Ok…this is truly disturbing… how many innocent folks (much like all those convicts getting released because DNA evident PROVES they didn’t do it) are going to caught up in this web of evil? I don’t see any tools in place to protect the INNOCENT.

Rich

Source

December 15, 2005
Bush Secretly Lifted Some Limits on Spying in U.S. After 9/11, Officials Say
By JAMES RISEN
and ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 ­- Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials.

Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible “dirty numbers” linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications.

Continue Reading »
Bush Secretly Lifted Some Limits on Spying in U.S. After 9/11, Officials Say

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This story came out today on the web, and the link came to me via a ‘Google Alert’ email that I occasionally receive when Google finds a new webpage that has the word ’survivalist’ in it. I have many Google Alerts running, and rarely does something come that I don’t already know about. This one caught my eye because of its long term implications by a very minor part of the vast quilt of humanity that makes up the American Way.

To put my point before you…anarchists are the leading edge of domestic terrorists. Nothing good comes from their work. They are socialist and communist in nature, and would prefer YOU not to have that which you have…security, safe homes, plenty of food, good jobs, and long term prospects for success. Anarchists live to bring down governments, corporations, and anything that is organized in a way THEY don’t like. They claim to be on the left…liberal…democratic at times. But don’t buy into their claims. They aren’t in it for YOU…only themselves.

However, this particular story is quite disturbing. On first read, it looks like the ‘anarchists’ having plans to ‘take over’ the small pockets of government, “when the opportunity arrives”. This sounds exactly like the classic Loner Survivalist…the kind of person who has a huge stash of weapons, food, and comm gear…waiting for civilation to fall, in whatever degree large or small…that will allow them to profit off the weaker survivors. They refer to the Loner as something they can learn from, but not what they themselves want to be. They want to convert entire communities to socialist agendas.

Take that in any way you can, these anarchists will loudly, or silently, destroy what the rest of us work for…it means the Bad Guys will rule the Weak Folks…and anarchy reigns supreme…meaning those who have the firepower…the lightning (electricity)…the passes (roads and transportation systems)..and the means…will take over and destroy whatever civilization may be left…a more selfish and manipulative group of useless mouthbreathers you’ll never find.

It means Bad Things.

I don’t post this story below to convert anyone to anarchists (Lord knows I’ve never made claim to be one, and never will) …I post it to make you aware of the threats we have in our OWN population, from people that live on the dark side…hidden in the shadows…waiting for the chance to hurt, injure, maim, or kill people THEY want to…without judges, juries, or law. Nothing more than scum and vermin…a lawless society. They claim to be “for the people” …helping the oppressed…freeing the slaves from the capitalist pigs. Right…have they been watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail again?

I’ll make the more disturbing phrases more visible in this mishmash below…it’s not well written by this “anonymous” a-hole. But, the ideas conveyed are worthy of your attention since they are a threat to you, and America, as these evil Americans will hurt every innocent that gets in their way, and never look back. It’s the kind of thing you expect to see in big epic movies about survival of a nation…our nation.

Pass the word…don’t let them get away with hurting others.

Source

Radical Readiness
Saturday, October 29 2005 @ 05:06 PM PDT
Contributed by: Anonymous
WeiJi: Crisis= Danger + Opportunity
A call for Radical Preparedness

WeiJi is the Chinese ideogram representing the concept of “Crisis” which is made up of two characters Wei [Wei (representing “danger”) and Ji (representing “opportunity”). This symbology seems to perfectly represent the importance of crises for those seeking radical change, and why radicals must be prepared to respond to them.
Crises have been with humans since the beginning. Natural disasters, epidemics, wars, famine, social unrest, ecological disruptions and depressions are not new in this century and there seems no reason they shall not continue. In fact, many scientists and thinkers believe we are heading for many more and new types of disasters that due to globalization can spread quickly and widely. Only the most Pollyannish person could possibly believe that there shall be no more emergencies in the near future. Though it seems obvious that radicals (like anyone else for that matter) would put some energy and forethought into preparing for natural or human-made disasters this is often not the case.

