US Government may still burn Katrina aid

[unixronin]

Conceded in advance, the Mirror isn't the most reliable source:

The aid worker, who would not be named, said: "This is the most appalling act of sickening senselessness while people starve.

"The FDA has recalled aid from Britain because it has been condemned as unfit for human consumption, despite the fact that these are Nato approved rations of exactly the same type fed to British soldiers in Iraq.

"Under Nato, American soldiers are also entitled to eat such rations, yet the starving of the American South will see them go up in smoke because of FDA red tape madness."

The worker added: "There will be a cloud of smoke above Little Rock soon - of burned food, of anger and of shame that the world's richest nation couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery and lets Americans starve while they arrogantly observe petty regulations.

"Everyone is revolted by the chaotic shambles the US is making of this crisis. Guys from Unicef are walking around spitting blood.

"This is utter madness. People have worked their socks off to get food into the region.

"It is perfectly good Nato approved food of the type British servicemen have. Yet the FDA are saying that because there is a meat content and it has come from Britain it must be destroyed.

"If they are trying to argue there is a BSE reason then that is ludicrously out of date. There is more BSE in the States than there ever was in Britain and UK meat has been safe for years."

[...]

Food from Spain and Italy is also being held because it fails to meet US standards and has been judged unfit for human consumption.

And Israeli relief agencies are furious that thousands of gallons of pear juice are to be destroyed because it has been judged unfit.

 

When do we all march on Washington?  Our government is not the solution, it's the problem.

---

(Crossposted to neph_politics)

Comments

[johnkzin.livejournal.com]

You know, John Titor said that the second american civil war would start in 2005.

[mazianni.livejournal.com]

People have been saying for centuries that British food isn't fit for human consumption.

Doesn't it burn your britches that the new head of FEMA is the guy that told everyone to buy plastic wrap and duct tape so they could seal their windows in the event of a biological or chemical attack? I bet he advocates sitting under your desk with your head between your knees in the event of a nuclear attack. I'm sorry, I mean nucular.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Traded one incompetent imbecile for another. :p

[mazianni.livejournal.com]

Well, at least Paulison has previous disaster management experience. Even if it is crap.

[nephthys510.livejournal.com]

I kept two bitchy bickering friends apart from each other in a small club all night once.

I think that qualifies.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Ah, but did you use duct tape and plastic sheeting?

[rbos.livejournal.com]

nukular is perfectly cromulent dialect. :)

Forting up

[lonewolf545.livejournal.com]

Gee, didn't he also specify one week's worth of food and water? Hasn't FEMA ALWAYS said that it would take them 72-96 hours to be on-scene, and that individuals and local authorities had to be prepared to hold their own that long? Sorry, our Federal system of government reserves Federal involvement for those issues at the Federal level - which doesn't include handing out water bottles to people who failed to evacuate before a major storm. That's a state or local responsibility. Now, if it was a foreign invasion...

OBE

[lonewolf545.livejournal.com]

Yes, there was a holdup, due to USDA regulations about what kind of food can be imported from the EU. A waiver has since been issued for these rations.

Re: OBE

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Yes, I heard about the waiver. The Mirror SEEMED to be indicating that after being cleared up once, they were then impounded a second time.

Of course, as I noted, the Mirror cannot always be considered a reliable source. It's entirely possible they were just slow to pick it up.

Then again, pear juice? Surely no-one in their right mind could claim THAT was BSE contaminated. And we're talking about pear juice coming from a nation with one of the strictest sets of food-preparation laws on the face of the planet.

[bbwoof.livejournal.com]

We DON'T march on Washington. It would gather us all up into one easily-removed target.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

A good point. On the other hand, sooner or later someone's going to have to go there, tell them all to clean out their desks, and walk them out of the building. (So to speak.)

[olafthunderfoot.livejournal.com]

i'm about at that point myself!

[olafthunderfoot.livejournal.com]

this is fucking rediculous!