that people are stupid and greedy enough to rob, shoot and start a riot through the devastation

you're right about that. but what i was wondering was if the government took control of the situation before it led to that, would this really be an issue?

people are just crazy in times like this. i dont see how shooting would help the problem. there are already people dying without their medication. why make it worse.

i almost wanted to cry when i saw all of the elderly people and mothers with newborn children starving to death in America, supposedly the number one country in the world.

and do you believe that only 20 countries offered to donate money and help?

I think there's a slight lack of psychics in our administration. now really, how could it have been handled? it doesn't look much better to threaten victims unabetted than it does to have people get out of hand of their own accord. i don;t think it could have been avoided

it is , its sad to see the number one country, with all this happening in our own country, you think we could of prevented most this with all the smart people in our country.

if there were policemen arresting the criminals or atleast clearing out all of the gun shops so that they wouldn't be available to them, that would atleast HELP.

like i've been saying, this could've all been planned out days, maybe even weeks before Katrina hit. You can't just excuse the administration and say "well, they thought that it wouldn't be so severe."

i'm going to bed...i'll argue more about this in the morning after i see if there's been any progress in louisiana.

my hopes go out to all of those whose lives were affected by Hurricane Katrina in any way.

^ with all this happeneing it just makes it seem like the world is really ending....

Well, what exactly was the government supposed to do? People were warned--a mandatory evacuation was ordered for New Orleans and several other areas. What more can the government do?

exactly. You cannot blame Bush for people in the ghetto who insist on being violent and shooting people. He didn't tell them to do that. bush didn't sit on tv and say, If there is ever a crisis, please, shoot eachother and the police, steal everything you can get your hands on. Thats just f**ked up people. The really stupid thing is these people are clinging onto these material things, when they don't know if they are going to make it through the week. Its like, what good is a pair of nikes going to do you when you have no food? So you can stop trying to blame bush for that one. And you also can't blame Bush for global warming, because global warming began before he was born. Its a problem we've had for a very long time, and at this rate, we are probably going to keep having it becuase no one seems to know what to do about it. Watch the Day after Tomorrow. Yes, the events are extreme, but its all based on the very realy effects of global warming. Bush didn't start the earth, he didn't start abising resources, so he can;t be blamed. He is just another product of society. We all are. So many of us drive instead of walk. So this must be your fault. Whatever. This could have happened to anyone. But since it happened here, now its Bush' fault. I dont support or not support Bush, I don't care, but I do not beleive in bestowing blame where it is not deserved. And tell me something, since everyone knew about this hurricane over a week before it hit New Orleans, why didn't they get themselves out??! The people that live there should know better than anyone the kind of damage a hurricane could cause. Many stayed until the day beofre, or even hours before. Besides, if you saw the footage, since the hurricane had weakened, in theory they all would have survived, but the levy broke and flooded everything. If that levy hadn't broken, this wouldn't even be an issue. But who could know the levy would brake. Who could know the water would start rising. the thing about natural disasters is that they are unpredicatble. We can try, but its weather. Its not going to do what we want it to do. Things don't always hold up to it the way we wish. What next? Are we going to be blaming bush for Tornados that ravage cities? For not evactuating 150,000 people 3 mnutes before the thing gets there? Give me a break.

Of course he's not at fault. How could he be? What? He's supposed to control the weather now? How quick some of you are to place blame for a natural disaster. Natural being the key word. It's unpredictable. Sure they knew about it but they didn't know exactly what would happen, exactly how it would turn out, they aren't f**king fortune tellers. Yes. The government knew ahead of time. I think there most likely would have been less deaths if people actually listened to the warnings and left their homes and left the states instead of thinking they could handle it. But did people? No. It was mandatory for them to leave. They obviously knew ahead of time too, it's not like it was some big secret. They had plenty of time to book it out of there. And about the looters and all the chaos. Honestly, what the hell do you expect? C'mon now, let's not be ignorant. Of course after a natural disaster like this there is going to be chaos and like others have said, it's our own f**ked up society's fault that people feel the need to go out and rape and steal. Why? Because we're selfish. And gas prices? We should be worried about more important things. Yeah, it is important. I know. I pay $60 to fill up my tank, I know what a big deal it is. But is it Bush's fault that the prices were basically forced to rise due to again, a natural disaster? Negative. It's not. People just feel like placing blame on someone. Why? This makes them feel more secure about their own position and whatever else. I mean, that's like blaming so and so because of the tsunami disaster. How completely ludicrous. This is like our own little version of the tsunamis yet when that was going on, who was blamed for it? It's normal for us to feel pity, sorrow, sympathy, whatever else but placing blame is unnecessary especially when the blame doesn't even fit. Instead of saying, "Bush sucks; it's all his fault" why not go and do something to help the people out there? It is definitely not his fault. And also, a little tip to people out there, don't believe 100% of everything you hear and see on the news. Even the news is biased and they show what they want and things like that. You aren't getting the whole complete truth so it's not fair to base all of your opinions just on what you see.

Quoted for truth. The people were told there was danger coming, that they had to leave, and they chose to stay. And I believe this is the first time we've been on the same side of an argument .



The policemen are there. The national guard is there. The problem was, the police had no way to communicate. If a single officer encounters a gang, he can't call for backup. The only thing the police can do is patrol the city.

You know what would help a lot? If the people weren't acting like animals and taking advantage of the disaster, that would help a lot. It's impossible to excuse their behavior.

