- What an eye awakening day this was. I thought that I
had seen it all having been involved from Viet Nam to the beginning of
Desert Storm in my military and civilian law enforcement career, but today
I learned about a new part of the shame game.
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- For those who won,t bother to read all this report, let
me spell out the body counts that 6 of us (all retired military and/or
law enforcement) went out to confirm today in different areas. These are
confirmed bodies in the trucks, restaurant refers, or refer vans, and they
are NOT 'missing persons' or animals:
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- Charlotte Harbor areas - 58 dead as of 5pm today; Fort
Myers & the barrier islands - 21 deaths as of 3pm today; Punta Gorda
- 275+ deaths and escalating each hour; Desoto County - 36 deaths, expected
to increase;
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- These figures came from our own eyes, medical personnel,
various county sheriff's deputies, and eye witnesses or residents from
the worst devastated areas. CNN and the rest of the world biased and controlled
media are fooling none of us who live here. The current CONFIRMED body
count in our 3 county area on the west coast of Florida is near 400 as
I write this.
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- Readers should know right up front who is doing their
best and who fails to pass the grade:
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- Honors awards to those people who have given and done
the most: 1. City of North Port Police Department 2. Charlotte County Deputies
3. Desoto County Deputies 4. Visiting Pinellas County Deputies 5. Florida
Power and Light
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- All of the above have gone beyond the call of duty. They
are showing us what real cops and utility workers used to be... humanitarians.
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- Failing grades go to:
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- 1. FEMA, the government loan people. 2. John Ellis Bush
(JEB, the corporate Governor of Florida). 3. The untrained and unequipped
remnants of the Florida National Guard. 4. George Walker Bush, the non-elected
and appointed U.S. President. 5. Recycling firms who are stealing aluminum
siding from destroyed mobile homes. 6. Those selling bags of ice for $10.
7. Thieves from Miami taking personal belongings from demolished homes.
8. Those thieves demanding money up front to file fake insurance claims.
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- Here's some of what went on today...
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- There are staging areas for FEMA (with their red and
white signs to let you know they are 'there'), et al, that we could not
openly enter into with photo and movie cameras having been 'discovered'
in our vehicles... our cars and pick-ups were searched in the 'sensitive'
areas where the worst devastation took place and where we were then refused
entry. None-the-less, we still walked into most of these "off limits"
areas at waterfront motels, I-75 restaurant/commercial areas, destroyed
mobile home parks, and the temporary Charlotte morgue... to name a few.
This is how we came up with the above figures for body counts. We spoke
with medical personnel who have come from Miami to work triage and other
temporary facilities, ambulance drivers (a special thanks to the Ambutrans
people), homeless residents, and deputies from many different counties.
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- Considering most of the trained and experienced personnel
and modern equipment from the Florida National Guard are now in the Middle
East, JEB THE BUSH dared to send us antiquated equipment that broke down
on I-75 driven by untrained personnel who have no idea what to do. Worse
is that there were no water purification trucks (erdilators) sent, just
old water tankers and old communications and storage trailers. It was a
circus show and a true military cluster puck. There is no Florida National
Guard... all the necessary equipment we need is sitting in Iraq or Kuwait
right now.
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- A professional group of electronic thieves intercepted
telephone calls from Lee and Charlotte counties to the special Allstate
and State Farm insurance claims lines. They demanded credit card numbers
and up-front payments from those calling in claims stating that they could
guarantee 24 hour payment for all damages if the victims would pay $250-500
to them.
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- The lowest theft and emergency incident rate is in the
City of North Port. Although they had little hurricane damage, most of
their electric power was off from Friday afternoon until this afternoon
(just a few neighborhoods are still without power). For a rapidly growing
city with the third largest city land mass in Florida, they managed to
control traffic, stop burglaries and other thefts, and were "gentlemen
with all Charlotte, Desoto, and Lee county people who went there for food
and gas. They are grossly understaffed, yet they have performed like a
crack military unit. One member of our group insists that I especially
thank Lieutenant Choinere for his assistance.
