With the city largely emptied of people — and war-stressed National Guard units lacking the numbers to make a forceful presence — looting has started to hit the devastated streets of New Orleans.
At a Walgreen’s drug store in the French Quarter, people were running out with grocery baskets and coolers full of soft drinks, chips and diapers.
When police finally showed up, a young boy stood in the door screaming, ”86! 86!” — the radio code for police — and the crowd scattered.
Denise Bollinger, a tourist from Philadelphia, stood outside and snapped pictures in amazement.
”It’s downtown Baghdad,” the housewife said. ”It’s insane. I’ve wanted to come here for 10 years. I thought this was a sophisticated city. I guess not.”
Yes, the circumstances in New Orleans are somewhat similar to the looting that occurred in Baghdad in the wake of Bush’s poorly planned invasion. In both cases we failed to provide our military sufficient instructions to stop the looting… nor gave them the troop strength to do so.
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.
Now before anyone berates this man for his anti-social statement, one should remember that he is merely echoing the sentiments of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in response to the “untidy” sacking of Baghdad. Rumsfeld explained that free people “make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.”
“And while no one condones looting, on the other hand one can understand the pent-up feelings that may result from decades of repression…”
So I guess we should celebrate the looting as evidence that we have finally succeeded in bringing freedom to the streets of New Orleans.
The poverty of the looters goes far beyond economic. They have a poverty of character. And their impoverished character is the root cause of all the rest of their poverty.
Goldy, your attempt at sarcasm was well-intentioned, but far from a resounding success. There are a lot more important things for the National Guard to do right now in New Orleans than stop the looting. Such as saving lives. Literally thousands of people are missing and/or in need of rescue. They aren’t even keeping track of the dead bodies floating by, much less making any attempt to retrieve them. It is wrong for people to be looting, but property can always be replaced. Lives cannot be. New Orleans has a lot of poor people, and in the present circumstances, a lot of extremely desperate people.
Looting: Democrats at play. Perhaps capital punishment might result in a few hundred less “progressive” votes in LA in 08. [hehe]
Richard@2
Part of the problem is that the guard is so stressed and undermanned from the outrageously stupid Iraq war. They don’t have nearly the manpower they normally do or should (to my understanding).
MTR@1
Of course, the poor are ALWAYS at fault for their poverty. Its all so clear now! Such simplicity of vision must be a great comfort on dark scary nights.
@3
Bite me, you evil son of a bitch.
isn’t New Orleans a Dem stronghold?
oh man, waiting for some rich stuff on this one. Goldy, why don’t you blame the hurricane on bush, kathleen harris, Karl Rove while you’re at it
ouch, this stuff (blog side) is funny.
Righton – It’s already started. The kooks are out claiming that GWB’s refusal to “stop” global warming is the cause.
BTW, did you moonbats know that scientists think Mars is undergoing global warming too? Since there are no SUVs there, I wonder what the cause could be… hmmmmmmm…… maybe The Sun???
Goldy (and windie):“With the city largely emptied of people – and war-stressed National Guard units lacking the numbers to make a forceful presence”
From the AP: “Though thousands of National Guard personnel from Louisiana and Mississippi are serving in Iraq, officials say more than enough personnel were available for disaster duty Monday as Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore.
“Only about half of available forces are mobilized in Louisiana and forces are available from neighboring states if needed,” said Lt. Col. Mike Milord, a spokesman at National Guard headquarters outside Washington.”
So who is telling the truth here?
6
When flooding from a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.
Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained…
Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security — coming at the same time as federal tax cuts — was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars.
@7
Jon: If they have enough people, why are they having so many problems policing it?
I hadn’t read that AP article, but theres obviously SOMETHING wrong… From the problems they’re having down there, I’d suspect that the Nat. Guard spokesman (in DC, of course) is gilding the lily a little.
They need a greg nickels seawall/tunnel/salmon beach
windie at 9: What, so any looting in the middle of search and rescue operations is evidence they don’t have enough people?
To answer my own question, I’d be more inclined to believe somebody with the National Guard as opposed Goldy or you (no offense) unless you’ve read something that I haven’t.
Righton and JCH, yes and no. Orleans county voted 77% democrat, however, Jefferson and Plaquemines counties where martial law has been declared because of the looting are primarily republican
Jon, its sorta in the middle. 6000 troops from Louisiana and Mississippi are in Iraq, leaving 6,500 National Guard troops were available in Louisiana, about 7,000 in Mississippi, nearly 10,000 in Alabama and about 8,200 in Florida.
I am not sure the ones in Alabama and Florida are actually available for use in New Orleans, they are having trouble of their own in those states. Remember those who are saying there are enough troops are the same ones who said we have enough troops in Iraq, I think their evaluation is suspect.
And it ain’t the Guard’s fault that the dirtbags are looting!! Would you want to wade around that mess just because some jerk is toting a 6pack back to his shack?
