I'm very tired, but I'd like to say some things about the disaster in New Orleans, I appologize if my writing is a little mangled but I think I've learned some things about the situation that people may not know, and I think it is important.

The Iraq War has made the situation FAR worse than it needed to be. the first reason for this is that nearly 40% of Louisianna and Mississippi's National Guard is in Iraq . that means 40% fewer of the best equipped first responders.
The second reason is that money that should have gone to the Army Corps of Engineers went to tha war effort. I know some people will call this a conspiricy theory or something but I research things before I go spreading them around as fact, here's a quote from the Times-Picayune.
"Army Corps of Engineers construction projects in the state, including levee and drainage projects in the New Orleans area, will see significant cuts.
The corps' New Orleans District, which stretches across the state's coastline, will get $290 million, a $34 million reduction from the dollars allocated for fiscal year 2005 by Congress, and almost $300 million less than the district says it needs to complete proposed and ongoing construction projects. (the same article said that they needed $63 million just to repair the Levees, they got almost half of that for the whole Louisianna coastline)(2-8-2005 "Bush budget cuts levee, drainage funds")

As many of you probibly already know New Orleans thought they had made it through the storm ok on Monday, then overnight the 2 of 4 levees broke, then everything went to shit. The levees should have been fixed. if our president wasn't parading around the middle east inciting terrorism, while at the same time pushing through tax cuts for multi millionares, the levees would not have broken. the Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of fixing the Levees but unfortunately that branch of the army got its budget cut. The city and state were begging the federal government for funding and instead it got cut, and now the whole fucking city is under water. This is why we have the National Guard, they're a state malittia whose commander in chief is the governor, right now 3,000 of Louisianna's National Guardsmen are watching this disaster on TV from fucking Baghdad when they should be at home helping people survive. so not only is this war costing billions of dollars, the lives of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Civillians, and thousands of military personell, NOW it is costing the lives of thousands of American Civillians on the gulf coast.

And where is the fucking president? he came back to Washington today, how generous, he took 2 days off his vacation and flew back to the capital 3 days after the storm. and now he's on TV and everywhere else trying to make it look like he cares. let's think about it for a second, before today the president spent a whopping 1 minute and 25 seconds talking to the people of America about the Hurricane, and he did so at 9am, at the beginning of a 40 minute speach that was focussed on selling the war in Iraq and comparing it to WWII . The Hurricane happened on Monday, that's 3 days before he got back to Washington, and in that time he spent a pathetic 1.25 minutes talking about what may be the worst Natural Disaster to strike America in a century. I have bad news for any gullible Republicans who think this asshole actually gives a shit about America. He doesent care, he got back to washington today and his PR people ar like "Um, Mr President, you look like a real fucking asshole right now for ignoring this tragedy, we got some speaches and plans ready for your lazy ass and unless you want Americans to catch on to the fact that you don't realy give a shit about them you better move fast." so I looked at the Witehouse website yesterday and it only mentioned the Hurricane in the sidebar, today the 4 top stories are about the Hurricane and there's a big glossy picture of the president standing with his father and clinton looking important.

that's all for now, if anyone finds something about how the bush administration refused to fund Levee construction in the news please let me know I want to know if anyone is covering this story.

I stumbled upon this quote from George Orwell

"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity."

"When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink."

so next time you hear Byron Brown speak, remember that one, and vote for someone who's trying to rock the boat.

Just some recent pictures of mine.

I'm testing how I can post pictures on this site. so don't mind me, :)

There is a vary interesting display downtown today and tomorrow that adresses the Human cost of the Iraq War. it's called Eyes Wide Open and it was created by the American Friends Service Committee. it feartures a pair of boots for every soldier killed in Iraq. the one that is in Buffalo today and tomorrow represents the number of National Guardsmen killed, some 280 people. it's striking to see, it helps give us perspective on the number of people that those "casualty figures" actually represent.

I urge everyone to go see it tomorrow, it will be in Lafayette Square in Downtown Buffalo from about 9:00am - Dusk.

Here are some pictures that my girlfriend Molly took at the one today.









More Images in My Flickr Blog

Some people had mentioned how dissatisfied they are with our government and the war in Iraq, and mentioned they'd like to become more involved. Well... I'm here to help. I've been traveling to Washington for protests, finding alternative sources of news, and helping organize events locally since before the war in Afghanistan. if you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them.
For starters here's some info about an upcoming protest in Washington DC. If you've never been to DC for a protest you should do whatever you need to to get you ass on the bus. It's extremely empowering to be around so many likeminded and determined people. Though it won't make president Bush immediately realize how stupid this whole thing is, it'll do a lot for you and the others that care about what is happening in the world, including those around the world who are losing faith in american Democracy.

Here's the info:
[size=m]
Massive Demonstration to End the War in Iraq[/size]
September 24th in Washington, DC
Buses from Buffalo -- $40 per seat (Extremely Cheap)

Reserve Your Seat on the Bus -- Call 894-2013 Today!

After years of sustained effort by our movement, decision makers in
Congress and elsewhere have finally realized that something must be
done to end the Bush administration's disastrous war against Iraq. With
the recent introduction of the bipartisan "Homeward Bound" resolution, it's
clear that opposition to the war has begun to move from the streets into
the halls of Congress.

It's more important than ever that the peace movement continue to
demand an end to the war. United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), the
nation's largest antiwar coalition, has called for a massive demonstration
in Washington on September 24th to demand that our representatives
stand up to George Bush and do what it takes to bring our troops home.
As a member of UFPJ, the Peace Center will be sending buses from
Buffalo to the rally in Washington.

For more info on the rally, see unitedforpeace.org . To reserve a seat
on the bus, call the Peace Center at 894-2013.