New Orleans disaster

[paul_oshea]

has anyone been watching this? the yanks must have no cop on at all, did no one think of stacking up with food and necessary supplies when they were warned of this storm approaching. no one seems to have filled up the tank either.

i mean they are saying noo one has food?!?! :confused: :confused:

[Éanna]

Screw 'em. They've plod aroung the planet making an envinronmental, political and cultural balls of the world and now they expect sympathy. They're getting what they deserve and I have no sympathy for them. "we have nothing." :rolleyes: Maybe if your government wasn't spending billions on a war on the other side of the world based on a personal vendetta, you' have had better flood defences. Tough **** USA

[holidaysong]

Screw 'em. They've plod aroung the planet making an envinronmental, political and cultural balls of the world and now they expect sympathy. They're getting what they deserve and I have no sympathy for them. "we have nothing." :rolleyes: Maybe if your government wasn't spending billions on a war on the other side of the world based on a personal vendetta, you' have had better flood defences. Tough **** USA

The Government are to blame for not preparing enough and reacting to the event quick enough to stop looting and rescue people. Éanna, I think you are being a bit harsh on the ordinary Joe Soap American who can't afford to go stockpiling food in case of such an event. Remember there is probably about 1,000 people dead because of this hurricane.

[Éanna]

They voted for Bush, or at least 50% of them did. And the ones who didn't vote are even worse. The total ignorance and sheer stupidity of "the ordinary Joe Soap American" is the reason that the USA is run by money-crazed maniacs and has been for years. Screw 'em. ya reap what you sew, and they're getting what they deserve.

[dfx-]

Screw 'em. They've plod aroung the planet making an envinronmental, political and cultural balls of the world and now they expect sympathy. They're getting what they deserve and I have no sympathy for them. "we have nothing." :rolleyes: Maybe if your government wasn't spending billions on a war on the other side of the world based on a personal vendetta, you' have had better flood defences. Tough **** USA

Despite the fact I fully agree with all this above....there is something almost grossly enticing me to watch the sheer enormity of the fall out from this...It wasn't supposed to be *that* strong a hurricane and yet a 'normal' American city is being descended into such a state - it's almost neanderthal - wasteland and survival of the fittest - no sense of society or cohesion to it all, imo..... :eek:

[Dodge]

They voted for Bush, or at least 50% of them did. And the ones who didn't vote are even worse. The total ignorance and sheer stupidity of "the ordinary Joe Soap American" is the reason that the USA is run by money-crazed maniacs and has been for years. Screw 'em. ya reap what you sew, and they're getting what they deserve.
So because they believe what their told they deserve to die of starvation?!? Get a ****ing rality check Eanna.

Oh and BTW the vast majority of those affected are Black and from the poorest parts of new Orleans and all the towns affected. Chances are they eiher didn't vote or they voted Democrat. Either way it doesn't matter

[Metrostars]

F you Eanna, I suppose the Tsunami victims had it coming to them too. So the 900 or so Iraqis who were kill the other day at the Shia stampede. I hate that idiot Bush but to say that all this is his fault smacks of ignorence and spitefulness. There were plenty of warnings for people to get out some went, others didnt. Stock piling food would not do any good if your house if completely under water.

The recovery effort is being mismanaged so far but I don't think anyone could have predicted how bad this has turned out to be.

[Macy]

The recovery effort is being mismanaged so far but I don't think anyone could have predicted how bad this has turned out to be.
Might of helped if the other half of the Louisiana national guard was in the state, not iraq.

There were plenty of warnings and time enough to evacuate, if the USA actually gave a shít for the prodominantly black poor. They didn't help the evacuate before, they're not trying to get them out now, they're just leaving them to die.

[Peadar]

They had over two weeks warning about Katrina.
They had been warned for years that the city was in danger from a category 5 storm but additional funding was denied because it was needed for the war on terror.
Much of the city is reclaimed land and below sea level.
The scale of the destruction is no surprise.

