They Really Dropped the Ball..
 

Thousands are officially dead from Hurricane Katrina. Not one person should have died. They knew it was coming and that it was strong. I saw the warnings on the weather channel a day before it was near the coast.

They should have gotten out the poor without cars. They should have gotten everyone out.

With all the technology today, no one should have died. This could have been avoided right? Why did so many have to die for no reason???

exactly....

Our nation is built around helping people who can't help themselves...oh but wait...that's just when it comes to other countries. Gawd forbid we help our own people.. :rolleyes: I'm angry right now, and it's probably just going to progressively get worse :mad:

Well I think it was impossible to avoid any deaths whatsoever, but perhaps there was a way to avoid so many fatalities. Weren't these people told to leave though? Some of them just plain didn't listen. I think a lot of people just didn't realize how catastrophic this storm would be.

Well, that's the $64,000 question, now isn't it?

I understand the frustration, and I don't have any clue what to say? Why does anyone have to die from natural disasters...including earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes (which I live in NC where devastating ones have hit before, of course nothing like Katrina), volcanic eruptions, etc...

May God Bless their Souls!

These people are dirt poor. How would they have gotten out? Where would they have gone? How would they be able to leave their homes and survive without any money?

I wanted to repsond to this but I am getting tired of having to type the same thing over and over. Thanks diss. :)

I agree..many of them didn't leave because they had lived thru camille and just thought the media was just giving it a lot of hype. But then there are those that really couldnt' get out. But technically..if I saw that big ass storm coming my way..I would have started hoofing it..hahah..

but I guess by the time theyrealized it...it was really too late....(to walk, or whatever...)

No problem. I cannot for the life of me understand why people are asking "Why didn't they leave?" I wanted to throttle Larry King last night for asking that over and over and over and over. And asking the children of people lost in New Orleans, no less.

True......

not all of the people who stayed are dirt poor tho. I mean, yes..those that really couldn't get out, those are the ones I feel for.
but there ARE many stories of ppl that just didn't leave. There was a guy on the radio the day before that didn't want to leave because he and his wife had just put so much money into their new business, they didn't want to leave it :confused: (or maybe it was CNN) THOSE are the people I think of when I hear.."why didn't they get out"

Yeah, That's what I meant when I said that. I didn't mean to direspect the homeless.

Most homeless people aren't lazy, they're mentally ill. :( Would you live in a cardboard box if you were in your right mind?

Who is talking about the homeless? Poor does not necessarily equate being homeless. And since when can anyone just waltz into a business and get a job? Since when is being homeless and unemployed a sign of laziness? Does anyone out there really believe that people prefer to live on the streets in refrigerator boxes because they're too lazy to want to work? Crikey. And why wouldn't feel you compassion for a homeless man or woman that is "too lazy to work" and is now injured and suffering from this disaster? These are human beings, Christopher.

:confused: :confused: :confused: did I miss something?? Im genuinely asking..not being sh*tty or anything..
did someone say something about them being lazy???

sorry..on edit...it appears I DID miss something...looks like that post had been edited after I read it :) sorry..

Yeah. Diss quoted it in his post right above you.

Okay I was not talking about the New Orleans victims. I just meant homeless people in general. I tried to edit my statement because I know that came out wrong. Sorry...

[QUOTE=dissention]And since when can anyone just waltz into a business and get a job?QUOTE]

Oh PLEASE dissention...let's not start this argument...because we could go ON and ON! lol...

The majority of people out there have had or could have the opportunity to have a job somewhere...last time I checked, Wal-Mart or McDonalds were looking for help, and they aren't that picky either! Hey it may not be much, but it is a job!

Now I'm not going to be heartless and say I don't give to the poor or feel for them...because I do! But I have never given someone begging on the side of the road a single dime of my money! Because, sadly enough I don't trust them enough to know what they will spend it on! I have gotten them food before and brought it back to them and would be glad to do that any day!

I have just personally seen so many scam artists out there on the side of the road begging...and then once they have their money they go back to their BMW parked at a local parking lot and drive off! :mad: It's folks like that that really give the actual homeless and poor and bad name!

And I was talking about homeless people in general.

And I don't feel compassion for the guy on the side of the road with a sign that says "Need Beer".

there really are different types of homeless people. Please dont' jump me because I'm not claiming to be some expert. I'm from a very small town of 35,000. so we really don't have a lot of homeless ppl, and the ones we do, are very capable of going to shelters, blah blah blah. But I think some people's perception of homeless people is that "lazy, blah blah blah" because most of the people in MY hometown at least ARE very capable of getting jobs. (meaning...there are jobs around...but they may not if they are mental ill and all that) but The type of homeless people we have in Big Henderson Kentucky are the ones' spitting out 7-8 children just to get more money. Now I am not cracking on ppl on welfare by any stretch, BUT, my husband manages the only public pool in my hometown and I've seen it, day in and day out. They come to the pool and sit there enjoying the sun while my ass is out working. NOW...to be on topic.....I realize that New Orleans is COMPLETELY different. It IS a poverty stricken area, and people really are unable to get jobs and they desperately need help. Maybe the only GOOD that will come of this is they will be relocated and will receive help and maybe will have a fresh start and new beginning. But it is easy for ppl from small towns to think they are all lazy etc because those are the kind we have around here..... o.k...I've definately rambled way too much..but that was just my 25 cents....let the firing begin....

