Come Together..would be a good song to sing now

Come Together.. right now.

But I don't think it will happen anytime soon.

The country is splitting over this and have been hiding from the boards beause I don't want to be caught in the crossfire...

I like to believe we are moving foward from the world I grew up in..as a small child.

I pray this is a temporary set back that people use and bicker over.

I hope that the good stories of people helping people will shine out when all is said and done like a beacon of hope for humanity in America.

Going to be a long Labor Day Weekend... 2/3 over.

Posted once today and going to cut and paste here...

I personally think this is a government issue of failure on all levels to respond fast enough and realilze the immediacy of the problem before and after the storm. And, it was easier for the rich and comfortable to get out than the poor and often less educated.

That family.. the one that rented the limosine to drive back to Chicago.. an example. One.. they did think outside the box. Anyone who didn't have their money ...might have taken a limo out of New Orleans.. out of Baton Rouge.. all the way to the next big city and flown out or rented a car but no..........bless their hearts..they went all the way to Chicago.

Poor people stayed and gambled the storm would sway east and they would have been okay. They gambled.. and they lost. And, it happens all the time .. just didn't happen this time.

Maybe the storm didn't want to hurt Nola. Notice very few power lines down. Am impressed. Miami would have been a mess. Few trees too. Think we have more trees down. Looked at the city the other day... less flooded areas.. cannot believe how well they did actually. The levee failed them. The federal government that diverted money from fixing the well known levee problem failed them. Their leaders failed them by not providing a fast, easy way out of town and enforcing it... the mandatory evacuation which should have been done before it was..

So.. this was my response to Jim's response to a local paper in miami.. reporter.
******************************
Listen here and listen well.

This is a tragedy of human beings in a poor area of town where mostly black people lived. You see it floods alot.. because it is on the East Side ..the weak link in the city geographically. Metarie flooded.. it's on a ridge. People have lost everything ...except what they took with them out of town. A lot of places flooded.. people in the poor part for lack of money, lack of warning, lack of the city planning.. stayed behind in large numbers.

Gulfport and Waveland and Slidell and othe towns not getting publicity are destroyed and look like they were at ground zero for a nuclear blast. They need help too.. remember that when everyone is out of new orleans and the media circus goes away.

Please.. a massive area of America will have no jobs to go to Tuesday morning. No homes to live. No toys or cars or pictures or yearbooks, momentos... souveniers... no barbie dolls unless they took them when they ran.. Gone.

And, now when we should be coming together as a family... there are black leaders raising the race flag and some white people insisting they would never go into a closed department store that is about to be raized to the ground and take a pair of shoes or some clothes to wear. White people upset they are shooting at the military (many who are black) and black people wanting to make a natural disaster a banner to carry.

I know people are hurt and we see the world through our own eyes... try not to .. reach out and help people... everyone.. please.

Tired of being told I don't understand just like my crazy little friend who has made understanding me a life workand get's tired of me telling them when I am pissed.."they don't undertand!"

a post from www.hurricanecity.com

a plea from Bobbi... there are storms forming again.. do you have a plan.. did you arrange with relatives out of town to let them know what you are doing.. do you have water and food and batteries... pay atten, buy a stupid weather radio...they are fun to listen to late at night when you put TWC on mute.

Bobbi

Posted by bobbistorm on 9/4/2005, 10:06 pm, in reply to "the race issue out of control"User logged in as: Bobbistorm
1st excellent response. give you credit for writing. can barely write here on it and you know that
2nd.
everyone is not shooting at helicopters and police
most everyone is starving, uninformed and in some wierd nether world of shock there.
there was it seems a severe gang problem in new orleans.. some recent movie came out highlighting it

seems it has a bad, well known problem that i guess we didnt know

the shooting and setting buildings on fire is being done not by a few lost souls about to die of undernourishment and dismay gone crazy

it is in some places an organized action being done guerilla style by gangs who know the lay of the land and are disrupting things for whatever sick joy they get out of it.. sick satisfaction or thrill of power

GANGS..Gangs come in all colors.. there are latin gangs and black gangs and ive seen some pathetic looking white kids who were hanging around the canal a while back until the police began to hassle them.. graffit, trying to knock over palm trees and benches.. tough looking little suckers with big chains

Gangs are the power freaks and kids who usually are unable to sit in class, were taught hate at home and taught they can do whatever the _ _ _ _ they want in society if they are tough, look scarey and terrorize people around them into going along or keeping quiet about what they do
They are taking advantage of the lack of control any law enforncement has in nola and enjoying running like rats around the city at will.. like they have been suddenly let loose in a playground.

