| September 2nd, 2005 12:44 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
quote:
Jumping Jack wrote:
Can women truly lead in a crisis?
Good question. Can Stalin, Napoleon, Atilla the Hun, Ghengis Khan, Hitler, Pol Pot, Trotsky, and all the rest of the long list of meglomaniacs that grace the history books? |
| September 2nd, 2005 01:05 PM |
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| Maxlugar |
Look, things were in place and about to begin as far as relief goes. NO actually wasn't all that destroyed at first. Then on Monday the levee's broke. That changed everything. It takes some time to catch up after that happens. Plus the gangs and thugs shooting at aid workers and police is a major problem to overcome.
As far as military and national guard manpower, this article says it better than I can.
Don't believe everything Michael Moore tells you
[Edited by Maxlugar] |
| September 2nd, 2005 01:14 PM |
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| LadyJane |
quote:
Jumping Jack wrote:
Absolutely correct!
Can women truly lead in a crisis? That crying Governor blaming everyone else instead of leading and finding solutions to problems is an absolute disgrace. When Iran starts lobbing nukes at Isreal will Hillary just sit there in shock and cry?
WTF??? 
I cannot believe I am reading this in the year 2005.
Give us a chance, loser. God knows the men have made a mess of everything thus far.
Look at this Board....the women, for the most part, stick together and post rational thoughts. You BOYS.....divide and conquer.
Why am I wasting my time??? 
LJ. |
| September 2nd, 2005 01:16 PM |
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| monkey_man |
quote:
The_Worst wrote:
If you are going to blame GWB then you sure as fuck better blame the DEMOCRATIC MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS & THE DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA first. They are the ones closest to the scene!!!
The Mississippi River is used for interstate shipping and commerce. . .shouldn't this be funded and maintained by the feds the way that the interstate highway system is? Asking city governments (that have seen an increase in their financial burden due to federal tax cuts) to take on maintenence of an interstate shipping seems ludacrous!
It seems that the US President and Senators voted against adhering to Kyoto protocols because it would be too much of a drain on this country's economy. How many $75 billion disasters need to be unleashed on this country before they realize how expensive it is to NOT adhere to the Kyoto treaty????
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| September 2nd, 2005 01:18 PM |
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| jb |
Bush cut funding for the Levees..he is completely incompetent. His kiss ass former RNC Chairman, Haley Barber, is covering his ass and praising Bush while his constituients suffer. I also find it amazing how the poor African Americans are being portrayed on Fox News as looters when we would do the same thing to save our babies and loved ones. This country should be ashamed... |
| September 2nd, 2005 01:33 PM |
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| Angiegirl |
quote:
Jumping Jack wrote:
Angiegirl,
I am quite interested in the response to your question. There was a Polish gentleman on IORR who was happy this happened and felt that America had it coming. That attitude is shared by many in the Arab world, but I pray that Europe as a whole has not become that callous. He was quickly condemned so I suspect he is a just blinded by hate like those who blame Bush and global warming for this events and not representative of the majority of clear thinking individuals. Please share the consensus with us.
The consensus here is that these southern US states need all the help they can get, as apparantly the US government isn't able to organise the aid quickly enough. That's what we see on our news, with question like "how is it possible that the US, a country with all these resources and experience in disasters (earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, blizzards, terrorist attacks), is so seemingly unable to organise rescue and aid in a good way". The people of Holland think this disaster is really bad and feel awful for those people there. They are ready to help if it's needed. The Dutch government is sending a vessel with supplies as Egon wrote. Trouble is that the US government so far has thanked all offers for help, but hasn't actually told them 'yeah, we need you now'. The UN have offered their help as well, but they haven't received any confirmation from the US that they take them up on their offer, they only got a 'thanks'.
I also think this disaster appeals more to the Dutch imagination, as water is and always have been one of our main focus points to fight against and to make use of. So an area flooded by water like that, broken levees, it's something we can identify with you see.
So that Polish remark won't be our opinion generally. |
| September 2nd, 2005 01:33 PM |
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| glencar |
Joshy, no one here or elsewhere has criticized those who "looted" clothes, diapers or food. It's the palsma TV looters who give all the other looters a bad name! |
| September 2nd, 2005 01:36 PM |
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| Angiegirl |
quote:
LadyJane wrote:
quote:
Jumping Jack wrote:
Absolutely correct!