There seems to be a natural knee-jerk resistance to emergency preparedness in even the most radical of the Left because of its association with military and government responses and terminology. The extreme right and religious fundamentalists of all stripes currently have a near monopoly on preparing for crises and thus have at least theoretically the best chance to capitalize politically on the opportunities available in our increasingly dangerous world.
This article will examine why radicals should care about being ready for crises and what are the dangers and opportunities that may come from responding (or failing to respond) to emergencies of all kinds. In addition, we hope to show why radicals are in a better position, than traditional survivalists to provide early and sustainable mutual aid during times of crisis.
Emergency preparedness should be approached like all of our political projects. Radicals, if prepared, have an opportunity to make deep social and political relationships with others during the crisis and create allies for future change.

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We should be prepared for crises for a number of reasons both social and political. The social reasons should be obvious. Crises present great danger for our lives and the lives of those we care about, work with and those we seek to help by making a world a better place. Often crises can bring out the worse in folks. The combination of stress, unfamiliar choices and a dramatic jarring of ones social constructs all work in tandem to make people react less than ideally during times of immediate danger. Ironically, it is at such difficult times that people need to draw most heavily upon their strengths, skills, compassion and good judgment. The strains of crisis can tear at the social ties with those we are most close to. Preparedness allows us to enhance our ability to act positively during times of flux and take time to concentrate on more than mere survival. By preparing ahead of time we are inoculating ourselves to much of the stress that accompanies disasters and emergencies. We know from research of emergency first responders and the military that practice and preparedness substantially reduce stress during actual disasters and assure better judgment and more decisive action. Often crises require immediate actions otherwise disruptions can actually multiply. The old adage “an ounce of prevention is a worth a pound of cure”, is not just good medical sense but also relates to emergency readiness.

No matter how prepared an individual is, they will undoubtedly need (or at least benefit from) the skills, thoughts and support of others. Crises can often disrupt our relationships with those we normally work with and trust. Communications may be so overtaxed as to be not available; travel may be seriously hampered or dangerous; normal gathering spaces maybe be vacant or inaccessible and normal routine encounters may be so disrupted that one can quickly find themselves isolated. Isolation during a crisis (despite what the right-wing survivalists say) is dangerous, unnecessary and possibly fatal. Our greatest security during any period of turmoil is to have a strong and prepared social network. Most people rely on a social network under current circumstances and would feel lost if it were suddenly removed in an instant. Part of preparedness is ensuring, as much as possible, that your social networks remain strong even during an emergency so collectively you can draw upon each other for support, mutual aid and decision making.

Autonomy and liberty almost always become the first casualties during an emergency.. Radicals have long critiqued various government agencies for being oppressive, irrational, exploitive, mismanaged, out-dated, inhumane etc. All of these faults are instantly multiplied during a serious crisis. It is naïve to believe that a government that daily exploits and oppresses large segments of the population without wealth and political capital will all of a sudden during an emergency care about those same people. All one needs to do is look at local and federal preparedness manuals of organizations like FEMA and one can see the first order on their agenda-- the priority is not to provide aid but to re-assert its control during a crisis. This has been the true since the dustbowl of the 1930’s to this year’s Katrina disaster. It should come as no surprise that government preparedness manuals for local and state governments spend as much time outlining plans to secure “commercial interests” as they do providing medical aid to those injured and in need. In fact, FEMA has a policy of not sending in first responders, like firefighters and paramedics , until police or military units “have established order”. The government’s concept of order, from reading the manuals, seems more akin to business as usual than doing anything to alleviate suffering. is the greatest government incursions in our lives occur during emergencies. Just when government should be promoting mutual aid and self-organizing among its citizens it does everything to marginalize these ideas and strip civil authority of all decision making. In one recent FEMA memo, during the Louisiana crisis, it suggests “Non-local Units [National Guardsmen from other states] should be used when possible…[because] local units may have too many connections to the local population”. In fact the entire concept of FEMA is to de-localize the problem, to bring in outside government authority that is not democratically elected in order to re-establish the status quo and to protect interests of capitalists and the politically connected. This type of callous and counterproductive coercion needs to be actively resisted during times of crisis. The government spends millions and prepares constantly to take control and assert exploitive and divisive powers over already weakened localities and populations during disasters; radicals must be ready to resist and bring control and decision-making back to the people most affected by the emergency.