@11: They’re comparing it to the looting in Baghdad. Thats not ‘just a little looting’. They could be exaggerating tho, we don’t really know. That being said, its like what Bill said. “Remember those who are saying there are enough troops are the same ones who said we have enough troops in Iraq,”
@13: Well its their job, y’know? If they’re there to police the city, then they’d better be ‘wading around in that mess’…
(ooh time to pat myself on the back! I used ‘their’, ‘they’re’, and ‘there’ all in one sentence, and apparently all correctly!)
crap, filtered. Just noting it for those righties that think its partisan :p
It MUST be Newt’s fault, or maybe Bush’s fault that Democrat “progressives” are looting in New Orleans. [like black birds, kill a few and the rest will leave]
#4……Windie, Was that you with the stolen 42 inch plasma TV screaming “Bush made me do it!!”? [Hold still while I aim]
righton @ 13
I believe the response to that would be “they knew the risks and trials when they signed up,” right?
mmmm. there is that supermarket over there. the power is out, there is three feet of water everywhere, most of it toxic. damn, all that food in there will rot and go to waste. we can’t cook anything, can’t get water to drink, can’t find any available resources being delivered to us. mmmm maybe we should all go into the store and get food for ourselves and our families. that would be a good use of resources and energy.
no no no.. can’t do that. some future insurance adjuster needs to be assured that the building and its private property resources were not negligently left open to looting. better for all the food to go bad and stay in the store than for people who need it to have access to it. yeah that is how capitalism works best. protect the property and screw the people.
1
It’s easy to have character when you have a six-figure job, your kids aren’t going hungry, you can afford $3 gas, have health insurance, and don’t give a shit about what happens to anyone else. Fuck you, Mark. Desperate people can’t afford character.
3
Have you ever noticed how Republicans always think the solution to all of life’s problems is to kill people? Not hard to figure out why Republicans are so religious. They need all the soul saving they can get.
@5
It’s obvious Bush dialed up this hurricane to keep the MSM’s attention away from Karl Rove’s treason.
(WTF — they blame everything on Clinton; so why shouldn’t we blame everything on Bush? Turnabout is fair play.)
6
Keep driving your gas guzzler Mark and pretty soon Earth will look like Mars — thin methane atmosphere, no vegetation, no signs of life. Good going, Republicans! Fucking planet destroyers.
@12
“Jefferson and Plaquemines counties where martial law has been declared because of the looting are primarily republican”
That figures. Turn your back 5 minutes on a Republican and he’ll carry off anything that isn’t bolted down including God Herself.
Come to think of it, the Republicans did cart off God.
I read in the news today that poverty is up (as it has been every year of Bush’s presidency). Guess that means we have more immoral people in our country. They must be following the immoral example being set in Washington D.C.!
a) Jefferson county voted Bush, but otherwise I think voted Demo
b) No clue on this, but not sure declaring martial law is the same as people out looting. Maybe they declared cuz they saw the people looting in New Orleans? I sure would declare in advance, even the long forgotten…looters will be ____ on sight.
I have spent time in New Orleans and I can tell you that many, MANY of the people down there are dirt poor. DIRT FUCKING POOR. So when Walgreens is opened up to looting they are going to take what they can. There is a maddess to this I am sure that could be classified as mob phsycology. And you might thing them to be immoral etc… but just drive through the projects down there sometime and you will be shocked at the conditions they live in.
The good news is the percentage of people with health coverage is holding steady. The bad news is (a) that’s only because government continues to expand taxpayer-financed coverage, (b) the numbers of uninsured are up, and (c) employers continue to drop insurance benefits for employees. So much for the fucked-up free enterprise system. We need more, not less, socialism in this country.
A major disaster has occurred in our country. It’s an act of nature. It’s nobody’s fault. A hurricaine doesn’t care about politics. So rather than sit here and bitch and moan and point fingers and act like spoiled CHILDREN, why don’t you consider those who have lost their lives or loved ones, homes, property, etc. Maybe you could help out one of the many relief agencies busting ass to get assistance to the victims.
Roger, your comment at 18 is total proof of your absence of reasonable thought. I wish you could see how you look to average people. Go ahead and hurl insults at me now. It’s your best thing.
Jon, most of the leftists here refuse to believe anything they don’t agree with. The truth is too much for them most of the time.
24
Have you ever noticed how Republicans always think the solution to social problems is to shoot people? That’s why they don’t want to give up their guns. How can you shoot people without guns? Going to church won’t help, all Republicans are going to Hell anyway, because they’re evil.
Karmalyzed, “The truth is too much for them most of the time.” You mean sorta like rightons retarded excrement of an answer at 24? Windie, thats two sentences, but whos counting. ;-)
Reply to 26
But you find the comments at 3 (CJH) and 24 (righton) “reasonable,” don’t you Karamel Between Ears? Sadly, mindsets like yours have become all too “average.” The Bible thumpers may be right about one thing — we could be on the verge of the End Times.
Rabbit @ 20
Alright pencil dick, what are you driving?
A rainbow colored car, fueled by dreams?
Biodiesel costs ~$3 per gallon, and can be obtained almost entirely domestically.
Alternate fuel sources are almost affordable now!
duh, where’s the diesel part come from?
yay research!
http://www.biodiesel.org/resou.....fault.shtm
“Biodiesel, n—a fuel comprised of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, designated B100, and meeting the requirements of ASTM D 6751.”
It CAN be blended with petroleum products, but doesn’t have to be.
My understanding is that it basicly sells out in Seattle anyways… But the price shift might help convince people to increase production.
Uhhh, Goldy, did you not read the first paragraph of the story you quoted that somehow proves that there isn’t enough Guard folks?
From the AP: “With much of the city flooded by Hurricane Katrina, looters floated garbage cans filled with clothing and jewelry down the street in a dash to grab what they could. In some cases, looting on Tuesday took place in full view of police and National Guard troops.“
Sounds like they have other problems other than not enough folks.
