It has to be said. . .

[Not Sir Phobos]

The most devastating part of the hurricane for me is that bodies are lying in the street and people are dying waiting for help that comes too late, but everyone is bitching about raised gas prices.

Well boo-fuckin-hoo! This time it's nobody's fault and we all need to suck it up and suffer a little bit. Compared to what the people are going through at the dome we can all carpool a little.

[kittens]

The most devastating part of the hurricane for me is that bodies are lying in the street and people are dying waiting for help that comes too late, but everyone is bitching about raised gas prices.

I think everyone is bitching about gas prices b/c some stores are taking advantage of this situations. So since everyone is panic about gas, they totally take avdantage of it.... which I do not like...... ike you said everyone should suffer a bit but for some store owners this is a great chance to make $$$!

[yukineko]

I hear that NSP.

Nevermind the fact that worldwide gas prices have been higher than the US's for YEARS... heck, what the prices are now is still nothing in comparison.

[JWR]

As always during such times like this when people see a situation like this disaster it is human nature to look to place blame and direct your feelings of helplessness and anger on to a convient target.

If anyone takes a reasoned eye unclouded by emotion and political bent to the history that lead to these events the picture becomes clearer.

Certain facts just get clouded by the emotions and just get in the way.

Fact 1. The city of New Orleans was built on a flood plain in a bowl like area in which most of it is under sea level.

Fact 2. Back in the 60's a decision was made to built the water control system to only stand up to a Catagory 3 Hurricane due to cost assessments.

Fact 3. The part of the canal system that broke creating the flooding had been reciently upgraded with cement walls replacing earthen burms.

Fact 4. Disaster preparedness starts on the Local level , then the State level and finally the US Goverment with Congress controlling the purse strings.

Feel free to place blame with the current & past Presidents , Congress , Govenors & Mayors whose past decisions lead to this disaster if it makes you feel better. Blame God/Surpreme Being/Gaia if you wish.

Lets please step back and direct our energys to attempting to help those affected rather than waste breath and emotions on political retoric on both sides.

A lot of Beta members have stepped up to offer sales of donated items, portion of profits , clothes , money , good thoughts & prayers. I have been working through my local Elk's Lodge to raise donations of money and clothing.

Joe

[blueheaven]

Part of what Joe said is absolutely right. We cannot blame one person for what HAS happened. However, I think Kisara was right in assessing blame to people in power for the lack of action that is going on right now. People are dying by the dozens every day because they

1. Have no clean water or food
2. Have no medical supplies(pills, insulin, electricity for medical devices)
3. Are being murdered by greedy bastards who are taking advantage of the situation
4. Were wounded in the flood and cannot receive treatment.

Women are being raped and murdered left and right. Cops are getting gunned down. So what does Bush do, he sends them $10.5 million?! That wont even cover bandaids! What they need down there is electricity, clothing, food, water, and manpower to control the rioting. Like Kisara, I am shocked at how poorly this is being handled.

[In_Gabriel_We_Trust]

I think I'll have to share in the feelings with a lot of people here when I am asking the question :
"Why is it clear things are not going the way they should ?"

There is no way a hurricane this size can be avoided.
There is no way to reduce its damage once it has struck.

But I can't believe the reaction on such a catastrophy is so unprofessional.

I mean... this isn't the first hurricane right ? Someone at sometime must have noticed that area got struck by them before, no ?

[JWR]

Women are being raped and murdered left and right. Cops are getting gunned down. So what does Bush do, he sends them $10.5 million?! That wont even cover bandaids!

The correct amount of emergency aid issued by Congress was $10.5 BILLION

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/02/ ... index.html

I do agree more should be done but we do nothing by politicizing this tragedy.

[Shampoo]

There is no way a hurricane this size can be avoided.
There is no way to reduce its damage once it has struck.

But I can't believe the reaction on such a catastrophy is so unprofessional

I lived thru Hurricane Andrew in Miami when I was 7 yrs old and remember making a 6-8 hr line w/ my mother in the middle of 90 some odd degree weather just to receive $200 check and 2 jars of peanut butter from officials in charge. No water.. no medicine. Nothing. Just.. money (which was stupid because the stores were out of food!!) and peanutbutter.. wtf was I going to do w/ peanutbutter?!?! Have it for dinner?!? (for those that dunno me well, I HATE peanutbutter lol!)
The grocery stores were barren and there was so much looting going on I remember neighbors actually participating in it.

Panic + Despair=chaos.

Lets face it-- for anyone thats been a victim of a major hurricane or natural diaster of great proportions, rescue relief help always sucks. Its just that this one happens to be one of the worst we've seen in our country.

The gov. tighten their wallets and count pennies as to how much to send in aid; its always about money. Gas prices, aid delay, you name it. Its ridiculous. And then you add the &@%@#^%@ businesses that take advantage of the chaos..
What we are missing is human compassion and understanding..
instead its replaced w/ systems and paperwork of "well Bob we cant do it on Thursday thats when such and such is going on.. how about sunday?"
ugh! It tears me up how much common sense is lost amidst the greed and extreme live-by-daily-planner the gov. abides by.