It's called empathy.

Mayor of Hattiesburg, Mississippi live on CNN now saying FEMA is blocking trucks with ice and water from coming in to his city.

:rolleyes:

Bull****.

Who cares what they spend it on? Those people who beg on the sides of roads have lost their pride and their dignity, they deserve as much compassion and kindness as people are willing to give. Unfortunately, that isn't much nowadays because a lot of people are selfish pricks who don't care about their fellow men and women. It's a crying shame. Never have I not given money to someone who has been reduced to begging for it on the sides of roads and I never will refuse any to them. I'm not going to deprive them of money that I'm just going to spend on worthless crap because they might go and spend it on a bottle of booze. You'd be drinking too if you were in that situation. If you truly do give them food, that's fantastic.

I have never seen that in my life.

Empathy has gone the way of the dinosaurs, Chris.

Low-paying jobs like the one you mentioned aren't enough to survive on. Have you checked the cost of rent lately? Housing is extremely unaffordable, especially in urban areas. Most of their paychecks go to rent, which leaves little money to live on. Additionally, those jobs rarely provide their employees with health insurance.
What they spend it on is between them and their conscience. The conservative mantra of "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" doesn't work. I used to buy into that, but if you try do some reading and research, you'll see how flawed the argument is. And by reading, I do not mean Ann Coulter.

But why should you give your hard earned money to someone that was just as capable of going out and earning a living?

It is one thing if a person is mentally ill. I truely feel sorry for those people.

That's it...that's all you have to say...ok?!?



Yes I have given them food...many times...which I am more than happy to do! I think it is down right wrong for them to spend their money on booze when, they could spend it on better things that might actually HELP them!



Oh boy! Come down here and your eyes will be opened...I have seen it personally twice in my life...but others in my family and friends that I know have seen these kinds of scams happen ALL THE TIME!

I mean these buses could have come and gotten these people out. They could have packed a bag if they had one, gotten their kids and gotten OUT instead of died. They had a couple or more days ( meaning officials, not the "poor" people) and they could have prepared to get these people out. Do they they think they even knew? No, but WE did...it's like they were left there to die almost.

That's what I meant. I know the average person in these lower income housing wouldn't just leave their homes. But if they had been forced to...taken to places before the storm? Was that even possible?

Amen! I totally agree with you.

And people will try to make you out to be heartless because you feel this way...and that is not true at all!

I agree with you.

I don't think blame for this needs to be placed on the national level but on the local level!

HUNDREDS of buses could have been used to pick these people up!

Yes, everyone has the same opportunities available to them in this great land of ours. We can get great college educations and great jobs, whereas these lazy homeless people can just as easily run a comb through their hair, scrape the dirt out from under their fingernails, and get just as wonderful a job. Viva America!

:rolleyes:

You are aware that a vast number of the homeless do work jobs, and more than one, right?

I agreed with everything you said too. I'm truely not a heartless person, I just don't agree with people getting a free ride if they are capable of supporting themselves.

I hope one day you're out on the streets with no resources just so that you can live what it's like. It takes balls for you to pass judgement on these people without ever being in that situation.

Actually I was not aware of that. I don't know how true that is though...

Well, not to throw facts around, but the average age of the homeless is 9 years old. Around 23% of the single adult homeless population suffers from some form of severe and persistent mental illness. Of male homeless, 40% have served in the armed forces. Of the female homeless, 22% said they had left their last place of residence because of domestic violence. There is not ONE city in Ohio in which a person could afford housing while working a typical 40 hour week on minimum wage.

With all due respect, you don't seem to know very much at all about the plight of the homeless. :shrug:

Look, if people were born into this situation then I feel sorry for them. If they are mentally ill I feel sorry for them. I don't feel sorry for the people that drop out of school when they had every oppurtunity to finish their education and get a decent job.

And you know of their personal circumstances how? How do you know what led to their current situation? Like I said, it takes balls to pass judgement on these people.

This whole "why didn't they pick them up in buses?" question is just not based in reality.

You have to realize how big New Orleans is. And, the hurricane finally settled in its path on late Thursday, apparently targeting the city. That means less than 48 hours before conditions were too bad to drive these "buses" around at all.

Think about this - how many buses have been used to transport people from centralized locations like the Superdome and NO Convention Center in the last 4 days? Hundreds, if not close to a thousand. And there are still thousands of people trapped there. So, buses going house-to-house through the streets of NO (with the weather deteriorating every second) would have been able to get people out of their homes? Did you ride a bus to school when you were young? Did it ever run on time? For that matter, do normal city buses or subways ever really run on time?

Not to mention you have to be trained to drive a large vehicle like a bus safely - it's not something you can just hop in and zoom on down the road. And also not to mention that many of the people who normally drive said buses wanted to take care of their own needs, and may have even evacuated. Who would have driven them?