30
Two hind legs fueled by lettuce from Stefan’s garden.
BTW I’m proud of my pencil dick! A pencil-sized dick on a human is small, but on a 7-lb. bunny it’s HUGE!! That’s why RR is in so much demand!!! That’s why RR has 6,999 kids running around in Green Lake Park!!! I’m not kidding, I have to beat the female bunnies off me with a stick, and every day my e-mail in-box is jammed with unsolicited contract offers from producers of rabbit porn movies. Of course I don’t accept those deals …
Jon @36,
A) Nothing I wrote is contradicted by that opening sentence.
B) The first two-thirds of my post is really a set up for the Rumsfeld punchline.
6 July 2005
Study Slams Economics Of Ethanol And Biodiesel
A new joint study from Cornell University and University of California-Berkeley says that fuels produced from biomass are uneconomical as they use much more energy in their creation than the resulting ethanol or biodiesel generates. “There is just no energy benefit to using plant biomass for liquid fuel,” said study author and Cornell researcher David Pimentel. “These strategies are not sustainable.”
The study, appearing in Natural Resources Research,
some day I’ll get you to link your sources, Righton. Its really not hard, y’know?
Just as a special favor for my faaav’rite neocon operative, I’ll look the study up for ya :p
Most Democrats “loot” through “guvment”. That way they don’t have to wait for a hurricane to “gets the 42 inch plasma Sony”!!
@ 38
Oh Rabbit, I definitely think that you have a bright future ahead of you as a bottom man in gay porn.
BTW, Just a quick survey.
With all the far left humanitarians out here, how many of you have donated to the red cross or any other organization today, to help with the disaster relief in New Orleans?
Or have your actions been limited to bashing Bush while all these people are in need?
http://www.scienceagogo.com/ne....._sys.shtml
“The researchers considered such factors as the energy used in producing the crop (production of pesticides and fertilizer, running farm machinery and irrigating, grinding and transporting the crop) and in fermenting/distilling the ethanol from the water mix.”
I see… Strikes me as a bit deceptive at best… Also, if we’re drawing some of the extra energy from non-petroleum sources, we’re still avoiding that horrible oil-dependency we have right now.
@42
I’ll say when you do Prr :p
NEWS FLASH!!!
The looting in New Orleans has been tied to ALF (Animal Liberation Front) and ELF (Earth Liberation Front) and other LEFTIST PINHEAD ANARCHIST Groups. They are using this tragedy as an opportunity to hone their ANARCHIST tactics they have displayed in Seattle, Portland and elsewhere.
These Lenin’s USEFUL IDIOTS are happy whenever tragedy strikes and they can create more chaos!
Put your money where your mouth is.
I am sure you can all spare at least $5.
An as Goldy points out, his site is the heaviest travelled site in the world, so this should do wonders.
https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation-form.asp
Windie
I’ve already donated
@45:
Evidence? Or more totally insane righty lies?
@47: I did too, but couldn’t afford much. Damn bills.
@ 48.
Thanks, Good job.
rabbit?
$$$
mrt @ 1
“The poverty of the looters goes far beyond economic. They have a poverty of character. And their impoverished character is the root cause of all the rest of their poverty.”
Mark, you are a jackass of the first order, and a complete ignoramus to boot. I’ve been reading your jejune postings on this site for quite a while, and you’ve finally gone too far. You’ve already proven yourself to be abnormally vacuous in matters of political theory/intellectual history (e.g. despising “liberals” — whatever you may think that term means — while extolling the virtues of one of the key thinkers in the pantheon of liberalism, Adam Smith). Now you’ve shown that you are the person who is totally lacking in character.
Character has nothing to do with causing poverty, in terms of there being a reliable cause-and-effect relationship. If so, I would ask you to prove it. If only the world were that simple — maybe your various and sundry assertions of “free” markets always working would also be true. (Where was that invisible hand during the period when Enron et al. were reaming California residents by overcharging on natural gas imports? Maybe you missed Smith’s warnings about the potential for greed and avarice in free markets — or didn’t read any of the numerous critiques of his work in the ensuing centuries.)
Your world view is best summed up, oddly enough, by Burroughs: “I got mine, fuck you, every crumb for himself.” (“The Western Lands”) That view might work perfectly well for a country like, oh, I dunno, Paraguay (an ex-Fascist though still functioning kleptocracy) but has no place in a modern, liberal democracy.
And yes, I’m sorry, democracies are, by definition, liberal constructs, essentially antithetical to conservatism as it has appeared in its various guises over the centuries.
Democratic nations are, or at least should be, peaceful institutions, as President Bush is so often wont to remind us. Would that his intentions were genuine; his actions prove that he has no interest in democracy as such. Need he remind us of how little he actually cares about the plight of Americans in real peril: Bush Sr. deployed 25,000 Nat’l Guardsmen to Florida after Hurricaine Andrew; how many are available now? 6,500, with so many forces tied up in Iraq. And, in the immediate aftermath, his [GHW Bush] jackass son did what? — Stump speeches on Medicaire in the Southwest, followed by commemorations of VJ day and a return to the ranch.
Again, to quote Burroughs, “[the President’s] hair stands up and crackles, and he gives the American people the finger and barks out: ‘I got mine, fuck you! Every crumb for himself.'”
Talk about a lack of character. You “republican” fascist-kleptocrat wannabes are peas in a pod.
