This shop window in Amsterdam, Netherlands boasts a “Hold the Corps Accountable” sign. The owners of this taco shop are from New Orleans.
Updated June 30, 2014.
In a sworn affidavit, the former managing editor of Nola.com, New Orleans’ largest online news source describes how the Army Corps of Engineers used significant tax payer resources to attack critics of the Corps.
According to the affidavit, a cadre of about 20 people, for over a period of 3 years, disguised their identities, pretended to be uninvolved and posted disparaging comments on the Times-Picayune affiliate’s articles and forums that smeared New Orleanians and obscured the facts of the Corps of Engineers’ responsibility for the failure of its flood protection.
The affidavit also described how many of the posts “appealed to racial division and at times engaged in racial slurs against African Americans.”
Levees.org discovered evidence of this activity six months ago, and early this year submitted a written request to the Times Picayune to see all the comments data.
But the newspaper’s lawyer, Neil Rosenhouse of Sabin, Bermant & Gould responded by saying, while there is no legal reason to deny access to the comments, his client still won’t release them citing “policy.”
Believing the full extent of this unethical behavior should be made public, Levees.org encourages citizens to write to Jim Amoss, Editor of the Times Picayune at this email address jamoss@timespicayune.com, and say this:
“I deserve to know the full details on how the Corps of Engineers has been using my tax payer money to protect its image. I deserve to see all the comments that came from the Corps’ computers.”
Levees.org also suggests citizens might leave a message on Mr. Amoss’s voice mail by calling his direct line: 504-826-3475.
In response to this disturbing information, Levees.org filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) earlier this week. We requested all communications between the Corps of Engineers and its $5 million dollar PR firm Outreach Process Partners (OPP) which recently claimed on its website to play a “fundamental part” of reducing the volume of negative news stories about the Corps.
The PR firm spoke of “fostering strategic relationships” with news outlets. The Times Picayune is one of the news outlets with which OPP boasted of “providing media support.”
These revelations–the sworn affidavit and the OPP claims–are two more reasons that the citizens of America deserve the 8/29 Investigation Act, a truly independent analysis of the flood protection failures, and the organizational component, that occurred in August 2005.
Click here for the WWL TV Channel 4 Eyewitness News story:
http://www.wwltv.com/video/news-index.html?nvid=372400
Click here to see a copy of the sworn affidavit.
https://levees.org/affidavit.pdf
Click here to see examples of the insulting comments and lies posted to the internet by individuals at the Army Corps of Engineers.
https://levees.org/?page_id=379
Dear Sir,
Please don’t let the illegal actions of a few “Bad Apples” in the Army Corps of Engineers wreck the good work the corps dose and your reputation as a independent news source.
Please provide the levees.org and your readers all relevant information about the sources of comments that came from Government I.P. addresses to articles regarding the A.C.E., levee work and levees.org critiques. The American people have the right to know and your organization has the responsibility to tell them when your independent news company services are being used by the government to covertly influence public opinion.
Otherwise, these few “Bad Apples” will reduce your organization to the level of propaganda machine the credibility you and the A.C.E. once enjoyed, will be gone forever.
Now these are some bad apples….The Miami Division of the corp trumped up a charge of harrassment that was found to be unfounded
Go to http://www.keylargokey.com/leadpage1.htm to view