It's the attitude of the people that sickens me.
They're so materialistic that they're looting everything and anything, rather than uniting to care for each other.
One black woman interviewed last night was crying that she hadn't eaten for 3 days. She was at least 25 stone. How could anyone pity her!? I read one report of a man who shot and killed his sister over a bag of rice.
Can any of us comprehend this?

The True American Spirit is being shown up for what it really is.
The greediest nation in the world!

[carrickharp]

Aerial Photos of Floods (http://www.projo.com/sharedcontent/breakingnews/slideshow/083005_dmnkatrina/1.html)

[PaulB]

Jesus, the Anti-Americanism on this forum is sickening. You all seem to be forgetting that probably thousands of people are going to die. Bet you weren't all so anti-american when you were all going over in the 80's looking for your jobs, or when you were traveling to WC1994.

Quote from Eanna:
The total ignorance and sheer stupidity of "the ordinary Joe Soap American" is the reason that the USA is run by money-crazed maniacs and has been for years. Screw 'em. ya reap what you sew, and they're getting what they deserve.

You are a prize 1 *****..

So we're probably simialr since we voted in the haughey Muppets in the 80s who screwed us over for years, and are still doing it. Take your ****en blinkers off you muppet!

[paul_oshea]

It's the attitude of the people that sickens me.

exactly, dumb ass americans and all their fake friendliness of how we are united etc, its all a load of ****e.

every man for himself in america it always has been.


saw a funny picture on the metro though, a guy being arrested for looting a crate of beer, a crate of beer fair play to him he has his prioities right.

metrostaars, the people i saw interviewed, their houses werent submerged underwater, there houses were fine but none of them had both any food for the weeks ahead.

[drummerboy]

They voted for Bush, or at least 50% of them did. And the ones who didn't vote are even worse. The total ignorance and sheer stupidity of "the ordinary Joe Soap American" is the reason that the USA is run by money-crazed maniacs and has been for years. Screw 'em. ya reap what you sew, and they're getting what they deserve.

You have gone down in my estimation mate. Can you imagine how the children and old people are affected by what happening over there. People who gloat at such misfortune are obviously lacking in humanity. The fact is, the area affected is probably the poorest part of America and the people most affected are the poorest of that area. It reminds me of a Mad Max movie. I think this tragedy will cost George Bush dearly. I think the situation has been handled very badly by the authorities in the US, but I certainly won't be one of those sitting on a barstool tonight gloating at the ordinary people misfortune. Shame on you.

[dahamsta]

Éanna, how would you feel if you were in the same situation and Americans were commenting on web forums that it was your own fault, because you elected Fianna Fáil and the PD's, because the Irish are all drunks? Your comments are an embarrassment.

adam

[carrickharp]

If this was happening in New York, Chicago or Boston where there is a large Irish population.....

For **** sake thousands will die in this disaster, just look at the photos above.

[joeSoap]

Eanna,
Innocent people, guilty only perhaps of where they live, are dead. Thousands of them probably. And you say its their own fault. Hurricanes are 'natural disasters' if you didn't already know. To call you an immature, ignorant idiot would be too lenient. You are a sad sad pitiful excuse for a human being, and I'm presuming that you're only trying to wind people up her with this, which is worse.

By your rationale, Londoners deserved to die in those bombings because of their association with the US, and 9/11 deserved to happen too.

[Enough with the namecalling. --adam]

[Dodge]

It's the attitude of the people that sickens me.
They're so materialistic that they're looting everything and anything, rather than uniting to care for each other.
One black woman interviewed last night was crying that she hadn't eaten for 3 days. She was at least 25 stone. How could anyone pity her!? I read one report of a man who shot and killed his sister over a bag of rice.
Can any of us comprehend this?

The True American Spirit is being shown up for what it really is.
The greediest nation in the world!
So that’s 2 Peader. What about the other 260 Million Americans. TV will always focus on the exceptional person rather than a normal person. (the musl;im extremist being the prime example)20Its just the way it is. It doesn't mean every ****ing American is 25 stone. And even if they are, so ****ing what? If the worst thing a person does is eat to excess they're alright with me. Stop with the generalisations, it makes you look extremely stupid...