So cynicals total contribution is once again a pack of screaming lies, the sole purpose of which is to see his own words in print. Go choke and die cynical you chunk of excrement.
google for cynical’s lie at 45:
http://news.google.com/news?hl.....LF+Katrina
0 matches
http://news.google.com/news?hl.....earch+News
2 matches, neither remotely related.
http://news.google.com/news?hl.....nt+looting
0 matches
http://www.google.com/search?h.....ch+the+Web
A lot of matches, nothing to do with katrina.
You, sir, are a shameless, pathetic, liar.
curses, filtered again…
for the record, it was news searches showing that cynical is a lying pile of crap.
windie, off topic
Hey, you diss the right and discovery institute for ignoring cold hard science. Cold hard science on biodiesel is you burn a ton of excess energy to create the stuff. Why do you ignore facts and logic? Is liberalism really a religion?
righton… its a deceptive study. There are so many factors going in there.
1) Its more than just energy in vs. energy out, or else we’d all be driving solar cars.
2) Including the costs of growing the grain is massively deceptive.
3) If the issue is our petroleum intake, the in/out is irrelevant anyways, if we can attain that excess energy through other means. Getting us off of our Oil habit would be a HUGE boon to the nation.
4) How much do they pay you, anyways?
hmm, I think cynical shamed the righties into silence.
Maybe he is worth something after all!
HRH @ 50 – Perfect response. Let me explain.
It is not hard to be successful in Murka, and unless you have a complete lack of character and total shit for brains, you actually have to work at being poor. Everyone in Murka can go to school for FREE and at least get a high school diploma. After high school there are community colleges and universities which are lavishly funded by the high income taxpayers. All ya gotta do is show up and do the work. But too many people by their own free will fuck up their lives by being to gd lazy to get off their asses and go to school, and instead do crime (as we see in the looting), do drugs and booze, get knocked up repeatedly and generally act as parasites on society.
Did you see the picture on “Yeehaw” of the guy looting the store of beer? Had a couple of cases of it in a cooler and all his pockets stuffed. Don’t tell me he’s hungry. He’s having a goddam party while a catastrophe goes on around him. Does he GAF? Doesn’t look like it. Is he on summer break waiting to finish his MBA? I don’t think so. THAT is lack of character.
You asses think that I have a “I’ve got mine fuck everybody else” attitude. I don’t. I give generously to the gummint and to charities. I go out of my way to help those who help themselves. But I don’t GAF at all about parasites who through their own free choices have wrecked their lives and want me to pick up the bill. Fuck them.
I don’t have the stomach to comment anymore. I had political thoughts about this earlier today, but after a couple hours of heartbreaking stories, fuck that. If you pray, do that. If you have money, give it. If you have time, go help. And everyone, give those you love a special hug, and be thankful you are safe and dry tonight.
prr,
I donated $100 to the Red Cross … so far. Can you top that?
Until you do, go infest some other blog.
Holy Crap, news reports now that the cops are joining in looting. One cop picked up a computer and a big screen TV. Wow. This situation is going to spiral out of control.
This situation is going to spiral out of control.
GOING to? Sorry to say, Mark, it’s well beyond that point already.
Only an extreme partisan nutcase would try to turn this disaster into a political issue.
You should be ashamed of yourself!
But of course, your’e not.
LOSER
No… I mean the cops are going to have to start shooting the looters soon. If the cops don’t do it, the homeowners and bidness owners gonna. Just a matter of time…
So it would be better if the cops were the ones shooting people? Lives versus property. Value to some, value to others.
Dave – Can the case be made that poverty is not an excuse for crime? If the cops do it, at least it’s done under the authority of The People. That sends a message that must be sent.
It gonna be dark soon in Nawlins. The looting is gonna get worse. By the time you guys get home from DL, a looter is gonna get shot by a homeowner or bidness owner. Tomorrow will be worse. You heard it here first…
bill @12
Righton and JCH, yes and no. Orleans county voted 77% democrat, however, Jefferson and Plaquemines counties where martial law has been declared because of the looting are primarily republican
Uh, so, what? You are happy those Democratically inclined are stealing from neighboring Republican counties?
Jimmynap @26
Good for you. Somebody has to interject reality on this nonsense.
HRH @50
Talk about a lack of character. You “republican” fascist-kleptocrat wannabes are peas in a pod.
If it weren’t that this was attached to a long spiel, I would call you Headless Lucy.
Torridjoe @57,
Once again, you shame me. I figured I would post what I felt like responding to up to this point, just to really shame me. My shame runs a bit deep, HRH and bill…how’s yours?
marks, Yeah, right I totally believe how shamed you are saying it after you post. Did you actually look at what I was responding to?
Making a claim that rioters belong to any specific party is spurious, and in this case demonstrably untrue. Which was the point of my post.
Sorry, I meant looters.
Can the case be made that poverty is not an excuse for crime?
I don’t believe that was the case I was making at all. I mean, lethal force for stealing TVs and beer? The hurricane has already killed enough people as it is.
You heard it here first
Yeah, you’re the expert on base human nature.
Take a look at how the Bush administration is postioning FEMA to manage (or not) natural disasters
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....01445.html
RR @ 21….your verbal description could be appropriate for a Republican Couples silver wedding anniversary. “thin methane atmosphere (hot air only), no vegetation (loosing body hair from all the rejuvenating drugs), no signs of life (lifetime membership in the ‘viagra rewards’ program)”
I think it is important to have the conservative ideas “filtered out” of this website so the commie libs ‘Progressives” can think they are never challenged. Classic Democrat dumb shits!!
