Steven Frischling Sickened by Hurricane Katrina!

Can you imagine a major news event happening without Steven Frischling somehow getting involved? He certainly can't.

Frischling claims he was in New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina struck, where our hero had to deal with menacing gangs and airborne pathogens! In fact, it was even scarier than his imaginary trip to a war zone in Basrah!

There are no photos anywhere that would support Steven Frischling being in New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina. However, that didn't stop him from bragging about his exploits on FlyerTalk and Digital Wedding Forum (where no doubt he thought he would not encounter any news photographers who were actually there).

"What is the scariest City you have traveled to?"
FlyerTalk, 2/21/08

"Basrah, Iraq.................you know the brochure said the war was officially over. Apparently no one told the folks hiding out with AK-47s and RPGs. Other than that, having covered war, riots and natural disaster, I would have to say New Orleans, in the Lower 9th Ward about 8 days after Hurricane Karina when the gangs started to move back in."

Eight days after Hurricane Katrina, according to our research, the Lower 9th Ward was about 60 percent underwater. There were journalists there, who report that there were no gangs there. And no Steven Frischling.

Here's a photo we found that shows this area, about 12 days after Katrina struck. Are the gangs hiding under the water?

But not only that... the Frischling health curse strikes again! He claims he became "incredibly ill" after being exposed to "an airborne pathogen!" (But our hero still kept working, naturally.)

Digital Wedding Forum, 11/28/08

"I was in NoLA covering the devastation of Katrina. I didn't feel safe anywhere in the city during this time. Despite becoming incredibly ill due to an airborne pathogen, I kept working, but most of the city was unstable and I preferred to only go into areas with a law enforcement or National Guard presence."

Bullshit. Think of the thousands of people out there, including rescuers, journalists, National Guard, etc., some of whom were actually in the contaminated water. Yet Frischling is the one who got sick?

The following article debunks the notion that people were getting sick right after Katrina.

http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/articles/2007/04/hurricane-katrina-s-impact.aspx

"There really haven't been any exposures to anything out of the ordinary. Nothing," states Deoine Reed, PhD, infection control manager and epidemiologist with the Tulane University Hospital system and the Ochsner Clinic Foundation. "It is kind of disappointing because we were hoping to see something, but nature has it so it actually can protect the people somehow. It's positive, good news. Nobody's getting infected."

Have any airborne or waterborne pathogen transmission been reported in Louisiana since the hurricane? "Yeah, but nothing different from the usual," says La. State epidemiologist Raoult Ratard, MD, MPH. Ratard says Louisiana experienced the usual flu season and upper respiratory diseases, but, "It does not look like it was more than usual," he says.

Even if Frischling had been there at this time and became ill, how would he know it was due to an airborne pathogen unless he was thoroughly tested somewhere? And since this was such a rare occurrence, wouldn't it be reported to authorities and discussed in the medical community? Wouldn't these medical experts in Louisiana have heard about it?

So Frischling, where are your photos from post-Katrina New Orleans? Surely photos from one of the largest natural disasters ever would make it onto your own website. Did airborne pathogens sicken your camera too? Where can we see these photos?

Update: A faithful reader posted the following comment with quotes from Frischling, indicating he was nowhere near New Orleans eight days after Hurricane Katrina:

Katrina hit August 29.

On September 6 at 12:38 am - 8 days later Fish posts the following on Sportsshooter.com, which clearly indicates that he's still at home.

"->> We spent the morning gathering up clothes and sent down two boxes of mens clothes, women's clothes, materinty clothes, kids clothes and a nice LL Bean baby backpack (easiest way I know for someone to haul a baby around, they probably need it more than I do right now).

I am sure we'll send what we can down again soon."

Later that same day at 10:20 pm he posts:

"->> I just found out my company donated US$40,000 to the relief effort, following thier £25,000 donation following the attacks in London.

It is nice to know that my corporation has a heart."

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=17256

Now of course, maybe he then hopped into his Mercedes Benz 300D Turbo which goes 150 mph. "(My Mercedes turbo diesel will do about 150, but the tires are rated for 130)" 

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=9935 

Of course, he has the only one that goes this fast - as the rest of the world owns the ones with a top speed of maybe 120. http://www.europeancarweb.com/editorial/epcp_0506_mercedes_benz_300d/index.html

Happy Lying!