If it was me and I needed to eat, and there was nowhere to buy food, and no aid coming into the city. Damn right I'd loot. What other options are there?

Politically speaking this could be the thing that kills Bush. Good article in the English indo today about how much the Sea Defence bedget has been cut in recent years in order to fund other areas of "defence". The lack or urgency being shown has been massively criticised by even moderate commentators in the US.

[pete]

I'm not going to comment on Eannas posts as only gives more attention to it.

I must say i only started paying attention to the floods yesterday. I saw something on the news about big storm but they have a few of them every summer so didn't warrant attention.

New Orleans looks like will under water for months to come. I loved the way Bush waited for a few days before interrupting his HOLIDAY :rolleyes: & seems to be almost no emergency forces on the ground. Most of the people I saw on the news looked like could survive without food for weeks.

I think to compare with the tsunami is unfair to the asian people. Seems this was meerly extremely bad planning as knew storm on its way & knew more or less where it was going.

BTW taking food or even beer from a shop is hardly looting - its a bit different that taking a big TV.

I think Bush will get crucified in the polls as he clearly couldn't care less. Maybe the US will refocus its priorities now?

[Peadar]

If it was me and I needed to eat, and there was nowhere to buy food, and no aid coming into the city. Damn right I'd loot. What other options are there?

Watch the news, read the papers Dodge, it's not just food they're looting, it's anything which isn't nailed down.
Reports today suggest that even the police are looting.
They're behaving like wild animals!

[PaulB]

Watch the news, read the papers Dodge, it's not just food they're looting, it's anything which isn't nailed down.
Reports today suggest that even the police are looting.
They're behaving like wild animals!

And do you not think the same thing would happen over here? During disasters anywhere in the world looting happens, and will always continue to do so.

[Jerry The Saint]

I can never understand the type of attitude that many people have, as displayed by some in this thread - "ALL Americans are stupid idiots, they don't have a clue about what goes on in any other country".

And they say it's the Americans that don't understand irony. :rolleyes:

There's a sickening amount of glee at this disaster, as if it was some Old-Testament-style punishment inflicted on the American people (some of the very poorest American people) for the sins of their President, or their "way-of-life" or some other such bullsh*t.

How about if this attitude was turned around on ourselves? We live in a country that has an inadequate public transport infrastructure leading to above average levels of private car ownership. By the insane logic that Eanna's using ("Screw 'em. ya reap what you sew, and they're getting what they deserve.") every kid who dies in a car accident had it coming to them because of Government policy? :mad:

By the way Paul, there are very few people in Louisiana who would happily identify themselves as "Yanks" or "Yankees". Let's hope your "ignorance" doesn't come back to haunt you like the people in the southern United States.

[Poor Student]

I've been watching this on CNN the last few days. I'm still in disbelief that a natural disaster has claimed a modern Western city. It dents my faith in humanity a little to see people reverting to a Hobbsian natural state. :o :( I have the utmost sympathy for the inhabitants of the city but I also feel like some of the others in that I am astounded by the lack of preperation for this. There were pictures of a diabetic needing to be airlfted in an emergency. How could one not have enough insulin for several days in supply? I also get the feeling that not enough manpower has been mobilised by the federal government to take care of this due to the over stretching of US military resources. On a mildy positive note there has apparently been many a good gesture by the people of Texas to help out their trouble stricken compatriots.

[Dodge]

Watch the news, read the papers Dodge, it's not just food they're looting, it's anything which isn't nailed down.
Reports today suggest that even the police are looting.
They're behaving like wild animals!
The VAST majority of people are not looting anything other than food and maybe the odd bit of clothes. Of course there are some idiots taking electrical goods etc but mnost realise that with no homes, never mind power its pretty pointless. And you're as bad as the Americans you criticize if you believe everything in the media. They're obviously going to sensationalise stuff.

