iskew

I just found out that Ida Roy passed away.



You may recall that when I met her, she had just been diagnosed with cancer. She passed away last Thursday.

It hurts.

Obit:
http://obits.nola.com/NOLA/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=86579195

Part One:
http://iskew.livejournal.com/148742.html

Part Two:
http://iskew.livejournal.com/149001.html

From the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

U.S. didn't use most foreign Katrina aid
Posted by Washington bureau April 29, 2007 4:38PM
Unable to deal with an unexpected outpouring of post-Katrina assistance, Washington did not accept most donations from other governments.

By Bruce Alpert
Washington bureau

"WASHINGTON -- Only a small fraction of the more than $800 million in Hurricane Katrina assistance offered by foreign governments was used by federal agencies, according to documents released Sunday by a private watchdog group.

Rejected were the offers of foreign governments to send medical teams, search-and-rescue units, body bags, bottled water, food, fuel and even offers of specially trained rescue dogs from Poland, according to documents obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Also turned down or stalled by bureaucratic delays were offers of two cruise ships by the Greek government for use as medical facilities and to house workers and displaced residents.

The United States didn't have a system to process so many simultaneous offers of assistance, and if another disaster of the scale of Katrina occurred, it still would be unable to accept most aid, said Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director."

...

"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that the United States 'frankly is not accustomed to receiving large-scale foreign assistance offers.'"

...

"In some cases, particularly for medical workers and search-and-rescue teams, government officials raised liability concerns about the foreign volunteers."

Full article:
http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/04/us_didnt_use_most_foreign_katr.html

WHAT??? "Not accustomed" to an outpouring? Now I realize they may not have anticipated it since even they knew they drove our reputation abroad into the shitter, but isn't this the same administration that had to handle the last great outpouring after 9/11? What other administration would be more accustomed?

And it's too bad Iraq couldn't raise a few liability concerns about foreign volunteers on their soil. Must be nice to blankly stare at offers of assistance while people die behind you.

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans...