I don't know. I do know of some British holidaymakers who were refused a ride by police, who told them "We're only taking Americans".
Did New Orleans Catastrophe Have to Happen?
- Thread starter GL Schmitt
- Start date
RE: Did New Orleans Catas
The media's role is to bring the story to the world, not to be part of the story. That being said, there have been stories coming out of the press giving out food and water that they brought in for themselves, and even lending their press credentials to people so those people could leave. The latter is because men with guns, men in the employ of the US government, were not letting people leave.
They were also not allowing foreign consuls to go in and get their nationals and bring them out. That's a major breach of diplomatic protocol...the kind of thing usually only seen in the third world in the most violent of situations.
The media's role is to bring the story to the world, not to be part of the story. That being said, there have been stories coming out of the press giving out food and water that they brought in for themselves, and even lending their press credentials to people so those people could leave. The latter is because men with guns, men in the employ of the US government, were not letting people leave.
They were also not allowing foreign consuls to go in and get their nationals and bring them out. That's a major breach of diplomatic protocol...the kind of thing usually only seen in the third world in the most violent of situations.
UPDATE FROM ARKANSAS
I can only hope that they will continue to bring victims to communities like this one. The donations and volunteers are awesome. I do know that there are smaller communities like this throughout the USA. People our calling the shelters non-stop, and everytime there is a provision needed, 10 times the amount asked for is delivered by churches and individuals. Radio Shack even brought a large TV and hooked up Satellite service free of charge at the local campground so that they could have entertainment and the children could waatch videos and cartoons. We will welcome and take care of as many as possible. 8)
I can only hope that they will continue to bring victims to communities like this one. The donations and volunteers are awesome. I do know that there are smaller communities like this throughout the USA. People our calling the shelters non-stop, and everytime there is a provision needed, 10 times the amount asked for is delivered by churches and individuals. Radio Shack even brought a large TV and hooked up Satellite service free of charge at the local campground so that they could have entertainment and the children could waatch videos and cartoons. We will welcome and take care of as many as possible. 8)
RE: Did New Orleans Catas
The people still alive have only lost "stuff" ...aka, Property. Nicknaks, walmart swag, and their personal collections of junk, trash, and disposable consumer items.
I am amazed how invested people are in their personal accumulation of property, which ultimately is meaningless. Do people today derive their entire sense of self esteem based on the consumer crap they've gathered?.
You'd think they'd just be happy to be alive?
I mean, if I lost my house in some disaster I would feel bad, but it's not the end of life.
It's only "stuff".
The people still alive have only lost "stuff" ...aka, Property. Nicknaks, walmart swag, and their personal collections of junk, trash, and disposable consumer items.
I am amazed how invested people are in their personal accumulation of property, which ultimately is meaningless. Do people today derive their entire sense of self esteem based on the consumer crap they've gathered?.
You'd think they'd just be happy to be alive?
I mean, if I lost my house in some disaster I would feel bad, but it's not the end of life.
It's only "stuff".
Twice,I've lost most everything that I owned,and have rebuilt a life[of sorts] for myself. As long as you're alive and healthy 
That's what really matters.
That's what really matters.Yes your right. I have also started over again before. But these people have lost basic ness. that they need to start over. One women in the large family I have "adopted" only has flip- flops for shoes. When I took a different member to the store we were going to buy the other women shoes but did not know what size she wore. When the assisitance gave them shopping cards, it will help them get clothing that they can use to go on job interviews and such. And also other basics that our community might not know that they need.
Re: RE: Did New Orleans Catas
Just their family photographs dating back to their great grandparents, their high school diploma, their baby’s bronzed shoes, their 1989 ladies’ bowling trophy, their silver baptismal cup, their deceased father’s gold 25-year retirement watch, and an ugly cameo pin handed down through the family from her great-grandmother, or some such trivia that appears to be worthless to any outsider, but is all she has to prove she is a member of a family, and not some interchangeable spare part, stamped out in an assembly plant.
Some of the useless swag that passes through a family’s hands becomes so impregnated with memories of special times that no outsider can compute their value to its possessor. Except to the marketplace, resale value is always the least consideration when evaluating the worth of personal effects.
I will bet that if you looked carefully through your drawers, you would find some personal property which you value far, far, beyond its actual worth. And if you can’t, my condolences on your misfortune.
How true! Look at the piddling junk they have they lost?Steve French said:
Just their family photographs dating back to their great grandparents, their high school diploma, their baby’s bronzed shoes, their 1989 ladies’ bowling trophy, their silver baptismal cup, their deceased father’s gold 25-year retirement watch, and an ugly cameo pin handed down through the family from her great-grandmother, or some such trivia that appears to be worthless to any outsider, but is all she has to prove she is a member of a family, and not some interchangeable spare part, stamped out in an assembly plant.
Some of the useless swag that passes through a family’s hands becomes so impregnated with memories of special times that no outsider can compute their value to its possessor. Except to the marketplace, resale value is always the least consideration when evaluating the worth of personal effects.