The "looters" gone wild.. grabbing things in the stores.. empty, abandoned, about to be destroyed stores are not the ones shooting at police, helicopters and burning buildings.

Really.

Grabbing clothes and shoes when you cant wash your own and dont have any ...can be understood if you walked on their shoeless feet. So they grabbed more... the whole world seems upside down.. looting, grabbing, taking... borrowing.. using what was left behind.. call it what you will..

There is a difference between organized gangs playing out some guerilla warfare game with the authorities and the people you see on tv at the walmart.

Just pointing it out.

You may say I'm wrong.

You may say they are wrong no matter what but I would bet money that if half the people on this board were in their shoes... seeing everyone doing it.. police not stopping them and figuring it they dont grab it..someone else will.. you might do the same. You will protest.. but am sure many here have never gone back to some store and given back wrong change (tho many may have) and many here have cheated a bit on their taxes, told small white lies and said they were not really lied, driven down a one way street when no one was looking...

Gangs are causing the problem.. on the streets on New Orleans...and in the Ukraine as well... in Russia. Mobsters come in all denominations.. Israeli Mobsters are bad. Russian Mobsters...scarier. Not all mafia are Italian.

Human nature is color blind. Just like weather.. just like hurricanes.

Like Jim said.. this was a black neighborhood mostly. And, adding here there was no conspiracy to get the whites out or the hispanics and leave the blacks like second citizens. Which did happen years and years ago and we have gotten past that.

And.. the Mayor should have been screaming and hollering for the Great State of Louisiana to get an evacuation plan. And, the Great State of Louisiana should have been screaming and hollering at the Federal Govt. to help.

And as Mayfield said.. FEMA KNEW. We all knew. Not a regular reader of this board didn't know.

Black, white or hispanic.. or native american indian.. or eastern indian. All our cultures are beautiful and make us what we are and no culture should glorify "gangsta" mentality and that is what was going on..

And, sorry but people of all color should join together and stand up and scream that we won't take it anymore.

Yes... maybe I am white. I am not going to apologize for the color of my skin. I was born Jewish.. not going to apologize for that neither. I was raised in the south by a very southern grandma.. not going to apologize for how I feel about southern things. And, I am not going to apologize to anyone of any color, race or religion when I say I don't give a _ _ _ _ about color, race or religion.

I care who you are... what moves you and what you do for society to make it a better place.
Sadly..the season will end in November..give or take.. and ... this discussion will go on and on and on until next hurricane season and............. will be pivotal in the next Presidential Election.

And, someone better wake up damn fast and listen to ole Max Mayfield cause he is trying to warn the rest of us that we are not even at half time... think he called it the 4th inning and storms follow short term patterns and the pattern right now could leave the whole area open for another hard blow which will set back the relief effort if they have another hurricane. Learn from the past.. it can happen. Hope FEMA and the various agencies have a contingency plan to get their people...volunteers out of the area..

Thanks Jim.

--Previous Message--: I just read a column in the sun sentinel : here in S Fla & writer Howard : Goodman hgoodman@sun-sentinel.com tried : to compare the 1928 hurricane where : blacks were left out of shelters, to : this hurricane. The following is my : response. : I run http://www.hurricanecity.com : & read your column : trying to compare 1928 with this : disaster. In the 1928 disaster, : blacks were not allowed into the : shelters with whites & were not : warned of danger. In this disaster, : Mr. Nagin "the black mayor", : went on public TV & radio 48 hrs in : advance & told people to get out of : the low lying areas, a far cry from : 1928. As far as I have been able to : see, the nation has been bending over : backwards for the victims of Katrina : from huge donations all the way to : letting these people stay in their : homes. Do you think this would have : happened in 1928?? I dont think so. : It is not : Americas' fault that most of the low : lying areas of New Orleans are mostly : black, is it? When you have gangsta' : thugs roaming the streets shooting at : relief workers & stalling efforts : to rescue people in dire need, is that : white peoples fault too? As far as the : levee is concerned, funding was not : approved by either Bushs' or Clintons' : administrations. What are the chances : that Mr Ray Nagin "the black : mayor" lobbied for the levee to be : built up? Or was he going to just pass : the buck like every other politician : before him? I really don't understand : what your article is about other than : trying to provoke racial tensions just : like all the networks are doing adding : fuel to the likes of Jesse Jackson who : continues to set race relations back : further & further. Those people : were told to leave & it was the : responsibilty of mayor Nagin to get : them out and who was warned 48 hrs out : by Max Mayfield at NHC. Your article : is very disappointing & this : country does not need this rhetoric : right now. I will make sure to hold : onto your article when I do some radio : shows & use this is an example of : media incompetence....Jim Williams :