Radicals that invest in emergency preparedness are in a unique position to aid local populations and actively resist the detrimental effects of non-localized government occupation. Leftists in this country have a long history of working with community groups, who are seeking to improve their neighborhoods and provide for each other what the capitalists and government will not. We have spent many years developing strong relationships and networks among a variety of people who have skills to organize. We have also taken time to improve and constantly re-evaluate our roles as organizers, seeking non-authoritarian ways of aiding self-organization among those exploited by capitalists and governments. We have not always been successful in our attempts to integrate with various oppressed communities but we continue to put a premium on organizing and activism, which puts us way ahead of most right-wing survivalists and makes our project of preparedness quite different from theirs.
Fortunately most people naturally seek to self-organize during a crises. However, often after an initial outburst of localized mutual aid and self-organization at some point the government and capitalists react. They always institute things like forced evacuations, curfews, frozen zones, etc. and then take control over all civil communications channels and seek to centralize people (often in refugee camps)which makes decentralized localized organizing very difficult if not impossible. Centralizing people breaks up normal affinity bonds like neighborhoods, religious affiliation, friends, co-workers, etc. treating all people as undifferentiated refugees. With these important affinity bonds destroyed people are forced to turn to the authorities who control all organizing efforts immune to criticism or advice from those most effected by the emergency.

Mutual aid is quite common during the earliest moments of a disaster, with neighbors helping neighbors and even helpful strangers lending a hand. Officials and “specialists” working for the powers that be usually interfere to stop such behavior under the pretenses that their help is “better”, more expert, and more appropriate. From daily experience we know that peoples’ needs are at odds with the powerful elites’ agenda. It would be foolishness to think if organizing was centralized by the elites that our best interests would be served.

For the radical interested in emergency readiness the crucial questions are: how to prepare in such a way as to promote spontaneous self-organizing and extend it; and how to resist government’s attempt to centralize all help activity. From experiences elsewhere (e.g. Argentina), it seems once people start organizing for themselves to take care of each other during a crisis they often are less willing to return to business as usual and defer power to the State. It is not surprising that most major radical social, political and economic revolutions have a occurred after some sort of disaster or crisis. Real life experiences in mutual aid and egalitarianism are worth a library-full of propaganda for creating lasting changes in society.

There are almost no models in the survivalist sub-cultures to draw upon for radical emergency preparedness. Right-wing and fundamentalist circles interested in survivalism do not have the same goals as us and thus their methods are quite different. While it is true most of these “survivalist” groups seek extreme changes to society (ranging from libertarianism to fascism to metaphysical theocracies) their models do not allow for radical social change.

Despite the popularity of such books like the Turner Diaries among right-wing extremists , there has been very little organizing among such groups. Even during their hey-day of the mid-1980’s and early 1990’s they could offer no organized response or message to such watershed events as Ruby Ridge or Waco. They lack both the communications infrastructure and the desire for group organizing. Instead they are taking a course of extreme individualist survival. They seek to provide bunker-like supplies, skills and support for only them and their family. In fact, they spend a great deal of time worrying about the spontaneous self-organizing of others. This leads to their nearly absurd preoccupation with weapons and self-defense. They have a deeply cynical view of others and hold many of the preconceived notions the elites have about poor or marginalized people (the most likely victims of any crisis in this country). The right-wing survivalists have failed to exstend mutual aid during times of crisis in this country. Instead they redouble their own personal efforts to prepare while offering nothing to those effected. Where the Left has been much quicker (though we must do more) to reach out and provide help to those suffering.

We need to reject the “bunker mentality” not only as right-wing fanaticism but as inherently not a good bet for actually creating sustainable communities after a major disaster. While it is acceptable for radicals to use the substantial infrastructural resources created by the right-wing for emergency preparedness their on-line supply stores; read their articles about storage; and even attend skill specific trainings however we must create our own models based on the work we already do every day, which is a much more complex task than what they are doing. We have a much better history and experience with organizing coordinated actions (albeit it’s often only temporarily) such as mass-mobilizations and extended campaigns that are regional, national or international in scope. We have developed fairly sophisticated processes for decision-making among varied groups that are both supportive and egalitarian. We promote decentralization but unlike the right, we want to coordinate decentralized groups into sustainable resistance networks based on concepts like solidarity and mutual support. In addition over the past few decades, we have been slowly been building relationships with various community groups engaged in projects different from our own, though these relationships have developed more slowly than most of us had anticipated.

