The people speak

[Admin]

Mike Franklin stood on the trolley tracks and watched the spectacle unfold.

"To be honest with you, people who are oppressed all their lives, man, it's an opportunity to get back at society," he said.

Ya, being a citizen of the United States is a horrible thing. I don't know how the people of New Orleans could have possibly lived in such oppression for so long.

More genius quotes:

A man walked down Canal Street with a pallet of food on his head. His wife, who refused to give her name, insisted they weren't stealing from the nearby Winn-Dixie supermarket. "It's about survival right now," she said as she held a plastic bag full of purloined items. "We got to feed our children. I've got eight grandchildren to feed."

Ya, because there was no warning at all. You had no chance to leave the area with your family, food, and water. This hurricane came out of no where. Do any of those 8 grandchildren have parents?

I may sound harsh, but I can not stand people who can't wait for any excuse to break the law and steal. That place should have been a ghost town when the storm hit.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,167892,00.html

 

[C-pher]

Ya, because there was no warning at all. You had no chance to leave the area with your family, food, and water. This hurricane came out of no where. Do any of those 8 grandchildren have parents?

I may sound harsh, but I can not stand people who can't wait for any excuse to break the law and steal. That place should have been a ghost town when the storm hit.

I'm not saying that I support what they say and are doing. I don't think that they should steal, or loot...

But there are a lot of people down there that can't afford to leave. They just don't have the money to get out of town. And, it's like New York, the transportation is pretty good down there, so there's A LOT of people that don't have cars because they don't need them.

So, if you don't have a car, and you don't have money, because NOLA is a pretty poor town, then how do you leave several hundred miles out of town?

Again, I may be more sensitive to this as this is where I grew up. I saw all of this first hand most of my life. I saw how a lot of the people lived. We were one of the lucky ones. My family has money, we never worried about these things as we were able to leave. We had the money to board up our homes. Many people didn't.


Again, I don't condone the looting, but I do know why a lot of people weren't able to leave.

 

[dwarven1]

Man, that article is surreal. Sounds like something out of the book Alas, Babylon.

 

[Admin]

That area is known to have severe weather. If I people can't leave when the weather gets bad and they still want to live there then so be it.

It's like building a house on the side of a hill and complaining when a mud slide takes the whole thing.

This isn't like a tornado where you only have a minutes to seek shelter. A bus ticket isn't expensive and neither is staying at the YMCA in Atlanta.

There is no excuse for ignoring warnings, putting your children in danger, and acting like an animal once the smoke clears.

 

[Chris]

You know, I CAN see some necessity of items like bottled water, diapers, and other things that would be needed. Even food, although most people can go a while without it. However, I can promise you that once started, the scope of 'need' would run over.

LEts face it, an armload of jeans and anything in a jewlry store is not 'need' but 'greed'.

I can see the position that this puts the police and National Guard in, but lets face it, protecting property is not nearly as important as protecting life, and until that mission is complete....

I will guranentee you that there are some stores in the effected areas.that are NOT being looted, and those stores are being defended with an owner or loyal employee with a gun.

And on the oposite side of the coin, I know that there are some shop owners who are giving away stock to people because by the time order is restored, it would all be lost anyway. Heard a story of a shop keeper handing out beer from a barrel full of ice yesterday. Ice Machine was destroyed, and beer cooler was not working, so what the hell?

Again, the sad part of the media is all the reporting of the EVIL and none of the good.

Too many Rita Skeeters in this world.

 

[C-pher]

That area is known to have severe weather. If I people can't leave when the weather gets bad and they still want to live there then so be it.

It's like building a house on the side of a hill and complaining when a mud slide takes the whole thing.

This isn't like a tornado where you only have a minutes to seek shelter. A bus ticket isn't expensive and neither is staying at the YMCA in Atlanta.

There is no excuse for ignoring warnings, putting your children in danger, and acting like an animal once the smoke clears.

Show me a bus station that will accept food stamps.

(and I'm just playing devil's advocate)

But if you don't have any money, how do you get out? When you live in a swamp, and it takes a boat to get in and out of your house, how do you get out during a storm? When you don't own a TV, or have electricty, how do you really know that the storm is as bad as it is.

Then, add in the whole story of Crying Wolf. Do you know how many Hurricanes come through there? They get these all the time. So they think that it's like any other Hurricane that's been in there before.

We had Hurricane Days built into our school years. Just like snow days up here. If we don't use them, we get out early for the year. But there wasn't a day that I was in school where we didn't use a week or two because the streets were too flooded to get busses though to pick up kids for school. So, they closed the schools. We didn't get snow, we got hurricanes.