When the terrorists hit the WTC, NYC was in a pretty chaotic state. The difference was that people chose to work with the police and each other. In New Orleans, the troublemakers are just concerned with themselves. They want to hijack the ambulances so that they can get out of New Orleans. They want to shoot down the helicopters so that they can't be seen looting. Sure, there were people who exploited the situation, but so many more people put the safety of the general public above their own wants.

You have to remember that a lot of the people COULDN'T evacuate because they were handicapped or had no automobile to actually get out.

yea thats true...lucky i evacuted da day before it came...n it took me 14 hours to get to lake charles...bcuz all the traffic....lucky i herd my neighborhood n my house is still standing......lucky it didnt get flooded.....im thankful...

Then what are all of those parked cars we see in the news? And wasn't there bus service? Honestly, if I was a handicapped person, and I knew a category 5 hurricane was coming my way, I'd make sure that I got out while the sun was still shining.

actually, i was watching the same things you were and FOX did say that there were plans but they didn't plan for this kind of devastation. they prepared for a level 3 hurricane NOT 5. This is from FOX. So, you see, they did plan, but not very well because the weather has a mind of its own. your saying that we didn't take the warnings seriously is unfair. the simulation of the hurricane was of a level 3, not 5 and we prepared for 3.




i believe that it's better to be safe than sorry as much as you even more so. you know, if i had thought it would be this severe when the warnings came up, i'd get my ass and my family out of there in ONE day without waiting to hear from the government. my family has done that before when warnings about el nino came up in california years ago. the fact is that people there didn't think that it would be a big deal, so they stayed. the people believed that and so did the government. government is made up of people. do you see where i'm going with this?

I think it's unfair to say that the disabled people could've gotten out, when you don't really know every single person's living situation looking in from the outside. I believe there was a man that was interviewed while he was inside the convention center and he said that there was no public transportation provided for the people that couldn't get out.



But you see, my problem and concern is that if THIS is the way that the government acts when there's a hurricane, how prepared are they going to be if there's anothre terrorist attack? it's scary.

*sigh* i do understand your concern and i worry for those people, too. i can't imagine what i would do if Katrina had hit houston instead. i would also say that the government was under-prepared for a level 5 hurricane because they expected a level 3. you know, after 9/11 we learned to be more cautious, hopefully after Katrina, the government will over-prepare in the future. it is a mistake to not be prepared for Katrina knowing now how bad it was, but it is an honest mistake, in my opinion.

for now, i don't think it's the right time to be upset. it's the time to encourage any aid available for these people as soon as possible. we can be upset after lives are saved and all those people are safe from chaos and sickness.

You realize that that wouldn't be the case. Just because a person is disabled does not mean they're compleyely unable to go anywhere. They don't just sit and rot in their homes. If they'd have taken the MANDITORY EVACTUATION seiously, they certainly could have found a way

I was watching something on the weather channel that said the were prepering for a level 5 hurricane. And in fact what his new orleans was NOT a level 5. It was a strong 3. If it had been a level 5, new orleans would be literally gone. There would not be that many survivors. That hurricane weakened way more than any one expected it would before it hit New Orleans. The reason it is flooded is because the levy broke. they were already expecting the worst case secnario. There was very little they could do with such little preparation however. If they had known 20 years ago this hurricane was coming, and know exactly when, then they would have been more prepared. But a little over a week doesn't give you much time. It just comes down to the fact that weather is unpredicable. But y'all need to understand that the destrcution is not because of the strength of the hurricane, its because the levys broke. If you look at some of the footage, there is a whole side of New Orleans thats survived the hurricane with no flood damage, but thats on the other side of where the levy broke. It was a bunch of bad things happening all at once.

Obviously it's not Bush's fault. My reason?

Exactly what she said.

As Michael said, people WERE warned. They just weren't prepared for a huge crisis like this.

I don't blame Bush for the hurricane happening. To do so would be straight and pure idiocy. I do, however, blame his administration for their rather sluggish reply to the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina. I'm not talking about preventing the hurricane from hitting. Only omnipotent beings can prevent natural disasters and we all know that President Bush is not one of those....

What I am talking about is the fact that those people had to go 3-4 days without water and food. If we can have food and fresh water on the ground in Sri Lanka within a day of a major disaster, why couldn't we have it in Louisiana within a day?

I don't blame the people in New Orleans and Mississippi for "looting" and "stealing" things like water, food, diapers, clothes, medicine and other necessities. Now, do I think it's ok for these people to go steal anything that's not nailed down?? No. Do I think that it is ok for people to take what they and their children need to survive in a horrible and lawless place that has no system to offer them anything?? Yes.

That's where I personally draw the line....

It's only twenty countries because barely anyone likes America. Seriously.

And I completely agree with antix10_kos. It's not Bush's fault at all, but come on. I just don't understand how they couldn't do anything for four days. That is a really long time for no one to take action in an event like this.

Well, at the very least, Bush admitted that relief efforts are not going well. Thank god he admitted one thing he did was wrong:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050902/ap_on_...wh/katrina_bush

^ They gotta get everyone out. They're in the process of thinking on where to put people, and how to organize and such.


Oh but haven't you heard? The goverment is supposed to be controlling the weather now.

Well, it's not as though Bush has direct control over FEMA or the National Guard, so how can it be his fault, even if the efforts are not going well?