[patsh]

I think Bush will get crucified in the polls as he clearly couldn't care less.
Do this matter?
He is finished anyway, he's just filling in time now....

As usual, it's always the poorest that suffer, but it's a terrifying indictment of American society that it's probably one bad storm away from a return to the wild west....

[paul_oshea]

By the way Paul, there are very few people in Louisiana who would happily identify themselves as "Yanks" or "Yankees". Let's hope your "ignorance" doesn't come back to haunt you like the people in the southern United States.

i have lived there jerry i know, and no americans i know would consider themselves a yank, 90% wouldnt even know what the word yank means. and if thats the only thing you can pick up on, well...

[pete]

Did New Orleans have to happen? (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ep/didneworleanscatastrophehavetohappen)

Seems to be direct link to federal budget cuts. Still strange no evacuation as they knew storm coming but maybe its a class thing?

Best idea now would be to infill the City as be almost impossible to drain the water. At least then they'd have a City at or above sea level to reduce changes will happen again.

[Éanna]

F you Eanna, I suppose the Tsunami victims had it coming to them too. So the 900 or so Iraqis who were kill the other day at the Shia stampede. I hate that idiot Bush but to say that all this is his fault smacks of ignorence and spitefulness. There were plenty of warnings for people to get out some went, others didnt. Stock piling food would not do any good if your house if completely under water.

The recovery effort is being mismanaged so far but I don't think anyone could have predicted how bad this has turned out to be.
Classic american response. You can't come up with a response, so you use an insult. Run off to Fox news with your name calling.
There's a hint in one of your sentences:

There were plenty of warnings for people to get out some went, others didnt. DUH!


Jesus, the Anti-Americanism on this forum is sickening.
I'm totally anti-american, and I make no apologies for it whatsoever. The USA is a cancer on this entire planet.


You are a prize 1 *****..

So we're probably simialr since we voted in the haughey Muppets in the 80s who screwed us over for years, and are still doing it. Take your ****en blinkers off you muppet!
And again with the insults. Hope the mods are taking good notice of this :rolleyes: Paul, I'm a firm believer that you get what you vote for, and you deserve what you vote for. The majority of the irish electorate are idiots, which is why we're stuck in a country with crap infrastructure, crap public services and high prices. Why complain about it, when its the average "joe soap" who's responsible for it, by voting the ****s in in the first place. Like I said- you reap what you sew.


You have gone down in my estimation mate. Can you imagine how the children and old people are affected by what happening over there. People who gloat at such misfortune are obviously lacking in humanity. The fact is, the area affected is probably the poorest part of America and the people most affected are the poorest of that area. It reminds me of a Mad Max movie. I think this tragedy will cost George Bush dearly. I think the situation has been handled very badly by the authorities in the US, but I certainly won't be one of those sitting on a barstool tonight gloating at the ordinary people misfortune. Shame on you.
I'm not gloating about it at all. its terrible to see anyone die, particularly when it could have been avoided. But I find it impossible to have any sympathy for the USA considering the way it behaves.


Éanna, how would you feel if you were in the same situation and Americans were commenting on web forums that it was your own fault, because you elected Fianna Fáil and the PD's, because the Irish are all drunks? Your comments are an embarrassment.

adam
Like I said above, a country deserves the government elects. If something similar happened in Ireland and we were in the **** because of our governments negligence, we'd derserve it too, for voting the idiots into power. My comments may embarass people who want to be nicey-nice about things, I'm just stating fact as I see it, and I make no apology for it.


Innocent people, guilty only perhaps of where they live, are dead. Thousands of them probably. Its terrible, no-one should be left in that situation.