We often complain about how the extreme right is out-organizing us, and how during a crisis “they have all the guns”. The reasoning seems to suggest that the right is better-prepared to take advantage of a crisis. This reasoning is not founded on any truth. The right has , perhaps, a better ability to “survive” as isolated individuals and families and protect what they have from outsiders but they are inherently unable to extend their influence to other communities or society at large. It must also be said that is not their goal. The few attempts over the past two decades for the right to resist the State has met with utter failure and little public notice or sympathy. In the end the right maybe able to survive a temporary localized emergency but never resist the State’s imposition of power.

We have natural advantages over the right, but there is still a lot of work to do. During any crisis we will not be competing for influence on the course of events that will effect millions of folks with small groups in their bunkers but with the government and private security forces.

There is so much to do and none of us know how much time there is before the next major crisis/opportunity. First we must continue with the projects we are already doing. Continue to network among ourselves and make in-roads with other community groups. We should keep building and strengthening our relationships based on mutual aid and solidarity and continue building infrastructure throughout North America. We must keep resisting, while analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of our resistance. But we must also do much more than that.

We live in an excellent time to start learning skills, sharing information and collecting valuable resources that may be in short supply during a crisis. The time to do it is now, because during a crisis time will be in short supply and the added stress will make learning new skills and techniques very difficult. Besides when people’s lives are on the line, it is no time to be honing your skills or dumpster diving for the tool you need to set up an alternative energy generator.

Now is the time to be talking, writing and scheming about being ready in a crisis. There is precious little discussion about emergency preparedness in radical circles, it is not yet even a blip on the Left’s radar. We should start with our friends, affinity groups, collectives and organizations. We need to start figuring out ways in which you and your comrades could provide mutual aid during a crisis. Decide what you would need to be effective and what skills, resources and knowledge you already have. Start developing alternative communication systems (e.g. short-wave radio)and get use to using them and making a presence known on them. Start collecting the resources now that you could provide to others who may need them.

Next time there is a hurricane, flood, blackout or any other crisis follow it closely and if possible go there to provide aid. You will find that experience is a great teacher for what is necessary. Provide report-backs to various communities and analysis. Build networks between various groups that are also involved in this type of preparedness project.

Post information, ideas and schemes to this web-site. We are trying to create a presence on the web for radical emergency preparedness. We are not experts, we are like you. As a community we can create a useful resource for others to start preparing for emergencies while also increasing our own skills and knowledge. The time is now to start. Please look at this web-site and get some ideas on where to begin and then add to this site to help others in the process. We can do it, but it must be together.

–Written by WeiJi NYC Collective (October 2005)

I dunno…my gut instinct tells me that Bush & Co. are in a heap 0′trouble…and it’s going to get worse.

Watergate worse? Don’t know…but we have enough problems in this country, that AREN’T Bush’s fault, and really don’t need another big national issue to get in the way…but, you know the liberal media is GOING to do it anyway…so they can make a profit selling books, newspapers, magazines, infomercials, and Lord know what else.

Rich

Source

October 26, 2005 — Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald quickly departed the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Court House at 1:00 PM EDT. The Grand Jury met again in a court room in the new annex to the court house. Fitzgerald had no comment in response to several questions asked by a throng of reporters who huddled around him as he walked to his waiting car, which drove him from the court house to his New York Avenue offices. One question was whether Fitzgerald has requested an extension of the grand jury, which is due to expire on Friday.

There is informed speculation that Fitzgerald may have requested an extension of the current grand jury. Others have speculated that Fitzgerald delivered sealed indictments on Leakgate today and will ask for a new grand jury in order to seek further indictments outside the scope of the original leak probe because of additional evidence that other crimes were committed related to the use of forged documents by the Bush administration.

Some details have emerged about the makeup of the grand jury. There is a majority of African-American women, a large number of which are employed by the Federal government.

