up in the mourning
<< Sep 1, 2005 @ 09:59 >>
I wrote this for the K mailing list, then I was just going to send it to the news department, now I'm not sending it at all:
The single deadliest day in Iraq... It wasn't a bomb or a gun. The *human voice* killed now 950+ people. I can't even wrap my head around that one. I cringe when the radio reports 5-10 dead due to a bomb (on, sadly, a nearly daily basis). But over 950 dead?! In a matter of minutes, maybe seconds, because of a panic? A hurricane rolls in, which of course we knew was coming for days... and maaaaaaaybe it killed more people (let's hope not, we'll see). But that's over hours, and due to a huge storm and flooding. Nine-Hundred and Fifty-plus people. Dead. Almost instantly. No weapons used.
I don't even know what that means.
Now I'm going to shake my finger at Radio K news. Next time you're going to regurgitate an AP story about how terrorists are happy the hurricane killed Americans (because some guy in a chat room said so), you could maybe consider reporting on how nobody gives a shit about the fact the death toll for one single day in Iraq went from 650 to 950. I'm sure this guy is dancing in the street about hurricanes:
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20050901&hn=23582
That's not to say the social, economic, human, and historical toll of New Orleans' destruction isn't right there in the forefront of my mind, too. Because it is.
Nobody needs to get all defensive. I've already forgiven you. I just wanted to you to really stop and think a minute about the real depth of human tragedy, worldwide.
I have plenty of deep thoughts about New Orleans I might share later. If you follow the news closely, and do a little homework of your own (rather than just consuming what gets shoved down your throat), you get a mental picture that is as fantastic as it is terrible. Streets littered with slot machines... neighborhoods that simply aren't there...
Reader Comments...
September 1, 2005 @ 17:18:18
Christy (monster)
Oh, that's heartbreaking. How terrifying it must have been for the people running through the crowd, fearing for their lives and the lives of their loved ones.
On the hurricane note: I read a really creepy blogpage with an ad that says, "I'm so tired of meeting liberals at the bar!" and the slogan of the dating service is "sweethearts, not bleeding hearts". The list of places to learn about the hurricane and how to help is pretty astounding, too. You can check it out at michellemalkin (dot) com. (I didn't type the URL because trackbacks scare me)
September 1, 2005 @ 18:06:55
xopl (#001)
Sweethearts, not bleeding hearts, eh? Let us not forget that these are all red states... they voted for Bush... who was smiling and playing guitar yesterday for a press photo. Dick.
All these relief efforts are total bullshit as well. If there is one thing you learn from relief efforts, it is that most of the perishables (food/blood) are thrown away, and much of the money is wasted/lost/imbezzled. Money and food aren't going to do a damn thing... we need people to actually start BRINGING the damn supplies to the people. Get in your fucking boats and drive over there. How hard can this be? Commandeer some civilian vessels that are close, fill them up with food commandeered from stores... and get the job done. People are dying RIGHT NOW. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people were just dumped at the Superdome and Conference Center without supplies or help or officials to keep order.
They are telling people to wait. That help is on the way. That it takes time for the boats and helicopters and trucks to get down there...
THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN READY AS SOON AS THE STORM HIT.
Bush will try to tell you nobody thought it would be this bad. That's fucking bullshit. *ALL* the experts said this is EXACTLY what would happen if New Orleans got hit with a Cat4/5 hurricane.
Bush will tell you that this isn't the time to be political. This isn't the time to point fingers. What a fucking cop-out. Maybe if he hadn't cut hurricane/food project funding to fund the war on terrorism we'd be better off right now.
Bush needs to go... his whole administration needs to go. Everybody is like "pull our troops out of Iraq Bush." Well you know what? We can't do that. We're fucked and now we have to stay in Iraq. But what we DON'T have to do is keep these fuck-ups as our executive branch. Bush is right, we can't take our troops out of Iraq... but he's not the one who should lead them anymore. He got us into that fucking mess for all the wrong reasons, with all the wrong foresight. He failed. Flat out failed. He needs to resign, and let someone else lead our forces over there. That is the happy medium.. the compromise. The troops stay, Bush goes.
WTF does that have to do with the hurricane? Nothing at all. But Bush's fuckup on the hurricane is reason number 2 he should resign.
September 1, 2005 @ 18:23:16
sith33 (#999)
Oh, even better, Michael Fucking Chertoff on NPR saying that he hadn't heard about the folks at the convention center, and that NPR shouldn't believe rumors (they had a fucking reporter at the convention center), and then said the folks there should just go somewhere with food...
September 1, 2005 @ 18:39:12
xopl (#001)
And they pay taxes. We pay taxes for them. Why should we have to donate shit? Where's the fucking Federal and State governments?
AND, maybe rather than saying the various coastal protection/restoration programs were "too expensive" we could have spent a *tiny* *fraction* of what the cleanup, rescue, and rebuild costs will be on some prevention.
September 1, 2005 @ 19:02:10
sith33 (#999)
And now Dubya's gonna show up and give people hugs and say "We're gonna win!" ra ra. Fucking hell.
September 1, 2005 @ 19:24:02
xopl (#001)
Whatever... they've got it all solved. The day is saved.