To call you an immature, ignorant idiot would be too lenient. You are a sad sad pitiful excuse for a human being, and I'm presuming that you're only trying to wind people up her with this, which is worse.Go on yeah. avoid the point and have a go. Nice one. I'm not trying to wind anyone up, that would be utterly childish. Just calling it as I see it. Sorry, I'll try and toe the party line next time will I :rolleyes:


By your rationale, Londoners deserved to die in those bombings because of their association with the US, and 9/11 deserved to happen too.Big difference. Most of Britain was against the war for starters.... The politicians in the US and Britain are the ones who deserved to get blown to bits, not the innocents.

[Éanna]

I By the insane logic that Eanna's using ("Screw 'em. ya reap what you sew, and they're getting what they deserve.") every kid who dies in a car accident had it coming to them because of Government policy? :mad: Did those kids vote for that government. Stop trying to twist what I said :rolleyes:

[Jerry The Saint]

Did those kids vote for that government. Stop trying to twist what I said :rolleyes:

My humblest apologies for misrepresenting you. So if the child's mother, a life-long Fianna Fáil voter, died would that be OK with you?

[paul_oshea]

eanna you are contradicting yourself you are saying you dont have sympathy for them on the one hand and on the other you say no innocents should die:

"Its terrible, no-one should be left in that situation."
"its terrible to see anyone die"

yet...

"we'd derserve it too, for voting the idiots into power"

"But I find it impossible to have any sympathy for the USA considering the way it behaves."



"Most of Britain was against the war for starters...." 40 something percent of americans were against the war also....

and yet you blame the politicians also, finally you then say the politicians should be blown up, but yet you blame the people who vote them in and in turn say they deserve what they got, because they voted them in, how many of those in new orleans voted for bush? you cant possibly know that, so to say that its their fault for someone else voting him in its just naivety and plain stupid!

confulstered?!?!?! :confused: :confused: i certainly am.

[joeSoap]

[Enough with the namecalling. --adam]

Fair point, but opinions like that really test your limits.

[Éanna]

Fair point, but opinions like that really test your limits.
If you're unable to debate rationally (a quality you've shown in abundance) then, yeah I'm sure they do :rolleyes:

[Éanna]

eanna you are contradicting yourself you are saying you dont have sympathy for them on the one hand and on the other you say no innocents should die:

"Its terrible, no-one should be left in that situation."
"its terrible to see anyone die"

yet...

"we'd derserve it too, for voting the idiots into power"

"But I find it impossible to have any sympathy for the USA considering the way it behaves."I don't see any contradiction. I have no sympathy for them, but I don't like to see innocent people die. Simple as that.

[Éanna]

My humblest apologies for misrepresenting you. So if the child's mother, a life-long Fianna Fáil voter, died would that be OK with you?
:rolleyes: Keep it up

[Dodge]

Answer him Eanna...

[drummerboy]

Screw 'em. They've plod aroung the planet making an envinronmental, political and cultural balls of the world and now they expect sympathy. They're getting what they deserve and I have no sympathy for them. "we have nothing." :rolleyes: Maybe if your government wasn't spending billions on a war on the other side of the world based on a personal vendetta, you' have had better flood defences. Tough **** USA

Sounds like gloating to me.

[rebs23]

Eanna,
Your comments are completely and utterly offensive and obnoxious and are more at home in the extreme opinions and political ideology which gave us the gulags of Russia and the concentration camps of Germany.Do the decent thing and withdraw them or else moderators please ban the guy.
Your intolerance is amazing.

[Poor Student]

Won't go into detail Éanna but I find your comments here reprehensible.

[Éanna]

Sounds like gloating to me.
Well its not meant to be, however it sounds. I'm not going to apologise for speaking my mind, like I said, its awful to see any innocent person suffer, let alone die, but I cannot bring myself to have sympathy for anything that happens in the USA considering what they're doing to the world right now on political, environmental and cultural levels

[Éanna]

Do the decent thing and withdraw them or else moderators please ban the guy.Why, for saying what I think? :rolleyes: You accuse me of being intolerant, and now you want to remove my right to free speech. Brilliant. :rolleyes:

[rebs23]

Why, for saying what I think? :rolleyes: You accuse me of being intolerant, and now you want to remove my right to free speech. Brilliant. :rolleyes:

Not for your right to express your views but because of what I and a lot of others percieve to be your gloating at the deaths of possibly thousands of mainly black poor americans who did not have the neccessary money or cars to evacuate.
People have been banned from this forum before for expressing racist and/or xenophobic political opinions. Your views of Americans,in my opinion, are completely objectionable and are equally distasteful as some of the views that have got people banned from this forum before.
Just apologise Eanna, I doubt you mean what you said.

