A young lady interviewed in Europe stated :"I thought America was more advanced than this, I guess that's not so.." The folks you see milling around in New Orleans are those who had or could not buy transportation out of the city. They were simply Left Behind to die. That was reported last night on NightLine. The next Election that comes along, I'm firing all the incumbents.

is this america?
 

i just watched the cnn video ..........twice.......... and watched our president say
about...his katrina's devastation tour.. "people in this part of the world"....
and he said it twice. it was as if he was talking about somewhere other than in the United States of America,,, i find that very strange. don't you? :huh:

There's a LOT of strange crap going on lately. That man acts like he's drugged or something. I think it's due to a total disconnect from the People. Our Government displays little true sympathy or empathy with "Joe Dirt" , because those running the show have no point of reference. Never been in the trenches. OK my last rant on this subject, sorry never been so upset and outraged.

Perhaps he just saw a photo and assumed it was Somalia? :usd:

-spence

You guys make me sick bashing the President.

If you're so f*cking indignant, get off your f*cking arses and head down to help out and clean up.

Right now relief organizations need CASH to buy stuff (doubtful you'll fork any up, since you're saving up for gas money for fishing, right), and medical personnel (doesn't sound like any of you are qualified). Later down the road they'll need people to help rebuild the infrastructure - that means contracters. Doubtful any of you will donate your skilled labor if there's nothing in it for you. Put up or shut the f*ck up, and get this through your thick useless uninformed skulls:

1. As much as you would have like the Prez to get on the telly last week and tell people to pack up, it was up to the governor of LA and the mayors of LA's respective towns to order an evacuation in a timely manner. Despite a lot of hand wringing and crying, the order wasn't given until it was too late. If anyone should be excoriated publicly, it should be the governor of Louisana and the mayor of New Orleans.

2. Nobody realized the enormity of the situation until rather late. The storm turned quickly and unexpectedly. This is the first time an entire U.S. City has been taken out by a natural disaster.

3. It was up to the states to ask for federal help. State and local officials were slow to ask for that help.

4. In any disaster, there are going to be huge chaotic clusterf*cks - that's the nature of the "fog" of tragedy. In the future, you should be able to pin early confusion on INABILITY TO COMMUNICATE.

And if ANY of you want to say to my face that "Bush doesn't care about black people," ...

... I will personally spit in all of your useless crybaby faces.

:af:

EXACTLY.......our tax dollars have gone to help citizens of every other country EXCEPT the United States......we (the citizens of the US) have been subsidizing the lives of every third world citizen in the world for over 70 years now. Our government does this as a way to keep these countries in check so that the dreaded C-word (communism) doesn't take a hold in these countries. By eleiminating Communism, the US Government beleives this will mean that the US can keep a stranglehold on our economic and military position of being #1.

So, next time you pay your federal income taxes, ask yourself, what NEW services have the federal government (or the state governemnt for that matter) provided for ME in the past year? 5 years? 10 years? Then compare your answer to what new services the federal government has provided for other countries over the past year, 5 years, 10 years.......be careful -- this exercise might make you sick.

\\not just bush, but most of the republican party doesnt care about POOR black people. Just like any onther rich republican. go ahead and spit in my face.. this event has been a huge wakeup call for the american people. hmmm welfare reform for the poor, but push better welfaare for rich corperations..

This is who George Bush cares about - the Big Oil Companies

DERRICK Z. JACKSON
Big oil's bigtime looting
By Derrick Z. Jackson | September 2, 2005

PRESIDENT BUSH yesterday told ABC-TV, ''there ought to be zero tolerance of people breaking the law during an emergency such as this, whether it be looting or price-gouging at the gasoline pump or taking advantage of charitable giving or insurance fraud."

Zero tolerance is meaningless when the White House lets the biggest looters of Hurricane Katrina walk off with billions of dollars.

We are not referring to the people you currently see in endless footage, crashing through storefronts and wading through chest-high water with clothes, food, and pharmaceuticals. Some folks are disgusting in their thuggishness, but a great many others are simply desperate, having now gone three days without food or water. The latter are living out one of the most famous hypothetical problems in moral reasoning -- should a husband steal a cancer drug he cannot afford for his dying wife?

No such sympathy is to be extended to big oil. The nation has on its hands a disaster so profound that we have not even begun to seriously count the bodies in the floodwaters. It brings us as close as we may get in our lifetime to places like Bangladesh.

New Orleans is under martial law and will not return to normal for years. Members of the Red Cross, the Coast Guard, the National Guard, police agencies, and firefighters are sacrificing time and risking lives to save lives. Texas is opening up its school systems for homeless Louisiana children. Generous food wholesalers are giving away their stocks to passersby. The Astrodome is taking in the refugees of the Superdome.

