Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

[shaveice]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

apologies if someone's already posted this link but the stories are unbelievable. mind boggling.

some of the video links didn't work for me but they did say they were overwhelmed by hits so that might be it.

anyway, the stories themselves are enuf. (the link will jump to a particular story but the web page is full of other stories.)

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/04.html#a4783

[Tiger Beer]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

New Orleans is messed up.

Was talking to a guy who is from New Orleans.. he was saying it was because the government thinks so little of both southerners and blacks in the United States. I guess that could be one reason.

But honestly.. I don't think the federal government cares all that much about most of the U.S (or else more $ would go domestically than towards Iraq)... but if something happened in one of the rich cities like New York, Boston, San Francisco, Washington DC. I'm sure the government would have responsed MUCH sooner! Everything comes down to $$.. and what cities have stronger/lesser impacts on the national economy. Thats my opinion anyways.

Anyhow.. the people of New Orleans.. the spirit and soul of the city.. seems kind of blighted. The way things happened when bad things went down.. it just seemed to spiral worse and worse. Usually tragedies bring out the best of humanity.. and quite curious how what happened down in New Orleans brought out the worst in humanity.. I'm curious about that.

[Miulang]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

Now FEMA is warning the news agencies that they'd better not take any pictures of all the dead victims of the hurricane. I wonder if it's another attempt by the Administration (much like the order not to show caskets of troops killed in Iraq) to hide the truth. I am horrified at the reports of how many people could be dead from this storm. But I think as long as the pictures are tasteful (how can you make a picture of a dead body look tasteful?) and not done to exploit the families of the victims, then the American public has a right to see them, if only to grieve symbolically with their families for this unnecessary wasting of human life.

Miulang

[Miulang]

The sad, true story of Vera Smith

If you saw on TV the blue tarp-covered temporary grave in the streets of New Orleans, with the cross and the simple "rest in peace Vera", here is the true, sad story of her life and death.

The saddest part is that she wasn't even killed by the flooding or the hurricane; she was run over in the street trying to get to a store for more supplies after the hurricane, and her body lay in the streets for 5 days before it was covered up.

If FEMA won't allow pictures of the other dead bodies, let Vera's grave, lovingly built out of bricks from a fallen building and that blue tarp, symbolize the loss that so many people of New Orleans felt.

Miulang

[toeknee]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

I agree that the weak response from the Government was, in part, because the the victims were black. And even if it was not, even if officials didn't exactly sit around saying, "ah, it's just a bunch of black people. No rush..." they certainly perpetuated that notion with their slow response. I think that a prime reason for the slow response and large number of victims was the fact that many of these folks are poor. I've read that New Orleans poverty rate is much higher than the national average; between 23% and 30%. Even the middle class there are urban city dwellers who don't own cars and rely on mass transit to get around. Decision makers in Washington are completely disconnected from that way of life. They have no clue about the way many - maybe most - Americans live. They did not consider the fact that many in a city like New Orleans could not simply pack up the SUVs, grab the credit cards and drive to the Ritz at a moment's notice. Nor did they heed the warnings that have been presented by scientists and engineers for years; that New Orleans levies and sea walls could not withstand a storm the size of Katrina. The walls, the levies - they could have been re-engineered long ago, but there was never any money or the wherewithall to do that.
I also believe that some of the unexpected compassion we've received from other countries is the result of what many outside the U.S. now see as surprising images coming America; a place they had been led to believe was populated with nothing but wealthy, materialistic people. They see poor people, people struggling, people just trying to survive, just like they do around the world.
Finally, I think that FEMA functioned much better when it was an independent agency. Now, it is simply another layer, lost in the piles of bureaucratic BS that make up the Division of Homeland Security. It seemed that delays were caused because everyone was standing around waiting for orders, which never came, rather than having the autonomy to act immediately on their own. I'm not feeling real good about the prospects of a terrorist attack right now. If they can't respond promptly to an event that was expected, how will they respond to a surprise attack?
The crime, looting and shooting present a sad commentary on our society. There were those who stole water and food just to survive. Those people, I can forgive. There were also many more, taking loads of clothing, electronics, etc. just because they could. Those are the bad apples.
The people who refused to wait for the government to sanction a rescue effort and went in with their own cars and trucks and boats with food and water to help - the American citizens who simply took it upon themselves to help - that is a bright spot. People offering rooms in their own homes, hotels offering lodging, schools enrolling students - that effort demonstrates that there may be a smidgeon of hope for humanity.
Finally, I will give credence to the notion that the scope of the devastation was greater than maybe anybody could have anticipated. Now that we have seen what can happen, I hope we make the necessary adjustments to our approach to crisis. We did well implementing the Marshall Plan, which brought emergy relief to Europe's victims of WWII. Maybe we should pull that one out of the mothballs, dust it off, merge it with the successful elements of the Tsunami relief effort and 9-11 rescue efforts and put it back in play as a guide to responding to an event here at home. Oh wait. This is the federal government we're talking about. Guess I shouldn't get my hopes up too high.

