http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation...e-katrina_x.htm

The former NBA all-star and a crew from his logging company in Arkansas
spent two weeks in Pascagoula, Miss., hauling away debris left by Hurricane
Katrina.

"Everything about this just felt right," Malone says. "My mom died two years
ago, and in our last conversation, she told me that one day I would have to
step up on a grand scale and help people. I knew this was it."

Malone, whose team cleared 114 lots, said he brought 18 vehicles to
Pascagoula, including a backhoe, three bulldozers and several RVs for him
and his crew.

"We were totally self-contained with our own food and everything," Malone
says. "We didn't want to take even one bottle of water away from these
people. When we told them we were doing this for free, they looked at us
like we were crazy or something."

Malone, 42, an experienced truck driver and logger who was born in Bernice,
La., spent 12 hours a day behind the wheel of his heavy machinery.

"We started every day at seven in the morning and didn't quit until we got
it done," he says.

When Malone arrived, he says he ran into resistance from the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Army Corps of Engineers officials who
said he wasn't authorized to bring his machinery into the area to clear
private property.

"There was a lot of red tape, and I ain't got time for that," he says. "I
found out that if you're going to do something good, just go ahead and do
it."

Bob Anderson, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, says FEMA and the
corps by law could only allow approved contractors to clear debris and that
only government agencies could work on "public rights of way."

Malone says landowners were told that debris had to be moved out to the
street before it could be hauled away. "How is a landowner who just lost
everything going to pay $15,000 or $20,000 to have a lot cleared? I mean,
there were two or three houses on top of one another in some places."

This put Malone in the middle of territorial disputes with private
contractors.

"We had one guy come up to us and tell us to go to another neighborhood and
that these people could afford to pay," Malone says. "I told him, 'Why
should they pay? They just lost everything.' "

"Once I get in my machine, no one is going to get me out," he says. "We just
said 'the hell with it.' FEMA didn't approve, but we did it for the people."

Steve Glenn, a FEMA official in Mississippi, said rules regarding clearing
debris on private property exist to protect individuals' rights: "We can't
just go onto private property on a whim."

s_knight8 wrote:

Kudos to Malone. Too bad he's got to deal with the red tape. It's also
too bad some other companies aren't offering their services for free.

i'd like to see karl smash in the face of any greedy asshole who wants
him to leave so they can take advantage of these victims...maybe a
little accidental elbow to the face.

G

In article <1128226551.571482.37730@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.c om>, gk1@lycos.com wrote:
Amen to that bro. Karl is a true hero here. Screw the assholes who want to rip
people off with that tragedy.

GMAN wrote:

Maybe he should have painted "KBR" (Kellogg-Brown & Root, the
Halliburton subsidiary) on his machines. No one would've questioned him
then.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall

Conservative dictionary:
Judicial Activist: n. A judge who tends to rule against your wishes.

In article <dicor3$59v$1@news.xmission.com>, Raptor <lawall@xmission.com> wrote:
Oh here we go, a huge right wing conspiracy. Hillary Clinton must have her
skanky panties in an uproar again.

GMAN wrote:

Well, pretty much everyone but the dwindling core of Shrub supporters
have their panties in an uproar. Katrina was yet another excuese for the
administration to shovel a big pile of money to Cheney's former company,
while rescinding the regulation that requires paying a "living wage" to
people hired to reconstruct the place. So Halliburton can take their big
paycheck and shovel pennies to the little people, and their stockholders
can rejoice. Some more.

It IS a conspiracy, but it's conducted right out there in the open for
anyone who cares to look into it.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall

Conservative dictionary:
Judicial Activist: n. A judge who tends to rule against your wishes.

"drg" <drg_75@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:1128096674.413348.114160@o13g2000cwo.googlegr oups.com...

<rip>


Gotta love this Malone.

I don't think Karl was asking Glenn, or any other bozo from the government
to go onto the private property, but only to allow him through their
barriers. Amazing how useless the government has made itself, when it comes
to actually helping people. Reminds me of the time a government minion
tried to stop me from moving dirt on an earthmoving project. Amazing how
small they look from up there in the driver's seat.



Way to go Karl!

Bob

He should of just applied for the license and worked for $1.00 a lot. This
would off took less than a day.
"Raptor" <lawall@xmission.com> wrote in message
news:dicor3$59v$1@news.xmission.com...

In article <3M_qg.57$Uj1.1@fe02.lga>, "Aluckyguess" <neverreal@thisemail.com> wrote:

WHy should he have to pay to HELP others? Someone is making money off that $1
a lot. Bet its the mayor.