The violence and looting of New Orleans: what does that tell...
POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 01:27
VIEWED: 11972
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We are a country divided. Divided by money. Those who have it, and those who don't.
Inequity (racial, sexual and monitary) drives hatred and violence. In a time when we should be banding together, we are torn apart.
Shooting at police helicopters? With Walmart rifles? That's almost funny if it weren't so sad.
Did looting and rape occur in Indonesia after the tsunami? Or did they try to help each other?
Does anyone here think that this comments on our society of greed?
Is there something in our culture that needs to be SERIOUSLY addressed??
I pray for the victims of Katrina...
Chrisisall
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Three things to consider
1 - After the Tsunami aid quickly came and help was given from rich nations,
SKorea, Germany, the USA, Canada, England, Japan, Australia, Europe, Russia....
( so far the USA has said it might soon ask for help but currently has quietly turned foreign help away )
2 - I once had a fight with an old flatmate over a day's food, as paychecks were delayed over a Christmas period.
People will go crazy when they face despair, they need food, pills, medical products and shelter and might have to fight to survive. Poor people may have to take food to survive.
3 - Some perverts, criminals and twisted people start to take advantage of unfortunate events, this is why scum will loot, assasult people, rape and go around in gangs attacking others. This is why home security and law and order are very important, so that a city doesn't become hostage to a minority of savage thugs.
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And another thing. Our National Guard can't help in NO, or Mississippi the way they could. Why? They're in Iraq. No plans for emergency management at home now, that war is too important. Screw the people of our own country, our international agenda is more urgent. Americans died, and are dying in our OWN COUNTRY!! OUR OWN COUNTRY Goddamnit!!!
Score another one for the terrorists, I guess.
And you Bush fans are lookin' stupider and sorrier by the minute.
How much does it take to see that this administration is KILLING US (LITERALLY as well)?
Chrisisall
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While the "blame crowd" is posturing and accusing, real Americans are doing everything they can to help. Families are opening their homes to the refugees, and opening their wallets with large donations to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Cities and states are sending food, police and national guard units. Some are providing shelter and opening their schools to the children who have lost everything.
Yes CHRISISALL, the National Guard can help, and they are! In fact, other states are sending even more Guardsmen into the areas affected. One of the reasons it's taking so long, is simple logistics. Trying to position troops where they are most needed and then figuring how to get them there. Getting this crucial intel is hampered by the almost total lack of communication into and out of New Orleans! Police radios don't work, phones are down and cell service isn't working. News teams on the scene seem to be providing the best information, but even that has proven to be as much speculation and rumor as fact. New Orleans SWAT teams have responded to several tips that have proven to be false, and that has hampered their effectiveness. It's also taking time, because of the sheer size of the disaster and the inaccessibility of the hardest hit areas. Most Guardsmen are arriving by Helo because that is the only way to reach those areas without blocking the few open routes that are already over packed with busses and emergency vehicles trying to get people out! Those helicopters can only bring in a handful of troops at a time. You have no concept of how messed up the basic infrastructure in the affected areas are. Roads are still flooded and/or blocked with huge piles of debris. Waterway access is also problematic with the massive amount of ship wreckage and debris in the water.
Some seem only to want to place blame and use this horrible disaster as political fodder. It's so easy to point fingers from the safety of your couch or computer terminal!!! How pathetic and sad. Some are comparing what happened after Katrina to 9/11, and that is incredibly moronic! The destruction in New York was limited to a very small area of the city. Services (fire, police, and medical) were still working, and access to the area affected was available. We lost an entire city folks!!!! 90% of New Orleans is either gone, underwater or severely damaged!!!! New York had it easy compared to this!!!! Wake up and smell what BS you are shoveling!!!