There are also unconfirmed reports that Fitzgerald met with Karl Rove’s attorney yesterday. A deal was reportedly offered to Rove in return for his cooperation. I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby reportedly also reached a deal with the prosecutor in return for his cooperation against Vice President Cheney. Fitzgerald reportedly met with Cheney’s lawyers last Friday. Monday a questionnaire was reportedly delivered to Cheney by the prosecutor’s staff seeking additional information on Cheney’s knowledge of the CIA leak.

Fitzgerald entered the Court House this morning with a number of documents. Fitzgerald departed without the documents he he had in his possession when he entered the court house, giving rise to speculation that he delivered sealed indictments as WMR reported yesterday.

Got this on my e-mail today… Thought I’de share. Nobody quite puts it like George Carlin.

“Been sitting here with my ass in a wad, wanting to speak out about the bullshit going on in New Orleans. For the people of New Orleans… First we would like to say, Sorry for your loss. With that said, Let’s go through a few hurricane rules: (Unlike an earthquake, we know it’s coming)

#1. A mandatory evacuation means just that…Get the hell out.
Don’t blame the Government after they tell you to go. If they hadn’t said anything, I can see the argument. They said get out… if you didn’t, it’s your fault, not theirs. (We don’t want to hear it, even if you don’t have a car, you can get out.)

#2. If there is an emergency, stock up on water and non-perishables. If you didn’t do this, it’s not the Government’s fault you’re starving.

#2a. If you run out of food and water, find a store that has some.
(Remember, shoes, TV’s, DVD’s and CD’s are not edible. Leave them alone.)

#2b. If the local store has been looted of food or water, leave your neighbor’s TV and stereo alone. (See #2a) They worked hard to get their stuff. Just because they were smart enough to leave during a mandatory
evacuation, doesn’t give you the right to take their stuff…it’s theirs, not yours.

#3. If someone comes in to help you, don’t shoot at them and then complain no one is helping you. I’m not getting shot to help save some dumbass who didn’t leave when told to do so.

#4. If you are in your house that is completely under water, your belongings are probably too far gone for anyone to want them. If someone does want them, let them have them and hopefully they’ll die in the filth. Just leave! (It’s New Orleans, find a voodoo warrior and put a curse on them.)

#5. My tax money should not pay to rebuild a 2 million dollar house, a sports stadium or a floating casino.. Also, my tax money shouldn’t go to rebuild a city that is under sea level. You wouldn’t build your house on quicksand would you? You want to live below sea-level, do your country some good and join the Navy.

#6. Regardless of what the Poverty Pimps Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton want you to believe, The US Government didn’t create the Hurricane as a way to eradicate the black people of New Orleans; (Neither did Russia as a way to destroy America). The US Government didn’t cause global warming that caused the hurricane (We’ve been coming out of an ice age for over a million years).

#7. The government isn’t responsible for giving you anything. This is the land of the free and the home of the brave, but you gotta work for what you want. McDonalds and Wal-Mart are always hiring, get a damn job and stop spooning off the people who are actually working for a living. President Kennedy said it best…”Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Thank you for allowing me to rant.

I will be the FIRST to agree that the borders of America are are porous as a chain link fence trying to keep out air. BUT, if Bubba Chertoff does this, your grocery bill is going up BIG TIME.

I think that finding out WHO is illegal is fine..but deporting every single one? Ain’t Gonna Happen. Dealing with each one on a case by case basis and FINDING the criminals can be done. But shipping them all home..ain’t no one gonna make this happen COMPLETELY. It’s a pipe dream. I think that those funds that would be spent paying for bus tickets home for the illegals, would be better spent creating a national sheltering system, community first aid and disaster recovery for every neighborhood, and making sure that EVERY home was required to have legal firearms…national security and second amendment stuff, ya know.

If every American WAS armed, you would have a LOT of potential terrorists thinking twice about coming here to do us harm. Those wannabee bad-asses would see EVERY American loaded for bear looking JUST to cap them before THEY could do us harm.

Call me crazy, but we need to train the Americans we have how to defense themselves when the crap is hitting the fan…not how to wait under a hot broiling sun for Uncle Sam to deliver water, ice, and checks when nothing is left standing.

Rich

Source

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department aims without exception to expel all those who enter the United States illegally.

“Our goal at DHS (Homeland Security) is to completely eliminate the ‘catch and release’ enforcement problem, and return every single illegal entrant, no exceptions.

