it, thus increasing good karma on me.

William Penn's Curse?: However, I was chatting with this particular recruiter at that school about the skyline of Philadelphia. I mentioned that I heard that Philadelphia used to disallow any buildings to go taller than the statue of William Penn until in early 1980s. I wondered if it is true. This guy, who used to play soccer at Division III school, nodded and said, "Yes, in 1983. IN fact, for many years, Philadelphia won many championships in football, hockey, basketball and baseball until that year -- 1983. Since the city approved the buildings go above the statue of William Penn, no championship was produced in this town since 1983! Many claimed that William Penn cursed all sports in Philadelphia."

I was intrigued about that.

Which One Can You Find First? He also joked that people probably knew where to find the Art Museum of Philadelphia because of its famed image in Roy Weintraub's infatuation with ROCKY movies running up the 1,654,436,764,231 steps. He said that they probably can find that easier than finding Independence Hall. I grinned and agreed with this cool dude.

Spare Me The STI Jokes, OK? On Friday evening, my roommate's mother is hosting an annual thing called CrabFest which invited any friends and relatives to come and munch the crabs, drink beers and swim. Few Deafies will be there as well. Gus' mother is famous for stuff like that. Italian mother, what do you expect, really? If she wants to, she can feed the whole population of NOLA in an effective manner than the FEMA can.

Confidential to PJ: Many thanks for the help!

Confidential to Anonymous: Excuses, excuses and excuses. Basically, your points are interesting but it does not help many who struggled to meet their ends from paycheck to the next to "understand" their perspectives or try to rationalize their claims to justify their hefty paychecks. Your explanations focuses on how it works with the economy. But is it rational for normal people? No. Do you truly think a person of 28K a year would stand and say, "Yes, I completely understand. You are working hard for us and you deserved that 700K per year than I do. You can have it. I don't deserve it!"? Please find me a person like that and if you do, I'll eat turds for breakfast.

Cheers,

R-

Blacks Loot Food, Whites Find Food!

A friend of mine in Los Angeles immediately alerted me of two pictures which were broadcasted on Yahoo.com's News Photos. At first, there was this picture of black teenager but the other one was taken offline, along with the Yahoo! making a statement -- I was confused. Shortly, after looking around, I realized that something has happened.

Here is what exactly happened:

In one picture which depicted two white persons wading through the flood with food they looted at the local grocery store, the captions reads: "Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans, Louisiana."

In another picture which depicted a black teenager who waded through the flood with soda and stuff, the captions read: "A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, August 30, 2005. Flood waters continue to rise in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina did extreme damage when ..."


As you can see, if you are white, you did not loot -- you just find it. If you're black, you're looting! This created a huge uproar amongst the bloggers recently via Wonkette and Gothamist which prompted Yahoo! News to vacate the picture make a statement.

To whoever produced the captions, shame on you for attempting to make a racial bias like many people did in 1950s.

Related to New Orleans's Plight: I was told by a friend of mine that Shelley Koczoi is missing in New Orleans, Louisiana. Anyone care to confirm this rumor? Since the plight of New Orleans is on a large scale, it is obvious that many Deaf persons are in -- anyone willing to supply me the names and information -- I could post it for y'all. Just let me know.

Related to Katrina's Path: My brother, Gary, has been somewhat absent since Hurricane Katrina (category 1) skirmished Florida -- my brother lived in the southwestern part of Miami -- he said that the electricity were out for 2 days, and his cable connection were out for 5 days. He was not able to do much in the last 7 days. But he said riding out the storm was fun, of course, it was category 1. He said that his best memory with any hurricane is Gloria which we rode it out in mid-80s. I agreed.

R-