[MadAzza]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

Now FEMA is warning the news agencies that they'd better not take any pictures of all the dead victims of the hurricane.

Miulang

Good luck with that, FEMA. This is America. Free press and all that. Neener, neener!

[MadAzza]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

New Orleans is messed up.

Was talking to a guy who is from New Orleans.. he was saying it was because the government thinks so little of both southerners and blacks in the United States..

That fella needs to point his finger directly at the mayor of New Orleans, who is black and Southern, and who screwed the pooch as much as the fed. So did the state government. There's plenty of blame to go around, but it starts with the corruption and incompetence at the city level.

The incompetence in this case is at the city, state and federal levels.

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

I'd say it's more because New Orleans is poor, and poor people don't get any help from this White House.

[Miulang]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

I'd say it's more because New Orleans is poor, and poor people don't get any help from this White House.

If that's the case, then 90% of us are gonna get squat every single time we need help. The middle class is eroding while the rich get richer off the sweat of the middle class workers' backs.

Miulang

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

Last year, National Geographic had an article about the drowning of New Orleans.

It was a broiling August afternoon in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Big Easy, the City That Care Forgot. Those who ventured outside moved as if they were swimming in tupelo honey. Those inside paid silent homage to the man who invented air-conditioning as they watched TV "storm teams" warn of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing surprising there: Hurricanes in August are as much a part of life in this town as hangovers on Ash Wednesday.

But the next day the storm gathered steam and drew a bead on the city. As the whirling maelstrom approached the coast, more than a million people evacuated to higher ground. Some 200,000 remained, however—the car-less, the homeless, the aged and infirm, and those die-hard New Orleanians who look for any excuse to throw a party.

The storm hit Breton Sound with the fury of a nuclear warhead, pushing a deadly storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain. The water crept to the top of the massive berm that holds back the lake and then spilled over. Nearly 80 percent of New Orleans lies below sea level—more than eight feet below in places—so the water poured in. A liquid brown wall washed over the brick ranch homes of Gentilly, over the clapboard houses of the Ninth Ward, over the white-columned porches of the Garden District, until it raced through the bars and strip joints on Bourbon Street like the pale rider of the Apocalypse. As it reached 25 feet (eight meters) over parts of the city, people climbed onto roofs to escape it.

Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

When did this calamity happen? It hasn't—yet.

[toeknee]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

You are right, MadAzza. There is plenty of blame to go around - local, state and federal. I totally agree, except for the "that fella" description. This toeknee is one wahine

I hear you too, Miulang. The shrinking middle class, the great divide between rich and poor, is growing greater each year. It's a complex issue, but it must be tackled and resolved or we will end up with a total colapse of our society.

[Palolo Joe]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

This toeknee is one wahine

Toeknee = Toni?

*Lightbulb goes on over my head*

Ah... I get it.

[Miulang]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

Even if FEMA forbids the media from photographing the bodies that are piling up in NOLA, it still won't stop the truth from surfacing in the print media. And the truth is gushing out in the stories of unnamed victims found piled up everywhere.

"..."I ain't got the stomach for it, even after what I saw in Iraq," said Brooks, referring to the freezer where the bulk of the bodies sat decomposing (in the Convention Center). "In Iraq, it's one-on-one. It's war. It's fair. Here, it's just crazy. It's anarchy. When you get down to killing and raping people in the streets for food and water … And this is America. This is just 300 miles south of where I live..."


Miulang

[Palolo Joe]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

"Scores of rescue workers this week repeated the same mantra, over and over: We can't worry about the dead; we're still trying to save the living."

[Miulang]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

Here's one picture of a dead person lying in water in NOLA that FEMA didn't stop from being published (warning: picture is graphic).

Miulang