I will bet that if you looked carefully through your drawers, you would find some personal property which you value far, far, beyond its actual worth. And if you can’t, my condolences on your misfortune.
RE: Did New Orleans Catas
Not only that, but they lost family that those things would have helped them remember. Some of them also lost homes that they'd lived in all of their lives.
Not only that, but they lost family that those things would have helped them remember. Some of them also lost homes that they'd lived in all of their lives.
"stuff"
It may be "stuff" to you or to most people. But when you live in dire poverty and have so little in life, such "stuff" may represent a life's fortune. Therefore, to lose what little you have under those circumstances can be quite critical.
Years ago I had a Black co-worker in NYC who grew up in an impoverished area in Alabama. His mother died and no one else in the family could afford to pay for her funeral. When he went down to his old home to attend the funeral, he saw his mom's wooden shack totally depleted. All of the furniture (much of it old wooden seats, one cot, an old radio, an ice box, and a couple of family photos) were all gone. He was told that members of his impoverished extended family nearly had a full scale riot as each fought to get their hands on what little furnishings the poor old lady left behind. It turns out that they were so impoverished that her old junk was treasure to them because they had so little in life.
Put yourself in the position of those impoverished folks in New Orleans. Imagine yourself to have nothing more than an old cot, an ice box, a radio, and a decrepit sofa and that you lived day-to-day on a Social Security check and that all you had was now lost. How would you feel?
The loss of what little property you possessed is not merely lost "stuff". It represents a loss of everything and makes an unbearable existence even more painful.
It may be "stuff" to you or to most people. But when you live in dire poverty and have so little in life, such "stuff" may represent a life's fortune. Therefore, to lose what little you have under those circumstances can be quite critical.
Years ago I had a Black co-worker in NYC who grew up in an impoverished area in Alabama. His mother died and no one else in the family could afford to pay for her funeral. When he went down to his old home to attend the funeral, he saw his mom's wooden shack totally depleted. All of the furniture (much of it old wooden seats, one cot, an old radio, an ice box, and a couple of family photos) were all gone. He was told that members of his impoverished extended family nearly had a full scale riot as each fought to get their hands on what little furnishings the poor old lady left behind. It turns out that they were so impoverished that her old junk was treasure to them because they had so little in life.
Put yourself in the position of those impoverished folks in New Orleans. Imagine yourself to have nothing more than an old cot, an ice box, a radio, and a decrepit sofa and that you lived day-to-day on a Social Security check and that all you had was now lost. How would you feel?
The loss of what little property you possessed is not merely lost "stuff". It represents a loss of everything and makes an unbearable existence even more painful.
Re: RE: Did New Orleans Catas
My comment was meant only in the case where the family was still intact.
If not, once the initial pain of that loss fades, those memories become even more valuable.
Some will even use lost family heirlooms to shield themselves until they are ready to accept the pain of that loved one’s loss.
People are complicated. Facile judgements most often are wrong.
Yes.Reverend Blair said:
My comment was meant only in the case where the family was still intact.
If not, once the initial pain of that loss fades, those memories become even more valuable.
Some will even use lost family heirlooms to shield themselves until they are ready to accept the pain of that loved one’s loss.
People are complicated. Facile judgements most often are wrong.
RE: Did New Orleans Catas
Bah, you're all hardcore materialists.
Stuff has no real value. People have value. Stuff is just stuff. It's transitory.
Notice the "shoot to kill" orders protecting..... stuff?. Waterlogged useless stuff I might add, not much sense taking a new TV to your home under the sea. But they take cop resources away from helping people get out of there to instead protect somebody's stuff (Walmart, etc). The parasites on society are always parasites, this disaster didn't create what didn't previously exist. The rioters and killers prey on other people whether there's a flood or not.
In fact, the city was built in an incredibly stupid place for "business" reasons, they did a cost/benefit analysis and oopsie, bungled another one. Try, try again.
You are not a "human resource" in spite of what your mammy toldya.
Bah, you're all hardcore materialists.
Stuff has no real value. People have value. Stuff is just stuff. It's transitory.
Notice the "shoot to kill" orders protecting..... stuff?. Waterlogged useless stuff I might add, not much sense taking a new TV to your home under the sea. But they take cop resources away from helping people get out of there to instead protect somebody's stuff (Walmart, etc). The parasites on society are always parasites, this disaster didn't create what didn't previously exist. The rioters and killers prey on other people whether there's a flood or not.
In fact, the city was built in an incredibly stupid place for "business" reasons, they did a cost/benefit analysis and oopsie, bungled another one. Try, try again.
You are not a "human resource" in spite of what your mammy toldya.
There is a difference between what is being discussed here.
Media was discussing the replacement of necessary stuff like a pair of shorts not stained with human faeces and industrial sludge when they waded over to “loot” a variety store of drinkable liquids after no one came to rescue them, or a toothbrush. You know, luxuries.
Reverend Blair and I were discussing what flood victims must feel at the loss of all the sentimental souvenirs of their family’s history.
You are writing about the guarding of merchandise in retail stores that has no sentimental value. I agree with you.