In the midst of this charity, big oil looted the nation. The pumps instantly shot past $3 a gallon, with $4 a gallon well in sight.

In a thinly disguised attempt to act as if it cared about the people wading in the water, Chevron has pledged $5 million to relief efforts. ExxonMobil and Shell have pledged $2 million apiece. British Petroleum and Citgo have pledged $1 million each.

This is nothing next to their wealth. Of the world's seven most profitable corporations, four are ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, and Chevron. ExxonMobil is the world's most profitable company, making $25.3 billion last year. It and the other three corporations had combined profits last year of $72.8 billion. ExxonMobil is also the world's most valuable company, with a market value, according to Forbes magazine, of $405 billion. The combined market value of ExxonMobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, and Chevron is nearly $1 trillion.

And that was last year. A month ago, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips announced record second-quarter profits of $7.6 billion, $3.7 billion, and $3.1 billion, respectively. Royal Dutch Shell's quarterly profits of $5.2 billion were up by 34 percent over the same period last year. Other well-known companies like Sunoco also had record second-quarter earnings.

If ExxonMobil were to maintain its current pace of profits, it would cross the $30 billion barrier for 2005. The company's chief financial officer, Henry Hubble, bragged in classic corporatese, ''Our disciplined project management and operating practices deliver the benefits of strong industry conditions to our shareholders."

Those disciplined operating practices are hardly confined to the oil fields. Everyone knows that Bush does not really mean what he says about price-gouging at the pump, since he just gave energy companies the bulk of $14.5 billion in tax breaks in the new energy bill. Surprise, surprise. In Bush's two elections, oil and gas companies gave Republicans 79 percent of their $61.5 million in campaign contributions, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

If Bush really meant what he said, he would call for a freeze or cap on gasoline prices, especially in the regions affected most dramatically by Katrina. He would challenge big oil to come up with a much more meaningful contribution to relief efforts.

Insurance companies are expecting up to $25 billion in claims from Katrina. For ExxonMobil, which is headed to $30 billion in profits, to jack up prices at the pump and then only throw $2 million at relief efforts is unconscionable.

Stay fixated, if you wish, on the thieves and desperate families who are so much easier to catch on camera than comptrollers electronically stealing your cash. It is not pleasant to see anyone loot a store. But ExxonMobil and big oil are looting the nation, and no one declaring martial law on them.

Derrick Z. Jackson's e-mail address is jackson@globe.com.

Wake up WeeWee......I supported Bush's move on Iraq (it was the RIGHT thing to do)....but frankly, this guy is NOT a leader. He doesn't command respect, because he hasn't earned it.

IMO - Bush like all politicians - only care about the people who can butter their bread for them....that does not translate into poor black people. I wouldn't say he doesn't care about poor people, it's just that they are not seen as politically important to him.

Even Bush is admitting he (read US Government) dropped the ball on this one.......

Yet again, another Homerun04 idea coming to fruition.....didn't someone call me a dreamer on this board for suggesting that Big Oil be ordered to pay for the clean-up of NO due to their gas gauging....?? Huh, imagine that, the Big Oil companies recognized what was going on and are doing everything they can do to cut the US Government to the quick and start donating money BEFORE they were ordered (whether publically or behind closed doors) to do so.......how much of a dreamer is Homerun04 now...... ;)

Amazing, Big Oil steals from us blindly, then gives back peanuts compard to what they stole, and then they expect everyone to praise them for it....standard fleecing practice in US businesses......remember, "The masses are asses"...

smell the coffee ahem. why wasn't the governor of LA decisive enough to issue an evacation order sooner? why wasn't federal aid requested sooner?

Eben you are despicable. I have completely lost respect for you.

yep, pehaps you can spin it to sound strange, but also you could remember that he is broacasting around the world as well as in this country. Last I checked that area was part of this world and still is.

Can you guys chill out on the name calling!

Mobil and Exxon should add 3 zeros to their pledge :yak:

The entire world knew about this hurricane for WEEKS before it ever hit landfall in the USA. There should have been emergency proccedures in place WELL BEFORE it ever made landfall. Are you seriously going blame the Governor of LA for not issuing an evacuation order sooner? If he issued an evacuation order sooner, how were the poor people -- who could not afford the ticket out of town -- going to leave???? Magic???

No, it was NOT Bush's fault that efforts to help these people took way too long....does that make you feel better? But, of course, he is the man who gets the credit when things go well, so as the "boss" he needs to take the blame when things get f****d up in his administration as well.