Can women truly lead in a crisis? That crying Governor blaming everyone else instead of leading and finding solutions to problems is an absolute disgrace. When Iran starts lobbing nukes at Isreal will Hillary just sit there in shock and cry?
WTF???
I cannot believe I am reading this in the year 2005.
Give us a chance, loser. God knows the men have made a mess of everything thus far.
Look at this Board....the women, for the most part, stick together and post rational thoughts. You BOYS.....divide and conquer.
Why am I wasting my time???
LJ.
Thank you LJ! That was a dumb remark there JJ! You seem to have some issues with judgement. |
| September 2nd, 2005 01:39 PM |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
The guy from FEMA is correct. They are check writers. They provide funds for state and local EMA to buy equipment and train first responders. FEMA has no first responders in it's employ. They have "experts" that look at situations and determine what the best response is...and then try to get the local and state resources to get after it. They are good at telling people what to do, but they can do very little to actually do anything themselves. They are not hands on. They provide training materials and money for resources. They come in afterward and write lots of checks and critique what the local responders did.
Can you tell I don't like FEMA much?
Much of the response arm of the Fed has been transferred over to Dept. of Homeland Security. This Dept was set up by GWB. He pushed for it. I work for the Dept of Homeland Security as an instructor. They don't know jack squat about how to deal with a natural disaster. We train people in how to deal with response to terrorism. That is the main focus of DoHS. 9/11 took our eye off the ball when it comes to disaster response.
There is a massive disconnect somewhere. Mike Brown of FEMA, and the squirrely dude that is the Director of DoHS say the response has been magnificent. Couldn't have gone better, they say. They are amazed at how much is getting done. Yet local officials from these same organizations(and I use that word loosely) are saying "Where's our stuff? Where is everyone? Where are our resources? Why aren't you listening to us?"
There has obviously been a failure somewhere. A hitch in our giddyup. Guess who's fault that is? Yup. Mr. President...it's yours. The President is where the buck stops. He is the guy that hired the leadership of these agencies. If that leadership fails, and it ain't lookin' good right now, that's on Mr. Bush.
Speaking of leadership.....where was GW? After 9/11 he was standing in the rubble with a bullhorn urging our guys on. He was telling everyone that the Government was handling things and they had the situation under control. That was the highpoint of his Presidency. That was leadership. Where the fuck was he on Tuesday? He should have been there, on the ground. He should have been out there with a bullhorn telling everyone that the Government was in control. He should have been there to make shit get done. But he wasn't there. He flew over and did a press conference from a thousand miles away. That was not good enough.
I've been flipping back and forth between CNN and FoxNews. It's like they are covering 2 different disasters! CNN is saying, "Where is the help?", while they show pictures of tens of thousands of people who need rescued. FoxNews is saying, "Why are these thugs that are sniping and looting preventing help from getting in?" as they show footage of people looting. CNN says "The situation in New Orleans is out of hand. There is no relief in sight. Someone help these people." FoxNew says, "The situation is being reigned in and is under control. Help is on the way. The relief effort is amazing!"
I wonder what the real story is? |
| September 2nd, 2005 01:40 PM |
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| Angiegirl |
quote:
glencar wrote:
Joshy, no one here or elsewhere has criticized those who "looted" clothes, diapers or food. It's the palsma TV looters who give all the other looters a bad name!
Exactly. They showed this looting footage on our news yesterday evening, and the Dutch news reporter contemplated that the same would probably happen everywhere (with the difference that our citizens don't have so many guns), and that it's quite understandable for these desperate people to go and find means for survival and rob supermarkets and stuff. But I saw a guy running away with a TV and another one with a microwave or something. That's not for survival right now is it... |
| September 2nd, 2005 01:41 PM |
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| LadyJane |
quote:
Angiegirl wrote:
Thank you LJ! That was a dumb remark there JJ! You seem to have some issues with judgement.
No need to thank me. I call it like I see it.
The ROCC could put the UN to shame. 
LJ. |
| September 2nd, 2005 01:42 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Well, he does have a point. |
| September 2nd, 2005 01:43 PM |
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| Angiegirl |
quote:
LadyJane wrote:
The ROCC could put the UN to shame.
That won't be too hard then  |
| September 2nd, 2005 01:46 PM |
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| Angiegirl |
quote:
Ten Thousand Motels wrote:
Well, he does have a point.