By the way, did anybody notice, during several interviews, that the police stated that they had “removed” supplies and foodstuffs from stores to continue policing the city until they were relieved, and that once the stores were “opened” they didn’t stop the other survivors from helping themselves.
Makes perfect sense to me. Why not make use of what is available? What is the resale value of food and pop that has been a couple of weeks in that environment?
The media has a big problem with inaccurate labels.
Looters, scavengers, there is a difference, and the famous AP “looter” photo of a black kid with a flat of pop tins and a black garbage bag full of something bulky that doesn’t stretch the plastic, is a prime offender.
Media was discussing the replacement of necessary stuff like a pair of shorts not stained with human faeces and industrial sludge when they waded over to “loot” a variety store of drinkable liquids after no one came to rescue them, or a toothbrush. You know, luxuries.
Reverend Blair and I were discussing what flood victims must feel at the loss of all the sentimental souvenirs of their family’s history.
You are writing about the guarding of merchandise in retail stores that has no sentimental value. I agree with you.
By the way, did anybody notice, during several interviews, that the police stated that they had “removed” supplies and foodstuffs from stores to continue policing the city until they were relieved, and that once the stores were “opened” they didn’t stop the other survivors from helping themselves.
Makes perfect sense to me. Why not make use of what is available? What is the resale value of food and pop that has been a couple of weeks in that environment?
The media has a big problem with inaccurate labels.
Looters, scavengers, there is a difference, and the famous AP “looter” photo of a black kid with a flat of pop tins and a black garbage bag full of something bulky that doesn’t stretch the plastic, is a prime offender.
Blah! I have worked with seniors for years!! And let me tell you something...in the end..no matter how much loot or stuff you have, it don't mean squat, its who's sitting there beside your bed, and it isn't greenbacks or stuff ..forget about telling me different, I have seen it over and over again.
..forget about telling me different, I have seen it over and over again.RE: Did New Orleans Catas
Ya, but the woman who was on TV that lost her husband and daughter and now has a 3 year old grand daughter to look after would likely enjoy having the family photo album back, Peapod. You can't go out and buy things like that.
Ya, but the woman who was on TV that lost her husband and daughter and now has a 3 year old grand daughter to look after would likely enjoy having the family photo album back, Peapod. You can't go out and buy things like that.
RE: Did New Orleans Catas
//worked with seniors for years!"
Yes, exactly. Hey, I will likely end up working with old people when I get out of university. But I am an old student - have owned all sorts of stuff, dozens of cars, half a dozen houses, and so on, big TV's, etc. I assure you all that crap has no meaning....at least not to me. I think I will become a minimalist.
Ask a sick, rich person who is dying. They would trade all their worldly possessions for good health, because everything else is meaningless without health. (Aristotle pointed this out...I think)
Our culture is sick in the head with our worship of 'stuff' over people..
One incident really amazed me -
"On last night's Nightline we heard why they couldn't leave. The police in the next parish, (Jefferson) which is upscale, were sending them back across the bridge at gunpoint.
They were protecting a nearby shopping center which had been looted and set on fire. Y'know, they all were criminals.The chief of police Lee was incoherent about what they did. "
//worked with seniors for years!"
Yes, exactly. Hey, I will likely end up working with old people when I get out of university. But I am an old student - have owned all sorts of stuff, dozens of cars, half a dozen houses, and so on, big TV's, etc. I assure you all that crap has no meaning....at least not to me. I think I will become a minimalist.
Ask a sick, rich person who is dying. They would trade all their worldly possessions for good health, because everything else is meaningless without health. (Aristotle pointed this out...I think)
Our culture is sick in the head with our worship of 'stuff' over people..
One incident really amazed me -
"On last night's Nightline we heard why they couldn't leave. The police in the next parish, (Jefferson) which is upscale, were sending them back across the bridge at gunpoint.
They were protecting a nearby shopping center which had been looted and set on fire. Y'know, they all were criminals.The chief of police Lee was incoherent about what they did. "
UPDATE
Yesturday, I took one of my "adopted" ladies to the doctor to get a prescription she needed. While she was in the office, the nurse called me back into one of the doctor rooms and with tears streaming down her face, she handed me $25 to give to the New Orleans girl. It was all she had in her purse and she told me to give it to her after we left so that this girl would not be embarassed.
The doctor donated the visit and the pharmacy next door donated the prescription.
I know that there are still horrific things happening down there, but I wish the 'big media' would remember to tell these stories. I can only reach around 30 to forty thousand with the media I own. :flower: :blob: :blob: :blob:
Yesturday, I took one of my "adopted" ladies to the doctor to get a prescription she needed. While she was in the office, the nurse called me back into one of the doctor rooms and with tears streaming down her face, she handed me $25 to give to the New Orleans girl. It was all she had in her purse and she told me to give it to her after we left so that this girl would not be embarassed.
The doctor donated the visit and the pharmacy next door donated the prescription.
I know that there are still horrific things happening down there, but I wish the 'big media' would remember to tell these stories. I can only reach around 30 to forty thousand with the media I own. :flower: :blob: :blob: :blob: