Big Can of Crazy Relocation Notice...

Ever realize that the federal government spends 19 cents of every tax dollar just to pay the interest on our national debt? The most money is spent on national defense. www.nationalpriorities.org

PLEASE NOTE: the central office of The Big Can of Crazy will be relocating from Michigan to Minnesota beginning Wednesday, September 14th, 2005. Postings will cease until the new office is up and running again.

Private Security Firms in New Orleans...

The same para-military private security firms that have been working in Iraq are now in New Orleans for wealthy citizens and private business. The Blackwater homepage makes them look like saviors, but don't kid yourself, in the end they are there for the rich. If you can afford their services, then you can get your own army with M-16 rifles. At the same time, the trail of money continues.

No Photos Please...

This time FEMA, not the pentagon "...does not want the news media to photograph the dead as they are recovered." The truth hurts and will create more questions that need to be answered. Ignoring it is even worse in the long run, much like the same expectation the pentagon had for the dead returning from Iraq.

Regardless of the attempted spin-control, three Duke University students still found a way to help.

No Qualifications...

Slowly the news is starting to spread that the director of FEMA, Michael Brown, has no business actually being any part of that agency. His background is in judging horses for 11 years and being a republican who is supported on every level by our President. So, there's nobody out there who was more qualified to make sure that Americans would survive a deadly hurricane than Michael Brown? At least he's part of the Presidential Prayer Team.

Hurricane Letter...

This is part of a letter recently received by the Friends of the Book Cadillac Organization from the former Director of the Lousiana Historic Preservation Society:

Dear Friends and Family, I continue to be uplifted by the prayers and good wishes of you all. I wish I had better news, but am sorry to report conditions here in Baton Rouge aredeteriorating rapidly.
We are out of gasoline.
The store shelves are getting sparse.
Many parts of the city are still out of electricity.
The population of Baton Rouge has grown by 250,000 in 3 days.
All hospitals and nursing homes are overflowing.All hotel rooms in Louisiana are filled.
The sports arenas at both Southern and LSU are filled with over 1500 patients.
Traffic is at near gridlock in some places.The sound of sirens is nearly non-stop.
There is no property left for sale or rent.
Credit card machines do not work, so most business is on a cash basis.

Please do not wait for the government to tell you what is needed - everyhour of delay causes more deaths.

Meanwhile, our officials at FEMA are recommending that First Responders Not Respond to Hurricane Areas. Get a clue, it's a little late to just start to get organized. What is more terrible is the total disregard for the victims of the hurricane. FEMA is disorganized, but at least they have their own agency sponsored song for kids (not a joke).

Fewer Donations to Charity...

Amid the death and destruction of the hurricane, Senator Bill Frist is moving ahead with a vote to permanently repeal the estate tax which helps many charities. If there were no estate tax in 2000, for example, “charitable donations would have been between $13 billion to $25 billion lower than they actually were.”

New Orleans and the south needs to be rebuilt even after the shame we have endured from our own failure to help those in need. The rich do not need more money.

It's Your Fault...

FEMA Director Michael Brown was quoted recently that the victims of the hurricane bear some responsibility for their current situation. Ever try being poor and uneducated in New Orleans? Me neither.

Meanwhile, I laugh at writer Tim Naftali's new title for the Department of Homeland Security. Do you really feel secure after seeing the terrible response from our government?

Mayor Ray Nagin said it best, "They're feeding the people a line of bull, and they are spinning and people are dying"

Truth & Spin...

It is still amazing to me that some people are not angry at a government that is out of touch with reality. Are they actually this disorganized? If I was a terrorist then the total failure of our government to help our citizens would show how successful any future attack will be.

We KNEW the hurricane was coming and KNEW that New Orleans could flood. A future "dirty bomb" attack won't have any warning.

Vacation is Over...

I had a conversation with a good friend this evening. She supports the President and believes that he is doing a terrific job. When I asked her about the total failure to prepare, lack of communication, lack of National Guard, and lack of attention from the administration in the vital first few days her honest answer was, "he was probably busy at the time with other things..."

A more sarcastic reply would include: Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted.

Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?

Put the Puzzle Pieces Together...

The National Guard's scramble to bring aid and order to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast is hamstrung by the fact that units across the country have, on average, half their usual amount of equipment. The National Guard Bureau estimates that its nationwide equipment availability rate is 35 percent, about half the normal level, according to Pentagon statistics.

"...in Louisiana and Mississippi, the states hit hardest by the hurricane, up to 40 percent of their National Guard troops are on active duty in Iraq." This is the Gulf Between Rhetoric and Reality.

Shopping is Good...

The contrast is incredible. The destruction and carnage we've seen on television compared to the simple descriptions from our elected leaders that "everything that can be done is being done." That's not good enough.

We can send a man to the moon, but we can't get food and water to New Orleans. There is no excuse for this total failure of leadership. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is off shopping in NYC and Vice-President Dick Cheney is still on vacation making plans on how to organize future fundraisers.

Photos from the Sky...

Thanks to our friends at Globalsecurity.org we now have satellite imagery of the before and after effects of Katrina in New Orleans.

A True US Patriot...

A True US Patriot realizes if the rights of one are violated, the rights of all are at risk. A True US Patriot believes that the rights of corporations should not equal or exceed the rights of any individual.

“You can support the troops but not the president” - Representative Tom Delay (R-TX)
Supporting Our Troops.

You are An American... You are Not An American...

Poll Ratings...

When it rains, it pours. Not only has it been raining on thousands of Americans in the south, but the poll ratings of our president continue to drop. Questions continue to be asked and new jokes continue to be written - some more creative than most.

Stem Cell Research...

U.S. Army Specialist Tomas Young has the best reason I can imagine to ask President Bush to allow for future stem cell research.

Finally, Common Sense...

The Detroit News has finally printed something that makes sense, of course, it's an editorial but that's fine with me: Saving historic structures takes more than talking
Buying Detroit property is best way to preserve buildings

My Name is Marion...

Did you know that Pat Robertson's real first name is Marion? Unusual, but not as wierd as some of his crazy quotes from the past. Better yet, take the quiz to determine which quotes were from Robertson, Falwell, or Bin Ladin.

The Rumsfeld Way...

Just like our Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, other politicians have also taken on the new tactic of throwing out people from meetings where they might actually ask questions. In this case, it's Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.

Rest in Peace...

Dr. Robert Moog, best known for his inventions related to electronic music, has died of brain cancer. His contributions to the musical world changed how we hear music. A memorial fund dedicated to the advancement of electonic music has also been established.