Now, like I said, I agree that acting like animals isn't acceptable. But then this isn't Palm Beach. This is NOLA. It's a different country. They have their own language, thier own food, it's a completey different culture than the rest of the US. They are poor, they have ancesters directly related to slavery, families that go back generations. Believe it or not, this isn't too far off from how they lived every day before this Storm. It just never made the news.

When I left in April of '94. There were alreay 300 some odd murders since January. That's not a town that's civilized. That's New Orleans. I had friends that were NOLA Police. They would meet you for a drink ON DUTY. They were one of the most corrupt Departments in the nation. Yet, they had areas of town that no matter what happened, they wouldn't even drive into unless they had three other squad cars with them.

 

[Chris]

As I said....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050831/us_nm/weather_katrina_dc_71;_ylt=AuKl5Z0YOcpc_2BXvuskAA8bLisB

...Amid the looting, gun-toting citizens took to the streets in some areas to try to restore order. Where it was still dry, store owners were seen sitting in front of their businesses, guns in hand.

One had put up a sign: "You loot, I shoot," it said. ...

I have very mixed feelings on the whole thing. On the one hand you have people that really need help regardless of the fact that their situation might very well be their own damn fault. And I'm one of those suckers that have a hard time letting others suffer when I can help.

On the other hand, I feel it is every living person's duty to prepare for touble. Here in the Northeast we all know that we can end up cut off for days by a snowstorm (or longer if you are really remote) and the smart people deal with it. In the winter I pack our freezer and shelves with a little more than usual and make sure that the popane tanks and wood piles are full by the end of summer. At the first hint of a storem, all the vehicles are topped off and I make sure all the power tools are ready to go. Just in case.

Even in the poorest of families in New Orleans, you could easily keep a little money tucked away for that cab ride to a hospital or shelter if an emergency occured. I find it so strange that people will squander their money on pleasures and then claim poor when faced with survival. Even if you just stick one dollar into that envelope each month, it is a plan, a start, and possibly your life.

The sad fact is that all to often city folk (and this does seem to be more of an urban issue) seem to think they are entitled to other's help.

Sadly, time and time again, events like this show that this is NOT the case. I'm glad that organizations like the Red Cross are there to help (which by the way is asking for donations to help pay to get volunteers down to the gulf coast) but the fact that so many seem to just feel they have some 'right' to get help absolutely sickens me.

If you need rescue from a mountain top, in many cases, you will get billed for your rescue because someone has to pay for the people and equipment used. Yet how many people are being plucked off rooftops and out of the water because they simply didn't get out when told to? And yet, I wonder if any of those people even think about the time, effort, expense, and sacrifice made by their rescuers that could have gone to other efforts.

And yet, the softies we are, my wife and I just donated the money we had put aside for our anniversary outing to the Red Cross and we will spend the evening at home with a Netflix movie and a couple of steaks from the grill. I know it was a good thing to do. Why do I feel like we're just encouraging this behavior?

Earlier this year, we found out that my wife's grandfather, aunt, and two cousins in India were victims of the floods that devastated the Mumbai area (specificly Varl Parla, a suburb of Bombay) They lost everything in their 3 room apartment including the water system. (running water only exists for 3 hours every day and each home has it's own tanks to store the water) The family all pitched in to help, Neighbors took them in, and they are almost living normal lives again. No looting, no profiteering, and very little advantage taken on those who were in need. The US was once like that before we stopped knowing our neighbors and abandoned families. It wasn't really the money as it didn't take much to replace the things they needed, it was the community that helped out the most.

If you haven't, go say hello to your neighbor. They might not be the person you hang out with on a Saturday afternoon, but in a crisis, it's nice to know you at least know their names.

 

[Admin]

I don't think I was referring to the innocent poor people who couldn't leave and who are NOT looting. I believe I was referring to the people who decided to stick around, put children in harms way, and loot to their hearts content, then blame the storm for their illegal actions.

 

[JonJ]

Everything about this situation is bothersome. It's hard to comprehend just what is going on down there.
I've heard the "crying wolf" many times. Weather prediction is a science. It isn't exact. They give the best info with what they've got. You either heed the warning or ignore it. I can uderstand some, who for some reason just can't get out but the others that decide to sit there and party, well....
Looting. I can condone it to a point. You must survive. No food, no water but when when they're walking down the street with a new HDTV, well....
Wal-Mart was handing out items from their stores as well.

I can see the emotions starting to fly here. Many people who are dependant on the government in their day to day lives are wondering where the help is. It takes time to move people, equipment, and supplies into an area. Not to mention activating all of thise people, many who have families of their own that need help. But when you're used to getting the check the 1st of the month, you want help yesterday.
I'm full of mixed emotions about this mess. I'm just afraid that the riots are going to start soon.

