Katrina sniper.
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Katrina sniper.
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 Project III Send message Joined: 7 Oct 04 Posts: 106 Credit: 442,001 RAC: 1 
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**from Reuters The mayhem in New Orleans, after Katrina's attack on the U.S. Gulf Coast on Monday, resembled a refugee crisis in a Third World hot spot. There was a television report that a sniper opened fire on rescue workers as they tried to evacuate sick patients from a flooded hospital. SETI.USA 
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Heffed Send message Joined: 19 Mar 02 Posts: 1856 Credit: 40,736 RAC: 0
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Some people are simply beyond belief... :( ID: 161688 · |
Captain Avatar  Send message Joined: 17 May 99 Posts: 15133 Credit: 529,088 RAC: 0
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Some people are simply beyond belief... :( 4200 National Guard Members on thier way........ 1400 a day for the next 3 days.... They'll shake up those low lifes. 
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Qui-Gon  Send message Joined: 15 May 99 Posts: 2940 Credit: 19,199,902 RAC: 11
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I used to think those Iraqi insurgents were such idiots: looting, attacking their own people, destroying their own country . . . I guess there are idiots everywhere. ID: 161729 · |
Misfit  Send message Joined: 21 Jun 01 Posts: 21804 Credit: 2,815,091 RAC: 0
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The sniper wasn't through looting the hospital. ID: 161755 · |
John Cropper  Send message Joined: 3 May 00 Posts: 444 Credit: 416,933 RAC: 0
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Some people are simply beyond belief... :( Right, then the press will have a field day with, "Oh, look, they're shooting the flood victims". The fact that they were looting just a few moments prior will suddenly be forgotten once the camera is on. Media: Quit being a useless set of eyes, ears and slack-jawed award-chasers, put down the #$%@$% camera and mic, pick up a stack of bottled water and do something productive. Interviewing people who blame the authorities and re-hashing their situation isn't getting them fed any quicker and you have your posh trucks, air-conditioned studios and catered lunch tray to go back to...they don't.  Stewie: So, is there any tread left on the tires? Or at this point would it be like throwing a hot dog down a hallway? Fox Sunday (US) at 9PM ET/PT ID: 161769 · |
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Darth Dogbytes™ Send message Joined: 30 Jul 03 Posts: 7512 Credit: 2,021,148 RAC: 0
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I tried contacting the American Red Cross today to volunteer without pay, and at my own expense. I have a CDL class A with passenger endorsement which could come in handy (skills wise) in the evacuation and relocation process. Neither the national, nor the local Red Cross could tell me anything. Tomorrow I'll try dealing with the Salvation Army, and hope that they're better organized. Other than that, all we can do is throw money their way and hope. As an aside, a vast majority of the US National Guard assets are no longer in the United States, but elsewhere. Hmmmm..... Account frozen... ID: 161800 · |
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Captain Avatar Send message Joined: 17 May 99 Posts: 15133 Credit: 529,088 RAC: 0
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I tried contacting the American Red Cross today to volunteer without pay, and at my own expense. I have a CDL class A with passenger endorsement which could come in handy (skills wise) in the evacuation and relocation process. Neither the national, nor the local Red Cross could tell me anything. Tomorrow I'll try dealing with the Salvation Army, and hope that they're better organized. Other than that, all we can do is throw money their way and hope. What assets is that Weapons ammo? BTW I admire your determination to help D.B. Don't stop! I wish I could help but alas I probably would turn into a victum.