[Democrats At Play In “The Big Easy”!]
Inmates at a prison in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans have rioted, attempted to escape and are now holding hostages, a prison commissioner told ABC News affiliate WBRZ in Baton Rouge, La.
windie; you are wrong again, i’m right.
Reason we aren’t drving solar cars is its hugely expensive (at present) to get the solar cells plus batteries, etc into a vehicle that roughly works (reason hybrids sell is cuz they are basically normal cars). To be redundant, solar powered cars are outrageously expensive.
Of course lib that you are would not under stand free market, or even close to free market laws of economics.
bill @73 or wherever you are cowering,
FUCK YOU!
Yeah, right I totally believe how shamed you are saying it after you post. Did you actually look at what I was responding to?
Yes, I did, and that does not excuse them, but this is a liberal blog. There is probably very little for a committed Party-type of a shithead like you to go on, but I understand your inability to smell the shit that surrounds your own demesne.
If you ever come up for air, you can research any of my posts and make an apology. Otherwise, I stand by my first two capitalized words of this particular post.
Let the looters go. Just make it clear to businees owners that if they feel the slightest bit threaten while defending their property “shoot to kill”
83….Rufus…….That’s Goldy, Roger Rabbit, and Maxine Waters “claiming” their 42 inch plasma Sonys!!!
marks. You said “You are happy those Democratically inclined are stealing from neighboring Republican counties” and repeated the same bullshit I opjected to in the first place.
Apologize to a retarded ass like you? Why would I do that? You’re a braindead piece of slime.
Are you really stupid enough to think noone will scroll back?
Democrats: steal votes…..steal 42 inch plasma Sonys……[It’s all the same!]
bull,
marks. You said “You are happy those Democratically inclined are stealing from neighboring Republican counties” and repeated the same bullshit I opjected to in the first place.
I rest my case…
Desperate people can’t afford character. -Comment by Roger Rabbit— 8/30/05 @ 2:08 pm
Wow, what a viciously ugly statement, an even worse characterization of fellow human beings and a despicable rationalization for disgusting behaviour.
It seems to me that one one is down and out, the only trait that would distinguish one from a savage is personal exemplary character and more importantly, the ability to face yourself.
It’s the way you behave when no one is looking that matters. It’s the way you behave when a illegitimate/illegal
“opportunity” (looting) that matters.
Clearly, RR hasn’t much use for any of it.
How jaded.
How pitiable.
Looters run amok in New Orleans
The money quote: [Democrats At Play!!! Read On!!!]
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.
I’ve been watching the obviously racist coverage of the looting in New Orleans on CNN, ABC, NBC & CBS. Every shot of looters shows black people looting. Can you imagine that! The MSM has either gone racist…..or tried as hard as they could to find a white looter & as hard as they tried, couldn’t find a single one.
Goldy
“war-stressed National Guard units lacking the numbers to make a forceful presence” ? ?
“In both cases we failed to provide our military sufficient instructions to stop the looting” ? ? ? ?
I watched the NO news coverage on all networks for a few hours and your theory was not mentioned once, not even by Aaron Brown. Naturally you must be the only person with proof of your slanderous claim?
Back up your BS for once Goldy.
pISSON rOGER rABBIT @ 45
You’ve never seen a rabbit porn movie, have you? First of all, there is no “man” in rabbit porn movies! (Except the man working the camera but he’s not in the movie.) Secondly, fucking rabbits don’t have a “bottom” or a “top,” we do it sideways — DOLT!! Gawd you’re dumb …
54
Mrs. Rabbit and I are planning to donate $100 to ARC but their on-line donation form isn’t working tonite. Must be heavy traffic.
Went through 2nd time I tried. Mr./Mrs. RR matched N in Seattle’s donation of $100 to American Red Cross. There’s very heavy traffic on the ARC site, so they must be getting a lot of donations. This will be like 9-11, the American people will come through.
@62
“Everyone in Murka can go to school for FREE and at least get a high school diploma. After high school there are community colleges and universities which are lavishly funded by the high income taxpayers. All ya gotta do is show up and do the work.”
The fact our community colleges and universities are FREE will be news to the students struggling to pay tuition (and non-students who aren’t attending because they can’t afford the tuition).
@78
I didn’t think of that, but you’re right. That explains it! Republicans are Martians! They’re alien life forms, and they’re attacking Earth!
Wrong Again @ 81
The first black-and-white TV sets were hugely expensive, too, but after a while the price came down.
286
“Wow, what a viciously ugly statement, an even worse characterization of fellow human beings and a despicable rationalization for disgusting behaviour.”
Yes, it is, isn’t it? The more desperate Republicans get the less character they have.
Roger the rodent;
what’s your point? yeah, i’m waiting, hoping for solar economies of scale to kick in. But i was rebutting the guy saying we could just make biodiesel and not import oil. That point then was he doesn’t understand the negative economics of biodeisel (by the time you use energy to harvest the vegetables, then refine them, etc, you could have used a far smaller amount of energy..)
Yeah, I had a $150 calculator and a expensive PC, both dirt cheap now. Not the same as processing rotting corn stalks to pump into your prius.
hey, Cynical! Are you going to apologize for that particularly ugly lie you told yesterday, using a horrible natural disaster to stage totally meritless attacks on people you don’t like?
We’re waiting to see you be the better person!
