While the admins and moderators welcome the heated discussion and the various points of view that are being expressed, I respectfully ask that everyone refrain from personal attacks and unnecessary swearing. And as has been mentioned, please keep any negative racial comments out of the discussion.

Thank you!

__________________

Xoutpost.com - where you come for the information but stay for the friendships

Amen, brother! Good for you, doc.

Juan

__________________
Whenever I text "Barack," my phone suggests the word "Capable." I guess my my phone IS pretty smart.

Let's look at the term looter; which comes from the word loot.
"1 a : to plunder or sack in war b : to rob especially on a large scale and usually by violence or corruption
2 : to seize and carry away by force especially in war
intransitive senses : to engage in robbing or plundering especially in war
- loot·er noun"

Unless they were robbing the grocery store at gunpoint or taking shopping carts full of food out, it would not be considered looting. Stealing TV's, shoes, etc. is considered looting.

Maybe you should read my post again, or would you rather I go to Baton Rouge and New Orleans and pick a few of them up in a prison bus and drop them off at your place? Just remember, you would do the same thing if you were in their shoes.

Since you don't respect others for having an opinion, may I suggest you move to China.

Have you all seen most of those people that stayed behind? The poorest of the poor the weakest of the weak....not to mention...that area...with hurricanes...it is like the boy that cries wolf...the weather man says leave...since Camille every other one has been a dud.... so most thought the same thing might happen here and for the most part they did get lucky....until the levy broke because it was only designed for a CAT3 hit not a CAT5...and why because of $$$$.

The most dissapointing thing about this thread for me tonight is just the broad brush that is being used...this brush is one that's ...woulda...coulda...shoulda....very much holier than thou in some instances...everyones circumstance is different...everyone's life is different...I come to this board everyday since I found it because there are people who enjoy the some of the same things as myself and also because we are all similar in many ways...secondary education, work, lifestyle.

Is there a person on the this board that makes less than $25K that is not under 22 living with thier parents? We have the luxury of ranting and carrying on. I never have like to label any one because I never want to be slapped with a label. In the event of an emergency I bet everyone of us would have the means of leaving and getting to some where else, but what if there was a relative close to your area that could not leave? Would you leave them behind? I am sure that this happened to some and there were other sitations as well.

Rapist, junkies, gangbangers....we are sitting here typing and byotching about the smallest percentage of those that are hurting. If we are talking about 1million people affected and 10k are assholes...why are we wasting out time?

I kind of agree with you. I don't want to forget about the multitudes of helpless people but the small percentage of opportunistic barbarians are just so infuriating.

The focus of my ire right now are the likes of Kanye West, Celine Dion, and the media whores who are all out to make their names on this disaster and trying to win a news Emmy for their "reporting". Someone posted about how the reporters aren't reporting the news. Instead, they are making the news. That's what is bothering me right now. So many reporters are just editorializing, putting their own spin and criticism on the story. And Celine Dion, there are so many reasons she should be banished to an unihabited island but even more so now since the poor woman can barely swallow her morning coffee when she thinks about the victims. I love how compassionate she is. A quote from her appearance on Larry King:

"I open the television there's people still there waiting to be rescued and for me it's not acceptable. I know there's reasons for it. I'm sorry to say, I'm being rude, but I don't want to hear those reasons. You know, some people are stealing and they're making a big deal out of it. Oh, they're stealing 20 pair of jeans or they're stealing television sets. Who cares? They're not going to go too far with it. (I love this part.) Maybe those people are so poor, some of the people who do that they're so poor they've never touched anything in their lives. Let them touch those things for once. The main thing right now, it's not the people who are stealing. It's the people who are left there and they're watching helicopters flying over their heads and they're praying. How come it's so easy to send planes in another country to kill everyone in a second, to destroy lives?"

__________________

Speaking of "STARS"...

Why anyone would listen to a movies star, musician, or an entertainer as a sole basis of the foundation of ones own philosophy...needs meds.

BTW...I apologize in advance for any typos.....long day in the yard...I am blessed.

"Stupidity should be painful"

I can tell you that I've learned a bit through this whole thing about how to deal with hurricanes. When Charley threatened last year, it was forecast to be the Tampa Bay area's Katrina (worst case), though not as strong. Winds of 'only' 120, surge of 'only' 15 feet. My house sits at 11 feet, about 2 miles from the water.

We've seen this a thousand times, and nothing comes from it. We were under mandatory evacuation, and all the folks in my neighborhood chatted about it, and decided to stay. In the end, it intensified more rapidly than anyone thought, and slammed to our south as a Cat 4. Had it come our way, it would have been a 5, and the Tampa Bay area would look like Biloxi, with some parts looking like N.O.

I can't tell you how foolish that decision feels now. Had that gone to Cat 5, and hit our area, my home would be flooded, and they probably would have picked me and my family off my roof, along, hopefully, with the other folks in our neighborhood.

We had ample warning, and figured it was a false alarm, like they 'always are'. And, we had the benefit of internet, 24 hour cable tv, satellite tv, etc. It is easy to get jaded when you live under constant threat and false alarm.

We will not make that mistake again. We will get the heck out of here, and deal with whatever wreckage we find when we return.

I have little sympathy, like most people, for the criminals who are shooting at people. I do, however, have real empathy and sorrow for the others who were trapped. They thought they made, then the levees broke, and with the collapse of the levies came the collapse of their world as they knew it.

And I watch, with the guilty knowledge that could have easily have been me a year ago. My neighoborhood is full of people of means, and we would all have looked as bedraggled and frightened as anyone else you see on the news. This is a tragedy of epic proportions, with many faces, not just in N.O., but all over the Gulf Coast.

The criminals will get away with it, for a little while. Their spree is almost, if not completely, by now, over. We have to turn our attention to salvaging as much mankind as possible now. Not just immediate rescues, but by offering jobs and options to those displaced. We have to help them rebuild. If your faith doesn't compel you to do it, then do it because they are your fellow Americans, and it's the right thing to do.

WELL SAID! THIS SHOULD WRAP THE THREAD!