[ghettoelleth]

Hey Inglor, how you durrin?

Glad you're okay. I gotta say, I've been in Dickinson during one of those gulf storm hurricanes and it hits like in no other area of the country. One minute we're a mile inland, the next we were beach front property. Gotta say the folks from those areas handle the situation with much more aplomb than I could ever muster. I was terrified the entire time that eveyrone was taping up windows and cussing out the gardener who never pruned back the tree that was now hitting live power lines and lighting up the whole one and half acre front yard. And this was a 'minor' disturbance according to them. I imagine this must look like Armageddon. I've stayed away from the news as most of the cable conglomerates have been making a much bigger fuss about looting NOPD cops than the tragedy and it was pissing me off. My prayers to the people in need and my hopes that the media will grow a conscience soon and demonstrate that need before emergency stores and peoples ability to see past bullshit propaganda are exhausted.

Love to you and yours, mouth o' the south.

Jes

[Texasgirl]

yes - all my prayers have been going out to those along the gulf coast these past days. nature is awesome and terrifying; beautiful and deadly.

so glad you're all right, inglor!

does anyone else live is the danger area?

[Rhapsody]

I just heard that Dreamflower and her husband are safely at Biloxi Regional Hospital. Marigold (also an OSA member) assumes that her mother is with them as well.

*sighs very deeply*

[ghettoelleth]

http://us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mode=1&pmmsid=1376835&referer=http%3A//aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp

[RoxieRxChicago]

Thanks for that video clip Ghetto. If that doesn't get someone's attention, nothing will. I am absolutely appalled with the way our federal government has and is handling this situation. It's regoddamndiculous. This whole thing makes me so damn mad. Mad for all those people who lost everything they had, mad for all those people who died and are dying, mad for everyone who lost someone they love, mad for Ray Nagin who is doing the best he can with what little he's been given to work with. I would love the opportunity to bitch slap our dear president into next month But I digress... I can't imagine what it must be like to lose everything like that. My heart goes out to everyone in New Orleans, the rest of Louisianna, Mississippi, and Alabama. Something like this hurricane really make one put things in perspective. Here we were (in Cincinnati) bitching and moaning about a tanker leaking styrene, displacing people within a square mile radius of it for two days, and there are thousands upon thousands of people just in New Orleans who are displaced permanently

[Viv]

Last I checked, this forum wasn't the appropriate place for political discussion. And this thread certainly isn't.

Sometimes anger can be redirected into practical activities, like donating, volunteering, and giving blood. Even writing to elected representatives, though less effectual in the end, is a good outlet for outrage.

[ghettoelleth]

Last memo I got from god, (maybe you're on a special list), political affiliation had absofuckinglutely no bearing on one's sensitivity and compassion and vice versa and being pissed off about a person's cavalier attitude toward the senseless, avoidable deaths of hundreds of fellow human beings levels no judgement on that person's politics, religion, lifestyle, choice of shampoo, or bent towards either tastes great or less filling. Rather it is questioning the quality of their humanity. Last time I looked, there was no humane party.

[NancyBrooke]

[RoxieRxChicago]

I agree with you Ghetto. There is no "humane" party. Sometimes it feels like humanity gets left out of almost everything anymore. I apologize for letting myself get carried away and bringing my political feelings into the mix. You are right, this is no place for it.

[Texasgirl]

I just pray that we can help move these poor people out of the red zone and that we can help return thier lives to normal as soon as possible...though after something like this, what I was talkign about seems near impossible.

[ghettoelleth]

Incidentally, I've been wanting to post this, part of an e-mail I sent someone who asked about this. Honestly, when I listened to that radio broadcast, all I heard was desperation and it didn't make me feel angry at anyone, I didn't have the heart for it. The following was my intention.

This is just one more example of how things can be misconstrued on the web when you don't have the advantage of seeing and hearing expression, body language, vocal inflection, etc. I'm usually not that vague about shit that I post but I was so crushed when I posted that link I had nothing to say. The reason for my feeling that way, however, was not what anyone thought it was. Here is what I got from that broadcast clip that I wanted to share.