Amid all the vomiting from the righty-flighties about the looting in largely Democratic New Orleans, they fail to note that the greatest destructive power was unleashed across the state line on redneck, Bible-thumping, very-red-state Mississippi. And from the response seen so far, there didn’t seem to be much of a plan in ol’ Miss for the aftermath.
The National Guard could have been called up and staged two days before the storm hit. The Navy ships only now steaming into the Gulf could have been sent ahead of time. FEMA’s truckloads of water and ice could have been staged in safer areas inland ready to move the moment the storm passed.
And does anybody know if there were mandatory evacuations along the Mississippi coast? I haven’t been able to find that info anywhere. If there were, at least somebody down there had a brain. If there weren’t, well, …
The one good thing in all this is that President Bush is cutting short his vacation a couple of days to respond to a NATIONAL DISASTER! Of course, that NATIONAL DISASTER was three days ago … But heck, I’ve heard that people can go without fresh water for as long as four days.
So I guess us progressives will have to pick up after the Republican leadership in that state and at the federal level. Folks, dig deep and contribute to your favored charity to help. Those people down there, red or blue, are going to need all of our aid in recovering.
Offer; stop blaming Bush, and we won’t bring up Carville, Gov Landreau, past corrupt Dems in Lousiana who must have ripped off taxpayers and underbuilt the levees….
seems to me like this has gotten Bish’s personal attention..
“On his flight from Texas, Air Force One flew over New Orleans at about 2,500, and it descended even further, to about 1,700 feet, over Mississippi. The plane flew over New Orleans and saw the Superdome, downtown areas and outlying neighborhoods, then traveled along the coast to Mobile before turning north toward Washington.
Bush peered through a window from a couch where his security detail usually sits. Both of his fists were clenched and his face grim. White House spokesman Scott McClellan quoted Bush as saying, “It’s devastating, it’s got to be doubly devastating on the ground.””
Don’t know how much more you libs want?
95
His point was the numbers in the studying questioning the economics were gamed, and my point is the cost of solar will come down (probably drastically) as manufacturing technology improves and economies of scale kick in.
The reason the study’s numbers are phony is because we don’t grow agricultural products just to make biodiesel; we grow the products for food and the biodiesel is made from byproducts that otherwise would be discarded waste.
Solar gets cheaper cuz chip production follows Moores’ law. Refining corn stalks get a tad cheaper, but on a flat cost line, versus the steeply dropping one for solar.
I”m a foe of ADM for its subsidies; thought you libs would be wary of biodiesel for the same reasons. Be wary, it’ll turn into a republican entitlement just like corn syrup if you continue to think its cute and nice..
prr at 103: Well, how about DOING SOMETHING! Oh, that’s right, he DID cut his vacation short by a whole two days. Two days after the storm struck.
Antidote,
What….Exactly, would you have has him do?
Should they have declared and emergency before the storm hit?
Should he have resigned when the wind started? How could he have prevented this?
Ask yourself, “what would Clinton do”?
I’m very interested to hear what you feel he could have done?
prr @ 103
I think what people are upset about is that Bush had plenty of advance warning that the storm was coming, as well as predictions of its magnitude, and in its immediate aftermath the best he could do was to fly to Arizona and California to give stump speeches on Medicare. Then, TWO FULL DAYS AFTER LANDFALL, he heads back to Washington, DC.
Frankly, for a disaster of this severity, a lot of Americans clearly expect more from their chief executive.
righton: For the record, I’m not discounting what you said about biodiesel… I just was thinking that the study is a bit deceptive.
As far as I know, as of right now its the best alternative we have to petroleum. I’d love something better!
The point is, Get the US off of Fuel Oil.
Wouldn’t the prudent thing be to wait and see how bad the disatser is and then set a plan to see what we need to do to fix this?
This is not about “a lot of Americans clearly expect more from their chief executive.” rather, just the far left screeched bloddy murder over everything the guy does.
Quite frankly, he’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.
or as my cousin says, ‘how long until oil is to valuable to be used as fuel?’
@110
That tends to happen when you have a really crappy track record, and were never qualified for office in the first place.
Windie,
You are right on this subject, we should be funding, in a very serious way, the replacement of fuel oils,
@112…
That’s a bunch of horseshit
Thought that the number one job of National Guard was to maintain order & prevent looting during natural disasters. Which the Louisiana Nat Guard doesn’t have the manpower to do in Nawlins, with so many of them on duty in Iraq … defending against insurgents who looted their weapons & ammo because Rummie figured it wouldn’t matter. Q in Nawlins isn’t lives v property; it’s the culture of selfishness, no?
Dr E, What would you have him do? Huh? Do you have even one minute of disaster training, planning or experience? I KNOW you don’t. But that doesn’t stop an intelligent guy like from you from making an assanine, absurd, blinded by personal political views and completely UNINFORMED statement. Sheez, I guess moonbat tendancies are contagious to those who have the intellect to otherwise repudiate lunatic positions and arguments.
Yeah, I think we should stamp out biodiesel so my oilfield services stock will do better (NOV was up another $4.34 today).
I guess there were a couple national gurdsmen still left in the states.
WASHINGTON – An additional 10,000 National Guard troops from across the country began pouring into the Gulf Coast region Wednesday, adding new soldiers and airmen to shore up security, rescue and relief operations in the region ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.
The new units brought the number of troops dedicated to the effort to more than 28,000, in what may be the largest military response to a national disaster.