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MJKelleher  Send message Joined: 1 Jul 99 Posts: 2048 Credit: 1,575,401 RAC: 0
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I tried contacting the American Red Cross today to volunteer without pay, and at my own expense. I have a CDL class A with passenger endorsement which could come in handy (skills wise) in the evacuation and relocation process. Neither the national, nor the local Red Cross could tell me anything. Tomorrow I'll try dealing with the Salvation Army, and hope that they're better organized. Other than that, all we can do is throw money their way and hope. I'd venture a guess that they're busy deploying their already known resources, people and materials, as they figure out where they can set up, where it's safe, where they can do the most good. They aren't set up to deal on a moments notice with people who show up and say "I want to help, let me drive a truck for you". It's not like they knew, the day before the hurricane hit, just which neighborhoods would be washed away by the breeches in the levees that they didn't predict would breech, or even exactly where the hurricane would make land fall. Meteorology just isn't that good yet. How long are you willing to commit your time, on a 24x7 basis? The people they put out in the field aren't just some folk who have wandered in off the streets. They've had training, they are assigned based on the needs of the community where they're working. They're sufficiently organized to not drop everything in thanks that somebody new, who doesn't know the system, want's to come help. FEMA's web site has a strong notice: Volunteers should not report directly to the affected areas unless directed by a voluntary agency. Self-dispatched volunteers can put themselves and others in harm’s way and hamper rescue efforts. Voluntary organizations are seeking cash donations to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina in Gulf Coast states.(see it here) throw money their way and hope That money gets the disaster relief teams in place, keeps them there for as long as they're needed, gets them home again. It buys food, clothing, and the sundry necessities of life for the people directly affected by the disaster. It keeps the response vehicles on the road, the offices lit. It doesn't pay much for the salaries of those disaster relief teams, they're mostly volunteers. Those volunteers learn well in advance what will need to be done, they work long hours, 12-16+ hour days, 7 day weeks, sometimes living in the shelters with the people they're helping (sometimes not, but I'm not hopeful in this situation). They work like this for three weeks or so, get home for a break, and if they're needed, they're back again for another three weeks. I know this, because my mother's retirement project is working as a disaster relief volunteer with the Red Cross. She went down to Miami last Sunday, where she's been working 12+ hour days, won't get a break until she gets home, and I truly expect that if she doesn't get moved to where ever they set up shop near New Orleans before her current tour is done, she'll be on her way down there within a week of getting home. She's there because she knows what she needs to do as a part of the effort. The people who sent her down there (and who will call her back down before she has a real chance to catch up on her rest) know what they need to do. And I'm purely tired of reading people snipe from a safe distance that they know better, they could do better, they were snubbed, the money's wasted / misspent / misapplied / stolen / whatever, [/rant] It's too late for me to be up tilting at windmills here, I'm heading for bed, hoping but not expecting to hear better things from New Orleans (and South Florida) tomorrow. MJ  ID: 161836 · |
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John Cropper Send message Joined: 3 May 00 Posts: 444 Credit: 416,933 RAC: 0
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I tried contacting the American Red Cross today to volunteer without pay, and at my own expense. I have a CDL class A with passenger endorsement which could come in handy (skills wise) in the evacuation and relocation process. Neither the national, nor the local Red Cross could tell me anything. Tomorrow I'll try dealing with the Salvation Army, and hope that they're better organized. Other than that, all we can do is throw money their way and hope. Try 'backfilling' in your local area for those volunteers who have already mobilized. You know your own home area better and may be able to shift resources more readily (for the services) and help better there. Plus, if you are interested in volunteering, they can help you in learning the skills you need and you can still be home in time for dinner while helping others. Stewie: So, is there any tread left on the tires? Or at this point would it be like throwing a hot dog down a hallway? Fox Sunday (US) at 9PM ET/PT ID: 161906 · |
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Darth Dogbytes™ Send message Joined: 30 Jul 03 Posts: 7512 Credit: 2,021,148 RAC: 0
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I would never consider "self-dispatching" to any where, much less a disaster area. True, these organizations will use the resources at hand, but I find it strange that they have no mechanism to absorb more volunteers in case of a catastrophe, and I think Katrina qualifies. They don't even appear to be able to organize back filling either. They want you to fill out an application with a don't call us, we'll call you. Oh, well.... Account frozen... ID: 161909 · |
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John Cropper Send message Joined: 3 May 00 Posts: 444 Credit: 416,933 RAC: 0