But all we can do is pray, send donations, and hope that all will be restored soon enough.

[Krafty]

From what I've learnt from the various news broardcasts, I've ben appauled about many things and tonights news just topped it off.

Things that have pissed me off:

The fact that a city was built on marshlands in the first place;

They knew a big hurricane was coming days in advance but few people did anything- that's the people of the area and their local government. I would have expected more preparation to have taken place;

A large number of people have turned to 'animals' because of this event and it stinks. One British lady said her son was trapped in the dome with his American fiance and they were in fear of their lives because of the 'mob rule'. The stories of the snipers is sickening, I don't want to think about it.
People should pull together in these times, not be at each other's throats. That's NOT just a logical thing to assume but THAT'S honest human nature, surely.

Why hadn't aid come sooner? It's been days now and it's evident that little has effectively been done. Respect to the helicopter crews who HAVE been working their butts off, but I would have expected the army to have built a bridge or SOMETHING by now!

I don't see that throwing money into it NOW can actually help things. In such emergencies everything needs to happen immediately and the army/aid workers shouldn't 'wait for the check to clear', so to speak. Or is that the way of American society nowadays?

[Cloud]

Look harder.

[lys]

There is no way a hurricane this size can be avoided.
There is no way to reduce its damage once it has struck.

But I can't believe the reaction on such a catastrophy is so unprofessional

I lived thru Hurricane Andrew in Miami when I was 7 yrs old and remember making a 6-8 hr line w/ my mother in the middle of 90 some odd degree weather just to receive $200 check and 2 jars of peanut butter from officials in charge. No water.. no medicine. Nothing. Just.. money (which was stupid because the stores were out of food!!) and peanutbutter.. wtf was I going to do w/ peanutbutter?!?! Have it for dinner?!? (for those that dunno me well, I HATE peanutbutter lol!)
The grocery stores were barren and there was so much looting going on I remember neighbors actually participating in it.

Panic + Despair=chaos.

Lets face it-- for anyone thats been a victim of a major hurricane or natural diaster of great proportions, rescue relief help always sucks. Its just that this one happens to be one of the worst we've seen in our country.

The gov. tighten their wallets and count pennies as to how much to send in aid; its always about money. Gas prices, aid delay, you name it. Its ridiculous. And then you add the &@%@#^%@ businesses that take advantage of the chaos..
What we are missing is human compassion and understanding..
instead its replaced w/ systems and paperwork of "well Bob we cant do it on Thursday thats when such and such is going on.. how about sunday?"
ugh! It tears me up how much common sense is lost amidst the greed and extreme live-by-daily-planner the gov. abides by.

But all we can do is pray, send donations, and hope that all will be restored soon enough.

I was going to write something but Shampoo summed up my thoughts pretty well. Disasters like this can happen anywhere and they are always never expected (in terms of damage assessment). If we lived our lives in constant fear nothing would ever get accomplished. The best we can hope for is that they happen less often and that we keep helping each other out when they do.

(on a side note I think I could last a month with a jar of peanut butter ..and lots of water )

[Cloud]

It's only just begun.

[Not Sir Phobos]

Yes is is stupid to build up comunities and metropolises in easily dangered places, but we always will. Why do we keep rebuilding San Francisco? Does anybody here think it's a bad idea based on what's been said? Next time just let SF rot?

There are 2 businesses still open in NO. A bar (who was open even during the hurricane), and an internet server, one of the biggest in america, I suggest checking it outhttp://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/

And JWR is right The government sent 10.5 BILLION dollars for a starter. It's not like that's all the funding they are going to get.

[kisara]

Ohhhh. . . you guys are so missing the point. Did you know that the government had YEARS ago had determined that a catastrophic event unlike any our country was ever going to see was emminate on the gulf coast, especially Louisiana. In fact, a program had been put in place to build MASSIVE reinforcement along the coast and was underway. . .

President Bush cut funding, essentially ending the project. For what?

Take a wild guess.

I agree. Tragedy can bring-out the best and worst in people. But in this instance, I really don't believe the outcome had to be what it is. They KNEW that such an event was going to lead to chaos, this was part of the report that led to the beginning of the reinforcement project. Now I ask you. . . if we can have thousands of troops watching over Bagdhad for what MIGHT happen, to keep the peace. . . then why did we not have something, even if on a lesser scale in place in New Orleans?

[blueheaven]

Women are being raped and murdered left and right. Cops are getting gunned down. So what does Bush do, he sends them $10.5 million?! That wont even cover bandaids!

The correct amount of emergency aid issued by Congress was $10.5 BILLION

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/02/ ... index.html

I do agree more should be done but we do nothing by politicizing this tragedy.

My bad. Looks like CNN and Fox screwed up. The correct number IS $10.5 billion. However, it is still around 1/10th of what it needed at this time.