About one-third of the 21,000 National Guard troops — who were descending on the Gulf Coast from across the country — will be used for security, to prevent looting, enforce curfews and enhance local law and order, said Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, commander of U.S. National Guard forces.
In a massive response that was still unfolding Wednesday, the Pentagon was sending a broad contingent of ships, aircraft, trucks, medical support and other personnel to support federal agencies already providing aid to the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
“Clearly this is the biggest natural disaster to hit the nation in my lifetime,” said Blum, “and it would require the largest national response.”
According to the Pentagon, 7,200 active duty military troops, mainly Navy crews on ships that were headed to the Gulf Coast from Virginia, were responding to the disaster. Brig. Gen. Terry Scherling said more could be sent in coming days.
Included in that number were about 400 from the Army Corps of Engineers
No one could have stopped the hurricane from coming ashore, but the flooding in New Orleans could have been prevented.
These are two separate issues; Katrina is Mother Nature’s doing, the flooding is Bush’s.
Bush stripped $72 million dollars out of the federal budget last year for levee maintenance in New Orleans to fund his misadventure in Iraq.
This, is the Law of Unintended Consequences run amok.
And to add more misery to the human suffering that is already in place, there will be no commerce in New Orleans and other parts of the region for several months to come. Now, when people start to go bankrupt in the next 6-8 weeks, are they going to have suffer again at the hands of Bush and the Republicans from their new bankruptcy laws that goes into effect next month.
You think that four straight years of increasing numbers of Americans falling into poverty has been bad, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Couple this disaster with the out of control price gouging that’s going on at the pumps to the tune of $7 BILLION dollars per month PROFIT for Bush’s oil buddies, the cost of heating oil, all goods and services going up, personal incomes remaining flat. . . can anyone say Ronald Regan style recessions? Uh-huh I knew you could.
Yeah, Bush is real great CEO, isn’t he? To continue supporting Bush and the Republicans you have to be 100% intellectually dishonest, a member of Bush’s inner circle who reaps billions off the misery of ordinary citizens, or a complete fucking moron.
Breaking News:
The Republican Party of yesteryear has been hijacked for all you numb nuts who haven’t figured it out yet!!
igdaf @ 115
“Dr E, What would you have him do?
Behave like a concerned chief executive in a timely fashion. By “timely” I mean prompt, not two days later.
Let’s reframe this slightly: Say this were a sudden (albeit anticipated) disaster, like a magnitude 8.0 earthquake near SF or LA. Would it be acceptable to wait 2 full days after the primary shock to respond, let alone address the nation?
Or, reframing it further: Suppose another sudden disaster, a terrorist attack similar to 9/11 were to happen. Would the American public want a quick reaction from their chief executive, or would they let him stay on vacation a further 2 days?
Do you have even one minute of disaster training, planning or experience?
Yes, I do, which renders your next observation false:
I KNOW you don’t.
Right?
But that doesn’t stop an intelligent guy like from you from making an assanine, absurd, blinded by personal political views and completely UNINFORMED statement.
I fail to see how my comments are either asinine or absurd, but you’re entitled to your opinion.
As far as “blinded by personal political views”, I’ll infer from that (correct me if I’m wrong) that you mean that I’m objecting to Bush’s delayed response in this matter because he’s Bush, or because he’s a Republican, or both. Frankly, this is an issue that transcends partisan political concerns: if Clinton had done the same, I’d be equally incensed
Sheez, I guess moonbat tendancies are contagious to those who have the intellect to otherwise repudiate lunatic positions and arguments.
Nope, I can think for myself. In my opinion, expecting a prompt response from the President in times of serious crisis can in no way be construed as “lunatic”.
gbs @ 118
“This, is the Law of Unintended Consequences run amok.
Well said.
Dr. E @ 119
You’re complete and utter dismantling of ifdaf’s argument garners kudos for you as well.
I always enjoy reading your well articulated positions.
windie, totlly agree on getting off the oil. love to reserve it for airplanes and get us on something else.
I think natural gas is more doable and also plentiful. Honda selling civic back east w/ natural gas, and equiv to about $1.25 per gallon.
for what its worth, the big oil challenge is somewhat our pigginess, but also china going nuts. And once they all get SUVs and start really flying commercially, man watch out.
Dr E, Your assertion that the president of the United states is ever on “vacation” is ridiculous and you know it. As far as your so-called experience or training in some sort of disaster management, operations or planning is suspect at best as if you had, your critical statements would be quite different. What is it specifically, you would have him or Clinton do, as president, that would have effected good or bad,the response to this disaster?
I have 25 years of operational planning and experience in the management of natural, biohazard, radiological incidents resulting in mass casualties. I have been on ALS emergency medical strike teams at a number of emergencies around the planet and continue to consult on both county and statewide issues here in Washington. I know how little ANY president has upon ANY emergency. Thats why every administration has aides, experts, consultants and extensive master plans at FEMA that went into effect hours befgore Katrina even came ashore.
There is not a single president in the past, present or future that is “guilty” of your critical comments. Like I said, I expect more intelligent comments from you.
igdaf @ 124
I think maybe you’ve misunderstood the point I was trying to make above, specifically “the best he could do was to fly to Arizona and California to give stump speeches on Medicare.”
What I meant by that is that many Americans appreciate communication from their president in times of urgent need. You know, like Reagan did after the shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986 (and that was certainly not a situation rising to the level of urgency as what is unfolding now) — address the nation, say something, give at least the appearance of concern in a timely fashion.