Yes, it hasn't been enough, but the blame isn't a lack of desire to help, but because of the massive size of the disaster! Has anyone checked a map lately? This disaster (disasters actually, the hurricane on the coast and the flooding in New Orleans) spans three states! The western coastline of Louisiana, and the entire coastlines of Mississippi and Alabama are effected. FEMA's worst case scenario wasn't even close to how bad it really was. No one expected this level of destruction. No one could plan for this! The reason it has taken so long to get help into the worst areas, is because of the level of destruction and the massive flooding! Planes with supplies couldn't land near New Orleans until the runways were cleared. Truck and emergency Vehicles have limited access in New Orleans because of the flooding, and even then, it took days to clear the roads that weren't flooded. The Coast Guard has said that access from the water has be severely hampered by debris blocking the waterways. They are doing what they can, but it's taken time to get to the worst areas.
Instead of pointing fingers, mourn the dead, and donate funds for those who still can be helped. Leave the partisan politics for later. There will be plenty of time for that crap later, like during the next election!
I'd given some thought to movin' off the edge -- not an ideal location -- thinkin' a place in the middle.
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Quote:What?
Originally posted by MacBaker:
No one expected this level of destruction. No one could plan for this!
No one can plan for this? You have to be saying that out of emotion. Professional agencies with trained and funded staff can 'plan' for ANYTHING they are directed to plan for. FEMA had it's funds cut, Bush needed them for something else. I pointed my finger after 911, and I'm doing so now. My above posts were angry, I'll admit, but if the bus keeps hitting parked cars, how long till the driver takes some heat for it?
The poor planning and lack of resources to aid disaster victims is due DIRECTLY to ill-placed priorities.
Real people doing real things right now is a must; I just hope some see how the present administration is a clear and present danger to the long term saftey of this country, and remember it for the next election. Too much more of this empire will result in a copy of ancient Rome, and I'm NOT exaggerating.
If you think seeing the reasons behind things isn't as important as the problems themselves, well, then that's a point of view, certainly.
But can we as a nation finally put real family and human values before issues of control, greed, and corporate domination?
That would be a change, huh?
One last thing, I get the scope. It's like nothing we've seen in this country before. It's a waking nightmare.
So sad to see Bush cut short his vacation...
ChrisisallEDIT: none of this anger is meant for you, Mac, I just can't believe this decade.
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Here is an odd thing:
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Blogs_raise_questions_of_racism_in_hurri
cane_photo_cap_0902.html
The conclusion from the Blog world:
Associated Press is racist
- If you're black you're looting.
- If you're white you just found stuff!
Sad Really
I would say it is a little early to condemn the response and actions after the storm wiped-out New Orleans... That will take some objective hindsight, and likely the release of inside info on what dessions were actually made and why.
But one question that has stuck in my mind... The evactuation order in effect for some time before the storm actually hit... and it seems that only people who had their own transport available manage to get clear...
Was there any effort to evac the poorer people in the area using buses, or military transport ?
I'm not one to avoid slamming the Bushites when it is due, but more of the immediate action stuff in this case would be a state or local call... did they try anything like that ? if they didn't have the assets did they ask for them and were turned down ?
When my eloquence escapes you
My logic ties you up and rapes you
http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_police/de_do_do_do_de_da_da_da.h
tml
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The city had a multi-day tabletop exercise planning for this EXACT situation, and not all that long ago. Apparently such planning means little when faced with reality.
----
I can see you.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/02/opinion/02krugman.html
This article says a lot of what I stated, albeit in a more 'professional' manner.
Chrisisall
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Yep; those are the hard questions that must and will demand answers--preferably at the pointy end of impeachment proceedings. Send the heads which will roll down to the refugee camps for NO residents, so they can stick them on pikes.
----
I can see you.
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Quote:
Originally posted by GinoBiffaroni:
one question that has stuck in my mind... The evactuation order in effect for some time before the storm actually hit... and it seems that only people who had their own transport available manage to get clear...
Was there any effort to evac the poorer people in the area using buses, or military transport ?...
http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_police/de_do_do_do_de_da_da_da.h
tml
I haven't heard of any alternative transport for the poorer folk. That's part of the reason they opened up the Superdome.
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