Seems to me that the best the Feds could do at this point is build a tent city on nearby military base. Why are they going to bus these people over 300 miles to Houston?

 

[Admin]

Some more good news about the "victims"

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/003439.htm

 

[JonJ]

Has anyone noticed how the media is refering to the hurricane victims as refugees?

 

[Admin]

It's only a matter of time before the Liberal Media links Haliburton's pollution to global warming and the cause of the hurricane. It will eventually be Bush's fault.

 

[Len-2A Training]

It's only a matter of time before the Liberal Media links Haliburton's pollution to global warming and the cause of the hurricane. It will eventually be Bush's fault.

Derek, you are at least 1 day too late on your prediction! [evil]

Sean Hannity was sub'g for Jay Severin yesterday on 96.9 and read parts of the Boston Globe and some other editorials, along with US Rep (?) Robert Kennedy, Jr. already blaming the hurricane on global warming, and it's George Bush's fault due to our refusal to sign the Kyoto Accord! The logic is convoluted beyond belief, but the liberal sheeple will bleat and believe! Pass the Kool-Aid!! [evil]

 

[C-pher]

I don't think I was referring to the innocent poor people who couldn't leave and who are NOT looting. I believe I was referring to the people who decided to stick around, put children in harms way, and loot to their hearts content, then blame the storm for their illegal actions.

I hear ya. I just start to wonder if pepople do see the difference.


And what sucks, is that's pretty much how they are living now. Like Refugees.

I agree, there's no need for people to have a TV...where in the hell are they going to plug it in? I just want to make sure that growing up down there, I know why people don't leave. Or, can't leave. The looting is a different story. And I hope that they catch as many of those people as they can.

And if anyone would be to blame, blame the people that let them make more money for more children, so they just have more people on Welfare. And when I say that there are families there that have generations on welfare, I'm not kidding. We can talk three or four generations, that's all they know.

Does that mean that it's right? No, but it is all they know. It really is more animalistic down there than humane.


And I hope that you guys know that I'm just posting how the other side can see this. And that I have first hand experience about this....well, not this bad. But you know what I'm saying. Not that I think that these people are correct.

It does distrub me as well. This was my home, where I grew up, it was my past life. It does kill me to see the people acting like this, and how these people are without home and food.

 

[Admin]

C-Pher,

I'm sure it isn't pure chaos as the media is portraying. It’s not good, but I’m sure it’s being blown out of proportion.

 

[KMaurer]

Sean Hannity was sub'g for Jay Severin yesterday on 96.9 and read parts of the Boston Globe and some other editorials, along with US Rep (?) Robert Kennedy, Jr. already blaming the hurricane on global warming, and it's George Bush's fault due to our refusal to sign the Kyoto Accord! The logic is convoluted beyond belief, but the liberal sheeple will bleat and believe! Pass the Kool-Aid!! [evil]

I just wish they'd stop bleating and start swallowing.

Ken

 

[Walter Smitty]

We had an incident in my neck of the woods about ten years ago. A guy with his wife and kid were driving in the dead of winter. Car broke down. I cannot remember the specific details but the battery was dead and vehicle could not move. The feller pried the hood up on a car that was near by and took the battery. Left his name and address on a note with the car he vandalized offering to make the damage good. The owner found the note and went ballistic. Demanded punishment to the fullest extant allowed under the law. No mercy. Public reaction to the owner was hostile to say the least. Bear in mind that a Nort Dakotan is pretty attached to his green too. You can literally do more time here for hot checks than armed robbery. The situation was resolved to everyones satisfaction. The looting that is occuring is wrong plain and simple. My suggestion which is worth exactly nothing is that those who looted food be required to participate gratis in the cleanup activity. Those who looted non food items do the same but will do so in leg irons and in the most heavily damaged areas. Just a thought.

 

[JonJ]

C-Pher,

I'm sure it isn't pure chaos as the media is portraying. It’s not good, but I’m sure it’s being blown out of proportion.

You know that they're going out of their way to find the most pissed off people to interview.

 

[Lynne]

I just wish they'd stop bleating and start swallowing.

You and me both!! Infact, gulping would be much better.

 

[C-pher]

C-Pher,

I'm sure it isn't pure chaos as the media is portraying. It’s not good, but I’m sure it’s being blown out of proportion.

You know that they're going out of their way to find the most pissed off people to interview.

Well, yea. It's news. But I'm sure that the Riots aren't far behind. Trust me, it doesn't take them long down there to get out of hand.

Why do you think that NOLA LEOs are so violent. Those guys can kick some serious ass. That's one thing that you learn very quick growing up down there. Always be nice to them, even when they are kicking your ass, it can only get worse. And there's a lot of places to hide a body.

 

[Admin]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/01/katrina.fema.brown/index.html