Category: Grave

Sony Corp. to Slash 10,000 Jobs Globally, Thursday, September 22, 2005
Delta Plans to Cut Up to 9,000 Jobs, Thursday, September 22, 2005
Philadelphia Newspapers cutting 100 staffers, Tuesday, September 20, 2005
New York Times Co. to cut 500 jobs, or about 4% of staff, Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Fed raises interest rates for 11th consecutive time, Tuesday, September 20, 2005

The Federal Reserve raised a key short-term interest rate Tuesday and suggested more rate hikes are on the way, saying it believes the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the economy would be temporary.
The central bank’s policy-makers boosted their target for the federal funds rate a quarter-percentage point to 3.75 percent, the highest level in more than four years.
For consumers, the increase in the fed funds rate, an overnight bank lending rate, means higher rates for credit cards, car loans and adjustable-rate mortgages.

From Bush Questions Reopening of New Orleans, the Associated Press, September 19, 2005:

“We have made our position loud and clear,” Bush said. “The mayor is working hard. The mayor _ you know, he’s got this dream about having a city up and running, and we share that dream. But we also want to be realistic about some of the hurdles and obstacles that we all confront in repopulating New Orleans.”

Mayor Ray Nagin, for what it’s worth, is a colored man.

President Bush, center, stops for a group photo as he greets visitors at the White House on his return from a two day respite at Camp David, in Washington, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2005.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
In his televised address to the nation from New Orleans last Thursday night, President Bush inspired millions of Americans who had become concerned with what was perceived to be the federal government’s belated and inadequate response to the Disaster That Was Katrina. Channeling the finest moments of FDR, he lifted our wounded spirits and explained how the wrongs that had inflicted America over the past several centuries were going to be corrected under his watch…the true, idealistic Compassionate Conservative.

As all of us saw on television, there’s also some deep, persistent poverty in this region, as well. That poverty has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America. We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action. So let us restore all that we have cherished from yesterday, and let us rise above the legacy of inequality.

Stirring. Resonant. We saw this poverty on our flat-screen TVs in the White House situation room, and, fuck, we’re going to fix this shit. We’re going to throw cash your way. Cash. Money. Bills. You black people like that shit, right? Yeah? Yeah? Check this shit out, all these noble actions and understanding gestures we’ve got for you poor, penniless motherfuckers:
Sensenbrenner: Nix on Bankruptcy Delay, TPMCafe, September 14, 2005:

Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, refuses to even consider a vote delaying bankruptcy law changes for Katrina victims.  The party line is, the law is, was, and always will be perfect, and why mess with perfection?

Medicaid Cuts to Continue Despite Hurricane Katrina, TPMCafe, September 19, 2005:

While legislation was delayed last week, House leaders are determined to introduce legislation cutting $10 billion from the Medicaid program once they can turn their attention away from the hurricane cleanup.

OK, but what does our First Black President Who Also Happened to Be Poor think?
Clinton Levels Sharp Criticism at the President’s Relief Effort, the New York Times and ABC News, September 19, 2005:

“I think it’s very important that Americans understand, you know, tax cuts are always popular, but about half of these tax cuts since 2001 have gone to people in my income group, the top 1 percent. I’ve gotten four tax cuts. They’re responsible for this big structural deficit, and they’re not going away, the deficits aren’t. Now, what Americans need to understand is that that means every single day of the year, our government goes into the market and borrows money from other countries to finance Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina and our tax cuts. We have never done this before. Never in the history of our republic have we ever financed a conflict, military conflict, by borrowing money from somewhere else.”

U.S. President George W. Bush boards Air Force One after speaking about Hurricane Katrina’s damage to the nation on network television from Jackson Square in New Orleans, September 15, 2005. Bush believes the vision for rebuilding should be ‘locally inspired,’ but that the country as a whole needs to be committed to that longer-term effort. The president will continue to the White House following the speech. REUTERS/Larry Downing

Sure thing John Roberts (l.) and Team American Gary Johnston (r.)
(Big thx Martin…)

From the first interview with the recently-departed Michael Brown since his ‘resignation’ on Monday, in “Ex-FEMA Chief Tells of Frustration and Chaos”, the New York Times, September 15, 2005:

FEMA, he said, had no helicopters and only a few communications trucks. The agency typically depends on state resources, a system he said worked well in the other Gulf Coast states and in Florida last year.

What does it mean when Reuters’ photo editor takes it upon his or herself to make the widely-linked photo above available through its wire service? Why, that the President was speaking to members of the United Nations yesterday, of course! Here’s the caption:

U.S. President George W. Bush writes a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Security Council meeting at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14, 2005. World leaders are exploring ways to revitalize the United Nations at a summit on Wednesday but their blueprint falls short of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s vision of freedom from want, persecution and war. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

So, the gist of the news-worthy nature of this event: Bush spoke to the United Nations. And, it seems, the President wrote “a note” to Condi at some point. But someone at Reuters understands that of late, Bush’s popularity has been a bit worse for wear, and the usual “funny photo” of the President caught off guard just won’t do…
How does Reuters, then, sieze the moment? By also making available a blown-up, zoomed-in version of the image above, solely to focus upon the note’s most-certainly-not-classified subject matter.

Good luck with piecing together your moving, inspirational Katrina backdrop for tonight’s presidential address, Karl.

Alaska: the largest state, and the biggest elected-official achievement gap
You Voted Me into Office, but I’m a Fucking Idiot, Round 1
Senator Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, via the Associated Press, September 6, 2005:

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said the administration is “getting a bad rap” for the emergency response.
“This is the largest disaster in the history of the United States, over an area twice the size of Europe,” Stevens said. “People have to understand this is a big, big problem.”

Factual Refutation (fig. 1a):

Europe is about one-fifteenth of the world’s total land area…Area: 4,000,000 square miles including adjacent islands

By Sen. Stevens’ logic, that would make America’s Gulf Coast region equal to roughly two-fifteenths of the world’s land mass. That’s some awesome Bush-Brand Science!

You Voted Me into Office, but I’m a Fucking Idiot, Round 2
Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, via the New York Times, September 7, 2005:

“We are just in the beginning of the hurricane season,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska. “What happens if there is another hurricane?”

Factual Refutation (fig. 3f):

Hurricane season officially descends on the Atlantic June 1st.

By Sen. Murkowski’s logic, we get to re-experience our entire summer all over again! This means you can ask out that girl at the beach who was being all flirtatious and shit, but you were too cautious, too tentative. Thanks, Sen. Murkowski!

So, are they this stupid and misinformed because they’re Alaskan, or is it because they’re Republicans?