(no subject)

[theweaselking]

New Orleans has been destroyed. After the initial mention of "bodies everywhere" and thousands dead - and after FEMA stopped saying that their projections predicted 30% casualties for the 30,000 people trapped in New Orleans - the dead have stopped being mentioned. They're *gone* from the coverage.

That's disturbing. Non-US news agencies are covering the death tolls, still, but they're using numbers pulled out of their asses because nobody on the ground will give any kind of an estimate.

Here's the scary part:
The Canadian government offered any help it could give, including the best disaster response team on the planet, kept ready to go on a moment's notice to anywhere in the world - and the US government won't answer the phone to let them across the border.

The Russians offered their own disaster relief team. The US turned it down, refusing to allow it to enter the USA.

The UN offered any help it could arrange. Unlike Canada, they got an answer: "Thank you for your offer" - but all further questions like "what do you need, and where" have been ignored.

Venezuela offered assistance. Turned down.

The Swiss? The French? The Germans? The English? The Austrians? Same deal.

Extra-scary: The massive right-wing spin machine, that fought in court for it's right to falsify the news, is focusing *all* reporting on looting, violence... and how the world is never there to help the USA.

Meanwhile, the area is in complete chaos, with nobody in charge, no disaster preparation done, completely inadequate organisation - and no help coming, because the US Government is refusing it.

Comments

[anivair.livejournal.com]

::sigh::

More proof that we have the worst goveronment on hte planet. I'm neither surprised notr moved anymore. Every time the goveronment proves that they're made up of people drug directly from the bung-hold of evil I care less and less. As far as I'm converned they no longer matter. If they want to let people die I can't stop them. If they want to turn down aid because it benefits the extreme right politically I can't stop them either. Whatever.

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

Three words.

What. The. Fuck!??

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

(Yes, I do have vague ideas of "what" the fuck. It's just not as pointlessly cathartic to write them.)

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

It's this kind of shit that makes me want to get out of this country and to somewhere with a remotely sane administration.

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

Good job on the apologetics for the corrupt and incompetent administration!

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty disturbed by the foxites saying that nothing's coming, but there's a time line in coordination. If in another couple days there's no list of "okay, here's what you can do" forthcoming that's much more upsetting. Local Red Cross is still mid mobilization.

I've continued to see death toll estimates, but I must admit I'm getting most news from the web and radio, not the TV.


Based on what we've seen so far I'd expect the lack of "you can do X and Y and Z" is more that nobody's gotten organized enough yet to make that response. And that we've been lucky enough in the past to not have a sufficient need to do so.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

Urf. I missed the president's speech last night, and missed the bit about "We have not asked for help from any country."

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

Which is a wonderful comment on the inadequacy of our public education system!
Thanks again!

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

Right, because, somehow, that makes us "strong" and not "retarded".

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

That makes sense to me.
BTW was using the madeup word Foxite to mean right-wing-"news"-organizations.

And as far as no more death toll reporting, it's within the first couple paragraphs of this New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/national/nationalspecial/01storm.html?th&emc=th)

[missysedai.livejournal.com]

do you realize that there are real people with real feelings on the other side of your computer screen?

One might ask you the same question.

Clue: SHE'S FROM NEW ORLEANS!

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

I realized that your second comment was tongue-in-cheek; if you read theweasleking's journal, you're not that stupid.
It still remains the case that the American public education system is a sad joke.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

We have always been at war with Oceania.

[thette.livejournal.com]

No, it's not her. Same userpic, though.

[missysedai.livejournal.com]

You are correct. Good gods, I see that icon and think Leigh every time.

The non-clue-giving portion of my comment still stands, however.

[vagabond27.livejournal.com]

"The United States said it is thankful to Russia for the readiness to provide assistance in eliminating the consequences of the Katrina hurricane, but believes it can handle the crisis on its own."

Sounds like a refusal of help to me.

[korenwolf.livejournal.com]

New Orleans has been destroyed. After the initial mention of "bodies everywhere" and thousands dead [...] That's disturbing. Non-US news agencies are covering the death tolls, still, but they're using numbers pulled out of their asses

From a practical standpoint I can't say I blame them for giving fuzzy numbers at best for the dead / injured. Trying to sort the bodies in the water and get them counted and work out which are victims of the disaster and which are bodies rising from the disturbed ground is going to be a task I wish on no-one.

Looking at the situation from afar (the UK) I'm guessing we're into thousands of dead from the initial flooding and it's effects and then a significant number more resulting from the conditions which the flooding is creating and the collapse of society within the disaster area.

Good luck to everyone affected by Katrina.

Just Passing Through

[luxorien.livejournal.com]

I dunno. The government's actions are only egregious if accepting foreign aid would provide some help that America cannot provide on its own. But from everything I have been reading, the response from American disaster relief organizations is pretty much doing everything humanly possible. They need money right now more than anything else.

If my local fire department were putting out my house and my neighbors kindly arrived with buckets of water, I might say "thanks, but I think it's covered right now".

But perhaps there is some news report I am missing. Although, I have seen a lot of wild estimates about the death toll. Nobody seems to have any idea how many people are actually dead. I suppose we won't know for quite some time.

[anivair.livejournal.com]

assuming you're being serious and assuming I know what the hell i'm talking about (both huge assumptions) I think she's talking about the Fox News people.

And i agree. it's not only irresponsible but outright fradulent of the news to say that we're not getting help when it's been offered from nearly everywhere on earth and we're just not taking it.

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

Oh, come on. I'm no fan of the current administration, but calling them the *worst* government on the planet is giving them too much credit, and, more importantly, setting the bar way too low for future outrages. 'Cause, like, North Korea, dude.

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

Emergency response teams from the Pacific Northwest left this morning. Stuff is happening.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

Yah. And Red Cross is training folks around here for 3 week deployment.

[(Anonymous)]

Heartbreaking enough that there are "bodies everywhere", I personally approve that the focus is on getting those alive out of the area first. There are people who have not had potable water or food since the disaster, and time is not on their side. For that matter, I am angry at the news crews and think they should be using their gasoline to shuttle people out instead of filming them.

I am grateful other countries have offered help. Thank you, to all the countries that have offered help. May we accept the help when we are able to use it.

Re: Just Passing Through

[jerril]

Comparing the DART team to some neighbors with buckets of water is a tad harsh. One of the things most needed in that region is clean water, and DART has an incredible, mobile, immediately deployable water filtration system that got its "baptism by fire" in the Tsunami.

Re: Just Passing Through

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

DART?