September 2, 2005 @ 09:00:07
xopl (#001)
Apparently Fats Domino is missing... I didn't even know he was still alive in the first place.
Let's hope he was finding his thrill up on blueberry hill, above floodwater levels.
September 2, 2005 @ 09:26:19
sith33 (#999)
They found him a while ago. Or at least, they know he got out safe, cause there was a picture of him getting loaded off a boat after being rescued.
September 2, 2005 @ 10:31:15
xopl (#001)
Me to Radio K: You should play Fats Domino.
Radio K: Our Fats Domino CD was stolen.
Me: ain't that a shame...
September 2, 2005 @ 11:07:49
xopl (#001)
With the government falling on its face to help people when WE KNEW there was a hurricane coming... what does that tell us about our homeland security, and what would happen if a city was nuked or dirty bombed or biologically attacked, etc. It tells us that city would be royally and totally fucked.
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/02/the_gulf_of_mexico_w.html
September 4, 2005 @ 11:16:54
xopl (#001)
"They killed a man here last night," Steve Banka, 28, told the Reuters news agency before he left on Sunday.
A body lies face down in water next to the Superdome. Death was everywhere, both inside and outside the Superdome
"A young lady was being raped and stabbed. And the sounds of her screaming got to this man and so he ran out into the street to get help from troops, to try to flag down a passing truck of them. He jumped up on the truck's windscreen and they shot him dead," Mr Banka said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4213214.stm
September 4, 2005 @ 17:50:39
Christy (monster)
That's scary... I can't believe that stuff happened there. It totally sounds like Lord of the Flies.
September 4, 2005 @ 22:10:06
xopl (#001)
Letter to Bush from Michael Moore.
Letter to Bush from New Orleans newspaper.
Interview video clip.
September 5, 2005 @ 10:59:01
xopl (#001)
too fucking little, too fucking late
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/05/katrina_uav_drones_s.html
September 5, 2005 @ 11:03:44
xopl (#001)
Our officers have been urinating and defecating in the basement of Harrah's Casino," Police Superintendent Eddie Compass said last week. "They have been going in stores to feed themselves."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/04/katrina.police.ap/index.html
September 5, 2005 @ 11:06:37
xopl (#001)
Despite the discomfort, guests like Noel Rowell stay put. He has no gas and no money, so he, his girlfriend and three children do the only thing they can: "We're sitting back, waiting for the United States of America to take care of us."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/04/katrina.motel.ap/index.html
September 6, 2005 @ 09:18:22
Christy (monster)
I just got an email from my friend Joe Cusack (or Johnny Z as sith insisted on calling him) saying that he's been volunteering for the Red Cross and is going down to NO. That made my day.
September 6, 2005 @ 09:58:42
xopl (#001)
"The world saw this tidal wave of disaster" hit the Gulf Coast, Bush said at the Red Cross center. "Now they're going to see a tidal wave of compassion."
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&client=safari&rls=en&q=bush+tidal+wave+of+compassion&btnG=Search
September 6, 2005 @ 11:26:15
xopl (#001)
Black people loot.
White people find.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/katrina/looters.asp
September 6, 2005 @ 15:25:58
xopl (#001)
The US government should be forbidden from producing any content whatsoever that can only be accessed via proprietary means. Especially when it comes to emergencies. Right now important parts of FEMA's website are only usable with IE6 on Windows. Everybody at FEMA needs to be fired.
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/06/fema_to_mac_linux_us.html
September 6, 2005 @ 17:21:55
sith33 (#999)
But how could you have FEMA without <MARQUEE> tags! Or, do other browsers support those nowadays? Or did they just get tossed?
September 6, 2005 @ 22:46:58
xopl (#001)
If you're going to watch one pissed off reporter's editorial this year... here's the one:
http://media.putfile.com/OlbermannSwings
September 7, 2005 @ 09:09:13
xopl (#001)
We're fucked:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/07/katrina.congress/index.html
I can't believe these politicians are spinning this to avoid taking the blame. You have no idea how angry that makes me. These are people elected by us, and are accountable to us, and the only reason they have a job at all is to hold our society together. And then when they fail, they push the blame around to protect their political party? This is not ok.
September 7, 2005 @ 10:04:03
xopl (#001)
I actually approve of this statement:
"Lt. Gen. Russel Horne told CNN the task of removing people against their will was a law enforcement job and that the military would continue to deliver food and water to the survivors still in the city."
I think that is smart for the military to be careful of what role it is pulled into, even if the local cops do need help getting people to leave the city.
September 7, 2005 @ 18:09:56
xopl (#001)
Were those reported explosions actually the army bombing certain levees to flood the non-tourist parts of town?
Are they keeping the fringe press out?
Are they keeping the black people hostage?
Yes, to all three.
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/07/katrina_rape_murder_.html
September 7, 2005 @ 22:33:47
xopl (#001)
Burnette said the zoo took pointers from the Miami zoo after deadly Hurricane Andrew struck in 1992, then the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
"We have worked closely with Miami MetroZoo ever since Hurricane Andrew, and we totally revised our hurricane plan after talking to them. We have a protocol we go through whenever we know something's brewing," she said.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/09/07/katrina.zoos/index.html
So the zoo people have done research and developed a plan to save the zoo animals... but the feds can't do the same for people.