Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Postman Patel: The White House cabal ... exposed

Postman Patel: The White House cabal ... exposed

News Hounds: O'Reilly, Manzi

News Hounds: O'Reilly, Manzi

ProfessorBainbridge.com: Bailing on Bush

ProfessorBainbridge.com: Bailing on Bush

Blogger Thoughts: Conservations show awareness of reality?

Majikthise : Target, pharmacist malpractice, and the law

Majikthise : Target, pharmacist malpractice, and the law

Blogger Thought: Great calling out of Target.

lies.com » World O’Crap on the Wall Street Journal’s Plamegate Editorial

lies.com » World O’Crap on the Wall Street Journal’s Plamegate Editorial

GORE WOULD HAVE EXPOSED CAFR?

GORE WOULD HAVE EXPOSED CAFR?

Blogger Thoughts: I fully admit I don't know whether to believe a word of this... whether CAFR is the issue they say it is, whether Gore would have exposed?

firedoglake: Bon Appetit

firedoglake: Bon Appetit

Blogger Thoughts: Will Repubs forget their standards?

Humint Events Online: Was the USS Cole Bombing LIHOP?

Humint Events Online: Was the USS Cole Bombing LIHOP?

Michael Ledeen’s Fingers in the Niger Yellowcake

Another Day in the Empire

Brown Had Resignation Plans Before Katrina Hit

Brown Had Resignation Plans Before Katrina Hit

Brown Had Resignation Plans Before Katrina Hit

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 26, 2005; A09

Michael D. Brown was days away from announcing plans to resign as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency when Hurricane Katrina hit Aug. 29, according to e-mails released by separate House and Senate investigations into the government's flawed response to the disaster.

Sen. Susan M. Collins (R-Maine), chairman of the Senate investigation, questioned whether Brown's status played a role in the response.

"The fact that it appears that Michael Brown was planning to resign may explain in part his curious detachment during the Katrina catastrophe," Collins said.

The e-mails also suggest that the administration knew Brown was on the verge of departing when he was recalled as head of the sluggish rescue and relief efforts for the New Orleans area.

Brown resigned on Sept. 12, but the Department of Homeland Security then contracted with him at his full $148,000-a-year salary to serve as a consultant on a review of the response to Hurricane Katrina. The consulting arrangement, initially set to end Oct. 10, has been extended by four weeks, department spokesman Russ Knocke said.

Collins was "surprised to learn" that Brown's consulting deal has been extended, she said, because Michael P. Jackson, deputy secretary of homeland security, told her it would last 30 days.

Knocke said Brown "is transitioning out of a job he held for three years, transferring relevant documents and data and his experiences at the agency."

Brown had privately shared his intentions with acquaintances, and FEMA announced in the aftermath of Brown's resignation that the director of the agency's recovery division, Daniel A. Craig, had also planned to leave a month later.

In an Aug. 31 e-mail to FEMA aide James Tillie, Brown wrote, "I should have done my announcement a week early." That evening, Craig wrote to Brown: "We need to get this done right or neither of us are leaving on great terms . . . and we were days away."

Sirotablog: NPR's Damning Story on Senate Democrats

Sirotablog: NPR's Damning Story on Senate Democrats

O'Reilly attacks Media Matters with Two Uber-Conservatives

mparent7777: Believe it or not: LOU DOBBS talked about ABLE DANGER tonight

mparent7777: Believe it or not: LOU DOBBS talked about ABLE DANGER tonight

Audio: NEJM -- Women's Health and the FDA

NEJM -- Women's Health and the FDA

TOPDOG08.COM: What exactly was Atta's connection to Rahman?

TOPDOG08.COM: What exactly was Atta's connection to Rahman?

News Hounds: Mild-Mannered Portland Attorney Beats O'Reilly at His Own Game

News Hounds: Mild-Mannered Portland Attorney Beats O'Reilly at His Own Game

ei: MapQuest sidesteps requests to correct blatantly inaccurate map of Israel

ei: MapQuest sidesteps requests to correct blatantly inaccurate map of Israel

NY Times columnist Kristof misstated Fitzgerald ... [Media Matters]

NY Times columnist Kristof misstated Fitzgerald ... [Media Matters]

Echoing White House spin on Fitzgerald inquiry, ... [Media Matters]

Echoing White House spin on Fitzgerald inquiry, ... [Media Matters]

LONDON SUBWAY BOMBER SAID FILMED

LONDON SUBWAY BOMBER SAID FILMED

mparent7777: Able Danger 'warned of Cole bombing'

mparent7777: Able Danger 'warned of Cole bombing'

Stephen Hadley and the Niger Forgeries

Crooks and Liars

Tomorrow is the day?

Crooks and Liars

Syria is being Set Up to Fail

codshit.com: conspiracy theories and a search for the truth

More on the lie that led to war

Cannonfire

Coulter Admits She's 'Not a Big Fan of the First Amendment'

Coulter Admits She's 'Not a Big Fan of the First Amendment'

For Brooks, "middle class" apparently means mid ... [Media Matters]

For Brooks, "middle class" apparently means mid ... [Media Matters]

The Top Ten things we will soon learn from the Drudge Report about Patrick Fitzgerald.

greatscat!

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Chinese workers in Israel sign no-sex contract

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Chinese workers in Israel sign no-sex contract