Hurricane Katrina

[fusilier23]

There were buses, but the brain-trust local authorities didn't get any kind of mass evacuations going until it was too late. That's not to say all of the locals would have gotten on the buses, unless the police frog-marched them there. Make no mistake about this, the accountability for a lot of this begins at the bottom.

[portia]

I agree with fusilier. Perhaps what annoyed me the most was that immediately afterwards, there was such a whining from people saying "you're not helping us because we're black." Stop it already. You've had civil rights for nearly forty something years. Why don't they tell the raiders and gunmen who shoot relief choppers down to stop killing and start HELPING? And if Bush was racist, I'm sure he would have Condoleeza Rice on cabinet, as well as have an Asian as the Head of Education and nominate Gonzales.

That's not to say Bush isn't guilty of cutting funding to build the levees. This is just to say that I seriously hate the racial pity party.

[kcuteus1]

I think it is best that we all get off this. I have some views on this but I am not someone that would putt my views on someone. this is a pubic broad people could be careful what they put. So it is best that this decussions stop.

[Joe]

The worst reason that I heard for people not evacuating their homes is that homeowners wanted to stay and stop looters from stealing their property.

But there are so many more heroes that evil-doers in this tragedy. We must come to terms that as much as five thousand people may have perished in the worst natural distaster in US history. It doesn't do anyone justice by finger-pointing or blaming anyone.

[portia]

kcuteus1 said:

I think it is best that we all get off this. I have some views on this but I am not someone that would putt my views on someone. this is a pubic broad people could be careful what they put. So it is best that this decussions stop.

Is this a US based board?

[Dave]

This tragedy seems to get bigger all the time and I think we should resist the temptation to play the blame game, it's too soon for that. Let's keep this thread as positive as we can.

I've been watching this since before Katrina struck, on two American International news channels and some of the reporting has been very good indeed. Among the best I've seen has been from Geraldo Rivera on Fox. Last Thursday (or Friday) night he was screaming into the camera, literally in tears live on air, in reports from the Convention Center as he stood among thousands of unfed, desperate and apparently abandoned refugees there in appalling , inhuman conditions.

If any officials were watching, nothing more needed to be said, the guy had me in tears too. Within hours, the medics helicopters and buses were arriving and mass evacuation was underway. This magnificent piece of reporting was in the best traditions of journalism and may have speeded things up quite a bit, saving more than a few lives I'd say. So well done to Geraldo... and to everyone else who has pulled out all the stops to highlight the seriousness of this tragedy and help to get things moving.

I know there have been many other examples of how this disaster has brought out the best in people - whoever they are - and not forgetting the thousands of people on the ground who are trying to sort out this awful mess.

[Richard]

Hello everybody.

The Salvation Army have set up an appeal fund to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. I'm starting a separate thread on this board with the full details. You can go straight to it by clicking here.

Please have a look, and thank you for your help.

Richard

[kcuteus1]

Joe I argee with what you say. and dave I also argee with what you put. I think this post should stay positive.
thanks Richard


.

[fusilier23]

Believe me, if this could be positive, I'd be glad to keep it thus. The thing to do now is to get medicine to those who need it, restore order, place those left displaced, and so forth. What irked me is that others in this world see it as a lever to use against those they dislike politically. Thanks to the internet, those of us who oppose this kind of behavior need not seethe silently.

[fusilier23]

Just for fun, here's a song about the last big fight in New Orleans, although I don't think I'd sing it in Hayley's presence.


Well, in eighteen and fourteen we took a little trip
along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip.
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans,
And we caught the bloody British near the town of New Orleans.

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

Well, I see'd Mars Jackson walkin down the street
talkin’ to a pirate by the name of Jean Lafitte
He gave Jean a drink that he brung from Tennessee
and the pirate said he’d help us drive the British in the sea.

The French said Andrew, you’d better run,
for Packingham’s a comin’ with a bullet in his gun.
Old Hickory said he didn’t give a dang,
he’s gonna whip the britches off of Colonel Packingham.

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

Well, we looked down the river and we see'd the British come,
and there must have been a hundred of 'em beatin' on the drum.
They stepped so high and they made their bugles ring
while we stood by our cotton bales and didn't say a thing.

Old Hickory said we could take 'em by surprise
if we didn't fire a musket til we looked 'em in the eyes.
We held our fire til we see'd their faces well,
then we opened up with squirrel guns and really gave a yell.

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

Well, we fired our cannon til the barrel melted down,
so we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.
We filled his head with cannon balls and powdered his behind,
and when they tetched the powder off, the gator lost his mind.

We’ll march back home but we’ll never be content
till we make Old Hickory the people’s President.
And every time we think about the bacon and the beans,
we’ll think about the fun we had way down in New Orleans.

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin,
But there wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

Well, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.
They ran so fast the hounds couldn't catch 'em
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
But there wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

Hehehehehe. BTW, General Pakenham was killed and so was his second-in-command, before the redcoats fled. What they were thinking, marching across an open field in muddy conditions into the face of an enemy entrenched behind stone walls with a high proportion of riflemen and aimed small-arms fire I do not know.

[HWI]

Ah yes. The great Lonnie Donegan hit - The Battle of New Orleans.

For many years, the British army had a simply description which put it all in context. "Lions led by donkeys".

Back to topic. It is good to see that they have pretty well cleared the necessary evacuations and that repair work on the levees is under way. Now the really nasty work can begin - identifying those who did not make it.

I hope I never have to witness another such event within my lifetime.

Keith.

[Joe]

For more information about the American Red Cross, please call 1-800-HELP NOW. Also visit www.redcross.org and enter your ZIP code for your nearest Red Cross chapter.

[fusilier23]

I'll think about it. I'm still kinda mad about this politicization.