What happened to this country?

[Haytrader]

 

karl,

Why don't you quit beatin around the bush and say what's really on yer mind?

 

I posted earlier somwhere about the same remedy for the looters.

We all know there are some good people down there among the rats, they just don't seem to get a TV camera pointed at them. Negative news must captivate more viewers.........yeah right.
I'd rather watch a bad commercial than watch a swamp rat cry and complain because "we" won't meet all his needs as fast as he would like.
I better go now too.

[mike_van]

Some of our line guys from CL&P left yesterday for the south, took along a tanker truck with deisel fuel.  1400 miles, they hoped to get fuel on the way & save the tanker for work area. 

[DonE911]

Dang it... I had this big response written out and lost it before posting.....

here goes again but shorter.


I think we are all upset over these so called "poor" peoples response to help themselves.  The able bodied have no legit reason for not walking thier lazy butts out of the city.  I know its a city, but its a geographically small city.  Even having to wade, they would be out of there in less than one day.  Lots of people did it.  

The media wants to make it an issue of the poor or the colored and I can't believe that the tax payers of this country are buying it.  There are plenty of people that phisically can not get out, those with water up to the roof need to be rescued, but if the water doesn't reach your waist you don't need to be rescued..... walk yourself to the supplies instead of insisting someone bring it to you.

The looting just shows what type of people they are.  If you need food or water please take what you need..... I'm sure that the goods other than clothing are useless right now.  

What are "we the people" going to do about this type of thing when the recovery actually begins?  The welfare system needs to be changed.  There will be enough work for every "lazy wont work" person in that city and every other when these areas begin to rebuild.  The Government will throw money at this reconstruction to contractors from all over.  

I think ( hopefully not just me ) that no contractor should get a contract without hiring a significant portion of unemployed and putting them to work on the project.  Lets not leave these hundreds of thousands on welfare.  There was a time in this country when the unemployed didn't eat.  In those times this country became a Superpower and not a super welfare state.  

All those country's that have been on the US welfare ( call it aid if you want ) need to step up and help us now.  If they can not physically help us then we will help you help us.  We will hold on to those Aid dollars and apply them inside our own country.  

OK I hear my soapbox beginning to crack, I guess I gotta get down now.

[DanG]

One simple solution to avoid this problem in the future:

New Orleans will be rebuilt.  That's a given.  They should not rebuild the Welfare office.  Make it such that if you can't afford it, you simply cannot live there. End of problem.

[J_T]

DanG I think they got that fixed already se e they fast on somethings Yep they sent them to Texas even some to Tennessee  Dont you need a housing project for 10,0000000 nex door

[Patty]

They were talking on the radio this morning about when Des Moines was flooded so badly in 1993. The entire city was shut down for several days and the  water department was out, under 10 feet of water after the levee broke.  Not one incident of looting occurred during that time. The entire population that was left spent all their energy filling sand bags, handing out donated food and water, everyone stepped up to lend a helping hand. What a difference.....        Maybe it is a midwest thing, I just don't know, but the difference in attitude is amazing to me.

I had posted this in a different thread, but I guess it really belongs here.

[katie-did]

There was a report on this morning I think on Fox that some of the people started a soup kitchen. Yes, they looted the food but instead of hogging it all for themself they feed anyone that wanted to eat. I think that this shows that they are a lot of good people in NO. Most of them store had charcoal, good water, food that is going to be disposed of in clean up so why not feed as many people as possible. Those people deserve it they are true survivors. Making do with what they have been given. Yeah,  for them!

[Jeff]

I certainly would not have one bit or trouble with people going into the stores to get dry cloths or supplies needed to survive. Thats not looting, thats surviving. Good for those that may have done that.. But What use do you have with a cart load of video games and tennis shoes? Thats looting.

[Paul_H]

I believe she was going to use those items to lure the real looters into the Police cruiser 

[ARKANSAWYER]

                 Where have all the Supply Seargents gone?