[Éanna]

1. I'm not gloating. If it appeared to anyone that I was, I apologise for that, because it was not my intention.
2. I have never taken any pleasure in seeing innocent people suffer, let alone die. Quite the opposite. Its appalling.
3. Despite the 2 points above, I do not feel any sympathy for the USA over recent events, given its behaviour to the rest of the world. The individuals themselves, do deserve every sympathy, of course, but for the USA as an entity, I feel no sympathy whatsoever.

[ken foree]

eanna i'd say the majority of n. orleans voted for kerry given that about 80% of the city is black american. louisiana on the other hand is a red state overall, and as usual in this country, the poor are left to fend for themselves. the wealthy white were able to get out, the poor and infirm - where would they go? why didn't their state, local, federal government help them? n. orleans is a very corrupt city but such is the loathing of government assistance by the right wing here, so paranoid of communism are they that this 'get what you deserve' mentality starts to trump the humanitarian disaster. in short, i don't think the poor blacks of n. orleans are getting what they deserve!

[dahamsta]

1. I'm not gloating. If it appeared to anyone that I was, I apologise for that, because it was not my intention.
2. I have never taken any pleasure in seeing innocent people suffer, let alone die. Quite the opposite. Its appalling.
Screw 'em.
...
Tough **** USA.....

[shedite]

A few points about this disaster.

1) This thread is rubbish

2) New Orleans is truely hell on earth. The superdome is 30,000 people in a room with no airconditioning, food, showers or toilets (imagine the smell). On top of that, there's no law in there. Rapes and beatings are happening all day long.

3) Approxametley 90% of New Oreaners (?) evacuated. Some had places to go but many just went to random towns and asked for help. In the most parts, they got it. Decent people helping people out in their time of need.

4) Heard a radio show here last night where a woman came on compalining about the world being two-faced. Apparently America is helping the whole world and now nobody is helping America. She even singled out Bono - asking where is the concert he's organising???

5) I don't expect New Orleans ever to be the same again. It will take too long and too much money to rescue the survivors, remove the bodies, replace the dams, replace the pumps, drain the city, repair roads, electricity and telephone wires, rebuild the buildings and then try to convince business' to come back, knowing that this could all happen again in 12 months time

6) The media aren't doing people any favours calling it looting. What else are they supposed to do??? I'm sure amny of these people would be willing to pay for the food but there are simply no shops or nowhere to produce food.

[Aldini98]

I have to side with Eanna a little. Its hard to sympathise with the USA as a whole. Their recent enviornmental history is not great and add that to their leaders re-election and continuous mis treatment of Iraq wouldn't endear me to them. I agree that the poor are suffering and I hope they get looked after. This should not be turned into an anti-American thread.

[Éanna]

.....
I don't see how a lack of sympathy for the USA (not the individuals themselves) can be construed as gloating :confused:

[Éanna]

Its hard to sympathise with the USA as a whole. Their recent enviornmental history is not great and add that to their leaders re-election and continuous mis treatment of Iraq wouldn't endear me to them. I agree that the poor are suffering and I hope they get looked after. This should not be turned into an anti-American thread.
You've actually said what I wanted to say a whole lot better than I managed to say it :o

[sligoman]

Eanna, you criticised me before about been a "racist". Do you not think, by what your saying, that you are been racist against Americans? :confused:

[Dodge]

Americans aren't a race Sligoman. Bringing up an old battle with Eanna helps no one...