Bush himself, has admitted that the federal government is screwing this up....and BTW, in case you hadn't realized this, he is the CEO of the Federal Government..........so ultimatly he is responsible for it's actions. It goes with the job.

Do any of you think that your opinion counts? If calling each other names and ripping the current, past or future administration is your way of getting your kicks, then you guys don't fish enough.

Agreed.

Sorry to hear you don't think your opinion counts for much. I, for one, value your opinions.....

I still believe mine counts on election day. I don't vote in Florida. :rotfl:
Just trying to lighten things up a bit, we've all been through an emotional meat grinder this week. Thank God we're here and not there.

Listen, I am merely trying to defuse this rhetoric that is getting to the point where it is a pi$$ing contest. I fought and bled in Vietnam so you could voice your opinion. I'm just trying to lighten the mood and keep it civil

Same page Jake, thanks.

In that case, I yield. I have tremendous respect for our veterans, and might I say to you sir, "Thank you for the freedom and safety my family now enjoys".

Acknowledged and accepted. let's just fish.

Ditto, Thanks Piemma

slipnot
 

you're quite right...and good point.

hey i am just calling it the way i see it. correct me if i am wrong but you have come up with some beautiful names for russians- "stinkies", arabs- towel heads, sheetheads, etc..perhaps you are more predijuse than our president... why do you own all those guns? what are you scared of?????
i stand by what i said, the aid was not there because 1/3rd of new orleans is on welfare... the levees were never re-built because 1/3rd of new orleans is on welfare.. it is a poor city. I agree, why didnt the govenor call for evacuations sooner, but the people who stayed probably didnt have the means to evacuate. i am sure you are telling all your clients to buy oil stocks, thus profiting on this disaster...

You know what is despicable weewee, the fact that the militarry couldnt have flown over the superdome and parrachuted in some food or water.. it would have taken a half day to do it. why didnt it happen?????? those people had no food for 3 days.

you have lost respect for me??? why because i pay attention to the flaws of or leaders and complain about them. i have every right to point out the enomously obvious biases of the bush administration. 80% of the american population is totally numb to what is really going on and for that we deserve a horrible tyrant leader who is doing all he best to make sure the rich are doing swell as the poor and middle class can barely survive each day....

Sorry WeeWee.....but I totally agree with Nebe on this one......

Amen to that... :rtfm:

-spence

the timing
 

of Katrina............................
-------------------------------------------------
nebe quote:
1/3rd of new orleans is on welfare.. it is a poor city. I agree, why didnt the govenor call for evacuations sooner, but the people who stayed probably didnt have the means to evacuate.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
it was said on the news that Katrina hit just before that 1/3 rd of the population (who were ordered to evacuate) was just about to recieve their welfare checks...and because they hadnt recieved them, couldnt leave.

Do not forget there are victims in missisippi

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/12555987.htm

Please reply to the topic or the opinions expressed. Any more chest pounding and personal attacks and all you thoughts and typing will be flushed in a matter of seconds with just a click of the mouse.

Thank you for behaving like adults. :(

It's been at least 30 years that I've heard experts predict this disaster in N'orlins. It went exactly by the "book", as predicted. Levee failure, the entire city flooded. There should have been a mass evacuation plan in place, and it should have been implemented on Sunday. The mayor ordered an evacuation, but there was no plan to evacuate those who were without the means--no car, no gas for the car, nowhere to go, whatever.

Gov. Blanco is in way over her head. You declare the state of emergency and deploy the Guard to key staging areas ahead of the storm. There's a big difference between what the Guard is allowed to do when a governor declares a state of emergency and what the regular military can do. Other than the Coast Guard, the regular military has no teeth to back it up when they are deployed domestically--they have no law enforcement or peace officer status--they are, in fact, civilians in that sense. I'm sure the Guard had snorkel equipped trucks that could have accessed many areas that were innundated. Cripes, MSNBC and CNN got reporters to the Superdome and the convention center--you mean to tell me the freakin' Guard couldn't have got down there and enforced order? In the Watts riots of the 60s, the Guard in L.A. had "shoot to kill" orders for looters, let alone people who were shooting at them.

That being said, Bush and the Feds didn't do themselves proud. We have a Homeland Security chief who's had a deer in the headlights look on his face for over a week now. After Camille in 1969 (which while as powerful as Katrina was a much smaller storm in area), Nixon deployed the entire 3rd Infantry to the Mississippi coast to aid in the relief effort. Bush didn't even cut his vacation short and return to DC until 2 days after the storm hit.

"No one thought it would be that bad"??? Bullcrap. We've known for as long as I've been alive what would happen if NO took a Cat 4 or 5 head on.