In the US, they were holding a star studded fun raising event, and Kanye West (Afro-American Hip-Hop star for you guys who are unfamiliar) and this is what he said which was agaisnt the auto-cue/script
""If you see a black family, it says they're looting. See a white family, it says they're looking for food."
To Imaad and other trust worthy American bro's and sis', what is the feeling about this scenario upon the Afro Americans among the American public? I saw an interview with Jesse Jackson on CNN today too and he was outraged.
The vast majority of looters I have seen on TV and news reports have been African-American. This is not a surprise since the majority of the N.O. inner city population is African-American.
Kanye, though, is over-exageratting this situation.
It matters not to me if the looters were white or black. A criminal is a criminal.
Most Americans are outraged this happened the way it did, but to varying degrees and different people put the blame on different persons/agencies.
I put the blame first on the government of New Orleans, it is their prime responsibility to insure the safety of its citizens and this government should hae been better prepared for something like this.
Second the blame goes to the state of Louisiana government for the same reasons.
America is a diverse nation so you will see a great diversity of opinion.
People are incensed at the government's slow response. Truck drivers had their vehicles loaded with water on Monday as the storm hit, but for some reason they were held back until Thursday.
Peace
All the roads into New Orleans were severly damaged, trees and powerlines down everywhere.
Not so easy to just drive there and helos were needed in every part of the gulf region.
I think the federal response was rather good considering the sheer scale of destruction.
The federal government of the US is the most powerful in the world. The state governments you mention obviously do not have the resources and manpower available to the federal government; they were totally overwhelmed and crying out for help for days. No satisfactory explanation has been given for the delay; I suppose we will hear more about it in the upcoming inquiries.
Do you really think the state governments should shoulder the larger part of the blame?
All the roads into New Orleans were severly damaged, trees and powerlines down everywhere.
Not so easy to just drive there and helos were needed in every part of the gulf region.
Helicopters? The coast guard helicopters were deployed; do you know if military helicopters from Fort Rucker, Alabama were sent too? Last I heard they were waiting for the order...
Many police officers abandoned their jobs because they had lost their homes and everything else, like so many of the people.
Gun sales are on the rise as people try to protect themselves in the newly anarchic environment.
It's an unbelievable human tragedy, but unlike the tsunami, this one has been predicted for years. The geographical situation of New Orleans, surrounded by water, made this catastrophe inevitable.
It doesn't come as a huge surprise to learn that funds allocated for installing preventative flood defences for New Orleans have been slashed by the current administration of the federal government, in order to allow for maximised spending elsewhere...
Many police officers abandoned their jobs because they had lost their homes and everything else, like so many of the people.
Gun sales are on the rise as people try to protect themselves in the newly anarchic environment.
sorry to hear about it.Bangladesh I think is going to give a million dollars and other countries are also donating.Let's hope things get better quickly.
The federal government of the US is the most powerful in the world.
That has nothing to do with what happened.
The state governments you mention obviously do not have the resources and manpower available to the federal government; they were totally overwhelmed and crying out for help for days. No satisfactory explanation has been given for the delay; I suppose we will hear more about it in the upcoming inquiries.
I just gave them to you in the post you quoted. You can't just make everything magically appear in the middle of a flooded and destroyed city.
Do you really think the state governments should shoulder the larger part of the blame?
I think Mississippi and Alabama have handled their situation well.
I do think the governments of New Orleans and Louisiana are directly responsible for NOT GETTING THOSE PEOPLE OUT OF THERE.
It doesn't come as a huge surprise to learn that funds allocated for installing preventative flood defences for New Orleans have been slashed by the current administration of the federal government, in order to allow for maximised spending elsewhere...
Peace
LOL. Yeap, this, like everything else, is obviously Bush's fault...
Imaad, you make a lot of good points. You're absolutely right that more should have been done to evacuate people from New Orleans, and that the roads were blocked, thus stopping water trucks moving in. However, the army, (as far as I can tell - please correct me if I'm wrong), did not step in until three days had passed since the hurricane. Many things are obviously still unclear at this stage.
Lots of things could have been done differently in response to this tragedy, and perhaps some organisations could have performed better; hindsight is always clearer. However, I believe the federal government could have provided better assistance by deploying the military more effectively. Why couldn't they deploy the military more effectively? You tell me.
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:zip: Interesting...........................
now back on topic.
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