Bullshit. It's still a men's world, so you won't know how a women's government would do things. It's silly to judge that on the behavior of one senator or what was she. And the current men in positions don't exactly give the impression to have everything under control as well now do they? Even taking into account the difficulty of the situation, yes. |
| September 2nd, 2005 01:55 PM |
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| monkey_man |
quote:
I wonder what the real story is?
I got this from a friend of a friend that is in NO at the moment.
From: Gregory S. Henderson MD
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 20:21:55 -0500
Subject: Re: thoughts and prayers
Thanks to all of you who have sent your notes of concern and your prayers.
I am writing this note on Tuesday at 2PM . I wanted to update all of you as to the situation here. I don't know how much information you are getting but I am certain it is more than we are getting. Be advised that almost everything I am telling you is from direct observation or rumor from reasonable sources. They are allowing limited internet access, so I hope to send this dispatch today. Personally, my family and I are fine. My family is safe in Jackson, MS, and I am now a temporary resident of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New Orleans. I figured if it was my time to go, I wanted to go in a place with a good wine list. In addition, this hotel is in a very old building on Canal Street that could and did sustain little damage. Many of the other hotels sustained significant loss of windows, and we expect that many of the guests may be evacuated here.
Things were obviously bad yesterday, but they are much worse today. Overnight the water arrived. Now Canal Street (true to its origins) is indeed a canal. The first floor of all downtown buildings is underwater. I have heard that Charity Hospital and Tulane are limited in their ability to care for patients because of water. Ochsner is the only hospital that remains fully functional. However, I spoke with them today and they too are on generator and losing food and water fast. The city now has no clean water, no sewerage system, no electricity, and no real communications. Bodies are still being recovered floating in the floods. We are worried about a cholera epidemic. Even the police are without effective communications. We have a group of armed police here with us at the hotel that are admirably trying to exert some local law enforcement. This is tough because looting is now rampant. Most of it is not malicious looting. These are poor and desperate people with no housing and no medical care and no food or water trying to take care of themselves and their families. Unfortunately, the people are armed and dangerous. We hear gunshots frequently. Most of Canal street is occupied by armed looters who have a low threshold for discharging their weapons. We hear gunshots frequently. The looters are using makeshift boats made of pieces of styrofoam to access. We are still waiting for a significant national guard presence.
The health care situation here has dramatically worsened overnight. Many people in the hotel are elderly and small children. Many other guests have unusual diseases. They are unfortunately . 'We have better medical letter. There are ID physicians in at this hotel attending an HiV confection. We have commandered the world famous French Quarter Bar to turn into an makeshift clinic. There is a team of about 7 doctors and PA and pharmacists. We anticipate that this will be the major medical facility in the central business district and French Quarter.
Our biggest adventure today was raiding the Walgreens on Canal under police escort. The pharmacy was dark and fool of water. We basically scooped the entire drug sets into gargace bags and removed them. All under police escort. The looters had to be held back at gun point. After a dose of prophylactic Cipro I hope to be fine.
In all we are faring well. We have set up a hospital in the the French Qarter bar in the hotel, and will start admitting patients today. Many with be from the hotel, but many with not. We are anticipating to dealing with multiple medical problems, medications and and acute injuries. Infection and perhaps even cholera are anticipated major problems. Food and water shortages are imminent.
The biggest question to all of us is where is the national guard. We hear jet fignters and helicopters, but no real armed presence, and hence the rampant looting. There is no Red Cross and no salvation army.
In a sort of cliché way, this is an edifying experience. Once is rapidly focused away from the transient and material to the bare necessities of life. It has been challenging to me to learn how to be a primary care phyisican. We are under martial law so return to our homes is impossible. I don't know how long it will be and this is my greatest fear. Despite it all, this is a soul edify experience. The greatest pain is to think about the loss. And how long the rebuid will. And the horror of so many dead people.
PLEASE SEND THIS DISPATCH TO ALL YOU THING MAY BE INTERSTED IN A DISPATCH From the front. I will send more according to your interest. Hopefully their collective prayers will be answered. By the way suture packs, sterile gloves and stethoscopes will be needed as the Ritz turns into a MASH
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| September 2nd, 2005 01:58 PM |
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| charlotte |
A Can't-Do Government
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: September 2, 2005
Before 9/11 the Federal Emergency Management Agency listed the three most likely catastrophic disasters facing America: a terrorist attack on New York, a major earthquake in San Francisco and a hurricane strike on New Orleans. "The New Orleans hurricane scenario," The Houston Chronicle wrote in December 2001, "may be the deadliest of all." It described a potential catastrophe very much like the one now happening.