  I ask this question because I see how long it has taken for help to get to the storm site.  Being an old Army man it did not take me long to learn to respect and treat kindly the Supply Seargent and the Mess Seargent.  Very important personal in the opperation of the Unit.  Good Units had good Seargents.   I remember from my days of taking care of my troops that each man needed 2 gallons of water a day to drink, so 10,000 people in the Super Dome need 20,000 gallons of water a day just for drinking.  You can not put that many bottles in a mini van and drop it off and expect to make much of a dent in the problem.  News crews could get there so why couldn't any one else?  I noticed the Mayor of NO on TV alot and he left the AO so why did he not load up his Mayoral limo and take some water to his city and people? 
   FEMA and the others need some good ole Supply Seargents on staff with a pair of "godads" that know how to get thing done.  It appears to me that by now we should know how to respond to these storms.  We went to the other side of the world to help out and it did not take 5 days to do it.
    Where and when are other countrys coming to our aid?  We have bailed out several in our time but I do not see them a rushing to our aid.   Maybe we should remember this!  In these parts when somebody needs help they don't even got's to ask, it will just come a running.
  Having been through Hugo in 89' I know what it takes to live though these things.  You can not come and help unless you bring every thing you need with you.  We did not have enough for ourselves, how can you expect us to tend you basic needs.  Many homes are gone and the crews coming to help will take what few rooms there are to help us.  THATS just GREAT!  Just like in the Army for every man on the front line there are 6 behind him bringing bullets and beans.  Same applies here.
  Like Furby I have been yelling at the TV for them *($&#(*&$# DanG lazy people to get off their duff and help themselves.  The News Crews looked freash and fed some how so it must be possible to be done.  They have photos of lots of looters and I hope the get them and good.
  Now I need to go work and get my blood pressure down before supper.

[catfish]

OOOOHH man, the things I could say on this thread I lost my boat and camp during this in St. Bernard  Parish. I've got friends there that are gone,probably some still on the roof, one couple plucked from the roof Fri., taken to the I-10 bridge to spend the nite with the thugs on the bridge. Saturday morning he and his wife "borrowed" a car from the bridge, drove to Kenner, got his friends car and is now safe with in-laws here in in Al. All this while mayor Nagin, Heraldo, Al, and others ar cursing Bush for not sending help. Well of my soapbox for now.

[PawNature]

No one wants to take responsibility for their actions anymore. The tree huging liberals would have your chainsaw mfg sued for you cutting down a tree. Of course its not your fault that you cut a tree down. Its the chain saws fault. And its not ketrinas fault or the fault of the mayor of NO or the Governor, neither the people that didn't leave. Granted some couldn't. Its the fault of the feds for not going in after all the warning and putting a gun to their head and putting them on the bus and saving their buts. Thats what I have been hearing anyway. Another note if you listen closely the news media has taken on the role of the GOV. It is always we have to do this and We got to take care of this, like they are the ones in charge. LORD its all I can do to keep my head from exploading.

[Tom]

All this blaming talk reminds me of a great advertisement I've seen on TV.  There is a group of people standing around a piece of paper on the ground and they are talking about how terrible it is that someone threw it down there.  A young fellow comes along, sees the paper, picks it up and throws it in a trash can, that is also within this group's reach, and walks off.

The punch line is "just do it', or something like that.  I think it's a cool ad.  Lots of message there.

[Arthur]

might be the pioneering spirit.

them with can help themselves.

those who can think for themselves get it done, then there is those who dont know how to think for themselves.

[HORSELOGGER]

http://tiadaily.com/php-bin/news/showArticle.php?id=1026

[Rockn H]

Horselogger, that says alot, don't it.

According to 2000 census 67.25% (326,000) of NO was black and their avg. income was $11,332.  That is more than $10,000 less than the avg. black income for the rest of the state.  I'm sure some had good incomes, now just think how low most incomes were to reach that type of an average.

[Furby]

Just thought I'd point out a report I heard several days ago, at the time there had been 20 different countries offering the US aid.
Most was simply opening their private oil reserves, but it does offer the fact that what goes around comes around.

[DanG]

Among the countries offering aid were Cuba and Somalia.

[Bibbyman]

Among the countries offering aid were Cuba and Somalia.

Mary read on the Fox News ticker banner that Cuba offered to send 1000 doctors and medical personel.

[DonE911]

Some have been noticing that the news crews all look fed and hydrated.

I can't say for certain that it's the same is NO or MS as it has always been for FL, but those news crews don't bring a darn thing with them.  They use thier media travel privledges to go where the food is and help themselves.  Last year we have dozens of media personel at our emergency operations center.  The eat your food and drink your water and then slam you for not doing enough. The plug up to someone elses generator whenever possible and will go as far to ask for fuel from the locals emergency supply.

Now those isolated crews in motels and things probably didn't have any more than the rest of the people there..... thats why they are reporting by video phone, but you can bet the reporters with cameras are getting fed and watered by someone else.

Last year I bagged up the news crews soaking nasty laundry which they had hanging from the ceiling tiles in our center and tossed it out in the lawn. ( oops, it was under water ) The county administrator got a little upset with me.  I told him he paid my good money to attend to the residents emergency needs.  I told him my crew had been working for 4 straight days and I was not going to ask them to start working in an old locker room. The girl from TWC was upset enough to start cussing at me I informed her to leave in the next two minutes or her next report would be on the conditions inside the county jail.  Well she left and didn't come back.  I didn't get fired, and all the political types got a good laugh out of it.

The way I see it none of the Powers to Be want to draw a line in the sand in fear of looking bad and not getting elected next term.  I don't think the NO mayor will need to worry about that next election.