Worse and Worse
August 30th, 2005 at 10:03 pm by Preston Taylor HolmesWell, I was dead wrong about Katrina not wreaking catastrophic havoc in the Gulf. I’ve finally gotten a chance to actually sit and see some of the news coverage – as well as check some of it out on the net – and it is truly horrific. Michelle Malkin has a great round-up of links, stories and photos. Just scroll and read it all.
Martial law, prison riots with child hostages, bodies floating in the water, people trapped in their attics by flood waters, at least hundreds dead – now an evacuation of the city is mandatory because another levy is about to go, resulting in a possible 15 more feet of water.
And of course, there are the usual egg-sucking dogs taking advantage of the situation with the predictable looting.
One man, who had about 10 pairs of jeans draped over his left arm, was asked if he was salvaging things from his store.
“No,” the man shouted, “that’s EVERYBODY’S store.”
Looters filled industrial-sized garbage cans with clothing and jewelry and floated them down the street on bits of plywood and insulation as National Guard lumbered by.
Mike Franklin stood on the trolley tracks and watched the spectacle unfold.
“To be honest with you, people who are oppressed all their lives, man, it’s an opportunity to get back at society,” he said.
A man walked down Canal Street with a pallet of food on his head. His wife, who refused to give her name, insisted they weren’t stealing from the nearby Winn-Dixie supermarket. “It’s about survival right now,” she said as she held a plastic bag full of purloined items. “We got to feed our children. I’ve got eight grandchildren to feed.”
If there was only a way to get all the decent people out before the remaining dam breaks and leave the looters and rioters in the city.
No matter. I’m hoping that the stories of good people getting rescued will vastly outnumber the stories of rioting and looting, but you know me, I’m an optimist.
Now would be a good time to make a donation to the American Red Cross if you’ve got the means and the motivation. Sure, we probably won’t see a whole lot of help rolling in from Thailand or Sri Lanka, but we didn’t really expect it. At least Germany is pitching in… with blithering idiocy – fuck you in the nose, Germany.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:45 pm
and while we’re in the spirit of giving, there’s a prison riot right now.
August 31st, 2005 at 12:21 am
I think I’ve been in the same boat on this one. And it’s kind of testament to just how little I watch television these days.
Last night, I’m tying down loose objects outside and whatnot in preparation for what we were supposed to get. I get up this morning, the world is mostly as it should be. The news is saying that New Orleans “could’ve gotten a lot worse” or that they “dodged a bullet”. I go to work and monitor the news when I can.
About an hour or two ago, I turn on the television and see the scale of what has happened. People can poo-poo this in relation to the tsunami but this is some serious shit.
Take this NY Times article posted 53 minutes ago:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/31/business/31econ.html
Some flights are gonna be cancelled. Soybeans took a hit. Tourism is going to take a minute to recover. Gas is going up over Labor Day weekend. Big whoop.
But this is what happens when you live in the South. You have a snow storm hit the Northeast or a Heatwave in Los Angeles and it’s national news because that’s where the reporters are. So here’s how we see your tragedy from New York, it’s not like we’re going to have someone go check it out themselves. As Drudge pointed out, twice as many people watched the MTV Music Awards as storm coverage.
These states and some of these areas are going to be in a full-blown humanitarian crisis in the next 48 to 72 hours if they’re not already. Millions of people without power. Without clean water. Without a way to get power and clean water to them. Saying 60 people are dead is not even close to where this is going to end. No food. No medicine. This is a catastrophe of the highest order.
August 31st, 2005 at 5:56 am
Oh, I can relate. I have not been paying that much attention to the news lately either. I just sat down late last night, actually early this morning, and watched. Oh my God! Quite shocking to say the least.
The Truth Laid Bear is getting some bloggers together for Hurricane Relief Blogging if you’re interested.
August 31st, 2005 at 9:37 am
Thanks for the tip, Gray Tie. I’ll have to help through monetary contribution as I barely have time to regular-blog these days, much less specialized-blog. Feel free to send me any pertinent relief-related links or info and I’ll post it as time allows.
August 31st, 2005 at 1:53 pm
Where is France, Russia, Germany, the UN? India? Indonesia?
I don’t care about the money, I care about the phone calls!
Why is it that not only is the hurricane being basically ignored by the rest of the country, it’s being ignored by the rest of the world!
I can hear it now “well, it’s only those three southern states“.
I guess some things are more important. That is, their hate for Bush. Both domestically and internationally.
Fuck ‘em! We take care of our own!
August 31st, 2005 at 2:13 pm
That would be 4 States, Florida is getting practically ignored, with the coverage in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
August 31st, 2005 at 2:43 pm
Yes, you are right Mac. My bad.