A series of articles by investigative journalist Greg Palast about the state of New Orleans two years after Hurricane Katrina, the non-evacuation then and the non-rebuilding now (among other things). Disturbing.
All thanks to Mayor Ray Nagin. I don't know why people blame Bush. When has a president ever before called for an evacuation before/during/after a hurcane?
Do I have to f*cking make a paragraph for every sentence explaining EXACTLY what I mean? Hankstar, you are the most REVOLTING forum user I have ever come across. If my post is not perfect, I get criticized by you. But never may anyone criticize your post... If you did not understand what I meant, then you are either not a native english speaker, or you just plain hate me like the rest of the leftists on this board. I really could give a shit less. But when you start insulting me, then I get pissed.
I've missed your insight, well thought-out posts and blatant personal attacks, I really have. Never leave us again.
But tell me, when are you supposed to evacuate people when you know a hurricane's coming? Before it hits, in order to minimise loss of life (whic is the entire point of an evacuation, one would think), or afterwards, when everyone's homeless and drowning in the street? Or perhaps during the hurricane, just to make a challenge of it?
wheel, I think you need to calm down. I've never had any difficulty criticizing Hankstar's posts when I've disagreed with him, as long as I've been able to back up what I'm saying.
Of course you are supposed to evacuate before a Hurricane hits. But it is not the President's job to announce an evacuation, and it never has been. The local official (in the case of Katrina, Mayor Nagin) calls for an evacuation, and requests a "federal state of emergency".
But how can a hurricane be blamed on the president?
How is any of my post any worse then you calling me a " Genius. Mind-boggling, MENSA-worthy genius?" I said that I felt you were revolting to me. Isn't it good to be open about my feelings towards others? Maybe instead of arguing, you could ask me why I feel that way, and we could have an actual discussion.
General, I really don't think I'm the one who needs to calm down here.
There's really no response for that. I'm glad I quoted it though, you never know when someone around here's going to pull some slick editing. For the record, the "genius" comment wasn't personal and a quick re-read of it would reveal that. I don't write in ****ing code for god's sake and I don't hurl personal insults either, unlike some. Although reading the above post in Eric Cartman's voice was goddam funny...
Noone's blaming the president for the hurricane and you'd be an idiot if you did. Everything that's happened since the hurricane & since the declaration of the state of emergency, however, pretty much has to rest with him and his fellow Sith lords. Two years after the 2004 tsunami, for example, the recovery was going well and people in SE Asia were being repatriated & assisted by their governments. Two years after Katrina and people are still in refugee trailer parks all over the place, being prevent - actively prevented - from returning to their homes to rebuild. Even the people whose homes survived aren't being allowed back into them (in some areas anyway - seems the richer areas are doing fine). Entire neighbourhoods are still ruined. This is the richest country in the world, not Bangladesh! I don't get it. What am I missing?
Well, the democratic congress isn't exactly trying to pass any bills to allocate federal spending to help Katrina victims...
Perhaps you could show an example of me using a personal insult against you? I'd be happy to have a discussion with you. Do you have AIM or Yahoo messenger? Or maybe we could discuss our disagreement through PMs?
I'll add to this:
A bunch of people sitting around isn't helping the situation either. It isn't done because not many people are helping.
By the way hankstar, you can't trust the news, it is so deformed and unreal its... unreal. Either way, rebuilding a city isn't exactly something that can done at a miracle rate either, it usually takes a year or a few, and a ton has been improved, yes it is taking time, but everything has been ruined and has to be cleaned out, you can't just build on top of the old when the old is containing diseases and homes for insects, parasites, mold, mildew, you name it, everything has to be completely stripped. Which all of that latter sentence is why not many people have gone back, because it is infested with the most lethal bugs that it isn't even worth it.
Plus, on top of that, if you've already settled somewhere, why go back to nothingness?
The Mayor seemed rather focused on re-building the French Quarter for Mardi Gras, when money and/or effort could have been spent for building cheap, permanent housing. You simply cannot count on the government to be like your mother and protect you from all the bad things in the world like hurricanes.
I don't remember that... But I do remember when Pakistan refused aid from Israel after an earthquake much more deadly then Hurricane Katrina hit them. But you don't see anyone blaming the Pakistani government for not rebuilding the cities damaged from the quake.
Bourbon St may be back on track and they've had a Mardi Gras, but who's rebuilding the parts where poor people live?. That's what's disgusting. It's been two years and thousands are still homeless. Countless people died because FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (at the time being run by "Brownie" - a Bush buddy who'd never worked in emergency management before and whose previous job was judging horses or some such unrelated endeavour), couldn't get its shit together. Two years after the 2004 tsunami, the million or so people affected were housed and back to rebuilding their lives. Plus I wouldn't call being stuck in some FEMA trailer park as "re-settling", XC ... This whole thing just rankles me. I'm a Red Cross worker and I know what's supposed to happen after a disaster, especially when the country it occurs in is wealthy and organised. I saw what happened after the 2004 tsunami and, naively I suppose, I expected the same things to happen after Katrina, only quicker due to the wealth of the US and the proximity of the disaster. But parts of NO still look like freakin' Bangladesh and thousands are still spread over the country living in trailers. What gives?
For the record, hummer:
Couldn't possibly take that personally, could I? Forget the pms or IRC, I believe I'll just avoid any personal contact with you if it's all the same to you. I'm not fussed if it's not.
Depending on a federal agency to protect you is a big mistake. How much can you expect from FEMA when they are part of the Department of Homeland Security? Sure they say that they are there to help people, but they really aren't. The only reason for FEMA is to enforce Martial Law if it were to be implemented. Why do you think FEMA has concentration-camp like facilities around the country?
FEMA screwed up, that's all. Then HUD came in and took care of the situation. But I don't want to get into that matter because my aunt works for HUD and that would be a little biased.
What I meant about settling is everyone that moved into other states, a lot of people are making a living different in other states now, and don't really have a reason to go back, thus they aren't.