So why were New Orleans and the nation so unprepared? After 9/11, hard questions were deferred in the name of national unity, then buried under a thick coat of whitewash. This time, we need accountability.
First question: Why have aid and security taken so long to arrive? Katrina hit five days ago - and it was already clear by last Friday that Katrina could do immense damage along the Gulf Coast. Yet the response you'd expect from an advanced country never happened. Thousands of Americans are dead or dying, not because they refused to evacuate, but because they were too poor or too sick to get out without help - and help wasn't provided. Many have yet to receive any help at all.
There will and should be many questions about the response of state and local governments; in particular, couldn't they have done more to help the poor and sick escape? But the evidence points, above all, to a stunning lack of both preparation and urgency in the federal government's response.
Even military resources in the right place weren't ordered into action. "On Wednesday," said an editorial in The Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss., "reporters listening to horrific stories of death and survival at the Biloxi Junior High School shelter looked north across Irish Hill Road and saw Air Force personnel playing basketball and performing calisthenics. Playing basketball and performing calisthenics!"
Maybe administration officials believed that the local National Guard could keep order and deliver relief. But many members of the National Guard and much of its equipment - including high-water vehicles - are in Iraq. "The National Guard needs that equipment back home to support the homeland security mission," a Louisiana Guard officer told reporters several weeks ago.
Second question: Why wasn't more preventive action taken? After 2003 the Army Corps of Engineers sharply slowed its flood-control work, including work on sinking levees. "The corps," an Editor and Publisher article says, citing a series of articles in The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, "never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security - coming at the same time as federal tax cuts - was the reason for the strain."
In 2002 the corps' chief resigned, reportedly under threat of being fired, after he criticized the administration's proposed cuts in the corps' budget, including flood-control spending.
Third question: Did the Bush administration destroy FEMA's effectiveness? The administration has, by all accounts, treated the emergency management agency like an unwanted stepchild, leading to a mass exodus of experienced professionals.
Last year James Lee Witt, who won bipartisan praise for his leadership of the agency during the Clinton years, said at a Congressional hearing: "I am extremely concerned that the ability of our nation to prepare for and respond to disasters has been sharply eroded. I hear from emergency managers, local and state leaders, and first responders nearly every day that the FEMA they knew and worked well with has now disappeared."
I don't think this is a simple tale of incompetence. The reason the military wasn't rushed in to help along the Gulf Coast is, I believe, the same reason nothing was done to stop looting after the fall of Baghdad. Flood control was neglected for the same reason our troops in Iraq didn't get adequate armor.
At a fundamental level, I'd argue, our current leaders just aren't serious about some of the essential functions of government. They like waging war, but they don't like providing security, rescuing those in need or spending on preventive measures. And they never, ever ask for shared sacrifice.
Yesterday Mr. Bush made an utterly fantastic claim: that nobody expected the breach of the levees. In fact, there had been repeated warnings about exactly that risk.
So America, once famous for its can-do attitude, now has a can't-do government that makes excuses instead of doing its job. And while it makes those excuses, Americans are dying.
E-mail: [email protected]
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| September 2nd, 2005 02:23 PM |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
Hey look at the TV!
Our President is handing out potato chips at a food line in Biloxi.
Wow. He's so cool. He's shaking hands and kissing cheeks. That's just swell.
Uh, excuse me sir....HOW ABOUT GO FIND SOME MORE FUCKING CHOPPERS!!!! GO FIND MORE AMPHIBIOUS TRUCKS!!! GET FOOD WATER AND MEDICINE WHERE IT'S NEEDED!!!! LEAD GODDAMMIT!!
What the FUCK is this guy doing???? |
| September 2nd, 2005 02:24 PM |
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| throbby |
>Don't believe everything Michael Moore tells you[/URL]
Who the fuck is Micheal Moore? Certainly not my spokesman.
Personally I think he's an asshole.