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- There is NO Martial Law here. In fact, all city and county
law enforcement are stretched to the limit. While they work overtime and
are as physically exhausted as we are, Federal and State law enforcement
departments do very little [if anything] in comparison. The local departments
are shunned by the State and Federal "boys, yet the locals are doing
far more than their share of what is needed.
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- The biggest joke going around among us is about the guy
who walked up in the new white car - wearing a nice suit in our 90% humidity
- who said, "I,m from FEMA and I,m here to help you. The ladies ran
one of these "suits out of our neighborhood today when he told them
that we can "borrow all the money we needed to rebuild.... with interest.
They are no different than the other FED banksters posing as "community
banks. Not one of us cares to become one of the new federal sheeple.
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- As of this morning, our area has found the need to organize
our own security 24/7. Last night and early this morning, we had thieves
driving our streets stealing personal belongings and clothes that had not
yet been collected from those neighbors who hadn,t made it back here yet.
We now warn all the Miami and Tampa gangs roaming our streets that if you
dare to once again trespass in our community, you will deal with better
armed resistance from us than you would from the local police and Sheriff,s
Departments. Other areas are now doing the same as we are. We will personally
protect ourselves and what possessions we have left. We have been through
far too much to be victims of prey.
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- It rained hard for an hour today. My house, the temporary
home and designated "sanctuary" for a dozen people, had more
damage than I thought as water poured into 3 rooms. I guess that,s why
they invented buckets. The 3-cylinder diesel generator has been purring
non-stop like a kitten and used no oil over the past 2 days. That was the
best investment I ever made along with the storage tanks for potable water.
I guess I have earned my Boy Scout survival merit badge now.
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- To give credit where credit is due, all the pictures
I have posted were taken by my eldest daughter with her own camera and
uploaded onto my laptop via a USB connector. She came here for a visit
3 days before Charley arrived and got a vacation she will never forget!
I have no working camera of my own right now, but others have been taking
pictures and we are trying to find a place to develop the films. After
that, and as soon as we find a working scanner, I'll be posting them here
on RMN if Rayelan can spare the bandwidth. Be patient... we're working
on it.
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- I can only get internet access when driving north 20
miles, so this report may be a little late, but is the latest news I have
collected today. Hopefully, I can start using a North Port connection much
closer to my house now that power has been restored there.
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- Visiting volunteer police and deputies are very frustrated
that their in-car computers and radios do not work with local police and
local County law enforcement. The State and Federal alphabet groups seem
to care less. The out-of-area volunteer cops have had to escort thieves
to the county line instead of arresting them for stealing. Their "law
enforcement hands are tied in more ways than one. Thanks guys... we know
you,re trying to do all you can to protect us, but we,ll handle it from
now on since the STATE legalities won,t allow you do the job you need to
do.
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- We have all found out that there is nothing better than
a local community effort. We take shifts getting gas for the generators
and for buying food, have organized our own security and damage clean-up
teams, and the ladies are cooking up a storm with the charcoal and gas
grills. Many of us only barely knew each other a week ago. Now, we have
become a community family. There are no more blank faces of shock among
any of us. We are strengthening each other and working with one another.
There is no segregation or racism among us, and we represent a local community
of many different races, nationalities, and colors.
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- This is what the Living Light brings to those who seek
it. The LifeCross within us all never fails regardless of our circumstances.
For the first time any of us have ever remembered, this new neighborhood
that now exists has become one... all are one.
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- In this adversity we have and will continue to face,
and among all the devastation our eyes see surrounding us, we have learned
to be a collective family. For this, all of us are grateful. There is joy
in the hardship each of us face with every passing hour. We have found
that our daily hardships have made our spirits stronger. Surely, no man,
woman, or child has been left behind among us. We encourage and strengthen
each other. This is what Life is all about.
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- Michael Edward
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