“It should be possible to achieve significant and measurable progress to this end in less than a year,” Chertoff told a Senate hearing.

Thousands of “Mexicans who are caught entering the United States illegally are returned immediately to Mexico. But other parts of the system have nearly collapsed under the weight of numbers. The problem is especially severe for non-Mexicans apprehended at the southwest border,” Chertoff explained.

“Today, a non-Mexican illegal immigrant caught trying to enter the United States across the southwest border has an 80 percent chance of being released immediately because we lack the holding facilities,” he added.

“Through a comprehensive approach, we are moving to end this ‘catch and release’ style of border enforcement by reengineering our detention and removal process.”

Chertoff’s remarks in favor of returning “every illegal entrant, no exceptions” appeared to conflict directly with the US policy toward illegal Cuban migrants.

Though Cubans picked up at sea are returned to their country, those who reach US soil by air, sea or ground are allowed to stay and work — a fact Cuba says encourages dangerous illegal emigration attempts.

My thought here is this…

How many OTHER state and municipal agencies around this nation are going to get caught raiding the cookie jar, ONLY after another massive natural catastrophe happens in their neck of the woods….I mean, LIVES WILL BE LOST, while ass-holes who were supposed to be in charge, spent money to fatten their own asinine bank accounts. These folks should be drawn and quartered, after being found guilty of murder, if these reports are true.

Just MY thoughts….

Rich

Source

KATRINA’S AFTERMATH
Louisiana Officials Indicted Before Katrina Hit
Federal audits found dubious expenditures by the state’s emergency preparedness agency, which will administer FEMA hurricane aid.
By Ken Silverstein and Josh Meyer
Times Staff Writers

September 17, 2005

WASHINGTON — Senior officials in Louisiana’s emergency planning agency already were awaiting trial over allegations stemming from a federal investigation into waste, mismanagement and missing funds when Hurricane Katrina struck.

And federal auditors are still trying to track as much as $60 million in unaccounted for funds that were funneled to the state from the Federal Emergency Management Agency dating back to 1998.

In March, FEMA demanded that Louisiana repay $30.4 million to the federal government.

The problems are particularly worrisome, federal officials said, because they involve the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the agency that will administer much of the billions in federal aid anticipated for victims of Katrina.

Earlier this week, federal Homeland Security officials announced they would send 30 investigators and auditors to the Gulf Coast to ensure relief funds were properly spent.

Details of the ongoing criminal investigations come from two reports by the inspector general’s office in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, as well as in state audits, and interviews this week with federal and state officials.

The reports were prepared by the federal agency’s field office in Denton, Texas, and cover 1998 to 2003. Improper expenditures previously identified by auditors include a parka, a briefcase and a trip to Germany.

Much of the FEMA money that was unaccounted for was sent to Louisiana under the Hazard Mitigation Grant program, intended to help states retrofit property and improve flood control facilities, for example.

The $30.4 million FEMA is demanding back was money paid into that program and others, including a program to buy out flood-prone homeowners. As much as $30 million in additional unaccounted for spending also is under review in audits that have not yet been released, according to a FEMA official.

One 2003 federal investigation of allegedly misspent funds in Ouachita Parish, a district in northern Louisiana, grew into a probe that sprawled into more than 20 other parishes.

Mark Smith, a spokesman for the Louisiana emergency office, said the agency had responded to calls for reform, and that “we now have the policy and personnel in place to ensure that past problems aren’t repeated.”

He said earlier problems were largely administrative mistakes, not due to corruption.

But federal officials disagreed. They said FEMA for years expressed concerns over patterns of improper management and lax oversight throughout the state agency, and said most problems had not been corrected.

They point to criminal indictments of three state workers as evidence the problem was more than management missteps. Two other state emergency officials also were identified in court documents as unindicted co-conspirators.

“The charges were made after some very extensive reviews by FEMA investigators and other authorities, who identified issues they felt were of the severity and magnitude to refer them to the U.S. attorney’s office,” said David Passey, the spokesman for FEMA’s regional office in Texas.

Passey, while acknowledging that the state had made some administrative changes, said it had not completed the kind of overhaul FEMA said was needed.