Regardless of how many guardsmen are in the U.S. the Bush administration response to this crisis is sorely lacking. If we do indeed have that many guardsmen available let's get them down there, people are dying.
I put the blame on all who are entrusted with the well being of this nation. Funds have been cut from many infrastructure programs one such being the levee program. Those making the decisions have known for years that this could happen and they took the chance that it wouldn't. You can bet your sweet ass that the massive outlay required for the war in Iraq has something to do with the decisions made in the recent budget cutting process. Both Democrats and Republicans should be held accountable for these decisions. |
| September 2nd, 2005 02:24 PM |
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| pdog |
quote:
LadyJane wrote:
Why am I wasting my time???
There are those few of us Men Children who will gladly be your servants and nightime huggy bears!
Like the dyke fish says in Finding Nemo, " Just keep swimming" ! |
| September 2nd, 2005 02:36 PM |
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| Jumping Jack |
Were those poor looters robbing sneakers at shooting at rescue helecopters with AK-47s doing it for their children?
The levees have been deficient for 40 years. I don't recall Clinton doing anything. BTW, it was the Mississippi levees that failed and it isn't Mississippi water flooding NO.
There is plenty of blame to go around, both parties have blood on their hands, and it is clear that local and federal government agencies are grossly incompetent.
Anyone that thinks more government is the answer is a fool. Cleaning house and holding all government agencies accountible for doing more than collecting paychecks and covering their asses would be a good start.
This should be a wake up call for California and Florida. Time to think about moving somewhere inherently more safe. |
| September 2nd, 2005 02:40 PM |
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| pdog |
quote:
glencar wrote:
Joshy, no one here or elsewhere has criticized those who "looted" clothes, diapers or food. It's the palsma TV looters who give all the other looters a bad name!
I say this, if a bunch of conservative white rednecks with bibles had been treating me like a piece of shit for decades, I'd grab that fucking plasma TV too! You think race isn't an issue? Try being black!
There's two things you never, ever hear. Rich people wondering what it likes to get up and take the bus to work everyday, and white people in the south especially, wishing they could be black!
In 2005, the almighty truth of our treatment of our slaves is still right in our face, and will be for a long time. Maybe if they'd really had 150 years of freedom, maybe things would be different. I'd say depending on where you live, being black, you've had anywhere from 20 to 40 years of freedom. Some cities and states might be less, your mileage may fucking vary.
I've heard the nigger jokes, I've been offered the job, my eyes have seen the racism and myself have participated in some of it. We've got a long way to go, and this storm just proved it and set us back a few steps too. If that city was 80% white, this shit would've played out much, much differently.
It's not Bush's fault or the Governors or anyone person.
It's Americas fault, and we've all been wrong, for along time. And the liberal white midlle class motherfuckers are just as guilty. They talk about all this equality shit and then go home to theri safe suburban homes... We aren't bad people, we've just be raised with prejudices that aren't true. It's on our TV's ect.... That's an entirely different issue.
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| September 2nd, 2005 02:47 PM |
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| Joey |
" Friday, September 2nd, 2005 "
" Dear Mr. Bush:
Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.
Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?
Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!
I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?
And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!
On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.
There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.
No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!
You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.
Yours,
Michael Moore
[email protected]
www.MichaelMoore.com
P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at your ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi War dead are now driving across the country, stopping in many cities along the way. Maybe you can catch up with them before they get to DC on September 21st. "
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| September 2nd, 2005 02:51 PM |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
>I don't recall Clinton doing anything<
Well, not doing anything is better than cutting the budget by 50%. Duh.
I see all sorts of officials on TV today asking for volunteers.
I volunteered TWO FUCKING DAYS AGO AND THEY SAID WE WEREN'T NEEDED!!!!
What the fuck is going on??? Jesus fucking CHRIST!!! I train for this stuff. I have experience from Ivan! I can help and I WANT TO GO!!! What the fuck is wrong with these fucking idiots?? |
| September 2nd, 2005 02:56 PM |
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| Angiegirl |
quote:
pdog wrote:
I say this, if a bunch of conservative white rednecks with bibles had been treating me like a piece of shit for decades, I'd grab that fucking plasma TV too! You think race isn't an issue? Try being black!
There's two things you never, ever hear. Rich people wondering what it likes to get up and take the bus to work everyday, and white people in the south especially, wishing they could be black!
