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You Americans....


Ken

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I am quite fed up with the idea Europe has about America... they believe US citizens feel superior than the rest of the world and they go round the world invading countries... they forget we all grew up in blue jeans, listen to American music, smoke Marlboro, watch American movies... but yet there is a huge part of Europeans (I don´t know other people, I guess South Americans must be quite the same...)who think the problems of the world are America´s fault.

America has the military power, allright, but many other countries did so through history. Spain, netherlands, France, even Portugal were big nations. Not to say the arabs, romans or greeks...

I wish there was more brains and less hypocrisy... when a country has problems it could be time to think it can happen elsewhere.

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He's a sh^t stirrer.

Quite frankily, I've had about all the belly aching I can take about this.

Who gives a rat's A## who is sending what, or who sent it first? The bottom line is, people are dying. Every day. It needs to stop. All the political posing and nonsense has to take a back seat.

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Its been harrowing to watch, the main news item over here since it happened. From what I can understand there will be a backlash against the Government as a result of their gross dereliction of duty towards their own citizens, and quite right too.

I don't know how it is reported in the US, but over here the emphasis now is upon the lack of urgency on the part of the Government, the inferrence being that had those affected been white, middle-class types they would all have been evacuated much sooner. It appears Mr Bush has distanced himself from the images to avoid reinforcement of the link between himself and the disaster, and that he has offered up a fall-guy in his place. I can't imagine for one minute the population will be hoodwinked by this though, and that ultimately it will be Mr Bush that takes the blame for the inaction.

It was interesting to see the 'fall-guy' interviewed yesterday and the interviewer asked why it had taken 5 days for supplies to reach some people in the US, when supplies were being dropped within 2 days in the recent Tsunami disaster. He didn't have an answer....

I have talked about gun control before, and the sight of armed gangs roaming around the streets and waterways makes me glad we don't have the same attitude to weapons over here. Perhaps if there were fewer guns the matter of getting food & water to those that need it would have been simplified, as would the evacuation. Maybe private individuals would have been more willing to help if they didn't run the risk of being shot for their efforts?

The article posted by Amy showing the prediction of this was amazing! We all know that this sort of event cannot be prevented, however a little more planning on the part of the authorities could have made so much difference.

This is something we will all end up paying for. You can bet multinational insurers will bump up premiums abroad to recoup the US loss, oil prices have already gone up, and the fear of flooding will make Governments thing again about the amount of land they release for housing development. This will lead to a reduction in land supply and a consequential increase in the cost of that still available, increasing the price of housing in those countries affected. Sounds far-fetched I know, but in the crowded UK it will have a real impact upon the price of housing in the south & east particularly, where our John 'two-Jags' Prescott was considering a relaxation on the use of floodplains to ease land shortage. You can bet that he won't do it now.

The clear-up will be horrendous. We had a cellar flood a few years ago, and whilst it didn't take long to get rid of the debris, the smell of chemicals and sewage didn't go for months. All that contaminated water was added to the river system ultimately. Multiply that pollution by many millions and you have whole ecosystems wiped out, with a ripple effect around the whole world. The human race will be the master of its own end.

Cheery thought.

Regards

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The lack of planning and action was derelict from the local level, to the state level and to the federal level.

Local could have used the 350 abandoned school busses and numerous other motorcoaches that were in the city to evacuate the numbers of people that were either too poor or had no other means to leave the city in the days leading up to the storm. I do not know what kind of plan they had, but it needs improving.

State should have sent the National Gaurd down sooner, once the true extent of the storm was known. The leaders in both local and state both knew that this kind of storm would hit one day, but still did not have a comprehensive plan made up. They also knew that the levies could only withstand the storm surge from a catagory 3 storm, but not higher.

Federal government should have began their effort sooner, but they have to be requested by the State government first. Federal government should have sent a huge response right away. It is better to have a big response and then cancel who you dont need then need them and have to wait.

FEMA was not designed to handle an event as large as this. That will have to change.

I also think that the media down played the effect of the storm in the first 24 hrs before the real scope of the damage was known.

There will be major changes in the way things will be done on all levels after all is said and done. It would be a real tragedy if we did not learn the lessons we have been given.

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I am not very good at being on a soap box and expressing long winded views or particularly strong ones at that....

But all I have to say is...The government KNEW this was going to happen at some point and they had warning there was a major hurricane on the way. Why did it take so long for help to get to those who were in need? Also, I saw that those in the jails were seeking refuge on a bridge - can anyone enlighten me as to what happened to those in the hospitals in the area?

Watching the events unfold on TV has reduced me to tears many times this week. I feel utterly helpless and so very frustrated.

What is going to happen to these people? how will they rebuild their lives?

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You are right, Sarah. The government on all levels failed. The local paper in NO, the Picayune, did a report 3 years ago that described almost to a T what would happen. The fact that this could happen was not a surprise. There has been talk of a "300 year storm" in the gulf for years, but everyone just hoped it would not happen instead of preparing for it.

People in hospitals were evacuated. It did not happen before the storm, but afterwards. The hospitals were on generators and had food in reserve, but barely enough. I must be very hard to evacuate a hospital, especially the people on life support. They probably did not want to evacuate before the storm in hopes that the hurricane would turn at the last minute. I am sure someone would have been in serious trouble if they called for the evacuation of a hospital and then find that it was not necessary. Not an enviable position to be in, for sure. I myself, would probably error on the side of caution, but that is my nature.

I have heard that the prisoners were taken out of the area by the military, but I do not know where they took them. I would not be surprised if many of the "less dangerous" were told to "go away." The high risk guys were surely sent to another prison.

As I said before, local government did not have a good plan, so chaos ensued. State government waited too long to declare an emergency. The federal government failed to respond in the appropriate number at first. The Army Corps of Engineer's also knew that the levees would not hold up against the inevitable category 4 or 5 storm that would someday hit.

I think that anyone who has a heart feels great sorrow for and compassion for everyone who has suffered in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. I would encourage anyone and everyone who can afford to do it, donate to a charity that is established. Don't fall for the scams that are already popping up on the web for hurricane relief.

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No. I can only stand him for short periods of time. I do watch the news channels and read the paper daily, though.

Why do you ask? Was I sounding like a zealot ditto head? I base my opinions on the information that I read and hear, just like everyone else. I try to be non partisan in my opinions. Long gone are the days of straight forward, non bias reporting, so it makes it all the more difficult to form an accurate opinion. I am fortunate enough to have some working knowledge of what branches of government are responsible for what as far as disaster response (in California)is concerned, and at what level. That might put things at another angle for me to see than others who have not been exposed to that information.

But Rush, I think that he likes to pontificate a little too much to be listened to for any length of time!

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I dunno the thing that really ticks me off, besides the fact that the gov. really didn't kick in a whole lot to help, is that the administration officials keep on saying "Stop playing the blame game" in reference to the various admin. officials, yet in basically the same sentence they'll accuse the state government of not doing anything.

the buck stops here my ass.

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I heard on the news today that America have had some telethons with celebs promoting donations of money and clothes...I really hope this encourages lots of people to dig in their pocket a little bit.

By the way, did anyone watch the MTV music awards last night? That actress from Desperate Housewives, Eva someone or other really showed herself up up strutting onto the stage in a (awful) swimming costume and said "Well i'm not going to let a little hurrican stop me from wearing my swimsuit". Thats real nice Eva....

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