so, i got online to read and see what was happening in hurricane areas. last night, before bed i watched some programs on tv. i was moved to tears over the desperation in the south, especially in new orleans. i know a lot of people are jumping on this bandwagon, but what the heck is the federal government doing? and why is it taking so long? anyhow, here are some parts from the article i read, of course, interspersed with my commentary.
NEW ORLEANS - An explosion jolted residents awake early Friday, illuminating the pre-dawn sky with red and orange flames over the city where corpses rotted along sidewalks and thousands remained stranded — crying for food, water and a way to evacuate.
explosions? corpses? thousands stranded? this does not inspire any confidence that our government can do anything or will do anything until it's too late.
Bush, before leaving the White House, told reporters that “the results are not acceptable” — a blunt criticism of federal efforts so far, particularly at the New Orleans Convention Center where thousands are stranded even though the site is easily accessible by vehicles
federal efforts not acceptable? we blame you bush. you're at the top. the buck stops with you. if the federal gov't hasn't done enough, it's on your head. why not step up and accept your rightful blame instead of calling out others? chickenshit.
By Thursday evening, 11 hours after the military began evacuating the Superdome, the arena held 10,000 more people than it did at dawn.
okay, this is a little misleading. of course there are more people there. if i knew that was the spot where i could get out of hell i'm there in an instant. but 10000? this problem is way bigger than i expected. it's going to get much worse before it gets better.
“I don’t treat my dog like that,” 47-year-old Daniel Edwards said as he pointed at the (dead) woman in the wheelchair. “You can do everything for other countries, but you can’t do nothing for your own people.”
The street outside the center, above the floodwaters, smelled of urine and feces and was choked with dirty diapers, old bottles and garbage.
i don't share the other countries sentiment. we help people were help is needed. after the tsunami, it took a few days for us to realize the need and respond properly. i know this takes time, but i don't blame people for being frustrated either. in an interesting turn, the UN has offered help. they've also offered up the trained people who deal with these sort of catastrophies. as of last night, we hadn't taken them up on the offer. why?
In hopes of defusing the situation at the convention center, Mayor Nagin gave the evacuees permission to march across a bridge to the city’s unflooded west bank for whatever relief they could find.
for whatever relief they could find? what does that mean? isn't that a call to loot? i'd like to think people would just go looking for food and water, but how do we tell people to go find whatever you need and expect it to be civil? and why the f isn't the fed doing more to get food and water to these people?
To make matters worse, the chief of the Louisiana State Police said he heard of numerous instances of New Orleans police officers — many of whom were from flooded areas — turning in their badges.
“They indicated that they had lost everything and didn’t feel that it was worth them going back to take fire from looters and losing their lives,” Col. Henry Whitehorn said.
scary. but i don't really blame these cops either.
i hope today is better.
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