In 2005, the almighty truth of our treatment of our slaves is still right in our face, and will be for a long time. Maybe if they'd really had 150 years of freedom, maybe things would be different. I'd say depending on where you live, being black, you've had anywhere from 20 to 40 years of freedom. Some cities and states might be less, your mileage may fucking vary.
I've heard the nigger jokes, I've been offered the job, my eyes have seen the racism and myself have participated in some of it. We've got a long way to go, and this storm just proved it and set us back a few steps too. If that city was 80% white, this shit would've played out much, much differently.
It's not Bush's fault or the Governors or anyone person.
It's Americas fault, and we've all been wrong, for along time. And the liberal white midlle class motherfuckers are just as guilty. They talk about all this equality shit and then go home to theri safe suburban homes... We aren't bad people, we've just be raised with prejudices that aren't true. It's on our TV's ect.... That's an entirely different issue.
I always envision these southern states as inhabited with black people who are poor to very poor for the majority. But I don't know if that's the right image. It's harder to know that for an outsider/foreigner. When I saw footage, I saw mostly black people, in the streets, on the rooftops, in the stadium/dome. Must be extra hard on the poor people right? I feel for them. |
| September 2nd, 2005 03:02 PM |
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| glencar |
Pdog, for shame! Racism sucks but it shouldn't provide the excuse for people shooting at helicopters that are coming to save their black elders & children. It shouldn't provide the excuse to rip off hardworking mom & pop stores or even greedy Walmart. If the city was 80% white, the problem might still be there. I've seen quite a few interviews with poor white families that have been left destitute.
BTW The President is now arriving outside NOLA. What a waste of time but this is what politics today requires. We want Oprah to feel our pain instead of just getting on with the task of rebuilding. |
| September 2nd, 2005 03:03 PM |
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| pdog |
quote:
Sir Stonesalot wrote:
What the fuck is wrong with these fucking idiots??
Our Government is too big! Too much bueacratic bullshit!
Since their about twenty to fifty people that stand in between you and the people who need help, looks like the clusterfuck of too many agencies is the problem. What resource we have are going into getting the economic aspects (oil) of this fixed first. The people are not important. It's not about Dem. or Rep. parties, it's just about bottom lines ,and saving face.
What's happening on the ground is now just a matter of the strong will survive.
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| September 2nd, 2005 03:04 PM |
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| glencar |
Angie, the Southern state I'm most familiar with is S. Carolina which seems to have a larger share of poor blacks than poor whites. I recall seeing horrendous poverty when driving through sections of New Orleans when I was there a decade & a half ago. But the West Philly neighborhood is as bad as I've ever seen. |
| September 2nd, 2005 03:06 PM |
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| glencar |
quote:
pdog wrote:
Our Government is too big! Too much bueacratic bullshit!
Since their about twenty to fifty people that stand in between you and the people who need help, looks like the clusterfuck of too many agencies is the problem. What resource we have are going into getting the economic aspects (oil) of this fixed first. The people are not important. It's not about Dem. or Rep. parties, it's just about bottom lines ,and saving face.
What's happening on the ground is now just a matter of the strong will survive.
Speaking as a federal employee, I can attest to this. These bureaucrats love to "build empires" & the core function of whatever they're supposed to be doing becomes less important. If what SS says about FEMA (writing checks & coming up with ideas after the fact) is correct, why bother having it? The Red + probably is much more useful. |
| September 2nd, 2005 03:08 PM |
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| Jumping Jack |
The delta area is one of the poorest sections of America and many people had no means to leave. Sadly many are now caught up in this tradgedy.
There are others who simply excersises poor judgment and are suffering the conmsequences.
There is another group the made a premeditated decision to stay to profit in the choas.
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco is the Governor of the state and was responsible for emergency preparidness. She is no Rudy and has no leaderships skills at all while she sits around crying. Since everyone has known for a long time the city was at risk I will interested to hear how she was planning to deal with the inevitable. The state negligence over many years is stagerring. Clearly, Texas was light years ahead of years LA. Make no mistake, first response is the responsibility of those closest at the State level.
The trillion dollar question is whether they learn from their mistakes or rebuild in the same spot. |
| September 2nd, 2005 03:10 PM |
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| glencar |
Gov. Blanco is horrible indeed but it only shows that women pols can mess things up as easily as men pols. We've known that since Indira Gandhi's misrule. |
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