“It concerns us a lot. We are devoted to the mission of helping people prepare for, prevent and recover from disasters and we want these federal funds — this taxpayer money — to be spent and used well and in accordance with the rules,” he said.

Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington watchdog group, said recent Louisiana history showed that FEMA “money earmarked for saving lives and homes” was instead squandered in “a cesspool of wasteful spending.”

Louisiana’s emergency office receives money directly from FEMA. It passes on much of the funding to local governments that apply for assistance.

The audit reports said state operating procedures increased the likelihood of fraud and corruption going undetected.

For instance, a Nov. 30, 2004, report by Tonda L. Hadley, a director in the Denton field office, examined $40.5 million sent to the Louisiana agency, mostly for the Hazard Mitigation program. The report found that the state’s emergency office did not have receipts to account for 97% of the $15.4 million it had awarded to subcontractors on 19 major projects.

The report also said the Louisiana agency had misspent $617,787 between May 2000 and September 2003.

Questionable expenditures identified by the inspector general included $2,400 for sod installation, several thousand dollars for a trip to Germany by the deputy director, $1,071 for curtains, and $595 for an L.L. Bean parka and briefcase. The inspector general also challenged unspecified spending for camera equipment, professional dues and a 2002 Ford Crown Victoria.

The day before the report was issued, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana obtained an indictment against Michael L. Brown, deputy director of the Louisiana office of emergency preparedness. (Brown is no relation to former FEMA director Michael D. Brown who resigned this week.) Louisiana’s deputy director oversaw the state’s Hazard Mitigation program.

Brown was charged with conspiring to obstruct the inspector general’s investigation and for making a false statement to a federal investigator.

Michael C. Appe, another senior state agency official, also was charged with obstructing the audit. Months earlier, Appe had been appointed as head of a “surge team” to review projects funded with FEMA money. The team’s mission was to help spot abuses.

Both Appe and Brown hold the rank of colonel for their roles in overseeing elements of the state National Guard.

Appe was arrested in Baton Rouge last November, as was Daniel J. Falanga, the state agency’s flood-mitigation officer. Falanga was accused of committing perjury before a grand jury investigating misuse of FEMA funds.

All three men have pleaded not guilty to the charges and deny wrongdoing, according to their lawyers. Trial dates remain uncertain because the hurricane disrupted court schedules.

According to the indictment, Brown and Appe conspired in 2000 to use $175,000 in FEMA funds to cover a shortfall in a related agency’s budget. Later, when the inspector general began investigating the agency’s use of FEMA money, the two men conspired to create a fake, backdated memo to cover up the earlier diversion of funds, the indictment says.

State agency spokesman Smith said Brown had traveled to Germany, but to attend a conference. He declined to answer questions about alleged improper spending, citing the pending trial. Smith said at the time, state officials believed the trip to Germany was a proper expenditure.

Brown’s lawyer, Elton Richey, said his client tried to spend federal disaster funds wisely despite job turnover and confusion between state agency officials and FEMA overseers. He said FEMA kept changing the rules.

Marty Stroud, a lawyer who represents Appe and Falanga, said, “There are no charges that anyone in this case enriched himself at the expense of a federal program.”

Hadley, of the inspector general’s office, issued a second report on Feb. 25, 2005, which tracked state spending of FEMA money to pay for “extraordinary costs,” a special category used for the administration of disaster assistance programs. It said the agency had improperly spent $247,166 for items such as a car, computers, membership dues and travel to seminars.

In addition to alleged misspending reported in the two audits, FEMA has asked for the return of $10.7 million allocated to a program for buying property in high-risk flood areas. Most of that money was passed on to local communities to determine which property owners would benefit.

FEMA alleged the Louisiana agency had not properly monitored expenditures, and failed to ensure that properties receiving the funds were eligible.

About $2.8 million of the refund sought by FEMA went to consultant fees. Most of that money went to Aegis Innovative Systems, a Baton Rouge firm hired by many parishes to administer the flood buyout program. Aegis owners include Mark Howard, a former official at the Louisiana agency.

State Sen. Reggie Dupre said it appeared that parishes employing Aegis were especially successful in winning money from the state emergency preparedness agency.

“It smells like a horrible brother-in-law deal to me, ” he said in a phone interview.

An Aegis attorney did not respond to a request for comment.