What I’m objecting to in the President’s behavior is therefore, of necessity, a matter of appearances. Of course we don’t know the minutiae of what he does in Crawford, but the lack of communication on his behalf in such a time of dire emergency does, in my view, send the wrong message. And stumping on Medicare and VJ day, making only the briefest mention of the situation on the ground in the areas worst hit by the hurricaine also, in my opinion, conveys the impression that this disaster is not a high priority.
I don’t think Americans in general expect the President to be able to solve all problems, direct all disaster contingencies, etc. — as you rightly point out, that’s what his appropriate subordinates do. But what a lot of people do expect (myself included) is that the President behave like the head of state. In that capacity, he serves as the State’s ultimate spokesman, and communicating a timely message — of the government’s plans and efforts, of compassion, of something — is, I would think, a reasonable expectation.
Short and sweet this time. With your clarification, I agree. One of my many dislikes with the present administration is poor to at times, no communications. He certainly is no Reagan or Clinton and that is quite apparent in this instance. I appreciate you clarifying your statement and enjoy the debate. Have a good day sir.
“Those looters be just trying to feed their families.” [Maxine Waters on the “run” on 42 inch plasma Sony TVs]
Haven’t had time to go back and read all the comments yet, but good main entry, for sure. Looting sucks and so do those who do it. They really make me feel like humanity is doomed to self-destruction. I feel really bad for the people who chose to live there and their suffering. I really do. What sets us apart from the animals is out ability to choose to ignore our baser instincts and suppress the basic desire to simply take what we want; we have the ability to do the right thing. I saw someone say earlier that things can be replace, but lives cannot. Who’s lives are the rescuers saving, and how many of them will try to get their share of the booty? Aside from those who weren’t physically able to leave, I’d think most of the people who need rescuing are too pooor or stubborn to have left in the first place. Either way, I bet many of them will be in Walgreens too.
Are you all such in denial, or afraid to speak up? All the looters (as usual) here were blacks. The media is afraid to show them for what they really are: vicious violent animals. I’ve had this repetitive argument for a long time now, so if you don’t agree with me I’ve heard it all before. Whenever Whites do anything it’s regarded as a ‘hate crime’ but when blacks committ their savage acts it’s simply overlook and the details become vague. Blacks oppressed or repressed? Please! Stop blaming White people for all your problems, quit bitching and evolve for once! Whites know this is true, and when are you going to finally start standing up for yourselves? Look at the pictures of the looters: 100% black! Look at the video in Seattle of the two White Iraqi soldiers getting beat up: black ON White. Look at Fat Tuesday in Seattle, 2001: all blacks beating up Whites, killing one. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT AND STOP BEING BLIND COWARDS.
What about the real issue? The issue that is self evident and mind-boggling. It is Day five and the United States is not able to evacuate all of the people out of one City? There is some thing wrong with that picture. United States should have the resources and is capable of evacuating every one with 5 days! Or is it because the people left behind are poor people???? MMMMMM well it not the first time poor Americans are treated differently than the rich Americans. It happens every day. Being poor does not make one less American!!!!!!
Stealing AKA (LOOTING) is wrong, I don’t care how scared, oppressed, poor, impoverished, mob stricken it is. It’s a sin, god will hold them accountable and you for defending them. As for not evacuating, it’s hard to evacuate when those “POOR UNFORTUNATE PEOPLE” are shooting at police and the National Guard. That’s brilliant to go after the people trying to bring you food, water, and shelter.
This one is for the comment made my Mr.Cynical and the White Woman:
You all are very ignorant people. It plain and clear that you two dispise black people however, that’s find and dandy with me. I am a proud African American. I am not here to try to justify what the people in New Orleans did (as you say looters) but I’m here to set it straight that when two people of different races commit the same act, The white people acts are justified while the African Americans acts called vicious violent animals (as you call them). My point is if it’s wrong, it’s wrong but who are we to say if it’s wrong or not. We are not the one’s trying to survive walking in water up to our hips and chest. You can’t really say what you will do until you are in that situation, no matter if you are black, white, purple, or green. However, the ones that were taking T.V. I myself say that, that was not call for. But the ones taking food and water to survive my sympathy goes out to them. On a website I visit earlier, the name of it was Black Looters and Whites Find? Now what’s the different taking is taking no matter what color you are. So why is it justified for whites then? And to Mr. Cynical since you were looking for a white looter it’s one on that page.
http://www.boingboing.net/2005.....ot_wh.html.
Once you see it for yourself get at me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
?
This is for everyone who keeps making this a racial thing: Explain this MR. CYNICAL AND WHITE WOMAN:
From the SunTimes Article:
“Turn on CNN and see what your people are doing,” the angry male voice shouted into my voice mail.
“Why don’t you write about all the looting and who’s doing the looting,” another angry caller said.
But blacks weren’t the only looters.
A front-page photograph of looters that ran in the Sun-Times on Wednesday prominently showed a white or Hispanic looter looking directly at the camera as he carried away an armload of clothing apparently taken from a downtown store.
The New York Times also ran a photo of looters in its Wednesday edition that showed the scene inside the Wal-Mart in New Orleans. One black man with a rifle in his hand is also looking into the camera. Another guy, who looks to be something other than African American, is walking through the store with his back to the camera.
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accelerometers backplate,effected jargon grumbles hatchets,Somalia?…