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They don't even appear to be able to organize back filling either. They want you to fill out an application with a don't call us, we'll call you. That's when you take their response to the national HQ and a copy to the local press. Yes, they're overwhelmed. But if an idiot with the organizational skills of a chimp is staffing the local office, then the national HQ needs to know so THEY can get someone properly trained to staff that office. This tells me that if a disaster of this scope hit YOUR back yard, the Red Cross would basicly be a bunch of blithering idiots, stumbling around asking for external assistance. You must put this in perspective, though, as the area affected is as large as the southern portion of Great Britain. If 9/11 were of this scope, most of the five boroughs and portions of Connecticut would've been impacted. People (officials included) complaining that Tsunami relief went faster should check their (very short) memory, as well, since some areas were not reachable for up to two weeks after the event. We're only on day four and you've got the mayor (of New Orleans) in 'whiny toddler' mode and the Governor hiking up her skirt and threatening to let troops 'fresh from Iraq' shoot to kill. It sounds like a nine-year-old with a new Super Soaker (pun intended) threatening to douse the neighborhood if anyone touches him. If the people we elect are acting like this, I shudder to think where we'll be in ten years. Stewie: So, is there any tread left on the tires? Or at this point would it be like throwing a hot dog down a hallway? Fox Sunday (US) at 9PM ET/PT ID: 161950 · |
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Darth Dogbytes™ Send message Joined: 30 Jul 03 Posts: 7512 Credit: 2,021,148 RAC: 0
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The Tsunami occur half way around the world in a third world country. This disaster occured in the richest, strongest country in the world with a hugh infastructure and military equiped to the teeth. I agree with you that there will be much to asnwer for when this is all over, but Americans historically have very short memories. Account frozen... ID: 162058 · |
Fuzzy Hollynoodles  Send message Joined: 3 Apr 99 Posts: 9659 Credit: 251,998 RAC: 0 |
The Tsunami occur half way around the world in a third world country. Last night I spoke with my girlfriend about the Katrina catastrophe, and we talked about why New Orleans is sited where it is. The people who came and founded the town back then, why exactly there, so low in the landscape? Does anybody here know that???  Hurricanes and tropical storms are not an invention of the past century, they have formed always, so why did the founders think that founding a town that low below the sealevel was a good idea? I live myself in the north part of the Wadden Sea and from old time people built houses on the "warft"s or "hallig"s, and small hillocks in the landscape, where, when a stormtide comes in, it won't be flooded. Dikes has been built and after the last big stormtides in the past century, the dike system was enforced. "I'm trying to maintain a shred of dignity in this world." - Me 
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Nathan Send message Joined: 11 Feb 02 Posts: 11 Credit: 5,093,905 RAC: 0
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I am not an expert, but it is my understanding that the entire Mississippi river delta has been sinking a little every year. When the silt and flood waters were diverted out of the river in the mid 1800’s, it stopped the growth and replenishment of the delta land. ID: 162089 · |
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Fuzzy Hollynoodles Send message Joined: 3 Apr 99 Posts: 9659 Credit: 251,998 RAC: 0 |
Thanks. Yes, that can explain it. "I'm trying to maintain a shred of dignity in this world." - Me
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Qui-Gon Send message Joined: 15 May 99 Posts: 2940 Credit: 19,199,902 RAC: 11
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I just heard on Nation Public Radio that taking the water out of the surrounding wetlands has caused much of the land in New Orleans that was above sea level, to sink below sea level. ID: 162241 · |
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Misfit Send message Joined: 21 Jun 01 Posts: 21804 Credit: 2,815,091 RAC: 0
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MJKelleher Send message Joined: 1 Jul 99 Posts: 2048 Credit: 1,575,401 RAC: 0
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They don't even appear to be able to organize back filling either. They want you to fill out an application with a don't call us, we'll call you. That chimp might well be freeing up that "properly trained" person to work directly with the disaster issues. Personally, I'd rather see the trained people out in the field than stuck in the office. This tells me that if a disaster of this scope hit YOUR back yard, the Red Cross would basicly be a bunch of blithering idiots, stumbling around asking for external assistance. If it hit in your back yard, the experienced people, who are now in or going to the hurricane area, would be staying at home, and bringing in other experienced people from other areas. Just like New Orleans, Miami, and other striken locations are now. My Mom is one of those experienced people, it's her "retirement project". She's now in Miami, and I'm dreading hearing when she'll shift to Mississippi or Louisiana. She was on the Florida panhandle last summer after four hurricanes, spent a total of about nine weeks down south (we live in upstate NY). She was five miles down the road from home when we had floods here last spring and last fall. You must put this in perspective, though, as the area affected is as large as the southern portion of Great Britain. If 9/11 were of this scope, most of the five boroughs and portions of Connecticut would've been impacted. Apart from the characterization of the desperate officials down there, I do agree that this is and should be remembered by the critics. I'm also getting really, really tired of people using this disaster to advance their political, social and other agendas. (Not saying you're doing it, it's just a convenient place for me to get it out.) MJ ID: 162295 · |
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Darth Dogbytes™ Send message Joined: 30 Jul 03 Posts: 7512 Credit: 2,021,148 RAC: 0
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I am not an expert, but it is my understanding that the entire Mississippi river delta has been sinking a little every year. When the silt and flood waters were diverted out of the river in the mid 1800’s, it stopped the growth and replenishment of the delta land. [b]Try 20 square miles a year. Account frozen... ID: 162412 · |
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