New Orleans
Right now I'm watching the President on Fox 4, special broadcast thing. He's being briefed on the hurricane Katrina situation by the coast guard and other various etc.
But it still doesn't seem like enough. I was listening to the worsening situation on the BBC Overnight while at work. The mayor of New Orleans has probably burned his career, but sometimes you have to stick your neck out to see that anything gets done. It's worth pointing out that it's largely the poor and the uninsured that are still stuck in New Orleans--unable to follow the evacuation order, when it was issued, because they lacked the resources so to do.
The problem with New Orleans seems to have been that there were initial promises of aid, then nothing but foot dragging. Gee, it's funny--I seem to recall the same thing happening with aid we'd promised to third world countries in the wake of various disasters. Ah, and now the TV has gone back to "Texas Justice". I don't get it--when Columbine happened, it was wall to wall coverage all over. But when an event like this happens, one which is, for once, truly worthy to be dubbed "tragedy", the TV just doesn't seem very interested. hmm.
Some quotes from Mayor Ray Nagin from the article linked to above:
"We're getting reports and calls that [are] breaking my heart from people saying, 'I've been in my attic. I can't take it anymore. The water is up to my neck. I don't think I can hold out.' And that's happening as we speak."
"I need reinforcements," he pleaded. "I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. This is a national disaster.
"I've talked directly with the president," he said. "I've talked to the head of the homeland security. I've talked to everybody under the sun."
"I've been out there man. I flew in these helicopters, been in the crowds talking to people crying, don't know where their relatives are. I've done it all man, and I'll tell you man, I keep hearing that it's coming. This is coming, that is coming. And my answer to that today is BS, where is the beef? Because there is no beef in this city. "
Nagin said, "Get every Greyhound bus in the country and get them moving."
Nagin called for a moratorium on press conferences "until the resources are in this city."
"They're feeding the people a line of bull, and they are spinning and people are dying," he said.
"I don't know whether it's the governor's problem, or it's the president's problem, but somebody needs to get ... on a plane and sit down, the two of them, and figure this out right now," Nagin said.
"They thinking small, man, and this is a major, major deal," he said.
"Get off your asses and let's do something."
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin
But it still doesn't seem like enough. I was listening to the worsening situation on the BBC Overnight while at work. The mayor of New Orleans has probably burned his career, but sometimes you have to stick your neck out to see that anything gets done. It's worth pointing out that it's largely the poor and the uninsured that are still stuck in New Orleans--unable to follow the evacuation order, when it was issued, because they lacked the resources so to do.
The problem with New Orleans seems to have been that there were initial promises of aid, then nothing but foot dragging. Gee, it's funny--I seem to recall the same thing happening with aid we'd promised to third world countries in the wake of various disasters. Ah, and now the TV has gone back to "Texas Justice". I don't get it--when Columbine happened, it was wall to wall coverage all over. But when an event like this happens, one which is, for once, truly worthy to be dubbed "tragedy", the TV just doesn't seem very interested. hmm.
Some quotes from Mayor Ray Nagin from the article linked to above:
"We're getting reports and calls that [are] breaking my heart from people saying, 'I've been in my attic. I can't take it anymore. The water is up to my neck. I don't think I can hold out.' And that's happening as we speak."
"I need reinforcements," he pleaded. "I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. This is a national disaster.
"I've talked directly with the president," he said. "I've talked to the head of the homeland security. I've talked to everybody under the sun."
"I've been out there man. I flew in these helicopters, been in the crowds talking to people crying, don't know where their relatives are. I've done it all man, and I'll tell you man, I keep hearing that it's coming. This is coming, that is coming. And my answer to that today is BS, where is the beef? Because there is no beef in this city. "
Nagin said, "Get every Greyhound bus in the country and get them moving."
Nagin called for a moratorium on press conferences "until the resources are in this city."
"They're feeding the people a line of bull, and they are spinning and people are dying," he said.
"I don't know whether it's the governor's problem, or it's the president's problem, but somebody needs to get ... on a plane and sit down, the two of them, and figure this out right now," Nagin said.
"They thinking small, man, and this is a major, major deal," he said.
"Get off your asses and let's do something."
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin