New Orleans disaster

[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.

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?

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. 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?

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 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

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?

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

[Jerry The Saint]

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

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?!?!?! 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

[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?

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." 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? You accuse me of being intolerant, and now you want to remove my right to free speech. Brilliant.