Three grown men, A mayor of one of the biggest cities in the country and two seasoned radio dj's who have, I'm sure, seen plenty in their day, were discussing the disaster relatively rationally even in their anger, until the end, when the mayor spoke what would normally be construed as perhaps a platitude and all of a sudden, there was a solid minute of dead silence as these three eloquent, well educated and mature men attempted to process the idea that...New Orleans is GONE. Like some modern day equivelent of Ninevah, this was a reckoning of biblical proportions unlike any other disaster I have ever seen in my life. An entire HUGE, heavily populated city within the borders of the richest country in the world was levelled in a matter of hours. Its just the stuff of nightmares and I thought it was so horrifying and profound that I didn't need to add anything to that. Ooops. Guess I should have made that clear.

The end was edited to remove the name of the original recipient.

[Viv]

It is sort of unbelievable, isn't it?

I've been reading CNN and BBC daily through the crisis. From them, you'd think that nothing good had ever happened or ever would again. But I know that's not true.

Yavanie is up to her elbows in volunteer work, trying to get school supplies for some of Texas's newest residents.

My town, Austin, is hosting several thousand displaced new Orleaneans. We're not calling them refugees: we're calling them guests. And they're more than welcome to stay, as long as they need to. We're doing this as a community, led by a really on-top-of-things mayor, without a lick of help from the federal government.

Now that the human emergency is lessened somewhat, the Humane Society and ASPCA are rescuing pets by the dozens. Anybody who isn't exhausted with giving might think about donating a little there, too.

In the end, we're making this happen. We, the regular folks.

It just sucks that our media doesn't see, doesn't care, and is giving the rest of the world a really poor image of what we're about here.

Ghetto, I understand taht punch-in-the-gut feeling of gigantic loss. I'm just trying to see the way out. Otherwise, it's too damn depressing.

[RoxieRxChicago]

We are also hosting a lot of displaced people in Cincinnati. You wouldn't think a city so far north of the red zone would be as inundated as we are, but it's amazing how many people we are having arrive here every day. There are also a couple of vet clinics and animal hospitals up here that are taking , I don't want to say abandoned because people didn't really have a choice but I can't think of another word for it, pets. the ASPCA is having an adoption drive sometime in the next couple of weeks for all these animals. It's heartwarming and reassuring to know so many people, from everywhere, are williing to band together and help in any way they can. Good things do happen even though you don't hear about it very often

[Texasgirl]

Yes, near where I live a fair number of families have come to stay. it's...there are no words to describe how I feel. Shamed for sleepinmg in my cozy bed while people are suffering enormous amounts and are barely getting by? Amazed by the courage of those who have pulled through? Awed and feeling unworthy in the presence of those who have a survived a disaster I can't even fathom?

Needless to say, volunteering has helped me level a lot of my feelings of doing nothing - although, I still wish I could ....I dunno, snap my fingers and make thousands of liives better?

[Rhapsody]

As I already knew, experts from our country are on the site in NA to assist with the levee breaks. It is hard for us to get real 'local' news, so I was very happy when Yavanie posted that, indeed, we Dutch, are making a difference down there with our knowledge on dikes, water, floods and so on. We (as a country) also offered three more water pumps (besides the equipment that is already down there to get the water out there and repair the levees). Also, and not requested by the American government, there is a Dutch frigate moored at NA with loads of clean water, medications, first aid material and so on to help out. We just went in, not caring about diplomatics, to offer assistance.

This morning I learnt how a Dutch reporter earlier this week helped a mom, a baby (4 months old), and her daughter to escape from the Superdome in NA. That this journalist stepped in to get that family out.. We're trying, as much as we can, to help. There might be an initiative to help this family building up a new life. Maybe it's a small drop in a big ocean, but it is aimed directly at people and in this case, you can see where the money is spend on. That is another main concern over here, we cannot see where the donated money will go, and in that respect, we learnt from the Tsunami in Asia (I am not saying that we aren't donating money, but we're worried that it doesn't end up with the people who really need it).