New Orleans

Post by **Skins** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 9:45 am

For Christ sake, if anybody can do something, anything, for those poor people in New Orleans, DO IT! QUICKLY!

Post by **jcslocum** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 12:45 pm

It's a fucking mess down there. A great city destroyed with 100 % of the population displaced. I think the government is mobilizing as fast as they can, but I'm not sure. Say a prayer for them.

fasterdammit · Post by **fasterdammit** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 3:38 pm

It's a wreck. It's horrifying to read the stuff going around that is not being broadcast by the newes networks. I have a couple friends in the thick of it, and their stories and reports are horrific. Far beyond what is portrayed on television. A natural disaster is being turned into a war zone ... I don't understand any of it, I just thank the closest diety/rabbit foot/lucky star that my family is safe. People complain about the rising gas prices, the possibility of gas rationing, shortages, etc but I think there are far greater things they should be concerned with ... it's too big to get real grasp on ...

Rodney · Post by **Rodney** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 3:49 am

the media in Australia is printing a lot of pictures in the paper every day it is not a pretty site over there nor is it a pleasent thing to see . the headlines on saturdays paper was ' shoot to kill' not a very nice thing to say. as poeple have to survive over there as best as possible . many are just caught up in the mess!!

Rodney

Post by **Skins** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 6:13 am

There must be a lot of people in the rest of the world are are feeling, like me, very sad for the people of the United States of America, that something so terrible has happened to them. The major cities of the States are all special places, like major cities all over the world. But New Orleans has always been special for being a kind of link with the past in the New World, even if it is the recent past compared to the Old World. A kind of living link with colonial days and before, regarded with special affection by everyone. And it seems terrible that such an unnatural natural disaster could happen to such a place, drowning the place in a few short hours.

How could anyone have been prepared for that? Whether or not more could have been done more quickly, it's hard to imagine that any reasonable effort could have made much difference. And it should not be surprising that instances of violent and vicious behaviour should have occurred in such terrible circumstances.

Quite a few people on this site have also, like me, got to know a little about the States, and some of the people who live there, through ducatipaso.org, that they probably would not have known otherwise, and I'm sure that is as important to them as it is to me. I'm sure they feel as sorry as I do for our friends in the United States.

redpaso · Post by **redpaso** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 2:01 am

I have got to agree with you skins, this is a very sad & sorry situation, I just do not understand how it has sunk into such anarchy where rescue helicopters & hospitals are being shot at. This is just bizarre to me. I understand that it is a very poor part of the States but it is just very upsetting to firstly see how slow help has been but to then see that, as a News broadcast last night put it "the country has had to declare war on itself to reclaim it from its own citizens." 20,000 troops with orders to "Shoot to Kill", this is very sad indeed. I just hope that they can get some order in there soon so they can help those that need it.

It is a very sad situation indeed.

to anyone affected by this tragedy, you are in my thoughts & prayers

Post by **Skins** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 2:57 am

Journalists seldom get anything absolutely correct, Red, and they often exagerate. I doubt very much that many shots were fired at helicopters, and considering the scale of the situation, I doubt that the violence can really be considered significant. I'm sure there were many, many terrified people - we're talking about tens of thousands or people in a relatively confined area, which was becoming more confined by the hour - and in the space of a few short hours they found themselves, mostly strangers to each other, in an unbelievable, survival situation, full of no information and missinformation, full of fears both real and imaginary. I doubt that any human effort could have made it happen much different than it did. I just hope the city can survive and still be New Orleans.

I'm sure it will survive. One of the ways in which it will be different will be that there will be the people who stayed, and the people who left. And the people who stayed will, probably with some justification, feel that the city belongs just a little bit more to them.

redpaso · Post by **redpaso** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 4:32 am

Skins, I agree that Journalists are prone to exageration & story telling to sensationalise things a bit but the footage of Armoured Personnel carriers with troops in Flak jackets aiming machine guns at people would suggest that there is real problems there. The reports of helicopters & hospitals being shot at came from police/Military officials, not the journalists. These same officials stated they are retaking what remains of the city house by house in the same fashion they used when they took control of Iraq.

There are a lot of very poor people who are scared & displaced. Many feel this is an opportunity for them to get ahead & take what they can to get through the day & build a future with something as they have had nothing in the past. This breeds a "dog eat dog" attitude. It was stated that the first places wiped out by looters was not Supermarkets with food suplies but Arms Dealers.

Those who can't get out are struggling to cope & comprehend what has happened to them & locate loved ones, they don't need this lawlessness on top of that.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 4:45 am

One of the ways in which it will be different will be that there will be the people who stayed, and the people who left. And the people who stayed will, probably with some justification, feel that the city belongs just a little bit more to them.

Skins,

Your comment is exactly what happened in South Africa. We had "the chicken run" / "packing for Perth" in the late eighties and early nineties where thousands and thousands of white South Africans left for other countries. Those that stayed (of all colours) went through so much together that it is definitely more "our country".

I never had the opportunity to go to New Orleans, although I have seen movies, documentaries etc. on the place. Hopefully they will be able to rebuild it, and those that stay can build a better community together.

Paul